tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36566876571671723172024-03-13T09:21:29.619-04:00The Traveling BaeselsCome with us as we travel and explore the world near and far.Annette Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15957903512162227390noreply@blogger.comBlogger297125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656687657167172317.post-27295075817458558852016-09-14T11:27:00.001-04:002016-09-14T11:27:51.410-04:00Wandering Among The Murals at the St Pete SHINE Mural Festival<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: FortAFAR, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23px;">St Pete is becoming a hot bed for emerging and established artists of all medium. We have a number of art districts now with studios and galleries of all types: glass works, pottery, sculpture, painting, crafts, jewelry art, and photography. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: FortAFAR, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23px;">One of the growing and most visible art forms in St Pete are the murals and street art popping up all over town. Hardly a month passes that there isn't a new mural sprouting on a wall somewhere in town. We're even attracting national attention. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: FortAFAR, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23px;"> The city was recently rated as one of the "Top 10 spots for Street Art" by Huffington Post. And Forbes Magazine published an article directing travelers to "Skip Miami and head to St Pete." </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: FortAFAR, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23px;">I'm a huge fan of mural art everywhere we travel. and one of the best ways to experience this vibrant and thought provoking art form in St Pete is during the annual SHINE Mural Festival held around the first 10 days of September. The festival celebrates and illuminates the power of art in public spaces to revitalize neighborhoods and to inspire connections.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: FortAFAR, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23px;">In the first two years of the festival, it has created dialogue and united the community, shown a colorful light on St Pete's creative and vibrant spirit and gifted the City with over 30 new murals. In 2016, the annual festival brought 17 artist together from San Francisco to Philadelphia and Hong Kong to Italy and everywhere in between to create murals in St Pete that are at times whimsical, provocative, thought provoking and always eye-catching. My photos of the murals (many of them in progress) follows this text.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: FortAFAR, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23px;">In addition to the spectacular murals that evolve over the course of the 10-day festival, there are opportunities to participate in mural paintings, bike tours, eclectic parties with local vendors, gatherings at the Dali museum, and a closing SHINE Live music festival. Residents of St Pete are proud of the ever-growing collection of street art in their town. During the festival you'll find us visiting murals over and over as they evolve from sketch to finished art. If you visit, stop and chat with the artists and mural art fans and share our love of art in the community.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: FortAFAR, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23px;">For more information and photos check out the SHINE website at: <a href="http://shineonstpete.com/" target="_blank">SHINE On St Pete</a></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: FortAFAR, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23px;"><br /></span>Annette Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15957903512162227390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656687657167172317.post-66716259169508888532016-07-18T12:53:00.002-04:002016-07-18T12:55:07.304-04:00Summer in Montreal: Week Two <i>This is the 2nd in what will be a five-part series of posts from our summer in Montreal. If you want to see the first post click here: <a href="https://thetravelingbaesels.blogspot.ca/2016/07/summer-in-montreal-week-one.html" target="_blank">Summer in Montreal: Week One.</a></i><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">This morning we woke to a clear blue sky and lots of sun. In the last 30 minutes clouds have rolled in and we are expecting thunderstorms. That pretty much sums up the changeable weather of the last week. Mostly sunny with a day or two of sometimes rain. We had one day of Florida weather: really hot, humid, ending in a thunderstorm. But mostly it's been in the 70s and low 80s. Perfect weather for walking. And that's what we do a lot of...walk.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u><b>Favorite Walks of the Week</b>.</u> On our one day of hot and humid Florida weather we took to the "Underground City." Underneath downtown Montreal is a rabbit warren of climate-controlled passageways that connect office buildings, metro stations, food courts, the main train station, shopping malls, and public spaces. In the winter, this Underground City is well used to escape the frigid winter winds. In the summer, it isn't as busy...but we find it a great place to still get in an explore while not sweating like we were home in Florida. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jerry in the Underground City</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">On a milder day, we walked along a portion of the Lachine Canal from Old Montreal to the up and coming (former working class neighborhood) Griffintown. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stadning at Lock 2 on the Lachine Canal looking back towards the Old Port of Montreal</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u style="font-weight: bold;">The Story of the Lachine Canal.</u> </span><span style="font-size: large;">Montreal sits on the St. Lawrence River which drains the Great Lakes (Lake Ontario) and flows northeast to the Atlantic Ocean. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Before the Lachine canal (built in the mid 1800s) the great Lachine Rapids was a major hazard to boats on the river. It was simply impossible for large boats to get through safely on a regular basis. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> So in the mid 1800s, industrious Montrealers dug an 11-mile long canal from the Port in Old Montreal to Lachine (a former fur trading town.) Over the next century the canal (and it's lock system) was enlarged and improved a number of times.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">By the 1920s Montreal was the 5th largest inland port in the world and was the largest grain shipping port in the world. All that wheat grown across the heartland of Canada was shipped by train to ports along the St Lawrence. It was put on canal barges in Lachine and taken down the canal to Montreal where it was loaded onto large ships for transport to cities all over the world. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The building that our apartment is in was built around 1850 arond the time the Lachine Canal opened and Montreal was rapidly growing as a port city. The building would have had shops on the first floor to serve the shipping trade and warehousing on the upper floors. This engraving is of Montreal in 1889. Our building is in the center directly facing on the port. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Ships got bigger and eventually the Lachine Canal was too narrow and the locks too short and shallow for the big "lakers" that hauled grain and other goods to and from the Great Lakes. So in the 1950, the St Lawrence Seaway (built on the other side of the river from MOntreal) was built. The Lachine Canal closed and decayed over a number of decades. In the late 1990s/early 2000, an effort was made to restore a portion of the locks and canal to be used for pleasure boaters. It was very successful and once again, the Lachine Canal lives. (Along with a walking and biking path that runs the entire length of the canal).</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u style="font-weight: bold;">We Love Montreal's Nature Parks</u>. Our two favorite parks in Montreal are the Parc-des-Rapides (which sits on on of the many "legs" of the Lachine Rapids) and the Parc Bois-des-i'lle-Bizard. We visited both last week. The Parc-des-Rapides was filled with blooming day lilies, red-winged black birds, terns fishing along the shore, herons and egrets standing amidst the reeds, and a wonderful cool breeze coming in off the river. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look closely and you can see a tern hovering and fishing over the rapids. </td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">At Parc Bois Bizard we love the long boardwalk across the wetlands filled with painted turtles, frogs, ducks, herons, rails, swallows, dragonflies, little fish, and egrets. Sometimes we'll spy a beaver dam but not this visit. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>After Walking Comes the Eating</u>. </b>All the walking built up an appetite. This week's highlights were Montreal's famous smoked meat, fresh oysters and mussels, crepes, pie, and, of course, more ice cream. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Montreal is famous for their style of smoked meat (like what we call pastrami south of the border). The most famous spot is Schwartz's on St Laurent which we've been to many times. But this time of year (festival season) the lines out front are huge. All. Day. Long. So we slipped across the street to <a href="http://www.maindelisteakhouse.com/" target="_blank">Le Main</a> which has really good smoked meat sandwiches as well (and no line). </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">(For a great discussion of the "war between the meats" or "what the heck is the difference between smoke meats and pastrami" check out this great blog post by Ben Jay on SeriousEats.com <a href="http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/06/difference-between-pastrami-smoked-meat-katzs-schwartzs-mile-end.html" target="_blank">What's the Difference Between Smoked Meat and Pastrami?</a>)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I love Oysters, Jerry loves mussels. So <a href="http://www.maestrosvp.com/en/" target="_blank">Maestro SVP</a> on St Laurent is the perfect ticket for us. They will usually have about 20 different types of oysters on offer (most from the Canadian maritimes and a few from the U.S. Northeast and Canada's British Columbia.) On Mondays, they have "all you can eat" mussels and "happy hour" Beausoleil oysters for a great price. So that's where we headed last Monday. I tried 9 different kinds of oysters. All were great, but I once again confirmed that I'm a Northwest Oyster gal at heart...the Kuushi and Valentine oysters from British Columbia were spectacular! Yum!</span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">And let's not forget the sweets. We made a pilgrimage to <a href="http://www.bilboquet.ca/" target="_blank">Bilboquet</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">ice cream shop in the Outremont neighborhood of Montreal. FANTASTIC caramel and dark chocolate scoops. But they didn't have strawberry that day to taste test. Will just have to return. Darn! </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">And then there was pie. You knew I'd have to eventually get around to pie, didn't you? My favorite pie place in Montreal is <a href="http://www.rustiquepiekitchen.com/" target="_blank">Rustique Pie Kitchen</a> in the St-Henri neigborhood. The specialize in "tiny" pies (although they offer full size pies, cookies, bar cookies, and meringues as well). I had the meringue citron (lemon meringue), cerises (cherry), and banana split pies. Delish!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u style="font-weight: bold;">Murals, Murals, Murals.</u> We've taken to getting on a bus and taking it about 2 to 3 miles away from our flat and then getting off and walking back home. Trying different routes or revisiting old favorites. What they all have in common are murals. Big ones, little ones. Old ones, new ones. "Official" ones and really great graffiti. Here are some of this weeks finds: </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u style="font-weight: bold;">A Little Shopping</u>. We continue our search for cool bookstores. Will update on the next blog. This week we found THE COOLEST STORE for pencil, pen, and paper junkies like me. It's called <a href="http://www.nota-bene.ca/" target="_blank">Papeterie Nota Bene</a> on Avenue du Parc. We found it on one of our walks after dinner. It is one of the coolest, retro paper stores ever. I was practically hyperventilating over the pencil, pencil sharpener, and eraser offerings (yes, I'm a bit of nerd.) Of course they had the collection of quality pens and fountain pens, but the collection of hundreds of different notebooks of all sizes, types, and colors left me almost speechless. And don't get me going on the brightly colored portable typewriters...yes you heard me...TYPEWRITERS. Love. This. Store. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u style="font-weight: bold;">Old and New. </u> Montreal is a living, breathing, modern City built on the bedrock of over almost 375 years of history. Next year will be the City's 375th birthday and the City has got projects going everywhere to be ready to celebrate (so NEXT year's blogposts will be full of all that fun!) But it is the mix of old and new that we like so much on our walks. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The Old Walls. In the early days of Montreal (375 years ago), the original city/fort had a wooden blockade built around it for protection. Later that wooden wall was replaced by a stone wall that enclosed a much larger town. It got taller and bigger as the town grew into City. Eventually the City grew far past the old walls and was no longer needed. So the walls were torn down or built on. There are only two places you can see remnants of the wall. One is underground at the nearby <a href="http://www.pacmusee.qc.ca/en/home" target="_blank">Pointe -a- Calliere Museum</a> and the other is in the grassy park of Champ-de-Mars. This photo shows what would have been the foundations of the stone walls in the early 1700s.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">(side note: when they were renovating our building and enlarging the subterranean area for more parking spaces, they came across the remains of the early wall. So we sit right on top of where the wall once was) </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">More recently there was a major new hospital built not too far from us. It was a much needed hospital associated with the University of Montreal. There was an old church that had been vacant for many years. The Eglise St Saveur was originally built in 1865. It was demolished for the hospital construction but the portion of the church that had served as the entranced (topped by a steeple) was carefully "deconstructed" and then rebuilt on the corner of Rue St Denis and Viger. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Whew...what a great week. Tomorrow we're off to the Eastern Townships (a rural, lake-filled countryside between Montreal and Vermont). We're going to spend a couple of days at Lake Wassiwippi...or is that Wissiwappi?... Will come back with photos of Quebec countryside for next week's blog. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">A Bientot!