Usalola’s Weblog

Happy 2009 – we made it!!

We continued our long ride through Texas, stopping for a “what the heck?” moment in Valentine,Texas, where we saw the two true opposites of Texas (and maybe life?) the simplicity of a cowboy steering in a horse out on the wild pasture with the big blue sky above him, and a Prada art-installation with faux products inside just waiting for someone to push open that consumerism-door…

Finally! out of Texas and into New Mexico, where the sunsets were magnificent and New Year’s was full of friendship, stories, and  laughter with Glenn’s old friend, Bogie. Happy New Year!

 

 

Time marches on, and so did we, to Tucson to hook up again with friends Jim & Irene that we saw in Savannah. Again, more laughter, wine and hikes – the last of the friends that we will see on this journey.

We are now headed to San Diego – yes, the trip has come full circle in six months. We (ok, me, really) are a bit emotional about this all coming to its conclusion, but, oh what an amazing trip it has been!! We have TRULY enjoyed every moment of  it, and thank all that have e-mailed or called to say hi, and especially the friends we barged in, er, visited along the way – we still shake our heads at how blessed we  are to have such good friends  and will treasure all the memories for many years to come. See you in New Zealand!

 

 

parting shots…

 

 

Deep in the heart of Texas

Christmas was coming upon us fast, and we hadn’t yet decided where to plant ourselves. After some research, it was going to be Texas – like it or not.  With a state that is 1,200 miles ACROSS, we had no choice. First, though, we rambled through Alabama and sniffed out some local cheese. We bought some habanero cheddar, perdido (hard cheese with ash-killer!), black peppercorn cheese and a pungent blue. Couldn’t pony up for those deep-fried dill pickles, though I was tempted…

We quickly made our way into Louisiana, and headed towards New Orleans. It was so hard to still see so much devastation driving into town. It still looks like a bomb went off in many areas. The heart of the French Quarter is up and ready for the holidays, and we quickly settled in at Napoleon’s with a bloody mary with okra pickles. Yum..

We ducked in and out of galleries and shops, bought some “mississippi mud” and had a relaxing dinner at NOLA- one of Emeril’s digs.

 

Texas is so vast and flat, we were anxious to get to our holiday destination – Hill Country. But first, we bypassed the Houston sprawl and drove into San Antonio to check out the Riverwalk, the Alamo and have a Shiner beer with some BBQ.

 

 

We arrived at the Escondida resort in Medina and took in the fresh air and peacefulness. Christy is the owner, and she really made our stay enjoyable with our own stocking full of goodies, a Christmas eve buffet, a Christmas morning country breakfast, and a Christmas day feast. After all that food we needed to hike it off in the neighboring hills.

 

 

We really feel blessed to be enjoying such a relaxing Christmas, and even though we aren’t surrounded by our loved ones, we are thinking of all of you and wish you a very Merry Christmas!

 

Florida- west coast

Making our way up the west coast of Florida, we drove through the Everglades and took one of those water-skimming boat tours. Did I happen to mention there are ALLIGATORS galore in this state?!!  and did we see the mother ( and papa) of all alligators. Check it out – “Mama” weighs about 200pds, and “Papa” about 300.

 

 

 

Continuing on our way, we drove by literally hundreds of ‘gators in the swamp water along the road. Amazing!    We stayed in Sanibel Island for a couple of nights -right near the beach and the town with all the Christmas decorations up. After 20 yrs of living on the west coast, it’s still a little odd to see decorations and people walking around in shorts and flip-flops. We enjoyed our time there riding the paved bike trails around the island and going out for  fresh fish. The big downside (for me) was getting eaten alive by the no-see-ums. Biting #$%&*@ -bugs that, surprise, you can’t see, but caused me  a tremendous amount of pain. One stop to the urgent care, and lots of anti-itch cream later, I was back on track.

We headed up to Orlando, where I dropped Glenn at the airport and had a week to venture around town. As usual, I hunted down a winery (I know, I should have known better..) – Lakeridge winery, and open-mindedly tried 2 of 8 wines of unknown-varietal before my palate shut down and said “no more”. Well, I tried..

