Mardi Gras Madness

Even though we had so much fun with Brenda and Trevor and were sad to leave Fort Myers, we are always happy to be back on the road again. We were lucky to be traveling ahead of the tornadoes and bad weather they had in the Florida Panhandle and Louisiana. After an overnight in Tallahassee, we arrived in New Orleans. We thought we would be there before the Mardi Gras madness began only to discover they start celebrating in January. There were parades every night and Bourbon Street was in full swing. On Brenda and Trevor's suggestion, we stayed at the Cornstalk Hotel, an historic house in the French Quarter just a block off Bourbon Street. We walked all through the French Quarter stopping to listen to music and visiting some of the Voodoo shops. The buses and trams were easy to navigate so we saw the Cemetery District with miles of above ground burials, the beautiful historic houses in the Garden District and heard some fantastic contemporary jazz in the Warehouse District. New Orleans is just as much about the food as it is about Mardi Gras and jazz. We were only there 3 days but managed to eat as many of the local specialities as we could - beignets and cafe au lait or the best eggs benedict we have ever had for breakfast, creole shrimp po-boys and muffaletta sandwiches for lunch, crawfish etoufee, seafood gumbo, cajun crawfish pie and bread pudding for dinner. We did show some restraint and only drank beer and not the New Orleans drink specialities like the Hurricane or the Hand Grenade. Exhausted and about 10 pounds heavier, we headed west across Texas to Phoenix to see Dan and Terri, to Las Vegas to see Elvis and finally to Palm Springs to see Bruce and spend some time resting by the pool while the boys play golf. At the end of the week we will head toward to San Francisco to spend a few days with Liz.

Saying Goodbye To Florida

We can't believe we have come to the end of our 3 month stay in Fort Myers. We don't know where the time goes but looking back on my January/February calendar, we were doing something every day. It would put you to sleep if I went into detail about everything we have done in Florida. Here is a brief list so you can get an idea of how we have spent our time here. Kathy was able to join us for a week. The weather was on the cool side but we still managed to have lots of fun. At the end of January I went to Los Angeles to the Craft and Hobby Association trade show. This is the second time I have been lucky enough to join my friend, Sharon, at this show. It is a dream come true for me and I hope to make it an annual event. When I got back we drove to Key West. The Keys have a margaritaville atmosphere full of bars, restaurants and galleries. We went back through downtown Miami and saw some of the beautiful art deco architecture. The Capitals were playing the Panthers that night so we stayed for the game. It was a chance to see Ovechkin play. On the drive back we stopped at the Everglades National Park and got some great pictures. One of the highlights was our jetski tour in Estero Bay. We were able to get close to some dolphins. The boys would probably say the highlight was getting the machines up to 45 mph and getting lots of air. It was great fun. One Sunday afternoon we watched a trick waterski club at a small lake near an outlet mall. They were a very talented group and it gave us a chance to experiment with our cameras. Our last night in Fort Myers we spent at the opening game for the Minnesota Twins spring league season. Is there anything better than having a beer on a beautiful warm night while you watch baseball? The weather the last few weeks has been fantastic with temperatures in the 80's (high 20's in C)every day. So we have spent lots of time at the beach, reading and collecting shells. Darcy and Trevor played golf at least 3 times a week while Brenda and I took lots of exercise classes. We decided to see as many of the Academy Awards nominated movies and found the best theatre ever in Naples. First you get a glass of wine or a beer and then enjoy the movie while sitting in seats that look like Lazy Boys. Is there anything more civilized? Are you asleep yet? I hope I didn't bore you. It is just that we have been having such a great time and much of that is because of our friends, Trevor and Brenda. All of us have had so much fun, we are planning a Panama Canal cruise with them in September. Tomorrow we will be in New Orleans and are hoping to eat lots of good food and hear some good music. Then, after stops in San Antonio, El Paso, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Palm Springs, San Fransisco, Vancouver and Oliver, we will back in Calgary on March 27 so Darcy can get to work on tax returns.

Yes, We Are Still Alive!

I know you are saying, "How could a couple of retired people be that busy?" But that is our excuse for not posting on the blog in over a month. We arrived at Fort Myers the first of December. The condo we have rented is in a gated golf community and Darcy has unlimited golf. You can imagine he is in heaven. The month of December was the coldest in recorded history for Florida so we spent most of the month getting ready for the kids to arrive for Christmas. Liz, Pat, Meg and Pam arrived just before Christmas and stayed for a week. Every year we say, "This is the best Christmas ever." Having Chris and Brooke here is the only thing that would have made it better. The cold weather didn't really interfere with game playing, Meg's trivia, cooking, air boat riding, mini golf, hanging out at the pool and the occasional libation. It was a sad day when they all left but we didn't have much time to feel sorry for ourselves because our good friends, Trevor and Brenda Green, arrived from Toronto. It has been a whirlwind since they arrived. The boys have been playing lots of golf. The four of us have been touring all over South Florida going to the beach and attending art shows. Friday nights we cook and watch movies. We took a trip to Key West for a few days and stopped overnight in Miami so we could see the Panthers play Ovechkin and the Capitals. We took the long way back so we could some great pictures of alligators and Florida birds. I have also attached a picture I took from our back door. The sunsets here are spectacular. I am going to Los Angeles the end of the month to meet my friend, Sharon, at the Craft and Hobby Association trade show. I can't wait. So I guess things for the next month are going to be just as busy and the blog will probably be at the bottom of the "to do" list.

