2010 Winter Classic Adventure begins!

As most of you know, Alan's birthday is December 31st and as many of you know, this year we are celebrating with a hockey road trip. Two Thrashers road games v. the Bruins and the Islanders sandwich attendance at the New Year's Day NHL Winter Classic in Boston, featuring the Bruins v. the Flyers.



The fun started yesterday, leaving sunny Atlanta mid-afternoon. Hartsfield felt very at home since we'd just been there Sunday (I actually identified with George Clooney's character in Up in the Air....) and the flight up to Boston was pleasant and quick. Our bags arrived (yay) and we were ready to navigate Boston's rapid transit system, the T. Google said all the surface streets were "red," so it seemed the optimal and cost-effective strategy to employ. Two transit passes later, he hopped on the airport shuttle to the blue line and were on our way. Very impressive and navigable system, although the cars on the green line appear fairly aged. Made our way to the Marriot Copley and checked into a nice room overlooking the Charles River.



Since we got to the hotel about 6:30 and the game was at 7pm, there wasn't anything else to do but don jerseys and head back to the green line. Quick trip to the North Station where all we had to do was follow the streaming Bruins fans. Our seats were great -- same corner as Atlanta but in row 4 (their zamboni entrance is in the opposite corner) so we got to see the Bruins attacking first period. Unfortunately, we got to see them a lot as they quickly scored.


It was a rather sad game to watch as a Thrashers' fan. We were close enough to the ice to see facial expressions and it was clear no one was having any fun out there. Ilya looked despondent as did Antropov. The veterans tried to keep it together but only Evander Kane had any real energy. Pavelec clearly couldn't see the puck and was pulled after three goals. Moose did his usual show of flash and style to keep it 4-0 but that's all he could do. I have two words for the Thrashers: fore-check.



The stadium was older but you could tell the franchise had more money -- the jumbotron was enormous and HD. And the advertising much greater. Two thumbs down for the bathrooms which were not sized for a sell-out crowd. Food was 50-50. We split a great roast beef sandwich from the Carvery which was excellent, but the sausages were only so-so. More variety of food, though. Very different crowd, obviously. A sellout and much more colorful commentary and advice to the refs. The mood reminded me a lot of high school...and not in a good way. Makes me realize how much I've changed, living for twenty years in Atlanta.



There was one noticeable difference from Phillips Arena -- the guys cleaning the ice wore all their clothes!

We got back to the hotel room and watched An Education, which we both thought was excellent.

Alan's birthday has dawned (at least for me -- he's still asleep) gray but no rain. We will meet up with cousin Bill today and then tonight we are venturing to the North End for dinner at an Italian-Peruvian restaurant called Taranta.

Forecast looks like tomorrow's game will go! I think our seats are kind of behind home plate up at the top on the third base side.

End of 2009's summer garden

We had our first 30 degree days in the last two weeks, so it's time to retire the summer garden and prepare for the winter one. Took a trip to Pike's for flats of pansies and picked up some 2 for 1 perennials, too. Seems like I can never get out of there for under $50...

Came home and retired all the tomato plants. Some were still producing but the flavor wasn't great and the skins tough. And, frankly, after the summer's bounty, I've had enough tomatoes for awhile!

For the record, this year's crop was two patio, one early girl, one husky cherry red, one bush goliath, one yellow pear, and an heirloom, kellogg's breakfast. The heirloom was far and away the best tasting but many fruit developed blossom rot and it didn't fruit that well. The early girl produced prolifically but the taste and texture weren't attractive. The yellow pear produced hundreds of small, sweet fruit -- Barb's favorite! The bush goliath and husky cherry were nothing special. The patio's were fine and well suited for the pots, although not suitable for upside down treatment.

Hampton Island Preserve

We're here with good friends for a weekend of fun, great food, and wonderful wine here at Hampton Island Preserve. This is a special place -- you can tell that the minute you drive onto the property. Just off of I-95, you nonetheless feel like you're entering a different time and place. Deer darting into the woods, sea grasses glistening in the evening light, rocking chairs on the porch overlooking wetlands -- you get the idea.

As if the place isn't enough, we have the kind of friends here that you treasure always. Due to awesomely responsible jobs that they all hold, names will remain nameless, but let's just say they we expect Lots Of Fun from this weekend. :-)

Tonight started with a champagne-accompanied trip down to the treehouse, yes, treehouse, where we ladies will apparently have massages on Saturday. Let me tell you, this is the way to get a massage, looking out over the marsh lands, the sky soft and rich in the distance.

