One weekend, we had no pressing plans yet didn’t want a long road trip.  Where to go, where to go, hmmmmm………….…………Gatorland Zoo!

It has been years, probably at least a decade since we’ve stopped at one of Florida’s oldest attractions and Adrienne had never been.  We have a plan for the weekend!  Also, they have a zip-line which is a big draw for me – but more on that later.

Gatorland Zoo has been around since 1949 when Owen Godwin and his wife founded the Florida Wildlife Institute on cattle land they purchased south of Orlando.

What began as a road-side gift shop giving passersby an up-close look at reptiles has turned into a fun-filled adventure park. It remains privately owned and run by members of the Godwin family.  Now that’s some history that most attractions cannot claim!

For years, walking through these concrete jaws was the entrance into the park.  Definitely cheesey, but no doubt there are millions of photos out in the universe with these teeth.

Unfortunately for Gatorland Zoo, in November 2008 there was an early morning fire  and the entrance – used for years – was destroyed.  They rebuilt the entrance building, shifting to the north,  while also refurbishing the former entrance for a photo spot – yeah!  I had to wait patiently (okay, maybe not so much) to capture a shot without any other guests.

• Paid for our tickets √
• Walked past the turnstyles √
• Head out onto the boardwalk √

What’s the first thing you see………………..gators!  There are a bunches and bunches of pens.  These guys are 2-4 years old and approximately 3-4 feet long.  They’re just hanging out on this raft, probably making fun of the tourists with these ‘square-ish’ things  pointed at them.

But there’s way more than gators, like these giant tortoises (sorry – you only see one in the photo).

Or this panther…….…………taking a nap in the heat.

Loved this sign at their habitat.

Or these nesting birds……………

If you look up close, there is a little hatchling in the nest.

But right underneath was this guy, waiting for a snack.

Gatorland Zoo is also about education and gator safety.  Signs with animal factoids are sprinkled throughout the area.

Gatorland Zoo also plays a part affecting the surrounding communities.  Nuisance gators are brought here by trappers, instead of being destroyed.  Yes, that is a real gator in the shot below.  I could not have planned it better.

Interesting shot…….there are at least 7 gators in this photos.  Can you find them all?

There are also crocodiles, both saltwater and fresh.

Here’s another sign I loved…………

There’s this ‘thing’ that has been done at Gatorland Zoo, which is definitely ‘kitschy’……………Gator Jumparoo.  Waaaaay at the far right of the sign is a prop, which plays into the naming of the show.

The gators are trained.  They know when it’s time to gather.  They don’t need a watch!

The MC (seen at the far right) is letting these two ‘potential’ employees ‘audition’ to see if they have the right stuff to work there.  At one point in the show, these two are trying to get the gators to jump for raw chicken – hence the prop with the sign.

Eventually the show morphs into raw chicken on these clotheslines and they’re competing against each other to see whose chicken disappears first.  Watch and see.

Nope, the first gator doesn’t get his snack.  But this one does.

Earlier I mentioned a zip-line.  Gatorland Zoo installed this in 2011.

While this looked ‘really cool’ to do, it was also two hours long and (ugh) we’re in the middle of unprecedented hot spell – with no rain in sight.  Its just way too hot to wear the harness and headgear that long.  Turns out, we had an option of doing 1 zip, for a much smaller price and time commitment.  Score!

I was able to get a panoramic shot of our zip.  This is the end of the zip, going over a pond of gators.

You start by getting suited up.  Luckily we read prior to coming you must wear closed-toe shoes.  Otherwise, we probably would have all failed to meet the first requirement!

We walked up to the tower, our group of eight.  There was a little girl named Riley in our group that got scared.  Her older cousin went first but she wasn’t too sure.  We talked a bit and before you knew it, she went down the zip.  Brave soul.  Not sure I would have done it at her tender age (I’m guessing 7 years old).

I was able to get this shot of Adrienne.  She tells me when as we’re waiting our turn in the tower, she’s never done this before………but she did it!

A successful end to any experience is food and today was no exception.

A short drive  to St. Cloud and we experienced another local favorite – The Catfish Place.

Found this other nugget of info in their menu.  If all of these famous faces have eaten here……………it must be good.

Yes, we ordered catfish – all of us, but not before starting with fried okra and fried pickles – yum.

I got the fried catfish fingers while Eric ordered whole small catfish.

Going to end with one more factoid gleamed from their menu.

 

So if you’re in the area, this is a fun way to spend a day, soaking up Florida lore.

