Category Archives: Travel

Another “Duffel Bag Drag” Trip….

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Well, my trip to Louisiana is not necessarily more complicated than at other times; merely a case of sequencing that literally won’t have me staying in any spot for more than one night. The situation for anyone who might be new to the blog is I go back to Louisiana each year (barring something like COVID) for Daddy’s birthday. We didn’t really expect him to make it to age 97, yet one never knows. I haven’t been able to get him on the phone the last couple of tries so I called the Director of the ALF he’s in. She said he’s basically in the same condition as when I was there in 2019 and does still come out to play dominoes. I was checking on the COVID rules as well – vaccination and masks as it turns out.

The difference for this trip is my sister and brother-in-law are coming over from Houston and my brother and sister-in-law up from Mandeville. (Sister-in-law will depend on how her knee is doing). In order to do my “loop” though that allows me to see some of my high school friends and the branch of my mother’s family that lives mile30 s from there, I have to juggle a bit. So, I arrive in Minden late Sep 29th. Check out of the hotel the next morning, go visit with Daddy for a few hours and drive to Natchitoches; about 1.5 hours. I have dinner with friends, check out of the hotel the next morning. Lunch with the other friends, then over to Many. Spend night with Aunt and whatever number of cousins are around. Leave Saturday morning to go back to Minden. The usual way for Daddy’s birthday is cake, cookies, and ice cream in the mid-afternoon in the dining room. We siblings will have dinner somewhere that night. I assume the others will depart for home on Sunday and I will go back by and see Daddy for a while, then drive over to Shreveport where I will spend the night and hopefully have dinner with third high school friend. I’m on the really early flight back as is my habit. Oh, duffel bag drag is a military term that means exactly that; hauling your duffel bag around without settling in one place for any length of time.

Getting Caught Up……

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Okay, made the trip home with about an hour delay which I suppose isn’t bad. Enjoyed a leisurely breakfast with the kids on Wednesday and extra good-bye hugs. They’ll be down for a few days after Christmas and for the New Year’s Eve party although they do have to fly back Jan 1 in order to have one “down day” before school/work starts. It will be an afternoon flight at least.

Have been chipping away at the top of the to-do list making as much progress as is reasonable considering the number of tasks involved. Have multiple activities for the day; the final is to stop at the American Legion and pick up lobster dinners to bring home. I did an article for the paper as this is a new type of fundraiser they are trying. (http://www.southdadenewsleader.com/eedition/page-a03/page_791dea2e-db2d-5fbe-9c62-4dd1102c77b6.html)

There is one other event we considered trying to squeeze in for tonight as well and decided four in one day/night really was simply too much. Three of the four things for today are outside and I am keeping my fingers crossed for no rain. We are in the pattern of afternoon rain; some quite heavy. Even though there isn’t anything one can do about it; I figure a plea to Mother Nature can’t hurt.

Virginia Trip, Day 4…..

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As I think I explained, this trip was family-time heavy. The State Plaza Hotel is a pleasant place and Hubby did take his camera and walk extensively yesterday to get down to the Mall and some of the monuments. I had work to do plus make sure the logistics for the evening were on track. I walked the five blocks to the Founding Farmers restaurant to see how their delivery timing was and had a light lunch as we would be eating dinner very early. Across the street from them was a place where I should have had lunch. Duke’s Grocery and Pub looked really interesting and I almost did go in there first, but waited until after. They definitely have more a sandwich-type menu and were not what we were looking for from a dinner perspective, yet had at least three great-sounding sandwiches. Anyway, Founding Farmers is part of a regional chain that started up in Minnesota (or somewhere like that) and has grown into three or four different versions. Founding Farmers | A Farmer Owned Restaurant (wearefoundingfarmers.com)

They use Door Dash for their main delivery and it worked perfectly. Mini cheeseburgers and fries for granddaughter, fried chicken salad for daughter-in-law, slow roasted pork chop for me, shrimp and grits for Hubby. I knew son would be starving after the very long day so ordered him the honey-thyme roasted chicken to have late. (Thanks for  invention of the microwave)

