Fifty is the New Thirty

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Vacationing in a Pandemic - we decided it was time to get a mental break after the long winter.  A week away for spring break, Sunday through Friday.  I decided I would work the first two days to see how this would go.  It went pretty well, it was lovely to work with a view of the lake.  After work, less than 10 minutes to get to the ocean.  What a dream.  Kingston Plantation was quite lovely, pickle ball, bicycles, a gym a spa, a plethora of (heated) swimming pools and a water park for the kids.  The restaurant at the Embassy Suites was a highly limited and over priced and underwhelming food.  The drinks, I am told, were good and fairly priced, with an indoor bar and the outdoor Splash Bar.  There is a gift shop and Star Bucks on premises.  The beach area is wide open and has a very long pier where one can walk on for a $2 fee. There are two other Hilton hotels on the premises and a long standing bar, the Wet Whistle practically on the beach.  There are several restaurants close by and Bimini’s has the best tasting food.  Bimini’s also has a fresh seafood market with a very tasty hot crab dip for sale in a 12oz tub.  Kroger is across the road.  A few miles away there is Publix and more restaurants.  Lulu’s Beach Arcade has a fun attraction in the Ropes Course.  It took us about 45 minutes to complete the course, doing it leisurely and repeating some of the course.  This cost $15 and was worth it.  Barefoot Landing has a few good stores to browse at, including Tiki Jims with fun and funny gifts.  We did Ripley’s Aquarium plus 2 attractions at $49.99 per person for 13 and up.  Despite starting the Aquarium before 10am, it was still quite packed.  While they state it is a 2 hour activity, even with us doing it leisurely, we were done in little over an hour.  The Odditorium was interesting in places, but really nothing one cannot find online and last just about an hour. The Moving Theatre is really just for little kids.  The rides are quite jerky and it lasts 15 minutes and the wait in line was around 40 minutes.  All in all, the Aquarium is the only attraction worth doing and only if the weather is bad or one has nothing better to do.  We bought out tickets online, they were emailed to my phone.  One also gets a free parking pass for Park at the Dolphin on Withers Drive, which is not stated online or on the ticket.  We had to go to Ripley’s and ask them where to park.  Also, do not bother calling the number which they state online, no one answers and even if one leaves a message, no one returns the call.  The weather in Myrtle beach was between 50 and 71 degrees each day.  Definitely not my kind of beach weather, but one makes all kinds of sacrifices for teen kids who want to enjoy spring break.  

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Chocolate mousse cake (at West Palm Beach, Florida) https://www.instagram.com/p/B0t5OTInD6imemXba4lyIhK5Nq_pN-fHmDQBgw0/?igshid=1tr9mcsalmsz3

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LACA June 14 - 19

Ok, I just made that up, lol! Los Angeles is so much like SA in architecture and Flora. We had a wonderful vacation visiting Roxy and eating at Dreamworks commissary seeing the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the Magic Castle, Santa Monica peer, Venice Beach, hiking at Griffith Park to the Hollywood sign, Don Cucos, Rodeo drive, sidewalk chalk art in Pasedena, walked past Kodak theater and around the mall, Universal studios and City Walk and Jenna and I went shopping at Americana Galleria. The weather was rather cool and the ocean freezing cold! The traffic is insane. https://photos.app.goo.gl/Cz4cgNyexxiXXdtr5

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Seafood gumbo and Crawfish pasta at Gumbo House

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Seafood gumbo and Crawfish pasta at Gumbo House

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NOLA at last!

After many years of talking about visiting New Orleans, I'm finally here! The flight was perfect after a relaxing day at home. Getting to the hotel took 90 minutes from time if landing. Gridlock at the airport. I was famished by the time our food arrived, after 9pm. Waiting in line for a table was excruciating, but the crab cake with shrimp cream sauce at gumbo house was delicious. As was the French bread. I had SEAFOOD OKRA GUMBO - 9.50 Okra, onion, bell peppers, celery and a tiny bit of tomato sautéed and blended with shrimp and crabs into a thick brown Creole soup - served over rice. This was ok and it was about two spoons of rice in the gumbo. Fred had CRAWFISH and PASTA in TASSO CREAM - 16.99 Penne pasta , crawfish tails and tasso (a spicy Cajun bacon), tossed in a reduced cream sauce. He also felt it was ok, not great. The French bread was amazing though, hot and fresh with butter, hmm mmm! After that, we walked around, went to Pat O'Briens where Fred had a hurricane and bought the souvinir glass. Walking around Bourbon Street unit bed time, we saw voo Doo houses, male strippers dancing in bars, people walking drinks in hand, a guy and two girls preaching next to a huge crucifix, specially built cars, noises and smells, both good and bad!