Ginny

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Occasionally, I just want to look at pretty pictures and that’s what this is.  Throughout our week in Reykjavik I took some random shots while we were walking and we did a lot of walking.  We would turn a corner and find artwork, either in a public space or a glimpse in someone’s backyard. It was much more than I had seen just about anywhere.

Spring flowers that were common further north (where I grew up) were blooming – they definitely caught my eye.  🙂

Before arriving to Iceland,  I read that while many cities have graffiti, artistic murals on the sides of buildings were encouraged in this city and yes, even commissioned.  I’ve sprinkled some of those throughout this post.

 

 

I thought this was a fitting shot to end this post.

Ginny

 

 

 

 

 

 

We finally made it to Iceland’s iconic church – Hallgrimskirkja Church.

→Our first day in Reykjavik we walked past it………

→Our all-day bus tour picked others up in front of it………

→No matter where you walk, you can see it………

But we had yet to explore it ourselves.  Today was the day.

Designed in 1937 by an Icelandic architect, construction began in 1945 and was not completed until 1986.  Being located on the highest point in central Reykjavik adds to the commanding city-wide appearance of the 244 ft high tower.  It is the largest church in Iceland and among the tallest buildings in the country. The church is named after a 17th century Icelandic poet & clergyman.  That’s your history lesson for today!

From the photo above, a statue  is seen on the left – Lief Eiriksson.  He’s considered the first European to set foot on the North American continent around 1000 A.D.  probably in Newfoundland. This statue was given to Iceland by the United States in 1930 to commemorate the 1000 year anniversary of their parliament – Althing.  I talked about Althing in an earlier post for Iceland – google it or go back and read it.  🙂

These doors greet you in the front of the church, but you enter from the side.

Entering the sanctuary through a pair of these doors……….

You are greeted by this.  Its stark interior is a departure from churches seen in Europe, but is no less inspiring.  On the day we visited, we initially were the only ones in the church and my first words were………..wow.  I sat in one of the pews and just absorbed the power of the moment.

Okay, now turn 180 degrees around and you see their organ.

My only disappointment…………….the tower is usually open and for a modest fee can be ascended for an amazing 360 view of the city and surrounding mountains.  The elevator is being renovated and the tower was not open.  That was a bummer.  The one upside is that we will have to come back!   (Shhhh, I’m already thinking of a month that I can return, we’ll see what transpires – fingers crossed).

Across the street from the church we were able to pop into a sculpture garden and found some interesting statues and  unique photo ops of the church.

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We had several memorable meals at the end of the week. We re-visited a restaurant from our food tour on Day 1 and were joined by a lovely couple we met on our day-long Golden Circle tour, hailing from Belgium.  Eric had lamb soup followed by lamb shank (seen below). I ordered a lamb flatbread.  Shocking for me I know.  Writing this, I can’t believe that was my meal.  Let me tell you, there was nothing left on my plate.

My flatbread appetizer allowed room for dessert and I had a delicious one: chocolate cake, topped with vanilla ice cream, covered with a raspberry sauce and macadamia nuts – yum!  Eric doesn’t usually eat sweets but he was sneaking  bites when he thought I wasn’t looking.

We truly enjoyed our meal with this couple from Belgium and hope to meet again in the future.  After spending a few days in Iceland they were heading for a week  in Boston, then NYC before heading home.

Although I knew going in that our meals would be dominated by lamb and seafood, I was hankering for a pizza by the end of the week.  Eric took some convincing but I knew he was won over when he googled top pizza restaurants in Reykjavik and found Hornid Restaurant Pizzeria.

We shared one of their specialty pizzas and topped it off with an Icelandic beer – Gull.  While not a craft beer, it went down smoothly.

We had an excellent waiter and turned out his father was one of the original owners.  It was established in 1979 and the first Italian-style restaurant in Iceland.  They’re reowned for fresh ingredients, delicious pizzas and friendly service.  He graciously allowed me a photo and you can see the pizza ovens in the background.

We went out a few times for breakfast instead of eating at the apartment.  I enjoyed both outings, but they were different.  The first was at Café Loki, another stop on our food tour on Day 1.  I got the bagel sandwich while Eric ordered this seafood offering:  pickled herring with eggs & onion and flaked cod combined with soft scrambled eggs.  Not my idea for breakfast, but he enjoyed it.

He was most interested in the sheep’s head jelly and the waiter brought him out a taste. Google it.  It sounds gross to me (and also to the waiter) but Eric enjoyed it.

The morning of departure, we ate at Sandholt Bakery.  OMG!  If I knew how good their breakfast was, we would have been eating there every morning.  My choice was a French toast with a berry compote and orange marscapone.  Eric had a ham croissant and more of the Icelandic skyrr, topped with blueberries.  My cappuccino is so cute – just saying.

