Canadian Trip - May/June 2014

We began this adventure on May 22, 2014 with our American Airlines flight from Austin to first, Chicago O’Hare, and then another flight to Boston, arriving a bit late.  We checked into the Embassy Suites Hotel adjacent to Logan Airport and had a late dinner in the hotel restaurant.  It was just a day of travel.

The next day, Friday, we spent with old friends we first met in Hawaii 45 years ago, John and Zoe Ann Liepins.  They came to our hotel and picked us up for a day along the Boston coast.  First we headed north to the scenic fishing village of Rockport, Massachusetts.  The day was cool in the 50s and overcast with a few sprinkles from time to time.  We parked the car and walked around Rockport taking photos and trailing in and out of shops.  We had a nice lunch at My Place by the Sea with a window view of the coastline.  On the walk back to the car we stopped at Tuck’s Chocolates and purchased our dessert. 

We continued driving the scenic route along the coast south to Gloucester where we stopped for photos with the old fisherman statue looking out to sea.  Pressing further southward we drove a nice back road through Manchester-by-the-Sea, the campus of Endicott College, Beverly and into Salem where we stopped to tour the House of Seven Gables and Nathanial Hawthorne’s birthplace.  We drove into downtown Salem and found the old witch house, a witch statue, and several witch museums.  They know how to market a past mistake. 

Eventually we drove through Lynn and Revere into North Boston where we parked and walked with the crowds.  We stopped at Bricco’s Italian restaurant for a delicious dinner.  Afterwards we walked along Hanover Street looking at all the tempting Italian bakeries.  We saw the Old North Church where Paul Revere received his lantern signals and the large statue of Paul Revere.  Finally John and Zoe Ann took us back to our hotel where we said our goodbyes once more. 

Saturday we had breakfast in the hotel and arranged for a ride to the pier where our ship, Maasdam of the Holland America line, was docked.  In the waiting area we passed through security and found Rachel and Deana before boarding the ship.  We went to our cabin, number 822 on the lower deck, and unpacked our suitcases.  In a short while we all met Gretchen, Chris and Sophie-Claire in one of the many lounges for a drink.  We sailed at 4:00 pm and Rita and I stood on the forward deck as we sailed out of Boston Harbor.  The air was crisp but mostly sunny for a nice start to our cruise.  Soon we had the obligatory life boat drill which always seems chaotic but hopefully works in an emergency.

We all met in the nicer dining room about 6:00 pm for dinner.  Food and service were excellent throughout the trip.  We always ordered wine with each couple taking turns picking out the evening’s drink.  I began with a starter of scallops then a pork shank on Boston baked beans followed by devil’s food cake for dessert.  Sophie-Claire was always smartly dressed and usually well-behaved.  She ate most everything and the wait staff gave her top attention.

Sunday morning we woke up in Bar Harbor, Maine.  We all met for breakfast at 8:00 am and then caught tenders to the port about 9:30 am.  This was the only port where we had to use tenders.  First we all walked the Shore Path along the water where Sophie-Claire, her father and I jumped over rocks to a promontory.  We pressed on and ended up at a local farmer’s market adjacent to a playground where Sophie-Claire could run off some steam.  We walked along Main Street to Cottage Street where we had lunch at the Thirsty Whale Tavern.  I had an Atlantic Brewery brown ale with my lobster roll.  Rita had fish and chips and their home made root beer.  After lunch we walked to West Street and took an Oli’s Trolley tour through town and up Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park.  After the tour we had ice cream at Mt. Dessert Ice Cream shop before catching the tender back to the ship.

On board we had another nice dinner together.  It was formal night which just meant, for me, a tie and jacket.  First I had beef carpaccio for a starter and then surf and turf (steak and shrimp) for the main course.  Rita and I were presented with a cake for our 50^th anniversary which happened last February but was celebrated tonight.  We saw whales breaking the surface on the port side of the ship.  In the evening we went to a floor show of Broadway songs.  We sailed at night as was the custom.

Monday was Memorial Day and we docked in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  The weather was cool in the 40s with occasional rain and a brisk wind.  We had a group breakfast then met at 8:30 am for an excursion tour we had all signed up for.  First the bus tour drove around the city showing us one street that was almost completely old Sears and Roebuck houses.  We saw graveyards where victims of the Titanic sinking were buried.  Then we took highway 333 south to Peggy’s Cove where we had a stop to explore the village on our own.  It is a very picturesque village sometimes called the most photographed town in Canada.  The trip back to Halifax was along a pretty coastline and in Halifax we stopped for a short visit at the Citadel overlooking the city.  It began to rain harder so Rita and I returned to the ship while the rest of our group had lunch in Halifax.

In the afternoon we began participating in trivia contests.  We usually ended up near the top and won the contest a couple of times.  For dinner this evening I had duck pate, lobster and potato soup, baked cod, and a brownie dessert.  Entertainment tonight was a fiddler and bag pipe concert of typical Cape Breton music.  

