a night at the museum

So the morning arrived - President's Day - a holiday we forgot about because we are retired LOL- we found it strange to not have mail on Monday - LOL until it dawned on us that it was a holiday. We headed to Duval's for lunch. If you are a regular reader of the blog you probably know about our "amusing" evening at Duval's on the first night we tried it.  If not, you can find the post here-

http://blog.semifreelife.com/2016/01/a-new-place-for-dinner.html

here is the most relevant passage-

"So when we both ordered the lobster bisque the waitress explained that they were out of it and then went on to explain in GREAT detail why it was so good- LOL (thereby only making us feel worse about it.) We had to prompt her about whether there were other items they didn't have -and yes they were out of two of the three fresh catch of the day fishes and no they didn't have another well reviewed appetizer the ribeye spring rolls and they had no more pork tenderloin.  Mind you we still hadn't gotten to the eight o'clock hour at this point. It was roughly 7:35."

so when the server came to take our lunch orders and I asked for the oyster po'boy and she replied that she wasn't sure that they had the oysters yet I laughed- of course not... she suggested the shrimp one- I said I would look at the menu further because I didn't want the shrimp one... at that she said - "well let me check on the status of the oysters" and went away.  When she returned she had good news - they had them (phew!) so we all ordered the hyped lobster bisque- which seemed overly tomato-y to all of us.  Therefore the AMOB lobster bisque still holds the number one spot in our opinions.

the po'boy was decent but the onion rings were EXCELLENT.  Phil and Maryanne had the seafood cobb salads.  Phil's lobster tail was overcooked... :-(  We passed on dessert and headed home for a half hour before we went off to our lecture at the South Florida Museum.

There we ran into the Greenbergers and chatted with them, introducing them to MAK our guest from NYC... LOL - yes I do love three CAP words and phrases LOL...

The lecture was given by Jeff Rodgers whom I have heard several times before- and really liked. This one was excellent as well.  It was also enhanced by the Q&A afterward when some very thoughtful questions were asked and answered.  We got info about planet X and the newly confirmed gravitational waves which recently reconfirmed Einstein's work.  Then we went on a tour of the museum and learned quite a bit more about the civilization that once covered our area of Florida for more than two thousand years.

Afterward we headed to dinner at Blue Marlin a local favorite and had another great meal but sadly our favorite server there, Dan, was off for the night.  Boo Hoo! because we always look forward to seeing him.  We left the restaurant (closed it down- LOL) at 10:45 and headed home- today- Phil has a busy busy schedule with class and his trainer and other stuff.  MAK and I will do lunch and hang out - tonight we have dinner scheduled at indigenous....

so photos- first Duval's lunch time fare-

then the lecture and museum highlights tour- we started in the planetarium-

we learned how the indigenous people developed spear throwing expertise in order to kill their food-

our "professor" the extremely interesting Jeff Rodgers!

Jeff lectures the group- Phil, MAK and Ellen Greenberger on the far right-

a mammoth skeleton found in the area- and in this room there was also a huge bone from the Bradenton Mastadon... whose bones are in every school in Manatee County (a share the wealth concept that Bernie Sanders would be happy with LOL)

the class room for the school kids visits- looks like they have a lot of fun!

dinner- with the two wines we brought- the Sigrid showed MAGNIFICENTLY- the NSG not so much - drinkable but not brilliant- lost its fruit...

the house comp'd the lobster corn dogs - which contained perfectly cooked lobster - Phil gave them a thumbs up but MAK was less enthusiastic - preferring the standard steaming. boiling or grilling with no embellishments- I thought they were interesting and well prepared but probably would not order again because I try to stay away from fried foods for every meal - LOL and I had already had the onion rings and oysters at lunch LOL

Phil ordered the grouper Fulford and MAK and I had the grouper Provencal with garlic, capers, and grape tomatoes- all excellent-

desserts - MAK had the banana creme brulee and Phil had the bourbon pecan pie and I had the coffee chocolate mousse which had barely a hint of coffee- so I was a teeny bit disappointed-

the life saver in the WC- LOL I guess if you fall into the toilet you can grab on to the ring LOL-

So off we go this morning on another day of adventures in paradise- it is blue sky and sunny and a perfect day for outside! more later.....

friends visit

So this past week we had friends from Chicago visit - to escape the heat wave that Chicago had while they were here- LOL... seriously it was in the 60s (finally!) when they were away from Chicago- and down here it was in the mid 80s- which actually was a heat wave of sorts (substantially over the average) but hey- you aren't looking for the weather report---

so here is how we spent the time together-

lunch upon their arrival at the Riverhouse-

then a quick trip over to the South Florida Museum to visit Snooty for his last feeding time of the day- then dinner at Blue Marlin (a favorite of ours)

the crocodile god - the logo of the museum-

Day Two included the historic Anna Maria Island tour of the old homesteads of the past three generations of my family down here- LOL - after a breakfast at the popular Peach's on East Bay Drive.... and also after a stop at the beach on AMI-  then we went home and got Phil for a lunch at Captain Brian's.