Throughout the week we had picked up some breads and pretzels from this bakery and their display was always enticing.  I wanted one of everything!

It was an amazing final taste for our last morning in Reykjavik.  We got one last photo as we walked back to our apartment to gather our luggage and walk to our bus stop for pick-up.

You might think this is the final posting for our trip in Iceland – not!  Throughout the week I’ve been getting unique and interesting (at least to me ) shots from around town and this will be coming soon.

 

Ginny

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, the day arrived for our tour of some of Iceland’s truly fascinating natural wonders.  There are many, many more, but these are a fairly easy day trip from Reykjavik.  It all starts with a bus………………….

Even with the I-phone, you’re still able to catch some cool shots along the way.

Interesting thing about Icelandic horses:

• They are decendants from the horses brought to the island in the 800s when it was settled.
• No other horses can be brought onto the island.
• If an Icelandic horse is taken off the island, it cannot come back.

Our first stop on the Golden Circle is Pingvellir, dear to all Icelanders for both it’s history and drama.

Drama because the slow separation of the North American and Eurasian tetonic plates are being slowly torn apart as seen below.   The lake itself sits in the largest fissure of all.

History because during the age of Settlement, it was here chieftains from all over Iceland gathered annually to deal with business.

We started at the overlook, then walked downwards between this fissure to where our transportation awaits.

A boardwalk makes this doable.  I guess you could say you ‘touch’ two continents at one time – almost.  The left side of the photo is America, to the right is Europe.

The Oxara´ river empties into the lake.

We now travel over the Eurasian tetonic plate to our second stop – Geysir.

However not before we came upon some free-ranging sheep – mama & her lambs alongside the road.  In the summer, farmers let their sheep go up into the mountains where they feed on moss, lichens and Icelandic thyme……….one reason the meat is so tasty.

Interesting things about Icelandic sheep:

• They are descendants from the original sheep from the 800s.
• The closest,, similar breed comes from Scandenavia.
• No other sheep is allowed on the island and if removed, cannot be brought back into the country.

We continued onward to the site of Geysir.

This geothermal field surrounding Geysir lacks boardwalks and other maintenance you might expect at this popular site.

The land has parcels  owned by the government and parcels by private landowners.  Bitter disputes have stalled improvements or changes.

While tempting – especially when its chilly outside – the 6th bullet point above states do not touch the water. A few extra 2″ x 2″ signs are posted for additional warnings.

The geyser we are seeing is called Strokkur.

The lucky thing for us is that it erupts fairly consistently, every 9-13 minutes.

Not sure if you can see my video, but here goes.

Next stop is something I’ve been waiting for since we planned the trip – Gullfoss.

Our bus drops us off at the upper parking lot (left) and an hour later we meet it down below.

The view from the upper overlook is great…………..

……………….but not as impressive as the shots from below.  We were extremely lucky that the path had opened a few days earlier when it could safely be traversed.

The waterfall sits on the glacial Hvita river, which drains Iceland’s interior.  It has two stages:  rocky upper cascade with a drop of approx. 35 feet and a lower fall where the water drops 70 feet straight down into a narrow gorge.

Naturally, we (read I) had to go where others had (safely) gone for more waterfall shots.

Eric didn’t make the extra trek upward for my selfie.

One of the ladies on our tour took this shot for us.  She was from Toronto on a solo trip and let me take her photo so her kids would believe she did it.

At one point there was talk of damming this river (ruining the falls) for hydro-electricity and this young lady thwarted it.  A monument has been erected in her honor.

I took many more photos and truly  had a hard time only selecting these 7-ish photos for the blog.  I have to leave you with a final shot of the falls.

Oh yes, and the name Gullfoss………

The last thing on the itinerary is a visit to a thermal springs.

Claiming to be the ‘”oldest swimming pool in Iceland” (from 1891) it is a big, rustic pool, surrounded by a boardwalk passing by steaming crevasses.

There are some important ‘pool rules’ and etiquette before entering.  Shoes are taken off before entering the separate changing rooms and stored.  Lockers are provided for your clothes.  Grab your suit and towel, place in nearby cubbie before showering.  Yes, this means showering naked, with the same sex. Water and soap are required (sanitary issue) before entering the thermal pool.  Now, you can put on your swimsuit.

LOVED it!  Again, LOVED it!  The heat was great, especially after I showered and walked outside in the cold, chilly and somewhat windy weather………..wet.  Eric, didn’t love the heat quite so much.  He kept wandering around the pool, finding the water that was not quite as hot. Here’s the reason it was so hot.