Our "drop off" dinner featured some amazing pork tenderloin, grilled asparagus, and excellent sweet potatoes, along with a salad picked from fresh greens on the property. Yum! Alan picked a great in to go with and a fine evening was held by all.

Frozen fingers and toes

The day dawned cold....really cold. Like 39 degrees. Absolutely superb fishing weather (yea, right). I dropped Alan off at 9am to spend the day with guide Bill, who turned out to be a wonderful source of information about the area and was a great guide, to boot.

Our ultimate mountain guide, Jim, said "what a perfect day to go on top of Baldy and see hundreds of miles!" Suzy and I said, "sure, sounds good, we could go for a Baldy burger." So, we set out, and not being stupid, we grabbed our sweatshirts in case of chill. Then hiked up the LiftLine trail, stopping at Vulture Pt, and it was a very nice day to hike -- about 60 degrees, not too crowded, and the ascent steady but not a killer, about an hour in all.

The plan was to get on the lift at mid-point and head up for our Baldy burgers. However, a pimple-faced employee insisted that we have tickets. Now, we can tell you that we have employed this strategy of hiking to the midpoint many times and never been turned down. Curses on said employee.



Valiant Suzy volunteered to return down the chairlift to the bottom to purchase tickets, since they were not available for purchase at the midpoint. Little did she know, that she was heading into an arctic headwind. Blue and chattering, tears streaming down her face, she stumbled off the lift to the ticket office. "Do I have my cell phone," she thought? "Because those dummies can come right on down here and we'll have our burgers in civilization." Alas, no, it was not to be, so plucky Suzy headed back up into cold, eastern wind.

Tickets in hand, we boarded the lift for the top. And, dear readers, it was cold, very cold. The sun disappeared and the wind was steady. Our fleeces and sweatshirts were not, alas, adequate to the task and our frozen fingers were seeking warmth wherever they could discover...

It really wasn't heartening to see the folks in parkas going down the mountain.


Once on top, the sun re-appeared and we eagerly sought out the shelter of a building to suss out the scene. For once, all the outdoor picnic tables were open -- imagine. And we were happy to see the burger man flipping his wares outside the restaurant. Nevertheless, once we procured our various sandwiches and our potato chips, we had to resort to inside seating. The chip bags were something else -- the altitude differential made them puff up to max capacity. This made them quite interesting to open -- it wasn't too bad once you borrowed the jack hammer, though.

As we prepared to head down, a few small snow flakes blowing horizontally in the winds passed us by. Oh, yes, Idaho in August.

On the trip down, Suzy and I used my little kangaroo pouch and held hands the whole time, which helped. And, finally, we were at the bottom. Ah, the warmth of 60 degrees.


Fishing Report

There are days when as a fisherman, you are the vanquisher and there are days that you are vanquished. Today was one of the latter.

Weather forecast for Sun Valley tonight is 33 degrees with snow showers.

Heading back to Hotlanta and back to school tomorrow.

Second Sun Valley Day

The day dawned cloudy and the weather reports weren't encouraging on this Friday morning. We thought it might be a day for watching golf, but headed out to try to pick some raspberries at the Sawtooth Botanical Garden while the rain held off. The garden was very interesting, especially the Garden of Infinite Compassion, which honors the Dalai Lama's visit to the Wood River Valley. The garden itself is very peaceful with a wandering stream whose splashing masks the traffic of Highway 75. In 2005, the Dalai Lama consecrated and blessed one of two Tibetan Prayer Wheels in North America.

The raspberries proved a bust, unfortunately, but it was worth seeing the garden. Suzy and I walked back on the Wood River Trail, which was about a mile and a half. The paved trail stretches from Hailey to Ketchum and was converted from a rail system--it's flat and in the sun an absolute anvil. This morning, we enjoyed the cloud cover and even felt a few rain drops.

Lunch at home featured more of Alan's wonderful cedar planked salmon from the night before. Then I did some writing by the pool, finally finishing the Quadrangle article. Late afternoon, Alan, Suz, Jim, and I did the lower part of the Chocolate Gulch trail, which we all agreed was more beautiful this year because of all the rain. The wildflowers were awesome.

Back at the house, time for a pre-dinner swim and hottub and then we headed to the Ketchum Grill for another yummy dinner.

