Author: ginnyinshanghai

It is really windy today!  It was blowing 30 knots when we looked out the window in the morning.  It’s going to be too windy to fish, but we’ll find something else to do.  We walked to the beach first thing (after drinking my coffee)  and it looked like we were on the Atlantic side with the waves roaring in, not typical of the Gulf at all.  When we got back, Eric fixed me some French toast from our leftover baguette.  Since it was my birthday, he wanted to fix me something special.  🙂 We didn’t have any syrup but I had bought some strawberry-margarita jelly from the Farmer’s Market and after thinning it, it became a good syrup.  Quite good actually, we’ll have to remember that trick.

There are some big storms going to come ashore later this morning so our plans are changing and we’re going sight-seeing.  Since we’re so close to Sanibel Island on this trip, we’re driving down to check it out.  I went there many, many years ago on a trip with Tom & Beverly when we stayed on the island.  I think I may have driven on the island another time since I moved to Florida, but it was a long time ago.

By the time we got there, it was lunch time.  We found a place called ‘The Island Cow’ which had good reviews.  Thank goodness for the internet.  It’s so easy to find places to eat and also check out the reviews to read about others’ experiences at restaurants.  While many places on the island sounded interesting, we wanted a more ‘simple’ (read cheap) place to eat.

They had an extensive menu and all kinds of things you could order.  We started with fried pickles (Frickles).  They tasted great but we had WAY too many for the two of us.

We both wanted something different than seafood.  I ordered BBQ pulled pork and Eric ordered a cheeseburger.  Both were okay, but not anything that I would go back for.  It was mostly about the atmosphere.  They had a very ‘eclectic’ decorating style – perfect for an island beach vacation restaurant.

There was seating outside, but with the weather being so dicey we sat inside.  By the time we left, it had started raining and they pulled their plastic tarps down for protection.  Don’t know if that really protected them later (15+ minutes) as the rain and wind were blowing sideways and lightening & thunder were all around.

We drove almost to the end of the Captive Island (during the height of the storm) when it was coming ashore.  We got only so far and then finally turned around.   Really – no need to drive further in this driving rain.  We passed the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge so we thought we would wait out the storm and see their exhibits.  It was pretty interesting.  He was originally from Des Moine, IA and became a big conservationalist for his time in the 1930s.  H was a cartoonist for the Des Moine paper and many of his illustrations lamented the disappearing habitat for wildlife.  His major contribution was to create  a Duck stamp where sales went toward purchase and creation of wildlife areas for migratory duck.

On a former trip, I remembered going on a drive through their wildlife acerage and and as we left, we saw the entrance and decided to make the drive.  It won’t be anything that we have to do again.  Seeing Black Point drive near Titusville puts this to shame.

By the time we got back to Casey Key, the rain had stopped (but not the wind) and the sun was out.  We walked to the beach and picked up a few shells before heading back.  Lots of people were out walking since the rain had finally stopped.  Eric kept looking for shark teeth but couldn’t find any.  We needed Connor (2nd Godson) and his eagle eyes to find some.

 We also walked past some markers for turtle nests.  I didn’t realize they were in this area.  We always saw them on SGI and saw lots of communication about keeping lights off during the hatching season.

Most of the evening was spent sitting outside on our porch and talking to our neighbors youngest son (Blayton), a bright young kid.  Reminds me of Connor – very polite, respectful and entertaining.    His family is from Polk county and he is proud to share that he is the 5th generation that has been visiting this key.  His older brother (Hunter) is upstairs on the phone.  Their parents are fishing – crazy.  They didn’t leave the house until after 8pm and are still fishing when I went to bed at 11pm.  Eric showed me their cooler of fish the next morning – lots of snapper and another redfish.  Today was

 

We woke up to cloudy skies and rain around us, but was pretty sure that we could get some fishing in before noon.  Luckily, the place we’re fishing is really close to our rental.

