Random

I'm enjoying not working in corporate America again.

I had a late breakfast at my favorite bagel shop this morning.

I went to two estate sales.

I purchased items to re-sell in my antique booth.

I took a nap!!!

Friends came over the happy hour on the front porch.

What could be wrong with this life?

Nothing.

That is the answer.

NOTHING!

Road Trip 2012 - Day 13

Friday, April 27 - Savannah, GA

We had an extremely lazy morning at the hotel, which included breakfast. We left the room at 11:00 a.m., ready for our walking adventure in Savannah. We were sure we had our maps, but guess what? We left them in the room! Thank goodness, we had smart phones we could use to guide us on our Savannah walking tours.

We started by venturing into some cute shops and expensive antique stores.

Afterwards we walked through several squares before arriving at The Mercer Williams House Museum.

Our tour of the Mercer House was very interesting. The beautiful front hallway is 1,000 square feet and the three formal front parlors are 1,400 square feet. Those spaces together (just 2/3rds of the downstairs) are as big as our ENTIRE house! The Husband and I cracked up during the tour after hearing these statistics. :-)

We walked by the house that William Tecumseh Sherman occupied after Savannah fell to the Union. It is the Green-Meldrim House. Unfortunately, we did not take time to tour it. Next Savannah trip!

We walked by the location of the bus bench where Forrest Gump opened his box of chocolates.  The bench was not there. It was only in place for the filming of the movie. That did not stop many tourists from pretending they were sitting on a bench, while a friend took their photo. The Husband refused to do that. Spoil sport!

Imagine Forrest here.

There were monuments or statues in all the historic squares.

We had a very nice, very late lunch at the Six Pence Pub. A scene from the Julia Robert's movie Something To Talk About was shot there.

Somehow, we ended up back at Retro on Congress, during happy hour. What? Afterwards, we walked to our room. Good grief, we walked everywhere that day! Fun, but tiring.

After resting, we ended up at Circa 1875 - Gastro Pub for a delicious and decadent dinner. We shared:

• Escargots - traditional garlic shallot herb butter
• Foies de Poulet Saute - Seasoned chicken livers on top of savory brioche, carmelized Vadalia Onions, Quince preserves, and finished with natural pan sauce (OMG! OMG! Delicious!)
• Profiteroles - With vanilla ice cream, topped with toasted pecans and hot fudge
• Cocktails (Did I mention those?)

The wait staff was lovely! Any server who walked behind the bar (of course, we sat at the bar) was happy to help us. But, more importantly, they chatted us up, which we love.

Based on the recommendation of one of the servers at Circa 1875 - Gastro Pub, we walked to The Bohemian and ascended to their rooftop bar. We were amongst the young, trendy, cool people. It reminded us of our youth. We were young, trendy and cool at one time. However, we had to leave well before midnight, because it was past our bedtime!

We thoroughly enjoyed our day exploring Savannah on foot.

Have you been to Savannah? What did you enjoy?

Road Trip 2012 - Day 12

Thursday, April 26 - Savannah, GA

We slept later than normal. It was 9:30 a.m. before we woke. Which was fine, because 1) obviously we needed the rest and 2) we had no place to be at a specific time. We had a hearty breakfast at Cobblestone Cafe and were then ready for anything the day would bring!

The previous day, we had purchased tickets from Old Savannah Tours for the Historic On/Off Tour. We hopped on the trolley at the last stop, planning to start the tour at the beginning. As we pulled into the Visitor Center parking lot, the tour guide advised us we would have to exit that trolley and board the next scheduled tour. As we exited, who oh who should be there to greet us but Mr. Jim Williams!

We were interviewed for a video being put together for the Savannah Visitor's Center. Hopefully, we won't end up on the cutting room floor!

We boarded the trolley and met our tour guide, Kathleen Green.

Kathleen loves her job and her adopted city, as she told us several times during the tour. Not only was Kathleen knowledgeable about the city sights, but she was engaging and funny and kept us all entertained. At the conclusion of the tour, we were equipped with a great overview of the city and a better idea what attractions we wanted to see the next day.

Most especially, we had a better understanding of how historic Savannah is laid out in squares. If you are not familiar with the city design, I encourage you to look at this information. We found the design to be charming!

We couldn't go to Savannah without at least going by Paula Deen's Restaurant and Shop. We didn't eat there, but we did spend a few dollars in her shop. Look, I even got a picture with her! Mmmm, I look hot and tired and in need of a cool beverage.

