Category Archives: Leisure Moments

Guest Post – Midlife Motorcycle Fun, Part I……

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Introduction to Guest Post: Margaret, my husband’s first cousin, recently took a step that definitely falls into the category of pursuing a personal goal as a part of midlife fun. It is such a delightful story that I divided it into two parts. The following post is hers and Part II will be tomorrow.

Margaret and Bob on a Ferry with their motocycles

Many of my friends think I have gone crazy.  Some think I have done a very cool thing.  But all will agree I am living my life the way I want to.  Why do they say this?  At the age of 58 I decided to buy a Harley Davidson Sportster motorcycle and ride with my husband on his HD Road King Classic.

I started riding on the back of bikes when I was 16 years old. My high school boyfriend had a Triumph motorcycle. I jumped on the back and never looked back. I will never understand why my parents let me do this. From then on, I rode bikes off and on through my college years and after but always as the passenger. In the early 80’s my father bought a Harley Davidson Sturgis. Although I didn’t live at home, I went home as often as possible to ride with him.

When I meet my husband, Bob, he was riding a Suzuki. We enjoyed riding together both in MA and when we moved to VA, but when we had children, quite frankly my attitude changed, as you might imagine. Bob promised to stop riding until the children were on their own. Last year, with the children finally grown, he started riding again and once again I jumped on the back. I very much enjoyed riding with him and it never occurred to me that I could also learn to drive a motorcycle.

Bob encouraged me to take the Motorcycle Safety Class and I began thinking it would make me a safer passenger. I thought it would be good for me to be able to get the bike home if I had to, too. The more I thought about the class the more I began to think I just might want to ride my own bike.

The class was a three-day session that started in June on a Monday. The Harley Davidson dealer in Portsmouth, VA sponsored the class. I live in Virginia Beach, VA and anyone familiar with the location knows that you can’t get from Virginia Beach to Portsmouth with crossing water.  Since the class began at 6:30 PM, I had to cross the bridge and tunnel at the height of rush hour traffic. The rules of the class require that you arrive 15 minutes early or forfeit your place so I found myself on the road at 4 PM.

The first day of class was just classroom work. We learned basic information about motorcycles and the rules of the road. I was surprised to find there were 5 men and 5 women in the class. (4 women and one young girl about 19 years old)  The level of experience was varied. Four of the men had been riding all their lives. One was a new rider. All of them took the class in order to be able to ride their bikes on the military bases here in Tidewater. The military has a strict rule requiring completion of a certified motorcycle safety course in order to operate on base.

None of the women had every driven a bike but, like me, had always been passengers.  The young girl it turns out didn’t even know how to ride a bicycle and had never driven a car with a manual transmission!

I was very confident that I would do well in the class. It never occurred to me that I wouldn’t get my license at the end of the class. The second day of class, we had to be there at 6:30 am.  Again traffic was an issue and I again made sure I arrived early. I was very eager to being the riding portion of the class. I had my required helmet, gloves, glasses and long sleeved jacket. It didn’t matter how hot it would get, the class required that you wear long sleeves for protection.

We were assigned a bike at the beginning of class. Bikes are provided for the class.  Which is good, considering most of us had never driven a bike. My bike was a silver Honda with only one mirror and a large dent in the tank. I wondered what had befallen this bike prior to my taking the class. Whatever had happen to it, I was determined that I wouldn’t be the one to add any more dings or dents!

Still very confident, we walked the bikes to the area where the riding would begin.  There were a few raindrops but there was no forecast for rain until late afternoon, so no one worried. Bob had made me take his rain gear and a change of clothes. He knew, as I had been told, that the class would go on, rain or shine. We started our bikes and begin learning how to control the clutch and throttle. I found this easy but the young girl in class has already dropped the bike and it wasn’t looking good for her.

