A Girls Weekend in Atlanta

After too many years of talking about a girls weekend with Shelley, it was finally time. My Mom and I were going to have 2 days to spend with Shelley and her mom, Elaine, at their new house in Atlanta. We headed out at 7:30 AM from Florida with a 7 hour drive ahead of us. After the first hour, the weather turned from cloudy and rainy to bright and sunny and the drive was relatively painless. About half way through the drive, we took our first rest stop- at the Georgia information center on the border with Florida. They were having a “Discover Southern Georgia” fair – with vendors from all the local towns – offering free pens, water bottle holders – and free food! We tried our first grilled PB&J sandwich (once is probably enough), a hot dog and cookie. Lunch and a rest stop all in one place!
We had to make a stop at Adcock Pecans in Tifton, Georgia. They make the most amazing peanut brittle- so we grabbed a few boxes and continued our drive. We took 285 (the bypass) around downtown Atlanta. Since we were arriving about 3 PM on Friday, we weren’t sure what the traffic situation would be like going through downtown. 285 was a breeze and with the help of our handy GPS, we found Shelley and Frankie’s new house without a problem.
We got the tour of the new house –it’s absolutely beautiful—and HUGE!

The lot alone would take a day to mow and the puppies have a huge fenced-in back yard to romp. We found our way to our bedrooms, settled in and then opened a bottle of wine and started to catch up. What a great night!

The next day, we stopped by Shell’s old house- on the market now. It was a little sad to see the house empty – we had so many good memories there…. But- no time for nostalgia—there was shopping to be done. The 4 of us hit the stores in Alpharetta.
On Sunday, Frankie played chef and made an amazing porkloin. How nice to have a man cooking! Then, the girls took out the Scrabble board. With Elaine, the queen of crosswords, we had some tough competition. She, of course, won, but we had a great time.

All too soon, the weekend was over and we were back on the road to Florida….with plans for an annual event!

Chloe's Luxating Patella

We had forgotten about the joys of owning a dog…the worries when anything goes wrong. Our little Chloe had let out a yelp last night when she was playing..and this morning was just not herself. No desire to take her morning walk – and then we noticed that she was keeping weight off her right rear leg. So, it was off to the vet to see what was wrong. She was still acting her normal crazy self in the waiting room- meeting every stranger as if they were long lost friends. I was beginning to feel a little guilty taking up the vet’s time for what was obviously not a real problem. When I finally got in to see the vet and described the symptoms, it was an immediate diagnosis – medial patellar luxation… (in lay terms- a trick knee.). When the patella (kneecap) pops out of its groove, the cartilage surfaces rub against each other. In some cases, the kneecap will pop back into place by itself—in the later stages, it has to be manually put back in place. After a X-Ray to confirm the diagnosis, the vet explained that small breeds often have this problem. Fortunately, Chloe’s is popping back on it’s own and we went home with some pain meds and a daily pill to help her joints.

"Euphoria"

At last, the end of the Bush era and a new day for the country. While all the news channels were continuing their coverage- sitting outside in the cold interviewing the hoards of people on the mall- I was heading to Ocala to take advantage of the $1.75M cosmetics settlement. It was tough to convince my politically addicted mother to join me, but she eventually agreed. We picked up our free bottle of “Euphoria” and realized that if we could just find a TV, we’d be able to catch Obama’s inaugural speech. As we drove by the VW dealership, I remembered their big screen TV and gourmet coffee machine. We pulled in and found a waiting room filled with people, all glued to the TV screen- mechanics, car salesmen, office workers. It was an amazing experience- to watch our new president take the oath of office – feeling the hope and – ironically- the feeling of “Euphoria” in the air.