Sun Valley Sun!

Yesterday, amazingly, we went Back to Hartsfield where we had been only one short week ago. 5am wakeup call, 5:30am ride to airport, 7am flight to Salt Lake City, arrived in Hailey at 11am. Yowza. Flights were fine but when the Embrair 200 feels more comfortable than the 757-200, you know mainstream flying sucks.

Sleep-deprived hazy day yesterday, visiting with Suzy, Jim, and Kitty. Lounging by the pool, lamb dinner, early bedtime. Woke up after 10 hours of sleep much refreshed. Suz and Jim took a hike this morning, while Alan and I worked, and then we headed up to Galena Lodge for lunch. Luck was in for Jim and Alan because their favorite "Around the River Bend" beer was on tap! A couple of elk burgers later, we headed back to Ketchum.

Shopping at Atkinson's was crazy busy as usual, so Suz and I made short shrift of it. Well, as short as it can be when you have to get fish at the fish counter.... I went to the kitchen store and got the last cedar planks in town -- cedar-planked silver salmon tonight!

Back at the ranch, we enjoyed some sun and swimming, chatting about memorable golf cheating moments at Piping. Then, Jim headed for a nap and Alan, Suzy, and I took a 50 minute hike on the Greenhorn trail -- very pretty and the cloud cover was welcome, as was the breeze. We've got a cold front headed in tomorrow and expect 32 degrees Saturday am. Alan has booked a fishing trip for that day but says he'll call it if the winds are 30 mph.



The light on the hills is very beautiful as I write this poolside blog post. This truly is a wonderful spot.

Summer Vermont adventuring

We are back in Atlanta, our summer Vermont adventures at an end. Boo! But it is great to snuggle with the cats and we returned to a bountiful crop of tomatoes. Fresh tomato sauce and spaghetti was on the menu tonight!

In our remaining days at camp, we had some good sun days. Saturday started with breakfast pancakes (with blueberries or raspberries) courtesy of Dawn and then we basically had a sunny, lake averill day. Alan and I circumnavigated the lake in the canoe, then we had beach time. Then we had a new type of adventure: "Chicks on the East Branch Road."

When we finished up with Bill on Thursday, we had turned a corner back in the timber company land and happened upon two chickens -- obviously domesticated, obviously beautiful, obviously out of place. Mentioned this to Dawn when she and John came up on Friday and she was determined to catch them and take them home to her flock (they will survive for no time in the north woods due to predators or the cold). So, after our beach time on Saturday, Dawn and I headed up with the large fishing net and two cardboard boxes, determined to catch the chickens.

First challenge was to find them. Fortunately, they were right where we saw them on Thursday. Next up, the strategy -- Dawn charged through the woods to drive them onto the road where I waited with the large fishing net -- all in bathing suits, sandles, and t-shirts. No, there are no videos. And we caught the dark one, which we named "Sable." But "Averill," the sassy red hair was a total *itch. "She" even flew.

A gentleman in a Ford pickup stopped by, mightily entertained at this spectacle, which I must admit, must have looked amusing. We sent him on his way.

I ran back home to get the boys for help, but even with four people we couldn't land Averill. "She" ran us ragged and even dumped Alan in the dirt. Time to call it a day. Humans 1, chickens 1.

The laugh of the story was that when Dawn got home and introduced Sable to her flock, it turned out "she" was a "he." Suddenly, the dumping of roosters made more sense..... I'm gone but Dawn promises to return with a have-a-heart trap and some scratch next weekend. They're beautiful chickens --gorgeous plumage and they really should be saved. I have complete faith in Dawn.

My Mom arrived Sunday, Alan's Monday. Sunday was dark and rainy, and we had friends Hans and Inge over for drinks, meaning we had to have a roaring fire. Turns out my Mom and Hans both went to the same graduate program in urban planning at Harvard back in the 1950s -- and Hans knew Mom's roommate. Small world.

Tuesday, we headed to North Hatley for lunch, which was very nice. Our regular restaurant appears to have changed hands but the patio was still the same lovely place and the mussels were excellent. For the last afternoon at camp, Alan and I went down to the beach, where we found the loon family -- they were very close in, feeding, and generally enjoying the day. I got Jen's lens and tried to hold it steady -- not a trivial feat.

Dinner was at Quimby's -- cookout at the rock, which was just lovely.