</span>Annette Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15957903512162227390noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656687657167172317.post-12852780318845442972016-07-10T16:38:00.001-04:002016-07-10T16:38:28.650-04:00Summer in Montreal: Week One<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<span style="font-size: large;">As much as we love our home in St Pete, the heat of a Florida summer can be a bit overwhelming. So every year around the end of June, we fly north to our apartment in Montreal to escape the excessive heat and humidity. We call ourselves "reverse snowbirds." This year we're up for 6 weeks. We have all sorts of plans most of which involve long walks and eating. We're checking out all the English Language bookstores, trying to find the best falafel, taste-testing ice cream for the best strawberry, visiting farmers markets, and exploring neighborhoods on foot. We also plan to spend 3 days in the Eastern Townships (an area between Montreal and the Vermont/NH/Maine border) in a small hotel on a lake. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">So how's it gone so far? RELAXING and delicious! First, it's a delight to be in weather that is an average 10 to 20 degrees cooler than at home. Weather has been mostly sunny with one day of humid weather and a couple days of rain. I love to sit in my reading chair and look out my window to watch the changing sky above the St Lawrence. And I REALLY love, love, love being able to have the windows open with no screens. The occasional fly comes in for a visit...but NO MOSQUITOS!!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">So...our favorites from our first week. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u><b>In Search of Falafels</b></u>. We've hit three falafel places. Two we really liked. One we didn't. <a href="http://falafelavenue.com/" target="_blank">Falafel Avenue</a> on Robert Bourassa Street near McGill University was a brightly lit spot that offered four different kinds of falafel either as a plate or sandwich. They were fresh, not greasy, and quite tasty. <a href="http://sumacrestaurant.com/" target="_blank">Sumac Restaurant</a> is our favorite so far. It's in Little Burgundy around the corner from Atwater Market. The falafel was fantastic and the pita was plump and fresh. What set this spot apart from the pack so far was the variety of salads and side dishes. The next time I'll try the shish tawouk which looked equally as yummy. The third spot we tried was a small storefront in Old Montreal on rue Notre Dame near St Denis. The falafels were like little hockey pucks. I forgot the name of the place as I'd like to forget that lunch all together. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Falafel Plate at Sumac Restaurant </td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u><b>Books and Books</b></u>. We're primarily looking for used bookshops but have found that English bookstores tend to be a hybrid in Montreal. With the demise of the Chapters bookstore chain, all the English bookshops are independents and by necessity serve a wide variety of needs. Our favorite so far was the first we visited, <a href="http://wordbookstore.ca/" target="_blank">The Word Bookstore</a> on rue Milton just off the McGill U campus. It was a small used bookstore with fantastic values and wide selection although it's oriented primarily to literature and philosophy. The shop has operated in it's small two story building for 41 years. I laughed when a went to the desk to buy our treasures. The desk looked as it must have looked on opening day 41 years ago. Crammed with books, a pen and paper ledger, a rotary dial phone, no computer, no credit card reader. Needless to say, it's a cash-only store. We bought 7 books for 17 dollars. We were almost giddy with our carryall stuffed with new books to read. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Word Bookstore</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">A few days later we stopped at the <a href="http://argobookshop.ca/" target="_blank">Argo Bookshop</a> on St-Catherine. The shop is about the size of a shoe box. But we found a few treasures there as well. The store sells new and "old" new (meaning discounted older printings) books. There is a comfy chair in the middle of the small <strike>box</strike> room perfect for browsing. They had a great shelf of travel related books, mainly memoirs, which I really liked. Jerry found a Dennis Lehane book he hadn't read yet. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The third store we stopped at was <a href="http://www.welchbooks.com/" target="_blank">S.W. Welch Books</a> on St-Viateur West (just about a block from St-Viateur Bagels). This used bookstore was a little lacking on travel books but had a really good children's books section, an interesting couple of shelves on Canadiana, quite a large mystery and sci-fi collection, good literature offerings, and a great cart of "dollar" books...where Jerry found his next purchase. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="text-decoration: underline;">Tasting Ice Cream </b>Thank heavens for Lactaid! My summer goal is to hit all the "must-go" ice cream shops in Montreal and maybe discover a few not yet on the map. We picked a flavor to comparison test across the board when possible. We decided on strawberry as this is strawberry season in Quebec. It there was ever a time to produce really good strawberry ice cream, this would be the time. Our fall back flavors in absence of fraise/strawberry is maple or chocolate. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">My favorite so far is <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ladiperie" target="_blank">La Diperie</a> although it isn't comparable to the rest as it's style is an incredibly thick and creamy soft serve vanilla that is then dipped into one of many dipping sauces and then covered in your choice of topping(s). The dark chocolate dipping sauce is really thick and doesn't melt too fast. I like it with crushed almonds and caramel sauce swirl on it. It's heaven. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-q2TQvSgSofg/V4KrCl8DcGI/AAAAAAAACRc/b41F-sY-BH080a_Fc32yKNUN12hX4O60wCLcB/s1600/DSC08436.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-q2TQvSgSofg/V4KrCl8DcGI/AAAAAAAACRc/b41F-sY-BH080a_Fc32yKNUN12hX4O60wCLcB/s400/DSC08436.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ripples Ice Cream Shop on St-Laurent</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">We've also tried </span><a href="http://www.montrealicecream.com/ripples/" style="font-size: x-large;" target="_blank">Ripples</a><span style="font-size: large;"> on St Laurent (across from Schwartz's smoked meat). Very good strawberry and excellent maple nut. </span><a href="http://www.deliceserableetcie.com/" style="font-size: x-large;" target="_blank">Delices Erables</a><span style="font-size: large;"> on rue St Paul in Old Montreal had a decent but not stellar strawberry. They used to have fantastic selection of gelato. Their offerings are now more limited and more traditional ice cream than gelato style. A new spot on Place d'Armes is </span><a href="http://www.xavierartisan.com/" style="font-size: x-large;" target="_blank">Xavier Artisan</a><span style="font-size: large;"> which offers coffee, soups/salads, pastries, and ice cream. It's a comfortable airy space and they had a good strawberry ice cream on a really nicely crispy cone. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><u style="font-weight: bold;">Good Eats. </u> We've eaten at home quite a bit with fresh produce, cheeses, and pates from Atwater Market and <a href="http://www.marchespublics-mtl.com/en/marches/jean-talon-market/" target="_blank">Jean Talon Market</a>. We also stopped by <a href="http://www.schwartzsdeli.com/" target="_blank">Schwartz's</a> and picked up some smoke meat to go (as the line outside was probably an hour long) and Coco Rico's for Portuguese Rotisserie Chicken. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Chinatown (which is really Asiatown now) is about 1/2 mile from our apartment. We really like the tiny <a href="http://www.globeater.com/view-restaurant/?restaurant_name=Nouilles+de+Lan+Zhou+&id=813" target="_blank">Nouilles de Lan Zhou</a> restaurant where they make the long delicious noodles in a storefront window and serve them in a delicious been broth with lots of vegies. Yum. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xCQYlsc4kOQ/V4KvGRZwFyI/AAAAAAAACSA/WTTcH2C2_TE69TE_wdhkjeOiWBnZW0MAACLcB/s1600/DSC08181.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xCQYlsc4kOQ/V4KvGRZwFyI/AAAAAAAACSA/WTTcH2C2_TE69TE_wdhkjeOiWBnZW0MAACLcB/s400/DSC08181.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Braised Beef Noodles at Lan Zhou in Chinatown</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The <a href="http://www.oldportofmontreal.com/restaurant-boutique/MUVBOX-Homard-Quebec" target="_blank">MUVBOX Homard </a>is a </span><span style="font-size: large;">short walk from our apartment along the waterfront in Old Montreal. They serve excellent lobster roll (or lobster salad roll is you are a pursuit because there IS celery in the roll) and clam chowder. Muvbox is located in a converted shipping container near Locks 1 and 2 of the Lachine Canal. If you can't make it to Cape Cod for a lobster roll, this is a pretty excellent second choice.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Yesterday it rained all day. We slept in and read in bed much of the day. But finally hunger (and the need to stretch our legs) got the better of us. So we pulled out our McGill University and Cirque du Soleil umbrellas and wandered off down rue St Paul. We were not the only people who thought sitting in a cozy restaurant on a rainy day was a good idea. But we managed to find a quiet corner table at <a href="http://lespyrenees.ca/" target="_blank">Les Pyrenees</a> and enjoyed a fabulous late afternoon lunch/dinner. Jerry had mussels and I had the fish soup. DELICIOUS. This is one of our favorite local restaurant. They have a really excellent selection of Catalan inspired dishes. There are a number of vegetarian items that we've tried in the past, but mainly we seem to gravitate towards the fish selections. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><u style="font-weight: bold;">FUN!</u> Most years in late spring/early summer, the Cirque du Soleil raises their Gran Chapeau (Big Top) on one of the quays in the Old Port of Montreal. Whenever the Cirque produces a new show, it premiers here. Like this year. We had the good fortune to see "Luzia" a magical show inspired by the folklore and music of Mexico. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GLOoVOMmJbI/V4Kwh9HXamI/AAAAAAAACSI/50cfxj1stoE3oodS_pEplJQz_FyaUVBeACLcB/s1600/DSC08355.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GLOoVOMmJbI/V4Kwh9HXamI/AAAAAAAACSI/50cfxj1stoE3oodS_pEplJQz_FyaUVBeACLcB/s400/DSC08355.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Magic of Luzia</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><u style="font-weight: bold;">Shops. </u> We found a great shop, <a href="http://www.swellfellow.ca/" target="_blank">Swell Fellow</a> on rue Notre Dame which has a great selection of neckties, bowties, cufflinks, and purses. Some are conservative, some quite quirky, all are very well made. Neckties are made at a sewing station in the front window and designed by one of the owners. (Reminds me of the cigar stores in Tampa where you can watch someone roll cigars in the front windows) Almost made me wish that Jerry and Jason were wearing ties these days. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Smxn0C7cuYU/V4KrzcN6MYI/AAAAAAAACRk/b-jPI5ueWOcpPHC8K0fVfTb_LNlKYw7OQCLcB/s1600/DSC08159.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Smxn0C7cuYU/V4KrzcN6MYI/AAAAAAAACRk/b-jPI5ueWOcpPHC8K0fVfTb_LNlKYw7OQCLcB/s400/DSC08159.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Handmade neckties at Swell Fellow in Old Montreal </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><u style="font-weight: bold;">Cats. </u>As always, we miss our little furpals when we travel. Fortunately in Montreal there is a cat cafe where we can get our feline fix. <a href="http://www.cafechatlheureux.com/en-ca" target="_blank">Cafe Chat l'Heureaux</a> on rue Duluth is a wonderful spot to grab a bit to eat, drink a cup of coffee, read a book and play with KITTIES! The Cafe is run in cooperation with a cat rescue organization and besides the "resident" senior cats they socialize kittens and young cats for adoption. There were four very energetic kittens the afternoon we visited. It was so much fun. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-96ly0RFCfbg/V4KsM3H2Y1I/AAAAAAAACRo/6qkoxGKdN3c15hEc8ZEJLRWpgqZZeFPgACLcB/s1600/DSC08411.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-96ly0RFCfbg/V4KsM3H2Y1I/AAAAAAAACRo/6qkoxGKdN3c15hEc8ZEJLRWpgqZZeFPgACLcB/s320/DSC08411.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Walking</u>.</b> So far we've walked all around Old Montreal, along much of Boul St Laurent, down St Catherine, on St-Viateur and Parc. We wandered through the high energy of the Place d'Artes during the Jazz Festival and though the Gay Village during MTLenArt. We've got ourselves a Metro/STM pass, so we take the subway or a bus to distant spot and then walk back to our apartment picking different streets. St Laurent is one of our favorite streets partially for the great group of murals that are found along the route. The street is also home to an eclectic mix of shops and restaurants. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">After 13 years of coming to Montreal we finally walked around the <a href="http://www.montreal.com/parks/mtroyal.html" target="_blank">Mont Royal Park </a>. The park was designed by Olmsted (of Central Park fame) and is a fix of natural areas/trails and large landscaped parkland. It was a delight. And we walked to the Kondiaronk Belvedere (overlook) which looks out over downtown Montreal. Frankly, I'm not sure how we never knew about this spot until a few months ago. It was a beautiful day and the belvedere was filled with happy people. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rktagPYbyns/V4Kph9VqdeI/AAAAAAAACRE/xH9s_wjk80oOGChkBkJ66nobleZPInJlQCLcB/s1600/DSC08253.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rktagPYbyns/V4Kph9VqdeI/AAAAAAAACRE/xH9s_wjk80oOGChkBkJ66nobleZPInJlQCLcB/s400/DSC08253.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunny Day at Mont Royal Park on the Kondiaronk Belvedere</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>Annette Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15957903512162227390noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656687657167172317.post-92059417404513804132016-05-05T10:40:00.001-04:002016-05-05T10:41:00.815-04:00For The Love of Pie (Judging the 2013 National Pie Championships)<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">When he entered
the large, brightly lit room, Rob Ward stopped a moment to savor the heady
scent of butter, apple, almonds, citrus, chocolate and cinnamon. Along the walls
of the room were over 300 pies lined up like beads on a jeweled necklace. With a broad smile he nodded hello to fellow
pie lovers as he threaded his way through 19 tables to table number six, where
he would sit for the better part of three hours tasting over a dozen cherry
pies. For the seventh year in a row, Ward would judge, along with 100 others,
the amateur division of the American Pie Council’s National Pie Championship in
Orlando, Fla. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Over two
decades, the National Pie Championships has grown from a series of small
regional pie competitions to a single large national event held every April. At the 2013 event, pies were judged in five divisions:
commercial, independent/retail bakers, amateur bakers, professional chefs, and
junior chefs. Competitors and judges
came from over 40 states. Nearly 1,000
pies were judged by 200 volunteer judges over three days of competition. Gift
baskets were awarded to the winners of various pie categories and the Best of
Show winner in each division received a cash prize.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">It is not
difficult to understand what brings bakers to the competition. They love to
create an original recipe they hope is worthy of recognition and prize
money. Most competitors enter pies in many
different categories and return every year hoping for fame within the pie
community. Winning pie recipes are published on the American Pie Council’s website.