The dance program was the longest and most complex in the tribute to Bowen-McCauley’s 25 years. There were also a presentation from the State of Virginia for her/their contributions to arts and community outreach. I’ve previously explained Lucy was the first to adapt Dance for Parkinsons therapy in this area. She had mentioned she was going to continue with the program through another venue. What she didn’t know was the founder of the program from New York coordinated with the Kennedy Center for the program to continue there. He came on stage and made the announcement as part of acknowledging Lucy. By the way, in the string of accolades, she said she would not be making a speech. She thanked everyone and said she was  “an emotional wreck”. Closing out 25+ years of your life usually does come with intense emotion. During the after-party gala, Lucy did speak with different people about selected projects (yet to be disclosed) she’ll be involved with.

Our friends from North Carolina were able to make the trip. Even though we weren’t able to have dinner together because of the timing situation, we did get caught up with them.  It was a little after 11:00 when we headed to the hotel, then a bit for unwinding. Breakfast at the hotel at 9:00 this morning to let everyone sleep in for a bit. We’ll see how the trip home goes.

Virginia Trip, Day 3……

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This was the long day, well – not as long as today will be – as a scheduling conflict meant we did extra “grandparent duty” instead of resetting into the hotel near the Kennedy Center. We did have a late morning business meeting, then discovered an interesting place not too far away. The Blue Iguana featured a mix of Southwest theme, yet a slight Cajun flair as well as standard fare. Good food, enjoyable ambience and of course there are lots of craft beers in the area. We came on into the city for yet another new experience as we are staying at the State Plaza Hotel very near the Kennedy Center. It’s sort of a “boutique” hotel which is also close to the Foggy Bottom Metro station. Unfortunately, they are only serving breakfast instead of the usual full service bistro with a bar. This affects us for tonight as well, but more of that tomorrow.

Anyway, we got semi-settled and returned to Falls Church for the experience of picking granddaughter up from school as they still don’t have enough drivers to resume bus service. There were no great academic first-grade achievements to report and we made it back to the condo for a round of “Minecraft” with Grandpa. Not that he’s skilled in the game, although he did manage to maneuver a bit with practice. We later were given a tour of the property – a short tour considering the size – then walked over for dinner at the nearby Dogfish Ale restaurant. Wood grilling is their signature in addition to craft beers even though I did opt for crab cake again. Hubby had salmon and we did take wood grilled pizza back for mom. Then it was ice cream at home followed by curling up on the sofa with Grandpa to read two books. The change into nightshirt came next with only a little while Mom made it home about 8:30 and bedtime. Son was still at tech rehearsal, not expected in for at least an hour.

Virginia Trip, Day 2…..

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Okay, it was a pleasant park we took granddaughter to while the kids went to see whatever that latest Marvel Comic movie is; apparently lots of great special effects. The Dogwood Tavern last night was very nice; the kind of place that has something for just about every taste. That included some Cajun dishes so Hubby had shrimp and grits. The sauce was excellent and he said the dish was delicious. I did a build-a-burger with blackening seasoning, bacon, caramelized onions and Monterey Jack cheese. Son did almost the same except smoky gouda. Daughter-in-law did a tuna poke bowl and granddaughter has basic grilled cheese. There was the warm brownie sundae shared for dessert. In a moment of amusement, granddaughter has at least temporarily become enamored of another nearby restaurant, The Beach Shack. Daughter-in-law thought it was too close to what we usually get, however, there is one difference. I think I have mentioned previously that despite great seafood around us, almost no one does crab cakes well. If it is one culinary items you can be assured of in this area, it’s crab cakes. We will, however, forgo key lime pie for dessert.

