14 days ... 4,000 miles ... $3,000 (give or take a dollar or two) ... and we're back home from our first postretirement winter getaway! We had a great time but, were happy to get back to Minnesota ... just in time for our FIRST winter storm, which left about 6 inches of the heaviest, wettest snow we've seen in years. Real heart attack snow .. thankfully, outside of my getting stuck in it a block from home, everyone survived.
Our trip was delightful. We didn't kill each other ... the car didn't break down and was very comfortable ... I finished a good book and crocheted a poncho for a granddaughter ... Ed's health was good ... we ate a lot .. drank a lot ... and laughed and visited with good friends.
Lessons learned from our vacation:
Never pay a $50 upcharge for an "ocean front" room at the Beau Rivage Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi, unless you know you will arrive before dark and it won't be foggy in the morning when you look out the window at the ocean (boy, did they see US coming!)
Don't expect really warm weather in northern Florida in February ... it's cool and damp there, even though it's filled with friends from home and we had a great time visiting with them (and shopping on the rainy day)
Never say you're too old to try something new ... like sleeping in a Murphy Bed while visiting a friend for 5 days in Sarasota, Florida. They are comfortable as well as practical!
Don't take it personally if the waiter who took your order at a well-respected and popular Florida restaurant walks off the job before he delivers your food. Seems cigarette breaks are extremely important to some people ... however, it would be nice if the replacement wait person would have known that Ed ordered a deviled crab cake sandwich and not a "Gator burger." We did see a "gator" in the pond outside the restaurant window as we waited for our food to be delivered ... hope that Gator burger was shipped in and not freshly caught!
Expect the unexpected ... like a golf score of under 100 for 18 holes .. only the second time in my life I've done that. And it was in Leesburg, Florida, where we spent several lovely days with friends enjoying their hospitality including a trip to the flea market! Ed actually bought something, despite complaining that this was not his "cup of tea."
Just because a restaurant is called a "fish camp," don't be surprised to find hundreds of stuffed exotic animals gracing the ceiling, walls and various platforms placed throughout the establishment. There was a lot of fish on the menu, and one room was heavily decorated with painted wall plates (as in dishes) with fish on them, but the rest of the place was filled with lions and tigers and bears .. oh my! Along with snakes, giraffes, bison, deer, antelope, monkeys, etc., etc. I do have to say it was a bit unnerving staring up at the undersides of a number of male animals (all anatomically correct!) while you ate ... makes Red Lobster seem very tame by comparison.
Always have a flashlight with you when you travel ... even if it's just an app on your smartphone! It came in handy when we had dinner at The Olde Pink House in Savannah, GA, and the bar/eating area we were in was so dark I needed to turn on my cell phone flashlight to read the menu. I was a little embarrassed and was trying to do a quick "read and run" when I noticed the young woman sitting next to me doing the same thing ... ahh, technology! The dinner was delicious and the ambience wonderfully romantic ... and I continue to believe it was Ed who put his hand on my thigh during dinner and not the guy at the table next to me!
Mistletoe is a parasite that attaches itself to a host tree and grows wild in the south. Very interesting to see and once it was pointed out to us, we spent a lot of time identifying it as we drove the southern roads. Additional lesson learned: the driver should not be the person scanning the treelines looking for this growth .. especially when driving 70 mph on the Interstate in Florida!
Never assume that you've heard it all until you overhear a trucker in a truckstop in Mississippi talking on his cell phone to his "beautiful baby boy!" For the entire restaurant to hear, he acknowledged that he was happy his son was heading home for a visit and that Baby Boy would probably arrive before Daddy did, based on their geographical coordinates at that moment. So, Daddy advised Baby Boy ... "you'd best call ahead to your momma and let her know you're comin'. Otherwise, she's liable to get out her gun and shoot you since it's been so dang long since you've been home."
We loved our vacation and we are so glad to be home. And, yes, I did call ahead and let my Momma know we were comin'!