Tuesday we had docked in Sydney, at the top of Nova Scotia which is known as the Cape Breton Highlands.  We all met on the Lido Deck (open air) where the bag pipe and fiddler were entertaining everyone who joined the special crepe and pancake breakfast.  At 10:00 am we all met for another excursion tour of Fortress Louisburg which was built by the French.  The weather was cold and windy but we persevered and first watched a soldier’s loading and firing of a flint lock musket.  We were a bit early in the season so there weren’t many park employees in period costumes.  One welcome stop was in an old tavern where a lady demonstrated, and served, the art of making hot chocolate.  About 1:30 pm the tour ended back at the ship.  Everyone except Chris and I returned on board.  We walked to the Governor’s Pub where live entertainment was more Cape Breton music with a keyboard and fiddler group.  Chris and I had local Spruce red ale while Chris had chowder and I had a nice poutine, a Canadian dish of fried potatoes with gravy and various toppings – this one having cheese curds and bacon.  Our ship sailed about 5:00 pm.

This is Wednesday so we must be in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.  And we are!  We all had breakfast together and departed the ship about 10:00 am – no excursions today.  It was cloudy at first but soon the sun came out to help with the brisk, cool wind.  We walked to St. Dunstan’s Basilica first then Confederation Hall where we toured the inside.  Then we each went our separate ways.  Rita and I walked around the downtown shopping area and went into the Green Gables Store where we bought a small doll (Anne of Green Gables) for Sophie-Claire.  We also walked into the Cows Chocolate store where we saw them making chocolate-covered potato chips.  We didn’t try one. 

We all met again at 12:30 pm for lunch at the Row House restaurant which turned out very nice.  I had local red ale and a half lobster in the shell.  Rita had fish and chips.  The service was very good as was the food.  We walked back to the ship but first stopped at a Cow Ice Cream store for dessert. 

We departed PEI and sailed under the new Confederation Bridge which links PEI with Nova Scotia.  Many people were up on the decks photographing the bridge as we sailed under it.  Later on Rita played the slot machines in the casino where she won about $8 overall.  We also watched the movie “Monuments Men” at the theater.

Thursday was the only day at sea with no port visits.  We took it easy as we rounded the Gaspe Peninsula and entered into the St. Lawrence River.  I finished reading my book in the library and then played in a trivia quiz game.  This evening was formal night again so we dressed up and had photos taken by the ship’s photographer before dinner.

We arrived in Quebec City early on Friday and after breakfast on board we departed and toured the lower old city, going inside the oldest stone church in North America, Notre Dame des Victories.  We took the funicular to the upper city and walked along the ramparts by the famous Chateau Frontenac Hotel.  The rest toured the Citadel but Rita and I walked up Avenue Saint Denis to Ruelle des Ursulines where we found the hotel, Au Petit Hotel, where we stay next week.  Next we walked down Avenue Saint Louis to the Chateau Frontenac and went inside to wait for the others.  They arrived after a while and wanted to ride a horse drawn buggy called a caliche in French.  While they did that Rita and I went into a Starbucks for a cold mocha drink.  After their ride we walked to the Place d’Armes, to Place de l’Hotel de Ville, and had lunch at a nice restaurant, Chez Boulay.  After lunch Rita returned to the ship with Gretchen, Chris and Sophie-Claire.  Rachel and Deana did a bit of shopping and I walked alone to St. Jean’s Gate and Artillery Park.  I walked down to the lower city and did a bit of sightseeing there.

We all met for dinner again and this time there was a special birthday cake for Chris.  We were celebrating his 50^th birthday tonight but it really was last January.  We all went for group photos then packed our bags and set them outside our door as we dock in the morning.

Saturday was the last day of the cruise.  Montreal greeted us with sunshine and temperatures in the 70s.  We left the ship about 9:30 am and caught taxis to the Marriott Chateau Champaign Hotel in Central Montreal.  Rita and I were put on the 31^st floor with magnificent views of the city.  We all met downstairs and bought one-day metro passes.  One station was in the basement of our hotel and we took the metro three stops to Champ de Mars Station where we started our walk around Old Montreal.  First we saw the Hotel de Ville and Place Jacques Cartier with its monument to Admiral Nelson.  We had a nice lunch of crepes in an open-air restaurant called Jardine Nelson with a jazz band playing.  Then we walked to Chateau Ramezay.  Sophie-Claire was tired and crabby so Gretchen and Chris took her back to the hotel for a nap.  Rita and I walked with Rachel and Deana through the Bonsecours Market, along a major street called “The Main”, through the old port to the birthplace of Montreal in 1642, Place D’Youville to Place d’Armes with Norte Dame Basilica.  At every church we saw there were many weddings taking place – one after the other.  In the evening we met and walked to Beaver Hall for our last meal together as a group on this trip.  Rachel and Deana went to see Cirque Soleil which is headquartered in Montreal.  The rest of us walked back to the hotel and retired for the night.