Back at home, a tomato bonanza!

Lewis Pond, Etc.

Yesterday, we were supposed to float the Connecticut River with Bill, starting in Canaan. Got to Solomon's at 8am only to find that the night's rain had turned the river into chocolate soup. As we pulled up to Bill, he asked, "Plan B"?

Plan B turned out to be a trip over to our neck of the woods to find Lewis Pond. After stopping for a VT license for Bill at Priscilla's, we headed over the East Branch logging road down to route 105. From there, a right turn, and then the next right brings you into the Silvio Conte WMR, which has been in existence for about 10 years but about which we are just learning. They've got new signage up that lead you fairly easily to Lewis Pond, especially if you have a gazeteer. Lewis is beautiful and we popped the drift boat in and set out to explore. Seemed like it was good brook trout water, although the fishing was not particularly good, but it was a bright day in the middle of the day, so I'd try it again.

After a few hours in the sun, we repaired to the Lewis Overlook for lunch. This apparently is one of the best spots in Vermont for viewing fall foliage -- I can believe it.


After lunch, we explored around the black branch of the Nowhegan River, which had a lot of water coming through it. Looked like beautiful trout water but Alan says he never had much luck fishing the east branch as a kid -- so we don't know what the story is. Back at camp, we said goodbye to Bill, and headed over to Jackson Lodge to see Serge and Donna and to have a nice meal.

Another excellent day in Vermont!

Vermont July musings

After a whirlwind trip to Long Island to pick up Mrs C's car, we finally reached Camp at 9:30pm Sunday evening. But that 60-cycle hum from work and family and stressful driving didn't abate until Monday afternoon when the quiet joys of Papelousu began to take hold. Casting at the ponds Monday night was the clincher. I took a nice brook trout out of the upper pond and Alan got a 13" rainbow on the lower. Sweet!

Tuesday morning found us up at Lopstick meeting up with Bill for a half day wade on the Connecticut. We went to a stretch we'd never been to before somewhere below second Connecticut Lake. It was gorgeous -- great pocket water which we fished upstream to a beautiful set of waterfalls. Caught tons of brookies and salmon -- most small but some 8-10" -- on dry flies. Gorgeous, sunny day with big fluffy clouds -- just a great day. Finished up to about 2:30 and headed to Happy Corner Cafe where we enjoyed tasty food, as always. Back home we thought a dip in the lake would be just the ticket -- and it was that, if you want a ticket to freezing!

On Wednesday, we headed over to Quimby's to check on Ray and foung things bustling. Lots of guests in the lodge, some on wireless, kids trouping around everywhere. With the help of another QC fan, Belinda, we did a lot of work on the Quimby's website in May -- went live in early June -- and it shows. We even have guests coming from Perth, Australia, later in August! And we are almost full up for moose hunting season. Ah, the power of the internet. Glad to have played a part in making sustainable this very special place.

Headed to the Balsam's for lunch (we missed that last year) and then tried to repeat last year's famous raspberry outing, only to find that a frost in June had killed off this year's crop. Boo. :-( Back in Averill, ran into Robert and Priscilla, always nice, and made tentative plans to kayak Little Averill Friday night. Quick swim in the lake -- seemed somehow warmer today, quick kayak trip, and it's time to make dinner already. Days sure go fast here.

Tomorrow, an all day float with Bill, starting in Canaan.

Lake lapping, wind up, rain is on the way!

Back from Vermont

After 12 hours of travel, we're back home from Vermont. Various difficulties and other priorities prevented posting from there -- one post got eaten by the ether (google sites really don't come through on satellite up there). And, now, my capabilities are limited because I LEFT MY LAPTOP in Vermont. For those who know me, this is completely uncharacteristic since not only am I anal about room sweeps but I also am completely wedded to my laptop. I mean -- it's me, my photos, apps, configurations, etc. Using the work Air right now which is...okay. How could this have happened? Well, clearly it's Alan's fault. I mean, I'm just saying, he is responsible for putting the bags in the car. :-)

Highlights from the trip include spending time with family for the holiday. Suzy, Johnny, Dawn, Jay, Crista, Crista's sister Stacy, and baby Jack came up for the 4th, which was rainy and cold. Seriously, this July trip felt like a autumn visit -- it was cold and wet -- highest temp was 62 degrees. The lake was at an all-time high -- no beach whatsoever, despite the dam being wide open. We didn't even get out the kayaks it was so wet.