Yep, that’s the reason there were ribbons of hot water and ribbons of hotter water.

That was the end of our day-long tour with Arctic Adventures.

Hang on, we’re not done yet.  There’s more to come.

Ginny

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It began simply enough with a walk to the iconic sculpture Sun Voyager, less than two blocks from our apartment.  It was a brisk sunny day, a departure from the previous day.

We talked with a German couple and they graciously took our photo.  They were embarking on a 14 day adventure on the Ring Road surrounding Iceland – I was so jealous.

I absolutely do NOT condone this  and hate that it has started in Iceland.  Many lovers in Paris chain locks to the bridges crossing onto the island with Notre Dame, then throw the key in the water.  This is vandalism folks – just saying.

We leisurely made our way to the restaurant for our late lunch reservation.  Good thing it was so late, we slept in until after 10am, definitely unheard of especially when on vacation!  We had read repeatedly that eating out in Iceland was expensive, go for lunch instead of dinner and save yourself some kronos, so that was our plan.

I thought this was a cute way to block off a pedestrian walkway.

Our chosen restaurant is an older establishment, located within (what is now) a residential area – which gave us plenty of opportunities to find interesting green spaces residents had created.

We found a little grassy park in the middle of four roads that met and this sign.

It was a lovely reminder of the way things used to be.

Our restaurant was Prir Frakkar Hja Ulfara or ‘Three French Coats’.

Before ordering bread, butter, tuna spread and dried/chipped cod (upper right corner)arrived to whet our appetite.  I stuck to the bread.

I ordered this very tasty salmon ‘rose’ as my appetizer – cute and tasty.  In addition to hunks of tomato, sliced grapes were part of the dish.  OMG – these were the sweetest grapes I have ever eaten and it totally went with the salmon.

Eric got the herring appetizer.

Of course you can’t have a major celebration without wine and this was no exception.

My meal was halibut with lobster sauce.  Their lobsters are similar to our shrimp and we generally refer to them as langoustines.  They were delicious!  The sauce was so rich you definitely wanted to take some of the bread and sop up any remaining goop.

Eric order a seafood gratin.

I won – just saying.  🙂

Towards the end of the meal, we were the only ones in the restaurant.  Several of the workers, and also the owner were eating their meal  with us since most patrons were gone.  I’m sure you’re shocked, but Eric started conversing  with them and that’s when we found out one of the people was the owner.  He shared this was our 25th anniversary and talked about various Icelandic meats.  They brought out a sampling of whale (sorry Karen, and others) for us to taste.  It was sitting in a pepper sauce (we found out this week that Icelanders definitely love their sauces!).

Yes, I tried it and didn’t mind it.  It tasted like beef.  Of course, my taste was covered in the sauce, as Eric continued to remind me.  He had different thoughts about the taste and he had it sans sauce.

We had to finish our meal with desserts – Eric won this time. He ordered blueberry ice cream accompanied with numerous fruit syrups while I got vanilla ice cream with caramel sauce.  Yep, he definitely won.

We had a super nice waitress, from Italy and she’s heading back there shortly.  As so common with us, the people you meet and talk with truly add to the overall experience.  Unfortunately, I missed getting a photo of the others we talked with since by the time we were done, they had left.

We finished our anniversary day with walking to a local brewery down by the harbor.

Talking with the bartender, Eric met a stateside resident working in Iceland, originally from Alabama.

No surprise, we tasted several dark beers.

 

Walking back to our apartment we both responded that this was an amazing 25th anniversary.  Who would have guessed that 25 years ago, getting married in Indiana would lead to this day in Iceland – definitely not us.  🙂

 

Ginny  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our day began simple enough with eggs, toast, coffee and skyr – at our apartment.  One of the main reasons we stay in apartments is just for this reason.  It can be expensive (and time consuming) to eat every meal out.

We have plans tonight (more on that later) but with the chilly temps, spitting rain and wind we decided Monday would be the perfect day to visit The Perlan.  Yes, you can definitely  see it’s windy outside.

It was created in the 1990s at the site of the city’s former water storage tanks.  The tanks have been converted into a Museum of Icelandic Natural Wonders, sharing displays about Iceland’s unique environment-perfect for two people with a science background.

Before even heading inside, there was this cool grouping of sculptures to the left of the entrance.

The first exhibit was about the power of volcanoes.

While also talking about the tetonic plates.

No, we didn’t go see Puffins in their actual habitat (nor did Eric eat puffin) but their exhibit was interesting and accompanying information was good.  This replicates a tiny portion of Europe’s largest seabird cliff.

