Category: Restaurants & Bars

the yums and the not so yums

Accommodations, Attractions, DESTINATIONS, Restaurants & Bars, Road Trips, TRAVEL, United States

Chillin’ on Navarre Beach

Jane Sadek

MAKING MEMORIES: THE BEACH IN BETWEEN

Our friends live in Pensacola, but we wanted some time on our own. Bill thought he wanted to stay in Destin. I knew we didn’t want to stay in Destin. What were our options? I’d been to a travel show in Dallas and Navarre Beach showed up in a big way, offering free turquois sunglasses and promising Florida’s Most Relaxing Place. I was sold. Let’s go!

The Quiet Rhythm of Navarre Beach

Navarre Beach kept it’s promise. I can’t imagine a more relaxing place. We rented a place in Sand Castle Townhomes. Somehow both Vacasa and VRBO were involved in the transaction which I started on Expedia. This short term rental stuff is still new to me. We stayed in #18, which called itself a two story townhome, but that’s only because they don’t want you thinking about the first floor where the car is parked. So, the first thing we did was drag our luggage up two flights of stairs.

Sand Castle Townhomes is an older complex, but everything in #18 was brand spanking new. My biggest complaint is that the primary bedroom didn’t have an en suite bath, but I’m healthy, so a few more steps didn’t hurt me and the huge closet in our room was an asset. There’s a pool we didn’t use, but we loved the gazebo and pier behind the complex.

Our days there, for the most part, consisted of hanging out in the townhome for most of the day and then walking on the beach as the sun began to set. We loved our evening beach strolls. White sugar sand and emerald waters – what could be better. And we celebrated our 31st wedding anniversary there, so that made it even more special.

Our Day Trip Fails

I don’t beach well. It’s too sedentary for me. I don’t want to cook in the sand and I don’t want to play in the water. Bill doesn’t like the heat either and if he’s playing in the water, he’d rather be in a pool.

So, I planned a couple of expeditions, one of which failed spectacularly and the other was meh. Warning, there are two parks with similar names in Florida which feature activities in crystal clear spring lakes. There’s Ponce de Leon Springs, a small park for swimming in the Florida Panhandle and another one, De Leon Springs is 500 miles away. The one that’s 500 miles away has kayaks, canoes and paddle boats, as well as pontoon boat cruises.

Do I need to tell you that I took us to Ponce de Leon Springs, thinking we were going to get to do all the stuff they have a De Leon Springs? That was a major disappointment. So, we tried to google up another kayaking adventure, but when we got to Defuniak Springs the kayak rental business was defunct.

So, we headed to Destin instead. It was an interesting field trip and before it was over Bill agreed with me, that I had been right to avoid staying in Destin. It’s a parking lot for a crowded beach. That evening we were very happy to stroll our quiet, beautiful Navarre Beach.

Another day we went back to Destin to see if we missed anything. We went to Harborside Market, an entertainment complex with a $20 parking lot. Bill drove around until he found someplace he could park for free (by a small cemetery) and I’m glad, because our visit was not worth $20. We drove around a little more, didn’t find anything of interest and headed back to Navarre.

Juana’s Pagodas and Other Adventures

Navarre Beach’s answer to the Flora-Bama Bar is Juana’s Pagoda. The complex has several dining venues and bars, a beach and water sport rentals. We had a great breakfast there one morning and somehow got hooked up for a free boat ride, which was a lot of fun. Had I been there on my own or with other travelers, I might have spent a whole lot more time there, but it didn’t ring Bill’s chimes.

The best place to eat in the area is Dewey Destin’s. The food was marvelous and their beachside tables were even better! The Navarre location is relatively new and is on the mainland rather than the channel island where our townhome was. Unfortunately, we didn’t find it until rather later in our stay. After our great lunch there, we showed up for dinner the next day, but they closed a lot earlier than we anticipated.

Another popular spot in Navarre Beach is Andy D’s and it’s hopping most of the time, probably from the lack of other options, because the food is mediocre. So, for most of our stay in Navarre, we either had fast food or made do with groceries we’d stocked in the townhome.

Perhaps one of the more entertaining ways I killed time, until we could have our evening stroll on the beach, was to attend a beachside church service. There was a little music and then an evangelist got up to teach. Well, let’s just say he was not my style. He was a whole lot to the right of me in his political leanings, so that should tell you something scary. He also spent a whole lot of time bragging on himself for having these services and cataloging all the rough souls he had saved along the way. After an hour and a half, I’d had enough. It sure made me appreciate my own church!

We found other ways to enjoy ourselves during the long days, besides laying around the townhouse with me reading the books I found in a drawer and Bill working endless sudoku puzzles. One day we went to some open houses to check out the local real estate and I’ve already mentioned the gazebo and pier behind our complex. We spent a good amount of time out there Another day we visited the Spring Hill Suites Hotel, because it was the only hotel or motel there was. Our friends came over from Pensacola to check things out one day. Lazy, relaxing days.