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Pat O' Brien's

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I want to slap somebody for not bringing me here sooner!

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I want to slap somebody for not bringing me here sooner!

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White Lake at Last!

I can’t believe it’s taken Fred until now to finally show me White Lake.  I love this place! We arrived at White Lake just before noon on Saturday, February 2. It was so beautiful, serene, quiet, white sand, clear water on the shallow end, blue as it got deeper. Many Cypress tree skeletons, covered with Spanish Moss. We enjoyed a picnic lunch of hummus, spinach and artichoke dip, cream cheese filled peppers, crackers, corn chips, wine and orange juice. We explored the little town with a mix of houses ranging from trailers to mansions. There are several clusters of condos as well.  Around 2pm, we headed for Lu Mil winery, settling into our rustic cottage, with a red and white picnic tablecloth-like bedding and VERY red heart shaped bath. I have to admit, I had a good laugh at the bath.  We went for a walk, exploring the Santa old items stores and the ‘Texaco gas station’, which is really a banquet hall. The weather was beautiful, considering we just had a deep freeze in temps this past week.  Next we headed for the wine tasting, finding a pond with a water fountain and an alligator on the way, lol! The store had tables outside, just begging for someone to enjoy the outdoors on them.  The free wine tasting was 3 wines, which I did, and the all inclusive tasting was 6 wines and two sangrias for $5, which Fred did. One gets to keep the glass with this option, while my option was a tiny plastic sample cup.  We bought fig and strawberry jam to enjoy back home, to remind us of our relaxing weekend. Another walk back to the cottage and then nap time for Fred after all the wine, haha! We headed out to find a good place to eat. After wandering around town, finding several restaurants, a farmers market, restaurant with a $4 Reuben sandwich and a larger than life painting of Curtis Brown, the astronaut, we settled on the Mexican restaurant for an underwhelming experience, beautiful restaurant, friendly but totally useless waiter and good food - which arrived nearly cold. I had Pescado San Juan and Fred had Barritos Acapulco.  My dish of mahi mahi over mashed potatoes, spinach, mushrooms and queso would have been twice as nice, had it been hot.  The salsa here was delish, we opted for the spicy version, since they also had mild.  Back in the room we soaked in the red, heart shaped Jacuzzi. It got pretty cold overnight and the heat didn't kick in. Thank goodness for the heater Fred brought along.  Sunday morning was a lazy and relaxing one, having Mexican leftovers for breakfast, HOT this time, :)  another walk to explore the other side of the vineyards and cow pasture and then visiting Cape Fear Winery. A much different experience, upscale surroundings with beautiful decor yet serene with peacocks and rabbits. Crystal showed us two cabins and talked to us for a while. Another visit to White Lake, lunch at Georgios of penne with sausage and marinara sauce for Fred and fried calamari and banana peppers with marinara sauce for me. The service was amazing! All in all, a wonderful weekend! So sad to go, but we will definitely be back!

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Ponchana Thai restaurant

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New York, NY

Our flight went smoothly, got upgraded to comfort plus, caught a Lyft to Airbnb, changed into cooler clothes, it's 90 degrees plus today, now eating at Ponchana Thai restaurant. Food is yummy, really spicy, too spicy for Fred. Sight seeing at rockerfeller center, 9/11 memorial, Little Italy where we met Roxy. We took a Subway to the Roosevelt tram and got home just in time before a thunderstorm hit!