Sunday morning our group broke up – Rachel and Deana rented a car and drove to Niagara Falls, Chris, Gretchen and Sophie-Claire flew back to Washington, DC, and Rita and I picked up a rental car to drive further northeast into the Gaspe Peninsula.  We rented a Chevrolet Cruze and decided to pay for a GPS too.  We made our way out of Montreal in heavy traffic and were directed to Motorway 20 arriving in Quebec City a few hours later.  We found our hotel easily and settled into our room.  We walked around Quebec a little and had dinner at Aux Ancien Canadiens, a famous restaurant with French-Canadian cuisine.  We really like the walled city of Quebec and think of it as the best European city in North America.

Monday a continental breakfast was brought to our room with the best croissant since France.  We checked out and found our way out of Quebec and headed further northeast on Motorway 20.  Soon we drove into the town of Levis where we switched to the scenic coast road 132.  It was pleasant driving this road with farms on the right side and the St. Lawrence River on the left.  We stopped in the pretty little town of Islet-sur-le-Mer to photograph a pretty church with silver roof.  We stopped to look at wood carvings in Saint-Jean-Port-Joli where we bought a carving 41 years ago.  We stopped in Kamouraska for lunch at Poissonnerie (fish restaurant) Lauzier.  We shared a large shrimp kebab with rice and salad.  I had a Boreal ale which tasted good. 

We arrived in Riviere-du-Loup about 3:00 pm and checked into our stay for the night, Hotel Levesque.  We were surprised and pleased at how nice a hotel it is with the most modern motif throughout.  It was one of the best bathroom showers we have ever had in a hotel.  We drove into and around town but there didn’t seem to be much to see.  We did watch some emergency in a tall church steeple but didn’t hang around to see the end results.  It appeared some repairman had an accident and had to be rescued by local fire trucks with long extension ladders.   Back at the hotel we ate dinner in their Le Griffe restaurant.  Another great surprise – some of the best food for a hotel restaurant.  I had magret de canard with vegetables and baked potato.  For dessert we shared a delicious chocolate fondant.

The next day we continued northeast on highway 132 with clouds overhead and fog on the river.  We drove through Trois Pistoles and Rimouski with occasional stops for coffee or to snap photos.  Again the scenery on the left was the St. Lawrence River and on the right were dairy farms and rolling hills.  Around Cap Chat the farmland turned into higher mountains full of forests and some timber businesses.  The road became curvier with beautiful views.  Signs along the road near St. Anne-des-Monts warned of rock slides and snow avalanches on the right and a sign that seemed to indicate that huge waves from the river on our left could sweep cars off the highway.  It was a perilous stretch of road.  Actually the body of water on our left was probably the Gulf of St. Lawrence at this point.  We didn’t see much wildlife with the exception of a fox and her two kits beside the highway.  We stopped to see the lighthouse at Le Marte and for gasoline at Riviere-au-Renaurd.  We eventually made it to the town of Gaspe and checked into our hotel.  We had dinner at Brise-Bise which was nice.  The maple syrup pie for dessert was nicer.

Wednesday we woke to a foggy morning, especially over the water.  It was cool, in the 50s, with occasional showers.  After breakfast we drove along the scenic coastline to the town of Perce.  If I were to return to this area I would stay in Perce instead of Gaspe – it appeared to be more interesting.  There are large offshore rocks but our views were limited by the fog.  We headed southwest along the bottom coast of the Gaspe Peninsula and stopped in Chandler and Port Daniel for pretty views of this area.  The sun came out and burned the fog away.  We stopped in New Richmond at a nice coffee shop and had a smoked meat sandwich which is the Canadian way of saying pastrami.  The drive was idyllic with mountainous forests giving way to farmlands once more and several road side produce stands.  We noticed more signs in English, more Anglican churches and more anglicized town names such as Chandler, New Richmond and Carleton.  While we were still in the province of Quebec I suspect this area was previously heavily occupied by the English.  We drove along Chaleur Bay to the town of Pointe-a-la-Croix where we crossed the bridge into New Brunswick and the town of Campbellton.   Here English was the first language and French secondary on road signs.  We made it to our motel in the town of Dalhousie and it started to rain harder.  The town was not very pretty, the motel was okay but a strange staff, and their restaurant was mediocre at best.  We washed a load of clothes and called it a night.

The next morning we returned through Campbellton and took highway 17, also known as the Appalachian Route, southwest through thick forests.  There were plenty of signs warning of moose but we didn’t see any.  This area in New Brunswick is the top of the Appalachian Mountain range.  We drove through Kedgwick and St. Quentin to St. Leonard where we took Motorway 2 northwards to Riviere Verte.  Here we left the motorway, filled up with gasoline and took back road highway 144 into Edmundston.  Back on Motorway 2 we re-entered Quebec once more and in the town of Notre-Dame-du-Lac we stopped at Fromagerie Le Detour, bought cheeses, pheasant pate, a fresh baguette, and some apple cider for a picnic.  Since the weather was still cool with off and on showers we parked by a planetarium and had our yummy picnic in the car. 