The beach was quite crowded by our standards and I laughed when I saw how much my photo resembled the Keith Oehmig painting in our living room- except for the absence of clouds LOL-

Odd how the days get away- because shortly thereafter we were heading south to Fogartyville for a concert of Full Set- and excellent Irish band that we thoroughly enjoyed... afterward we grabbed a burger for a later meal and headed home.

a couple of photos from their website-

Original photo by Conor Ledwith.  Graphic Design by Brian Hanlon

Day Three we went to the Pirates game against the Red Sox and then later to our fave Italian place- Cafe Baci.

our dinner red- was just perfect- showed fabulously- despite its age- 25 years old!

the next morning it was back to the airport to drop them off for what turned out to be a smooth flight home and mild weather for them and an amazing evening out for us (more on that in another post)...

not the Patty Duke show

My cousin Michele came to visit and for some reason that song from the Patty Duke show came into my head- "still they're cousins, identical cousins all the way...one pair of matching bookends different as night and day!" sing along with me now- LOL- you know you know this song- just like the Flintstones song everyone of a "certain age" can just fall into the chorus... "While Cathy adores the minuet, ballet russe and crepes Suzette, our Patty like to rock and roll, the hot dog makes her loose control - what a wild duet- still they're cousins..."

well- my cousin Michele and I are not identical cousins- LOL we aren't really even cousins - my actual cousin is her mother. Michele is 25 years younger than I am and almost a foot shorter and maybe weighs dripping wet a third of what I do- she comes from the smaller side of the family and I come from the much larger side- LOL- yes you have recently seen my 6'6" brother next to me- at a shade under 6 feet I am considered tall for my age- LOL but my brother and his kids all are taller than I am... 

I never really knew my cousin Michele (who will hereinafter be referred to as Michele- LOL) until she was nearly finished with law school.  We got acquainted later - as she was starting her career as an attorney and I was looking to end mine... but we really hit it off and became friends who just happened to be related to each other.  How nice is that? makes me smile just putting that thought down on e-paper so to speak...

Michele moved to Miami a few years back - around the time we started spending our winters in Florida and so we've gotten to see her at least once or twice a winter for the last five years... In January we went to Miami and saw her and last weekend she came up to visit us.  We don't usually make a lot of plans because it is just nice to hangout and spend time with each other but this visit she said she wanted to see Snooty- and being 66 as he is- we don't know if he will be here another 25 years or 2.5 years.... it's a mystery... so we take every opportunity to see him that we can.  

She arrived on Friday evening and Saturday morning we went to the South Florida Museum in time for the Snooty feeding at 11:15 and then a show at the planetarium before heading home to pick up Phil and have lunch at Star Fish Company in Cortez.  Our Saturday dinner was at Harry's and on Sunday she and I checked out the local exhibit on Da Vinci and Michelangelo at the Municipal Auditorium before getting Phil for lunch at the Riverhouse Reef & Grill - then she headed back in the mid afternoon to Miami.  It was - as always- great to spend time together.  My cousin is smart and funny (dry humor funny, like I think I am- LOL) and beautiful- so what's not to like? 

here are a few photos of the weekend- starting with my two favorites- 

then a couple from various exhibits at the museum-

this one was from a photography exhibit - the little guy was peeking out of an old beer can that had corroded- isn't he just the cutest? (the actual photograph was in focus - it was my cell phone that couldn't adjust because of the reflection on the glass)

then it was off to Star Fish Company for lunch- excellent as usual!

there is a flock of white pelicans that live around the corner from the Star Fish Company and so we frequently see a few of them there- and always see their brown brothers and some that are mixed coloring-

we took a bottle of 96 Gevrey-Chambertin which was also excellent- for our dinner at Harry's on LBK- (which is local speak for Long Boat Key)

the Sunday activity- the Michelangelo and Da Vinci show-

this blurb is about the above painting-

a detail of perhaps Michelangelo's most famous work on the Sistine Chapel-

so a nice weekend - and finally the cold weather broke on Saturday - and it was even warmer on Sunday so the calendar turned a page to March and I guess the weather god said "oh all right - enough of the cold weather!" Thank YOU!!!  

next up my last week of classes at USF-SM... my post will be about the circus arts conservatory but my last maritime history of Florida class was extremely interesting as it was all about Cuba and the Bay of Pigs and the Missile Crisis- I have no photos but I did snap a photo of our instructor on the last day of class- I think he is quite the character- LOL

stay tuned for a lot of very interesting circus information for the head of the Circus Arts Conservatory!