We had been riding in circles for about 30 minutes when it started raining.  Everyone thought it would pass quickly. WRONG!  It rained in earnest from 7am to 12pm. The entire time we were riding. Class is not canceled because of rain. Around 10pm the instructor let us go and put on our rain gear, if we had it. I was soaked but it seemed like a good idea. I found out later that it did not rain anywhere in the area except in Portsmouth!

I was very proud of my riding skills that day.The instructors thought I had ridden before.  I was so excited to be riding. I knew at this point I wanted to see if I really could develop the skills to ride on my own. I mean, if I can do well in the poring rain, how hard can the rest of the course be?

Come Back Tomorrow for Part II of more of Margaret’s motorcycle adventure….

Debates About Grilling Burgers……

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Alert if I have vegetarians who follow the blog – this is a distinctly carnivorous post. This is one of the few Memorial Days when we didn’t grill burgers because we decided to go diving that day and we wound up having an early seafood dinner in Key Largo. However, we got into a discussion later about grilling burgers. My husband is a gas grill guy and a good friend still prefers the classic approach of charcoal. That is such a personal choice that there really is no question – you aren’t likely to convert gas to charcoal or vice-versa. Nor is seasoning an issue. We have a nice blend that we use – and a spicier version for those like us that prefer a bit of a “kick”. How big to make the burgers though and the correct mix of fat to lean were the real questions. Now, as much as I totally love a nice, thick burger, the problem with doing them by hand is size. You’re going to get a certain amount of circumferance shrinking and if you’re not careful, you have something more resembling a big meatball instead of a patty. On the other hand, if you pat them too thin, they cook faster than you want and don’t get all that “grilled flavor”. We haven’t tried it yet, but one of the cooking shows said that if you put a deep thumbprint in the center of the patty, that will help keep it from becoming a “ball”. We may give that a try next time and we’re open to other suggestions. Well, the “we” is husband since like many women, I have aquiesed to the concept that women don’t grill. (I acknowledge that is a terrible habit on my part.)

As to fat to lean ratio, we have long used 97% lean beef or even buffalo for our ground beef dishes, but burgers are the exception. The reality is that in order to get that juicy burger, you need to have no less than 90% lean and I can be talked into 85%. There truly is a difference in the taste and the really lean beef just doesn’t work well for a burger. Now, we do use buffalo sometimes to achieve the leanest type and still have an excellant flavor.

So okay, burger lovers out there – any thoughts on this?

Pool Ponderings……

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             For those who may not know the true statistics, adding a pool to your home does not normally give you a Return on Your Investment (ROI) unless you are in one of those neighborhoods where it is expected that you will have a pool. There is a mix in our area and what it comes down to is that someone who doesn’t care about a pool isn’t going to pay extra for one, but somone who wants a pool will specify that when looking at houses. In our case, we put in a pool and hot tub for our own enjoyment, so while getting an ROI would be nice, that wasn’t the primary point.

This has been our first time to have a pool and it does come with some interesting lessons. The first being that in this particular location, the limited size of the yards means a small pool and it can’t be deeper than five feet. Say what? Yep – it has to do with a number of factors that we weren’t aware of. It was a mild disappointment, but hey, if you’re swimming/floating on top, it doesn’t really matter. Our next decision was about the wonderful soft chlorination system that is now available and that is a special option that allows you to use salt instead of chemicals for the pool. It is not a saltwater pool, but there is a slight salt taste as the chlorine is drawn from the salt that you dump in. There is no harsh smell or itchy eyes from heavy chlorine and you use very few other chemicals to keep the water in balance. We recommend this to anyone considering a pool.

However, one of the things that we didn’t know was that a pool has to be re-surfaced every 6-10 years and yikes, we just had to have that done. Hopefully that will carry us through until we sell this place and make the next move. Interestingly, when we put the pool in, the salesman actually suggested that we not heat it. He explained that a heater was not expensive to retrofit and that many people didn’t use their pool in the winter even if it was heated. As it turned out, we went the first year without a heater, then added one, although I admit that we don’t usually get into the pool in Jan & Feb, but do use it March through early December.

