Category Archives: Travel

A Must Do Little Shop….

Posted on by
Reply
Wonderful olive oils to choose from at Olive Morada (MM82.2 Oceanside)

Wonderful olive oils to choose from at Olive Morada (MM82.2 Oceanside)

Do not get me wrong – we do enjoy a trek “up the road” to go to Fresh Market, Whole Foods, and Trader Joes, but that’s when we want to get a number of items. Despite having seen it a couple of months ago and now finding out they’ve been open for well over a year, I finally popped into Olive Morada at MM 82.2 Oceanside (http://olivemorada.com). It’s amazing and you simply have to go there. Plan at least 20 minutes for your first trip and maybe a little longer. They aren’t a large shop and you can easily zip past them, so slow down and look carefully as you get close.

Their olives oils and balsamic vinegars are incredible and that’s the proper word. Some bottles are pre-packaged, but because they have large containers they can dispense from, you can buy different sizes. I restrained myself after choosing a medium Tuscan Herb, a small Persian Lime, a small  Cilantro and Roasted Garlic on the olive oil side and a small coconut white balsamic vinegar. Those are only a few selections of what they have. At some point we might cook with the Persian Lime, but right now, I’m using it for salad. They have other packaged items as well and a few cheeses, so if you are looking to make a gift basket (or just grab a quick hostess gift), you can’t go wrong here. They also do baskets if I remember correctly.

It is a delightful place and I am trying to spread the word. Go see for yourself and I’m willing to bet you’ll have the same reaction.

Other packaged items at Olive Morada

Other packaged items at Olive Morada

Don’t be Afraid Little Frog…..

Posted on by
2

There are certain realities about living in South Florida that have to do with local wildlife. Having a swimming pool means you will attract or have interaction with some of those animals in a different way. We do have a fence and therefore have not to date had alligators, caimans, or crocodiles pay us a visit. The day we had a snake wasn’t fun and we still haven’t figured out how we got the crab in the pool one time. I mean it had to have come from a distance.

Anyway, various birds are constantly dipping in only to be disappointed in tasting chlorine, and the most frequent problem is the tiny frogs that are not much larger than my fingernail. We manage to rescue quite a few, although not all by any means. Yesterday, I really was doing my best, but as usually happens, the thought of being scooped up gets translated in their little frog brains as, “I’m going to be eaten”, and they engage in escape maneuvers. I do understand, and the one yesterday was either more determined than others or I was slower than I thought. At any rate, he did finally get deposited outside the pool and hopefully will go one to live a nice frog life among the vegetation of which we have plenty. It so happens that we also had quite a few dead “big head ants” (I don’t know the proper name) floating in the pool and I noticed one very live one minding his own business on the hard deck. He was well away from the house, so I saw no reason to bother him. The gecko that dashed over and gobbled him up was another matter entirely. Ah well, such is the animal kingdom.

Trying Not to Feel Guilty…..

Posted on by
Reply

My lack of posts are a direct result of being in a critical phase of working on the new non-fiction book combined with juggling other tasks I’ve postponed – like posting to the blog. Maybe it wasn’t a total coincidence that a post came in yesterday from another site I sometimes follow admonishing us to sometimes step back and not worry about being productive all the time. Yeah, sure, I’ll work on that. In the meantime in the real world, I’ll have another couple of 4:00 a.m. mornings to stay on track.

Setting all that aside, however, my trip to Louisiana was jam-packed and I was able to see a number of friends and relatives. Not everyone, of course, but quite a few. The only culinary goal I missed was catfish. Had I know the one place wasn’t open on Sundays, I would have done catfish for lunch Saturday, but so it goes. I did have an excellent tilapia dish as well as two wonderful fried green tomato appetizers. The regional take is to top them with crawfish tails in some type of sauce and it makes for a great appetizer to share or you can pair something else with it and have all appetizers for a meal. I do that fairly often, although I didn’t during this trip.

The simple truth is the small town where Daddy lives doesn’t have many sit-down restaurants and I’m not certain if they have any yet that serve alcohol. (The tiny town that adjoins them voted alcohol in quite a few years ago and the two restaurants out there are very popular.) We did, however, discover a new Mexican place that took over from the former Bonanza, I think it was. I’m a little surprised the steak place didn’t make it and don’t know what the story was. At any rate, El Jimador, was quite enjoyable. Daddy is not big on cooked pepper and onions and they were completely accommodating about cooking his dish without them. Their tortilla chips and salsa seemed to both be homemade and were delicious in either case.

It’s That Time of Year Again…..

Posted on by
Reply

That phrase can apply to all sorts of things. In this case it’s me traveling to Louisiana for Daddy’s birthday. He will be 91 and his Alzheimer’s seems to have stabilized and the medication is working as well as can be expected. I don’t know if them moving into assisted living and therefore reducing significant stress has been a factor, although it probably was to at least some degree. Anyway, I’m not sure what kind of celebration we will have – probably a number of us going out to lunch somewhere then maybe cake in the activities room. I’ll find out when I get there.

