Lexington, KY is considered by many as the horse capital of the world.  The world’s top racehorses are bred, born, trained, officially registered, bought & sold, retired and buried in Lexington.  You can probably guess by now……………….we visited Keeneland.

A few initial factoids:

• Keeneland opened in 1936.
• It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1986.
• It originated as a non-profit racing & auction entity.

We were meeting an acquaintenance of my mother-in-law for lunch in the clubhouse and to watch the races throughout the afternoon.

Lunch was the first priority.  Eric started with a bowl of ‘bergoo’ – basically a beef stew with these fried dumplings.  It was pretty darn tasty!  I asked why he had never made it for me – silence.  The dumplings were the ‘extra bit of goodness’ which took it the extra mile.

Mary and I both ordered the ‘Kentucky Hot Brown’ entre as our choice.  It is a local favorite, created at the Brown Hotel in Louisville, KY in 1926.  The main ingredients being turkey, bacon, Mornay sauce and tomato slices.

While there was nothing wrong with this presentation, it is probably not something I would suggest to others.  I’ve had other preparations that were more appealing to my taste.

Eric ordered a Rueben sandwich with herbed fries.  I really enjoyed his fries.  🙂

There is a dress-code for the clubhouse.  Eric had to bring a tie on our vacation.  If you didn’t wear one, they had a tie shop nearby for your required purchase.

Before long, the signal was heard indicating it was time for horses and jockeys to come to the track.

 

We trekked out to our seats.  We visited the track through the middle of the week and it was definitely the chilliest weather we had experienced thus far,  so the stands were pretty thin of people.

We definitely needed to put our coats and scarves on to watch a race.

Here are a few shots from my first race I watched.  Same horses, coming and going.

In between the 8 races today, we ordered dessert – bread pudding and shared this sweet dessert.

Of course, what is a day at the track without placing some bets.

After the first couple races, I stayed inside (where it was warm) and let Eric brave the cold temps and collect his winnings…………..or not.

He captured this video to grasp the excitement during a race.

<vdieo>

A few more factoids:

• The 147 acres which became Keeneland was owned by Jack Keene, who was the driving force behind building this facility.
• There are two seasons for their races:  Spring (15 days) and the Fall (17 days).
• Keeneland is the world’s largest thoroughbred auction house, conducting three sales annually.
• The Keeneland team travels over 25+ countries and invests considerable dollars towards market development of horse racing.

It was a fun way to spend a day in Lexington, quintessential KY.  I’ll close with this photo found in the lobby of the clubhouse.  It was a huge fresh-flower bouquet that set the stage for an amazing experience.  It was beautiful and stunning, while also embracing the Fall essence.

 
Ginny

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While I totally loved walking around the school, these activities were more my style.  This was a different view of KY…………..

The arboretum is on the edge of campus and right behind the house.  I mean, it is literally in their backyard.  When they first moved here, it was a field.  Now, it is a fantastic use of ground and definitely a gathering place for visitors, walkers, runners, families and anyone coming to UK.  BTW, UK stands for University of Kentucky, not United Kingdom.

They have events throughout the year and most recently they had groups come and design scarecrows – I couldn’t resist this shot.  No, you can’t get away from Mickey.

A section of the arboretum is for test trials and I found this one for Echinacae.  Love all of the different colors, especially the one with two colors on the end.

One thing for sure, you can see the UK water tower from all points of the garden.

Their big farmer’s market is on the weekend, but they had a (much) smaller version through the week.  I was looking for pumpkins, squash and gourds to take home.  Eric was looking for supper.  We found these ‘candy corn’ onions (left photo, middle basket)for dinner and I found my fall items.  Purchases were made  for both of us.

Eric found a market (Elmwood) with locally-grown meats – that was our first stop heading out of town.  We pulled in the driveway and said ‘What now?’.  The place looked deserted.  Eric called and after turning in, there was still a mile to drive down the lane before reaching their market store.

A nice roast was our selection and was dinner one night that week.  While we picked up a beef roast, there are numerous choices as you can see below.

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I couldn’t resist a few ‘live’ animal shots and one kitty.  She had the prettiest,soft grey coat – which matched the gravel.  🙂

Next stop……….Evan’s Orchard.  They had this great photo spot for the kids and the ‘young at heart’.  Gigantic pumpkins, mums and cornstalks were irrestible.