Back on the highway we drove through Riviere-du-Loup once more but continued east on Motorway 20.  The GPS directed us into the town of Levis and onto a ferry that crossed to Quebec City.  It was a surprise but turned out pleasant with good views of the city from the river.  We made it back to the Au Petite Hotel where we previously stayed and checked in once more.  It was nice and sunny so we started walking, first to the Parliament building with tulips in bloom then to St. Matthew Church, an old church now turned into a library.  Next we walked down St. Jean through the St. Jean Porte (St. John Gate) and stopped for beers at an outdoor restaurant called Sapristi.  Their menu looked good so we ordered three starters and made a meal of it.  A little further down St. Jean we stopped at a nice ice cream shop and indulged.  We walked back to the hotel and settled down for the night.

Friday we once more had a nice continental breakfast in our room then headed out for one last walk in the Old Town of Quebec City.  Then back to the hotel to check out and head out on our last leg of this trip.  This time we headed east towards Montreal on Motorway 40 but soon exited and took scenic highway 138, the King’s Highway, along the St. Lawrence River.  The view was of pretty villages, prosperous looking farms, and several produce stands with the first asparagus of the season.  At the town of Trois-Rivieres we stopped for lunch at a nice restaurant called Le Sacristain, housed in an old Wesleyan church.  Rita had a delicious quiche and my sandwich was equally delicious.  For dessert Rita had affogato while I had a rich brownie with ice cream and an espresso afterwards.  We re-entered Motorway 40 and somehow, with the help (?) of the GPS made it through Montreal and to the rental car office.  Their shuttle took us to the Marriott Hotel which is actually in the airport terminal building.  We checked in and started to repack our luggage for tomorrow’s flight.  We walked around in the airport terminal and had a nice dinner at Archibald, a microbrewery with lots of game on the menu.  I had a very good salmon fillet and their local amber ale. 

Saturday ended our trip.  We cleared US customs in Montreal then had an early flight on Delta Airline to Detroit with another flight to Austin.  We arrived in Austin about 2:00 pm, picked up our car and stopped at a restaurant for Tex-Mex and another stop at HEB for groceries.  All turned out well in regards to the car and our house.  The rain gauge indicates we had about 2.5 inches of rain sometime while we were gone so the plants fared well too. 

It was a great trip and a nice celebration for our 50^th anniversary.  Rita and I had taken much of this same trip by car back in July of 1973 when we lived in New Jersey.  The girls were too young to remember much of that trip so they enjoyed seeing this part of Canada.  The best part of the trip was having leisurely meals on the ship together with Gretchen, Chris, Rachel, Deana, and especially Sophie-Claire.

Trip to the Texas Gulf Coast - April 2014

We started out Saturday morning in cloudy, windy weather with sprinkles on the windshield as a cold front blew in the day before we departed.  We left home about 10:00 am and headed southeast through San Marcos and Luling where we took the major US highway 183 to Gonzales and Yoakum.  The sun had come out past Luling and the sides of the highway, and pastures to both sides, were full of spring wildflowers, especially bluebonnets, Indian paint brushes, Indian blankets, verbena, coreopsis, wine-cups, primroses and many others in a sea of color.  Spring was in the air with trees budding out and new migrating birds filling the skies.

We skirted Gonzales and stopped in Yoakum for gasoline and lunch.  Unfortunately Yoakum doesn’t have many options for food and it didn’t look as if there would be many along the road in front of us.  So we stopped at a small, dirty dive called Jenny’s Tacos and had an acceptable lunch of fajitas and tacos.  At least we didn’t get food poisoning.  The rest of the drive was through flat farmlands with little to note.  We drove through Edna and south to Palacios where we had reservations at the Peaceful Pelican B&B where we had stayed before.  

Rita had lived in Palacios at two different times in her life and had graduated from Palacios High School so she knows the area well.  We drove around the small town which, like many small Texas towns, is being slowly deserted and dying.  Their main industry is shrimping but new regulations have cut that enterprise down by a third we were told.  During WWII there was an Army Air Corps base there and before that war there was a large Baptist encampment there which brought several families to the area.  The Baptist encampment is still there but doesn’t draw the crowds it used to in summers.  

We unpacked at the B&B and dressed for the reason we came to Palacios.  We were invited to Thelma and Benny Orsak’s 50^th wedding anniversary celebration.  Rita went to high school with Thelma and I first met them in Houston where they lived for a couple of years after they married which was just two months after our wedding.  We thought the party, organized by their two sons Benny Jr. and Russell, would be relatively small.  We were surprised that about 300 people showed up.  Rita says that’s what happens when you live all your life in one area – you can get all your friends together in one place easier. 