I am actually spending an extra day this year because one of my cousins has to fly out to a conference and if I don’t go a day early I will miss her. That’s on my mother’s side of the family. All three of my high school girlfriends will be around even though we have to meet separately due to schedule commitments. As I explained when I emailed, with me coming around only once a year and there always being some question as to the exact date, I can’t expect everyone to hold their calendars open wondering when I will appear. My sister is also coming over for a couple of days from Houston, so that’s nice, too. Since I haven’t been losing weight at the rate I had hoped, I won’t be able to indulge in too many special treats and will restrict myself to one – that’s one Natchitoches Meat Pie. To the best of my knowledge, the only redeeming nutritional aspect to them is protein and the flaky pastry pretty much negates that benefit. They are, however, delicious. I’ll snap a photo before I devour the one I will allow myself. The same will hold true for catfish – okay, not one piece, but one meal.

I’ll post from the road on the days when I have connectivity.

Adding Another Restaurant to the Line-up…..

Posted on by
Reply
Sunset at Marker 88 Restaurant, Islamorada

Sunset at Marker 88 Restaurant, Islamorada

I meant to post this yesterday and time ran out on me. We hadn’t tried the Marker 88 Restaurant in Islamorada, but a while back someone said it had undergone some changes and we thought, “Why not?”. It is Bayside to catch those sunsets and even with quite a few clouds, it was a lovely sight. Their menu is not huge, but has something for everyone, and even though hubby and I both had hogfish, we had two different preparations. As excellent as the meals were, it is sometimes the small things that set you apart. The warm bread with the delicious dipping olive oil is a case in point. The olive oil is infused with roasted garlic and a couple of other ingredients that I don’t immediately recall. I can see how some people would want to use it as a salad dressing, although the mango-citrus vinaigrette I had was quite good. We didn’t try dessert, but did see a couple of them pass by and were tempted.

The service was the right rhythm and prices were about the same as other restaurants in that category. Their wine list was extensive, and again, with the kind of prices you get at waterfront places. You can read all about them – originally established in 1967 – at their website http://www.marker88.info/

The only problem with enjoying them is that we have now added to the list of choices and that makes it a tiny bit difficult when trying to decide where to dine. On the other hand, there are far worse problems to have.

 

 

Thunderstorms……

Posted on by
Reply

It’s the time of year in South Florida when we get mostly afternoon thunderstorms although one came a little earlier today. Not much in the way of thunder and lightning compared to the last few days. I’m talking about rattle your windows kind of thunder preceded by distinct streaks of lightning. Now, interestingly, my hubby, who has gotten very deeply involved with the camera club, attended a session (I think it was) about taking photos of lightning and the photographer who teaches a class on it has some spectacular images that he’s captured. I, however, view this in somewhat the same why that I do my husband’s desire to do the white shark cage dive. It just isn’t my thing.

Anyway, I don’t recall when it was that I stopped being afraid of thunderstorms – maybe around my teen years – and began to enjoy them under a fairly narrow set of circumstances. I’ve been caught in them too many times when on the road or when I wanted to do something outside to say that I like them in general. After all, if I’m tucked safely in the house with a soothing cup of tea or an adult beverage, I know there are other people who might be stuck in traffic or otherwise coping with the mess. But yesterday was one of those “enjoyable” moments because it was a hard rain without a driving wind. That meant sitting on the covered terrace with a glass of wine, watching the streaks light up the dark clouds, and with it being South Florida, as soon as it began to clear, bright sun came out to cause the raindrops on the palm fronds to glisten as a rainbow formed in another part of the sky. It was also late enough in the afternoon so that the storm dropped the temperature to a pleasant 70 degrees or so rather than subjected us to a steam bath when it cleared up. Now about those mosquitos…., but that’s for another time.

One More Fast Trip……

Posted on by
Reply
Sleep Hollow Motor Inn Woods Hole, MA

Sleep Hollow Motor Inn Woods Hole, MA

Okay, this really should be the last trip that I’m taking on this round of research, then it’s more writing. I’m at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, MA today and tomorrow until mid-afternoon. For those who may not be familiar with it, that’s about a 1.5 hour drive from Logan Airport in Boston and if we’d taken a turn, we’d be headed for the ferry to Martha’s Vineyard. It’s a beautiful day, but that 7:00 a.m. flight did come with a bit of an early wake-up. Not that I’m not up at 4:00 a.m. some mornings when no travel is involved. I’ll try to get a scenic harbor shot tomorrow, but it is interesting to see how spread out the Institute is. I had been told that it “rambles” significantly and now I understand. Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute in Fort Pierce, FL has defined space that you enter into. I suppose that maybe some part of WHOI (as the folks call it) might have, but most are buildings and trailers scattered between houses, restaurants, and retail areas. It’s a tourist-type town with the classic New England seaside look.

I saw some great shipwreck footage today as one of the men who was on the expedition that located Titanic back in 1985 demonstrated some of the things they do with imaging and how underwater cameras have progressed. Virtually all of it is beyond my grasp, so I’m sure there will be a number of emails that will pass back and forth for “fact checking” as I work through that part of the book. This gentleman, like a couple of others that I have interviewed, has been diving and exploring in every continent except Antarctica. And no, he’s had so many great adventures, he can’t pick out a favorite. Which if being a part of the team that found Titanic doesn’t immediately come to mind as the best that he ever experienced, I can only imagine what else he has seen.