Let me tell you what……….this place had it going on.  It was a mecca for school buses and kids on field trips.  They had a huge ‘bounce’ pillow, a corn maze, old-time machinery, covered pavilions, a playground and yes, apples and pumpkins.

 

Oh yes, and racks of ‘normal’ pumpkins.

We stopped at another orchard (Eckert’s) which was a scaled-down version from our first stop.

In true Disney fashion, another couple offered to take our photo (after my selfie attempt was not working out) and we took their photo.

We had one more place to check-off our list – Weisenberger Mill.

We go there most trips to pick up stone-ground (white) grits.  None of those ‘instant’ grits come into the Darden household – just saying!  These might take a little extra time to cook, but they are well worth the trouble – especially when your husband cooks them – thanks hon!

There was a framed picture from an earlier rendition of the mill.  One of the owners was in the office when we picked up our items and shared their family had owned the mill since 1864.

A grinding stones was out front of the mill, making a nice display and photo op.  Notice the horseshow in the center?  It’s turned up to keep the luck from running out.

There are a few more posts coming from our KY trip.  One of which is quintessential Lexington.

Ginny

 

 

We woke up our first morning to (very) chilly temps – we haven’t felt this number in a long, long, long time.

Eric went to school at UK and made plans to visit his new fraternity house for Alpha Gamma Rho or ΑΓΡ. His contact (Marcie) picked us up at noon and we started with lunch at OCB Kitchen.  He’s  interacted professionally with her in his role at work and she married one of his fraternity brothers.

It was an appropriate concept  for Lexington – lots and lots of bourbon.  Every post has to have a bit of learning, here you go:

They are another place that strives for local ingredients.  I like that!

›We were doing it before it became ‘cool’.  What can I say………………..we’re trend setters, ha!‹

They have this really cool (got to find another word) idea (ok, probably not the first one to use it) that I really liked:  an IPAD showcasing their food with photos.  I did make my choice based upon the photo and changed from my original selection.

And it it turned out like this.  Pretty similar, but I took a close up shot of the food, versus a plate shot.

I totally loved the decor.  Their website says they took ‘centuries old local barn wood’ for the look they wanted inside the establishment – it definitely works – along with the barrels.

And yes, you can see they have an extensive list of bourbon.  It was a good way to start the day (eating, not drinking bourbon).

Marcie did a great job giving us a tour around campus.  The campus has a lot of construction going on and all the new architecture is blending in with existing buildings making for a cohesive-looking college campus.   When possible, they are keeping the facades of older buildings and incorporating that into the new one.  The old Alumni Gymnasium now houses a work-out destination for the students.  That was an excellent idea.  The gym was the first place the school played basketball in the 1920s.  Plus, she could tell us what future plans were coming for the school campus.

We walked to the AΓΡ house and met some members who gave us a tour, including their own room – that took guts.

We found Eric’s chapter photo.  Yep, that’s right, the date says 1987.  Sorry hon, I had to point that out.  🙂

The item below was a donation given to the house, which we were told was found at a garage sale.  They framed and back-lit the stained glass to hang above their mantle.

Marcie also took us to their new student union building-it was fabulous!  I definitely am jealous.  I wonder what Purdue has done………..

They have a great student food destination inside that I only dreamed about  when I was going to school.  Once again, they are supporting local and state-grown items.

It was a great way to start our week in Lexington.  Thanks Marcie for the tour!

Ginny

 

 

 

 

 

Wow!  It has been sooooo many years since we drove to Kentucky, we’ve been mostly flying in for a quick weekend trips.  This time we’re ground bound. Theoretically, the trip should take us 11 hours and 15 minutes, if we don’t stop – which is not possible for us, for a number of reasons.  While we didn’t leave as early as I would have liked, I did see the sunrise.

As we packed our bags, I noticed a common theme……….Vera Bradley.  Maybe hard to see, but there are four different VB bags.  I could probably do a post, just on VB bags!  Not sure if I want Eric knowing how many I truly have.  Can you even have too many?