We’re still fishing with shrimp and while we didn’t catch as many as yesterday, we did come back with some keeper fish.  I got a keeper trout (16″) and Eric kept a Jack crevalle.  He read that Andrew Zimmeren had convinced a fishing guide on his travel show to keep one and cook it, saying it was an unappreciated fish and quite tasty.  Eric had to try it for himself.  By the way……….fish selfies don’t really work.

Looking in the background of the photos – above and below – it’s still raining.  We got caught out in the rain just when we were thinking of coming in.  Good thing we’re so close to home!

Most of the day it was a nice, soaking rain and we need it.  Florida is in the middle of a drought, much like in 1998.  The really bad weather is north and south of us.  The hailing channel has a small boat advisory for all of the Gulf coast of Florida.

We went out for lunch again. This time Eric found a place that served Chicago-style dogs.  Once there he changed his mind and ordered a beef sandwich topped with green peppers & cheese, but I stuck with my original lunch plans – chili slaw dog.  Eric added an order of cheese fries.

Before heading back we drove through the historic downtown part of Venice.  We saw a ‘Florida Olive Oil’ shop which interested Eric and I went next door to a clothing store.  We both made purchases – ha!

Eric wants to cook the fish on the grill tonight.   The rental has a charcoal grill and Eric pulled it under the porch for some cover to get the fire going and keep himself dry.

He thought the Jack tasted great.  It’s nothing that I would request to eat again.  The trout fillet was much better.  He also made a nice, refreshing summer salad.  He ate something similar yesterday and this is his version.  It contains cucumbers, tomatoes, onions and the carrots we picked up at the Farmer’s market last Saturday.  It was very tasty and something we will repeat again.

So the next family that moved in yesterday, caught a crab and brought it back with them.  They didn’t want it, so Eric said he would cook it.  He did some research and found out it was a flamed-streaked box crab.  It has a special adaptation that allows it to spurt water out the top of his head – you can just barely see it below.  They’re not usually found and even the internet didn’t have a lot of info.  Seems like it is mostly a southern crab species.  He also read the claws were better than stone crabs to eat – he agreed.

Earlier today, I had flashbacks from Shanghai when my laptop wouldn’t work.  We had a few close lightening strikes and after multiple restarts of this computer, I guessed that we must have a problem with the router.  I couldn’t find it so Eric texted the rental guy.  Our router is in the nearby laundry room, who knew.  After shutting it off, I finally got connected – about 30 minutes later.  AArrgh, it’s frustrating.  Love it when technology works, not so much when it doesn’t.

Saturday:

Explored south of us, Dana Bay, cast a few times before coming back.

Sunday:

Mostly explored, in the morning went up to Sarasota Bay via the Gulf, few casts before coming back the intercoastal.  Scouted a few spots for future forays.

Monday:

Weather was mostly cloudy and overcast, minimal breeze.  Fished Blackburn Bay, being on the water by 8:30am, used live shrimp on circle hooks.

Ginny: 2 keeper trout (15+  & 16 3/4″) also shorts

Eric  3 keeper trout (sll 15+)  also shorts

Tuesday:

Weather was cloudy and overcast and a good breeze was blowing.  We fished Blackburn Bay, being on the water at 9:00 am.  Used live shrimp for bait on circle hooks.  Light rain got us off the water at 11:00am.

Ginny:  2 trout, 1 was a keeper (16″), sail-top cat fish (didn’t keep)

Eric:  short trout, 1 jack crevelle

Wednesday:

Rained and stormed most of the day – no fishing.

Thursday:

Very windy, but no rain to speak of, definitely no storms.  Still using shrimp as bait. Went to Blackburn Bay, then a bit further north.

Ginny: 1 blue fish, we let it go (read – lost it at the boat)

Eric: 1 keeper trout, 1 nice Jack Crevalle

Friday:

Sunny day with winds 5-6 mph.  We were able to head out into the Gulf going north towards Sarasota Bay.