We wandered across the street, where we were drawn into Retro on Congress because of their bar stools. I mean, who can resist animal print bar stools?

It was happy hour, so the drinks were only $2 each. Ridiculously cheap. Savannah allows you to purchase "traveler" drinks. As a result, you see lots of tourists walking and cocktailing at the same time.

We visited Kitchens on the Square next. It was full of fun, quirky items. I especially liked the character salt & pepper shakers. We stopped in the City Market area at Wild Wing Cafe for a snack and a drink. The bartenders were personable and the crowd was fun.

We returned to the room to rest for a while. Afterwards, we went on a walk looking for a restaurant. We saw several, but ultimately ended up back at Wild Wing Cafe for a casual dinner and to enjoy the live music immediately outside the restaurant. There were lots of people enjoying the music, dancing and generally having a great time.

We returned to our room late and fell into bed right away!

NOTE: While I was writing this blog post, The Husband and I were watching the movie "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil." :-)

Road Trip 2012 - Day 9

Monday, April 23 - Charleston, SC

At 5:30 a.m. we were awakened by truck noise. Lots of loud truck noise. Not only was it trash day, but there were also huge dumpsters full of construction debris that were being emptied. Joy! Joy! Joy!

We finally rolled out of bed at 8:15 a.m. At 8:30 a.m., the phone rang advising The Husband our breakfast would be delivered soon. It was very nice to get advance warning before the knock on the door!

After breakfast, we opted to walk to the Visitors Center. Silly us. The walk was longer than we anticipated. The Visitors Center was very busy. Lots of people in line waiting for information and tour tickets. We waited in line at least 30 minutes, perhaps longer, to purchase our tickets for the 2 hour Gullah Tour, conducted by Alphonso Brown.

We both enjoyed this tour. Alphonso is a funny, informative guide and we learned so much about Charleston's history. We also developed a keen appreciation for Philip Simmons, Blacksmith. He was the maker of many of Charleston's iron gate works of art. If you ever visit this fine city, we recommend you take this tour. You will not be sorry.

The tour ended at the Visitors Center and we caught the free trolley back to The City Market. I was more than a bit disappointed by the majority of the vendors in the market. I thought it would be primarily hand made, locally grown or vintage items. Unfortunately, it was primarily new tourist items. There were, however, a number of Sweetgrass Basket vendors, who were friendly and happy to educate us on the time honored craft. We did not purchase a basket during this visit to the market, but I knew I would not leave Charleston without one!

We had a quick lunch at Toast and repaired to our room for a short rest.

After our rest, we walked through the graveyard at the Circular Congregational Church, two blocks from our B&B. I love graveyards. I think they are places to remember and celebrate the people who have lived before us.

See the large tree in the background?

Here we are at the base of the tree. A sweet, older couple took our photograph and told us on their guided tour they were told that experts believe the tree to be 350 years old. They could take a core sample and determine the exact age, but have opted to refrain for fear of killing the tree. A good decision, in my opinion!

After visiting the graveyard, we continued our walk in the neighborhood and came upon a couple of basket creators. (We were told on the Gullah tour that they do not "weave" the basket, but prefer the term "sew.")

I carefully selected a basket to purchase and here you see the sewer signing and dating it for me.

We returned to the room and prepared to meet The Friend and The Wife for dinner. She is just as nice and easy to converse with as her husband. We had such a fun evening.

We walked to the Peninsula Grill for a pre-dinner drink and then moved on to dinner at Hank's Seafood Restaurant. After dinner, we walked to Charleston Grill and enjoyed a drink along with the music of a live jazz combo.

If you ever visit Charleston, you want to have a friend like The Friend. He knows all the cool and happening places and is a great drink and food guide for the city!

This was a day we did not even see our car, much less take it out of the garage. Walking everywhere made for immediate slumber once our heads hit the pillows!

Road Trip 2012 - Day 8

Sunday, April 22 - Asheville, NC to Charleston, SC

We slept late again, not awakening until 8:45 a.m. We left the hotel at 10:15 a.m. with the odometer reading 36,069. We stopped for a fast food breakfast (which was not good) and filled the car with gas.

I thought it was a boring drive to Charleston, SC. It was treed on both sides of the highway, so there was no view of houses or towns as we passed through the countryside.

Here is our obligatory photo at the state welcome center.

