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| North Carolina |
27 May 2008
Memorial Day - Very memorable
Original Plan - Head down to Cincinnati for some arts and wine, then onward to Maysville, Kentucky for a restful stay on the river at a favourite inn of ours (French Quarter Inn).
Actual Event - Eric's transmission decided to give up the ghost on a bridge in Cincinnati. Fortunately, my parents were travelling with us in their car, so it was easy enough to call a tow truck and dump the Cruiser at a local transmission place and continue going south with them. The mood, however, had soured some.
Recovery - Wineries weren't open on Memorial Day for the most part, but StoneBrook Winery, a favourite of ours on Hwy 8 in Kentucky, kindly offered to open on our behalf when we phoned ahead and begged. Being out of their Elderberry wine was bad enough, but driving right by their place and unable to re-stock was intolerable. A case of mixed wine later, we decided that our weekend had improved dramatically.
Original Plan - Head down to Cincinnati for some arts and wine, then onward to Maysville, Kentucky for a restful stay on the river at a favourite inn of ours (French Quarter Inn).
Actual Event - Eric's transmission decided to give up the ghost on a bridge in Cincinnati. Fortunately, my parents were travelling with us in their car, so it was easy enough to call a tow truck and dump the Cruiser at a local transmission place and continue going south with them. The mood, however, had soured some.
Recovery - Wineries weren't open on Memorial Day for the most part, but StoneBrook Winery, a favourite of ours on Hwy 8 in Kentucky, kindly offered to open on our behalf when we phoned ahead and begged. Being out of their Elderberry wine was bad enough, but driving right by their place and unable to re-stock was intolerable. A case of mixed wine later, we decided that our weekend had improved dramatically.
12 May 2008
Home - 30 degrees less and no ocean
I could be on the coast for a month and still be depressed that I'm home. I'm never the type to get homesick, although I distinctly remember one occasion at a rest stop when I was 9 where I was suddenly bitch slapped with homesickness. That is the extent of my homesick stories. I always say that moving doesn't solve anything - there are problems everywhere, but I'm starting to wonder at least how nice it would be to have problems in an environment I would enjoy! I really hate the mid-west.
Regardless of all that, I had to be amused with our crazy country. We stopped by the tavern across from Monticello. I thought this would be a great place to get a beer, and cool that is was built in the late 1700s. Not only did they charge you $9 a person to get into the tavern, no alcohol was allowed on the premises. More than the principle of charging us $20 to sit in a tavern relatively young by any other world standards, they don't even serve beer, a LARGE aspect of the place!!!!
So I sat outside, looking at it, and considered the joy of sitting in the first pub built in Dublin (1500s) and having a pint of beer for free (except the beer) - walking the amazing gardens at Versailles for free - sitting in front of Da Vinci's resting place for free - walking Stonehenge for free - walking the extensive catacombs in Malta for free - sitting on Palatine Hill eating a sandwich in Rome for free (except the sandwich), etc...etc...etc. Suddenly I had to laugh at the US' desire to protect these relatively young establishments and charge decently high fees to visit. I don't want to suggest there isn't good history here, but that doesn't discount the history elsewhere either.
Granted, there are expensive historical areas everywhere, but it's ironic how the US has a special knack for it.
I could be on the coast for a month and still be depressed that I'm home. I'm never the type to get homesick, although I distinctly remember one occasion at a rest stop when I was 9 where I was suddenly bitch slapped with homesickness. That is the extent of my homesick stories. I always say that moving doesn't solve anything - there are problems everywhere, but I'm starting to wonder at least how nice it would be to have problems in an environment I would enjoy! I really hate the mid-west.
Regardless of all that, I had to be amused with our crazy country. We stopped by the tavern across from Monticello. I thought this would be a great place to get a beer, and cool that is was built in the late 1700s. Not only did they charge you $9 a person to get into the tavern, no alcohol was allowed on the premises. More than the principle of charging us $20 to sit in a tavern relatively young by any other world standards, they don't even serve beer, a LARGE aspect of the place!!!!
So I sat outside, looking at it, and considered the joy of sitting in the first pub built in Dublin (1500s) and having a pint of beer for free (except the beer) - walking the amazing gardens at Versailles for free - sitting in front of Da Vinci's resting place for free - walking Stonehenge for free - walking the extensive catacombs in Malta for free - sitting on Palatine Hill eating a sandwich in Rome for free (except the sandwich), etc...etc...etc. Suddenly I had to laugh at the US' desire to protect these relatively young establishments and charge decently high fees to visit. I don't want to suggest there isn't good history here, but that doesn't discount the history elsewhere either.
Granted, there are expensive historical areas everywhere, but it's ironic how the US has a special knack for it.
09 May 2008
Fun Holiday Escapades
The great memories that I have with holidays are unplanned, but poignant events. It all started when I said, "do you remember that cute little wine and snack shop down the coast that sits right between the ocean and the sound?"
Of course nobody did, so there was a huge expedition to find this no-name shoppe.
We drive through several small beach towns. We cross a 3 mile bridge into Pea Island (mostly a dune preserve). We drive 40 miles down the Pea Island coast. We passed many cute shoppes, but none with with my description.
I knew it was before the ferry, and sure enough, 1 mile before the ferry and 70 miles from our resort, the shoppe was discovered.
Does it matter? No. But it was great fun in the process of finding it, and once we found it, we were under the impression that we had just found Blackbeard's buried treasure.
The great memories that I have with holidays are unplanned, but poignant events. It all started when I said, "do you remember that cute little wine and snack shop down the coast that sits right between the ocean and the sound?"
Of course nobody did, so there was a huge expedition to find this no-name shoppe.
We drive through several small beach towns. We cross a 3 mile bridge into Pea Island (mostly a dune preserve). We drive 40 miles down the Pea Island coast. We passed many cute shoppes, but none with with my description.
I knew it was before the ferry, and sure enough, 1 mile before the ferry and 70 miles from our resort, the shoppe was discovered.
Does it matter? No. But it was great fun in the process of finding it, and once we found it, we were under the impression that we had just found Blackbeard's buried treasure.
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