Just in case you’re not a VB fan or unaware:

• It was founded in 1982 in Fort Wayne, IN.
• Last fiscal year had a revenue over $416 million.
• They make handbags, luggage, travel items, cosmetic cases, wrist accessories, umbrellas, beach towels, bedding, stationary, tech products and……………sounds just like the UPS commercial.

Even this time of year, watering is still required for our potted plants before leaving.  Eric took over this task while I finished packing the truck.  I can truthfully say watering didn’t take as long in years past as this past summer has been hard on plants and I keep throwing out the ones that are half-dead.  Trust me, they’re not coming back.

So, a (long) road trip.

It is definitely a chance to see what is happening, although to be perfectly honest you’re restricted to sites along the interstate.  In North Florida, Eric noticed this solar farm.  During our quick 75+mph drive-by, the Florida hills (yes, we have hills) seemed to be covered with these panels, lots and  lots of panels.  Google is my friend, I had to dive deeper.

Turns out this is a collaborative effort between Florida Power & Light Co. and Columbia county. On this 500 acre solar farm sits 330,000 panels, which their website states ‘the power generated is enough for 15,000 homes’ (which that part seemed kind of vague).  I did like this factoid “This power plant operates without human on-site intervention, while sheep take care of keeping the grounds mowed.”  That’s pretty cool.  Currently FPL has 18 plants across the state and their goal is to install 30 million solar panels by 2030 and it would make Florida a world leader in solar energy production.  We’ll see.

Okay, enough learning.  Fairly soon, our next photo-worthy site was the Florida ‘leaving’ sign.  I did not know we had one of those.

What I was really looking for was the Georgia welcome sign.

Another interesting sight was seeing cotton growing along the interstate, which had not been harvested yet.  Waaaay in the distance you can see the irrigation system.

It’s typically planted in May(ish) and harvested in October (ish).  What I found on the internet says that Georgia ranks third in overall production & acres planted.  The other interesting thing I read was that Georgia doesn’t want uncontrolled backyard cotton gardening that could lead to an outbreak of the cotton boll weevil – which could devastate this industry.

Our plan was to get through Atlanta before eating our picnic lunch.  It took much longer than planned, due to traffic (on a sunday!) and rain.  We could barely see the gold state capital rotunda.

We started this trick a couple trips ago – much quicker and seems healthier, a picnic lunch.  This time our choice was egg salad, ‘organic’ nacho cheese chips, sugarcane cola and home-made chocolate chip cookies.

Yeah!  The weather is finally changing.  I’m still wearing shorts, but needed to add a jacket for this stop.  We’ve had so many days, weeks and months of hot weather, this was a much needed break in temps.

Finally got to the next ‘welcome’ state sign…………

…………then the last state ‘welcome’ sign before getting to our destination.

We weren’t able to see the sunset since we’re getting in later than expected.  We talked about stopping at a favorite Lexington pizza joint, but someone suggested we call in our order and bring it to his mother’s house.  Great, absolutely great idea!

Commonly called Joe B’s, it was established in 1973, housed in a former synagogue with stained glass windows.  I really like the vibe inside but it was bustling even on a Sunday and we wouldn’t have been eating for probably another hour if we ate in.  Again, great  idea to pick up the pizza and bring it home.

It was nothing fancy, ground beef over all of it, pepperoni on half and bacon (my request) on the other half.

We made it safe and sound.  Now onto planned and unplanned activities in Lexington!

Ginny

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Small disclaimer…..……….this post was waaaaaaay overdue.  We visited almost 7 weeks ago, I started writing, then stopped, I started writing again, other things got in the way but………….I just couldn’t delete the post.  It was a fun, much-needed trip at the time, a relaxing chance to get away while also doing one of my favorite things.  Here you go – finally.

We were able to score two rooms at our new favorite Crystal River lodging.  Just as important, we were able to get an extra day off which had the affect of a 3-day ‘weekend’.  Weekend is a ‘loose’ term at our entertainment company.  My ‘weekend’ is Sunday & Monday.  The easiest way to add another day is to take a Tuesday off – which we did!

Why do we need two rooms you may ask………….one of our godsons and his dad was able to join us.  In fact, while we were working Saturday, they took our boat over and got in a day of fishing before we arrived.  They had a good day on the water.