Another afternoon, I bought a ticket for a holiday ice-sculpture show. For some reason, I’ve always dug ice sculptures, and I thought if they’re charging 20$, it must be something- and it was!! For the past 8years, this hotel has been bringing in 30 professional sculptors from China for this show. They carve through 2 million pounds of ice and keep the rooms at 9 degrees, so hence my massive parka ( no, I didn’t just have it in the RV).

 

 

The rest of my week I spent hangin’ out with the kitties at, what has become one my favorite state parks, Lake Louisa SP outside of Orlando. Small and  serene, perfect for the kids to chill while I read a book…

I picked Glenn up at the airport, and for the next few days we traveled along the Gulf and out of Florida, and started to feel that holiday spirit in the RV…

 

Florida — east coast

We (surprisingly to us) really enjoyed our time in Georgia-lots of fall foliage and pralines! and can honestly say we’re not looking forward to Florida. Let me tell you my reasons why:

1) alot of bad (ok, I’ll say it, senior) drivers in big cars and big RV’s  2) many childhood vacations in Florida fighting for space with my sis’ in the stationwagon on the Chicago-Florida DRIVE – leaves me with a queezy feeling on the whole state, 3) Alligators – EVERYWHERE, and 4) it’s flat,flat,flat-not a hill to be seen anywhere.

  Anyhoo, we’re jumpin’ in. We need to stay where it’s  going to be relatively warm for the next month, and this is it. Down the east coast and then up the west coast.

We’ve really enjoyed so many of the state parks throughout this trip, and Florida has a ton of them, so the first few nights working our way down the coast, we stayed at: Fort Clinch State park, Anastasia State park, and  Tomoka s.p.  Lest you think that Florida is only about beaches, shame on you. We stopped in Saint Augustine, and went to the Castillo Saint Marcos fort, begun in 1672 and still amazingly preserved.

Our next stop was the John F. Kennedy Space Center, and Cape Canaveral. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t  jumping up and down to go here, but I’m sooo glad we did. it is a package deal – $40 gets you into the various museums, short shows about the space station (very cool in 3-D) and the first manned shuttle launch in the “war room” (the BEST and it looks exactly as it did) and a tram ride to Cape Canaveral where the shuttles take off and land. This is definitely not just for kids.

 

 

 

 Did I mention ALLIGATORS?

 

 I saw this guy as we were driving by, and went back to take a picture. We were so amazed looking at him that we forgot to close the RV door and Simon came running out! I freaked, and he continued to run until I grabbed him by the scruff and practically threw him in and shut the door. Whew!

We made our way past Daytona(plenty of memories there – go band!) and headed  down to the land of the rich and famous – West Palm Beach. It is really beautiful with its   galleries, shops and restaurants and narrow, palm-tree lined streets of stark white Tuscan-style mansions. We meandered through the streets making our way down to Boca Raton (“Boca”) where we jumped on the bike trail that seems to run the length of the coast. Thinking we’d check out the buff -bods on the 2 1/2 mile long boardwalk at Hollywood beach and catch a ray or two ourselves, we were slightly shocked by quite the opposite. I had no idea the senior citizens of mostly quebecois origin had their own beach in Florida!!!  Mon dieu!  There was french speaking, singing and dancing going on everywhere around us.

 

As Hollywood beach didn’t work out for us, we went where we KNEW we could catch a glimpse of the hip and hot – Miami Beach. And it lived up to its reputation – lots of sidewalk cafes, hip shops and art deco hotels galore. I also got in a little beach time, and the water was great!

 

I was kind of bummed we weren’t staying here for Thanksgiving, but was also excited to check out our pad for the next 2 days – the classic Biltmore hotel in Coral Gables. This hotel is amazing, not only is it truly grand, but it is also home to the largest swimming pool in the Continental US – we definitely took advantage of it.

 

 

 

 

 

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving meal at their stately Palme d’Or restaurant, and gave thanks for so much – family, friends (like you!), health and last, but not least how blessed we are to be on this amazing journey.