An Encounter with Elvis

Florida in the winter is really quite wonderful. While we grumble when the overnight temperatures drop below 40 and we have to cover plants (or, in our case, take our little “herb garden” in for the night), by 9 or 10 AM, we’re typically back to the mid 70’s with bright sunny skies. This winter, in particular, we’ve appreciated this amazing weather as we watch the rest of the country pummeled by snow and freezing weather. We watch the stories of snow dumped in the Northeast and remember a few of those winters in Boston where we couldn’t even see our car for days – completely covered with snow – and then, when you finally shoveled it out, you’d put a chair or bucket in “your spot” on the street. The rule was, “you shovel it, you own it” and beware taking someone’s shoveled spot. You could end up with 4 flat tires!
While we don’t miss the weather “up north”, we do miss all of the eating options. The most exotic option for dining out here in Florida is the local Thai restaurant – or our newly discovered Cajun hot spot. So, when we saw the huge article in the paper about opening of a new “Swiss German” restaurant/bakery (owned by a Swiss baker who is also an Elvis impersonator), we made reservations for Friday night. Hidden in the “Central Motel”—a old 60’s style motel on U.S. 41, we approached with caution. They opened for dinner at 5:00 and when we got there (a few minutes before 5), it was already packed with senior citizens. (The rush for dinner from 4:30 – 6:00 is a truely Florida experience. Throngs of seniors line up for those early bird specials. If you can push your dinner time to 7:00, you’ll typically find a completely empty restaurant).

We sat down….and waited….and waited….for anyone to give us a menu or offer us a drink. Out of sheer frustration, John flagged down the owner and discovered that they don’t have a liquor license. But, you could bring your own, so John set out to find some wine and beer. He returned with cold beer and two bottles of white wine. You could feel the wistful stares of all of the men in the room as they looked at John and E.D. swilling Budweisers. One of the two waitresses found a corkscrew for us and Mom and I used our coffee mugs as wine glasses. The evening was looking up. But,we still didn’t have menus. John snagged the owner again – and we heard the news – It was their first “Elvis Night” so there was no menu – our options: 1. Schnitzel, 2. All you can eat Fish and Chips , 3. Peanut butter and banana sandwich (Elvis’s favorite). It certainly made ordering easy- 4 schnitzel dinners. The good news- with BYO Beer and Wine and $6.95 dinners, it was a cheap evening. The not so good news—undercooked fries and what John called a “Schnitzel Impersonator”. It was edible, but not exactly fine dining. They were obviously on the shake-down cruise for the restaurant. By the time we were half way through our meal, the “all you can eat fish” was changed to just “fish and chips”. They were running out of fish—and it was only 6:00!

The best was yet to come. As we finished our meal, the owner arrived dressed in what I’d call “late Elvis”….a stretchy white pantsuit with gold appliqués and a huge gold belt. He started up the karaoke machine and we were in for an hour of “Elvis Live”. The guy was good….for an Elvis impersonator. John was in agony- he never did like 50’s and 60’s music and he was in a room filled with seniors singing along to “In the Ghetto”, “Jail House Rock” and “Can’t help falling in love”.
A few of the diners even brought video cameras to record the entire “concert”. Thank god we don’t know those people—a re-run would have been unbearable. Well, so much for the new restaurant in town. We’ll keep searching for that next hot spot…

High Tech XMAS

We kicked in the New Year with a dose of high tech…a new PC for me, a transfer of my laptop to Mom, a car GPS and last but certainly not least- Mom and E.D.’s new HDTV and Home Theater system. While we could handle the PC and GPS, we took one look at the Home Theater and called in the experts. The actual connections didn’t look too difficult. It was really only setting up the TV, Cable/DVR box, the DVD/Receiver and all the speakers. What a system- woofer, front speaker, two side speakers, two wireless rear speakers - and even a separate box that lets' you listen to the TV remotely.

Fortunately, Circuit City sent out two guys who didn't flinch when we asked them to move the 250 pound existing TV from the living room to the Florida room. Then they got to setting everything up. As I said, the wiring wasn't too complicated--but the TV set up needed to be done by a 20 year old. Cody (the youngster) spent about 1/2 hour just sitting in front of the TV with fingers flashing on the remote control. He got all the speakers calibrated, set up the TV so that all the HD channels work properly and the non HD channels show full screen. Then we got a little explanation of how to use the 3 remotes. My poor mother- we keep throwing all this new technology at her and she manages to figure it all out. After the guys left, we had to do the rest of the moving and re-cabling to take the TV from the Florida room into the bedroom, move the bedroom TV to the garage (not sure what she's going to do with that one) and then get the DVD/VCR's set up for the other 3 TV's. Six hours later and we were done and absolutely exhausted. I was supposed to cook jambalaya that day, but begged off and we came home and opened a bottle of wine! The HD TV is really gorgeous--it got us thinking about what it would take to get one for the motorhome...but, it's so much more complicated for us. We'd need to change out the roof in-motion antenna ($$$$), then the two TIVO/Receivers ($$$), then the DVD --the new HD TV ...and we aren't sure what wiring would be involved...So, we've decided to put it on hold. Maybe if Obama decides to do another economic stimulus check- or cut taxes....