Luckily, we got rooms next to each other – and a different room for us than on our first visit.  This time we had room #20.

Since we were on the end, we had extra windows which was nice.  While the rooms seem to be the same size, the choice of furniture makes a big difference in appearances.  It just seemed like we had more room.

Driving over on Saturday, gave us another option for evening dining – Vintage On Fifth.   It’s closed Sundays & Mondays, which are the usual days we are in Crystal River.

It’s a nice little place, has a great (reasonably priced) wine list and some creatively inspired food dishes.  Man!  Its great that the kid eats more than chicken fingers with ranch dip – just saying.  We were seated quickly and ahead of our reservation time.

Something as simple as bread just tastes better when you’re on vacation.  We devoured this loaf and our waitress quickly brought another one.  It had been brushed with garlic butter and was mighty tasty.

Appetizers of fried green tomatoes (mine) and she-crab soup (everyone else) started our meal.

We had a salad – not the highlight that night.

Three of us got the grouper Francese.  A pan-fried filet of grouper with a butter-lemon-wine sauce – delicious!

One person (Rich) got the lamb.

Naturally we all had to order dessert……….carrot cake (for me) and cream brulee (for Eric and Rich).

The birthday boy got his  own special dessert and a candle.  🙂

 

Loved staying at this place because we could walk back to our rooms.

 

Sunday morning was bright and sunny and most importantly, no storm clouds on the horizon.  First stop was Pete’s Pier for live shrimp.

On the river, we motored past this boat.  It looked like it would be a lot of fun.

We had a good day catching fish – especially the species count.  More about that at the bottom.  Rich caught this nice mangrove snapper while Eric got two nice seatrout.

There were a few smaller fish caught but once we got back to Kings Bay Lodge, this little guy and his grandmother were fishing along the bank – with no luck.  They were thrilled to get this silver trout and black seabass.

Now comes the best part – cooking & eating.  We started with an ‘appetizer’ from their scalloping the day before.

Yes, that’s right, three scallops were their total for the day.  😦   One each for the three (adult) scallop eaters: fresh squeeze of lemon and a few drops of hot sauce was all we needed – delicious!

We all had a part in the making of the meal.  Eric prepped the cole slaw.  Connor cooked the cubic fries, while I chopped the almonds that topped our fish.

One last photo was granted before they headed home.

Earlier I mentioned a ‘species’ count.  While not all of these are edible (trust me they’re not) the weekend was a great one for variety:

Black sea bass, seatrout, redfish, remora, porgie, lizardfish, ladyfish, pinfish, silver trout, mangrove snapper, catfish, grunt and sea perch – a total of 14 species.

Eric and I had two more days of fishing.  This redfish was one of the first caught on Monday morning, but had to be thrown back since it was too big.  Dang.

Tuesday we dodged storms and showers and this rain was right over the channel as we headed out.

Eric started off catching this redfish- a nice keeper size.

An hour later (which seemed like a really long time when your spouse keeps catching them and you are not) I caught this beauty.  Man – what a beautiful day to be on the water, some clouds, some sun and a slight breeze to keep the temperature manageable.

The redfish bite had turned on and it was hot!  We must have caught 20+ redfish throughout the morning before heading in.  Note to non-anglers………each angler can only keep one redfish daily, between 18″ – 27″.

In King’s Bay we came across a pod of manatees, swimming alongside our boat.  People pay good money to get close to them and they were basically in our way.  Must have been at least 10 of them swimming together.

One more stop was required (kind of) before going home – a late lunch at Seafood Sellers.

It was a great extended weekend with good friends, good fishing and good food.

Ginny

 

 

 

 

Yes, that’s an emblem for a local brewery, but more importantly they were having their first Oktoberfest after opening last year.  Since Eric owns a ‘brick’ from this establishment (that’s a whole other story) he made plans for our weekend.  He was telling me the details and instantly remembered (right after I did) he couldn’t be a part of it – oopsie. He was thinking of canceling “No!”.  Hence, Girls Oktoberfest weekend.  Okay, enough of the rhetoric, let’s get to the good part.

Yeah!  Almost like being back in Germany – but not quite.  Notice I didn’t say Munich.  The boys went to Munich while we were in Frieburg last year.  We both ended up with Brats and pretzels.

