linger lodge

is the name of an "old Florida" place up the river from the River Cottage.  it is an "old time-y" fishing camp where they have a restaurant that specializes in gator-   today we went for lunch to sample the fare and make an evaluation of it as a possible place to take our friends when they come to visit us.

here are a few of the photos- this is a real DART (disappearing America road trip) style place and TB and I would be thrilled to have discovered such on any of our trips to "the past" on the various DARTs we have done over the years.

note the lodge script is spelled in stuffed snakes - LOL

gator head above and gator bites below (they were excellent as was the gator chowder!)

the screened porch of the restaurant

instructions on the toilets (located in the combined shower/ laundry room)

wall art (gator nose just peeking in the photo)

entrance- with the lodge spelled out in rope script (somewhat in need of repair)

the wall of FISH trophies

a million years ago- when I was around ten years old, our family took an ill-fated trip with neighbor families to a similar facility called Lake Riley.  Lake Riley was located somewhere in West Virginia.  the first night we stayed, there was a sizeable rain storm and the cabins leaked.  one family turned hide and left immediately the next day.  we stuck it out with the other one of the three families who started the journey, moving into a large cabin shared by both.  and the vacation became legendary in our family.  it turned out - of course I didn't get this as a kid- that this was a place guys usually came to toss back the brews and booze and get in a little bit of fishing- and could hardly be considered a family vacation spot.  

we all lived to tell the stories and this visit to the Linger Lodge brought back the memory of Lake Riley all those years ago... so how cool is that?

continuing on

with the Asia temples I found some of my Myanmar and India photos to include in the group I started yesterday:

Notice the people in the upper right hand- it gives some perspective on this combination well and temple complex in central India.  known as a step well because in contained access to the very lower reaches of the well via steps- it also housed a temple dedicated to Ganesha (the Hindu god who manifests as an elephant.)

below is the Jamid Mosque in Delhi India- said to be one of the largest in the world

next in Myanmar-  temples on the Bagan plains  and then a buddha from inside one of the 4400 temples on the plains of Bagan (an area the size of Manhattan - per Lonely Planet)

and another from Myanmar- this from the Shwedagon Pagoda in Rangoon.

and since I accessed the India photos I found some great ones that bring back special memories- and will probably post some of those stories later.

wild life

not ours- LOL- but here are two photos that show the range of the fauna here at the River Cottage.

first a water bird (a heron I think) feeding in the shallows across the river from our deck

and second- the exotic Chicago domestic short hair cat lounging on the dining room table- LOL

social network

LOL- OK so ours isn't exactly of the tweet type but we firmed up some plans yesterday for our social calendar and things are looking pretty darn busy over the next seven weeks. 

one friend asked us what on earth were we going to do in Florida for two months.  I did actually bring the AAA guide in case we got some extra time to be tourists but between working and our social engagements I don't think that will happen. 

starting this coming weekend we have company three times over the next seven weeks and starting later next week we see friends - five different couples/singles over the seven weeks and then we also are taking a trip to Key West for my birthday (not on my birthday but "for" my birthday) - haven't been there in a few years

the first time I went to Key West was way back when I was married to my first husband (1973-1983) - it was close to the end so probably 1982 or 1983.  the next time I came with my friend Brad and my then boy friend Darren in 84 or 85.  then I came with my then boyfriend Kevin for friend Jon's 40th birthday party at La-ti-da in 90 or 91, I think.   at some point in the early 90s I came with my friend Chris - before I met Phil and she met her now husband Jim.  and then I went with Phil and my brother-in-law Larry in the late 90s or early 2000s.  and the last time I was there, was with my buddy TB a few years back now - when we worked together on risk management stuff. 

but since it has been probably six or seven years I asked to return for my birthday this year. Key West is the only place of 100% island mentality in the continental US.  it stands alone - like N.O. LA in being in the US but not OF the US.  so you can look forward to photos from our trip before the end of the month. 

meanwhile let's go back to some of the ones I have been working with in the past few weeks. a selection of temple photos from "my favorites"

a worshipper spins the prayer wheels in Thimpu, Bhutan

tourists make a circuit of the temple of the Jade Buddha in the Grand Palace complex Bangkok, Thailand

Ta Prohm temple ruins in Siem Reap Cambodia

My Son temple complex in central Vietnam not far from Hoi An

 a temple in Luang Prabang. Laos

the Man Mo temple in Hong Kong, China

the Cao Dai sect "Holy See" north of Saigon, Vietnam

so that is my Sunday report- a lazy day- read - hung out on the deck outside, along the river and relaxed.  I am thinking to transfer a few more photos since I know I have some fab Myanmar and India temple photos to round out these Asia temple photos I included above-

another note

from someone who just learned of my mother's death.