Viva Las Vegas!

December birthdays are always a problem- coming so close to Christmas, they seem to get overshadowed. So, this year, Mom and I decided to take a girl's trip to Las Vegas. Monday morning and we were heading to the Orlando airport at 5:30 AM. It was an obscene time to leave but the traffic was blissfully light at that time of day. We got to the airport in plenty of time for our flight – no rush to get through the heightened holiday security – and plenty of time to grab a bite to eat. Since the airlines have started to charge for everything these days, we got a huge cup of coffee in the airport. The flight was fairly full, but we managed to get an aisle and window seats with an empty middle seat. In no time, we were landing in Las Vegas. We grabbed our car from Enterprise and were ready to hit the Strip.

The airport in Las Vegas is just south of the Strip and so wonderfully close to everything. It was obvious that tourism is down in Vegas- based on the price of the room at the Palazzo and the lack of tourists on the Strip. The Palazzo is one of the latest additions to the luxury hotel inventory on the Strip. The location was perfect- on the north end of the Strip, connected by walkways to both the Venetian and the Wynn. We valet parked the car, registered for our room and made our way to the guest room towers (with the obligatory walk through the casino.

Our room was on the 43rd floor with a view of the Venetian and the South Strip. The “suite” was 750 square feet—twice the size of our motorhome – with 3 HD flat screen TV’s (one in the bathroom!). Everything was gorgeous. You walked into the room – bathroom on the left with a huge soaking tub, large glass shower, two fluffy white robes, lighted makeup mirror and wonderful scented soaps. Down the hall was the bedroom with two queen size beds, crisp white sheets, a huge HD TV and a credenza with ice bucket and two wine glasses. (How did they know we were coming?) Two steps down and you were in the “living room” with a huge picture window with a beautiful view (the drapes and the blinds opened and closed by remote control), with a HD TV, DVD, fax and copier and a huge L-shaped sofa. We unpacked, added our Walgreen’s 4 cup coffeemaker (no coffeemakers in Las Vegas hotel rooms!), and we were “home”.

But not for long- it was time to grab some lunch (after all, it was 1:00 LV time, but we were still on East Coast time). We decided to try lunch at the Grande Lux Café in the Palazzo. We stopped before lunch to get our “Club Grazie” cards and free $15 in slot play. (Added to the $50 in slot play and $50 drink credits from the hotel). One meal at the Grande Lux was enough to feed two people- but it was our lunch/dinner. After lunch, we took a bit of our “free” money and played the slots. But, we didn’t have much time- we were due at the Wynn for our show by 6:30.

The evenings cooled down significantly and we had a brisk walk from the Palazzo to the Wynn on the elevated walkway. We stopped outside the Wynn to see their beautiful 150 foot waterfall and then stepped inside to a holiday wonderland- trees loaded with sparkling white lights and gorgeous plants. The hotel/casino was built on the site of the old Desert Inn at a price tag of $2.7 BILLION. We had a bit of time before the show to get our players club cards (and another free $15 in play). I hit the jackpot (literally) with the Dean Martin slot. I hit a high of $280, but played it down to $210 before cashing out. Not bad when you’re playing on someone else’s money!

La Reve was spectacular. It’s hard to describe this Cirque de Soleil-esque show. La Reve (“the Dream”) theater is an “aqua theater in the round”—the seats circle a large stage made of water (one million gallons). The theater is very intimate- no seat is more than 40 feet from the stage. (We were fortunate to get seats outside of the “splash zone” – the first few rows where the audience gets wet). The show is a mix of aerial acrobatics, special effects and what the Wynn calls “artistic athleticism.

After the show, we played a few more slots then headed back to our room to relax and enjoy our view.
Day 2

We were up at 6 AM (our bodies still on East Coast time) and got to try out our bargain coffee maker. It paid for itself in one morning- room service for a pot of coffee was $12.00 –before tax and service – and we were well into our 3rd pot by 8 AM. After a leisurely morning, we walked from the Palazzo to it’s sister hotel, the Venetian. It was like walking into Venice – the “Grand Canal” running through the cobble-stoned shopping streets with cafes and gondolas – underneath a ceiling that is painted in the likeness of the sky on a picture perfect day. The canals lead to a replica of St Mark’s square. The stone is aged for a weathered look and the tiles are the exact copies of their Italian counterparts. The hotel reception area is designed to resemble the Doge’s Palace with beautiful inlaid floors and arched ceiling with gold and ceiling adorned with Renaissance paintings.