 

Oh, and did I mention ALLIGATORS?

Every campsite near the water (which is all of them) we’ve stayed at I’ve asked if there are alligators and the reply is either 1)” I haven’t seen one around… lately,” or 2 ) “yeah, but just the small ones, you know, about 6 feet.” – HELLOOOOOOO

Our next stop was the Keys. Again, I hadn’t been here since I was a kid and was looking forward to it.Our first stop was Long Key State Park. This place is AMAZING- right on the water and very relaxing (well, not so much for us as our next door neighbors were not-stop chatty kathy’s). It is definitely at the top of our stays on this trip so far. A must stay if you’re going to the keys.

 

 

 

We made our way to Key West, crossing over many bridges, and the 7-mile bridge in particular was beautiful.

 

Key West was much more touristy than I remember (12 yrs old was quite a few years ago..), but we did fall in love with the key lime pie (how many pieces did we eat?) and the cats at Hemingway’s house.

 

Arriving in Key West is a little bitter sweet, as we have come as far south on this trip as we can, and now are making our way back towards San Diego. The west coast of Florida awaits….

Georgia…Georgia…y’all

 

I started to feel a little of that “southern vibe” through South Carolina – a thick heat in the air that makes you just want to slooooow down a little, and that slight drawl in the words…but it hit full force when we traveled into Georgia.

Our first stop was Savannah. We decided to take a short break from the Rv and spread out a little – 22 feet gets tight awfully quick- and rent a carriage house. That way we could really check out the city. Savannah has so much history, but also so much modernity due to SCAD (Savannah college of Art & Design). It’s a city with much to offer, although it is still a bit in “transition”. In the 80′s the Historic District was basically the slums until the Preservation Society stepped in right before many of these historic mansions were to be razed.The work on these homes and neighborhoods continues. We stayed in the Historic district, a great area to place ourselves and walk everywhere, literally. We didn’t move the RV the entire time. If you visit, and don’t happen to be staying in an RV, I would definitely recommend staying at The Mansion – an old building that has seen new life as a very hip hotel.

We settled in, and had our first dinner out in Savannah at the local hotspot, Local. I really can’t recommend the food, but the decor and drinks (Glenn vouches for the Manhattan) were cool. Our first full day we walked what seemed the entire city. There is so much to see – gorgeous mansions, quaint shops.. but I really loved the spanish moss hanging from the oak trees along the path by Forsyth Park – so “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the highlights of our stay was taking the “foodie tour” with hollywood Ron. He got his name by working with the Hollywood studios when they come to town to film movies (Midnight in the Garden of good and evil, Forest Gump..) and has taken his very outgoing personality to carting tourists (like us) around to the local cool eateries. We stopped at seven different places, and my favorites were 1) Momma and Kikki’s Soul food: we tasted Georgia shrimp in a slightly spicy sauce served over grits (love ‘em!). 
“Momma” started the business back in the fifties, and her daughter runs it today. Momma still comes in every day, even though she lives an hour away. This was the real deal, y’all.

                   “Momma” and her baby grandchild.

My next favorite was 2) Corleone’s: now I’m not a big meat eater, but the homemade sausage was out of this world! It was so good, in fact, that the next day Glenn and I went back for lunch and ordered it again. Our last stop was the famous (although I hadn’t a clue who she was) Paula Deen’s restaurant “the Lady and Sons.” Glenn and I thought it was overrated, but by the lines out the door, it seemed we were in the minority. 

Another of the big highlights of the trip was meeting up with Glenn’s friends who happened to be traveling through the south. We all wanted to have a ‘true’ southern meal, so we headed out to Geneva Geneva’s Soul Food. I read about it on TripAdvisor and the revues were great, so off we went. It is located outside of the historic district and when we arrived the place was pretty empty. No biggy, but we wondered what was up, given the rave reviews. Turns out Geneva is waiting to get her liquor license back, luckily I called earlier to see if we could bring a special bottle- no problem. We sat and Geneva came up to us with her big smile and introduced herself. We all ordered something different so we could share, so here goes: southern-fried chicken, pot roast, georgia shrimp with grits, mac ‘n cheese, okra, black-eyed peas and her AMAZING corn bread ( I begged for the recipe, no luck, but just suffice it to say that it’s full of eggs and butter). She spent alot of time with us and as this was the day after the election, we had alot to talk about. We all had a great time – check her out when you’re in Savannah.

