Season’s Greetings

Today is Christmas Eve. Merry Christmas to all.

I’ve had pretty irregular sleep patterns lately. For some I reason I’ve been up since 3:00 AM.

We finished our shopping on Friday. It is always a challenge to find something for us to get each other, so we asked each other for suggestions. I asked Phyllis if she would like something to wear. She said that she would like to pick out something from a store called Coldwater Creek. I mentioned that I have an old Italian road bike that I would like to put upright handlebars on. The drop bars cause my back to hurt after a few miles. Phyllis liked this idea for something to get me a lot.

So our first stop on Friday was the bike store. The guys at the bike store commented that my old bike still had a lot of value, which was good to know. I picked out some handlebars, which also required new brake levers. We picked up the bike on Tuesday, and it looks pretty neat. I can’t wait to ride it.

Our next stop was Cold Water Creek. Phyllis didn’t have any problem finding stuff she liked, even though it took a very long time to go through the process of trying stuff on and narrowing her selections. I was seated in one of the husband’s chairs. A customer came by and commented that I found a comfortable place to sit. I told her I was waiting patiently. She said I was a good man.

The weather has been cold, and there is still snow on the ground. I haven’t been doing much. I have been watching a lot of current movies online. I’ve been surprised by the ones I have liked and the ones I haven’t cared for. The quality of the resolution of the movies is in general, better than it used to be.

I did go to the computer club yesterday, and it was a better than average meeting.

Morris drove out to New York to pick up Shannon and her dog to bring home for the holidays. They are likely on the road now.

Tis the Season

I’m feeling fairly good now, and I’ve been a bit more active.

I went mall walking on Sunday, and it felt really good to just to be moving around. It was the first time I’d been to the mall this holiday season, and it looked about like has for the last 20 years. Santa was there.

About two seconds after I walked in, it occurred to me that I forgot my Ipod. I find the piped in holiday music at the mall really annoying, and I wish I’d brought an alternative sound system. I will remember it next time.

Sunday was my sister’s annual holiday party. A good time was had by all.

I’ve finally started my holiday shopping. I’ve been doing the bulk of it online, which really is so much simpler than fighting the traffic and crowds at the stores. I could use an idea for something nice to get for Phyllis. I’ve got her a lot of little things, but I need an idea for something that costs more than $10.

I went to chair yoga with Phyllis yesterday. She really enjoyed it, and spoke about how much better it made her feel. I didn’t get into it, but I need more exercise these days, so it helped at that level.

We got some sad news the other day. Phyllis’s Aunt Aileen passed away. She was 90 years old, and was the last surviving person of her generation in the family. All of her siblings and her mother lived to be in there 90’s. She was the younger sister of Phyllis’s father George.

Not much going on

There hasn’t been much going on here since we got back from our trip.

I’ve been feeling poorly. I’m feeling much better today.

Last night night we met with Morris and a friend at the local middle eastern restaurant. This restaurant has the best lentil soup, and is the main reason we go there. There was a guy at the next table who told us that he had lived in various countries in the middle east, and he thought the food at this place was first rate.

With the exception of doctor’s appointments, it was the first time I’d been out of the house since Thursday. Thursday I did go to the guitar club with Phyllis and cousin Jeff.

Between Phyllis and myself, we’ve had a festival of doctor’s appointments. I found out today that I have another one tomorrow. I don’t like doctor’s appointments, but when you get older it comes with the territory.

I did go to the computer club today. I enjoyed it more than I typically do.

I have done zero holiday shopping so far. I need to get with the program.

Hope to have snappier stuff to report on next time.

We’re Home

After the Macy’s parade I went for a walk around the Redhook section of Brooklyn where Shannon lives.  It was a beautiful day, and it was good to get out and stretch my legs.  I’m glad I did, because the rest of the weather on the trip was lousy.  Redhook is on the water, and I took a picture of the Statue of Liberty.

Thanksgiving dinner went as planned.  We met Morris in Jackson Heights, and had dinner at an Indian Restaurant.  Dinner was fine.  We were thankful that we all could be together.