Naturally there had to be some beer involved – Festbier.

Can you guess which beer was mine?

While I’m not advocating following up with ice cream after a beer, I couldn’t resist a small cup of Ritter’s ice cream (custard) since they were at this event, along with a few other food trucks – just in case you didn’t want brats (really – why else would you come, just saying).  Re-reading this, that was a looonng sentence.

What is Oktoberfest without a band?  Apparently a ‘heavy-metal’ wanna-be band.

Yeah, it just didn’t create the right ‘bavarian’ mood.  About the time we were finishing, guys wearing Lederhosen started gathering.  Yep, the German band was up next.  And, it wasn’t just old guys – two looked really nice in the lederhosen.

We listened to a few polkas then continued our day’s journey.  No one was dancing, but they kept trying to get them up.  I’ll guess that as the beer continued to flow, dancers would appear.

We curiously enough didn’t have the Suncreek Brewery stamp on our Ale Trail map, which we got today.  Our maps are different, yet we both needed the one from a brewery in Eustis – destination decided:  Wolf Branch Brewing Co.

I stuck with my Festbier option while Adrienne tried the amber, and maybe, just maybe the pumpkin ale too.

You wouldn’t think we would be hungry (and really we weren’t) but they had some bagged popcorn that went well with our choices.  And come on, who could resist a popcorn with these flavors (and who could come up with that combo)? Yikes.

By this time, Eric was done with his appointment (it’s hard being a board member of Florida’s Wildlife Federation – just saying) and we headed home.  Hmmmm, seems like someone got a nap during the drive and it wasn’t me.

We let him join our Girls’ day and supper was at a nearby Cajun joint The Big Easy.

As you can see from this inside shot, they’re big fans of LSU (Lousiana State University for those non SEC people) decorated in purple and gold.

First thing that caught Adrienne and Eric’s eyes was this Bloody Mary order form.

OMG.  And this was their result.  Man – its more like an appetizer than a drink.

Okay, finally the food.  We started with fried pickles and boudin balls.

I ordered a roast beef sandwich, New Orleans-style.  I had planned on saving half for lunch the next day, but alas, the meat was too good to stop.  I quit eating the bread.

Eric wanted gumbo (sorry, the photo isn’t much) and onion rings.  Because you know, we didn’t have enough fried food.

Starting the day in ‘Germany’ and ending in ‘New Orleans’ isn’t a bad way to spend a weekend in central Florida – just saying.

Ginny

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A year ago, we were in Germany with good friends.  Wish, wish, wish I was there now.  I couldn’t resist throwing in a photo, or two.  The guys were in Munich, the girls were in Freiburg in the black forest on an awesome tour.

But alas, we’re not. We’re in Sanford, FL – love the gate – just saying.  It’s a nice entryway to downtown Sanford, such a big difference when a friend of mine was the city’s horticulture manager in the 1980s.

First stop was lunch at Hollerbach’s Willow Tree Cafe‘.

Eric wasn’t excited at my response when the hostess asked ‘Inside or out?”.  He naturally said inside (air conditioning!), but I’m definitely a fan of outside eating.  Besides – more like Europe, right?

Their menu is very casual, like reading a newspaper with lots and lots of food mentioned.

While I went for a coke, Eric got a beer.  I had a sip and it was mighty tasty – a hint of grapefruit.  If this place was closer to home and I wasn’t so tired, I definitely would have ordered (a small) one.

Naturally, we needed to start with a pretzel……………

…………….and potato pancakes with applesauce and sour cream.  Anyone see a mickey shape?

I got the sausage platter option, picking Nurnberger wurst (2) and Mettwurst.

Nurnberger – well seasoned grilled Franconian brats.

Mettwurst – applewood-smoked grilled bratwurst.

Sauerkraut and spatlze mit gravy were my sides (no, I did not use the wrong word, mit means with).  Next time I don’t need to order the spatzle – nothing wrong with that choice, just not worth the calories when there are other options for sides.

Eric ordered Jagerschmitzel with potato dumplings and red cabbage.

Jagerschmitzel – pork cutlet with a rich hunter’s pan sauce of brown gravy, wine and sautéed mushrooms & onions.