your mother was one of my favorite friends and yes, a remarkable woman. I talked with her briefly several times while she was in the assisted living in Ohio. She sounded so cheerful, talked about playing bridge and her other activities. Always said she was feeling fine.  I called a few times when she had visitors (you) or had to go to one of her activities. Then for awhile there was nothing and I saw the brief obit in the Islander.  I called Faye and talked with her daughter, and Faye sent me your e-mail.  Jane and I first met at the Island Chamber of Commerce, where we both volunteered. We hit it off right away. Her history on the Island was very much like mine, her parents having come here long ago, as did mine'  I missed her so much and always will. The ashes idea is true Jane. She talked a lot about you and your travels.  You certainly did have a remarkable mother and she had a remarkable family.  What can I say, but condolences for your loss.

I replied to her note- 

I send my condolences to you as well- I know how much you cared for my mother and she spoke of you frequently.  She enjoyed the Chamber of Commerce and her work there. 

Anna Maria has always been a special place for our family - as you may know my parents came over the "bridge street" bridge in 1951 on their honeymoon trip (they came to visit her uncle Bruce Cox and his wife Irma, who was the postmistress of Bradenton Beach for many years.  they then lived along Gulf Drive in a cottage my grandfather eventually bought from his brother in law and where we spent many vacations as children.  Now of course - fifty plus years have passed and the bridge street bridge is a fishing pier and the cottage is long gone turned into condos. 

eventually my grandfather settled in Holmes Beach on 70th street and as you know my parents also ended up on the island as well on Ivanhoe Lane in Key Royale.  my mother went to work in the elementary school with 1st and 3rd graders and also at the Chamber of Commerce.  she enjoyed pretty much everything she ever did but as you know her first love was travel. 

she lived a fairly long and very happy life and we are all grateful for the time we knew her and shared her love and friendship.  thank you for your lovely note.  I know your loss is also a big one and send a hug your way. 

******

today we went by another old haunt... the red barn flea market off 301.  this is a place I went fairly regularly with my parents when they first moved down here.  they have everything you could ever imagine or want.  we went for the fresh fruit and veggies and to just see what else was there.  on the way to the flea market we took a route that took us by the Pompey's Seafood Shack.

after doing our flea market shopping we headed back there for lunch of garlic shrimp, fried shrimp; hush puppies and lemonade.  a worthy establishment in our opinions.  we picked up a menu and made plans to stop by again on the way to the market or on the way home.

old haunts

today we had to find the local locations of the banks we do business with at home. so since we located both my bank and Phil's close together out near where my mom used to live (and other family members back through the decades) we went in that direction.   there are two roads on and off the island where my family spent decades either as part-time or full-time residents.  the southern one is called Cortez and the northern Manatee.  the island is Anna Maria and it is the northern most island south of Tampa Bay. 

whenever I would visit my parents when they lived there and then my mother after my dad died, we went out to lunch virtually every day.  frequently we took the Gulf of Mexico drive to the top of Longboat Key to a small neighborhood called Longbeach.  there were two of our favorite places at the first turn on the left, the Mar Vista (a mostly outdoor place) and Moore's Stone Crab (a mostly indoor place.)

because the weather was cool today we chose Moore's - we also picked this one because my husband LOVES stone crab (it is right up there on his list with Montreal smoked meat- LOL)

you can come by boat or by car to both of these restaurants

as you can see from the photos we had no takers for the outdoors, but we had a nice meal of chowder and stone crabs and key lime pie for Phil and chowder and fresh shrimp for me. 



as we left the restaurant we saw a blue heron right along side the parking lot - just waiting to have his picture taken.

after lunch we did the obligatory drive through the neighborhood to find where the peacocks were hanging out.  it didn't take too long to find them as it is a very small area.

there was something quite comforting in the ritual of this short trip.  I don't think there was ever a trip I made to the island in the last 20+ years where we didn't go down to one of these places and we always went to look for the peacocks.  it was as if my mom was right there in the car with us, traveling along silently in the back seat.

penny at work

penny is loving her new job in Florida! here she is working at her computer. (and I see her sister is hiding behind her - probably telling her what to do)

meanwhile we have been enjoying the view- here was last night"s sunset which I caught the tail end of- was busy in the house but hope to see many more of these before we depart.