Friday was dedicated to getting pickles.  Our first stop was to go out to lunch.  There was some deli on the lower east side that was recommended to us.  It was a very small place.  There were five of us.  We waited in line, and when it came our turn, they told us that they did not serve groups of five.  We told them we could split up into groups of two and three.  They would not seat us.  My thought was that if they didn’t want our money, we would find some place that did.  We ended up going elsewhere for lunch.

Morris wanted to get some pickles from the Pickle Guys on the lower east side.  I was expecting some kind of pickle warehouse sort of place.  It turned out to be a small open air storefront.  They had about 20 barrels of assorted kinds of pickles.  You wait in line, and they take care of you.  Morris had been there before, and knew how to do things so stuff could be taken home on the plane.  I just ordered a quart of pickles.  I sampled them, and they were pretty tasty.

When we got back to Shannon’s I realized that I didn’t have a good way to get the pickles home.  They were packed in a flimsy deli type plastic container.  I was worried about them spilling on the bus, the car, or my suitcase.  I ended up leaving the pickles with Shannon in New York.  She gave them to an appreciative friend.

Saturday we went to a New York Historical museum.  The weather was bad, and we were looking for an outing.  It was an okay outing.

Sunday morning we said goodbye to Shannon, and got on the bus.  We had been staying with Shannon for a week, and she took very good care of us.  Thank you Shannon.  We had a fairly convoluted way of getting to New York, due to my fear of New York traffic.  We left our car in Washington, and took a bus to New York. 

To get our car, we took the bus back to Washington.  I was a little concerned about the car.  The hotel, which normally charges for parking, told us it would be okay if we left the car there.  Washington is not the kind of city that tolerates unauthorized parking.  When we got to the hotel, I was happy to see the car was still there.  The bus line, Vamoose, was very good on both legs of the trip, and sure beat the heck out of Greyhound.

We spent the night in Washington, and headed for home the next morning.  We got off to a late start, and made it as far as Sandusky, Ohio at sunset.  It was only a couple a couple of hours from home, but we decided to spend the night. 

Phyllis has a cousin, Betty Rae, who lives in Sandusky.  Phyllis called her.  Betty Rae came right over, and the girls had a nice time visiting in the hotel lobby.  I was able to get some sleep.

We got home yesterday before noon.  It is always a relief to get home and see that everything at home is basically intact.  We will have a few days of catching up on things after 36 days on the road.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

It appears that I haven’t written in a while, despite having a lot to write about.

After Norfolk we went back to DC for the weekend. Weather wasn’t particularly good, so we just went through some museums. Saturday we went through the National History museum, which was very crowded as usual. After that we walked through the Freer Museum. The Freer museum has mostly oriental art, which is typically not to my taste. I really like this museum though, mainly because it so peaceful, and the building is beautiful. The architecture is Greek, despite showing mostly Asian art.

We spent a little time in the Sackler, another oriental art museum, which happens to be entirely underground. We also did a brief walk-through the new American Indian museum.

We spent a good part of the Sunday preparing for our trip to New York. We did go into the district to go to the Renwick Gallery. The museum had a strange exhibit of naked porcelain statues. They were anatomically correct, and the male statues were in a state of arousal. Each figure had some gold leaf, and an inflatable beach toy with it.

We decided to take a bus to New York on Monday. The bus line was called Vamoose, and we were very happy with it. It left on time, and got us into midtown with no problems.

It of course is good seeing Shannon again. She is doing well, and has a nice place in Brooklyn.

Tuesday Phyllis and I went into town. Our first stop was to buy half price tickets for a play at TKTS. We got matinee tickets for Wednesday to see Shrek, The Musical. We then went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This is a huge museum on the edge of Central Park. For a Tuesday, we thought they were very crowded. Their collection is very impressive, and we particularly liked looking at their collection of impressionistic paintings.

We met Shannon for dinner that night at a vegan Chinese restaurant in Brooklyn. It was a nice dinner.