A new cookbook, America’s Best Pies, edited by Linda Hoskins the executive director
of the APC contains 200 of the best recipes from past competitions. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">But what brings
people like Rob Ward back year after year to judge those pies? There are no
prizes or accolades for the judges. They pay for their own transportation and
lodging. No one writes stories about them in the local paper. They give up a
weekend to sit inside a windowless, air- conditioned convention center eating
pie until their loose-fitting clothes aren’t so loose fitting anymore. So why
do they do it? The answer is simple. It is their passion for pie. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Ward recently
retired to Sarasota, an easy two-hour drive to Orlando. But for the first six
years he judged at the National Pie Championships, he would close his lucrative
orthodontic practice in Illinois for several days. He would fly at his own
expense to Orlando from Chicago and judge pies for three days. He said his wife
would often ask him why he wanted to make the effort to judge for free and
without recognition. He said his answer
was always, “Because I can”. He loves
the camaraderie of the judges, seeing good friends year after year, and tasting
many different pies. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">His favorite pie
is cherry, preferably a double crust, the category he judged at this year’s
championship. But his earliest memory of pie was his grandmother’s apple
pie. He would sit on a well-worn stool
in her kitchen in a small house in upstate New York. “I was around eight or
nine watching her work her magic … I still have that stool.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">His enthusiasm
for the pie championship was so great that one year he took the idea home with
him. He and his wife lived on a
close-knit cul-de-sac north of Chicago. He hosted a friendly neighborhood pie
competition where everyone brought their favorite pie, whether they baked it or
bought it. With Johnny Cash’s song Pie
in the Sky playing in the background they sampled pies, Ward “judged” each pie,
and everyone got a prize. It was the talk of the neighborhood for years.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Across the table
from Ward sat a trim, talkative woman who has driven from nearby Jupiter for a half dozen years to judge the amateur
division. A red, white, and, blue “I Love Pie” sticker stood out on her bright
red jacket. She is an avid baker who
bakes pies, cakes, cookies, and breads almost every day. When her tablemates
asked how she keeps so trim and fit, she replied “I give away most of what I
bake, to the local fire and police stations and my neighbors.” She just loves
to bake, especially pies. There were at least several people at her table who
expressed the desire to be one of her neighbors.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Like several
other judges around the table, she was disappointed there weren’t more classic,
double-crusted cherry pies in the competition. She considers herself a
purist. If it says it is a cherry pie,
it should have lots of cherries. Her opinion of the cherry cream pie that got
high marks from several other judges? Not enough cherries, too much cream
cheese, she marked it down for that. But
with six judges with different tastes and opinions, the pie still won third
place. The winner? Mamma Mia’s Cherry
Pie. It had lots of cherries and no
cream cheese.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Judging at the
pie championship requires more than just the love of pie. It also requires organization, attention to
detail, and confidence. There were six
judges at a table with each table judging an entire category of pie. There were typically 12 to 25 pies in a
category. A score sheet was filled out by each judge giving points for
appearance, overall taste, balance of taste, mouth feel, crust quality,
creativity, after-taste, and more.
During the tasting process for each piece, no communication between
judges was allowed. But in between pie
slices, conversation was often lively and varied. “Didn’t you think it tasted like lavender
soap?” “What was that spice? Whatever it was, there was too much of it.” “What
was that golden cherry? It was perfect.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Judging attracts
pie lovers of all ages. A frail, silver-haired woman with a whisper of a voice
has judged at the pie championships for so long she couldn’t remember how many
years, at least 11. She spoke of a sweet
potato pie from her childhood in the backwoods of Louisiana during the 1940s. Her
delicately, weathered hand tapped on the small round pin on her lapel that
announced, pie judge. The family’s housekeeper would make the pie. She said, “I never saw her use a recipe and I
have never been able to make that pie”. The closest she has come was from a
recipe she found in a southern cookbook from 1764. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Sitting at the
raisin pie table, Judy Hynes proudly wore her American Pie Council Pie Police
t-shirt. She drives an hour from DeBary, Fla, all three days of the competition.
In addition to judging, she volunteers at the American Pie Festival in
Celebration, Fla, that runs concurrently with the National Pie Championship. The most demanding job? “The pie slicing tent
at Celebration, hardest job ever.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> Her earliest memory of pie is her mother’s
peach pie. She prides herself on her
lemon meringue and chocolate pies. In past competitions, she has entered pies for
judging, but never won. But, her days as a competitor will soon be over. Her
son is marrying into pie royalty. This
summer he will marry the daughter of Rich and Linda Hoskins the founders of the
American Pie Council and the National Pie Championships. When asked whether there will be cake or pie
at her son’s wedding reception, she said, “That is so funny. Pie of course!” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Annette Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15957903512162227390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656687657167172317.post-82358976495450520692016-03-06T11:10:00.001-05:002016-03-06T11:21:14.411-05:0075 Things to know about the Birthday Boy! <div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">75 things (more or less) to know about the Birthday Boy<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">compiled by Annette and Jason<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">My husband, Jerry, turns 75 tomorrow. He's still a youthful and vibrant man who is a fabulous and interesting companion, makes us think and laugh, and always makes me feel special and loved. In honor of his birthday, our son Jason and I came up with this list of 75 things (more or less) that we love about him. Do you have any to add?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/--g3OQ0uNMgk/VtxY7ibpBSI/AAAAAAAACQw/diEtohraLxs/s1600/jerryandme.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/--g3OQ0uNMgk/VtxY7ibpBSI/AAAAAAAACQw/diEtohraLxs/s320/jerryandme.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">He
is a deep thinker.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">He
loves books, most kinds. One of his favorite things to do is sit in his leather
recliner in our lounge and get lost in book. He reads “real” books, kindle, and
listens to books via Audible. Any way he can get a book is good with him. He
never goes anywhere without a book (which is easier now that he can load them
onto his phone).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Recently
he has been into good mystery and detective books.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Some
of his favorite books are: Econometrics by Wonnacott and Wonnacott; The Lion’s
Paw by Robb White; The Flashman Papers series by Geroge MacDonald Frasier;
Glory Road by Robert Heinlein; and the Forever War by Joe Haldeman.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">He
is curious about the world and how it works. He learns new things all the time
through books and learning courses. He’s a big fan of the Great Courses series and loves that he can get them on Audible now.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">He
loves cats especially big ginger cats.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">His
favorite cat of all time (and we have had great cats) was Orange Roughy who we
got as a kitten right after we were married. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">He
likes dogs (if they are cat-like).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">He
loves to cook and does it often (thank heavens.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">He likes to make me steamed stone crab when it’s
in season and silver dollar pancakes for special breakfasts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">He likes to shop and loves bargains. We say it’s
his hunter-gatherer instinct. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">He finds all sorts of deals on Living Social and Amazon deals</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">He really really REALLY loves Costco and has
visited Costcos wherever he has traveled (including 5 in the U.K., one in
Mexico, and almost everyone around the Montreal area).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">He likes soft sheets with cool patterns (like
the ones with zebra stripes). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">He loves opera and classical music.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">His favorite operas include La Traviata, La
Boheme, and Carmen.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">He took me to my first opera which was Don
Giovanni.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">He’s always been a huge fan of Hank Williams
(senior not junior) and Bill Monroe.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">He’s loves Carole King (especially the Tapestry
album), Buddy Holly, and for something different Janis Joplin.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Some of his favorite country songs are Brad
Paisley’s “Ticks”, Josh Turner’s “Long Black Train”, Hank Williams’ “Hey Good
Lookin’”and Dierks Bentley’s “Free and Easy”.