Ginny: 1 keeper trout (16″), multiple short trout, gaft-top sail cats, hard head cats,

Eric: lady fish, blue fish (2, only kept 1), Jack Crevalle, short trout

Saturday:

Ginny:  1 keeper trout (20″) plus short trout

Eric:  1 trout chewed off

Blayton:  1 keeper troutXX” plus short trout, blue fish,

 

 

 

 

There are storms out in the middle of the Gulf but we believe we can get in a few hours of fishing this morning.  We’re going to Blackburn Bay, only a 10 minute boat ride away.

This fishing is different than our norm on the Gulf coast.  Places we fish are usually in the middle of nowhere, with nary a person or house in site.  Much different here.  With the weather being so dicey in the Gulf, we’re sticking with the intercoastal waterway and there are houses everywhere along the water.  We are also fishing with live shrimp and our norm is artificial soft baits. But that didn’t keep us from catching fish this morning!  We found an area that had good looking bottom (grass with sand patches) and once we found some baitfish, we were in luck.  We ended up with 5 keeper trout.  Eric caught 3 while I got 2 (mine were the biggest ones).

We kept hearing weather warnings on the radio channel so around 11am we headed back.  While Eric filleted the fish, I went to go check out the beach before bad weather hits.  We are 1 block away from the beach and have access through a narrow passageway across the street.

Not many people on the beach.  Yesterday there were people everywhere.

Today we’re treating ourselves to lunch at a local restaurant:  Captain Eddie’s Seafood Restaurant & Retail Market.

We sat outside at their tiki bar, even though it was raining.  Since we planned to have fish tonight, we made sure to order a different type of seafood.  I had fried shrimp while Eric ordered broiled Mangrove snapper.

Since the rains have settled in for the afternoon, we found some bait & tackle stores in the area and checked them out.  We also drove by a Tervis outlet and I picked up another Tervis mug.  My first one (SGI) is getting stained and it’s time for it to be replaced.

After having my original life vest for 16 years, I decided to invest in a newer one.  Eric said it was so old, it probably had no buoyancy anyway.  We did get a kick out of one of the ‘features’…………

The rest of the evening was spent relaxing.  Since we had so much for lunch, dinner was cheese, bread, meats and almonds.  Good first day of fishing.

 

 

 

The rain has finally come to Florida – just in time for our beach vacation.  Doesn’t matter, we will still get some fishing in and hopefully catch something to eat.  We enjoy the time together, time away from work and the time to be near and/or on the water.

We motored the boat half an hour north of us heading towards Sarasota Bay this morning (sunday).

We had checked the weather and radar before leaving and while we knew we would get chased from this area eventually, we were able to get some fishing time in before leaving.  Unfortunately, we didn’t catch anything. 😦  This snapshot of the weather radar eventually convinced us to head back south before it came on shore.

Going there we went out the nearby inlet and headed north in the Gulf since it wasn’t too rough.  Coming back we stayed in the intercostal waterway and scouted for trout fishing areas to hit later this week.  We found several that looked promising.

My breakfast bagel could only hold me so long and we were both getting hungry on the ride back.  Lunch was items that we picked up yesterday at a German market (Geiers).  Eric had heard about this place from friends and Disney chefs and he was VERY excited when we drove past it and after making a U-turn, we were there.

Items purchased included: bratwurst, frankfurters, sauerkraut, cucumber & dill salad, veal bologna, spicy bologna, goose liverwurst and German beer.  These turned into our lunch for today (not all of it and not the beer).

It was a lazy afternoon – after all, we are on vacation.  Eric napped while I read.  Later we did some exploring, checking out the jetty at the end of this key.  We made some stops, eventually ending up back at Publix for more groceries.  We passed by a fish market and while all of their fish looked fresh, we only came home with some smoked mullet fish dip.

To end the day, we did some surf fishing with Eric rigging up this special deal.  While we both got bites on our respective rods, no fish were brought to the beach.  However, we did see many things right off the surf:  dolphins, tarpon and a manatee.

 

 

We’re heading out for a week of fishing and relaxing.  I heard about this place from a guy at work and after pulling it up on the internet, it looked interesting.  We did a little checking around for places to stay and after putting in our desired dates…….we had a vacation planned.