Both Thelma and Benny come from Texas Czech families and most of the crowd fit that group as well.  A Catholic mass started the celebration with a renewal of vows and communion.  Then the chairs were cleared off the dance floor and a big table was set up with good Czech kolaches baked by the local women.  Also a beer station was mobbed by the men folks.  A buffet dinner was served and people sat at tables on the edge of the dance floor.  The stage was set up by the Texas Sound Check (play on Czech) a local band that Benny Junior plays and sings with.  A grand entry dance started off the music which probably lasted long into the night.  Rita had previously broken her left humorous bone near the shoulder socket and had her arm in a sling so she didn’t feel much like dancing.  After conversations with Thelma and Benny plus some other people we met, we left rather early and retired to the B&B.

Sunday morning we leisurely got ready and went down to the dining room where our hostess, Edith, serves breakfast.  We sipped on coffee and talked with her for a long while before eating breakfast.  Other guests came down as well and we had a nice conversation with a lady and her daughter from California and another couple about our age who are from Yorkshire in England but have lived in Sugarland, Texas, for the past four years.  The only other guest was a nice young man who works for the US Fisheries and who is scheduled to go to sea for 30 days checking on the shrimpers.

Finally we checked out late and headed west along highway 35 through Point Comfort (where Rita’s parents lived when I first met her), Port Lavaca and our destination of Rockport.  The weather was still overcast with patches of spring like fog and a bit cooler than normal for this time of the year.  We arrived in Rockport too early to check into our Hampton Inn hotel so we had a light lunch at Alice Fay’s in the adjoining town of Fulton.  I chose wrongly.  While our fried shrimp wasn’t too bad the rest of the meal was not good with an iceberg lettuce salad that looked days old.  The place was also dark and dirty – a good place to avoid in the future.

We drove around Rockport and stopped to wander in and out of some of the shops open on a Sunday.  Finally we checked into the hotel and watched a bit of HBO, which we don’t get at home, before our dinner reservations.  We ate at Latitude 28˚ 02’ Restaurant where we have had good meals before.  We weren’t disappointed as we had another great meal.  We both started with delicious cream of tomato soup with hot fresh bread.  Rita had a shrimp casserole while I had the catch of the day, grouper.  We had glasses of fume blanc and a desert of key lime pie with coffee to end the meal.  All was delicious. 

Monday we had the breakfast buffet served by the hotel and were away soon after.  We took back roads through Refugio and stopped in Victoria where we hadn’t spent time before.  First stop was a quilt store in the suburbs.  Rita had heard good things about this store and came away pleased and with a bit of material.  Then we drove into the historical downtown area and had a good lunch at Fossati’s Delicatessen which they bill as the oldest deli in Texas.  I think it was established in the late 1880s and is still in the same building today featuring one of the few remaining spittoon bars – a drainage trough just above the floor and all along the bar.

I had a “Dutch lunch” because that’s what we had at my grandparents’ house growing up.  It was a combination of sliced ham, turkey, salami and different cheeses served with pumpernickel bread, cold slaw and potato salad.   It went well with a cold Shiner bock beer.  Rita had their special sandwich of the day and root beer.  After lunch we walked along the historic area reading historical markers and photographing old houses, the courthouse, and town square.  After that we hopped into the car and drove the historical trail which features several nice old mansions, some dating back to Sam Houston’s visits to Victoria.  Eventually we drove home through Cuero, which used to be a large turkey farming area, Gonzales, Luling, San Marcos and Wimberley.

That evening we had a strong storm blow through with lightning, thunder, hail, rain and winds.  Luckily we didn’t suffer any damage and welcomed the much needed rain even though it was sparse. 

 

Tuesday Rita had surgery to place a metal plate and screws into her left humorous at the Seaton Hospital in Kyle near our home.  All went well and she is recovering at home as I write this.

New Years Trip to Durham, North Carolina - Dec. & Jan. 2013-2014

After a pleasant Christmas at home, celebrated with a steak cookout on the grill with neighbors, we finished our medical exams (all fine) on Boxing Day and headed out on the road to Durham on December 27.  We left home in a light drizzle and headed north around Austin to Interstate 35 to Waco.  Then we drove highway 31 northeast through Corsicana, Athens, and Tyler to Longview where we met Rita’s brother Ken, and her niece, Deanna Pillaro, at a café for lunch.  It was fun getting together even if it was brief. 

Soon we were on I-20 heading east past Shreveport and Monroe, Louisiana, to Vicksburg, Mississippi, where we had reservations for the night.  It was after dark when we arrived and we just had a soup and sandwich at McAllister’s Deli before checking into our hotel for the night.

Saturday morning we woke to a fine drizzle which increased in strength throughout the day.  The morning was fine enough for us to take a tour of the Vicksburg National Military Park.  We drove the entire route and really enjoyed our stop at the U.S.S. Cairo Museum where we toured the Union ironclad ship, Cairo, which wasn’t there on our first visit to Vicksburg many years ago.  The next major stop was the Railroad Redoubt where in 1863 Waul’s Texas Legion held the ground against a Union breakthrough with hand-to-hand combat.  My great-grandfather, Rudolph Franke, and his brother, Carl, both were in Waul’s Texas Legion at Vicksburg. 