Also on his play list are the Doors “Stairway to Heaven” and “Me and
Bobby McGee” by Janis Joplin. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">He loves to laugh.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Some
of his favorite comedians are Jeff Foxworthy, Asiz Ansari, Ron White, and Bill
Engwall.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Two
of his favorite TV shows were Home Improvement with Tim Allen and Married With
Children. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">One
of his favorite funny movies is “Airplane.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">He
LOVES Netflix. He has binged watched all
episodes of Futurama.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">He
was born in Cleveland, Ohio where it snowed too much for his mother.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">He was raised from a young age in Florida and
remembers swimming in the canals in Miami when alligators were scarce but water
moccasins weren’t.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">He
was the middle child.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">He
graduated from Miami-Edison High School by the skin of his teeth. His love of
educational institutions and what he could learn there didn’t blossom until after
the Navy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">He served in the Navy right out of high school (best way to get out of
Miami) working with jets at a Navy base in Georgia. Thankfully he mustered out just
as the Berlin Wall went up and Vietnam ramped up. He loathed every minute of
his time in the Navy, but feels eternally grateful for what he learned from the
experience and the advice he got from a mentor there (go to California and go
to college.)</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">He
asked Annette out on their first date in November of 1983 after chatting at an
UC Irvine alumni cocktail party on a boat in Newport Harbor in Newport
Beach. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">During
his years in academia he wrote and co-wrote many articles which appeared in
many prestigious academic journals. A
few of them are still cited every now and then. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">After
teaching investments in finance at Ohio State, York University in Toronto, and
U.C. Irvine he joined a small mathematically oriented hedge fund. It was only one of a handful in existence at
that time. A decade later he joined the pension fund investment group at
Weyerhaeuser which took us north to Washington State.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">He
loves, loves, loves the sun. Which is why we live in Florida and not Washington
State. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">He
does not miss the snow. Which is one
reason we don’t live in Pennsylvania anymore<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">He
loves yellow flowers especially sunflowers, yellow roses, apricot colored
bougainvillea, and yellow/orange hibiscus or daylilies.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">He
adores bamboo. Our whole backyard would
be bamboo if he had his way.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">He
loves the annual spring flower and garden sale at UCF arboretum. We go every
year.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">He
was never much of a baseball fan. Baseball was always the passion of his
brother and mother. But when I became a Rays fan he supported me. And now he keeps up with the team all season
long. We have season tickets to which he
brings his book </span><span style="font-family: "wingdings"; font-size: 14.0pt;">J</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">He
loves cities. His favorite city to visit in North America is Montreal. His favorite city to live is St Petersburg,
FL. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Jerry
has lived in Cleveland, OH; Sanford and Miami, FL; Covina, Long Beach, West Hollywood, CA; Costa
Mesa and Laguna Beach, CA; Columbus, OH; Toronto, Canada; Maple Valley and
Issaquah, WA; Villanova, PA; and, St Pete, FL. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">His
favorite family vacation ever was when we camped in Baja on the Sea of Cortez
with Jason, who was one-year old, and my mom. We kayaked and fished and napped
in the shade. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">He
loves Chinese food. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">He
introduced me to sushi when we were first dating at a restaurant called,
Genkai, in Corona del Mar. Jason
continues the sushi loving tradition inherited from his dad. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">He
was afraid he’d pass out during my labor with Jason so we had a “backup” birth
coach just in case. But instead, even
though I had a c-section, he was so enthralled he just snapped photos the whole
time…of the whole thing! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">He
loves rain-shower shower heads, a deep bathtub with a slant back, and hot tubs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">He
loves red convertible sports cars. He has owned his 1982 Porsche 911 since it
was brand new. He’s known Rosie longer than he’s known Annette! He bought
Annette a convertible Firebird in 2003. He loves driving with the top down on
the convertible on a cool, clear March evening in Florida. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">He
loves unusual ties but is glad he doesn’t have to wear them anymore.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">He
watches Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy with Annette. Yes, officially, we’re old
farts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">He likes playing dominoes, a game he learned
from his mother, Violet. We play at dinner
most nights.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">He
loves citrus trees and is happy he finally got a “cocktail citrus tree” for our
yard (a tree with five different citrus fruits grafted onto it). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Jason
loves when Jerry tells certain stories about when Jason was little, like the
“YOU TELL ME” story and the time Jason dropped his juice bottle out the window
of the car on the way home from Montessori day-care (he was about 2 ½)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Jerry
has been super supportive of Jason and his creative endeavors, which Jason says
he really REALLY appreciates<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Jason
also appreciates his dad’s sometimes oddball sense of humor. Like the time
Jerry pretended to drive off from a park service bathroom as Jason walked out
(we think Jason was about 7ish?) and Jason thought we really had forgotten him!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">His
favorite color is orange. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Just
like Mario Batali, Jerry likes wearing crocs. He has them in all colors. And
yes, he has them in orange.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">He
has a thing about tote bags. All
kinds. Big, little, fabric, plastic. He
collects them from all over. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">He
also collects knives (mostly pocket knives), salt and pepper shakers, and t-shirts from places we’ve traveled (yes,
he has a lot of t-shirts.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">The
only instrument he ever played was the accordion when he was young. He doesn’t
have good memories of it! His favorite
phrase regarding the accordion is “Use an accordion, go to jail.” Despite being Romanian he was never a
oom-pa-pa band lover.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">He
absolutely adores stuffed cabbage and dill pickles with a hint of garlic like
his mom used to make.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">His
favorite Mexican foods are chilequiles, carne asada, chile rellenos, and
carnitas.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">His
favorite pie is banana cream.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">He
drinks his coffee black.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">He
starts every morning with a double espresso while reading Flipboard in bed with
Annette. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Every
June you will find Jerry with Annette and their good friends Peg and Jeff at
the four-day CMA Music Fest in Nashville. This year will be their 10<sup>th</sup>
year at the festival <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">He
loves the idea of growing tomatoes, but we haven’t been very successful at it
since moving to Florida. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">One
of his favorite activities is going to a really good farmer’s market. Two of
his favorites are Marche Jean Talon in Montreal and the Wagon Wheel in Pinellas
her in Florida<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Jerry
is still friends with two men, Leo and Jerry, he met in undergraduate school in
the early 1960s. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Jerry
loves roseate spoonbills and sandhill cranes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">He
really likes turtles, all kinds. He has a special fondness for the red-eared
sliders that sun themselves on the “turtle dock” near our house on Coffee Pot
Bayou.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">He
thinks manatees are wonderful and appreciates they sometime come up the canal
near our house.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">He
loves giving presents.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">He
loves trying out new technology even when the difference between a sim card and
a micro SD card slips by him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">He’s
the only person in the family to have drunk the kool-aid and get an iphone. And
since he now has more apps than God, he’ll never switch.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">He
has the most email addresses of anyone either Annette or Jason has ever known. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">He
works hard at eating well and staying fit (which Jason says is “inspirational
given his age”).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">His
favorite place to take a walk is Sawgrass Lake Park a few miles from our home.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">He
loves to travel and see new places even if that is just the next county
over. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">He
loves to drive and discover new routes to familiar places. Let’s hope that in 10 years on his 85<sup>th</sup>,
he is still discovering new routes to familiar places. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Happy
Birthday Jerry!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Annette Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15957903512162227390noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656687657167172317.post-23450816357631762062014-01-20T18:59:00.000-05:002014-01-20T18:59:27.225-05:00Gin Rummy on the Gulf of Mexico
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fXx2LgVawtA/Ut23_e0LezI/AAAAAAAACOE/QxbX92RMld0/s1600/sunset+on+gulf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fXx2LgVawtA/Ut23_e0LezI/AAAAAAAACOE/QxbX92RMld0/s1600/sunset+on+gulf.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Gin
Rummy on the Gulf of Mexico</span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Headed home over a sea prairie</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">the Gulf of Mexico</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">playing gin two miles above the ocean floor.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">A lonely container ship passes in a southbound lane</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">I think it would wave if it could.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Sea air cools, clouds stack up on the northern horizon, </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">thunder rumbles in the distance like</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Tuesday morning’s garbage truck.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Tomorrow? Cats, mail, a week of newspapers,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">a long list of things to do.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Today? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More gin rummy with a
view.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">I’m winning 18 games to 12.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><em><span style="font-size: x-small;">Day 7 on Norwegian Dawn in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico.<o:p></o:p></span></em></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
Annette Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15957903512162227390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656687657167172317.post-61661149140558464942014-01-20T18:49:00.000-05:002014-01-20T18:49:44.122-05:00Party on the Docks<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MI6_qgQOB6U/Ut21izBXIYI/AAAAAAAACN4/K_z9yMstehE/s1600/P1050677.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MI6_qgQOB6U/Ut21izBXIYI/AAAAAAAACN4/K_z9yMstehE/s1600/P1050677.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Party
on the Docks (Cozumel)</span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Two liners bob nose to tail, tail to nose.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Main street on the quay hums with</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">reggae and carib beats, bouncing off</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">steel hulls, tropical cacophony.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Line dancers, stilt walkers, crew</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">clap, cheer, sing, stomp, dance</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">welcoming the last of the days</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">travelers, back to the ship.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">We hang over the balcony</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">snapping photos, waving</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">wishing we hadn’t come back so early</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">missing the party below</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">but then, there was that delicious afternoon nap.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><em><span style="font-size: x-small;">Cozumel on Norwegian Dawn, Day 6<o:p></o:p></span></em></span></div>
Annette Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15957903512162227390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656687657167172317.post-76048369507378744462014-01-20T18:42:00.000-05:002014-01-20T18:42:59.003-05:00Rainy Season in Belize
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BzLUJk_nD2E/Ut20ARTJHGI/AAAAAAAACNs/czR90WTWh_s/s1600/P1050536.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BzLUJk_nD2E/Ut20ARTJHGI/AAAAAAAACNs/czR90WTWh_s/s1600/P1050536.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><strong><em>Rainy Season in Belize</em></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">The rainy season clings to the land of George Price</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">hollows and fields drown, </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">stilted houses, shacks really, teeter alongside</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">water laden groves of papaya, banana, coconut</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">roads which may have once seen asphalt, or not,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">harbor muddy ruts </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">making for slow going for the train of tour buses </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">come to tread the steps of Altun Ha.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Mayans, once a million strong, where now 300,000 abide</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Conquered the rainy season once</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Only to be undone by the dry.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><em><span style="font-size: x-small;">Altun Ha out of Belize City, day trip from Norwegian Dawn.</span></em></span></div>
Annette Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15957903512162227390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656687657167172317.post-11730608169445973102014-01-20T18:37:00.000-05:002014-01-20T18:37:11.246-05:00First Sunrise
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span></span></i></b> </div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fOD6Rs9B8ao/Ut2y6L2iH-I/AAAAAAAACNk/PpdpYJcxbPk/s1600/P1050425.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fOD6Rs9B8ao/Ut2y6L2iH-I/AAAAAAAACNk/PpdpYJcxbPk/s1600/P1050425.jpg" height="265" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">First Sunrise</span></span></span></i></b></div>
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<span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Dimpled gunmetal gray seas</span></span></div>
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<span></span><span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">thin line of molten orange</span></span></div>
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<span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">slices gray from gray.</span></span></div>
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<span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A single cloud, heavily laden, </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px;">