Of course before heading out for any Darden vacation, there is lots of planning involved.  While Eric had been working on the boat through the week to get it clean AND we had been laying clothes/food to pack, we still had a few errands Saturday morning.  We stopped at the Winter Garden Farmer’s Market for some fresh produce.  We never get to stop by since it only runs on Saturdays and normally we work that day.  We found some interesting ‘rainbow’ carrots and golden ripe pineapples.

We had breakfast at the Winter Garden Restaurant which serves a traditional southern breakfast.  We haven’t eaten there in probably 8 years.

Eric ordered corn beef hash over hash browns & eggs while I got a waffle with eggs and bacon.

One more stop (I thought) on our way home was to a French bakery in Winter Garden.

But still……………………we had one more stop, for ice.  Can you ever have too much ice?

Finally got back home, hooked up the boat and we were on our way to Casey Key.  It’s  located on the Gulf coast, south of Sarasota and southwest of where we live.

Two and a half hours later, we were pulling into Casey Key.  The rental place we found was Harbor Lights Beach Resort.

Cute little place, four tiny apartments of which we have the bottom floor, facing the canal where we dock the boat.  The kitchen is non-descript but will suffice.  We joke that the worst the kitchen is, the better that Eric’s meals become.

The street is fairly narrow so luckily the guy renting the apartment to us suggested we launch the boat at a nearby boat ramp before coming to the rental.  Great idea!  I don’t think we could have gotten down the street and been able to turn around.  Eric already knew the trailer would have to be kept elsewhere.  We launched the boat, dropped the trailer in the nearby parking and I drove the truck to the rental.

After unpacking we explored the key, eventually getting back on the main land.  Eric found a tackle store where he wanted to purchase a fishing chart for this area.  Had a quick stop at Publix for a few forgotten items, then we were back at the rental.  Supper was spaghetti with the bread we purchased earlier in the day.

It was still light after eating so we took the boat into the intercoastal waterway for a bit of exploring.  We motored to Robert’s Bay and did some casting, but no bites hit either rod.  We headed home and settled in for the night.

Working 6 months in Shanghai gave me a chance to meet other Disney leaders from across the world.  My HOH partner in China heralded from Disneyland, CA – Adrienne.  This is actually her second visit to WDW since we came back to the states.  She came in the Spring for business but this trip was a vacation, with a half marathon thrown in.

She ran the Star Wars half marathon early Sunday morning and then we picked her up  with the intent of seeing Florida wildlife and nature on the East coast.  However, first on the agenda was lunch at Dixie Crossroads in Titusville.

We haven’t been there since I began to eat shrimp.  Through the years we have gone with family and friends to the restaurant, but I always ordered fish.

At the beginning you get a basket of fritters (covered in powdered sugar) and both Eric and Adrienne ordered a bowl of seafood gumbo.

Then came the shrimp!  Eric had a chance to order the ‘royal reds’ since they are being caught now while we both ordered the rock shrimp.  Adrienne got them broiled while I had mine fried (of course!).

 

We planned on driving through ‘Black Point Wildlife Drive’ however it was closed due to a burn that still had some hot spots – bummer.  We drove to the Haulover Canal boat ramp and a large group of manatees were putting on a show.  I can never get any good photos of manatees but I included a decent one.  Couldn’t resist a photo of the sign.  Really – who waters the manages.

Dinner was at the Crooked Can Brewery in downtown Winter Garden.  Beverly joined us and the four of us enjoyed some craft beers and pizza.

Plans were to go fishing on Monday at Crystal River, so Adrienne spent the night ensuring an early start.   We put in at Pete’s Pier and motored down the river and out the end of the channel.  Lately, we’ve been fishing near the power plant canal and have had some incredible luck.  While a bit chilly on the ride out, when the sun peeked out from the clouds we could shed our coats.  Adrienne did really well for never casting a rod but unfortunately didn’t get any fish.  Both Eric and I caught a mangrove snapper.

The ride going back in was a much different story.  The wind had definitely picked up and the ride back turned into a E-ticket ride, with both of us getting soaked.

