Posts Tagged With: road trip

Sisters Camping Trip # 3 – Preparation

Casita

So, the Princess and I survived our first two camping adventures without hurting each other.  I always try mightily to back my Casita travel trailer into our camp site but I echo Blanche DuBois (A Streetcar Named Desire), “I have always depended on the kindness of strangers,” when I fail miserably.  My job is to sweat and cuss and try and try again to back the camper in the right direction.  Yes, I know you have to turn the wheel in the opposite direction from where you want the trailer to go. The Princess’ job is to stand around looking adorable with an an imploring look & pleading smile while nearby campers rush to volunteer to back the trailer in for us.  I guess it takes a village.  Whatever.

sa4

This time we’re heading to St. George Island State Park in the Florida panhandle.  We’ll camp on the beach and explore Apalachicola and other coastal towns.  We’ll eat lots of seafood — shrimp, oysters, mullet, etc.  It’s going to be cold (30’s-40’s at night) so walks on the beach may mean bundling up in several layers. Picture two female Pillsbury dough boys and pray we don’t trip.  “We’ve fallen and we can’t get up.”

I’ve prepared and frozen two meals, chili one night and chicken cacciatore for another night.  I plan to store them in the freezer compartment to help keep the refrigerator cold, then use my slow cooker to defrost and heat up our dinner when we’re ready.  I’m buying steaks & Idaho potatoes for our first night. Since we don’t have a very good track record with grilling on an outdoor fire, I’ll buy New York strips instead of rib eyes just in case our dreams go up in smoke (again).  The Princess is responsible for cocktails and appetizers for the trip and local restaurants and bars will fill in the gaps.weenie

I live in southwest Florida and the Princess lives in central Florida so we coordinate our departure times and meet at the confluence of I-75 and the Florida Turnpike in Wildwood.   Her husband transfers her luggage (matching pieces of course) to my car and off we go.

I’ll let you know when we get there.

 

 

 

 

Categories: Aging Gracefully, Camping, Family, Humor, Life, Retirement, Travel, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Road Trip – First Stop Atlanta!

Left southwest Florida and drove north on I-75 to the junction with I-4 where I met my sister. Her husband transferred her luggage to my car and we continued north on I-75 traveling through some beautiful country around Ocala. I pointed out the Stephen Foster Cultural Center State Park in northern Florida where I’ve camped several times … one of my favorite sites to date.  We hit 5:00 traffic in Atlanta of course but made it to my daughter’s home for a great dinner and a comfortable bed.

As Yogi Bera said, “deja vu all over again” – I made the same 550 mile trip a week ago.

Tomorrow, the pumpkin patch.

Categories: Family, Travel | Tags: , , | 1 Comment

Don’t Take Your Library Book to New Orleans

I can’t fall asleep without a book and was in the middle of my 4th Walt Longmire mystery borrowed from my local library, so I took it along on my road trip to New Orleans & Biloxi.  After all, my roommate was my 87 year old cousin who I thought would go to bed early, so how much company would she be?  Not much as it turned out since she was still out partying each night when I collapsed in bed. Our hotel was located in the French Quarter in New Orleans so there was plenty of non-stop action.  It was hard enough to keep track of myself much less Sheriff Walt Longmire, as much fun as he is.

The French Quarter appearing just like Truman Capote described

The French Quarter appearing just as Truman Capote described

In two days we:

  • Went to the Carousel Lounge at the Hotel Monteleone – rotated/revolved and had “Death by Sex” – champagne and absinthe
  • Took a two-hour tour of  the entire city with Cajun Encounter; showed us everything we didn’t have time to see on our own
  • Started each morning with a Mimosa or Bloody Mary at the lobby bar in the Bourbon Orleans Hotel where we were staying smack dab in the center of the French Quarter – only $5 each!
  • Walked from Orleans Street to the Cafe Dumonde on Jackson Square to sample the beignets and Cafe Au Lait
  • Admired the art and artists displaying their work around Jackson Square and the St. Louis Cathedral
  • Spent a couple of hours at the Famous Door Bar dancing with some  beautiful young people to a great live band
St. Louis Cathedral anchors Jackson Square located across from our hotel

St. Louis Cathedral anchors Jackson Square located across from our hotel

The "girls" in front of St. Louis Cathedral on Jackson Square

The “girls” in front of St. Louis Cathedral on Jackson Square

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

. Walked to the French Market and had lunch at The Gazebo Cafe  an outdoor cafe with live music (of course) and cold beer

.   Missed the Ghost Tour due to rain – but, next time for sure!

.   Had one of the most delicious meals I’ve ever experienced at Muriel’s at Jackson Square – a little pricey but impeccable service and unbelievable food.  We were treated like royalty and enjoyed every bite/sip/minute

Muriel's flank steak

Muriel’s Restaurant Vegetarian Meal

Muriel's flank steak

Muriel’s flank steak

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Listened to the jazz (everywhere) but especially at the Bourbon O Bar – totally smoke free
  • Had dinner at Emeril Lagasse’s flagship restaurant
  • Laughed and joked with a bunch of cute young guys participating in the Red Dress Run. Southern boys are so polite – they invited us to go with them wherever they were going but they’d been drinking all day & had no idea where they were going
  • New Orleans is a non-stop party.  Besides Mardi Gras; Dirty Linen Night, Swinging at the Canteen, Gospel Brunch, Wednesdays at the Point, etc., etc.
  • Had our farewell brunch at The Court of the Two Sisters. It was an opportunity to sample all the New Orleans flavors we may have missed.

So what if I had to pay $33 to my library to replace “The Serpent’s Tooth” that I lost somewhere in New Orleans.  Anyone know whodunit?   Sorry, Walt but it was worth it.

I was 2/3 through the Walt Longmire mystery

I was 2/3 through the Walt Longmire mystery.

 

Categories: Travel, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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