Between the problem that led to the pool being resurfaced and the time that took, it has been out of commission for the past few weeks, but it is Memorial Day weekend and a pool workout this morning seemed like the right thing to do. It was pleasant and at least I didn’t have to fish frogs out of it today. The creatures that get into a pool are the subject of another post though.

Cherry Blossoms, Dance, and Old Friends…..

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Dustin and one of the female members of the Bowen-McCauley Dance Company

I haven’t the foggiest notion as to why I get strong tugs of intuition occasionally, although in most cases an actual reason emerges after the fact. That may be the situation here as I sit in my hotel room near National Airport. We (or at least I) try to make one of our son’s dance performances each year. That’s the Bowen McCauley Dance Company (www.bmdc.org) if you’re new to the blog. We usually do the March show or the October/November show and none of those were going to work schedule-wise. The show last night and tonight, a very lively, contemporary production was going to be a conflict, but my schedule loosened up and I was able to get a decent flight. An old friend whom I hadn’t seen in quite some time was available to come to the show with her daughter and then I found the telephone number of another old friend whom I also count as a protégé. She’ll be picking me up for a late lunch and I’ll have a chance to meet her son as well as see how much her daughter has grown.

When I met Dustin for a quick cup of coffee last night between dress rehearsal and costume/make-up call, he said he thinks this may be his personal best performance all year. Who knows, perhaps there was some telepathic link calling out for me to come and see. I meandered around Crystal City underground yesterday and then took a brisk walk this morning. If you have never been to Crystal City in Arlington, VA, it’s quite impressive with shops, restaurants, banks, a post office, hotels, apartment buildings, a performing arts theater now, offices, and a Metro station. There are five or six (maybe more) entrances to this underground village and if you wanted to, you actually could remain underground for days at a time. While I am not an urban living person, if I was forced to be one, this is an area I would consider.

This, however, is a lovely spring weekend when Washington, D.C. is at its finest – pleasant weather, sunny skies and the cherry blossoms in full bloom. The timing is such that I will be having Mother’s Day lunch with Dustin and his wife, Samantha, and that’s the first time I’ve done that in ages. Perhaps that was the real reason I felt an urge to come up.

A Charming Slice of History……

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Cauley Square is an enclave of historic homes converted into shops and restaurants on Highway 1 S (S. Dixie Highway) between Miami and Homesetad, FL

As part of my freelance career, I usually do one or two articles for our weekly local newspaper with my focus on human interest and restaurant reviews. Those two aren’t actually as dissimilar as they may seem because what I look for is the story behind the restaurant with the food in a supporting role. Although the town and surrounding area has grown considerably in the past ten years (caught in the housing bubble burst, but grown nonetheless), there are still small-town elements that are appealing to we non-city dwellers. With that said, the town is coming up on our centennial celebration (if I have any readers from places like Williamsburg, Philadelphia and Boston, you can quit snickering now), and so I’ve been out gathering stories from residents about families and places of historical interest. Again, for those of us who have strolled the streets of Paris, London, Rome, etc., a hundred years of history is a blink of an eye, but it is a fun project for me.

The other day I was sent to Cauley Square, a charming enclave of shops and restaurants set within ten acres of beautifully landscaped grounds. It’s origins began in 1903 with a railroad siding where a wealthy farmer (William Cauley) literally created a village to support shipping operations for his produce. According to the stories, it wasn’t charming back then and a series of events caused it to fall into decline until the county planned to demolish it. Mary Anne Ballard, a woman who had built her own Interior Design business, and was an advocate for the arts and history, stepped in and purchased the property. In addition to saving the original two-story stone building, she had the idea of gathering a number of the wooden houses that had been hand-built by early families and converting those into shops and a restaurant.