After a stop at the Visitor’s Center we drove into the town of Vicksburg going up and down streets looking at old historical buildings.  We headed southwest on Hall’s Ferry Road because before the siege of Vicksburg began, Waul’s Texas Legion was stationed there and took that road into Vicksburg.  We couldn’t find any historical markers however.  The rain increased so we abandoned my idea of visiting Yazoo City where my great-grandfather’s two other brothers were captured by Union forces and taken to a prison, Camp Morton, in Indiana.

We took I-20 to Jackson, Mississippi, then headed north on I-55 to Memphis, Tennessee where we had reservations for the night at Elvis Presley’s Heartbreak Hotel.  We arrived much earlier than expected so we checked into the hotel then took a tour of Elvis Presley’s home, Graceland.  We also toured his car museum and his aircraft.  All of this reminded us that we enjoyed the Elvis of the 50s and early 60s when we were young teenage rebels but didn’t especially follow the Elvis of the 70s with his Las Vegas jumpsuits.  In all Graceland was interesting but not something we would want to repeat.  For dinner that evening we ate at a nearby Marlowe’s which featured Memphis barbequed ribs.  Portions were huge and we overate as the food was good.

Sunday the rain had stopped and we headed east out of Memphis.  As we had driven I-40 across Tennessee from border to border several times, I chose to take back roads.  Leaving Memphis we took highway 57 through upscale suburbs of Germantown and Collierville to Moscow where we turned north to Somerville and US highway 64 which followed much of the old Trail of Tears when the Cherokee were banished to Oklahoma.  Somerville was an attractive town as was Bolivar.  The highway skirted around Selmer and in Adamsville Rita and I were talking about the Civil War when I said I thought the battleground of Shiloh was in Western Tennessee.  She looked on the map and said, “Oh it’s here near Adamsville”.  So we detoured a little distance and toured the Shiloh National Military Park.  Shiloh was one of the major battles of the Civil War and mostly known as the place where Confederate General Albert Sidney Johnston was killed.  Since he was from Texas he was later reburied in Austin, Texas. 

After a nice tour of Shiloh we headed back to Adamsville, home of Sheriff Buford Pusser of Walking Tall fame, and US highway 64 heading east through Savannah, Waynesboro to Lawrenceburg where we stopped at the crowded Brass Lantern for a nice lunch.  We noticed several people with their children stopping at the table behind me asking the person there if they could have autographs and take photos.  I asked our waitress who he was and she didn’t know but went to ask.  Turned out it was Michael Wolfe of the reality TV show “American Pickers”, his wife and young son.  We never heard of the show or of him.  But he was friendly and accommodating with everyone. 

We were running late and near Pulaski we took I-65 north towards Nashville but before that big city we took loop highway 840 to I-40 where we headed east as the sun was setting.  We still had a way to go.  Traffic on I-40 moved fast and soon we were through Knoxville and crossing the Smoky Mountains into North Carolina on winding roads.  We had also lost an hour crossing into the Eastern Time zone.  So we arrived at our reserved hotel about 10 pm, had the nice cookies they offered and went directly to bed exhausted.

Monday we had breakfast at the Atlanta Bread Company then went to the Biltmore Mansion for our tour.  The mansion, built by the Vanderbilts, was beautifully decorated for Christmas.  We had toured the mansion many years ago in summer but it looked nice for the holidays and we thought we saw more rooms of the house this time.  After the crowded tour we drove to Antler Hill Village on the property and had a nice lunch at The Bistro.  We left about 2-3 pm and headed to Durham and Rachel and Deana’s house where we arrived about 6 pm.  They had a delicious meal prepared and we enjoyed good conversation for an enjoyable evening.  Their dog, Olive, was also happy to see us.

Tuesday, New Years Eve, Rachel took off work and after a leisurely start we headed to Bennett Place, a nearby State Historical Site where Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston surrendered to General William Sherman of the Union Forces, the largest number of Confederate solders.  The Bennett farm has been restored with old farm houses of the period and some of the remains of the original house.  Afterwards we did some shopping at Costco and Southern Seasons which is a large gourmet food emporium that we try to visit each time we are in the area. 

After Deana got off work we dressed up and went to Panciuto, a nice restaurant in the pretty, historical village of Hillsborough.  I remember our delicious meal beginning with an amuse bouche of crispy fried black-eyed peas in a sauce of pureed greens.  Rita and I had a starter of tortellini Toscana with pumpkin butter juice, wilted spinach, breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese.  For our entrées Rita and I had braised pork ragu, homemade pappardelle pasta, carrots, arugula, breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese again.  For dessert I had warm apple cake with maple ice cream, a cheddar Florentine and lemon-cinnamon syrup while Rita had custard with crushed macaroons, caramel and cardamom whipped cream.  All the flavors merged together nicely.  The chef, Aaron Vandemark, uses 95% of his ingredients from local farms.  It was a great finish to 2013.