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
On The Road Again
I know it's been a long time since I've blogged. My excuse? I returned to work part-time on Jan 3. So noooooo time to blog.
I'm on temporary hiatus from work as we spend 2 weeks on the road to and from Florida doing what retirees do. Which, as far as I can tell, is not much more than eat, drink and spend money. And what, I ask you, is wrong with that picture? Not a thing.
Today.
5:15 a.m. Left home. I had slept NOT ONE wink all night and that is no lie. I've always been like a little kid when it comes to anticipating something fun in my life. Sleep is secondary to the anticipation. Apparently, Florida qualifies.
So, Monday night, in bed at 10.
At 11, wide awake and my mind repeating over and over the words of the Rosary, with no real meaning attached to them. At that point, I got up and went downstairs to play cards on the computer until midnight. If you can't pray, play.
Back upstairs to bed at midnight.
In our dining room on the main level, we have a Westminster Schoolhouse clock. Chimes every 15 minutes. It's downstairs. Our bedroom is upstairs. I'm partially deaf in both ears. Didn't matter. I heard the chimes every 15 minutes. At 1:00 a.m.,I was praying to every dead person I knew to help me fall asleep. By 2:45 a.m.,I was praying to the same people to keep me awake. After all, we were planning to leave shortly after 5 a.m., so falling asleep at 3 wasn't a good idea. My second set of prayers was answered. At 3:15 a.m.,I got up.
Background: Ed had prostate cancer surgery 11 months ago. It left him with an overactive bladder. Or so he says. We were on the road for 4 hours this morning when I finally asked him if we could stop so I could go to the bathroom. He agreed,p since he was hungry ... apparently, his bladder was just fine.
What we discovered was that there aren't many restaurants or rest stops on the road in Iowa (friends had advised us to go via Chicago if we wanted to eat ... but did we believe them? No, no, buckaroo!)
Ed finally pulled into a "Go America" on the Iowa turnpike. I didn't really want or need ALL of America to GO with me, but at that point I didn't care. We were hoping for food as well, but, apart from some overfried chicken under a warming light (and heavily advertised free oatmeal on Tuesdays), there wasn't much to choose from. We left ... sure there would be a Perkins right down the road. Wrong.
200 miles down the road, we finally found a little family restaurant that served a great breakfast. Best "extra crispy" bacon I've ever had. Apart from the guy with the mullet who came walking through, we were pretty sure we had died and gone to Heaven!
Tonight, we are in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, at a comfy Hampton Inn. Right next door is an Outback restaurant where we had a delightful filet mignon and shrimp dinner to celebrate Valentime's Day. Ed is asleep in the bed next to me and I am celebrating the most romantic night of the year by writing to all of you. 46 years of marriage will do that to you.
Tomorrow, we head to Biloxi, Mississippi, and a night at the Beau Rivage casino. More to follow.
I'm on temporary hiatus from work as we spend 2 weeks on the road to and from Florida doing what retirees do. Which, as far as I can tell, is not much more than eat, drink and spend money. And what, I ask you, is wrong with that picture? Not a thing.
Today.
5:15 a.m. Left home. I had slept NOT ONE wink all night and that is no lie. I've always been like a little kid when it comes to anticipating something fun in my life. Sleep is secondary to the anticipation. Apparently, Florida qualifies.
So, Monday night, in bed at 10.
At 11, wide awake and my mind repeating over and over the words of the Rosary, with no real meaning attached to them. At that point, I got up and went downstairs to play cards on the computer until midnight. If you can't pray, play.
Back upstairs to bed at midnight.
In our dining room on the main level, we have a Westminster Schoolhouse clock. Chimes every 15 minutes. It's downstairs. Our bedroom is upstairs. I'm partially deaf in both ears. Didn't matter. I heard the chimes every 15 minutes. At 1:00 a.m.,I was praying to every dead person I knew to help me fall asleep. By 2:45 a.m.,I was praying to the same people to keep me awake. After all, we were planning to leave shortly after 5 a.m., so falling asleep at 3 wasn't a good idea. My second set of prayers was answered. At 3:15 a.m.,I got up.