Monday’s catch turned into dinner later in the week.

We met up with two of our other Shanghai group for dinner at ‘Jiko – the meeting place’, located at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge.

We started with the bread sampler of Africa.  The ladies ordered the filet mignon while the guys both ordered the short ribs.  We were too full for any dessert.

We finished the evening with a selfie in the hotel’s lobby.  The meal was enhanced by the company present.  It was a good evening with a re-telling of many of our Shanghai stories and memories.

 

After work on Saturday I drove up to Ponte Vedra to have a long weekend with Karen – primarily to make jewelry.  The following week is the boys spring break and Rich & Connor drove down to The Keys for a Boy Scout scuba trip.  Hunter is staying with Karen.  Since I came up on Saturday evening, I got to see them before they left early (really early!) sunday morning.

Supper Saturday night was pepperoni pizza from Jonas.  Its one of two places they pick it up from and both places are good, but this one is closer.  🙂

While both of the boys were playing their favorite video games, Connor spent some quality time with me after eating supper, before we all headed to bed.  I was bushed.  For some reason, the previous night I woke up in the middle of the night and kept tossing and turning – thus losing sleep.  Connor was trying to explain his game (and it looked interesting), but my eyes kept closing.  I went upstairs to bed before 10 pm.  That night was the time change and I ended up sleeping over 9 hours.  I didn’t even hear Rich and Connor leave.

Rich has a Keurig coffee machine and I’ve been bringing up some Community Coffee K-cups so I don’t feel so guilty drinking multiple cups.  I like the convenience of K-cups, but they don’t give you the chance to make a stronger cup of coffee.  Unfortunately Community doesn’t have a coffee cup with chicory, but I’ll survive.  We’re taking it easy sunday morning and had lunch at Newks (my request).  Its a nice local restaurant that has sandwiches, soups and salads, but one of the sides is a portion of mac & cheese – delicious.  Hunter wasn’t exactly thrilled to be going, but he made do and was able to find something to eat.

We stopped at Publix on the way home to pick up a few ingredients for supper.  The last several weeks at home on Sundays……….I’ve been cooking. I told Eric that’s our new tradition.  He meets with his friends on sunday afternoons and they usually share food amongst themselves at their local hangout (Vineyards of the World) in downtown Clermont.  One of those weekends I made the most amazing lasagna. Eric doesn’t really like lasagna so he’s never cooked it for us at home.  I found a recipe using a small cast iron skillet and it was a perfect size for me and Beverly, and maybe some leftovers for work.  It was delicious!!!!  Even Eric said so.  🙂  He had a small taste when he got home.    I looked at several recipes and made a dish that suited my tastes.  So, when I knew I was going up to Ponte Vedra, I asked Karen if she would mind me making it again – she didn’t.  🙂  She made some garlic bread and we had a nice meal.  Hunter had leftover pizza – he was happy.

We did some preliminary work with jewelry on Sunday.  I brought things that I had made on earlier visits and really didn’t like and had not worn them.  I took them apart and incorporated some of the beads in new earrings.  I had also bought some beads and accessories on-line and at Michaels, so it was show & tell with Karen.  I need to keep better track of what I’ve got and purchase things that complement each other.

After dinner we watched a movie on Netflix – Enchanted.  It was a cute (Disney) movie and had a lot of hidden nuances and took shots at Disney.  I probably didn’t catch half of them, but it was nice and light-hearted.

Monday we got down to work with making jewelry.  I call Karen’s upstairs the ‘room of creativity’.  While I usually come home with a variety of pieces made (all earrings thus far). Karen spends more time helping me finish things and find ‘just the right bead’ for the earrings I’m making, she doesn’t get a lot of time to focus on her own things.  Below are some recent earrings made at Karen’s.

There are 8 pairs of earrings on the frame that I didn’t make, but they are some of the ones I wear frequently so I put them with the others to keep everything within easy reach.