We arrived in Charleston and checked into The Elliot House Inn at 3:30 p.m. The inn has an outstanding location, right in the heart of the historic district. Everything is within easy walking distance.

We took the opportunity to rest (nap!) because we were meeting an old friend of The Husband's for drinks. The Friend lives in the area and, in addition to recommending where we should stay, also made dinner reservations for us for the following two nights.

These guys had not seen each other in 35 years and just recently reconnected via e-mail. When they saw each other, it was as if no time had lapsed. They picked up where they left off with comfortable and enjoyable conversation.

The Friend and The Husband

The Friend took us on a stroll of the neighborhood, beginning with drinks at The Bar at Husk Restaurant. We loved that the bar is a freestanding building adjacent to the restaurant. The second floor is a cool cocktail lounge. The first floor is a standard bar.

After the drink, we took a walk "South of Broad" (as Charlestonians say). It was an amazing trek through blocks of historic, beautiful homes. Scattered amongst the homes are churches, many with small cemeteries full of ancient graves. The Friend shared tidbits of information about the neighborhoods, specific houses and the history of Charleston.

The turning point of our walk was when we reached The Battery. As we promenaded the seawall, we could see Fort Sumter in the distance. 

As we headed toward our inn, The Friend ducked into an alley and like magic we were having another drink at the bar at McCrady's Restaurant. With this drink, we each had a deviled egg as an appetizer.

They cost $1!
For a deviled egg!
Which was 1/2 of a whole egg!
Oh!
My!
Goodness!

Suddenly, we all realized it was late on a Sunday night. We hustled back to the area of our inn, only to find that the restaurant where The Husband and I had planned to have dinner was closed. Fortunately, The Bar at Husk Restaurant was still open and was happy to serve us a sandwich.

At that point, The Friend left us in the capable hands of Weaver, the bartender, and Darrel, the bar back. In addition, we met Jay. A nice young man who was in town for a conference and ended up at the bar for a cocktail.

After enjoying our split BBQ pork sandwich, we walked the long distance (50 yards?) to our B&B.

Our end of day odometer reading was 36,347.

We parked in a garage across from the B&B. It will be interesting to see if the car comes out while we are here, since this is such a walkable area.

Palace Cafe - Tulsa, OK

The Husband and I joined friends at Palace Cafe this past Saturday night.

They have recently remodeled their space, updating their dining area and adding a bar. Kudos for the remodel. The spaces are elegant and sophisticated.

Because the newly remodeled/expanded restaurant had just re-opened, because the bartender was responsible for making all drinks (as opposed to the servers mixing drinks), because it was a busy Saturday night and because it was Restaurant Week, there was some confusion amongst the servers, bartenders and kitchen staff.

First, it's amazing to us how difficult it is for young bartenders to make the cocktail scotch & water. It's scotch, over ice, with water added. This was what was delivered to our table:

• Scotch over ice, with a glass of water 
• Scotch neat 
• Scotch & water (they say), but the glass was only 3/4's full

If you are going to spend the money to create an elegant bar, it would behoove you to recruit an experienced bartender who knows how to make old fashioned drinks. I can only imagine what would have happened if we had ordered a Manhattan or an Old Fashioned. To be fair though, we've recently experienced this problem in other restaurants in other states.

We all ordered three course meals from the special prix fixe Restaurant Week menu. Our server delivered our salad and we asked for another vodka & tonic.

Twenty minutes later, as a random person was clearing our salad plates, we asked for our server to be sent to the table or, more importantly, the drink be sent!

The server returned, apologized, said she was going to check on the drink and would be right back. She was. With more salads. We said, "No, no. We've had those already." (Shades of Groundhog Day.) Ultimately, we received our entrees and the vodka & tonic, followed by our desserts.

Palace Cafe is known for preparing outstanding food and they did not fail to deliver for us. We laughed and all agreed if we had to choose between shaky service or bad food, we'd take the shaky service every time.

Our server was nice, enthusiastic and ultimately apologetic. We know it was a confluence of events that contributed to the service issues and we will certainly return to the Palace Cafe. Next time, we plan to sit at the bar and suggest to the bartender how a scotch & water should be fixed.

If you drink old time cocktails, have you had this type of problem? 

Vintage Travel Bars

As I explained in this post, we don't exchange Christmas gifts with the adults in our family. However, an occasional exception is made to the rule.