Their ice cave is pretty cool (pun intended – sorry) and is the first of its kind in the world, being 100 metres long and made with 350 tonnes of real snow from the Blue Mountains of Iceland.

One other activity we indulged in was the Planetarium’s projection of the Northern Lights.  Sorry no photos, it was prohibited.  😦  I did go out on the observation deck, but man, if you thought it was windy in front of the building, it was REALLY bad higher up.  I might have spent two minutes outside, then put my head down to combat the wind and struggled to get back inside.

Before leaving we had a light lunch at the top of the dome (seen in one of the first pictures above).  My meal was a fabulous grilled chicken on a bed of assorted lettuces, lightly dressed with a tasty oil & vinegar dressing.  Eric got the seafood soup and he almost licked the bowl.

Even though it was raining, I couldn’t resist this photo of Reykjavik’s church.

Tonight’s plans were one of the highlights of this trip.  We met an Icelandic couple during a food tour in Paris in 2017 (photo below) and after the tour, most of the group stayed together and enjoyed a meal that night before separating.

If possible, we wanted to get together during this trip and they graciously invited us to their (new) home to meet their kids and have a meal with their family.  After a number of years in a 2-bedroom apartment with four children, having a house with a garden was a dream come true.  It’s a great house.  🙂

We met Diana at the University of Iceland that afternoon and she gave us a driving tour as we headed towards their home.

We got a tour of their outside garden and there are numerous hidden treasures.

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The meal was fabulous:  leg of lamb & gravy, salad & fixings and potatoes.  I was so excited to eat………. my photo only shows a portion of the food.

We both loved the two sauces, seen next to the bowl of tomatoes:  red current jelly was on the left and a rhubarb syrup was on the right.

Okay, and I forgot to take a photo of dessert, aarrrgghh.  It was a raspberry cheesecake and various flavored skyrs.  Talking wih Sverrir and Diana (along with their kids) was just so enjoyable and relaxing that I didn’t want to spoil the atmosphere with taking photos.  At least I got a few photos before Sverrir took us back to our apartment.  Unfortunately I missed getting their oldest daughter before she took off after dinner, but I hope we all meet again, sometime in the future – either in Iceland or Florida!

When sharing the address off our apartment, it was discovered that Sverrir’s grandfather grew up a short distance away and the house is still standing.  We had walked past it several times.  He was a carpenter and behind it was the workshop.  It’s over 100 years old and cannot be torn down.

We both totally loved our evening with their family and will hopefully return the honor if they get a chance to visit Florida.

More to come! We’ve only been here two days and still have four more days to go.

Ginny

 

 

A few posts ago we talked about Iceland and our bucket list.  The day has finally arrived to begin our trip!

And so the journey begins – at least it is a straight-through flight from Orlando. Yeah!!

Although not a short flight, after traveling to Shanghai, everything seems shorter.  It is less than 7 hours, and as you can see below, an overnight flight.

And if you can read Icelandic…….their alphabet has 32 characters.

Once on-board, you’re given a unique bottle of water to truly get you immersed for your upcoming adventure.

Our flight path eventually took us over Greenland.

Although not a window seat, I got a shot of their mountain tops.

We arrived!

Getting to our apartment was a mult-transportational adventure.  You start with a bus from the airport (40 miles away from Reykjavik), transfer to a smaller bus at their bus terminal, dropping you off at your requested bus stop (you need to know in advance), to walk to your abode.

The apartment is nice, small but everything we need.

 

First things first, a (power) nap.  We both got some shut-eye on the plane, but didn’t want to crash during our food tour this afternoon, so the 1 1/2 hour snooze really did the trick.

Pretty much everything is within walking distance and our meeting spot was the Harpa Concert Hall and while my photo is quite boring, there are some amazing photos on the internet when it’s lighted in the evening.  The outside is a honey-comb of glass panels.

Our tour guide, Marin started our walk, explaining we would be making 6 stops for this tour – wow, that’s a lot of stops & food.  First stop was at Islenski Barinn with a bowl of lamb soup.  It was just the thing for the chilly weather.  Of course, having a glass of beer only helped the experience.

 

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Next up was a deli, normally closed on Sundays but since our tour guide was a chef and knew the owners, a prepped cheese & meat platter was waiting for us.  She went in through their restaurant and unlocked the door to their deli for our group to enter.

 

The platter was all locally sourced.  The (3) cheeses were a gouda, soft-ripened type (kind of like brie) cheese, followed by a bleu cheese.  The (3) meats were salt-cured lamb, salt-cured horse, ending with hot-smoked wild goose breast.  She recommended a drop of raspberry champagne vinegarette with the goose, which truly made it more enticing.  Eric, of course, had it plain.