Lunch on Monday was just Karen and I and we drove to a place that specializes in biscuits.  It was too much food!  The fried green tomatoes sounded good so I got them and it was enough to share amongst a family.  My biscuit sandwich had bacon and fried chicken.  It was big and tall and much too hard to pick up – had to use a fork to deconstruct it just to eat it.  We’ll be back again.

  

They had a dessert biscuit with raisons and icing.  I was too full to order one but Karen let me take a bite of hers.

It seemed so easy to take photos while I was in Shanghai but I have gotten out of the habit.  There were several places in this posting that I wanted a photo and didn’t take one to include.  However,  I can’t believe I was able to get Karen in a photo outside of the biscuit restaurant “Maple Street Biscuit Company”.  She is usually very elusive.

While at the restaurant, we met their vivacious manager in training and turns out that she was on the College Program at Disney last Fall.  In between customers she stopped by our table and shared her CP experiences.

I stayed until Tuesday afternoon.  We finished a few jewelry pieces that morning then drove over near their Publix to a place called ‘The Loop’ for burgers and fries.  AFterwards I packed up the truck to drive home.  I like to beat the rush hour traffic in Orlando and the goal is to be on the road from Ponte Vedra by 2pm.

Before my 6 months in Shanghai, I visited Karen’s by myself at least once and upon returning made several visits in last Fall.  I’ve got to keep planning these trips.  I think it’s good for both of us and I’m just sorry it took me 8+ years to figure that out.  We’re trying to plan jewelry weekends every two months or so.

Got a call from Dennis and their family is coming down for the week to spend time with Ansley’s parents.  Since we live so far apart, we try to see them whenever they come to Florida – even if it is only for a day.  Eric found us a place to stay Saturday afternoon and we drove over on Sunday.

We have stayed in this area before, specifically at this hotel  “Hyde Park Hotel”.  It is a boutique hotel in a very ‘happening’ part of Tampa.

They have mostly finished a re-model and this room was very similar to the first room we stayed in.  On another visit, another room we stayed in had furniture that looked like it had been picked up at garage sales and hand-me-downs.  This room was much nicer than our last.

 

 

 

Reservations were at ‘Roux’, a restaurant specializing in New Orleans style cooking, with a modern twist.  They sat us at a round table and it was perfect for talking and visiting with them.  While this meal didn’t last as long as our meal in France (Warner was timing it), we leisurely enjoyed our time.

There were a variety of dishes, all very tasty.  Below you have char-grilled oysters, crab beignets along with a cup of seafood gumbo.  For my meal I ordered the shrimp po-boy and it did not disappoint.  I also had the gumbo and it wasn’t bad.  Gumbo is my favorite thing that Eric makes and everything else pales by comparison.  There was much more food, but tried to keep my photo-taking low-key.

   

Naturally we had to have desserts.  Eric ordered  crème brulee,while I got the bread pudding (which has become a fan-favorite with me).  This was good, but Eric’s is better.  It was huge.  Audrey and I could have split one!

  

Monday is President’s Day and many kids are out of school along with numerous government offices that are closed.  The weather was absolutely beautiful – actually, almost too hot, especially for February.  It would have been a great day to take the boat on the water with the kids, but we didn’t know any hotel where we could park it.  Plus, Eric has been meaning to wash it since its sitting in our driveway, but hasn’t found the time.

To enjoy the fine weather, we drove to Wheedon Island Preserve.  We were following Dennis and enjoyed a few extra miles of scenic driving before getting on track.

There is a boardwalk through the mangroves and shallow waterways for kayakers.

Audrey did a little exploring of her own and found a quiet overlook to enjoy.

They have an observation tower which gives you a great view of the preserve.

Before leaving them to head back to Clermont, we made lunch plans.  Since no one had any definite suggestions, I brought up “U Le Le”,  a place we had eaten together before I left for Shanghai.

The meal was good, we had too much food but enjoyed the time spent together while they were visiting in Tampa.   The restaurant focuses on freshly prepared entres, locally sourced when possible.  The group tried another tray of char-grilled oysters, along with okra fries.  Eric also got an avocado soup that was interesting.