I have been watching the water for an alligator to photograph...no swimming here for us! too cold for that anyway.

arrival again - again

this time to our new home away from home in Florida.  We arrived late last night after two days in the car with our two cats.  they did extremely well - Lucy only complained a little on and off for about an hour and Penny said not a word.  they found the night in the hotel room a complete lark because they got to sleep with us and walked around all night at intervals.  we didn't get tons of sleep but after 11 hours in the car I felt they needed "bathroom" access - although they hadn't eaten or had any water since well before noon. 

the second day went even more smoothly and we started out earlier so we drove directly to our cottage and got them in and unpacked the car before we grabbed dinner and came back to unpack.  we fell into bed fairly late but awoke this morning on the early side.  I got my computer set up for work and found my camera to take a photo of the morning view on the river.

and here are our kitties lounging around on the chair tonight...LOL

 as you can see - they do not appear overly stressed...

we spent our day setting up our offices and getting a few groceries and finding out where things are way out here in the country - we are way east (more than twenty miles) of the island where my mother's family lived for more than 60 years. 

but I will save that for another day's story.

finally

a new year!  everyone keeps saying this one HAS to be better for me.  from their mouths to god's ears for sure.

many posts ago I said one door closes and another opens- that seems to be especially relevant to new years.  we are headed south for a while.  get some warm weather and some sun.  we are taking the cats - LOL - big adventure - you remember them from the "kitties birthday" post I am sure.  they are five and good natured so I am sure the will tolerate the twenty hours in the car very well (please please- LOL)

so tomorrow starts a new chapter in my semi-free life.  going away for the winter weather to sunnier climes.  we are looking forward to visiting my brother in law Larry and our friends, the now infamous CBGB! Several friends have promised to visit.  so it will be fun and busy.

we had a really super surprise last week when Jeremy showed up with sympathy flowers on Tuesday night unexpectedly.  he stayed for dinner before going off to visit with friends.  we didn't know he had come in from NYC so this was completely a surprise!

so in honor of Jeremy's visit I thought I would post a few photos from the trip we took with Jeremy in the summer of 2009 to Vermont.  time flies - I was going to say last summer, but it is already the summer before last.  Vermont was my 49th state and when I had a business meeting in Boston, we decided to spend the remainder of the week in Vermont.  Jeremy and his friend Kate joined us, taking the Chinatown bus to Boston from NYC and then, when they had to return home to work, taking the train from Burlington back to NYC.

so here are a few photos:

Phil and Jeremy at Ben & Jerry's

 Shaker hats from a community we visited in NH

 horses (big kitties) at the Billing's Farm in Woodstock VT

 worms for sale at the general store

the last day

of the year- finally!  my new year's resolution is not to have anyone I love die this year but I can tell this will be one that I can't keep.  mostly because I can't control it and then because our dear friend Joe entered hospice yesterday.  I cried because I thought he was going to make it for a while longer- like my sister he has lung cancer that has gone to his brain, but unlike my sister, who was gone in a little over three months from being diagnosed Joe has lived two more years. (later note- Joe died 12/31/2010)

tough year and I am ready for it to be over. 

but bringing my focus back to the positive for the year there were some great times and many blessings in no particular order and certainly not an exhaustive list:

I have a really really wonderful loving supportive husband who has been incredibly steadfast during the roughest of years.

my friend Tom and I got to spend a week together just driving and talking and exploring the byways of Tennessee.

we made great new friends in Sheila and Mary and our friends Laure & Arno, who introduced us to them, have been such loving support for me throughout the year.

we had a fabulous trip to Argentina with Chuck & Georgia and a lovely trip in the spring to Paris.

I was honored by my colleagues with several awards in July as I moved into an Of Counsel role at work.

my mother had another year (and a half) after her last brush with death and it was a good one up until the very end. 

we had a really fun long weekend in NYC for our anniversary and saw the kids as well as an amazing magic show by the Millionaire's Magician at the Waldorf Towers.

we had wonderful times with friends Dick & Ali and our wine group folks for Memorial day, the 4th of July and Labor day and probably a few more I forgot to mention.

it was whirlwind year in a lot of ways- last year we were in Tel Aviv for New Year's eve - which of course is not the Jewish new year and so the rag tag group at the Hilton was more like a Fellini movie than our usual new year's group but we had a good time watching the "show"

the last five months of my working full time were also a busy time- preparing for going part time.

going back and forth to Cincinnati an average of once a month kept me busy as well - I thought when I went from full to part time I would have all kinds of extra time- LOL- well I am still hoping for some more of that so that I can catch up on projects I have on my list- but so far my one project (cleaning out the third floor) has stalled for months- I got about 90% done and then couldn't figure out what to do with the left over junk- so that one will have to wait a bit longer.

