Sister's Birthday

We celebrated on September 28 -- her actual birthday -- while we were visiting the Chesapeake Bay area.  Hubby and I planned as our gift to Wendy a high tea / luncheon at 3:30 in the afternoon.

We just downloaded the pictures from our camera -- because Hubby has simply been too worn out and sick from the Congestive Heart Failure to figure out the download process (he know how to download but I could never find the pictures once they had been put on the computer).  This afternoon, after we had a really nice morning of dog walking and health spa joining and some minimal Thanksgiving prep (ham baking and freezer clean-out), he was able to access the pictures and put them on my desktop.  So, here is one of the more fun things we did when we traveled to Virginia and Maryland this autumn.

Hubby and his little sister -- we are ready to set out for high tea

The tea was held at Reynold's Tavern in downtown Annapolis -- almost directly across from the naval school.  The tavern was built in 1747 -- 30 years before the Revolutionary War.  In 1935 the plan was to turn the space into a filling station, but instead the citizens of Annapolis decided to save the building and use it as a library.  In 1984, when the library needed bigger space, the tavern was leased to Historic Inns of Annapolis, a private company, who restored it to its original purpose.  The first floor tea rooms are very much like the original rooms of the tavern and upstairs are two suites and a bedroom for rent.  There is a cellar pub in the original kitchen and during the warm(er) weather, a courtyard for al fresco dining. 

Reynolds Tavern, Annapolis, Maryland

Tea Room on 1st floor

Each tea plate and cup was different

Tea has been served -- flowering tea for Wendy and a Hawaiian blend for me -- in the green pot. 

Quiche is the first course

Wendy, Hubby and Me -- we were having an "experience" and a really good time. 

Hubby did not partake of the tea goodies, but instead had a lovely chicken salad sandwich

Wendy after the tea back at the beach house

Big Brother and Little Sister -- we had had a lovely afternoon and now it was back to the beach house for a round of Heaerts. 

Hubby and me

We highly recommend the tea at Reynolds Tavern if you ever are in the area.  It was a lovely experience, cost less than I had imagined (not cheap but not budget busting either) and even Hubby had a nice time.  Plus, the location is right on the bay.  What more could you want? 

Wendy and me -- the beach house is on the right and yes! behind us is the view from the house -- the white pickets on the far right  frame the back porch where we sat every afternoon / evening.  Isn't this one of the loveliest spots on earth?

Sticker Shock

We got home on Friday from our trip to the Northeast. The two things that shocked us the most:

1. The heat was incredible. Two years ago we could sit on the deck and enjoy the bay. This trip -- not at all. The beach house is big and the back part where our room was did not cool sufficiently to our frigid likes (everyone else in the house -- and yes, there were other people there which was rather a disappointment to us -- thought the house was chilly most of the time). Because of the heat we simply didn't get to do all the things we had planned.

2. Gas prices have more than doubled since our last trip. Hubby fills the tank so I don't get the sticker shock during the year, but I had saved the receipts from the last trip so I knew how much we spent on gas from two years ago. We more than doubled that cost. The entire trip, just for gas, cost us $590.70 -- now that's hefty! Two years ago we could fill the tank for around $25 (same car size). This year we had a couple of tanks that only cost $45 -- but if we had let the tank empty we never saw a bill under $55.

But we're home safe -- and the heat here is also incredible. It's just that our little house has a huge AC and we keep it set at around 76 on the high heat days -- so we're feeling a lot more comfortable than we did in Maryland. Sometimes the purpose of a vacation is to make one glad to get home.

For the Next Two Weeks

Hubby on the deck of the beach house, 2009, Chesapeake Bay beyond the gate.

Computer Ease

I love the convenience my Internet service provides. So many things are done more quickly and with less stress on my part. I used to hate bill paying -- writing the checks, balancing the checkbook, finding the envelops and addresses and stamps. Now I click and click and all I need do is remember passwords. I LOVE IT.