We did, however, have some great fishing. Good session down at the ponds on Friday with brookies and a rainbow from the lower pond. On Sunday, we had a totally excellent adventure with Bill (that's the post that went into the ether). We borrowed some belly boats from Quimby's and hiked two miles into a remote New Hampshire pond, almost at the Canadian border. For this trip, the weather was good -- only cold and damp, not teeming with rain. The pond was eerily beautiful -- clouds wafting over the water and dead trees poking up through the water, ringed with conifers. The BB's were fun, bit of a trick to navigate (our first time), but the brookies were eager and snapping -- kinda clear this pond isn't fished much. But at some point, especially in 58 degree water, all good things must come to an end and our leg cramps demanded a return to the earth. The stiff breeze going back was not a plus. Once again on land, it was like getting off a boat -- legs took a minute to adjust. But awesome! Alan "perky boy" Cattier was the last off the water, fishing to the end, while Bill and I cataloged muscles we didn't know existed.

Developed some new methods of carrying the inflated BB's and headed down the trail (so much easier than up). Loaded back up and bagged the picnic lunch option for the warmth and warm food of Happy Corner Cafe. I will tell you that at this point, I nearly put my head down in my sandwich, I was so beat. However, it was only 4:30pm and we'd only been fishing since ummm....10am (at the lodge at 8), so the day was not done. Back to Lopstick for the boat and off to Back Lake for the Hex hatch. There we tried out Bill's Orlios 9.5' 5 wt and let me tell you it's nice to cast a big fat fly that you don't have to worry about watterlogging or losing sight of. Day turned clear for the first time in 32 days and a lovely sunset was had by all.

End of the hatch -- did fairly well with some smallmouth bass and trout. Called it at 9:15pm, back home 10:30ish, made some quick spaghetti supper. Wow, cool, utterly cool day.

Weekend in the Highlands, NC

Our friends John and Duran invited us up to the Highlands, NC this weekend. We were the guests of Duran's Mom, Paula, and got to meet her brother, Chris, as well. Paula has a lovely home with a fantastic deck with great views. We enjoyed dinner on the deck Friday night and shot this beautiful sunrise photo this morning.

Saturday we headed over to the Chattooga River and hiked in along the river until we found a spot John and Duran had been to before. A beautiful set of pools, perfect for fishing and swimming. Alan caught a nice 13" brown trout. After a couple of hours, we headed to Cashiers where we had excellent mexican food at Pescado's. Dinner was excellent Italian food at Paoletti's.

All in all a great weekend. Full photoset on flickr.

Tomato Update, June 17

Tomatoes are all doing well -- unlike last year, I haven't lost any plants. And every one has at least one fruit. The Celebrity plant in the front has 18! They're getting very tall and I had to install extra supports for the Early Girl, which contrary to promises, has fruited very little and late. The Patio is best after the Celebrity and the Yellow Pear is doing well, too. The first Patio (the one that was upside down) turned color in the last couple of days -- first sign of ripe fruit! The heirloom has one tomato; let's hope it tastes good.

I fertilized all the plants with manure tea this weekend and so far they have been relatively pest free -- killed my first caterpillar tonight.

Garden update

It was a beautiful weekend in Atlanta -- 80s and as long as you weren't in the sun, very comfortable. I took advantage with two afternoons in the hammock, enjoying an Elizabeth George novel. Also took some pics of this year's garden, including the tomatoes. I got the tomatoes in about a full month before last year, so the plants are big, and most of them have fruit -- this year's crop includes Celebrity, Kellogg's Breakfast, Husky Cherry, Yellow Pear, Early Girl, and one whose name I forget. Planted either one or two to a 10 gallon rubbermaid bin, using either Pike's container mix or Miracle Grow vegetable mix. I mixed tomato tone in at the time of planting and mulched all of them generously. This weekend we got some aged chicken manure to make manure tea and Alan's car was quite odorous!

I also planted collards, most of which fell prey to larvae of the diamondback moth, spinach and cilantro from seed (not successful), potatoes, and a watermelon. Oh, and Alan brought home some lettuce seedlings that did very well, especially in soil amended with compost. And it was delicious.

Here are some pictures, the first from the start of the garden and the others from today.

Full set of pictures on flickr.