Wednesday, New Years Day, we welcomed in 2014 in a low key manner.  We slept late then Rachel and Deana prepared a delicious brunch.  We took it easy watching a movie on TV and generally relaxing.  Rachel and Deana prepared another nice meal for dinner with our traditional pork (tenderloin), greens (kale), rice and black-eyed peas.  So here’s hoping that we are fortunate to have good luck in 2014 and that it is better than 2013 for sure.

Thursday both Rachel and Deana took off work and we all drove north to Richmond, Virginia, where we met Gretchen and Sophie-Claire at the Richmond Children’s Museum.  It was heart-warming when Sophie-Claire saw us from a distance and ran into our arms screaming “grandma, grandpa”.  There were kisses and hugs all around.  We followed energetic Sophie-Claire all around the museum which was perfect for her.  After a few hours we left for a local favorite called the Dairy Bar where we had delicious chili burgers and milkshakes.  Sophie-Claire loved her milkshake even though it was so cold she was shivering as she drank it.  After a while they had to return to Washington, DC, and we had to drive back to Durham.  We were sorry to say good-bye. 

Friday Rachel and Deana both went back to work while Rita did our laundry.  At noon we met Rachel at a local favorite restaurant called Tyler’s.  The only problem was deciding which of the scores of draft beers I wanted to drink.  I settled on a local amber ale and a nice Cobb salad.  Rita had fish and chips while Rachel had their barbecue plate.

Saturday we drove to the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh and toured the exhibit called “Porsche by Design:  Seducing Speed”.  It was a great exhibit with several famous Porsches starting with one of the first produced in 1937.  There was one owned by Janis Joplin and race cars belonging to Steve McQueen and others.  After that we drove to Durham where we went to a theater and saw the “Walter Mitty” movie.  And after the movie we went to one of Rachel and Deana’s favorite Turkish restaurants in Chapel Hill called Talula’s.  We ate like sultans and discovered a nice Turkish red wine called Kavaklidere. 

Sunday we followed Rachel and Deana to a nice breakfast place called Nosh.  After a big, delicious breakfast we said our good-byes and headed out of Durham on I-40 to I-95 south into South Carolina and then I-26 east into Charleston.  Our first stop was a way out of town to visit the Confederate submarine Hunley, only raised in 2000.  The tours are only conducted on weekends and our informative guide was a retired US Navy submariner.  The story behind the Hunley is very interesting and too long to go into here.

After the tour we drove into downtown Charleston and checked into our centrally located hotel.  We immediately started out on a walk as it was late afternoon.  From our hotel on John Street we headed south down King Street first full of restaurants and shops but eventually along old, historic homes in the Charleston style of architecture.  We walked to the water front called The Battery where we could see Ft. Sumter in the distance.  We walked along the water front to the Old Exchange Building on East Bay Street and then to the Waterfront Park and City Markets.  Near the City Markets we stopped as it was getting dark and had a delicious seafood dinner at Hanks, a 1940s style restaurant with style and great food.  It felt cozy and we started with a martini for me and a gin and tonic for Rita.  Both went down good.  Then we had seafood combination dinners – mine with flounder, crab cake, scallops and shrimp.  Hanks goes into my books as a favorite.  Finally we walked back to our hotel in the dark.

We had planned to visit Savannah but since we had done that before and wanted to get back home because of the news of an Arctic cold front, we decided to just head home as quickly as possible.  Monday we headed out of Charleston on US highway 17 to I-95 and around Jacksonville, Florida, we took I-210 to I-10 west.  Here we drove with only occasional stops for gasoline past Tallahassee and Pensacola to Mobile, Alabama, where we had reservations for the night.  In Mobile the temperatures dropped to 17 degrees on Tuesday morning and we got an early start taking I-10 west through Mississippi and Louisiana to Beaumont, Texas, where we stopped for lunch.  Then we continued west through Houston and finally arrived home about 7 pm after a stop at a grocery store for breakfast essentials.  All was fine at home and we were happy to have completed another fine road trip to see our daughters.

Trip to Washington, DC - November 2013

Rita and I decided to fly to Washington, DC, since we would not be able to get together with our girls this Thanksgiving, Sophie-Claire’s birthday, or Christmas.  We flew from Austin on November 5 via Charlotte, NC, and arrived early evening in DC.  We took a taxi to our reserved hotel, the Marriott Courtyard near Gretchen and Chris’ condo.  Chris stopped by on his way home to pick us up as there is a Metro stop adjacent to the hotel.  Sophie-Claire was already asleep but we peeked in at her before Gretchen served us a nice dinner.