Wednesday was a busy day. In the morning we went with Shannon to the school where she teaches. They are studying China, and Shannon wanted me to do a segment on Tai Chi. This was a bit of a challenge for me because I haven’t done Tai Chi in a couple of years. Still, I was able to fake it, and I had those third graders grasping bird’s tails in no time. It’s a Tai Chi thing.

After Tai Chi, we took the subway to Union Square. They were giving out Toll House cookies at Union Square, which worked for me. We went to the Strand book store. This is a pretty good book store. Phyllis bought a quilting book. We got some lunch while we were in Union Square.

Then it was off to see Shek, the Musical. I liked the Shrek movie, and I had seen numbers from the play on television that I liked. Parts of the play were very good, but on the whole, I would only give it two stars. The play is due to close soon.

Being Thanksgiving morning in New York, we went to the big parade in town. As soon as we came up from the subway we could see the parade going by. I was immediately in a great mood. I really liked the parade.

Morris is coming into town this evening. We are going to meet him at an Indian restaurant in Queens for our Thanksgiving feast. It is a little unorthodox, but a good time will be had by all.

Fredericksburg and Norfolk

From DC we went back to Fredericksburg.  We visited and stayed with our old friends the McGowans.  Tuesday the main activity of the day was touring downtown Fredericksburg.  We took a trolley tour of the city.  The tour focused on the city’s history as a Civil War battle site.  There were several large battles in this area that had a large number of casualties.  The Confederacy won the battle of Fredericksburg.

After the tour we got some lunch.  Then the ladies went quilt shopping.  I did my best to be a brave little camper through this experience, but after a while I needed to take refuge in a local tavern.  The ladies had a great time shopping, and bought what I am are wonderful quilts at outstanding prices.  Here they are with one of their treasures.

The McGowans were gracious hosts, and we enjoyed seeing them again.

From Fredericksburg we went to Norfolk.  Norfolk is famous for their football cheer, “We don’t smoke, we don’t drink, Norfolk, Norfolk.”  They also have a nautical history, and the Navy is very big here.

Wednesday at dinner I ordered lobster, mainly because it was a special.  I haven’t had lobster in a long time, and quickly learned that I didn’t know how to eat the thing.  I struggled with it, and after spilling my water and the thing of butter, I managed to get the bulk of it into me.  I thought it was more trouble than it was worth.

After dinner we went to the Chrysler art museum, which is open late on Wednesdays.  This was a very nice museum, consisting mainly of paintings Walter P. Chrysler donated.  We got there, and they told us part of the museum was closed because there was a NATO event going on where some general was being promoted.  Phyllis explained that there was a painting in that section that she came specifically to see.  The people at the desk told her that if the event ended before closing, they would let us into that area.

We are walking around the museum, which was very impressive, when one of the staff flags us down and tells us we can see the stuff  in the closed off section.  We were impressed by this level of service, especially since the museum was free.  We both really liked this museum.

This afternoon we went to Virginia Beach.  Phyllis looked into some medical stuff.  I walked along the beach.  I liked walking along the beach, which was practically deserted.  I found it very peaceful.

Tomorrow morning we will be heading back to Washington, DC, where we will spend the weekend.  After that we will head to Brooklyn for Thanksgiving.

Colonial Williamsburg

Severe weather was predicted for the Carolinas, so on Monday we went to Williamsburg Virginia. We got there around four or so. Phyllis was interested in staying at the lodge, which we did.

The setup at the lodge was kind of screwy. First you go to the visitor information center where they reserve your room. Then you go to the lodge to check in. They had us park in an underground garage. We took the elevator up, and at that point the directions we were given ceased to make sense. Phyllis made a phone call, and we got revised instructions that involved dragging our bags around for a while. We made it to our room, which was a pleasant enough place with colonial decor. It was the most expensive placed we’ve stayed, or plan to stay on this trip.

We got dinner at the lodge, and then we walked a bit around Colonial Williamsburg. We ended up at a tavern where we went in for a beverage. They had a magician there who did some slight of hand tricks. A fiddler and mandolin player then came by and played some colonial tunes. Everyone working at the tavern was in colonial garb. I thought the entertainment was a bit lame. Phyllis seemed charmed by it.