Next food stop was Café Loki for a unique Icelandic variety of ice cream – rye bread ice cream.

Don’t scrunch up your nose, it was quite tasty.  Barely, just barely can you taste the rye flavor.  I’m not the biggest fan of rye bread and this was delicious.  The whipped cream and chocolate syrup on top didn’t hurt.

There was an interesting mural along their back wall.  My photos would have no chance of capturing it, luckily they gave a nifty flyer with the photo.  The restaurant is a great location, right across from the iconic Lutheran church.

Now we switched back to a savory dish at Messinn Seafood Restaurant.

As the name indicates, this was a seafood stop.  We had (L>R, clockwise) arctic char, mashed cod and two people had pre-ordered a vegetarian platter.

 

So far, I was game for everything and while my plate might not be over-flowing with food, I tasted everything we were served.

Our next stop would probably surprise most everyone, unless you’ve been doing some reading about food in Iceland.  Hot dogs get a lot of attention, particularly this spot.  That’s our tour guide, ordering our dogs.  The traditional Icelandic ‘all the way’ is a dog with ketchup, remoulade, sweet brown mustard, fresh onions and (marvelous, very tasty & crunchy, little bits of heaven) fried onions.

You don’t see the onions in my photos, but they ‘make’ the dog.  I was good with everything but the sweet brown mustard.

Yes, you eat outside and yes there was a line for this small street food outlet.  A family in our tour group was renting a place in the background and they said the place was hopping at 4:00 a.m.

Our last and final stop was at Aptoek restaurant for dessert, served with coffee.  The photo does not do it justice.  There were fresh blueberries, passion fruit puree, berry compote and brownie crumbs.

Besides us, our tour group was comprised of 4 Floridians from South Florida, 5 ladies from Iowa, celebrating their friend’s 50h birthday and a couple from Australia.  It was a fun group for the tour.

I’m closing this post with a photo from one of their icons, the Hallgrimskirkja, Reykjavik’s Lutheran Church.

Stay tuned, more to come!

Ginny

 

Twenty-five years ago, Eric and I were walking down the aisle to become Mr & Mrs.  A lot has happened since then, some good times and some better times.  Times when we were separated half a world apart and other times exploring unknown parts of the world together.  Most every year we do something to celebrate whether it’s going out for a special meal or this year, checking something off the bucket list.

It’s always fun to look at old photos (who has photo prints any more!) and fondly remember those times. This year is a bit more special as we hit our 25th anniversary.

The photos below were part of our wedding video (no one does those either) and was a fun thing to put in this posting.

I also put together a memory book and included a few of those pages with this posting.

Along with with our wedding party

I still have my wedding dress and through the years it has fared well.  Some of the ecru lace & beading are growing darker with time, but for the most part, it’s in good shape.  Why am I keeping it?  Sentimental value, I guess.  But I am giving some thought to ‘upcycling’ pieces of the dress.  It’s the first snip of the scissors that is the hardest.

My veil is packed in the same box and holding up well.

No, there’s not any live shots this year with them on, but I have put them on several years ago and they still fit  🙂  probably better than the day I first wore them !

We had invitations printed-almost waiting too late-and friends stopped over to furiously get all the pieces stuffed into the envelopes and addressed to mail out.

The wedding was in Indiana and I found an old postcard of the church

It was way better than any photo I could take with my camera.

Now, lets get to the good stuff-wedding photos.

Upper left corner, clock-wise:       A shot with my sister before the wedding, me with our groomsmen and Eric with the ladies.

Upper left corner, clock-wise :      I’m with my parents, a solo photo before everything started and Eric with his mother and sister.

The wedding party after the ceremony.  Yes, we followed tradition and didn’t see each other that day until I walked down the aisle.

And we have the married couple.

The major stress is over, we now can enjoy the reception, being with our friends and family that traveled from afar.

Eric danced with his mother while I had the ‘father-daughter’ dance (oops didn’t get that photo before writing this).

I had to include this photo, while not the best shot, there’s a story behind it.

As a surprise, mom had arranged for a horse & buggy to take us around the campus to enjoy a quiet moment after leaving the reception.  A month before the wedding, the horse died .  She found another guy who had a horse & buggy  with a wedding carriage, then that horse died.  She found this guy shortly before the wedding, and (yeah) the horse lived to be a part of the festivities.

This was one of my favorite photos.  It was taken after the ceremony in the church.  In the photo with the wedding party, a railing can be seen.  The photographer had us sitting on the railing for this shot.  It’s a little hard to see but we included a few ‘Mickey’ touches for our wedding and Eric’s bow-tie is a Mickey paisley print.