Finally, when the water company got on board, I have been able to pay every single one of my bills automatically. No wonder the post office is going broke.

And speaking of which, I just put a hold on my mail for the duration of our trip by going to:

mail.usps.com

and doing a search on "hold mail." A slick little form came up, I filled it in, and bingo! Even got a confirmation # that my mail for this address is now on hold. How easy was that? I used to have to stand in an interminable line just to turn in a form.

Since I now subscribe to the daily local paper through my Kindle, no need to put a hold on that delivery. Seems if I can get motivated to pack, we actually will be ready to leave town tomorrow morning. If only there was an application on the web that would coordinate the clothes and dog accoutrements and pack them neatly. Oh! and pick up and pay for the rental car. We always rent for long trips since we drive very, very, very old heaps that cost little to no money to purchase (only to upkeep). However, traveling in a big luxury car (we go Lincolns now that Cadillacs have become so small only sporty people fit in them) is a wonderful treat (all those toys to play with on the long highway straights).

PS -- I'm taking the Mac laptop but I doubt that I will have any Internet access at the beach house -- it's owned by a 89 year old gentleman who has never touched a computer in his life. This blog will lie fallow for the next two weeks. Hope you all have a grand 4th and a cool, breezy (and rain free -- we've got enough flooding in the Midwest) two weeks. See ya soon. Chesapeake Bay here we come! Yippee!!!!

The Pizza's On Order and We're Home Again

We just called Waldo Pizza for the yummiest veggie pizza in the world -- and though it will take 95 minutes to get here we know it's worth the wait. We also just pulled into the driveway from a Thanksgiving holiday in Branson -- and man! did we have fun!

We left Wednesday morning pretty early (before 9 a.m.) and stopped at IHop for some festive pancakes before hitting Highway 71. The road trip to Branson was uneventful and we arrived around before 1 p.m. Checked into our motel -- a new one for us called The Windmill -- and found our pet-friendly room. We liked the motel quite a lot and will stay there again. Then we picked up our tickets for the three shows we decided to see and went and found an A&W Root Beer joint in the outlet mall where we were spying out Black Friday bargains and had a super dog with suds.

After a little nap (I seem to need naps nearly every day) we drove over to the Osmonds Theater where we had dinner with Maurice, the lead Osmond singer. Well, actually we had the dinner and he showed up to cage a couple of dinner roles. The meal was surprisingly good and Hubby really lapped up the beef tips, chicken, baked potato and fixings. We watched a video of the Osmonds' lives though dinner which we thoroughly enjoyed. My dad had loved the Osmond Brothers on the Andy Williams show in the early '60's so it was a trip down nostalgia lane for me. The show which began at 8 p.m. was the best of the trip -- clearly the Osmonds have become a world class act and know how to reach out to their audience. Their voices, like Andy Williams himself, are not the best anymore but their harmonies are still top notch and they put on a super delightful show. For the last three years they have been touring so this is their first time back in Branson for a Christmas show.

Thanksgiving Day in Branson is shopping time. Almost all the mini-malls are open and one of the Outlet Malls opens at noon. We had a little turkey buffet and did a lot of shopping, especially at the dollar stores. We filled the trunk with little Christmas stocking stuffers for my kids at school. Also I bought a red suit at my favorite store.

That evening we took in the relatively new show Pierce Arrow. It was okay but kind of fulfilled the Branson stereotype of "redneck" entertainment. The music was fair but the comedy, which it's known for, is geared to the conservative hick living in Missouri and though Hubby managed to laugh, mostly I felt insulted.

Friday we hit the other Outlet Mall and I got some wonderful Christmas presents for the sister-in-law in Houston -- and her brother. Plus I bought a Christmas present for me to have Hubby give me on Christmas Day. We did a 3 p.m. show called the Spirit of Christmas which I had wanted to see for three years and it was AWFUL! Taped singing, poor dancing -- just bad. So we left at intermission and ambled out to the Target which Hubby wanted to shop at -- while I did the Dollar Tree and got 26 items at a buck each for my classroom.