Because our nephew-in-laws have always admired The Husband's vintage travel bar, we gifted one of them with a bar for his birthday last year. The giving of this gift sparked a lot of good natured whining from the other two N-i-Ls about how they were jealous and wanted one of their own. So, The Husband and I put it on the "wish list" and hunted away at estate sales, flea markets and antique malls.

Lo and behold, we found two during our travels last year.

 They are the key to your traveling pleasure:

They have a 1002 uses:

And we have two more happy nephew-in-laws:

Slightly Used Gifts

The Sister, The Brother-in-Law, The Husband and I don't buy Christmas gifts for each other. We gave it up a few years ago, in an effort to streamline the holiday and remove stress and expense from our lives. In fact, The Husband and I have the same agreement with his family and don't buy gifts for adult family members. Only the children receive gifts.

As readers of this blog know I love estate sales, flea markets and antique malls. The Husband is a good sport and frequently goes with me to these places and we occasionally see items that would be just perfect for one family member or the other.

So, if the item is just perfect and not expensive, we will purchase it and hold it for Christmas.

We found a set of four cocktail glasses for The Brother-in-Law earlier this year. We thought these were a perfect gift because the theme is two things he enjoys - cocktails and golf! Plus we only spent $4.

Front of the glass:

Text on the back of the glass:

The World's Toughest Golf Holes:

• 13th hole, Country Club of Miami, Miami, Florida
• 11th hole, Old Course, St. Andrews, Scotland
• 7th hole, Vale do Lobo, Algarve, Portugal
• 6th hole, Royal Birkdale, Southport, England
• 5th hole, Mid-Ocean Golf Club, Bermuda
• 16th hole, Cypress Point, Pebble Beach, California
• 1st hole, Golf Nueva Anadalucia, Costa del Sol, Spain
• 7th hole, Club de Golf Sotogrande, Costa del Sol, Spain

Up until a week or so ago, I had not seen anything for The Sister. But I found this lovely little handpainted saucer at a recent estate sale. It was dirty and covered in candle wax, but I could see the beauty under the grime. Since my sister has Asian accents in her dining room, I knew this saucer would look great on a small easel on her table, buffet or in her china cabinet. It cost $3.

The Sister and The Brother-in-Law both liked their gifts, so I think the $7 for two gifts was money well spent.

What do you think of our gift giving approach? Do you think this is a meaningful way to find gifts for our family? Or, do you think we are just cheap?

Vintage Cocktail Paraphernalia

I picked this item up at the Tulsa Flea Market a couple of weeks ago. It's a white, plastic box with "What's yours?" on the lid.

On the inside of the lid, the embossed name is Alexander & Wilson Co., Pasadena, California. When you open it, you see this:

Eight sections containing multi-colored tabs with gold writing on them. The writing on the tabs:

1. Bourbon & Water; 1-4 (pink)
2. Rye & Soda; 1-4 (dark blue)
3. Special; 1-4 (yellow)
4. Rye and Water; 1-4 + Bourbon & Ginger; 4 (red)
5. Bourbon & Soda; 1-4 (light green)
6. Scotch & Soda; 1-4 (orange)
7. Scotch & Water; 1-4 (light blue)
8. Bourbon and 7-Up; 1-4 {+ extra 3} (green)

The instructions on how to use the tabs:

What's yours? The Scotch and Soda or the Bourbon & Ginger?

We enjoy collecting vintage cocktail paraphernalia. I paid $5.00 for this conversation starter!

Happy Birthday, Tim!

We attended our nephew-in-law's birthday party Saturday in Oklahoma City. 

Sixty pounds of crawfish were boiled, along with potatoes and corn. A brisket was also served with a cheesy potato casserole and macaroni salad. Mmmm good!

Here's Tim opening his present.

He's excited, because he has figured out what it is!

His very own vintage travel bar. 

Long story short, we have a vintage travel bar that belonged to The Husband's father and we use it all the time. All four nephews-in-law have, at one point or another, expressed admiration for The Husband's bar. When I found this one at a recent estate sale, I snagged it because I knew it would be a perfect gift for one of the NiL's.

Tim and our niece Tracy.

The Husband and our niece Amy.

Our niece Mary.

We stayed with Mary and Joel at their new home, which is lovely. And, BONUS, look who greets you at the front door!

All in all, a very fun weekend.

And now we are on the hunt for more vintage travel bars. After all, we have to treat all the nephews-in-law the same. :-)

Cocktails With Friends

Tonight we met a couple at Tulsa's Summit Club.