She did that with great success and worked to get Cauley Square declared as a Historical Site. After her death, however, financial problems loomed, and now comes a delightful development. Frances Varela, a woman who came from Honduras 42 years ago, spent her life in construction. She grew to love the area so much that she decided to buy all of Cauley Square and spent ten years making it even better than it was. There are 25 structures, mostly these old houses that are now shops, with two restaurants and a pleasant outdoor Latin Cafe. Frances made certain that the sidewalks were wide enough for wheelchairs and it is truly a lovely place to meander. I take visitors there all the time and I loved hearing how two women from completely different backgrounds were the ones who created and have kept the place going.

Cauley Square is on Highway 1 (South Dixie Highway), en route to Homestead and the Florida Keys. That’s Cauley Square at 22400 Old Dixie Highway, Tel: (305) 258-3543; www.cauleysquare.com

Blustery Florida….

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One of the points about living in South Florida is that you expect to have visitors in the winter time. However, despite the fact that we mostly have beautiful warm winter weather, that is average – not every single day. We get brief cold snaps and sometime overcast rainy days, and then there is the wind. None of these last long, but if a visit is only a day or two in length, it does cause a change of plans.

Family is headed our way tomorrow and our intent of snorkeling is looking a bit dicey. The temperature is fine and plenty of sunshine, but with the wind blowing up to 30 knots, that really doesn’t bode well for being out on the reef. There is a chance for the winds to come down, but we have alternative plans in-pocket just in case.

Since only in-water activities are affected, we can still take advantage of several outdoor things. I’m not certain that we’ll take a day trip to Key West, but down to Islamorada for lunch at Zane Gray’s is always fun. If we don’t launch too late, we can swing into the History of Diving Museum with their wonderful displays. (I’ll highlight the museum in another post.) I’ll check to see how our visitors feel about wild birds because the Wild Bird Center on the far end of Key Largo is another choice. I don’t know if they have ever seen a Wyland wall, but that’s another definite stop, although it’s actually a Wyland building. When the artist Wyland purchased a home in the Keys, he selected a building in Key Largo that did need to have the mural re-painted. An entire building by Wyland was certainly a bit more than most people expected and it’s a great photo opportunity.

Heading west to Everglades City is another favorite of ours or we might stay closer and pop out to the Everglades National Park to stroll the trail where we’ll probably see alligators and lots of birds. If the company was a bit younger, we would suggest the zoo which is a really nice zoo, but not everyone is into it. South Beach is of course an option that we save for company. The Art Deco area is fun if you haven’t seen it and we’ve learned to mostly time the in and out to avoid the worst traffic.

While I really was looking forward to getting back into the water (it’s been almost two months for me), we may have to do topside activities instead. Fortunately, the hot tub is not affected by wind, so an afternoon sitting in the hot tub sipping favorite beverages watching the colors fade to sunset is in no danger.

 

Women and Cars…..

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Restored 1968 Plymouth Barracuda

This is a post for women who might enjoy cars, but aren’t really vocal about it – sort of a companion piece to the previous one about NASCAR. Two weeks ago, there was a local classic car show with a mix of classics, today’s cars, and motorcycles, all in a great setting by Biscayne Bay on a beautiful day. Unfortunately, my husband had to work, but some friends were in town, so off we went. I was covering the piece for the weekly paper, and once again, I wished that I was a better photographer, but I did get a few good shots. There were 200 cars and trucks in addition to about 60 motorcycles. I’m not sure how old the oldest one was, but there was a pristine 1941 luxury Chrysler sedan. The mix of vehicles from the different decades, to include today’s muscle cars, would have made a Hollywood prop master proud.

Not all the vehicles had people close by, but there was a couple near the 1968 Barracuda, and as I chatted with them, there was no question as to whose car it was – hers! She rattled off the stats and cheerfully answered questions as to where they’d found it and the four years that it took to restore it. Her husband nodded, throwing in a comment occasionally, and at one point explained that he did most of the work, but it was her car from Day One. They were a delightful couple to speak with and as we meandered through the displays, it was obvious that a number of women as well as men were admiring the offerings.