<span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">reaches down, spills over</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">to feed the sea.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><em><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">On board the Norwegian Dawn. Day Two. </span></em></span>Annette Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15957903512162227390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656687657167172317.post-4698894374586740432014-01-20T18:31:00.000-05:002014-01-20T18:31:41.437-05:00Leave Taking<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xkWx7_uugX0/Ut2xWt3JCtI/AAAAAAAACNY/bT9nADa3Rj4/s1600/P1050380.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xkWx7_uugX0/Ut2xWt3JCtI/AAAAAAAACNY/bT9nADa3Rj4/s1600/P1050380.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Leave taking</span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">The horn sounded. We slipped silently from the dock</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">like a wraith moving in mist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Terns, gulls, pelicans flew alongside</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">diving for fish churned up in our wake.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Gangs of sea ducks raced low across glassy waters</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">in vees and doubleyous</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">faster than the ship</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">faster than anything</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">zipping quick across the bow, fearless.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">The sun began its setting in magenta clouds. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">We glided under glistening arches of the Skyway</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">hazy in pink, rose, orange.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">A dolphin played peek-a-boo off the port bow.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Just one, shy, not interested in having its photo taken</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">next to such a huge thing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><em>day one of seven day cruise on Norwegian Dawn</em></span></div>
Annette Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15957903512162227390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656687657167172317.post-82441668445328379642014-01-18T21:04:00.002-05:002014-01-18T21:04:36.186-05:00Costa Maya? <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iQVctWLl25I/Utsxj0Vh9bI/AAAAAAAACNI/qZ1GNc0vqXk/s1600/P1050609.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iQVctWLl25I/Utsxj0Vh9bI/AAAAAAAACNI/qZ1GNc0vqXk/s1600/P1050609.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>Costa Maya</i>?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">White floating cities cluster<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">giants at the end of a dock<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">beaten by wind<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">baptized by waves.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: large;">Streams of sunhats with legs <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: large;">braid to shore dancing <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: large;">to Ricky Martin, Gloria Estefan<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: large;">like happy lemmings on holiday.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Everything is for sale<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: large;">one hundred types of Tequila, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">diamonds in all colors, </span><span style="font-size: large;">superhero statues,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">because nothing says Mexico</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: large;">like Thor and the Justice League,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">maracas, bracelets “whit” your name,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">watches, skimpy sundresses with parrots<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">wooden dolphins and plaster toucans<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">duffles with NFL logos, tshirts</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">with Mayan temples<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">gold chains, antibiotics, and retin-A.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Raucous dancing, whistles <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">blast out from Senor Frogs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Customers drink fancy rum drinks<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: large;">from foot and a half long plastic palms<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: large;">happy to be out of the rain, </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: large;">wishing for sun.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Brass studded mariachis</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: large;">sing Guantanamera next to <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: large;">the giant polychrome jaguar head<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: large;">in front of a sea of faces </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: large;">obscured by point and shoots.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: large;">Feathered dancers with painted faces<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: large;">stand in front of the arched entrance<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: large;">next to the bathrooms<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: large;">trilling songs of their ancestors,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: large;">in theory. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: large;">Frigate birds, terns, pelicans hover over<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: large;">dolphin pools hoping to outsmart<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: large;">their not so fortunate captive cousins<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: large;">for fish treats, while<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: large;">waiting for the white wedding cakes<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: large;">to cast off<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: large;">leaving them the beach and sea.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
Annette Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15957903512162227390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656687657167172317.post-69174177764617084512014-01-01T18:17:00.001-05:002014-01-01T18:18:37.888-05:00The Best of the Bests for 2013 <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> Before 2014 gets going with a whoosh and a bang, I want to to reflect on the many traveling "bests" we enjoyed this year whether it was far afield in Montreal, along the Mississippi River, in a wintry New York City or closer to home in St Pete. Jerry and I know how fortunate we are to have the time, good health, and resources to travel the way we do and we make the most of it. But isn't just places or meals or sunset views that bring us happiness. Our travels are filled with opportunities to meet people, moments to reflect on history and culture, time to enjoy the bounty of nature, and space for reflection. It is the richness of experience that calls us to travel. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> Here are a few "snapshots" of what we loved in our travels this past year.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Best Breakfast</b>: We love a good breakfast to start the day whether at home or traveling. These three spots tied for honors in 2013: </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> Voula's Offshore Cafe, Seattle, WA</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> Beauty's Lunchonette (since 1972), Montreal, QC</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> Slim Goodies, New Orleans, LA</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Best Birthday Celebration</b>: Celebrating Canada Day (July 1) with thousands of Canadians in the Old Port of Montreal, complete with cake, bagpipers, and the swearing in of new Canadian citizens.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Best Scenic Drive: </b>Highway 1 on the Oregon Coast on a misty day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Best Animal Kiss: </b>Giraffe at San Diego Safari Park (they have reeaally long tongues)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Best Oddball Museum: </b>The Seattle Pinball Museum. For just $13 we played for hours on 50 well-maintained machines dating from the late 50s to present day. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Best Farmers Market: </b>Hands down: <b> </b>Marche Jean Talon in Montreal. Jerry's favorite farmers market anywhere in the world. It's our first "pilgrimage" stop every time we arrive in Montreal. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Best Pie Shop: </b>Rustique Pie Kitchen in St. Henri neighborhood of Montreal. Delicious mini pies and all sorts of other goodies. My favorite? lemon meringue...no...apple...wait...the pecan...maybe the s'more pie? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Best Donuts: </b>A tie between The Donut Den in Nashville and Randy's Donuts in Inglewood (right near LAX airport). Both places have the fantastic maple donuts. Randy's rocks the french cruellers. Although Tim Horton's in Quebec has the fantastic french cruellers, too. Does anyone still wonder why I'm not a size 8?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Best Foodie Adventure: </b>A May weekend in Montreal with my mid-twenties son and his friend Louise. We ate and walked and ate some more. Restaurants? Au Pied de Cochon, Garde Manger, Toque!, Beauty's Luncheonette, the Creperie at Marche Jean Talon, and Rustique Pies.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Best Winter Meal: </b>Any meal at Hearth in New York is a great meal, but our meal with our son on a cold day in the middle of winter was spectacular. Hearty food, delicate gnocchi, great service, and long talks over wine. Perfection. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Best Oysters: </b>For west coast oysters: Taylor Shellfish Farms Melrose Market in Seattle. For east coast oysters: Maestro S.V.P in Montreal. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Best Opportunity to Eat Lots of Pie: </b>Judging at the National Pie Championships in Orlando. Nothing quite like sharing a weekend with a couple hundred pie-loving judges and 400 contestants from all over the U.S. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Best Way to Work off some of that Pie: </b>Three afternoon/evenings at Walk Disney World: EPCOT, The Magic Kingdom, and the Animal Kingdom.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Best Ride on Public Transit: </b>The Charles Street Trolley in New Orleans on a warm summer night. Close second? Sausalito ferry on a sunny day (love that view of the Golden Gate bridge).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Best Meal in San Francisco: </b>Spruce. The meal was excellent, inventive without being unnecessarily over the top. Fresh, quality ingredients. And, a young man who we've known since he was 8 works in the kitchen. It was really something to look through the viewing window to see him do his stuff. It was just yesterday we were fishing on Lake Bonaparte and roasting marshmallows over a campfire. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Best Bookstore: </b>Elliot Bay Books on 10th Avenue in Seattle (Capitol Hill). I could move in and stay.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Best Bookstore Celebrating It's 80th Birthday: </b>Haslam's New and Used Books, St Petersburg, FL. An integral part of the St Pete community for 80 years, they threw a great party! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Best Luxury Hotel: </b>The Hermitage in Nashville. Jerry's favorite anywhere, any year. An oasis in the middle of the wonderful madness of Nashville during the CMA Music Fest every June. Love the "cookie hour" in late afternoon.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Best Bed & Breakfast (with a talented piano playing owner)</b>: J.N. Stone House and Musicale, Natchez, MS. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Best Lodging with a Twist: </b>The Shack Up Inn, Clarksdale, MS: A motel made up of resurrected share cropper cabins and cotton gins on the old Hopson Plantation located in the cradle of Delta blues music.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Best Fruit Stand: </b>Dickey's Peaches in Musella, GA. Late May to early August is peach picking time and they always have fresh peaches for sale. We love to sit and watch the sorting and packing operations while wiping the peach juice from our chins. A third generation tradition in central Georgia.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Best BBQ on the road: </b> Blackstrap BBQ in Verdun, Montreal. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Best BBQ close to home</b>: Fred Fleming's on 4th Street North in St Pete, FL</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Best Cemetery: </b>Cote des Neiges, Montreal. Beautiful and monumental headstones and crypts that tell stories covering 150 years in the lives (and deaths) of Montrealers. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Best Botanical Garden Display: </b>Montreal Botanical Gardens with this year's astonishingly imaginative and artful Mosaiculture International Competition and the always delightful Butterflies Go Free Display.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Best Bridge: </b>The art deco bridge in Florence, Oregon (Hwy 101) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Best Scenic Drive: </b>Highway 101 in Oregon from Coos Bay to Lincoln City.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Best Piggy Bank: </b>The big bronze pig, Rachel, at the Pike Place Market in Seattle. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Best Place to Buy Flowers: </b>Pike Place Market in August...dahlias are in full bloom. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Best Concert: </b>Thursday Night (first of 4 nights) at the CMA Music Fest in Nashville. (Luke Bryan, Taylor Swift, Tim McGraw, Miranda Lambert, Zac Brown Band.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Best Concert While Freezing our Fannies Off: </b>Alan Jackson at the Plant City Strawberry Festival (yes it was cold in Florida, in the 40s cold)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Best Snoball: </b>Rootbeer flavored snoball from the guy in the French Market in New Orleans.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Best Snoball outside New Orleans</b><b style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">: </b><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">the Snoball shack in Treasure Island, FL </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Best High Tea: </b>Queen Mary Tea Room in Seattle (ask to sit by the doves)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Best Baseball Game: </b>Any day the Tampa Bay Rays are playing at home at the Tropicana Dome. But especially Opening Day when I got to help unfurl the ginormous American Flag on the field before the game. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Best Lonely Lighthouse: </b>The lighthouse standing guard over the Louisbourg Harbor in Cape Breton. Just us and a few seagulls and the Atlantic Ocean stretching out to Ireland.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Best Lobster Roll: </b>Thirsty Whale in Bar Harbor, Maine. Had a great game of dominoes in between bites of oh so fresh from the seas lobster.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Best Pilates Session while Traveling: </b>Simply Balanced in Nashville, TN. Our classes there have become a tradition helping to unkink our muscles after boot scootin' at the nightly concerts at the CMA Music Fest. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Best Cruise: </b>Holland America's autumn cruise from Boston to Montreal through the Canadian Maritimes on the Maasdam.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Best Fireworks: </b>Montreal's<b> </b>Annual International Firework Competition held for two months each summer. Weekly fireworks set to music created by the best talent in the pyrotechnic world. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Best Temporary Exhibit at a Museum: </b>The Beatles retrospective at the Musee Pointe-a-Calliere in Montreal. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Best Cat: </b>The gray mouser that hung out on the porch of our sharecropper cabin at Shack Up Inn in Clarksdale, MS.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Best Author's Reading: </b><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A tie: Jeff Klinkenburg at the Inkwood Bookstore in Tampa and Khalid Housseini at Tampa Theatre.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Best College Campus for Birding: </b> Eckerd College in St Petersburg, FL. Roseate spoonbills, nesting osprey, white ibis, egrets, and herons. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Best Bird Sighting of the Year: </b>Sandhill Crane families with little chicks just east of Sarasota, FL. Close second: nesting owls in Fort de Soto Park, St Pete, FL.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Best Koi Pond: </b>Marie Selby Gardens, Sarasota, FL</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Best Banana Cream Pie (my husband's favorite): </b>Yoder's Amish restaurant in Sarasota, FL (yes there are Amish in Florida too...they drive three wheeled bikes instead of horse drawn buggys.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Best Cabins at a State Park: </b>Spacious well maintained log cabins (made from cabbage palm trunks) built in the 30s by WPA work crews at Myaaka State Park in Florida (just east of Sarasota).</span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Best Sunset: </b>The view across the Mississippi River from Natchez Under the Hill, MS. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Best Place to Spot Gators</b>: Myaaka State Park (especially on Lake Myaaka...take the boat ride).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Best Shelling: </b>Sanibel Island, Fl</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Best New Find in Tampa: </b>The Oxford Exchange: bookstore, coffee/tea bar, gift store, and bistro. A place to pause and reflect in comfort.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Best Local Festival/Fair: </b>The Plant City Strawberry Festival in Plant City, FL. I dream all year about their strawberry shortcake, chocolate dipped bacon, and concerts. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Best Local Market: </b>Mazzarro's Italian Market in St Petersburg. From cannoli to fresh bread, excellent meats to fine cheeses, house made pasta to salame, coffee bar to lunch counter, this is THE place to go.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Best Way to Start a New Year: </b><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Watching the first sunset of the year with picnic and champagne on the beach in Pass-a-Grille (St Pete Beach), Florida with our grown son. Watching he and his Dad walk along the surf line deep in conversation is great way to start a New Year.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Best Time with Our Grown Son: </b>Our two week drive from So Cal to Seattle. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Best Friday Night Date: </b>Shuffleboard with my husband at the St Petersburg Shuffleboard Club celebrating 100 years of operation. (And shuffleboard isn't just for old folks anymore, lots of "younguns" on dates and families with kids...great fun).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Best Family Meal: </b>Christmas Day Dinner at the Olympic Fairmont Hotel in Seattle. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Best Time with Old Friends: </b>This is a hard pick as we had many fun visits this year. But for sheer volume and amount of laughter, the winner this year would be my 40th high school reunion (El Rancho High School, Pico Rivera, CA). There is something about discovering that we may have more wrinkles but we don't have less fun. </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