From “Venice”, we made our way down the Strip to the Bellagio and the feel of Lake Como in Italy. The Bellagio was one of the first true luxury hotels on the Strip and the extravagance is evident the moment you enter- with the blown glass flower sculpture on the ceiling and the beautiful conservatory. This time of year, the conservatory is decorated for the holidays with white and red and green flowers, huge snowmen, reindeers made of pecan shells and large mirrored silver boxes.

Once again, it was a walk through the casino to get to the Bellagio Buffet. We arrived at 10:50 AM—just in time to get in for breakfast prices, but take advantage of the full lunch offering. We had a VERY leisurely lunch- taking small plates and small pieces of just about everything—from fresh gulf shrimp to chicken Wellington, barbequed ribs, strange fish, carved turkey, salmon, and salads. And then, the desserts – there were hundreds of small plates with key lime pies, chocolate mousse, cheesecakes, cream puffs, chocolate raspberry cakes. We took a sampling and shared them over a cup of coffee. We were stuffed!

It was back to the Palazzo to get ready for our evening entertainment- Mamma Mia at the Mandalay. We got to the Mandalay early- a chance to play a few slots and walk over to the Luxor. We didn’t have much luck at their slots- but our losses were always fairly small. We wandered over to the theater and found our seats- behind two of the tallest people in the room. I took a chance and found a nice attendant and explained the situation- she hooked me up with the manager- who eventually got us two seats only a few rows from the front! Perfect seats- we were almost on the stage with the actors. The play is adorable- catchy, Abba tunes, a cute story and a cast who obviously loved their few hours on the stage. You couldn’t help tapping your feet and “mamma mia, here I go again..my my….” – how can I get that song out of my head!!

We drove back to the Palazzo- taking in the sights and sounds of the Strip at night. There’s nothing quite like it- the Wizard of Oz green and huge gold lion at the MGM, the primary colors of the Excalibur, the mini New York City motif at NY/NY complete with 150 foot Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge, Empire State building and the roller coaster running inside and outside of the building, the Eifel Tower and lighted air balloon at the Paris Hotel, the pyramid and sphinx at the Luxor –even the McDonalds is glammed up with lights. After valet parking the car, we decided to use our $50 liquor credit at the Lavo nightclub – the new hot spot on the Strip. Well, talk about feeling old! The place was packed- wall to wall 20 year olds! We had visions of a few drinks at the bar- but settled for using our $50 for a bottle of wine- at the low end of their price list! We smuggled the bottle out of the bar under Mom’s jacket and took it back to our room for our own private view of the Mirage volcano from our picture window.
Day 3

We made use of our wonderful Walgreen’s coffeemaker again before heading out to take in a bit more of the Strip- stopping at the Forum Shops at Caesar’s Palace. It was over the top kitsch – trying to be Roman decadent, but coming across just a bit ridiculous- Roman colonnades, pillars, gigantic Roman statues… We took a trip up the circular escalators to the top, wandered through the “Forum” and decided that it was time for a bit of “Old Vegas”.

The drive from the Strip to Fremont Street is a depressing sight- poverty, pawn shops and abandoned buildings. Not a place you’d want to find yourself stranded at night. We parked at the Plaza and walked over to Main Street Station. Walking into the casino is like a trip back to early 20th century Victorian elegance. Wrought iron railings, stained glass windows, hammered tins ceilings, huge elaborate chandeliers…. We decided to chance another buffet- this one didn’t compare to the Bellagio- but was half the price and served it’s purpose- our “lunch/dinner” for the day.

We spent the afternoon walking Fremont Street- wandering into the old casinos- the Fremont (the first high rise in Las Vegas- built in 1956), 4 Queens, the California and Binions- where we got our picture taken with $1 Million dollars! John convinced me to try the “Dance Heads” DVD experience and put up the money if I could get my mom to try it. Well- it didn’t take too much convincing – and we were sitting in the kiosk in the middle of Fremont Street with a blue cloth draped around us – waiting for our debut. The music started- we were dancing girls singing “Viva Las Vegas” with our own Elvis. My head popped off my body a few times, but Mom got it immediately. She got the head bobs and facial expressions perfectly. We got a second shot at “Good Lovin” – I got to be the drummer (and lead singer) while Mom played bass guitar. What an experience- especially when they played both DVD’s for the crowd that had gathered outside the booth.