Wednesday we had breakfast at our hotel where four Ethiopian Orthodox Church leaders were having their breakfast along with their entourage and group of visitors.  They were dressed in their robes, turbans, and massive gold crosses like some of today’s rap stars have.

After breakfast we took the Metro to the US State Department offices where I needed to get a form signed to renew my expiring retiree badge.  That office was in the same building where Sophie-Claire goes to a State Department pre-school called Diplotots.  We asked our escort if she could take us to the school and she obliged.  The school vetted us and allowed us to go in and see Sophie-Claire who recognized us and came to us with hugs and kisses.  Obviously she remembered us and that made us happy.

In another building I went through the process to get my new badge after finger printing and then we had lunch in the State Department cafeteria.  Gretchen came down from her office and talked a while.  We took the Metro back to our hotel and rested a bit in the afternoon.  Gretchen and Sophie-Claire came to get us about 5:30.  We gave Sophie-Claire a bag full of clothes we brought her.  Most of it was Minnie Mouse themed and was a big hit, especially the Minnie Mouse slippers.  Once more Gretchen fed us a delicious dinner.

Thursday, November 7, was my 71^st birthday.  Rita and I had breakfast at Au Bon Pain where Gretchen, who took off work the next two days, met us with Sophie-Claire who skipped school.  We walked to Harris-Teeter grocery store where Sophie-Claire and I ran up and down the aisles to her mother’s dismay.  We spent the day playing with Sophie-Claire and watched her while Gretchen ran errands.  That evening Rachel called to wish me a happy birthday and Gretchen cooked a delicious meal featuring coq au vin and a chocolate birthday cake.  It was a good birthday.

Friday Gretchen and Sophie-Claire met us at Starbucks, where Rita and I had breakfast.  Then we all took the Metro to the National Museum of Natural Science with the main objective of seeing the dinosaurs.  Sophie-Claire loved the T-rex exhibit.  After lunch there we took the Metro back home for Sophie-Claire to nap.  During that time Rita and I walked to the Union Market which has several upscale food stores.

In the evening we all walked to TDB Burgers, a restaurant with gourmet burgers and pizzas plus several craft beers.  My distant cousin, Lydia Beyoud and her husband, Kwan, met us there for a pleasant evening of food and talk.  It was the first time for Gretchen and Chris to meet Lydia and Kwan.  My older brother, David, was supposed to meet us there but he called earlier to say he felt bad and wouldn’t make it.

Saturday we drove into the Virginia countryside to the Stribling Orchards in Markham, Virginia, near Front Royal.  It was the last day they were open for apple picking and we picked a variety of different apples off trees using long poles that looked like lacrosse sticks.  Sophie-Claire had a short pole and with a bit of help she managed to get some apples off the low branches.  Rachel Love and her dog, Lola, came as well to join in the fun.  My brother, David, met us too as he didn’t live far away in Winchester.

After apple picking we all drove to nearby Naked Mountain winery and had a snack platter with a bottle of their red wine.  Sophie-Claire had plenty of energy and could barely slow down to sit.  After a while we said good byes to David and Rachel Love and drove back to DC.  Rita and I went to our hotel and rested.

In the evening Rita and I went to their home and we all, along with Sophie-Claire, walked to a nice neighborhood restaurant with gourmet food – the Red Hen.  Rita and I had crostini spread with a soft cheese and honey for starters.  For my main dish I had seared scallops on greens with roasted Brussels sprouts.  I had pecan pie with ice cream followed by espresso for a delicious meal.

Sunday morning we all walked to a nearby farmer’s market where Gretchen bought produce while Chris and I took Sophie-Claire to an adjacent playground.  She loves swings and slides and running with other children.  We returned to their home but Chris and I took Sophie-Claire to a new neighborhood playground while Gretchen made apple sauce and chili and Rita made an apple pie.  While Sophie-Claire napped Rita and I worked the Washington Post crossword puzzle.  When Sophie-Claire woke up Gretchen and I took her back to the new neighborhood playground as Gretchen hadn’t seen it yet.

In the evening Rachel Love and Peter came over as well as Kelly Newton.  We had fun playing with Sophie-Claire and then eating a nice meal of chili, corn bread, and salad followed by apple pie and ice cream.  It was a pleasant evening.

Monday was a holiday, Veterans Day, and the weather turned much colder.  Rita and I slept in late and brought our breakfast up to our room.  Mid morning we went to Gretchen and Chris’ home.  We all drove to Lincoln Park near the Capital Building where Sophie-Claire ran and played on slides once more.  She also saw a school mate there to play with.  Rita and I kept watch over Sophie-Claire while Gretchen and Chris went to a movie.  In the evening Chris grilled nice steaks for dinner.  We finally had to say our good-byes as the next day Gretchen and Chris had to go back to work and Sophie-Claire to school.

We returned home Tuesday after a big breakfast in our hotel and a late checkout for our afternoon flight home via Philadelphia.  Everything was fine at home and certainly much quieter and calmer without a little one.  But we missed her dearly as well as her parents.