Tomorrow is going to be a bit tricky as we will be picking granddaughter up from school because mom has to work late and dad will be stuck at the Kennedy Center in tech rehearsal. We don’t mind of course although we were supposed to re-set to hotel near the Kennedy Center tomorrow so won’t be able to get there until pushing 10:00 p.m. Ah well, it’s for a worthy cause.

Virginia Trip, Day 1…..

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Okay, flight out of MIA had a few delays, but not too bad. Airport services are definitely better than last year although still not back to pre-COVID. The Centurion Lounge was open with less seating, although we did get settled. The lack of logic of course is the “social distancing” everywhere, then you sit in coach virtually shoulder-to-shoulder. Anyway, we meet the kids this evening for dinner and are taking granddaughter tomorrow so mommy and da can have a date day.

Hampton Inn for the first two nights is nice, also with some limits. Indoor pool is open though. Plan for tomorrow is take granddaughter to one of her favorite parks in morning, lunch wherever, then pool in afternoon. It will be me again so Hubby can relax with football. NASCAR X-Finity is on right now, Cup is tonight. With us dining early, he’ll get to watch the latter part of the race back here. We’re meeting the kids at a place we haven’t been to before, the Dogwood Tavern. Menu is not extensive, yet looks good and Hubby may have a hard time choosing. They have shrimp and grits which I suspect is the way he will go. Several really nice beers on tap to include a porter. Report to follow tomorrow.

On a more serious note, our route from the airport did bring us past the Pentagon, and as with MIA, there was a notable local and state police presence. Many of you who follow this blog know we were in D.C. on 9/11. Hubby was scheduled to go with a few others to the Pentagon that morning for a meeting. They were gathered before going over discussing what they would be presenting when word came in of the attacks. My sister was visiting from Houston and I was taking her to Baltimore for her flight home. We didn’t have the TV on or the radio in the car and so didn’t hear until we were on the way up and she called her office to check on something she was scheduled to do the next day. It took her three days I think it was to be able to arrange a flight back.

Does It Belong In A Museum?……

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An interesting conversation the other day. I think I’ve mentioned Hubby and I don’t watch much network TV and prefer cable. Movies, BBC series, and the “Discover” family of channels  are mostly it for us although we don’t have the streaming and we stay with HGTV, Food, Science, etc. One of the shows  is “Dino Hunters” which is what it sounds like. There are a couple of different teams who look for fossils, but for profit, not academic/museum purposes. That led to the discussion about private collectors. I am a big believer in  museums – public as often as possible for the sake of those who can’t afford entrance fees. We certainly don’t mind paying and of course make donations when we are in one that charges no or small fees. The fact is most museums that have been established for any length of time have far more in their collections than can be put on display. If they have the resources, they can have appropriate storage and research areas that can be jaw dropping at times in their scope. If, however, space is limited, they may have to turn down items or prioritize and divest certain items to take something in they consider more important.

That leads to the question of does a private collector “deprive” museums of something that should be on public display? No doubt that is true at times; which then leads to the question of how many dinosaur bones does a museum need? (since we’re talking about this show) I’ll agree if it is a species they don’t have, that might make a difference. If they already have a velociraptor – or two or three; why not let a private collector enjoy one if they have the space and money? I suppose the actual “downside” of private collectors is they may contribute to black marketing of artifacts instead of going to legitimate dealers.

Undersea at Jules Again….

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I did a post back when a girlfriend won a lunch-time session at Jules Undersea Lodge in Key Largo. It was a fun and interesting experience. For those who may be new to the blog, Jules Lagoon is the only place in Key Largo where the open water part of scuba classes can be taught when weather keeps boats off the reefs. (https://jul.com/) It’s actually a complex with multiple segments/functions and the “Underwater Hotel” was originally a research habitat in Puerto Rico. The only way to access it is to dive and enter by the “Moon Pool”. You carry everything you need to change into in water proof bags and yes, that’s how meals are delivered.