Background: Ed had prostate cancer surgery 11 months ago. It left him with an overactive bladder. Or so he says. We were on the road for 4 hours this morning when I finally asked him if we could stop so I could go to the bathroom. He agreed,p since he was hungry ... apparently, his bladder was just fine.
What we discovered was that there aren't many restaurants or rest stops on the road in Iowa (friends had advised us to go via Chicago if we wanted to eat ... but did we believe them? No, no, buckaroo!)
Ed finally pulled into a "Go America" on the Iowa turnpike. I didn't really want or need ALL of America to GO with me, but at that point I didn't care. We were hoping for food as well, but, apart from some overfried chicken under a warming light (and heavily advertised free oatmeal on Tuesdays), there wasn't much to choose from. We left ... sure there would be a Perkins right down the road. Wrong.
200 miles down the road, we finally found a little family restaurant that served a great breakfast. Best "extra crispy" bacon I've ever had. Apart from the guy with the mullet who came walking through, we were pretty sure we had died and gone to Heaven!
Tonight, we are in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, at a comfy Hampton Inn. Right next door is an Outback restaurant where we had a delightful filet mignon and shrimp dinner to celebrate Valentime's Day. Ed is asleep in the bed next to me and I am celebrating the most romantic night of the year by writing to all of you. 46 years of marriage will do that to you.
Tomorrow, we head to Biloxi, Mississippi, and a night at the Beau Rivage casino. More to follow.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Reflections on the Times
I was enchanted with the Directors' Notes written in the program. Rebecca Rizzio directed the play and wrote the notes. She is a very talented young woman, so I was surprised to find her notes providing a very adept summary of the highlights of the last 50 years, in context with counting our blessings. I love sharing good writing with you, so I requested and received permission from Rebecca and Lyric Arts to reproduce them here in their entirety. Her words, which seemed to reflect the experiences of my lifetime in just a few short paragraphs, grabbed my soul.
I hope they resonate with you as they did with me. By the way, if you live in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area and you haven't caught a production at the Lyric Arts Theater, you might want to check out their upcoming productions (plays AND live music concerts) listed on their website.
Also, in today's edition of the Minneapolis Tribune is a great article on the theater and its venturing into the live music venue. As one patron commented, "Thank you so much for giving us a place (in the northern suburbs) to see live music."
And, now, Rebecca Rizio's thoughts on counting our blessings.
"As we find ourselves in the uncertainty of 2011, it is perhaps easy to forget that we live in never-ending uncertainty. The Great Depression. The unrest of the 1960's. The Cold War. Vietnam. And, World War II, during which Irving Berlin wrote the immediately-identifiable song, 'White Christmas.'
"It has been nearly 60 years since America first heard that song. Since then, we have watched Elvis and the Beatles perform on the Ed Sullivan Show. We have witnessed the assassination of one president and the resignation of another. We celebrated the birth of Little Ricky and mourned the passing of Lucy. We have built homes with Habitat for Humanity and have seen them tragically destroyed by Hurricanes Andrew and Katrina. We watched Michael J. Fox go from high school Republican, to time traveler, to advocate. We experienced a miracle on ice and a disaster on Wall Street We became Tweeters; we became green. We spent our mornings with Katie and Matt and our late nights with Johnny and Uncle Miltie. We have sent forth our troops and welcomed them back home. We have been rocked by disease and inspired by those who fight it. We watched as Neil Armstrong took his first step and as Christa McAuliffe took her last breath. We saw terror rise; we saw towers fall.
"Throughout it all, we live our lives - searching for our purpose, our place. Never knowing truly when or if we find it. Never completely understanding our impact. Mostly oblivious to our blessings but sometimes very aware of them. Tonight, Irving Berlin asks us to count them. Little is certain. But the one thing that is certain is this moment, this blessing. So, take it. And, may it be merry and bright ...."Thank you, Rebecca. Your words are a blessing.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)