 

We reluctantly said our good-byes to Savannah and made our way to Augusta – quickly went through there as we’re not at all golfers, and continued on to Athens- home of my fave bands R.E.M. and the B-52′s. This is a (wealthy) college town with lots of cool shops and cafes, interesting, but we’re looking for some history. Outside of Athens is a town called Madison, which in the early 19th century was called ” the most cultured and aristocratic town on the stagecoach route from Charleston to New Orleans.” There is an almost 1.5mile historic route filled with many historical and architectural structures. We walked around the town square and drove through the neighborhoods filled with Victorian, Antebellum and Greek Revival homes.

 

On our tour through Georgia, we loved all the small roads overflowing with fall colors and finding some interesting gems, such as an old covered bridge, an off-road bike trail with no one on it, or the town of Juliette where the movie “Fried Green Tomatoes” was shot.

 

 

 

 

 

Our next stop was Macon. Now I can’t say the town was much to speak of, but we sure did have some fun along the way with the political signs of “Bubber Epps” and “Saxby Chambliss” – I swear these are real mens names. We also had some killer fried chicken in Cobbtown, Georgia.

One of the biggest surprises of this area was George Smith State Park which had the most amazing Cane Cypress trees. Ok, I know, how surprising can trees be? Well, take a look at the picture, you’ll feel like you’re in another dimension. And to add to it, think of all the alligators slithering around in the water. It was pretty dazzling.

 

 

 

Our last stop in Georgia was Jekyll Island. As it was our anniversary, we decided to treat ourselves and spend a night at the Jekyll Island Club hotel, the summer hangout of the Morgans, Astors and Vanderbilts back in the day.   Jekyll Island is very unique among the various islands off the coast of Georgia, in that the whole island is a National Park.  The government has designated that 35% of the island can be built up for commercial use and the rest must remain in a natural state. It was wonderful to cycle around the island with the warm breeze enveloping us, and no one else around.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Heading deeper into the Confederate South

 

 

One of the highlights of this trip for me was taking a step back in time in American history and going to Gettysburg, and I was looking forward to more history lessons as we continued to head south.

To get myself properly prepared for the task ahead, we stopped at a couple of local wineries in Virginia. Keswick was alot of fun. We were the only ones there, and we really enjoyed tasting through their native and vinifera grape wines. Wine tasted, it was back to history: in 1607, a group of adventurers left England and crossed an ocean to establish a colony at Jamestown – only a few miles from what would later become America’s most historic cities of Williamsburg and Yorktown.  This area today is know as America’s Historic Triangle. 

 

 

“Colonial Williamsburg” is a self-guided village set up as it would have been back then, with men and women dressed and speaking in that period. The “townspeople” set up trade demonstrations and drama acts.

 

In Yorktown, we took a guided tour of the battlefield where the climatic military campaign of the American Revolution took place – the British surrendered and Independence was won. Before moving on, we made a stop at Williamsburg winery – Virginia’s largest winery producing over 70,000 cases. They make about 25 different wines, and we tasted 5. We really liked the Syrah – Susan Constant Red it’s called (yes, I immediately asked “who is Susan Constant?” and generated the immediate response of “you must not be from around here” – ok, then). Winemaking does have a long history in Virginia, and we heard more about it when we visited Thomas Jefferson’s house in Monticello.