Last dinner and return to civilization

We had thought about going back into Tofino for our last night but got back so late that we decided to dine again at the Pointe. I started with grilled Octopus, while Alan had local oysters (which he pronounced the best he'd ever had), before moving on to pork and lamb, respectively.

After a last breakfast -- Alan had Dungenous crab "benny" -- we headed back through the pass to Nainamo and a different ferry, this one landing just north of the border at Twassennan. Back on land, a 20 minute drive took us to the border crossing.....where we waited in line an hour and a half. I think we left the border at 7:30pm. Ugh. (I did manage to score more than 100,000 points in Bejeweled, which took almost the whole time.) And we had 100 miles to go in heavy traffic. Turned on the sports radio and Alan hit the gas pedal hard but it wasn't until about 9:40pm that we were in our hotel room at the W. More room service and a glass of wine restored us to semi-human condition. But not enough to make the 5am wakeup call palatable.

Back to Atlanta, where LB apparently dumped 4 cups of bulgar on the kitchen floor. Reality bites. :-)

Full pix at flickr.

Sunday: from bears to rainforests

Sunday dawned early -- we had to be there at 6:45am -- and it was hard to crawl out of bed into the misty, cool morning. But we rallied onwards to Ocean Outfitters where they outfitted us in stylish orange jumpsuits, before sending us down to the dock to board the Zodiac with our guide, Peter. We were with two German girls and a couple from Australia (one thing I'll say about our time in Tofino is that we met people from everywhere). It was a cold, misty morning and traveling at a brisk clip in the Zodiac did not warm things up--even Alan admitted to cold ears. We saw harbor seals and bald eagles, but no bears for awhile until we happened upon what Peter termed a "good bear," as he entertained us by methodically overturning rocks in search of small fish and eels. In this part of the world, bald eagles are as seemingly common as pigeons (well, maybe not that common) and it's not unusual to see three and four gliding through the sky -- very cool. We got to visit a nest that has been in use for 18 years (they can grow to 2,000 lbs) with chicks in place.


Back in Tofino, we brunched at the Spotted Bear before going over to the best bookstore yet, the Mermaid. It's only when you go into a bookshop that has been stocked by a person, rather than a corporation, that you appreciate how bland and vanilla the Barnes and Nobles of the world are. This shop, while small, had a wealth of really good books across a range of topics--truly a pleasure to peruse and Alan bought The Golden Spruce: A True Story of Myth, Madness, and Greed.

Back at the Wick, we indulged in an afternoon nap (I carved out a spot on our deck and, covered with a Hudson Bay blanket, enjoyed a snooze in the sun) and then headed out for more adventures. We first went up Radar Hill for the views and then turned into Schooner Cove. The walk down to the beach, almost all on raised wooden platforms and stairs, took us over two ridges of mature rainforest. Giant cypress and Sitka spruce trees towered in the air or lay in various stages of rot on the ground, having opened up windows of sunlight at their fall that were eagerly exploited by sala and other shrubs and trees. Ferns covered the ravine walls and the air was moist and pure. To qualify as a rain forest, an area needs to receive five feet of rain a year -- this part of BC gets ten. We got lucky with our weather -- mostly sunny and no rain.


After Schooner Cove, it was getting on about 6pm but we decided to head down to check out Ucluelet to see what it looked like. Seemed less tourist-oriented than Tofino although the number of B&Bs and new construction may change that. In fact, should anyone doubt about the reach of the global construction boom, you need look no further than this remote strip of Vancouver Island -- there are resorts promised everywhere and new (empty) retail space, as well. It's a bit sad, actually, because the area's charm is its funky friendliness. Corporations need not apply.

Dinner at the Pointe at Wickaninnish

Alan had made reservations for our anniversary dinner at the Wick's main dining room, the Pointe, and after some debate, we decided to try to chef's tasting menu. Here's some pictures of the courses (forgot to do the chicken one -- oops). It was an interesting meal but not one I think we'd do again. The food quality and preparation were excellent -- we just weren't sure about some of the flavor combinations. I did love the strawberries with the malted milkshake and they paired very well with the fortified wine.

I'll say a word about B.C. wines -- they are delicious. We had champagne, pinot gris, pinot noir, riesling, and dessert wines and they all were lovely. Apparently, the cool, moist climate is highly suitable for grape growing and the industry is developing rapidly. On our last night, we met Ike, the wine manager, and he had lots of interesting tales to tell about wineries and tours. Definitely something to think about if you're visiting the area.