There you have it.  I was not ‘bridezilla’ and took things in stride-kind of a necessity when you live 1000+miles away and planning an event.  But no wedding is complete with out a few ‘interesting‘ stories.

Story #1

My maid of honor had a baby 2 weeks prior to the wedding date. They were traveling  from  NC and was so concerned about what baby stuff to bring they forgot a key item she needed for the wedding. They were in the next state when she asked her husband to pullover so she could look in the trunk. Yep, they left her dress.  After calling her sister, the dress was taken to their UPS store with the barest of addresses (truly, it was a rural route address & they didn’t have easy access to my parents names).  UPS took the dress when they heard  the story (I think they enjoyed the challenge) and yes, it beat my maid of honor to Indiana by 2 hours.

Story #2

Then there was the story where my future mother- in- law made the petticoats for all of the bridesmaids dresses.  Since the participants came from different places, there was no time for this last detail until everyone arrived for the wedding.  The night before the wedding she was in the hotel hallway fitting each of them while also adjusting the length of their petticoats.  It was all about timing!

And finally, Eric wanted me to include this story.

Story #3

He and his best man had free time before the wedding and the town was have ‘Heritage Days’ that weekend.  They went on a historical tour, part of which stopped at the local bank.  This bank has one claim to fame…….it was robbed by John Dillinger and his gang in 1933.  It was the first of a 4-state robbery spree and the biggest bank robbery of Dillinger’s career, stealing over $75,000 dollars.  The lady giving the tour, Edith Browning, was working inside the bank that day and was the same lady giving the tour on the weekend.  She was a friend of moms.

I’m hoping we have another 25 years, but you never know what life will throw at you.  Happy Anniversary dear.

Ginny

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can probably figure out with the heading, that Iceland is on my bucket list, which got me to thinking about the phrase ‘bucket list’.  Then……….it got me curious.  Googled it and Merriam-Webster defines bucket list as:

• a list of things that one has not done before but wants to do before dying, first used in 2006.

This story began as we were driving into work one day in January.  We talked about what should we do to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary this year.  Ideas were tossed around, nothing stuck until……….one of us said “What about Iceland?”.   To this day, we still can’t remember which one of us said it first.  Regardless, who said it,  it stuck!  Eric booked our flights by 1 pm that same day and I ordered an Iceland guide book from Rick Steves that night.  The planning began!

Yep, I’m a fan of Rick Steves travel books.  I find his books an interesting read and full of (mostly) useful information.  My Iceland book joins my Rick Steves library.  We’ve actually been in one of his travel videos (unbeknown to us) which is an entirely different story.  But I digress………..

Eric loves to do the research and planning – almost as much as the actual trip……. well kind of.   🙂  Using Trip Advisor and other internet sources he searches out popular and well-regarded trips, historic sites of interest, top-rated restaurants and non-hotel accommodations.

 

Time requested off – √

Flights booked and accommodations confirmed – √

Tour(s) planned – √

 

But before going I really wanted to learn more about the country, its origins and some history, hence, research was required.

Iceland is a land of vivid contrasts, sparkling glaciers, ruggedly beautiful mountain ranges and abundant hot geysirs.  These geysirs provide heat for many homes and buildings and allow for hothouse agriculture year around.  The offshore Gulf stream provides a surprisingly mild climate for one of the northernmost inhabited places on the planet.

Iceland is located on top of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and was formed by a series of volcanic eruptions and is still growing and expanding from new eruptions.   Since the 1500s approximately half of earth’s lava flow has poured out of Iceland volcanoes.  There are about 200 volcanoes and eruption activity has been more frequent since the 1970s.  In recent memory, the 2010 eruption (seen below) sent ash plumes into skies that disrupted air traffic to Europe.  Some friends of ours got stuck in Europe extra days when their flight back to the US was delayed and canceled.

Traditionally, Iceland is divided according to the 4 points of the compass with the center being un-inhabited.  Iceland’s rugged coastline (3000+ miles) meets the Greenland sea on the north, Norwegian Sea on the east, Atlantic Ocean on the south & west and the Denmark Straight on the northwest.

A phrase I continued to come across was the ‘Sagas of Icelanders’.  Icelandic sagas are based on oral traditions.  Much research has been focused on what is real versus fiction and at times the accuracy can be hotly debated.  They are tales of kings, everyday people and large than life characters.  Most Icelandic sagas take place in the period 930 – 1030 but were written between 1200 and 1320.  They were focused on genealogical and family history, reflecting the struggle and conflict of early Icelandic settlers.  They have been deemed as unique contributions to Western literature, notable for their realism, style, power of character and tragic dignity.