 

Jefferson was quite an interesting and quirky fellow –  he was mostly a vegetarian- living off of his own garden, spoke 5 languages fluently, was against slavery yet had slaves of his own and is said to have fathered a child from a slave, took the outside temperature twice a day (what?), produced his own wine, and last, but not at all least, was the founder of the University of Virginia. Oh, and of course, there were those little side jobs of US Ambassador to France AND the frickin’ President of the Us of A! His property was truly self- contained, with all that he would need to live grown & produced right there.  It was where, and I quote from the man himself: “All my wishes end, I hope my days will end, at Monticello.”

Now, of course, Jefferson’s magnificent home could not have run without the help, well, of household help. And  help back then were slaves, and they were plenty in the South. Certainly some, the higher “echelon”, worked in their owner’s house, but the majority were field hands. We went to an old Plantation – Shirley Plantation, which sits on the James River. Unlike many Plantations, Shirley is still a working plantation.They open the Grand house for tours, but a descendant of the family still lives on the top floor (where we did not tour), and the property functions as a farm. Now, a quick note: a Plantation is a farm on steroids, with a Grand house for the owner flanked on both sides by a complex of buildings (stable,icehouse,laundry,slave quarters..) where the slaves performed chores that supported the plantation and the family that owned it.It was strange to walk these grounds and to imagine how life might have been for these scared people thrown into a new country, where they didn’t speak the language, and were forced to adapt under the worst of conditions.

 

 

 

We continued our journey south into North and South Carolina, passing many acres of cotton fields and beautiful Plantation-style homes dotting the small country roads. Where it may seem that there is so much grandeur in these areas, the reality is that the wealth of a former time is rare for many ancestoral families-these homes are expensive to maintain, and many families have sold them or left them to disrepair. While these families may have moved on, it seemed to me that the descendents of the slaves (or who seemed to me to be descendents) have not had that good fortune at all. I have never seen so many battered-looking single-wides or falling-down shacks in my life. These people still work the land and make and sell the sweetgrass baskets,the “slave baskets”, like their ancestors so many years ago. On one hand, it made me sad to see them struggle to get by, but on the other hand, I saw such pride in their work and a determination to continue their heritage for many generations to come. 

We took a side-trip to Kitty Hawk, NC, home of the Wright brothers famous flight in 1903. The flight lasted for 12 seconds, and they actually made four flights total that day – truly amazing to think that less than 67 years later we sent a man to the moon. There is an exact replica of their flying machine as well as the original markers of their four flights on the property. Definitely worth the stop.

 

Charleston, South Carolina was especially charming with all of it’s restored Plantation mansions and cobblestone alleys. Many of these were owned by the wealthy Plantation owners who would flee to the coast in the summer months, being deathly afraid of getting malaria, of which they didn’t know the cause. They would bring with then their most needed slaves, who lived on the top floor of the mansion, while the family occupied the first two floors.

 

 

We took some time from wandering the mansion-lined streets and stopped for lunch at one of the south’s most famous restaurants, Magnolias. It was very busy and the food looked great – immediately I was caught up in the south – fried green tomatoes, grits, cornbread and fried chicken. Yes! this is what I was looking for. The waitress guided us to a locals dish: “southern cavier” – homemade cheeses mixed with pimentos and a touch of mayonnaise. sounds a little strange, but it was excellent. The restaurant was elegant, yet relaxed, kind of like Charleston itself. We spent a little time outside of Charleston at Boone Plantation, famous for the 3/4-mile long spanish moss-lined driveway seen in various movies and tv shows.

 

 

 

 

So many of the Plantations have gone through many different owners and remodels over the years, and much of what is left inside are reproductions, and outside are just bit and pieces. So when we went to Boone Plantation and saw the original slave “houses” still standing, it was amazing, and eerie. We walked where they walked, and could only imagine their lives- 12-14ppl crammed into basically one room with no running water or electricity. Many didn’t even speak the same language among themselves, so they created the “gullah” language to communicate – and it continues to be spoken today amongst their ancestors.   

 

 

 

 

Fall foliage abounds

Returning from Greece, we stayed at Glenn’s brother, Brian, and his wife, Karen’s house outside of Baltimore for 5 days. The fall colors were brilliant – bright orange, red and yellow leaves were in abundance everywhere.

 

 

We spent one afternoon riding a 40-mile rail trail through a most brilliantly-colored forest, and another morning riding (in the very brisk weather) the farm-country backroads around the area.  All that exercise made us thirsty (!) so we spent a little time checking out the local wineries along the Mason-Dixon wine trail.  Our first stop was the family-owned Basignani winery. Started in the early ’80′s, they produce small amounts of alot of different wines – some vinifera, some not. Very rustic overall.

We next stopped at Woodhall Wine Cellars, where all the grapes for their wines come from Maryland. Although I really appreciated that they’re working with what their area gives them, the wines overall had a musty, earthy, slightly “foxy” nose and taste. Interesting none the less. Staying with the local theme – we stopped at a market and picked up some local bison burgers.  The days were busy – we also went to the Baltimore Art Museum and a great farmer’s market on Saturday – and the time went fast. We packed up the Rv and the cats and said our good-byes – thanks you two for all your hospitality and for watching the “kids”.

 

 

At Gettysburg, we started out with a visit to the Museum and an informative video, and then it was on to the Battlefield.  We decided to ride our bikes around the 24-mile park, carrying a map depicting all the battlefield tour stops.

 

It was really amazing to see and be on the site where for 3 days in July 1863 more men died than in any other battle in North America before or since (they say that total casualties for the Union Army was 23,000 men, and 28,000 for the Confederate army), and where Lincoln gave his infamous Gettysburg Address.

 

 

 

The next day we made our way to Lancaster – an area best known for its Amish community.  I loved all the rich farmland dotted with grain silos, and the constant click-clack of the horses pulling a buggy. It is an area that thrives on selling the fruits of its labor – literally. We stopped at a roadside stand and bought some homemade cheese from a farmer. It was luscious – creamy, but with a slight tangy bite. Loved it!

 

It seems like a wonderful life – working the land in the clean air with no real outside-world distractions, but it is a hard life, although I’m sure very rewarding in many ways.  We lingered around the town a while, and then slowly worked our way back to town- strip-malls, beeping car horns and all.

Ahhh,Greece

 

 I jetted off to Santorini, (as Glenn calls it “our trip within a trip” ), one of my favorite spots on the entire planet. Who doesn’t love a place with fabulous food,  tear-jerking views, and wonderful people?  A picture paints a thousand words….

 

 

 

 

 

I think I’m also enamored a bit with Santorini because this is where Glenn and I “met” 14yrs ago. Let me quickly explain (for those who don’t know the story): He wrote an ad looking for a traveling partner, I answered the ad with a picture of me wearing a big hat and glasses and sitting on a wall in Santorini waiting for the sun to set, he called, and the rest is, well, a little more involved, but as they say, history. So of course I had to find the wall again and take another picture.

 

 

 

The weather was absolutely glorious, which showed off the stark white buildings even more. We wandered through the cobblestone streets window-shopping, with a must-do stop at a taverna overlooking the water for a late afternoon cocktail. One afternoon we wandered to the “old village” (how it differs from the rest of the island, we’re not sure) and came across a sign for a winery. We followed the sign as it snaked through narrow, deserted streets until we came to a cave-like entrance and a winery called Gavala. We walked in, and were greeted by numerous cats (in abundance in Greece) and the somewhat frazzled winemaker. He stopped working with his scientific potions long enough to taste us on some of his wines, and tell us the winery has been owned by the Gavala family for 300years! Take that Napa valley!! We really enjoyed a dry white produced from the rare and indigenous grapes of Katsano and Gaidouria, both unknown outside of Santorini. It was a pleasant surprise to taste such good wines on the island.

After 3 sun-soaked days in Santorini,we were off to Crete. They couldn’t be more opposite- Santorini is stunning and euro-chic, where Crete is rugged and a little unkept. The landscape is dramatic with more olive oil trees than I have ever seen.

 

 

The “Cretans” are very proud of their island and its history. We went to the ancient city of Aptera, which dates back to 8th c. B.C. An earthquake in 365 A.D marked its decline, and the next powerful earthquake in 7 A.D. its definitive abandonment. It was amazing to see so much of the city still standing.