The weather was absolutely great – very surprising for Florida right now.  There was a nice breeze and the temps were only in the 80s.   It’s been hot and muggy lately, and we’re (just) a bit tired of it.  At least we’re not breaking temperature records like other places in the Southeast.   As I mentioned above, Eric wasn’t a fan of sitting outside, but it was a good decision.

Monday, was a very quiet day in Sanford.  Our previous visits have been on the weekend and couldn’t find any close parking (today, plenty of spots on main street).  We found this interesting art option walking around downtown.

The above butterfly was placed perfectly for adults while the one below was for little ones at ground level.

I couldn’t resist a quick snap with the floral background.

After walking a few blocks (and finding our usual haunts closed 😦 )  we bee-lined to the German deli associated with Hollerbach’s.

There are a plethora of German grocery items lining the shelves. Now how many times do you see plethora used – really?

Along with some fresh (and tasty!) deli items in their cases.  We got some of the Mettwurst to bring home for our own German meal later in the week.

Looking around, I saw a beer that brought a smile to my face:  Radeburger.  During a German ‘tour’ we booked in 2007, the tour operator had enough clout to have the brewery open for our tour group, on a Saturday no less.

This beer brought a smile to Eric’s face.

Of course, I was curious, what is ‘Festbier‘.

• In the 1970s, Paulaner Brewery in Munich started experimenting, searching for a style of beer that was malty, but less heavy and lighter in color then Marzen (the original style of Oktoberfest beer).
• Festbier, the name can only be used by breweries in Munich and only 6 breweries are given the honor of pouring this at Oktoberfest.
• It is a safe bet that a beer labeled as Festbier from Europe is going to be true, while one brewed in the US is not a sure bet.

And yes, Festbier hopped into Eric’s basket of deli goodies and came back to our house.

With my recent crazy schedule, this was a nice day trip to truly ‘get away’ from it all. This sign in the cafe’s window says it all.

Translated it means ‘Where comfort/contentedness/relaxation Happens’.

Ginny

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This time the weekend was all about Eric. He gets a birthday weekend!  Not many of our posts feature him (okay, maybe none) but it was a nice departure from my normal routine with this blog.

Usually our birthdays start with a favorite restautant or a favorite meal.  His weekend featured a (local) favorite restaurant – Le Coq a Vin.

This place used to be marketed as ‘The place where chefs go to eat on their day off!”  It opened in 1976 and was a Zagat top-rated restaurant for Orlando for a number of years.  The original chef/owners are still involved in the running of the restaurant but recently sold it to another chef/wife team.  These chefs spent over 20 years traveling the globe together on behalf of the American Culinary Federation and formed a bond than transcended to this restaurant.

The restaurant features a fresh twist on legendary French foods.  They also believe in ‘farm to the table’ introducing products from Florida.  We’ve always considered it a country French restaurant, moderately priced.

The place looks like a home-turned-restaurant and several of the rooms have been turned into individual dining rooms.

Regardless, let’s get to the food, which is the reason we visited.  I’m the designated driver, so wine was shared with our friend and I did not partake. 😦  That was fine with me……….since I don’t really enjoy red wine.

We started with appetizers:  fried green tomatoes with crab, roasted beet salad with goat cheese and Soupe a l’Oignon (onion soup with melted cheese on top – guess you can figure out which photo is the soup).

Our meal choices were Le Poisson “Bronze” (fish) with ratatouille (Adrienne).

Auberine du Bayou Teche – eggplant topped with seafood (Eric).

Tornedos – beef tenderloin steak with a blue cheese crust (me)  🙂

All entres had seasonal vegetables and a starch.  The meal was rounded out with desserts!  French-style Lava cake and two souffles – chocolate and grand marnier.

It was a fun & relaxing evening to celebrate Eric’s big day.

But hang on!!!!  The weekend was not over yet.

We had coffee and beignets for a quick breakfast Sunday morning (okay, that was more for me not him, but still………..it was part of the weekend adventure).  They are little puffs of goodness (fried dough), dusted with powdered sugar.  Who can resist that?  Definitely not me!  Maybe, just maybe they had a repeat experience later that week……………

We needed protein if we were going to make it through the day.  Since it was still ‘Eric’s birthday weekend’.………….he chose this place, and the most shocking thing, I went along.

