Recent History (October)
Here are some late fall flowers that were hanging
in there on my balcony
Several family members and high school friend
Karen were in DC for Dana's concert. We went to
the National Gallery East Wing to see a Munch
exhibit and then had lunch at the American Art
museum.
This is a magical little causeway going from the
backstage area of the dance theater to the front
entrance. It seemed like a secret.
A week in July - Edisto 2010
As in the past couple of times we've gotten together David served up amazing vintage cocktails and as in the past 10 years (for me; it goes back to the 80s for the Susans and David) we updated our "Lust List". In the past we have done nature walks, some more successful (ie, less mosquitos) than others but this year we found a true gem in Botany Bay Plantation Wildlife Management Area.
It is a large piece of land that once contained two plantations. The owner left the land to the state when she died and they have made it a wonderful place to drive/walk through and explore. We saw snakes, alligators, huge frogs and many birds. The plantations are no longer there save a few bricks, some small buildings and a well but the marsh, ponds, fields, forests and beach are amazing.
Highlights:
- A new and improved rental house - filled with light and a bit bigger than the one we've stayed in the last couple of years.
- Keeping one eye on the alligator in the middle of the pond as we ran around taunting the huge kitsch-like frogs.
- Maddy actually getting Hunter to eat a vegetable or two
- Eating fried fish and drinking at two local restaurants. At one we befriended a shy young lady named Carson.
- Listening to staffer Bruce's stories of hanging out with movie stars as they were filming at Botany Bay - Tim Roth, Jude Law to name two (there may have been only two)
Here are the drinks David made us.
- Bijou (gin)
- Floridita (rum)
- Clover Club (gin)
- Last Word (dry vermouth?)
- Fairbanks (gin) - my favorite
- Argentine Cocktail (gin)
- Mulata (rum)
- Agri Dolce (tequila) - group favorite
Check out more pictures at my Gallery
A week in July Part 1
It was a wonderful visit. Karen and Zach are wonderful hosts. We talked about then and now and everything in between. Karen and I looked through year books. When you have not seen somebody for 30 years most of the details go away but the defining memories remain. I remember Karen's smile, I remember that she drove her dad's old mercedes. I confessed to her that I thought I wasn't as cool as she was in high school and she said the same thing about me. Ahh, teenagers.
We had a nice mexican dinner at Tios near the
campus where the waiter was from Mongolia
Where the ducks and hens hang
Karen with fresh eggs and their cat Smoke
Sunday morning Zach and Karen fixed me fresh eggs
from their hens and ducks and sent me on my way.
i headed down I-95 to Savannah to visit Tommy,
Sandy and Little T in their newly renovated
place. My parents, Lynda and Graeme were also
there. We all agreed that rhe changes made their
place remarkably more spacious and filled with
light. We ate warm chicken salad, bean casserole
and Sandy's famous pound cake and watched a live
video feed of the robots trying to plug the leak
1 mile below the surface in the Gulf on Mr. Pin's
computer. We headed to Edisto early evening and
got there in time to watch the sun set.
Shrimp fries!
Ellen and Sam's friend Arthur joined us as well. And it was during dinner when Lyla and I were explaining to Sam about how our mother was Latvian and our father was Irish that Arthur stood up and quietly walked around the table to where Lyla and I were sitting, stood between us and asked if we said Latvian. After we turned, gave him a puzzled look and said "yes" he kissed us both on the cheek and said "Sveiks". As you can imagine we were amazed that someone knew the official Latvian greeting. It turns out Arthur used to date a Latvian girl. Alas it did not work out but he gained a clear understanding of what is important to Latvians. It also turns out that Sam and Arthur know another Latvian that swims at their pool.
After dinner we stood around and re-arranged T-shirts on the floor to help Tracy plan his Grateful Dead quilt that Austin is making. We also watched Apolo Ohno win a another medal. Ellen and Sam have a big rottweiler named Pepper who was very friendly and joined in the fun while we were there but started growling when we left. This was quite odd. I can only think that as a rescued dog he has abandonment issues, even with relative strangers.
But it was another wonderful event with Sam and Ellen.
Shrimp fries!
Ellen knitting and William taking a photo for his
contacts list
Sam serving a nice bottle of wine. Lyla and Tracy
with tulips.
Austin's veggie dish. Lyla points her chopsticks
at Arthur.
Planning Tracy's Grateful Dead T-Shirt quilt.
Pepper the friendly rottweiler with a pal
Ellen's frog collection.
Burning Christmas trees
There are more pictures here.
Full Kee
Nick Chen: Beef intestine noodles, want some?
Danny Wallace: Uh, no.
Nick Chen: You wanna be a Chinese, you gotta eat the nasty stuff.
Well, Ellen did not order the nasty stuff for us but we were thrilled to know she could have. What she ordered was delicious. The only odd thing was the dessert - a sweet thick concoction made with pea green soup and tapioca.
Vintage Drinking on Edisto Island
Sunday:
Negroni, Evans Cocktail
Monday:
Gin & Tonic, Josette Cocktail
Tuesday:
Dandy, Marguerita, Gin & Tonic (Fever Tree Tonic Water), Baranquilla Green Jade
Wednesday:
Ford Cocktail, Lucien Gaudin
Thursday:
Marguerita, Gin & Tonic, Vodka Tonic, 20th Century, Brandy Alexander
Friday:
Grande Bretaigne
Saturday:
David left so Lutz and I slummed with plain old vodka and plain old Tonic
Some drinks were very exotic with interesting combinations of liquors and liquers. I had no real favorite - I enjoyed every one that I drank.
Some other highlights:
- Catching up with everyone.
- TV shows and movies on DVDs
Movie - 28 Days Later (zombies!)
TV - Mad Men, Flight of the Conchords, The Guild, and Shark Week on the Discovery Channel
I missed Eagle vs Shark and The Thin Man
- Susan swimming with us in the ocean fully clothed including large Andie McDowell style hat
- We took our usual 3 hour walking trip to
Jeremy's Inlet - a place that is supposed to be
rich in fossils. I did find a couple
- Fried Chicken, sweet corn, shrimp,
flounder, crabs that we caught, blackberry
cobbler, smoked chicken salad, fruits and
vegetables from George & Pink's
- Dinner at Whaley's a new pub/restaurant
that used to be a gas station and little store.
- I won a Scrabble game!
- Cocktails at Ingrid and Tom's
- Kayaking in the dark - last time I was too chicken to try. I was only mildly afraid of the zombie alligator that I knew was out there somewhere.
Check out more pictures
And here's the video: