Sand and Surf

Ahhhhh, the beach....

There really isn't anything better, even with especially with little boys.

The boys are at the perfect age for the beach.  They slip into their swimsuit each morning and dig, and dig, and dig all day.

 

We spent mornings on the beach and visited the {heated} pool in the afternoons.  

 

Foggy Morning

Both boys really loved the warm pool.  Hans jumped in and wanted to keep up with Freddie.

We saw lots of porpoise and a huge school of sting rays which passed right near our feet.

The boys fished and caught a shark! 

And we slept in, lounged around, and ate seafood.  Oysters, shrimp, and fish each day!

Perfect way to finish our vacation.

The Beach

• A flight to Atlanta
• A jam packed car
  
• A drive to the beach
• Gulf waves
  
• Margaritas
• Sunshine
• Seashells
• Saltwater kisses
  
• Sandy toes
• Pink cheeks
• Wine
• Big Gulp sized bloody Marys
• Chatting late into the night
  
• 7 days to go
  

2 more days in the city

We spent Friday and Saturday wandering around the city, trying to take it easy and not further upset Charlie's tender tummy and back. I'm also only good for a few hours up and around before wearing out, so we enjoyed a leisurely couple of days.


We walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. Rather, I huffed it across the bridge. Anything with an incline takes it out of me these days.

Charlie sneaks a picture before Wicked begins

We took in a musical at the Gershwin Theatre. Wicked was spectacular! The costumes and acting were amazing, but the best part was the story. I highly recommend it whether you see it in NY or on tour.


Madison Square Garden got a good crowd for the Knicks game. I think the section we sat in was all tourists, most of which were European. Good for the Knicks that they are able to draw a crowd even if the locals aren't supporting them. And we both agreed that the Hornets organization puts on a better show.


And we walked and walked and walked around the city. The tree at Rockefellar Center was up, but not yet lit. UmBabay didn't get to go ice skating this year, and I am not sure when will be the next time he'll have the oppotunity to skate in NYC, but surely he'll be safer trying it with Charlie.

Great week. It's always nice to be away.

In the Big Apple

"I've always wanted to see the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade since I was a little girl" is what he's heard for quite some time, so he gave in, of course. Never any doubt, as the man's a push over. So, we're in NYC for the holiday week.

We've been wandering through the city, eating our share of thin crust pizza, searching out the perfect bagels (H and H shall some today), wondering if we could ever live here, and people watching.

Putting it away at John's

We also made it to the MoMA and the Met to take in a bit of art and test my high school and college art history memory. This has got to be the most crowded time in the city with the museums being packed. We wandered through a few galleries each day before bundling back up and hitting the streets.

With it being the holiday season we had to go to The Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall.


The audience was packed with children begging for $10 cotton candy. Yes, ten bucks for cotton candy. But they forgot all about it with Santa's appearance....


...and the Rockettes!


Of course the show was everything I hoped it would be with the perfect balance of cheesy entertainment and sappy nostalgia.


Radio City Music Hall has preserved its art deco decor of the 1930's (maybe some photos today if Charlie is able to walk!). But the shows were quite hip with current technology and even included 3-D film. I told you there was cheese!

We did balloon viewing the night before the parade. Streets where baracaded off between 3-10pm as the balloons were inflated and what seemed like every family in NY came to see.


We decided Jazzfest and Mardi Gras combined with two small children has got to be an easier feat than that....bundling children, getting on the train, walking up and down packed streets, hoisting kids up high enough to get a peek.


The morning of the parade we slept in, knowing we only had to walk out the door of the building and the parade would be less than 50 yards away. (Thank you, Mark, for the use of your apartment!) We also knew it was advised to be out there 3 hours in advance to secure a prime viewing location. I couldn't do it...it was too cold. And surprisingly, Charlie didn't get going at the crack of dawn to get me out there.


The crowd was thick....imagine Mardi Gras times fifty or Endymion times ten. All for two hours of viewing and waving. No beads, no beers, no bass drum thumping bands.

The kids in the crowd didn't
know what a Smurf was!

The man was disappointed once he saw the crowd that we hadn't done everything possible to get a prime spot, but eventually relaxed and took some photos over heads. We couldn't see anything but the balloons.


But it was perfect. We were bundled up, the sun came out, and after the parade we walked back to the apartment, smelling like the hot dog cart on the corner, and watched the parade on television, along with some football!


The adventure continues for a few more days...

More Maine

We had planned to visit two more coastal towns, Castine and Camden to do some kayaking and shopping but the weather didn't cooperate. After several perfect, sunny, crisp days, the rain came. We figured it best to drive on to the big city of Portland considering the grey day ahead.

We enjoyed the drive through quaint towns and Charlie got to enjoy a big breakfast, complete with lobster omelet and blueberry muffins and pancakes, in Camden.


We took our time driving along the coast, slowing to take in the little harbors along the way. It really poured all day, so we didn't stop, but listened to more of Narnia as we drove.

Before reaching Portland we made a stop at LL Bean! If we couldn't be outside, we might as well be in the flagship store. I knocked out some Christmas shopping and we continued on to Portland.

We were lucky to get one of the few remaining rooms in the city, albeit one of the most expensive rooms in the city, because it was Maine's 35th Annual Old Port Festival in Portland on Sunday.


The day started with a parade. I am not sure I have ever been to a parade outside of New Orleans, but I've watched enough television to know that a good ole Americana parade is nothing like what we have in Nawlins.


Lots of kids with balloons lined up to see jugglers, drummers, and costumed marchers wind through the streets.


After the parade the festivities began. There were a few stages with live music of all sorts. Lots of cover bands like Retro Rockerz, the quintessential old rockers.... wearing black jeans, faded black t-shirts, and black tennis shoes.



Areas were set up for local merchants with booths as well as artists. And there was lots of "festival" food, or what Charlie tells me is festival food....french fries, root beer, ice cream, hot dogs and sausage, and fried dough. I had never seen "fried dough" on a fair menu. I'm thinking they need a catchy name for the stuff.


And although I know New Orleans is different than the rest of the country I am always surprised that there is no beer on the street, even at a festival. Charlie tells me he thinks New Orleans really isn't part of the U.S. because if this.

So we had to head into some bars to "refresh."


People watching was good...lots of "crunchy," hippie, young folks with oodles of kids. We were really surprised by the number of 3+ child families we saw. Must be in the water...or those long winters. Also funny to listen to that local accent..."chowdah."


Maine was a great summertime get away. We loved always being along the coast. We also loved how dog friendly of a state it is! Every hotel allowed pets and people brought their dogs with them everywhere.


I think we have another summer in Maine, complete with "chowdah and lobstah" in our future.

My favorite souvenir, ever

Any time we go anywhere there are a few things to get. Postcards are a must. I love getting them so I always send them. Postcards sent.

Charlie also gets a magnetic clip. He's a chip fiend and we never seem to have enough clips for all those chip bags, so he's constantly on a hunt for them in each place we visit. Chip clip found.

As if the chip clip isn't enough, the newest must have for my dearest is a smashed penny. Put in two quarters and your penny, select the image, and crank the penny through the gears to press some kitschy image into the penny. We're gaining quite the collection of these. And what does one do with a smashed penny collection? Evidently it is pretty serious business for some but for us most of the fun is just stumbling across the dang penny smashers and we finally decided to put magnets on the back and add them to that chip clip magnet collection on the side of the fridge. 5 smashed pennies with lighthouses, lobsters, and moose at my last count.

And the final must is an ornament for the Christmas tree. We got a moose in Montana, a loon in Minnesota, an apple in NYC. We got some real doozies when we were exiles from the floods after Katrina from interstate gas stations between New Orleans and Denver.

Maine's got that lobster and lighthouse thing going on here, so we got a cute wooden lobster and a clam shell with a lighthouse painted on it. That clamshell was pretty close to being my favorite until we found this...


That would be Santa Claws...a lobster claw made into Santa! Better than a shot glass any day. This one is going in my carry on to make sure it's not lost or broken. Can't wait for the tree to go up.

Whale watching

We decided to spend an afternoon on a boat tour. I was torn between going to see the seals and lobster fisherman OR the whales and puffins. The whales won out and I figured we could do the seal tour on our next visit down east.

We bundled up after warnings of cold temperatures off shore, and thank goodness we did. I was cold!


We saw two whales coming up for a few moments and then diving to feed. We have lots of shots of the fin on the finback whales...


The boat hung out for about an hour waiting and watching as they came up for air and down to feed.


Charlie was the photographer for the day because my hands were not coming out of my pockets!


The whales leave a sort of void on the surface after they dive. The footprint lasts for several minutes.


We also rode out to see some sea birds near the light houses.

No bird photos but we did get to see lots of puffins, loons, black-backed gulls and Leach's storm-petrels.

Nice afternoon, complete with lobster and clam chowder dinner after we docked, of course. Can't get enough!