Trust me, I don’t have anything against Mexican food (love it as a matter of fact) but it is the unusual meats on the menu which causes some hesitation – just saying.

Yep, 3 of those offerings totally turn me off – cow head, tongue and pork stomach – must be that Midwest upbringing.  I heard Eric order our tacos (asada for me), which was the only way that I knew for sure he wasn’t getting me to ‘try’ something different.

The Mexican coke is nice – cane sugar is used for the sweetner and not corn syrup.

And then you have the tacos.  Sorry, things are very ‘blue’ since we were sitting underneath a blue tarp for shade.  First up, my taco asada.

Then you have the taco cabezo and taco lengua.  Check up above to see what that translates to.

In case you haven’t figured it out, this is a food truck – with a permanent location.

My taco was very tasty – and needed.  Man (or women) cannot live on beignets alone.

Eric had to take one last photo…………..of me, to prove to his buddies that yes indeed, I was there.  And, also prove that I ate my taco, since my tray is clean.  🙂

 

That’s it for his birthday weekend.  Happy Birthday Hon!

 

Ginny

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While almost over, Hurricane Dorian made an impact in many ways.  Quite frankly, Central Florida was among the luckiest, but you never know what will happen and you need to prepare.  I just wanted to insert a quick post about our Hurricane planning in the Darden household.  I’m not making light of the tragedy that is still unfolding, just sharing our personal experiences.

 

Yes, our main source of info is The Weather Channel, either on TV or our I-phones.

Both of us have some things we automatically drift towards.  I make sure all laundry gets done, along with any ironing.  I had a small helper with the laundry.  🙂

While Eric stocks up on water, cat food and bottled gas.

It’s also fairly important you have a good supply of medicines on hand, along with a first aid kit and first aid supplies.

One of the most important things you need…………is cash.  Places may not have power and/or can’t connect with your credit card company.  It doesn’t go to waste, you can always spend it – just saying.

The TV always have stories about gas stations having no gas.  We try not to go below 1/2 tank.

I bake cookies……………………

………….while Eric makes pate’.  Yep, that is his focus in the photo below.  Really?  It’s not something that I even eat.

You probably noticed, I haven’t really mentioned grocery purchases.  We know we have to go to work before and after the storm.  We’re the last to leave and the first to arrive after the storm & danger are past.  Earlier I showed a photo of bottled gas.  In the past, Eric cooked on gas burners, making breakfast and lunches for  us.  Yes, my husband spoils me and he likes a challenge.  Cooking with no ‘power’ is a challenge he relishes.

 

We get the notice the Parks are closing.

Preparation begins some of which is unnoticed while guests continue to enjoy the park.  Other things are a bit ore obvious.  We use a lot of shrink-wrap – both to keep moisture out and to keep items together.

Trash cans are pulled together and shrink-wrapped (I got this photo before the last action happened).

Umbrellas are zip-tied.

A few sand bags are used, but let’s face  it.  They get super heavy. Some of us (me) can’t pick them up, especially once they get wet.

Epcot is beginning to undergo some construction.  This is one of those things occurring on-stage, but guests don’t notice.  The scrim on the fence is lowered and zip-tied while remaining wooden construction walls are weighted down.  Yes this is a disclaimer.  No photos taken were back-stage, only things a guest could see.  I do want to keep my job.

Mentioning Disney……………….no matter what, you just can’t get away from Mickey.  A friend sent me this image during the storm.  Can you see the ‘hidden mickey’?

Probably the biggest chuckle came when a friend sent me this image.  I believe it’s all over the internet now.

Again, Central Florida was very, very lucky.  The last hurricane (Irma) in 2017, we had to replace our roof since most shingles were ripped off in the high winds we experienced.

At one point this week, hurricane Dorian seemed to be headed straight for us.  Once it turned north, we still got some rain and a bit of wind.

A rain band came over us Tuesday night around 10pm.

I was bushed.  Spending almost twelve hours at work, prepping and talking, both with cast members and guests wore me out.  I went to bed shortly after the above shot.  I was confident that Eric would wake me if we needed to take cover.