 

 

The weather in Crete was a little wild – cool and very breezy. We had a wonderful hotel room right on the water, so we could see and hear the waves hitting against the shore. Really quite beautiful.

 

 

One very,very breezy day, our guide drove us to the area called the Gramvousa Penisula on the northwest tip of Crete. The wind was howling as we walked the steep stone steps down to the water of many different colors, passing goats and a sign for a “taverna” on the way. It was amazing! Hit on the photo to enlarge it and really see how gorgeous it is.

 

 

 

 

 

Makin’ my way through Jersey

First, let me say, there are no pictures on this blog. Quite honestly, I didn’t see anything I wanted to shoot! So if you’re still interested in my whitty (ha!) writing, read on.

After Glenn & I dropped off Richele and Edmund we started making our way towards NYC, and JFK – where Glenn would be catching a flight to Greece in a couple of days. I was getting a little nervous already thinking about driving out of JFK and into New Jersey. LA this is not, these people are serious about their driving.  I was going to give myself time to relax beforehand, though, by heading out to Long Island and the Hamptons (you have to say it with your teeth clenched and an english accent).

Route 27 is the road that takes you to the south shore, and all the Hamptons,  - Southhampton, Bridgehampton and East Hampton. I drove as far as Southhampton to see what all the fuss is about. Yes, the town is quaint (yet again!) and the beach is beautiful, but there were some massively huge (and ugly, in my opinion) houses on the beach. I’m talking mansions that could easily be hotels and castles in Europe. Waaay over the top. I had enough of that, and settled myself into a beach-side campground with a glass of wine and my cats. Now THAT’S the way to live.

Long Island also has its own wine country ( I seem to sniff them out) on the north shore off of route 48 and route 25. It is bordered by the Atlantic ocean and the Long Island sound.It is relatively new (early 80′s)and is doing a really decent job with Gewurtz. and Cabernet Franc. I started out at Jamesport Vineyards and Jake directed me to some other wineries that are doing sustainable and biodynamic farming. My favorite was Shinn Vineyards, who are working with biodynamic principles even though they are not certified at this point. It is a really beautiful area and they are making some good wines, but need to get real with their prices. (100$ for a Long Island Meritage blend at one winery!)

The next day I had to face my fear and drive over to New Jersey. Now, this wouldn’t have been such a deal if I could have taken LOLA on the parkways- I would have gone through Staten Island and avoided the whole NYC/Bronx traffic, but there are height limitations on them due to some old bridges. So heart beating, hands sweating and eyes wide open, I headed off.  Everything was going smoothly until.. the infamous “until” – I went right when I should have gone left, and I found myself stuck in traffic in the middle of the Bronx. Oh happy day! All went ok, really, and was actually a little amusing, when at one point, sitting in traffic, a guy in the car next to me yells over “What is ‘dat thing?” (meaning the rig). New York – you gotta love it.

Whew! that over with, I’m going to spend the week cruising down the Jersey coast.  First stop was Freehold, town of the Henry Hudson rail trail (seem to sniff those out too.) It was a 25-mile out and back  paved and forest-lined ride. Really enjoyable, but longer than I anticipated as it winds through alot of small towns.

I continued my way south, stopping in Atlantic city for a little shopping (great outlet stores and no tax!). I’m not into gambling, so I drove around the outskirts of the city taking in all the stately and big seaside mansions.  I meandered down Ocean drive and little beachy towns, to Cape May at the southern most tip of the Jersey shore. The penisula was first inhabited by the kechemeche Indians, and sighted by Sir Henry Hudson (of the rail trail above) in 1609.

After a devastating fire in 1878, the town rebuilt its homes and businesses in the Queen Anne and Gothic style that still exists today. Ok, enough of the history lesson. I took the ferry over to Delaware and have worked my way up through the state ( very open fields, and not much to talk about) to Maryland, and my brother in- laws house, where I am going to say “see ya” to the rig and the cats and go join Glenn in Greece for some fun in the sun!!!