The same folks we met that I blogged about here. We again had fun with them.

Now that I'm retired, we are going to have them over to the house for dinner. It can be difficult to make new friends at our ages (50+). But, we are going to make every effort to nurture these new friendships.

Saturday, Saturday

I love Saturdays filled with activities like these. Family breakfast at Mimi's, thanks to Mom.

My sister, my Mom, and my nieces:

The Husband, the brother-in-law, and those nieces again!

After breakfast, we stopped at the current Silvey Estate sale. One of our purchases was seven of these cocktail glasses. Aren't they cool? And only $2 apiece!

A stop at the Tulsa Flea Market for the debut of the Pretta Purses line. These purses are hand made by the mother of Ryan, pictured below. We wish her, her mom and her sister good luck with this new venture!

The one with the yellow and brown flowers is now mine, all mine...

Had a nice nap in the afternoon.

Currently sitting on the porch, enjoying the pleasant weather and looking forward to a great dinner at home.

Life is good!

First Fruits

I returned home this afternoon from Houston. I was excited to see The Husband and he was excited to see me.

We arrived home and The Husband carted my luggage and brief case upstairs, while I checked my home e-mail and relaxed. After a bit, he said to me "Would like to check the garden?" Of course, I said "Yes."

We fixed a cocktail and went to the garden. Look at what we found!

The first cucumber (14 inches) of the season! Whoo hoo!

Crisis Clarification

A few readers have expressed displeasure with my "Crisis in the Morning" posting. The main issues were:

1) Why did you not explain how the original Scotch glass was broken?

Ummm...I didn't think of it? The answer is Steve cracked it by accidently hitting it on the edge of the counter as he was unloading the dishwasher. (What a great guy!)

2) Did Steve crack the glass because he was drinking his first Scotch of the morning?

No, Steve never drinks Scotch that early.

3) What do the new glasses look like?

Behold, the new SCOTCH glasses!

Crisis in The Morning

It was a perfectly lovely morning.  The Husband and I awoke feeling great, ready to enjoy the day and each other's company. He made his way downstairs first, while I beautified myself.  

As I came down the stairs, I noted the vacuum cleaner on the landing.  I turned the corner into the kitchen and said "Did you have a 'clean-up on aisle 3' situation here?"  

He looked up at me, while raising his right hand and said "Pack a bag.  We may be gone all weekend.  We are going to hit every flea market, garage sale and antique shop in the county.  We can't come home until we find another."  

I focused on what he was holding.  Nooooo!  He was holding his favorite Scotch glass.  It was seriously cracked. I've known this man almost 20 years.  This has ALWAYS been his favorite Scotch glass.  The expression on his face was terrible.  My first thought was "Thank God I'm not the one that broke it!" 

You must understand, this glass is the last of a set of 5 glasses that was given to him 30+ years ago while he lived in Connecticut.  Originally, there were 6 glasses and they all had gold rims.  Over time, the gold disappeared and a glass occasionally broke. When I met him, he was down to the last glass and it had not one bit of gold left on the rim. 

We have laughed together about what would happen if that glass broke.  And, we have always unconciously been on the hunt at flea markets, etc. for a glass (or glasses) just exactly like it to purchase as an insurance policy.  

Today, when tragedy struck, I knew we had a situation that required immediate action. I don't know why we didn't start at the Tulsa Flea Market, but we did not.  We started at the Great American Flea Market.  Don't ask me why.  What an interesting place, but that's blog posting for another time.  

We ended up at the I-44 Antique & Collectible Mall.  We cruised every booth and found many interesting things. We even found a couple of serious contenders in the Scotch glass category.  So serious, we lined them up next to each other on a table and compared dimensions.   He also spent a considerable amount of time hefting each one in his right hand trying to determine if they were the suitable size.   I really thought one of them was going to make the cut, but ultimately The Husband walked away from them both.  

We rounded the last corner in the shop and stopped at a display case near the cash register.  Suddenly, there on the top shelf, were two suitably shaped glasses. Even better, they were commemorative glasses for former Tulsa movie theaters. One theater in old downtown Tulsa:  Orpheum and three drive-ins: Apache, Bellaire and Capri.  It took The Husband all of a couple of minutes to decide these glasses should reside at our home.

Everyone should be happy to know that The Husband has enjoyed his new Scotch glass tonight.  While it is not his old, familiar friend he thinks it will do nicely!