Tuesday was our day to tour Colonial Williamsburg. We got our passes, and started out. The first place we stopped was the Governor’s home where we went on tour that was fairly good. We then went on a walking tour which was a good orientation to the place. Phyllis got us tickets to shtick where a guy portraying George Washington was giving us the benefit of his experience. This was very dry, and we walked out of it before very long.

At the other end of the complex there was a dramatic presentation being put on where they were debating whether or not to start a revolution. This started out really well, but didn’t sustain our interest for very long.

Wednesday the rains came. It is still raining, and is supposed to rain tomorrow as well. There is a museum at Colonial Williamsburg. Being an indoor activity, we decided to go there. I am not into colonial arts and crafts, but I was pleasantly surprised by this museum. It was a large museum, and there just seemed to be a lot interesting stuff there. Phyllis especially enjoyed the quilts that were on display.

At the museum there was another dramatic enactment. This time it was Thomas Jefferson talking about the writing of the Declaration of Independence. Given our experience with general Washington’s presentation, we got seats at the back of the auditorium so that we could make a quick exit if need be.

The guy doing Jefferson turned out to be excellent. He engaged well with the audience, and I learned a lot of things I had never heard before. This easily the snappiest presentation we heard in Williamsburg.

We left the museum mid afternoon heading towards DC. The weather was awful. It was raining hard, visibility was poor, and it was windy. The rain is the result of hurricane Ida that hit the gulf coast earlier. We made it as far a Fredericksburg, where we got a room for the night. The weather is still bad, so we decided that we will spend another night here. We have a room reserved in Roslyn just outside of DC for tomorrow.

Greenville, Salisbury, and Jamestown

There are a couple of interesting things about Greenville, South Carolina. One thing is that when we were there a couple of days ago, it was still green. We were in the mountains prior to that, where the fall colors were dominant, and past their prime. In Greenville, the colors were just starting to change.

The other is that there is a surprisingly big waterfall on the southern edge of the downtown area. It is not Niagara, but it does get your attention. They built a nice park with trails and a suspension bridge over it. We spent the bulk of the day there around the waterfalls.

This has been a different kind of a trip in that we haven’t had a set agenda, and we keep changing our mind on where to go or what to see. From Greenville, our planned destination was Charlotte, North Carolina. When we got to the Charlotte area, we found out that there was a big car race going on that weekend, and we couldn’t get a good rate on a hotel room. So we continued on and ended up in Salisbury where we spent the night. Salisbury is an old town that looks like it could have been the set of a 1950’s crime movie. It looked prosperous enough, but it just looked like it was from a different era.

From Salisbury we headed for Greensboro. On the way there we stopped through Jamestown where we toured the Mendenhall Plantation. This was an old farm dating back to the early 1800’s. Because the Mendenhalls were Quakers, there were no slaves on this plantation. It was thought that the Mendenhalls participated in the underground railroad.

The actual plantation looked pretty austere. The guy who gave the tour went into a lot of detail about the family history of the family, the community, and the building. The tour lasted well over an hour. They charged us a dollar each for the tour.

After lunch we decided to go to Winston Salem instead of Greensboro. We plan on touring the city Saturday.

Still in Asheville

Friday we went on a Gray Line tour of the Asheville.  It was a good enough tour, and gave a good overview of the city.

We moved to a new hotel on Friday.  We are in a Mariott in a commercial area I would describe as suburban anywhere.  It is a more comfortable place though, and we’ve been more comfortable here.

Once you drive around a little, you realize that Asheville is really a pretty small town.  Given that, the downtown area is surprisingly upscale.

After our tour, we went to tour the Thomas Wolfe house.  I originally thought this was the home of Tom Wolfe, the guy who wrote The Right Stuff and Bonfire of the Vanities.  Not so.  This is the Thomas Wolfe who wrote Look Homeward Angel in the 1920s.  While the tour was done well enough, I came out of it not particularly liking the house, Thomas Wolfe, or his family.

It rained all day on Saturday.  I saw this as an opportunity to catch up on a few things.  A day or two into the trip Phyllis told me that jeans I was wearing had unfortunate holes in unfortunate places.  I figured this would be a good day to get a new pair of jeans.