From my own experience, I admit that I have at times bought cars for more than simply the purpose of transportation. I will also admit that when you own a convertible, you might be surprised at how seldom you put the top down. By the way, when you have long hair, it doesn’t actually flow prettily behind you. It whips around and stings your cheek, so a braid is a good idea. I can’t be called a true car enthusiast though because when we lived in Germany with the Autobahn available, I rarely took it over 90, and usually kept it at 80 while others blasted past me. I just wasn’t comfortable driving in that 100+ range. So, for all those women out there who do love your cars (even if you’re currently driving something totally practical) – have a great weekend.

Ford Pickup (not sure of the year)

NASCAR May Be More Fun Than You Think…..

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A view of a NASCAR race. (Image from a Free NASCAR Images site)

I had said that this post was going to delve deeper into the topic of lying, but having two back-to-back “heavy” posts is a bit of an emotional strain. And it is Daytona Sunday. If you’re a NASCAR fan, you know what that means, so let me take a few minutes for those who know little or nothing of NASCAR

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) has moved well beyond its original roots, but is still somewhat of a mystery (or source of derision) for people who have never watched a race with someone who actually understands what is going on. Quite frankly, that’s not much different than a lot of other sports. I mean really, how can one appreciate a hockey game without a fan explaining the intricacies?

My husband, being from Georgia, was of course a racing fan, but as he moved around in the Army to a number of places with coverage of only perhaps Formula One racing, it was less of a priority for him. Our relocation to South Florida to where we are practically in the backyard of a Speedway, the subsequent link between scuba diving and a couple of fairly recognizable names in racing, and a friend who is involved in a small racing circuit changed all that. My husband’s love for racing was re-ignited and I have been drawn into the circle by association.

Don’t get me wrong – I tried six hours at a race a while back and that’s a bit more than I can deal with. However, I now treat racing as I do football. I can sit comfortably with a book as a race is on and share that experience with my husband. I have come to greatly appreciate the incredible number of facets of the sport – the layered engineering aspects, the sheer skill of drivers who, at nearly 200 miles per hour, can win or crash by thousandths of seconds – the passion of drivers who often start at a young age with Go Karts. I have actually gotten to the point that when my husband has to work during a race, I will record the race for him, but if there’s nothing else on television that I want to watch, I’ll have the race on TV, wander by as I am doing other things, and keep an eye out for the big incidents that inevitably occur during a race. Yeah, I know – who would have thought?

So, if you have a friend or relative who is a big NASCAR fan, and you think, “Why do I want to watch a bunch of noisy cars going around in a circle?”, you might consider sitting down with that fan during a race and genuinely listening to what goes on.You could very well be surprised at what you learn. Oh, Daytona Sunday for those that don’t know. It’s the official start of the NASCAR Sprint Cup season that goes all the way to November. Even though there is a race almost every week of the season, specifically winning the Daytona 500 race is the dream of every driver within the sport. It is a very big deal.

Jimmy, One More Time…..

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It has actually been less than a year since the last Florida Jimmy Buffett concert, but that’s just fine. For those who have never attended a Jimmy Buffett concert, let me explain that it is concert only by definition – in reality it is a shared experience. Tailgate parties begin at whatever point the designated venue allows it. Many a vehicle sports decorations and I’m not just talking about a couple of slogans in washable paint. Cut outs of sharks, giant inflatable cheeseburgers, and a wide variety of tropical themed items are all to be seen. As for attendees, that can be even more creative than what you see on the vehicles. I have to admit though, that for all the men in grass skirts and coconut bras we’ve seen, last night was the first time we saw a guy dressed up as a flamingo. Very pink by the way – lawn ornament pink and it was definitely creative. The hats are terrific though and one of these days I really am going to get my husband a straw one and decorate it with parrots, sharks, and so forth – all acceptable Parrothead accoutrements. Parrothead? Yes, the most widely used term for a true Buffet fan.