Recorded history begin with a Viking settlement in 874, although archaeological evidence indicates Gaelic monks from Ireland settled Iceland before that time. The story goes that a Norwegian chieftain named Ingolfr Amarson threw two carved pillars overboard as he neared land, vowing to settle where they landed.  He sailed the coast until they were found in a southwestern peninsula and named the spot Reykjavik or “Smoke Cove”, probably from the geothermal steam rising from the earth.  It eventually became the capital of Iceland and its biggest city.

There is sooooo much more to read and learn about Iceland.  Earlier tonight I quizzed Eric on what he knew and we tried to outdo each other with our factoids we have independently discovered.  ‘Most’ of his facts were accurate.  🙂  The info I found below has no rhyme or reason, but were things that peaked my interest.

A few facts:

• Official Language – Icelandic
• Official Religion – Evangelical Lutheran
• Monetary Unit – Krona
• Total Area (sq mi) – 39,777
• Urban/Rural Population – 94%/6%
• Life Expectancy – male 80.4 years, female 84.1 years

I’m trying to resign myself that my I-phone photos cannot compete with all of the great images I found during my internet searches.  Don’t get me wrong, I have no plans to purchase a camera and my smart phone takes absolutely awesome photos, but not the wide-range, long distance nature scenes we will be seeing on our trip.

I’m ending on that note, sharing a few I found.

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Ginny

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wow!  Seriously, who knew beer slushies existed?  Okay, probably most craft beer followers, but I hadn’t seen them yet in any of the recent breweries we visited.  But, before diving into this tasty treat, let’s talk about the journey getting there.

It really started with beads, jewelry beads to be more specific.  Karen let me know another bead show was coming to Jacksonville, which on its own merit was a good enough reason to head north, but I needed a break from recent events, therefore……..road trip!

Sorry, I stand corrected, it’s not a ‘bead’ show, it’s a ‘Gem’ show.  While it’s a mix of vendors, it definitely reminds me of my time in Shanghai  when I visited my favorite vendor (Julia’s) almost weekly at the Pearl Market.

I really try to limit what I purchase, sticking to key colors that I use the most.  This time I concentrated on blue, black, white and purple beads.  I did pretty well – kind of.

Naturally, this trip wasn’t all about beads, it included food (and drinks).  One of our first excursions involved Legacy Ale Works, of which Rich is one of the founding members.

There’s this really cool board on the wall, recognizing all the founding patrons (127) that bought into the brewery prior to opening.

You can find his name in the upper right corner.

We shared a flight, concentrating mostly on beer styles I favor, dark beers.

And here was my biggest surprise…………………they pair extremely well with sushi!  There were several restaurants within walking distance and the brewery allows patrons to bring in their food.  Rich and I shared the sushi while Karen and Connor ordered a pizza.  This is a pairing that needs to be replicated.  And I’m talking the beer and the sushi!

Between the four of us we shared two pieces of cake – and had leftovers.  They were BIG pieces of cake.

Another evening, we visited a brewery and pizzeria combo:

The clown in their logo is a bit creepy, but it didn’t affect the beer.  We got two flights and shared.  I still can’t add ‘sours’ to my drinking palate.  I try them, then wish I hadn’t.

We started with pretzel bites before our pizzas arrived – very tasty.  We easily could have gotten two orders to share.

The pizzas………………OMG!  We all agreed this was some of the BEST pizza in recent memory.  Just wish it was closer to their house.  The top pizza  has pepperoni and bacon with the bottom pizza having mushrooms, banana peppers and more bacon (my pick).

While it wasn’t exactly the typical ‘brewery’ atmosphere we were expecting, we definitely enjoyed our meal.  The vibe was very low key.

We just couldn’t end the night without a few more calories and a chance to ‘fill in the cracks’ with ice cream.  Whit’s is a local ice cream shop on the drive home.  They gave you waaaaayy too much ice cream and without Eric to help me, I just couldn’t finish it.

Oh yeah, the beer slushie that I mentioned in the title.  I’m finally getting to it.  That was a part of our first night at Legacy Ale Works.  It was absolutely delicious!  Come on, anything put into a glass that was coated with chocolate syrup, has got to be good.  🙂

And all those beads I purchased………………….I was able to quickly make two pair of earrings from my new purchases.  I had to finish a few details on bracelets (from a previous working visit) and they came home also.  Love them!

 

Stay tuned, we’re getting close for another (over-night flight) Darden Travels trip!

Ginny