Annette Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15957903512162227390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656687657167172317.post-67974834935490310272013-12-24T18:55:00.001-05:002013-12-24T18:55:19.952-05:00Downtown Seattle celebrates the Season. Merry Christmas<div style="text-align: left; padding: 3px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/abaesel/11538259755/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2820/11538259755_3b8084d580.jpg" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" alt="" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/abaesel/11538259755/">Downtown #Seattle celebrates the Season. Merry Christmas</a>, originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/abaesel/">abaesel</a>.</span></div><p></p>Annette Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15957903512162227390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656687657167172317.post-26519959719717776872013-12-16T18:38:00.001-05:002013-12-16T18:38:06.897-05:00Wanna play? Tortoise at Boyd Hill Preserve<div style="text-align: left; padding: 3px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/abaesel/11392846725/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5511/11392846725_fdfeacf56c.jpg" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" alt="" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/abaesel/11392846725/">Wanna play? Tortoise at Boyd Hill Preserve</a>, originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/abaesel/">abaesel</a>.</span></div><p>Two gopher tortoises at Boyd Hill Nature Preserve in St Pete, Florida. Just after this photo, they "raced" off to their underground burrow. We had either disturbed them or perhaps they had a nap in mind.</p>Annette Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15957903512162227390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656687657167172317.post-10162363782736838662013-09-06T18:04:00.000-04:002013-09-06T18:04:43.550-04:00Sharks, Seahorses, and Somersaulting Otters, What Could Be Better? <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MnoiJ8--i4E/UipQqTNy05I/AAAAAAAACJ0/GcrnHaPA1UA/s1600/aquarium.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="456" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MnoiJ8--i4E/UipQqTNy05I/AAAAAAAACJ0/GcrnHaPA1UA/s640/aquarium.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> A 10-year old boy giggled while he took a video of a playful otter turning somersaults over and over and over and over. The only thing that separated them was a glass panel and a few inches of air space. The otter played and the boy was entranced. It was just another day of magic at the Florida Aquarium in Tampa. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Designed to take visitors on a journey from Florida’s fresh water springs to the open water of the Gulf of Mexico, the aquarium is a great opportunity for young and old alike to learn about Florida and the bounty of its waters and related habitat. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> There are otters and turtles, roseate spoonbills and ibis, small fish and large sharks. Ethereal jelly fish, no bigger than limes, float and dance in darkened tanks. Seahorses glide through coral curling their tails around branches and each other. Divers swim with sharks while chatting with an attentive audience gathered in front of the big tank. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> The Aquarium also provides the opportunity to get outside on Tampa Bay with dolphin cruises throughout the day in search of the 500 wild dolphins that call Tampa Bay their home. <br /> For children who want to have an adventure of their own, there is an outdoor play area complete with shooting fountains of water, waterfalls, mist areas, and a giant sand box beach. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Covered patio areas with tables provide comfortable spots for lunch. Food (hamburgers, sandwiches, pizza) and drink are available.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> The Aquarium is located on Channelside near the SS American Victory Museum Ship (Station 7 on the Teco Streetcar Line). Convenient parking is adjacent to the aquarium.</span> Annette Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15957903512162227390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656687657167172317.post-22060637921488948942013-09-01T15:13:00.001-04:002013-09-01T15:14:19.819-04:00The Oxford Exchange: My New Favorite Spot in Tampa<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Oxford Exchange is my new favorite place in Tampa.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">First, there are books. Not just any books, but a well curated selection of books on interesting subjects well displayed with helpful hints from bookstore staff. The room is light filled and comfy chairs give you a spot to peruse your selections. I couldn't leave without at least a couple new books to add to the pile on my bedside table. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Then, a walk down a richly, wood paneled hallway leads to a coffee/tea bar featuring local favorites Buddy Brew Coffee and Tebella Tea. There are large sofas, comfy chairs, high top tables, and bar seating. There was a nice vibe in the air as friends and associates chatted over a cup of brew. Jerry and I sat at a high-table and enjoyed an espresso and iced coffee before heading to ...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">...the restaurant. Chef Erin Guggino creates fresh, simple, flavorful meals served in a high-ceilinged, high-windowed room or the adjacent atrium. The menu emphasizes seasonal, local, and organic ingredients. Currently, it is open for breakfast and lunch (I bet regulars secretly hope they start opening for dinner). Jerry had the chicken chili. I had a delicious, light fish soup. And, we shared the spicy fried chick peas. Yum.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And last, but not least, are the treasures waiting to be found at the Shop at Oxford Exchange. The shop has a smart collection of home décor pieces, vintage finds, and gifts. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Oxford exchange is located in a lovingly restored old building across the street from the University of Tampa at 420 West Kennedy. Parking is available on the Grand Central Avenue side of the building. The Oxford is open until 5:30 PM, Monday - Saturday and 5:00 PM on Sunday, so no date nights for us there...yet. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">For more information as to hours, menu, and offerings: www.oxfordexchange.com. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Visit them on twitter at @oxfordexchange. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>Annette Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15957903512162227390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656687657167172317.post-3546167710165097452013-07-11T18:54:00.001-04:002013-07-11T18:54:43.755-04:00Watch Baseball in Comfort in Downtown St Pete. <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Don't let the baseball purists tell you otherwise. Watching the Tampa Bay Rays play baseball in the air-conditioned Tropicana Dome is pure comfort!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;">Players may like real grass. Some fans may believe that it is part of the game to sit in heat and humidity or endure long rain-delays.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;">But not these fans. And fans we are. We're season ticket holders who even when traveling follow games on MLB.com and twitter. We love our Tampa Bay Rays, we just don't love sweltering in the sun or huddling on a concourse while a thunderstorm passes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There is nothing, nada, not a thing pleasant about sitting in a stadium on days when it is 90 degrees with 90 percent humidity outside. And, we're happy to be inside on those afternoons when pop-up thunderstorms, pop up right over southern Pinellas County sending lightning, hail and water spouts right into downtown St Petersburg.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;">Lucky for us, all we have to worry about is the walk to and from where we parked the car.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;">Once in the Tropicana Dome, we can head straight to Section 301 with a few detours for beignets, BBQ pork and hand-carved turkey sandwiches, and fresh squeezed lemonade. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;">The Trop is a great venue for visitors to enjoy baseball. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Rays fans are in general a friendly bunch (except to loud-mouth Yankee fans...sorry if you are one of them...consider yourself warned).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Rusty Kath provides entertaining in-house emceeing (listen for his occasional pithy remarks dropped in among the latest announcement of who has won Pepsi Bottle Race). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;">Rays players often sign autographs right before the game down by the Rays dugout. On Family-Day Sundays, there may even be autograph tables set up at the edge of the field for the latest favorites. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The price of tickets is very affordable especially compared to many other stadiums MLB. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Food is good baseball park fare. We love the BBQ pork sandwiches from Everglades BBQ or the fresh carved turkey sandwiches from The Carvery. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Come up to Sections 300, 301, or 302 and join legions of season ticket holders who know the best kept secret in the Trop. High seats behind home plate? You can see everything! The prices are great and we have the craziest section attendants!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Parking is available at the Trop and at private lots north of the field. Parking on 13th Street north is free if you get there early enough to get a space. A free shuttle is available from downtown St Pete parking structures (about 1 mile down central) with parking at the downtown lot just $5. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Check out the Rays website for special concert nights during the summer. Have small kids? Most Sundays are Family Days. Kids can run the bases after the game.</span><br />
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Annette Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15957903512162227390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656687657167172317.post-34873278764045657402013-07-10T11:55:00.005-04:002013-07-10T11:57:33.698-04:00The Ribs Were Worth The Fall<span class="userContent"><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Let's just say I'm happy that there was no one with a video camera in front of Fred Fleming's BBQ last night. </span></strong></span><br />
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<span class="userContent"><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Driving home from the airport we decided to pop into Fred's BBQ for take-out ribs, beans and slaw. It was late, we were hungry, we'd been traveling most of the day, and neither of us remembere</span></strong></span><span class="userContent"><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">d what was in the refrigerator, if anything. </span></strong></span><br />
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<span class="userContent"><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I was hungry, so I over-ordered. </span></strong></span><br />
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<span class="userContent"><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So there I was with two big sacks full of ribs and things and sauce. </span></strong></span><br />
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<span class="userContent"><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Starving.</span></strong></span><br />
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<span class="userContent"><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Thunderstorm just off to the north.</span></strong></span><span class="userContent"><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span></strong></span><br />
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<span class="userContent"><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I was practically skipping out of the door to the car, when in the dark I did not see the BRIGHT yellow line denoting the edge of a small curb. </span></strong></span><br />
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<span class="userContent"><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Jerry said, "I saw you coming, and then all of a sudden, you weren't there anymore. I thought, did she forget something?" </span></strong></span><br />
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<span class="userContent"><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Then he saw the top of my head, then my nose, as I pulled myself up by the door handle of the car, gingerly testing if ankle and knee still worked. </span></strong></span><br />
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<span class="userContent"><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">"What happened?" It was all I could do to keep from saying "whaddya think?"</span></strong></span><br />
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<span class="userContent"><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Instead..."I fell...my knee hurts...but I saved the ribs."</span></strong></span><br />
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<span class="userContent"><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">(p.s. bruised, scraped, sore, but I'm all in one piece. the ribs? worth the fall)</span></strong></span>Annette Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15957903512162227390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656687657167172317.post-64533786098434039952013-06-29T21:22:00.005-04:002013-06-29T21:27:20.349-04:00Sounds of the Old Port of Montreal<b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> T</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">he window is open in our living room with a cool breeze flowing in under gray skies. Sounds from the old port of Montreal float in on the breeze keeping us company as we read. </span></span></span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; line-height: 18px;"><b> The Holland America Line's Maasdam just left the old Port. With three long mournful bellows from its horns it pulled slowly away from the Quay Alexandra. Hundreds of people lined the decks under colorful maritime flags flapping from lines draped across the ship. The big liner headed north for its seven-day journey down the St Lawrence River out to the Atlantic Ocean and then to Boston. </b></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; line-height: 18px;"><b> Shortly after the echoes of the ships horns had quieted, the bells of the Basilica of Notre Dame peeled celebrating a wedding. Children chased each other around the pond across the street, squealing and giggling as they played a version of catch-me-if-you-can. A little girl stood alone to one side twirling an umbrella shaped just like a giant ladybug. </b></span></span></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #37404e;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"> The sun has now set although the sky is still light even at nine o'clock. The symphony of sparrows, blackbirds, and robins has ended with the coming darkness. I hear the hum of cars, the bass beat of car radios, the whistle of a traffic cop directing traffic down at St Laurent, and the clip-clop of a horse pulling a bright pink caliche filled with tourists chatting in a language I don't recognize. A neighbor carries on a conversation with his labrador retriever on their last walk for the evening. The murmurs and laughter of friends and lovers, parents and children, tourists and nei</span></span><span style="color: #37404e; line-height: 18px;">ghbors dance up in the air making for a pleasing evening chorale.</span></span></b></span><br />