Jimmy and the Coral Reefer band have now been touring to where they have two, and sometimes, three generations of fans in the audience and last night was no exception. Jimmy has cut back some on his tour dates and each time we go to a concert we understand that there might not be many more. As he says, they have the greatest job in the world and part of what makes Jimmy so memorable is the sheer affection for the fans he and the band display. For the two+ hours of each concert, it is cheering, clapping, dancing at your seat, lip syncing and/or singing out the lyrics. This year’s tour includes many of his really old songs, and as he has said in interviews, there are just certain ones that he must play. From ballads such as “Son of a Sailor” to the whimsy of, “A Pencil Thin Moustache”, we left, as always, glad that we’d had the chance to see Jimmy perform one more time. Here’s hoping that it doesn’t stop anytime soon.

Time in St Croix……..

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Yes, I have had a few days lapse in posting. The short time we had between the Georgia trip and heading to St Croix was jammed with planned and unanticipated obligations. With that said, I will be doing three posts about St Criox – this one as a general discussion of the island, then one devoted to the diving and the other to beach bars and other dining options.

By way of background, my husband and I first visited St Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands in Nov 1999 sort of by accident. We had a time share exchange and wanted to go back to St Martin, but no units were available. I asked about other islands and the agent I was talking to said that no, but St Croix was open and the resort in the book showed on-site scuba diving. Okay, that worked for us. To make what would be an otherwise very lengthy post shorter, we quickly fell in love with the island. And yes, when most people hear “USVI”, they think St Thomas because that’s where the vast number of cruise ships stop. St Croix is actually larger than St Thomas and if you must have a Hyatt, Marriott, etc., to stay in and can only shop somewhere like Saks, then you do need to go to St Thomas. If, on the other hand, you want a beautiful island with small hotels and resorts, great scuba diving and excellant restaurants without jammed crowds, then St Croix is probably your kind of place. There are three “anchor resorts”; the famous Bucanneer on East End where celebrities tend to stay, the Divi Resort and Casino (only current casino on the island), and Carambola on North Shore at Davis Bay, a beautiful place that keeps changing hands. There are lots of condo complexes as well and villas and houses for rent, so it depends on what you need. Some of the hotels are laid back to the point that they don’t have telephones. There are essentially two towns; Christiansted with the harbor and Fredericksted on the West Side where the cruise ships dock. North Shore has a few accommodations in addition to Carmbola, several restaurants, and plenty of outdoor activity.

The island has a history of multiple owners, to include a strong Danish heritage and even a short while with the Knights of Malta. That means you have a mix of architecture and the walking tour of Christiansted is quite pleasant as is the smaller fort and refurbished waterfront of Fredericksted. The botanical garden is nicely arranged and if you are in the market for art, you have as many mediums to choose from as you are likely to want. There is no shortage of jewelry either and you won’t lack for other types of souvenirs.

Watersports and beaches dominate, although there are hikes, aerial and vehicle tours, and beautiful topography of foliage-covered moutains that sweep to the sea. There are virtually no waterfalls though and the peaks are not as towering as you find on islands in the Pacific. Direct flights from New York, Miami, Atlanta don’t take long and if you route through San Juan, those hourly flights are about 30 minutes in length.

In reality, St Croix is intended for one thing – to relax. There is not what one would call a glittering night life unless you count the wonderful view of stars as you step outside. This is a place of nice beaches, water in multiple shades of blue, palm trees and flowering tropical plants, mongoose that dart about, humingbirds that flit among  butterflies. If you want the scenes woven into short stories, pop over to my web site and read A Ghecko in an Umbrella or Running Yellow Lights.

Underwater is as lovely as topside and that will be the subject of my next post.