       

Eric and I both ordered sandwiches, his being a grouper sandwich while I ordered a burger.  Both were tasty.

       

Once again, we ended up with desserts.  Andrey and I both got their strawberry & orero ice cream while Warner couldn’t resist the bacon, maple ice cream dessert.  Somehow, I just can’t do it.  To my way of thinking……..bacon isn’t an ingredient for sweets.

   

One of the highlights of our trip was a bag of fresh produce from the Darden Garden that we brought for them.  We try to share things that are home-made or somehow ‘local’ and this definitely qualified.  While the kids weren’t totally enthused (really….. veggies as gifts), I don’t believe I’ve ever seen Ansley so excited.  🙂

We were able to include carrots, cabbage, peas, green beans, swiss chard and a few leaves of spinach.   They belong to a CSA in NYC and their veggies have been brought in their luggage/carry-ons on past trips together with us.  There is a story about a chocolate beet cake………

While it was a short trip, we always enjoy our time together and wish we were closer.  We will have to plan a future trip to NYC!

 

 

 

I can’t believe I let Eric talk me into going to Lexington, KY in February.  It’s cold!  We arrived Friday night after working and the temp at 11:30 pm was 19 degrees.  At least it wasn’t windy.  We shared some pretzels and cheese (Outback Restaurant) at the Orlando airport before our layover in Atlanta.  Eric also got a salad at Outback and I nibbled on it.  We had planned on getting a taxi from the airport to Mary’s since we were coming in so late, but the weather was decent, so she came to pick us up.  Flights were good and our bag arrived with us.

Mary fixed us a big breakfast Saturday morning:  eggs, bacon, grits and biscuits w/ honey.  We’re trying to only eat 2 meals on our weekends and that’s our plan for this trip.  We’re not starting out on a good foot.  The best way to make that plan work is to eat a late breakfast.  This morning we were eating at 9am – but it was good.  Plans for Saturday are to do some shopping.  I’m looking for a grey pencil skirt.  Never had a grey skirt and didn’t have one made while I was in Shanghai.  While I didn’t find a skirt, I did come home with 2 pairs of Clark shoes.  Right before we left home my favorite pair of shoes that I wear around the house fell apart.  Now I have a replacement.    We hadn’t planned on eating lunch but Alice needed a snack so we went into a pizza place and got bread sticks and a greek salad to share.

Dinner is at a new Lexington place called Grillfish.  Alice and Bob hadn’t been there but had heard good reviews.  We got there early and had a drink until Bob joined us.

I got a pink lemonade martini and Eric ordered a ‘sidecar’ (brandy & cointreau).  Alice was drinking a Kir Royale to get her in the mood for our France trip this fall.  Mary had water.   Four of us ordered seafood, but Eric ordered steak au poirve – go figure.  He started out with New England clam chowder and got his seafood fix with that.  I got shrimp picatta over linguine and it was good.  This is something that Eric can make at home, and hopefully will.

        

Lexington is developing some of their warehouse industrial districts and they are the new ‘in’ place to go.  They are calling it the ‘Distillery District’.  We drove past it later during the day and it’s going to be quite the place to go when it is finished.  Alice took us to the ‘Crank & Boom’ ice cream shop for dessert.  Parking was quite the challenge, but we found a spot.  There was a line, but at least we were inside the building.  ‘Crank’ refers to the making the ice cream, while the ‘Boom’ refers to alcohol – either as an ingredient or an addition to whatever creation you ordered.  I got their sundae special which sounded great but didn’t quite add up to their hype.  It was too sweet,too chocolately and too gooey.  I should have stayed with something simple, like their ice cream in a waffle cone.  They had some interesting flavors.

Once we got back to Mary’s house, Eric got sleepy around 9pm and went to bed.  Mary got sleepy and went to bed 15 minutes later.  I was up until 10pm before finally giving it up.