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</span><span style="color: #37404e;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> We sit and listen, aware of our good fortune to be in this place at this moment, enjoying the sounds of M</span>ontreal</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. </span></b></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">.</span>Annette Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15957903512162227390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656687657167172317.post-53623302190724141352013-06-29T11:21:00.000-04:002013-06-29T11:25:29.899-04:00Eating Our Way Through Montreal, So What's New? <h1 class="highlight-title admin-view">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It is summer and we are in Montreal, escaping for a few weeks the heat and muggies of St Pete, FL. There are many things we love about Montreal: the weather, the charm of the city's streets, the musicality of the French language, and the walkability of the many diverse neighborhoods. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But the thing we love the most about Montreal is its love affair with food. From the bounty of fresh products at the City's many farmers markets to the incredible diversity of offerings at restaurants, we love to eat in Montreal. </span><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We've been in Montreal for just shy of 3 days now and already we've tried out some of the new food trucks that have hit the street scene in Montreal this summer, perused new fine food boutiques, and revisited some of our favorite markets. Here is a quick review of our favorites...so far.</span></strong></span></h1>
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<strong><u><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Communion</span></u></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We arrived in Montreal on a cool, drizzly night. Hungry, we parked our car, and set off for a light dinner before unloading and settling into our flat. </span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A block away is Communion which is set in the corner of a 150-year-old stone building facing onto Rue de La Commune. We had a light dinner of a mesclun salad with candied walnuts and a delicate balsamic vinegarette. Jerry thought it too plain, I thought it just right. We shared a charcuterie plate of slices of chorizo, blood sausage salami, liver pate salami, cornichons, bits of lardon, and a fresh baguette. </span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There was a pleasant, friendly hum to the place. Light jazz mingled with happy conversations. The glass of Clockspring Zinfandel was the perfect companion for the evening's meal. </span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong>Happily fed, we walked to our flat hand in hand in a soft rain. Montreal had once again welcomed us with good food and safe haven. </strong> </span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><u>Satay Brothers, Atwater Market, and Rustique Pies</u></span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We slept in late after the previous day's long journey. After a cup of coffee and the Montreal Gazette, we set off for the market.</span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Marche Atwater is located along the historic Lachine Canal in an art deco building built in 1933 for the market. Open year round, the market is at its most beautiful in the summer. Plant nurseries set up shop with hundreds of blooming plants for gardens and terrasses. Quebec berries are at their best and stalls are laden with tiny strawberries, plump raspberries, and firm blueberries, freshly picked and trucked to market. </span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Under brightly colored tarps, the outdoor food stalls serve up sausages, freshly squeezed juices, nuts, pastries and at Satay Brothers...satay. </span></strong><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Our first experience at Satay Brothers was in their "winter" brick and morter shop on Rue St Jacques. But come fair weather, Satay Brothers move their operation back to Marche Atwater where it all started.</span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We had 6 skewers of the Satay du Jour (chicken) and their pork bun sandwiches. Refreshing and tasty. Good as we had remembered. We'll be back. </span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After a walk through the market buying tomatoes and a basket of berries we were off to the St-Henri neighborhood of Montreal to my favorite pie shop, Rustique Pies. </span><a href="http://thetravelingbaesels.blogspot.ca/2013/05/small-pies-with-perfect-crust-betcha.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For my previous post on Rustique, click here.</span></a></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We sat in the sun at a small round table set just inside the big storefront window and ate three small round delights: Banana cream, lemon meringue, and peach cobbler pies. As good as I had remembered. We bought six to-go, with plans to return for more on the weekend.</span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">No, I never lose weight when visiting Montreal. Its a good thing we walk a lot when we visit. </span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><u>The Best of Italy in Montreal's Little Italy</u></span></h1>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Nicola Travaglini opened his fine food boutique last fall hoping to share the delicious bounty of Italy with the food lovers of Montreal. He has succeeded and then some. Travaglini and his business partner Domenico Armeni have created an inviting corner shop located near Marche Jean Talon in Montreal's Little Italy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Shelves are stocked with the best pastas, sauces, tomatoes, and spices. Delicious breads and pastries are made on the premises. An excellent selection of salumi and speciality cheeses decorate well-lit cases. Two large communal tables in the center of the store hum with the chat of contented lunch-goers as they enjoy pastas, soups, or sandwiches.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">We had the chance to chat with the effervescent Domenico Armeni, born in Calabria Italy but a long-time resident of Montreal. Armeni was chef-owner of Lucca's in Little Italy until he sold it a few years back. He was in his element as he strolled through the shop chatting with customers. He is clearly proud of what they have created at Nicola Travaglini.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">I asked him about a delicious looking "something" in the pastry case. Armeni explained it was a Crostata e Noci, a thick crusted Crostata filled with a concoction made of caramel, hazelnuts, almonds, pistaccios and raisins. He leaned forward and almost in a whisper said, "even better than the filling? the crust...I love the crust." </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Sold...one crostata to go!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">And we'll be back. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><u>The Food Truck Army has landed in Montreal</u></span></h1>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Dim sum, gourmet hot dogs, pad thai noodles, meatballs, sausages, grilled cheese sandwiches, Vietnamese spring rolls, flaky pastry treats...all this and more will be served via food trucks this summer in Montreal. </span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After a 50 year ban on street food, the City of Montreal has joined the latest culinary trend. Twenty seven trucks have been approved by the City and will be allowed to serve from 7am to 10pm in nine pre-determined spots around the City. The food trucks will rotate on a selected schedule available at the website listed below if you want to know who is serving what and where.</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This year, the food truck "season" will be from June 20th to September 29th. </span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We arrived in Montreal for a two week visit and made a beeline straight to the small group of trucks located at Mill and Rue de La Commune along the Lachine Canal in the Old Port of Montreal. First up, was Le TukTuk serving delicious Thai fare. We tried the Pad Thai poulet (chicken) and the Green Papaya salad. Both were delicious. </span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We ate on a picnic table conveniently nestled under a group of trees near the trucks. While eating, we watched hungry eaters line up at the Montreal Dim Sum truck. After polishing off the generous portion of Pahd Thai, I couldn't resist. The "trio" of dim sums were fresh, hot, and scrumptious. </span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong>So, we're two down and only 25 to go. We've got our work cut out for us on this trip.</strong> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><u><strong>Jerry's Favorite Treat: Fresh Sausage on a Stick</strong></u></span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Whenever we visit Montreal, we always visit Marche Jean Talon within the first day or two of our trip. Why? Because Jerry needs his sausage-on-a-stick fix. </span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We also go for the eggs, the berries, fresh asparagus, crepes, coffee, mushrooms, and more. But that is another story. This story is about sausage.</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We have two favorite spots in the market that are conveniently within a couple stalls from each other. </span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> La Volailler du Marche offers 100% natural sausages made from boar, beef, pork, chicken, duck, deer, and lamb. The sausage can be purchased as single 2-inch lengths on a stick or as a "kebab" with 8 different types of sausage on the stick. We opted for the 8-on-a-stick which was a good way to sample all the different types of sausage they sell.</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Balkani's serves large "hot dog" sized grilled sausage. They are served either on a bun or on a stick. Varieties vary. Today's offering were "spicy" or "sweet". Jerry opted for spicy. The sausage was juicy and full of flavor. Just the right meal for a cold, rainy day in Montreal. </span></strong><br />
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Annette Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15957903512162227390noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656687657167172317.post-78495562542537762192013-06-21T15:36:00.001-04:002013-06-21T15:36:41.464-04:00AVERY ISLAND: HOME TO RED HOT SAUCE AND COOL WHITE BIRDS <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Where can you find thousands of snowy egrets nesting on man-made stilt platforms, a rock salt deposit as deep as Mt Everest is tall, and a factory producing over 700,000 bottles of a fire-hot, red sauce a day? Only one place in world, Avery Island, LA, home to the world-famous Tabasco sauce. </b></span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ufZ92QWJLpc/UcSpDAtn0UI/AAAAAAAACH0/ws9wnAIPewg/s1600/tabasco.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ufZ92QWJLpc/UcSpDAtn0UI/AAAAAAAACH0/ws9wnAIPewg/s640/tabasco.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Located three hours west of New Orleans through hilly, marshy Cajun Country, Avery Island is where Tabasco sauce was created in 1868. Edmund McIlhenney, a banker, married into the Avery family and settled on Avery Island in New Iberia Parish. Given some exotic pepper plants by a friend, McIlhenney experimented with creating a spicy sauce that would liven up often mundane fare. In 1870, he patented his special recipe and process that is still used today to create the red hot sauce sold in over 165 countries around the world. </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Still family-owned and operated, the Tabasco factory is open for tours (free of charge). The factory produces over 700,000 bottles of the red (and now sometimes green) sauce four days a week. The sauce is bottled after it has aged in white oak barrels previously used to make whiskey at the Jack Daniels Distillery. </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>The tour provides a short and interesting video about how (and where) the peppers are grown, harvested, turned into mash and then sauce for bottling. If you visit on bottling day, you can watch the busy bottling room as all that fire-hot goodness is poured, capped, and labeled in those trademark long-necked bottles. </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>The last room has an interesting exhibit of old advertising campaigns and a chance to get up close and personal with the pungent pepper "mash" that eventually becomes Tabasco sauce. </b></span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UVNmE4LVMys/UcSp6hpo2rI/AAAAAAAACIA/FWiZC7VuSrY/s1600/tabascostore.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UVNmE4LVMys/UcSp6hpo2rI/AAAAAAAACIA/FWiZC7VuSrY/s640/tabascostore.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">A country store with a broad veranda and chairs for sittin' is filled to the rafters with Tabasco brand clothes, tchochkes, and foodstuffs. Tabasco bottle earrings anyone? How about a string of Tabasco bottle Christmas lights? Yep, I bought them both. </span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>After visiting the Tabasco factory, it is a good time to drive around the "island" a bit. Avery Island is actually a series of hills that rise up above a vast marsh wetland. Underneath Avery Island is a vast deposit of rock salt that is estimated to be as deep as Mount Everest is tall. Mining of the salt deposit has been ongoing since the late 1800s and is expected to continue into the long-distant future. As it is on the "other" side of the hill from where tourist visit there is no visible sign of the salt mine operations. </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Just a short 2 minute drive from the Tabasco Factory is Jungle Gardens with its famous Bird Island. In the late 1890's the founder's son, E.A. McIlhenney created what is now known as Bird Island. He raised snowy egrets in captivity on Avery Island and then set them free to migrate. Each year a group would return to nest on the island. McIlhenney created a series of nesting platforms that rise up on stilts over the bayous. Over 120 years later, those first eight egrets raised by McIlhenney, are now thousands of snowy egrets which mass each spring in a squawking community of white to raise their young safely on a sprawling network of reed platforms.</b></span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0fCcXEm496A/UcSqMDgaFtI/AAAAAAAACII/yFHvMu98qJk/s1600/egrets.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0fCcXEm496A/UcSqMDgaFtI/AAAAAAAACII/yFHvMu98qJk/s640/egrets.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">As we walked out to the platforms, we could hear the birds from over 300 yards away in the parking lot. Squawking and squabbling in low-guttural tones they provided the background to the more refined tones of the frogs in the adjacent reeds. There were the "banjo plunking" frogs and the "sounds just like a sheep" frogs. It made for quite a rare, nature symphony.</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Bird Island is on one side of Jungle Gardens also created by the McIlhenney family over the years. Its 170-acres sprawls along the Bayou Petite Anse. Massive oak trees and thick stands of bamboo provide shade and cover for local birds, deer, and raccoons. Small lagoons contain small alligators and turtles. The gardens of camellias and azaleas were not in bloom when we were there, but given the extent of the gardens and the size of the plants, it must be spectacular in season. </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>It's possible to make a day trip to Avery Island from New Orleans if you leave early. A more leisurely two days would give you the opportunity to linger a bit in New Iberia and Breaux Bridge in the heart of Cajun Country. A loop tour is possible by traveling via Hwy 90 and Interstate-10. </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>For more information about Avery Island and Tabasco products check <a href="http://www.tabasco.com/avery-island/" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</b></span><br />
<br />Annette Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15957903512162227390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656687657167172317.post-380607199787343732013-06-19T12:41:00.000-04:002013-06-21T15:38:19.389-04:00Shacking Up in the Cradle of the Blues<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><b><i>Me: Honey? Can we stay in a sharecropper’s shack when
we’re up in Clarksdale next month?<span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><b><i>Husband (looking up over his book): Does it have air
conditioning?<o:p></o:p></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><b><i>Me: Yes, I see a window box a/c unit in the picture.<o:p></o:p></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><b><i>Husband: OK, if it will make you happy.</i><span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">And that is how we came to
spend two nights in a shotgun-style shack with a tin roof and Mississippi
cypress walls on the Hopson Plantation just 3 miles east of Clarksdale, MS. And
next to the plush Hermitage Hotel in Nashville, it was Jerry’s favorite stay of
the trip.<span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TvKCNRE0n2I/UcHc6VrSE6I/AAAAAAAACG8/lvM4nMBzzqg/s1600/shackupinn1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TvKCNRE0n2I/UcHc6VrSE6I/AAAAAAAACG8/lvM4nMBzzqg/s640/shackupinn1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>The Shack Up Inn developed over the past 15 years on the Hopson
Plantation in the heart of the Mississippi Delta, the cradle of Blues music.