Wickaninnish Inn

Alan had happened upon the Wickaninnish watching a travel program on great places to watch storms, featuring this part of Vancouver Island, between Ucluelet and Tofino. The Wick was a lovely, lovely resort and our room had a balcony overlooking the Pacific, as well as a fireplace, and what we agreed was the Best Bathtub Ever (complete with an ocean view). Too tired to even go outside, we once again had room service -- Alan a huge Dungenous crab and me a nice piece of salmon, sitting in front of our fireplace, listening to the ocean waves. While Alan picked through his crab, I read one the books provided in the room about a garden planted by "Cougar Annie," a long-time resident of Boat Basin, BC who had planted an extensive garden in the wilds of Hesquiat Harbor. Annie was a local legend, living through four husbands, eight children, and 70 years living in rural B.C.; she received her nickname for having shot and killed more than 70 cougars (one strategy was to use her goats as bait).

Up the next morning, we had breakfast in the gorgeous dining room with 180 degree views of the ocean. Breakfast was sumptuous -- Alan having yogurt and fruit, me oatmeal and fruit (could be called healthy except the portions were so huge!) -- and then we headed off for the complimentary nature walk. Jessie, our guide, took us through the rainforest trail on the property, identifying local plants and trees, and then onto the beach to look at the tide pools, which were filled with anemone and other small creatures. Jessie said she had grown up "petting" anemone and showed us how it was done.

In our room, there was a comments book filled out by previous tenants of room 215 and one of them had mentioned riding bikes into Tofino for lunch, which sounded just fine to us, so we signed the waiver forms (they seem to be everywhere these days -- I do wonder if they accomplish much) and hit the road for the 5km ride into town. We don't bike much, and these were the pedal brake kind of bikes, so they took a bit of getting used to but we made it. In town, ran into Margaret and Roger, visitors from Oxford, UK, who had been on the nature walk. Coincidentally, we all ended up lunching at the Sea Shanty, which promised seafood with a native flair. Not sure if curry was popular with the First Nation tribes, but the shrimp curry wrap was tasty nonetheless.

After lunch, we wandered through town, stopping into galleries and then one excellent bookstore, where I found a copy of Cougar Annie's Garden. We also signed up for a bear watching trip the following morning, committed to arising at 7am for the promise of seeing bears foraging at low tide. (Jessie had assured us that bear watching would be warmer than whale watching.)

Late afternoon found us wandering the beach in front of the Wick, enjoying in particular the vivid purple, orange, and pink starfish revealed by the low tide.

Anniversary 8

Alan had been planning a trip to celebrate our eighth wedding anniversary for some time -- it was to be a surprise and all I knew was that we had plane tickets to Seattle. A couple of days before the trip, he provided the additional information that I should pack hiking boots, a fleece, rain gear, and my passport. Hmmm....

Thursday morning we boarded the plane in Atlanta and after a seemingly interminable 5 hour flight landed in Seattle. Picked up a sweet blue Prius and we headed north to our first destination -- a night in Vancouver at the Fairmont Waterfront with beautiful views of the mountains and sound. On the way, we stopped for a snack in Fairhaven, a nice little town south of Bellingham that seems to be enjoying a resurgence from its nineteenth-century heyday. Obviously a college town -- the conversation between waitstaff overheard at the Mexican restaurant involved Ezra Pound and jazz :-) -- Fairhaven also had two really good bookstores. Unbelievably, I pulled myself away relatively quickly and we headed north, only to hit horrible traffic in Vancouver. I guess it was Thursday at 6:30pm but it was pretty bad. Finally, we arrived at the Fairmont where after a quick walk, we settled in for a bowl of soup and then bed.

Up early the next morning for a beautiful view of the sea planes leaving for various destinations and cruise ships loading up their passengers – the majority of hotel guests were departing for or returning from Alaska. This is a very urban area of Vancouver, with tall skyscrapers and a decidedly Asian style. We didn't have time to explore further, however, because more distant destinations awaited -- Vancouver Island here we come!

We had a 1:30pm ferry reservation out of Horseshoe Bay so had time for a brief stroll around Stanley Park, arguably the greatest urban park, where Alan was almost beaned on the head by a gull dropping what appeared to be the largest clam ever. He (the gull, not Alan) was being chased by other birds and he dropped his ample meal to the pavement just in front of us where it landed with a resounding SPLAT! No fears, the gull picked it up and when last seen was attempting to evade his pursuers, clam in beak.