Mystic and Mohonk

 

 

Out of Massachussets (sp?) and the glamourous towns, and on to Connecticut (enough with these long-lettered states!) and New York. We hunkered down a few nights in Mystic (anyone remember the movie? Glenn didn’t know what the heck I was talking about). We didn’t have any pizza (movie title: Mystic Pizza), but we did see the sights (very quaint and historic-like all of New England) and break the law.

Let me explain that last one (I can hear my Mom going – what?!!).  Mystic seaport is not just an open port to walk around and see all the boats, it is a commercial business. They have locked gates surrounding the port area, and there are lots of little shops and small houses where the people dress up in period outfits pretending to do jobs like they were done way back when – they charge $18 person to go in. Well…. ever the pro photog, Glenn wanted to shoot the port area at sunrise (yes, 6am) and he wanted an “assistant” (yes, that would be me) and no, he and I didn’t know before we started this adventure that the place was all gated up.(Glenn had been there 20yrs ago when it was just another seaport). So… we get there in the 40 degree weather -hats, gloves and all, only to see the place locked up. I’m thinking – party’s over, time to go back for a few zzz’s, but Glenn is like, “let’s walk around a little”..hmm… what do we find? Surprise! an open gate that the security guard (or guards-we don’t know) left open. So, of course, we go in and start tipe-toeing around. I’m constantly looking over my shoulder while Glenn is shooting away, and while we see a security guard, he doesn’t see us. After about 25 minutes of this, we climb a gate out of the port just as we see another guard in the distance walking towards us to come on duty. Just another day in the life of a photographer living on the edge! (ok, not really, and these are my quick pics- not bad, eh? maybe there is something to this crack-of-dawn-shooting-thing).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Heading out of Mystic, we saw a sign for the Connecticut Wine trail – hmm, didn’t know about that one. We see signs for a wine festival going on this particular weekend (fancy that!) so we head over to see what this is all about. Turns out they are growing some Cabernet Franc (decent) and other vinifera varietals, as well as some native varietals. I really dug the Vidal Blanc – very light and refreshing. I also dug the great stone wall-fences surrounding properties and vineyards, quite stately. What I didn’t dig at all, and I’m just showing my wine- snob colors here, was the winery, who I will name – Jonathon Edwards, who tauts itself as a “Connecticut winery”, but ALL of its grapes come from… guess…. Napa Valley! and the place was packed! If you want Napa wine, go to Napa!! Ok, I’ll get off my soapbox now.

 

 

 

So off to New York we go, and one of Glenn’s favorite places in the whole world (really!) – Mohonk Mountain house in New Paltz. We were extra excited to be going back there because we were going to be hanging in a cabin with our camping buddies, partners in fine wine and food, and just good ole’ San Diego friends, Richele & Edmund. Yippee!!  We picked them up in Poughkeepsie (Glenn’s old hometown) and headed out. We bought all our provisions and settled into the cabin with a glowing fire, and what else… a glass (or bottle) of wine! During the day we did either a long, somewhat grueling mountain bike ride on the Monhonk property out to the Minewaska lake area or a hike/climb on and through the large boulders on the Mohonk trails.

 

 

 

 

 

By evening we were exhausted with all the fresh air, so we made homey, yet elegant dinners that would finish with a taste of the local cheeses served with some great wines (sent ahead by Richele, thank you!) while sitting by the cozy fireplace. One night we treated ourselves to an evening at the famous Cullinary Institue of America (CIA) – THE training ground for some of the country’s most famous chefs. L’escoffier – the fine dining room where we dined on foie gras, duck, and wonderful french wines, is run by the students, and is priced more for a students budget than for a high-end restaurant. It is definitely worth making reservations for 3 months in advance.

Our last day at the cabin, it was raining buckets, so we hung out and packed up all our things. I couldn’t believe that all our months of planning and telephone calls was now over. We all wished we could stay at least another day…it was great to catch up and hang out with R & E. As wonderful as mine and Glenn’s trip has been so far, it is richer when we can share it with our special friends.