Located just 3 miles east of Clarksdale, MS, there are over 30 “units” sprawled
in a ramshackle fashion. They have been modified just enough so as to provide
the modern amenities of an indoor bathroom and shower, heat and air
conditioning, and coffeemaker/fridge/microwave and sink.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>A visitor can stay in a former sharecropper shack, seed house, old
tractor shed or in one of the newly created "bins" in the old cotton
gin.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2wERD36I9ik/UcHeh0UXH-I/AAAAAAAACHc/aZzmhoKD6tc/s1600/shackup5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2wERD36I9ik/UcHeh0UXH-I/AAAAAAAACHc/aZzmhoKD6tc/s640/shackup5.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>We stayed in the two-room Pinetop Perkins shack, named in honor of
the legendary Blues pianist of the same name. A tall upright piano stood in the
corner of the front room with a life sized mural of Pinetop smiling from the
opposite wall. There were “dishtowel” curtains and old Mississippi license plates nailed down over holes in the bare wood floors. There was a screened porch with
rockers for sittin' which made for a fine early evening spot to wave to our
neighbors and read in the fading light.<o:p></o:p></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>The Ground Zero Blues Club operates out of one half of the big old
Cotton Gin building offering smokin’ blues and zydeco several nights a week. Donuts
and coffee are available in the morning, beer and wine in the afternoon after 5
pm. The old gin has seen a lot of living and hard work in its decades of use.
Now it provides for a place to sit, play and listen to the music that grew up
out of all that living and hard work.</b></span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3UbbsXYVQOk/UcHenjf8BjI/AAAAAAAACHk/5ofckXpITy8/s1600/shackup6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3UbbsXYVQOk/UcHenjf8BjI/AAAAAAAACHk/5ofckXpITy8/s400/shackup6.jpg" width="228" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>The complex is littered with ancient Ford and Chevy pick-up
trucks, colorful bottle trees, a windmill, silos converted to shade structures,
and even one of the first mechanized cotton-picking Int'l Harvesters. <o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OxD0y9kxab8/UcHd_xLt0JI/AAAAAAAACHU/eTPLNIH_nFY/s1600/shackup4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="435" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OxD0y9kxab8/UcHd_xLt0JI/AAAAAAAACHU/eTPLNIH_nFY/s640/shackup4.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>The bottle trees (or “haint” trees for some) are common to the
south and are believed to be a tradition brought by slaves from Africa. Now used
primarily for garden decoration, the original belief was that a bottle tree
outside of a home would attract evil spirits with the sunlight shining through
the bottle. When evil spirits followed the light into the bottle, they were
trapped and could do the house no harm. Blue bottles were thought to be the
most attractive to the evil spirits. <o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>We heard tell that when a strong wind is blowing that the
bottle trees moan and whisper with the wind. Not hard to understand how some
would believe they were filled with evil spirits. Now the colorful hand-made
trees stand on the grounds of the Shack Up Inn dedicated to honoring the hard
work and music of the Mississippi Delta, so perhaps now those bottle trees are
simply joining in to sing the Blues.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>From the Shack Up Inn it is an easy 3-mile drive west on Hwy 49 to
Clarksdale's legendary juke joints and the Delta Blues Museum, Abe’s BBQ, and
the childhood home of Tennessee Williams.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b> More about all that in
another post. </b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Annette Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15957903512162227390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656687657167172317.post-52943239758464199302013-06-18T22:31:00.000-04:002013-06-21T15:38:57.750-04:00Kayaking In a Mangrove Tunnel, Weedon Island Preserve, St Petersburg, FL<div style="background: white; line-height: 16.5pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>There is more to the St Petersburg/Clearwater area than beaches
and boating. There are quiet pockets of nature filled with beauty and wild
creatures. Weedon Island Preserve is one of those spots. Located on the
northwestern shores of Tampa Bay, it is a quick 20 minute drive from downtown
St Petersburg. Its 3190 acres is made up of marine ecosystems accessible by
kayak, boardwalk, pier, and a small system of upland trails.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 16.5pt;">One mild November morning, I met my friends Tim and Lisa Salt from the UK at Weedon. They had arranged to rent kayaks for a half-day paddle through a well-marked water
trail. Sweetwater Kayak Rentals delivered the kayaks to the water’s edge and
provided life vests, paddles, and good advice. For the kayaking novice, Sweetwater will provide an escorted kayak tour, but we have all had our hands on a paddle before, so with a bit of a shove, we were
off onto the waters of Weedon Preserve.</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>We paddled in sheltered bays watching American oystercatchers and
egrets scavenge for food. We pulled up near a sandbar, "rafted" together and had lunch in the sun. The sand bar marked the entrance to one of many of the sheltered mangrove "highway" tunnels. <o:p></o:p>We glided through the earthy-scented mangrove tunnel where the outside world melted away into quiet paradise</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Jerry and I enjoy driving to Weedon in early evening. We like to watch the sunset from the fishing pier. On our last visit, a Great
Blue Heron walked along one railing while we leaned against the other, content
to savor the late afternoon light. A swish in the water marked a small group
of dolphins, one a youngster.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Weedon also has a 45-foot observation tower nestled along one of the upland paths. A walk up the observation tower is rewarded with an expansive view
of the mangrove “islands”. The sun shimmers off the waters that surround the dense, lush mangrove jungle. The downtowns of Tampa and St Petersburg are just a glimmer on the horizon and seem a world away. <o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GtJ1yD1QXdg/UcEXiNWFoTI/AAAAAAAACGs/WYHRHPFwHBU/s1600/weedon1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GtJ1yD1QXdg/UcEXiNWFoTI/AAAAAAAACGs/WYHRHPFwHBU/s640/weedon1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 16.5pt;">For more information about Sweetwater Kayaks, check here:</span><span style="color: #2a9dcf; line-height: 16.5pt; word-break: break-word;"><a href="http://sweetwaterkayaks.wordpress.com/" style="line-height: 16.5pt; word-break: break-word;">http://sweetwaterkayaks.wordpress.com/</a></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>For more information about Weedon Island Preserve, check here: </b></span><a href="http://www.weedonislandpreserve.org/" style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>http://www.weedonislandpreserve.org</b></span></a></div>
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Annette Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15957903512162227390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656687657167172317.post-11796003643548146772013-06-17T16:19:00.000-04:002013-06-21T15:39:37.100-04:00Peaches, Peaches, and More Peaches at Dickey Farms in Musella, GA<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There were peach
jams, peach/fig preserves, peach salsa, peach hand pies, peach ice cream, peach
slushies, and peaches by the peck or the bag. There were hats with peaches, tshirts with peaches, and earrings made out of grits in the shape of peaches. There were peaches rolling along a conveyor belt and boxes of peaches
being loaded into a truck bound for Boston. White rockers lined the wide, shaded veranda
of the Dickey Farms packinghouse and sales pavilion. Huge ceiling fans provided a breeze as we sat
in a rocker and enjoyed a just-picked, juicy, ripe Georgia Peach.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Started in 1897,
Dickey Farms is located about 45 minutes west of Macon, GA, on Old
Hwy 341 in the small “blink and you’ll miss it” town of Musella. The white, clapboard packinghouse is the oldest
continuously operating packinghouse in Georgia, built in 1936. We stood on the
veranda and watched as workers sat in the shade and inspected peaches for
blemishes while the mechanical part of the system sorted for size and delivered
uniform peaches to workers who boxed them up for shipping. Once boxed up, the boxes of peaches were
placed on pallets and a forklift loaded them into a Dickey Farms truck for shipping. I watched one of those peaches enter the system and end up on a pallet, I would estimate it took less than 10 minutes to get packed and within an hour that peach had made it from field truck to shipping truck.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The farm
maintains 110,000 peach trees in orchards sprinkled over a 20-mile area. They have planted multiple orchards in varied
locations to diversify exposure and safe guard against disastrous losses during
late freezes. They grow 19 different
peach varieties which ripen at different times in the season. Each tree is picked three times, only picking peaches when they are ready. From mid-May to Mid-August, you are pretty
much guaranteed a ripe peach on the porch at Dickey Farms.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The
third-generation peach grower Mr. Robert L Dickey greeted visitors to the
veranda which overlooked the sorting and packing area. He and his son, Robert L Dickey, III run the
farm now. But we got the sense that Senior Mr. Dickey’s most important job now
is greeting visitors and sharing his enthusiasm for peaches and peach products.
Mr.
Dickey was clearly proud of his peaches and was particularly fond of the peach
fritters available for sale. The fritter
was good, but the peach hand pies were exceptional (and it didn’t make it very far
down the road). </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Dickey Farm ships
many of their products year round. Fresh
peaches are shipped starting around June 15 when the free-stone varieties
ripen. Peach season is usually over by
the middle of August. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Did you know?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">-The first known peach came from China.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">-A medium peach has only 38 calories. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">-The Georgia peach production started between 1870 and 1875<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">-There are three general varieties of peaches, clingstone
(early in the season), semi-free stone (mid- season), and free-stone (from
middle of June to end of season in August).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">-When buying peaches you should avoid rock-hard peaches and
select ones that yield slightly to pressure along the seam. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">-If the peaches aren’t ripe, don’t put them in the
refrigerator. Just put them on the counter at room temperature. Once ripe, then you can place them in the
fridge. To accelerate ripening, put the peach in a sealed paper bag.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For more information on peaches and on how to order products
and peaches from Dickey Farms check out their website at <a href="http://www.dickeyfarms.com/">www.dickeyfarms.com</a>. </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Annette Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15957903512162227390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656687657167172317.post-24344979367352029202013-05-22T15:05:00.000-04:002013-05-23T17:16:55.343-04:00Small Pies with the Perfect Crust, Betcha Can't Eat Just One!<br />
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<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Who needs cupcakes or doughnuts when there is pie? Especially when the pie comes in four-bite-sized portions. The tiny pies come a variety of ways: double crust, cream, and meringue and in a variety of flavors: fruit, pecan, key lime, lemon meringue, coconut cream, chocolate cream and more. </span></span></h1>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Advertised as a "A Country Pie Stand...in the City", Rustique Pie Kitchen opened in the St-Henri neighborhood of Montreal in February. Through a fortuitous heads-up from @ToulasTake on Twitter, we were there opening day. The winter sun streamed in through large store-front windows. The smell of butter, baking pies, fruit, and espresso wafted through the air. We sat at a small wooden table, drank good espresso, and ate six of the small pastry jewels. Our two favorites that day were the lemon meringue and pecan pielets with apple a very close third.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Two days later we headed for the airport to fly home to Florida. We asked our taxi driver to stop at Rustique where I got a box of six small pies for the flight (they were consumed long before I walked through Gate 82). We tipped him with a bit of cash and a pie. He took a bite, his eyes popped open wide, and he said "I'm taking the kids there tomorrow".</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Rustique also sells full-sized pies, cookies, bars, cakes, marshmallows, barks and brittles. Everything is made on the premises. Locally grown/produced ingredients are preferred when available.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They are happy to cater events with as many teeny, delicious pies as can fit on a platter. Wedding Pie anyone?</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nYxpl6OCR3k/UZ0RiiSkXpI/AAAAAAAACFE/Sh3KRBlxfac/s1600/8723957731_8b4c74d10b_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nYxpl6OCR3k/UZ0RiiSkXpI/AAAAAAAACFE/Sh3KRBlxfac/s400/8723957731_8b4c74d10b_z.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">photo by Jason Baesel</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: freight-text-pro-1, freight-text-pro-2, Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">For more information, store hours, and directions please click here: </span><a href="http://www.rustiquepiekitchen.com/" style="line-height: 1.4;" target="_blank">Rustique Pie Kitchen</a> </div>
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Annette Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15957903512162227390noreply@blogger.com0Montreal, QC, Canada45.5086699 -73.55399249999999345.1529014 -74.1994395 45.864438400000004 -72.908545499999988