Anyway, it will be another full day tomorrow because I’m taking the 5:00 p.m. out of Boston, so probably won’t make it home until pushing 10:00 p.m. The thing is though, that as interesting as it has been to meet the people that I have been talking with, I’m ready to be done with the travel part. The Sleepy Hollow Inn where I’m staying is an old-fashioned type of place and I’ll do a post about it when I return home. Not sure where we’re going for dinner tonight, but I suppose that seafood might be in order.

Centennials……

Posted on by
Reply

There is at least a smile’s worth of amusement in the fact that I scheduled my trip to the UK so that I could be back with a couple of days to catch my breath before the South Dade Chamber of Commerce Centennial Celebration that we held last night. It was a cocktail reception at the Homestead Community Center and went quite well. A lot of people put in a lot of work and one of the things were three different slide shows put together from a huge stack (I was told 900) of old and new photos. The guys in charge had set up three monitors in different places around the room and so a different slide show appeared on each one. There were some great shots and I know it brought back memories for many of the attendees.

The “amusing” part being the idea that deep South Dade really didn’t get settled by pioneering farmer families until more or less the 1870s and then it was the railroad folks coming in that really opened things up. Even compared to the rest of the East Coast, that was more than 200 years after the Plymouth Rock folks were getting established. The villages that I was making my way through on my trip could mark their existence to centuries before that. The comparison brought to mind when we were living in Italy and took a tour to one of the nearby Chianti wineries. The father of however many generations it had been made the comment as we stepped into the main tasting room that this was the “new” part of the house – it only dated to the 1500s. They had some thresholds and stonework that had been built during Roman times. The father, by the way, was more proud of their olive oil than their wine; his son handled the wine part.

100 years is something to celebrate though and everyone seemed to have a good time last night.

Uneventful Flight, Not Much Jet Lag…….

Posted on by
Reply
Rose on the grounds of the Crowne Plaza Heathrow Hotel

Rose on the grounds of the Crowne Plaza Heathrow Hotel

As most experienced transatlantic travelers will tell you, traveling back from Europe doesn’t seem to come with as much jet lag as going to the other direction. I don’t recall all the reasons that have been cited, but that has been my experience. We were a little late taking off from Heathrow yesterday although they made the time up in flight. One of the drawbacks to a long daytime flight is that people tend not to settle down as they do when it’s dark out and yesterday was no exception. There was constant motion around me and that was distracting enough so that I didn’t get a nap in. Let’s see, what movies did I watch? Birdman which was very odd. A Miss Marple one and I started two or three others that I then lost interest in or I could tell the movie was complex enough that I needed to be more focused to enjoy it.

I’ve been through a lot of international airports and I continue to be irritated with the very long way it is from most arrival gates to get to Immigration and Customs in Miami. If someone has a connecting flight and they don’t have at least two hours, there is a good chance they won’t make the flight. I don’t know why the airport is configured the way it is and maybe there’s a good reason for it. The distance simply seems excessive.

Oh, interestingly, the weather when I left for Heathrow yesterday was chilly and raining just as it was the day I had to drive back to London. Must have been something about me having to be hauling luggage around that attracted the rain. However, Saturday afternoon was pretty and I took a break from writing and walked for a bit. The hotel grounds had some lovely roses and how can one not think of roses if visiting the United Kingdom.

Ah well, I am home and glad to be so. Laundry takes a high priority today.

 

One More Time…….

Posted on by
Reply

Providing there are no travel travails tomorrow, I will repack my suitcase for the last time on this trip and have a long, hopefully uneventful flight non-stop from Heathrow to Miami. I will be experiencing Virgin Atlantic Airways for the first time and am at least somewhat curious to see what it will be like. Even though American Airlines is the major carrier out of Miami, this was a situation where the schedule worked better with Delta and Virgin Atlantic is one of their global partners. I had to route through Atlanta on the way here, but the transoceanic part is almost ten hours whether going directly into Miami or going back through Atlanta.

As luck would have it, yesterday when I was making my way on the last leg of driving, it rained continuously, although at least it wasn’t the kind of thunderstorms that we get in South Florida. It was most assuredly not fun to cope with and today, which is devoted to wrapping up my work here, is bright sunshine. It also appears to be pretty breezy and I suspect the temperature has dropped some as well.

I won’t have much downtime when I get home since there are several things that I put on hold that require my attention once I arrive. I have built in Monday as a catch-my-breath day and to do laundry. I’ve been promised a lovely steak for tomorrow night since as I have mentioned, memorable meals have been only sporadic for the past two weeks. Of interest on that front, however, is that for whatever reason – and I haven’t inquired as to why – burgers, onion rings, and Mexican food have been on almost every menu. Indian, Chinese, and Italian have consistently been staple cuisines in post-1960s England, but these new items seem to be highly popular. I did actually have a cup of chili one night when the AC in the restaurant was on high and I didn’t have my wrap with me. It was good even though on the mild side. So, I’m not sure tonight if lamb, fish and chips, or a curry will win out. We’ll see how that goes.