Saturday we got up at 8, pack up and ambled down 65 to the Osage Beach Outlet Mall -- because clearly we had NOT done enough shopping. We had rented a Grand Marquis (full size luxury car) for the trip -- and by the time we were driving out of Osage Beach to go home, the trunk of the car was overflowing into the backseat and the dogs were balancing on several big boxes.

It was a great holiday and a wonderful respite from the daily grind. And the Houston crowd is going to have the BESTEST Christmas EVER! Really!

A Fabulous Vacation

Two weeks ago we were sitting on the deck of a private home in Annapolis, directly on the waterfront of Chesapeake Bay watching the sail boats waft homeward to the harbor and the commercial liners chug toward the Atlantic. We had spent the morning touring Washington DC and the afternoon meeting Sister and then driving into Maryland for a week's stay in the most beautiful of homes with it's own private Bay entrance and dock. We had the sole use of the home which has seven bedrooms and multiple baths, a huge kitchen, formal dinning room, formal living room, two sitting rooms, a huge glassed in porch, and an open deck. The setting and the house were simply, absolutely perfect.

Our two day drive to DC was uneventful, the countryside green and lush. Most of the way was along I70 but we hit a stretch of I68 through beautiful historic towns like Cumberland, PA where we snacked on homemade ice cream and enjoyed the historic architecture. The only problem we encountered was one I hadn't anticipated -- Hubby had not informed Sister we were coming so Friday night we needed a motel room in the DC area before we dropped in "unannounced" on his family. You would have to understand the hub's family unit to know why this shouldn't have surprised me . . .but it did.

The problem was NOT finding a room for two -- it was finding a room for two WITH two dogs. One motel wanted a non-refundable deposit of $150 per dog, per night. One thought $75 per dog was reasonable. It took us five hours of driving to finally find a Comfort Inn (in Alexandria -- if you ever need one) that would take the dogs for $10 each if we would stay in a smoking room. We had no problem with the smoking room or the deposit -- but finding all those DC suburbs (and by now it was dark) was NOT fun. Thank god for our little GPS.

The next morning, though, Sister was thrilled to find we were in DC and delighted to let has have the beach house for our stay. We picked up the key and headed to Annapolis where the house is located -- and our vacation continued on without a single hitch.

On Saturday Sister and her husband came to have lunch with us and we offered to go with her to church on Sunday. We learned that her church requires "formal" attire -- meaning long pants for Hubby and a skirt / dress for me -- but a stop at Penney's fixed us both up at fairly reasonable prices, thought I've never worn a Penney's dress in my life, I really like the skirt and matching tee I got there.

Sunday we spent with Sister and her husband, going to church, seeing their business and homes (they have three), and sharing family stories. It was a warm, caring day full of laughter and good memories. Sister, at 90, is still working full time in her own day care business (215 children five days a week) with 32 employees. She and Hubby only reconnected last year -- so lots of family stories were exchanged.

Monday and Tuesday we were on our own. We toured Annapolis and Baltimore on Monday and on Tuesday we headed south and did Mount Vernon and Fredericksburg, VA. Then on Wednesday, Sister and her husband came back to the beach and we sat and visited, had lunch, and visited some more before they departed and we packed the car for an early morning departure for home.

Friday evening we pulled in, tired but replete from a really spectacular ten days on the Eastern seaboard.

Getting Ready to Leave

The suitcases have been brought from the basement. The tees are sorted, the Capri's folded, the shorts and underwear all freshly washed. The bathing suit has been unearthed and the beach towel found. The dog food is packed. The travel maps are bagged and ready.

Wednesday morning we pick up the rental car. We always rent big luxury cars for travel but our mid-town agency threw us a loop when they quit carrying the Lincoln Town Cars. We use to rent Cadillacs but then they got too sporty and low to the ground for arthritic knees and bad backs. We love the Lincolns but this time around we're got a Mercury Marquis. Hubby says it will be big enough. We own a 1991 Lincoln Town Car -- but now that it's nearly 30 years old we don't travel long distances in it. Around town it does just fine -- and Hubby loves it. The 1991's are still not so computerized that you can't "fix" some problems on it yourself.