With DVD’s in hand, we played a few more slots- at the Fremont before heading to the Plaza. We picked up our tickets and I played my Super Jackpot Party while Mom found her machine right by the theater entrance – the Butterfly machine. We both walked away with a few dollars before the Rat Pack show started.

“The Rat Pack is Back” just moved to the Plaza and the setting is perfect. The theater is reminiscent of the 1960’s dinner theaters – with crystal chandeliers and red draperies on the walls. The show starts with the announcer encouraging “drinking, gambling and carousing”- not only encouraged, but mandatory. Then the voice of Buddy Hackett sounds- explaining that he’s sending the guys back for one last show. The 12 piece orchestra starts playing and you find yourself watching “Frank, Dean, Sammy and Joey” –Dean Martin, drink in hand singing songs like “Ain’t that a Kick in the Head”, Sammy Davis Jr. doing Mr. Bojangles, and Frank Sinatra with the brightest blue eyes- singing old standards. They even have an amazing Marilyn Monroe – who stole the show with her lap dance for a birthday “boy” in the audience. It was a bit of old Vegas and a perfect way to end our trip.

Our last night to enjoy the luxury of our room – we cracked open our last Bailey’s and enjoyed the view and sat up and talked till the wee hours. We had become accustomed to the luxury of Vegas- the drapes and blinds that operate at the touch of a remote, the automatic toilets, the sinks that turn on automatically, the paper towels and soap that dispense on their own, the doors that swing open as you approach- not to mention the joys of valet parking and maid service. How do we go back to reality?

Day 4
Our last valet park, a drop off of the car and time to enjoy a relaxed breakfast at the airport (and even throw a few dollars into the airport slot machines!). Our two flights were crowded, but once again, we had a window and aisle with no one in the middle. We got into Orlando about 7:30 that night and we were home by 9:00. E.D. and John were waiting with a glass of wine and a hot bowl of chili.

A visit from old friends

We had a visit from some old friends from Denver this week. We had just missed C.J. and Jeff a few weeks back- we were both at Rock Crusher –completely unaware that we were only sites away from each other. So, on their way to St Augustine, they made a 3 day stop to visit us. They have had quite a journey since we last saw them in Maryland. Just 5 years ago, they were living on their boat on the Chesapeake Bay. Since then, they sold the boat, bought a fifth-wheel, bought a house in Sun City, bought a truck camper (they didn’t feel comfortable with the size of the fifth-wheel). Now, they’re trying to sell the house and the fifth wheel and figure out what they want to do. We had a good time catching up, drinking a bit of wine and enjoying dinner at Margarita's.

The next day, we were faced with the “what do we do now” dilemma. We’ve really not played tourist in the area so we were wracking our brains to figure out something to do. We settled on a visit to the Homosassa Wild Life Park. Expecting the worst, we started a walk through the park and were pleasantly surprised to find a well-run, fascinating place. We watched the manatee presentation and walked through the various areas. The park showcased the “old Florida” before developers and sticks people took over.
The lush vegetation, the amazing birds were all here. The pink flamingos were a real highlight. Not only are they remarkable creatures- they are so sociable- and SO noisy. The park even houses a hippo that starred in the TV show, “Daktari”. Lu, the hippo, was born in 1960 and, at the ripe old age of 48, is living out the rest of her days in her own little pool.

We discovered a new restaurant in old Homosassa- called Neon Leon’s Zydeco Steakhouse. What a find! The restaurant is named after the bass guitarist for Lynard Skynard – the uncle of the owner. Leon’s family has sent a collection of memorabilia- Leon’s guitars, gold records and hats. The cook is a true “coon-ass” – straight from Baton Rouge – and the food was amazing! They’ve only been open for 5 weeks and are hoping to make a go of it in some pretty tough times. We’ll be regulars –great food and a little feel of Louisiana right in our backyard.

November 15th—our one year anniversary with our little mal-terrorist. It feels like Chloe has been a part of our life forever.