One added benefit.………….tolls were suspended so I’ve been driving those roads going back and forth to work.  That will end soon.

Please keep those less fortunate in your thoughts and prayers as the hurricane is still impacting many others.

Ginny

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Driving the streets of Crystal River, we found this really ‘cool-looking’ place that had nightly rentals.  After a quick photo and subsequent internet research, we were definitely intrigued.

A little internet research around Kings Bay Lodge came up with this:

• Established in 1957 by a group of fishing buddies from Tennessee.
• They spent weekends at their ‘fish camp’ mostly comprised of tents and small outbuildings.
• Once wives and kids were in the mix, efficiencies were built which also allowed the owners to recoup some money if rented out to others.
• The landscape and owners have changed but the feel of ‘old Florida’ remains.

The outside has charm……………….

…………….along with the inside of our unit.  All of the units are different since they are owned by different families.

The pool is kind of interesting…………..

As you can read on the sign, this is a natural spring fed-pool, converted into a swimming pool – which couldn’t be done in today’s world.  There’s this square ‘outlet’, seen from the water-side to release the water flow.

Eric was brave enough to take a dip – not me.  The water is a constant temp (70 degrees F) which sounds okay, but in the summer with the surrounding heat, it feels frigid.  In the winter, 70 degrees feels rather ‘balmy’.

Turning around after my shot of Eric, this banana plant added some tropical charm to the surrounding pool area.

Before checking in, we fished in the Gulf and caught our supper.  Top fish is a spotted seatrout.  The fish below it (L-R) are 2 porgies and a grunt.

Other fish were caught during the day, like this Jack crevalle.  They are sooooo much fun when they get on your hook – pulling out line from the reel (its a distinctive sound) and not giving up without a fight.  But then when you get it close enough to the boat to see what you hooked………….crud, not an edible fish.

Some fishermen practice ‘catch & release’, while others do not – like us.  If we catch an edible fish, -within FWC guidelines – we keep our limit.  And then it turns into dinner, like below.  Swimming in the Gulf late afternoon, on our plate early evening – along with cubic fries and smothered green beans.  Now that’s fresh fish!

We filled in the cracks with ice cream – my flavor of choice this time was oatmeal-cookie vanilla ice cream.

Since our accommodations are in the historic part of Crystal River, places such as the ice cream shop are easily within walking distance.  They’ve created this fun walkway to take advantage of water views.

We followed the River Walk and found an interesting photo spot right as the sun was setting.

Right behind our lodging is a crab operation – retail, wholesale and a restaurant.  Their crab traps are stored in an empty lot, waiting until the season opens.

Although we had to check out on Monday morning, we still got in some fishing time.  First stop in the morning was to Pete’s Pier to get live shrimp.

Interesting side note………….you cannot put the shrimp in your boat’s livewell just yet.  Crystal River is composed of 70+ springs – fresh water – and the shrimp need salt water.  Put them in now, and they will be dead by the time you get out in the Gulf.  Nope – believe it or not, we have not done that, thank goodness!

Here’s a number you hope you never have to call.

In an earlier post I shared a photo of this man and his dog.  They apparently have a routine and go for a ride most days.  Good for them.  🙂

We had a good morning of fishing.  I caught one of the Jack crevalles – which was fun.

I also got this guy – a mangrove snapper.

But my best catch that day was this awesome Redfish.

Yep, he’s big – too big: 29″.  😦  FWC regulations state redfish must be at least 18″ in length and no more than 27″.  Slot regulations are important to keep the redfish population from being destroyed – which has happened in Florida in the recent past.  Fish that are bigger than 27′ are breeding size.  This redfish was thrown back into the water to make more redfish.

Eric caught this pompano and he was delighted!  He thinks it is the best fish ever – that’s his opinion, not mine.

Overall, we brought home a nice variety of seafood.  Eric makes fun of my cut herbs added to the board.  Top to bottom:  pompano, mangrove snapper and black drum.

The pompano fish was baked in parchment, along with some veggies – very tasty.  Hard to see but there’s a filet of fish underneath the carrots and asparagus.

As you noticed in the title, this post is ‘Take 1’.  There’s already been a ‘Take 2’ and that will be my next post.  Stay tuned!  We really, really, really like these accommodations.

Ginny