I'm excited about this vacation. I love road trips. Hubby is not as thrilled as I am to be driving across country but when you travel with two dogs, car travel is really the only way. I like reading about the countryside from the Internet research and the AAA brochures. I love eating in strange little diners. I live to wander through the gas stations and pick up local "snacks." I keep track of license plates and read all the road signs. I like tuning through local radio stations and singing along with the Cd's we've packed. It's fun to spend a night in a strange motel, though sometimes Hubby and I differ on our motel needs. He wants a ground floor room with king size bed but at a very cheap rate. Personally, I can't tolerate cheap motels anymore. I want cleanliness and sheets that fit (and aren't suspect) and floors you aren't afraid to walk barefoot on. We're learning to compromise on motel rooms -- he's agreed that $39 a night rooms just aren't acceptable anymore and I've agreed that we don't spend $100 a night except during holiday season.

So tomorrow we drink the last of the milk, freeze the remaining bread, choose which shoes we absolutely must pack, and count the hours until we leave for Washington, DC. The boys are watching the suitcases with care -- if I put in a toy, Gusie takes it back out. Luie hides it from me. On Wednesday morning though, when they see the suitcases being loaded, they will be the first one to jump into the car, pawing the windows for us to take off. I will be right behind them.

Traveling the Globe

I find, "stumbling" around the web, that I have visited 10 countries (and one of those is my own) in my lifetime so I've seen only 4% of the world. I'd better get a passport.



Here's the link so you can check out how you fare:

World66

Home Sweet Home

We are back from a fabulous Christmas in Houston. Temps there were in the 60's during the day and we wore short sleeves and sandals. Temps in the Heartland hover around 20 and yesterday evening 3 inches of snow fell. Still -- home looks mighty sweet.

We Do the Shows

For Thanksgiving the family met in Branson, MO for a trip we had been planning since the end of July. We saw the shows, we dined, we shopped, and we laughed. It was a marvelous vacation.

Hubby and I had been to Branson pre huge remodel, when the town was a one road village with Silver Dollar City up the mountain road from motel row. That had been fun in the 1970's, just a three hour jaunt from home with pretty scenery and fudge shops for snacks. Then Branson became the #2 (or is it #3) destination vacation spot in the nation -- and we avoided the place like the plague.

Every year, though, I'd see the local ads for the Christmas shows -- Andy Williams, the Rockets, Shoji -- and I'd lust. Country music will never be our thing, but Broadway and good crooning is very entertaining. The Baldnabbers is a definite no but Andy Williams -- well, we grew up with his TV shows.

So, in July we contacted the Houston family and we all agreed on a set of shows we thought we might enjoy, we found a hotel that took the dogs and made the humans happy in the bargain -- and we booked the trip.

Wednesday before Thanksgiving we met around 1 p.m. at the hotel -- the Houston contingent flew in and we rented a car for our drive down through the Ozarks. The weather was rainy but not too cold. That evening we saw Andy Williams -- the best of the shows, actually. The man is 80 years old and still sings moderately well, dances, has a 10 piece orchestra to accompany him and lots of interesting side acts.


Thanksgiving day we shopped -- yes, stores were open -- and saw the 12 Irish Tenors, another good show. We took the Silver Dollar City Trail of Lights tour, the worst of the events, before turning in. Next morning at 7 a.m. we hit the outlet mall sales before seeing two more shows: Manheim Steamroller and Shoji (who happened to be Hubby and my second favorite show). Saturday we saw the Shanghai Acrobats and went to the Branson Belle Steamboat for dinner and another good show. Sunday we came home.

Branson is affordable, highly entertaining, and an all round good vacation spot. We'll be going again.