anyway - I seem to be rambling on this rainy morning of thunder storms (which woke me at 5 AM) and so I will close with a few photos-

one year over Christmas and New Year we went to Singapore and Hong Kong.  I took this photo from our hotel room window in Hong Kong I liked the way the pool at the hotel next door looked and the curving lines of the lights at street level. 

and here is a view of Hong Kong from the water as we were taking the Star Ferry across from Kowloon.

lots to do to get ready for our time away in Florida - along with entertaining our guests from Germany.  so I better get back to cooking - and the sun is rising - well truth be told it is getting lighter but since it is raining I don't yet see the sun.  The thunder storms have passed through though and it is supposed to clear up today.

we didn't know

when we decided to go to Morocco that things would change.  we had been in Spain for three weeks - actually more Andalusia than all of Spain.  the trip had been wonderful and I had been especially taken by the Moorish architecture and tile work.  my mother had already been to Morocco but wanted to return as her trip had been for just a few days on the way back home from Egypt sometime in the mid 80s.

so we planned in mid 1999 for the trip in the spring of 2000.  in December of 1999 my father called me.  now mind you, I knew something was wrong because my dad never called.  my mom (as in many families) was the one who phoned and kept track of all the kids and grandchildren and who was doing what.  he told me my mom was fine and that the surgery had gone well and she expected to be back from the hospital in two days! 

what surgery?  what hospital? why hadn't he called to let me know she was even having surgery? "she had a lump in her breast" - and he started to cry - "I wanted to call you. she told me I couldn't, that there was nothing any of you could do and that we didn't know anything and not to worry you." 

so in December of 1999 my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and she started a course of chemo and radiation after a lumpectomy.  (and as you can tell from the dates of my blog she lived more than another decade. and she actually went more than five years cancer free - before her second round of breast cancer and subsequent surgery.)

however, this brought us to our planned April 2000 trip to Morocco.  she insisted I go- actually she didn't cancel until the very last minute fearing I would back out and not take the trip.  I did many of the things she did in her first trip but added to it with time in the Sahara and some additional stops along the way, including  the mountains and several gorges.  these are some photos of Morocco that she enjoyed seeing when I returned from the trip she insisted I take.

the leather tanning in Fez

 roman ruins at Volubilis

tile work on mosque in Casablanca

the blue gate of Fez

cats near the spring at Chellah

 ksar on the way from the desert to Marrakesh

 camel ride in the Sahara

when I went somewhere my mother had not yet been, she went vicariously.  she always wanted a set of the pictures to pour over and ferret out details that I may have not yet given to her of the trip .  she had been a traveler for so long that she really internalized the tales I came back with especially when she could see it in a photograph.  I think over the years of traveling, my mother made me a better photographer because I shot with an eye to really show her what I saw when I was there- not just the standard "photo ops" but something more of the details of life in the places I visited.

and we shared every trip - in one way or another - just as we will continue to do....

one trip

my mother did not take (yet) was to Japan.  of course she had a layover in Japan on her way to China in 1987 but since she never left the airport hotel that didn't count. (our rules say you can't count landing in an airport and staying on airport grounds as a country visited- I could have Sweden and Finland that way but they will have to wait to be counted until I actually make it there to spend time exploring.)

Japan is a country very different than many I have visited.  a spectacularly beautiful place, I came home wanting to make my yard into a Japanese garden and even planted bamboo so we could hear the rustling in the breezes we get all summer long.

the people of Japan have a culture of graciousness and so anytime we stopped to look at a map someone would ask us if they could help us. if my mother had made it there I think she would have been very impressed with the order.   she liked things neat and orderly.  when we were little kids (grade school and younger) we always had to pick up all our toys before my dad came home and put them in the toy boxes so the house wouldn't be a mess.

later in life my dad actually became a neat freak while my mom got more relaxed in the amount of mess she could tolerate- LOL...

but here are some photos of Japan that she and I especially liked.

a ritual washing fountain at a shrine

stairs to a temple entrance

building on a temple grounds

offerings of barrels of sake

wishes (like prayers) tied to bushes at temple

Kyoto dining along the river

our breakfast the first day at the fish market in Tokyo

I included this photo because in the last year of my mother's adventurous life she went to eat sushi with us a couple of times.  and while we took it easy on her in introducing things that we knew she would find palatable, she liked it well enough to ask to go back to the restaurant one of the last times we visited her and she was still able to go out to eat.  so soon, after the holidays and our set schedule, maybe we can go out for sushi and remember that even at 80 my mother was completely open to trying new things. 

she loved the eel, even ate one that was supposed to be in Phil's count - LOL