The ferry was pretty cool and afforded beautiful views of the surrounding area from the sun deck on what was a lovely, clear day. After two hours, we landed in Nainamo, only to be met with -- more traffic! About an hour of bumper to bumper nonsense as we attempted to head north and then west. Finally, as we headed to the interior, the traffic died down and we found ourselves heading through passes of two ranges of mountains. The trees were hemlock, cedar, and some deciduous -- lots of which had been logged about 25 years ago. The road followed the path of a river whose name I forget but we scrabbled down to take a look and it definitely looked "fishy."

Finally, finally, after two days of travel, at about 7pm on Friday, we pulled up to our destination, the Wickaninnish Inn.

Dining options in Key West

We decided to spend spring break in Key West visiting Mom. Not only would it be a great way to spend a week with her, but, hey, it's paradise with no lodging charges. For this trip, we have cut back on our usual dining splurges -- confining them to lunch out with dinner at home -- but Alan and I wanted to have one meal out by ourselves, a special treat, especially since the Cirque event that was his b-day present turned out to be less than stellar. So, in addition to family time with Mom, we were looking forward to a night out on the KW town.

After much thought, we decided to walk up to Mallory Square to see the sunset celebration and have dinner at Hot Tin Roof, a restaurant that's part of the Ocean Key resort. The menu looked intriguing and Mom said there had been a change of management since the last time we were there (that visit...okay). We had a lovely sunset just hanging out in front of the Westin, with a couple of mojitos, along with the traditional KW sunset cat carnival.

It's spring break here and a little crazy with the college students so we headed over to Hot Tin Roof with some mild trepidation, which increased when we got to the general area and there was a loud (and terrible) band playing in the bar immediately below HTR. Still, we were willing to give it a try. Showing up promptly at 8pm, our reservation time, we stood for 9 minutes as black-suited servers rushed back and forth, none of whom even bothered to acknowledge us. At the ten minute mark, a tepid host showed up to acknowledge our presence and without apology (or eye contact) announced that they would have to clear some tables. The vibe was bad, the sound was loud, the decor lovely. Hmmm.

After another 5 minutes of hanging about, with no attention from HTR staff, we said "no go with this show," there are plenty of other restaurants that will value our dollars and give us the kind of evening for which we were hoping. Excellent decision. We cleared the tacky end of KW, arrived at Martin's, in their new location which we'd been hoping to try and had a lovely, lovely evening served by Steven in their newly designed and evocative dining room. Wonderful summer salad with fruit and greens, the best stone crab ever, and excellent grouper and snapper, all in an elegant setting with superb service. This was what we had been wanting!

Boo Hot Tin Roof. Yay Martin's!

UPDATE: General manager of HTR called and offered free meal tonight over what he described as a "seating situation." Kudos to them. Customer service is not easy and I imagine the challenges of sunset and spring break to be hard. That said, attitude of staff walking by not acknowledging customers waiting at host station is not acceptable.

Hike in the woods

Sister Suzy gave us pedometers for Christmas and so far I have kept up with at least 10,000 steps a day -- see the meter to the right. This has involved some commitment and some ingenuity and it's definitely helped that we've been on vacation. Tomorrow, back to work.

Today's ingenuity took the form of exploring some space alongside the Chattahoochee River near the Bull Sluice Lake. I had seen the area on google maps and it looked big so researched a bit this morning. It is big -- 385 acres with more than 7 miles of trails. So, after picking up my new iPhone (thank you, Alan!) at Perimeter Mall, we headed over. It was a great find -- beautiful woods and lots of round to cover. We covered more than we might have since about a mile in, we discovered someone's cell phone and keys in the leaves by the side of the trail. It looked like they had taken a spill and accidentally lost the contents of their pockets. We picked it up, figuring that they might call, which they did, necessitating a trip back to the parking lot where we transferred the property back to a sheepish teenager. It was a bit odd, picking up the phone call and asking "Um, is this your phone?" Truly, he was lucky -- a few feet further and his things would have been floating in the Hooch.


Definitely, we will be back.

Tonight we're trying out some of Alan's Christmas presents -- maple planked salmon and his new super grill mitts. Guaranteed to save the hands and also black and washable. Unfortunately, my yellow William and Sonoma mitts will never be the same but at least I can now replace them!


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