For breakfast on sunday, we’re meeting Alice & Bob at the ‘Coffee Pub’.  I’m not sure that Mary was thrilled to eat there, especially once we were told it would be a 45 minute wait.  It was a fairly traditional breakfast menu.  I ordered a Belgium waffle w/ bacon and Eric got a Hash skillet breakfast.

  

We’re trying to stick with our 2-meal plan, but had to snack on some goodies before dinner tonight.  Beer cheese spread (a local favorite) with a soft pretzel or crackers, accompanied by a variety of nuts kept the hunger pains away.

Tonight the supper was at a tapas bar:

We were the first ones to arrive and actually the door was still locked.  It gave us some time to take a few photos.

Since we pretty much had the place to ourselves, we paced our meal, starting with drinks. Left to right:  Kir Royale (Alice) Wellers 12 year Bourbon (Eric), Bourbon & Coke(Bob), Sangria (Ginny).

Next came the cheese & meat course.  The top plate had Serrano ham & artisan gouda cheese.  Bottom plate was a fine goat cheese and cured salmon.  Walnuts, apricot jam and cornichons accompanied the offering.

There were a variety of plates for the main part of the meal.  I ordered beef tenderloin with a green peppercorn sauce, topped with pickled peppers.  Middle photo was chorizo puffs and crab cakes.  Last photo was potato bravos and quinoa salad.

The most unremarkable part of the night was desserts.  Upper left was chocolate covered figs, on the right was a cardamom flan and at the bottom was bread pudding.

Monday morning, Eric planned on meeting his former college professor, Dr. Grabau at 8am sharp.  I stayed home and enjoyed my coffee  🙂  When he got back, he said we had lunch plans……..with Dr. Grabau.  We picked him up at 11:30am and he directed us to a Korean restaurant near campus.  Dr. Grabau was one of two people responsible for Eric and I meeting.  The other one was a Disney campus recruiter.  I had talked to him on the phone years ago, but never met him in person.  He had also spent a little time in China, taking some college students on a 3 week trip, so we had numerous topics to discuss.

Monday night dinner is at home.  Eric and Mary are doing the cooking and everyone liked Alice’s suggestion of weiner schnitzel with brown gravy, mashed potatoes and red cabbage.  We spent the afternoon going to several grocery stores to pick up the necessary items.  Stopping at Good Foods Coop gave Eric the chance to pick up KY grown pork.  That evening he said the local pork was a huge contributor to the awesome taste of the meat (along with the Chef).  We also had to stop at Kroger for some basic ingredients.  Even I have to say the meal was one of Eric’s best.

While our last day in KY was filled with rain, it didn’t stop us from sight-seeing and having lunch.  KY is known for their horses and have horse sculptures spread around the city.

Before leaving for the airport, we had lunch at ‘Crust’.  We ate there on our last visit and it was a request by me.  We ordered too much food (starting to be the norm) but enjoyed every morsel.  Bread sticks come out as part of their normal service and while they don’t look like much, I could make a meal out of them alone.  They look burnt, but are not.  They have tasty bits of goodness on the crust.

A favorite appetizer lately has been a meat & cheese plate and was ordered today.

We all ordered pizzas and they were delicious.

We took one last photo of our visit to Lexington, KY.

We knew we were getting in late Tuesday night, but had a minor blip before leaving KY.  We had boarded the plane for Atlanta, the door and gate was closed when the pilot made an announcement.  Due to bad weather in Atlanta, they had been advised to not take off for an hour, pending weather.  They let us get off the plane and wait in the terminal.  We did leave an hour later and upon arrival did a short ‘OJ Sprint’ through the Atlanta terminal.  We didn’t miss our plane to Orlando, but everyone was lining up to board our next flight.

We made it home safe and sound.  Got our bags, piled into the truck and drove home.  Another storm was on the horizon coming from the Gulf, but it hit Clermont after we were in bed.  We had a nice visit and trip – which reinforced while we live in Florida and not further north.

So we went up there with 1 checked bag and came back with 2.  Eric wanted to bring back another country ham and some local grits and this was the best option.  This way, Eric also got to buy another piece of light-weight luggage for future trips.