The “Hotel” itself was closed during COVID although the lagoon stayed open for training purposes with the same kind of protocols as were used for other outdoor venues. As with many places forced to close, they used the time to make improvements and/or come up with ideas for changes once they re-opened. Hubby went down a few weeks ago to take photos and get an update on the plans. He’s written the article for the paper and it will run sometime soon.

One point discussed was whether to continue to bill it as a “hotel” or try to market it instead as a “habitat”. Even though you do have to dive to get to it, for someone only interested in the novelty of the idea, spending a single day and night will probably provide as much novelty as desired. The public area is nicely set up with small kitchen, dining table, couches, TV complete with DVD player and WiFi. There are snacks and non-alcoholic beverages, too. Naturally, there are wide windows to look out into the lagoon. For someone considering a Habitat stay though, they might want to do something like cataloging all the marine life they see over a couple of days. The shallow depth allows for extended dive time and night diving is especially easy. Different creatures are nocturnal and that makes an interesting addition. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not a fan of night diving, but Jules would be an exception.

On the other hand, I don’t actually expect us to go do this since Hubby has to dive there so often.

Variability of Visibility In Scuba…..

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I was able to make my March dive although I did cut it close being the 29th. Hubby has been working multi-day stretches as it’s the time of year with “rolling spring breaks” where different parts of the country take off at different times. It’s always popular to dive here then, and of course some overseas destinations not yet open. That means divers who might go to the Caribbean are opting for Key Largo. Since Easter is early this year, that also means there will be divers and snorkelers who specifically want to go to the Christ of the Abyss site. I’ve posted before that it’s one of several statues placed underwater by the Cressi family in honor of I think it was a son who died. (They’re a big name in scuba equipment). I’ve forgotten how many statues there are, but it is a concrete robed figure on a rectangular pedestal with his arms outstretched upward set at about 20 feet deep. It’s used on many underwater ads for the area and is something to be seen. The drawback is because of being shallow and such a popular site, it’s usually crowded and often low visibility, as well as surge (which rocks you back and forth and can cause sediment to be kicked up reducing the visibility even more). Additionally, the actual reefs around it aren’t very good from a marine life perspective. Anyway, several people on the boat yesterday were hoping for the statue, but reports were poor visibility so Captain D broke the news and took us to one of the outer reefs.

Although the water is still cool, the visibility was excellent on both dives.  Since I didn’t see the small goldentail eel tucked into the rocks, there was nothing extra special for me. However, there were plenty of fish to include some of my favorites and a couple of older conch shells that had lost their colors. Even so, they still have the distinctive shape.

Juvenile Spotted Drum

No French Dressing in France….

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I’ve written before about me being a “picky eater” according to some and growing up with basic Southern fare in small towns where ethnic cuisines simply weren’t available. Something like pizza wasn’t really on-hand either and that wasn’t something we had at home. In fact, I had my first slice a couple of months before my seventeenth birthday when I was at the summer school in Quebec. It was of course France in my senior year of high school where I was introduced to many different items even though I was no where as adventuresome as a number of my classmates. Our dining arrangements did mean I often had group meals which is how I ate duck and horse. In these cases as you can imagine, I frequently had extra bread or cheese and soup was usually a first course. An interesting note is that vegetable soup in France is not what we generally think of, but is instead a creamy soup of vegetables pureed and cooked with stock. It is delicious. As for salad dressing, oil and vinegar on the table was most likely or a light vinaigrette. They do not have what we call French dressing and I truly don’t know where that comes from. I was also introduced to a few Moroccan dishes. My first Indian curry was on a trip to England. Oddly enough my first time in a Chinese restaurant was much later in Germany as two of my peers discovered I’d never been in one.

German food does tend to be heavier than French, although similar ingredients are used in their preparations and no, I never developed a taste for sauerkraut. I was glad to learn about white radishes. The multiple variations of pork schnitzel were as much a comfort food as you could ask for, too. Germany was also where I truly learned about wines as I was still being a good Baptist when I lived in France.