The Happiest Place on Earth

Our next stop after Savannah was Orlando where we spent 2 days at Disneyworld and Epcot. Darcy was such a trooper. We stood in lines for hours where just about everyone else was under 3 feet tall and dressed in either princess or pirate costumes and the stroller parking lots were packed. I didn't totally embarrass him by wearing the mouse ears but I really wanted to. I was disappointed that we couldn't get into Peter Pan and they don't have Mr.Toad's Wild Ride in Orlando. Because we were there just after Thanksgiving, it was crowded but we did get to all the big attractions (Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean). It was great fun but we were glad to finally get to Fort Myers, unpack all the boxes and put our feet up for a while. We have a condo in a golf community (so Darcy is in heaven with unlimited golf) and the sunsets out of living room window are beautiful. Everyone except Chris and Brooke will be here for Christmas and we can hardly wait. We are stocking up on beer and snacks.

Our Time in Charleston and Savannah, Y'All

I just went back to the post I did yesterday. Wow! How bad am I at this computer stuff? I don't know how I managed to post the pictures twice and I don't know how to fix it. The kids will help me when they visit at Christmas. When I was describing our time in Williamsburg, I forgot to mention the drive along the Colonial Highway from Jamestown through Williamsburg to Yorktown. We thought Massachusetts and Virginia were beautiful, but that drive along the rivers with trees still showing some of their fall colors and forming canopies over the road was spectacular. From Williamsburg, we drove to Charleston where we had an apartment in an historic house in the French Quarter. We walked miles learning about the history of the city during the American Revolution and the Civil War. We also toured the Slave Market where domestic slaves were bought and sold. We are both big fans of Pat Conroy so of course we had to do the "South of Broad" tour. Charleston is full of beautiful and varied architecture. Food is also a big part of the Charleston experience so we had to try fried green tomatoes, okra gumbo, collard greens and of course, fried chicken. It is no wonder we have put on a few pounds. After a quick tour of the Citadel, we headed for Savannah. We have been here three days and have done all the walking tours of historic Savannah. The city is laid out in a grid of squares. Each one is a park, usually dedicated to either a revolutionary or civil war hero and surrounded by historic houses, churches and civic buildings with all different kinds of architecture. We read "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" so a tour of the Jim Williams house was must. You can't come to Savannah and not go to Paula Deen's restaurant, y'all! Reservations are required even for lunch at 2:00. Tomorrow we are on the road again heading to Orlando for an appointment with a certain mouse.

An American History Buff's Paradise

Even though we stayed in Alexandria, VA for 5 days, took the metro into Washington, DC every day and walked for miles, we still didn't see everything we wanted to. Seeing the Smithsonian Museums was on the top of both of our "bucket lists" so this was a dream come true. Because each museum is huge, we took the "highlights" tours whenever we could. It was impossible to see everything but at least we saw the most important exhibits. We were so lucky that there was a Norman Rockwell exhibit at the Museum of American Art. Anyone who was ever in Darcy's office knows how much he admires Rockwell so seeing originals was fantastic. We toured the Museum of American History, the Museum of American Art, the Newseum, the Capital, the Archives (saw one of the original Magna Cartas and the Declaration of Independence), the Natural History Museum, the White House, Arlington Cemetary, the World War II Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument. Darcy went to the Air and Space Museum while I toured the National Gallery. It is no wonder we were exhausted when we left. We decided to drive to Mt. Vernon to see George and Martha Washington's estate and tour their house. It was beautiful. Our next stop was the triangle of Jamestown (the first English settlement in North America), Williamsburg (where the Rockefellers donated land to build a replica colonial settlement) and Yorktown (where Cornwallis surrendered and the Revolutionary War was basically over). We love all the history we have been learning probably because we are a couple of relics ourselves. The next stop was Charleston and now we are in Savannah. I will leave them for the next blog.

Our New England Adventure

We left St. Margaret's Bay and headed to Annapolis Royal to see the other side of Nova Scotia and the Bay of Fundy. We thought it was windy in Peggy's Cove but was that nothing compared to the wind we had in Annapolis. We even had a little snow near the Bay of Fundy and couldn't get to the border fast enough. Concord, Massachusetts was out next stop. We missed their fall colors by about 2 weeks and it was rainy and cold but that didn't stop us from touring the area. I loved it there - all the trees, historic homes and quaint towns. Darcy was so patient letting me tour museums and homes of Thoreau, Emerson, Alcott and Hawthorne. We even went to the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery to see where all of them are buried. We saw the sites in Concord and Lexington where the American Revolution started and we toured the Paul Revere and Minutemen Museum along the route he took from Boston. These sites and most of the others we visited are run by the National Park Service. The rangers are full of interesting information and love their jobs. We also spent 2 days following the Freedom Trail starting at the Boston Common and ending at Bunker Hill. We learned so much about the American Revolution I thought our heads would explode. On the rainy days we drove all around the areas where Elizabeth worked and lived. From Concord we headed west to the University of Massachusetts, Amherst where Elizabeth got her masters. It is a beautiful campus and cute college town but the football team was playing that day and the traffic was unbelievable. I wish she could have been with us. The next stop was Gettysburg where we toured their enormous museum and drove all around where the battle took place. Now we are staying in Alexandria, Virginia. This is perfect. It is only a ten minute walk to the subway and 20 minutes to downtown Washington DC. We have been walking miles and trying to see as much as we can but I will leave for the next post.