This is easier said than done.  I am short, and it is hard to find pants that fit me.  We started our quest by going to Kohl’s where I’ve had good luck in the past.  Not so this time.  I could not find a pair that fit.  I did learn a lot about jeans though.

Those who know me know that I do not have a sense of fashion.  I just wanted a lousy pair of jeans, and my only requirement was that they came close to fitting.  But in the process of finding a pair of jeans, I picked up some stuff.  I suspect you know this, but I’m telling the story anyway.  There are relaxed and regular fit jeans.  Relaxed sounded better to me, because I like to be relaxed, and don’t like tight fitting clothes.

But after trying on jeans I learned that the relaxed jeans have more than a skosh more room, and run two sizes larger than a pair of regular fit jeans of the same size.  It turns out that being thin, I am better off with regular fit jeans.

To make a long story short, after spending an hour at Kohl’s we went to Sears where I found jeans in my size in a couple of minutes.  All is well.

I also took Phyllis to a quilt store on Saturday.  It was raining pretty hard, but she wanted to go.  She is into quilt shops.

Today we the Biltmore, the old Vanderbilt estate.  This is a huge old house built at the turn of the last century.  They charge $50 to tour the place, which struck me as a lot to walk through an old house.  It was a self led tour.  Most of the staff in the various rooms weren’t much help.  I was amazed at the excess of the place.  It was basically a family home with hundreds of rooms.  It had a lot of fancy furniture and artwork.  But it didn’t look like a pleasant place to live.

The grounds of the place are very nice.  There were a few flowers in bloom, but being November, there wasn’t much in bloom.  The views of the mountains were in fall color, and were beautiful to see.

We are planning on leaving Asheville tomorrow, but we haven’t decided exactly where we will be going.  Greenville South Carolina is a possibility.

Dollywood and Asheville

Phyllis appears to be better.

Yesterday we went to Dollywood. Dollywood is a theme park founded by country singer Dolly Parton. The emphasis of the place, as you would expect, was country music and life in the nearby Smokey Mountains. It was a nice day weather wise, and it was nice being outside looking at stuff. They had some scary looking amusement park rides, particularly the wooden roller coaster, but we didn’t ride them.

We did go to some shows. The first one we saw was a major production about life in the Smokey Mountains. It told a story of a family that had to leave the mountains. It was a strange story with a lot of spiritual mumbo jumbo in it. The songs were written by Dolly Parton. I found the show to be king of strange, and I can’t recommend it.

We didn’t see Dolly there, but we did see some videos where she sang. You know, she really doesn’t have a very good singing voice. We heard a woman singing outside a restaurant, and she sang much better that Dolly. She is one of those people who do very well despite a lack of talent or real accomplishments.

We saw a birds of prey show that was all right.

Overall I found the Dollywood experience to be a bit disappointing, but that’s okay because we had a good enough time.

We ended up spending three days in Pigeon Forge, and we didn’t expect to spend more than one. There are a lot shows to see in Pigeon Forge; we didn’t see any. Our fellow tourists appeared to be our age or older. Last night we went to a crowded restaurant, and were seated with two older couples. It was like a cruise ship experience, and was okay.

We are now in Asheville, North Carolina. Getting here wasn’t easy. The main road from Pigeon Forge was shut down because a rockslide shut down all six lanes of I40. We took an alternate route that had a lot of slow curvy roads. We got here late afternoon.

We walked around town this evening, and were favorably impressed. We ate dinner at a vegetarian restaurant, that beat the heck out the country cooking that we ate in Tennessee. The downtown are is fairly vibrant. There are people on the street, and the stores all look to be pretty prosperous. There are street musicians who play for tips. None of the ones I was was very good, but they add a lot of color. The people we saw were mostly younger. Because of Asheville’s reputation as retirement community, I expected to see more older folks. The younger people made the place look more alive.

We are staying in a pretty lousy hotel tonight. Mostly, our fellow lodgers a very loud. We will find a better place tomorrow.