Wednesday morning we walked to the corner grocer for yogurt, granola, juice and Fred got a salmon and cream cheese bagel from a bagel store. It was delicious! Fred and I went to Central Park and then met the girls for lunch at Xi'an Famous Food noodle place. We enjoyed the food, very different, lasagna size noodles with interesting spicy flavors. We visited the city library and saw an interesting article on exhibit. We then headed to Broadway to see Waitress. Really great show! We did some sight seeing afterwards, after the Girls left. We saw Union Square, On the subway home, we were entertained by street entertainers. Thursday was Fred's birthday, we had breakfast and headed out to Brooklyn to meet Marvin, later than planned, since we couldn't contact him for the address. After bring surprised by his character in costume, Fred would with him on technical issues, then we walked around Brighton beach, taking in the many Russian grocery stores and even saw a movie, Caviar, being filmed. We walked to Coney Island and had lunch at Nathan's original store. I had a fish sandwich, Fred and Marvin has hotdogs. We returned to Manhattan went to Bryant square again, and had dinner in little Italy that evening. Fred had spaghetti and meatballs, I had beet, apple, walnut and feta salad. Bread with olive oil and pizza frits were on the house! Friday morning, we had breakfast and packed up. Fred picked up the rental car, we picked up the Girls and then headed to NJ, slow drive through Manhattan. We drove through Elizabeth to see John Street, then Front Street to Mario's pizza - Fred had an Italian sub, Jenna had pepperoni pizza. Traffic was horrible, toll gates were challenging, seemed like the never ending drive. We finally arrived around 3:30pm, after stopping at the pie store, where we bought an apple caramel walnut and a cherry crumb pie. We finally arrived at Kass beach house at 3:30pm. After meeting everybody, we strolled on the beach with Sheldon and Carol. We enjoyed a cookout later in the evening, huge burgers, hot dogs, kilbasa sausage, chicken on skewers, corn, salad, pasta, avo. All quite delicious! Saturday morning, we enjoyed a (short) walk on the beach. Sheldon was quite excited for the grits Fred gave him as a gift and also bought fresh bagels with cream cheese. By midday, the rain started. While the heaviest cleared, intermittent drizzle caused the lighthouse to be closed for our visit. We walked along the boardwalk with Jenna and the boys walking on the rocks. Sheldon bought Barnegat Lighthouse scallops on the way home. The other Fred grilled them, very yummy!!! We enjoyed ice cream later that evening, after waking to the ice cream shop. Sunday morning I was determined to enjoy a longer walk. After a shower, we enjoyed bacon, eggs, French baguette, rye bread and avo. Roxy took the bus back around 5:30pm and after having out at surf City hotel's hat for a while, that evening we went to the Mud City crab house. I had a crab cake sandwich with fries. Monday morning and the beach weekend nearly over, we walked on the beach after a brief delay of rain, had breakfast, grits and bagels. We showered in the outdoor shower, and too soon we were heading back to the city. The drive back was much nicer, avoiding toll roads. We took a detour through Rahway to see Fred's childhood home,yet his school and other hangouts. Only once we got into NYC, did the traffic problem start. That evening, we returned the rental car, went to the city, saw George Washington Park and walked half way onto the Brooklyn bridge. I was totally exhausted once we got home. I couldn't wait to shower and sleep.

[fiestyfifties]

Time flies!

My last post was just before school started. Today is a year from the date I started this blog, and two weeks before schools close for this year. Life has been really hectic with Jenna, her school work, gymnastics, work, my promotion, studying, relationship issues, family issues and counseling, Daddy passing on, traveling to SA for funeral and cremation, and doing my best to hold it all together. I still have the website dream, but until then, I'll be blogging. This weekend we are at Myrtle Beach, Roxy is here too, what a huge surprise! 😀 It's been so much fun hanging out and relaxing, eating really good seafood and braving traffic for Black biker weekend. Another surprise. But, that led to a serendipitous find of the Athena Filipino restaurant where I had delicious green fish curry. Relaxing at the beach in the evening and enjoying the organ, lazy river, hot tubs and pools was wonderful! Saturday we finally saw wonder works and had lunch at Landry's where I had fish and chips with battered onions. A free starter of cold crab dip with corn chips, tossed salad and garlic bread was quite delicious! Today, my birthday, we enjoyed an expensive seafood meal at Captain George's seafood buffet, high quality seafood including two kinds of crab, baramundi, mahi mahi, fried scallops, shrimp, fish, salads, vegetables, crawfish and desserts which I had, and many more dishes including meats, potatoes, rice, etc. A special birthday cake including strawberries and peach whipped cream roses fo my dessert, and on the dessert buffet, Apple and other pies, a variety of chocolate cake, rice pudding, Coconut pudding, ice cream, baklava and many more! Quite delicious... We were stuffed leaving there. We got caught in the rain visiting the boardwalk and headed back to the hotel. Tomorrow a storm is expected, so we'll leave earlier than planned. A lovely birthday weekend!

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Catching up...

I haven't posted since June.... So much to catch up on. We've been on several trips to Charlotte and the beach. I even went to Detroit, MI on work travel. Summer has been hectic at home and work. This is the last week of school vacation and we are heading home from Columbia, SC. We're stuck in traffic right now, with our ETA growing later and later. But hey, we'll get there eventually! The total solar eclipse was an experience of a lifetime and worth the time.