However, when it was time to head home we were just about lazy-day-ed out. We were eager to get back to our lives. We suffered some of the usual slings and arrows of travel, like the rudest TSA agent I’d ever encountered, but otherwise it was an easy trip home.

So, would I go back to Navarre Beach? In a heartbeat, but I’d be better prepared with ways to entertain and feed myself during the long, hot parts of the day. Otherwise, perfect.

Attractions, Restaurants & Bars, Road Trips, TRAVEL

Tourists in Pensacola

Jane Sadek

MAKING MEMORIES: A SMORGASBOARD OF PENSACOLA

From Historic Downtown Pensacola to the Flora-Bama Bar, my friend made sure I didn’t leave P-Cola without seeing the highlights. She didn’t hide the fact that she’d love to see us multiple times a year, instead of every once in awhile, so she pulled out all the stops.

The Driving Tour

Hunger problem solved, my friend drove us to Downtown Pensacola. They’ve done a great job of preserving the quaintness of the past. Row upon row of restaurants and shops beckoned, but we were just enjoying a drive by.

From there my friend took us to some of the more distinctive neighborhoods and showed us how people live in P-Cola. We got the impression she was interested in having us do more than visit.

Then we got serious about what would be for dinner and she took us to an amazing fish market called Joe Patty’s. What started as a guy selling fresh fish off the dock has turned into an institution dearly loved by P-Colers. Inside there’s a long ice filled counter offering every kind of fish and sea thing you can possibly imagine. Over to the side is a shop with spices of every variety and all kinds of gadgets and souvenirs. The lobster tank towards the back had some of the biggest monsters you can imagine trying to figure out how to climb out of the tank. If you want, they’ll steam your seafood right on the spot and take the work out of it, but my friend is an amazing cook, so we were glad she took the fresh fish home and made us an incredible meal.

The Story of the Flora-Bama

Yea, many long years ago a guy bought a huge piece of land near the border of Florida and Alabama. He had a vision that started with a package store virtually out in the middle of nowhere. That package store is still there and you can pick up some iced down brews to take home, but there’s also the kingdom of Flora-Bama.

The Flora-Bama bar itself is a huge wandering building that had to be created by a drunk carpenter – a carpenter that stayed drunk for decades. There might be a rhyme or reason to it, but it didn’t make much sense to me. There are beachside bars and dune side bars and inside bar and patios and dance floors and stages and who knows what all. There’s one room decorated with abandoned bras hung across crossed lines over the bar, as well as hanging off everything else in the room.

The Flora-Bama Bar is most famous for its annual mullet toss. I’m not going to try to explain it to you, but my friend tells me there is not a bare spot on the beach to stick your toe on mullet toss weekend.

But there’s more to the Flora-Bama than the bar and the package store. There are a number of other bars and restaurants all around with the Flora-Bama brand and all of them are pouring money into the pockets of that guy who bought the land and built the package store.

My friend likes the Flora-Bama Yacht Club best of what’s available, so that’s where we started our Flora-Bama tour. It really was a nice place to put your feet in the sand and enjoy a cold one of some sort. I had one of their signature drinks called a Bushwacker. They won’t tell you what’s in it, they say, “think of it as an adult milkshake.” It was interesting, but my drinking is either wine or margaritas, so I’m not the one to ask.

After our Bushwackers we strolled across the street and made our way around and through the original bar. I can tell I’m getting old, because I had no desire to be there for the mullet toss and I agreed with my friend that the Yacht Club was more our style.

The next morning we hung out a while, having breakfast and taking a dip in their pool. Then we headed for the next portion of our vacation. Come back next week and we’ll go to Navarre Beach.

DESTINATIONS, Restaurants & Bars, Road Trips, TRAVEL, United States

Florida Bound!

Jane Sadek

MEMORY MAKING: LET’S GET BEACHY

This vacation had two compelling reasons. The first, the longstanding promise to visit friends in the Pensacola area and the second, $1200 in airfare from Southwest. Come along and enjoy this trip to Florida!

Welcome to P-Cola

When you get bumped from a flight and the airline hands you a voucher for $1200, you figure out before you get home where you’re going with it. We’d been promising Ken & Iliana for years that we’d visit them in the Pensacola area, but something always seemed to get in our way. There were no excuses now and Bill told me to book it.

There was a another factor. While I’m not all that crazy about the beach, Bill loves it. He muses of a beach place we could make ours. He’d been suggesting the Destin area to me for awhile, but I was not sold.

In fact, I’d researched a Florida vacation back in 2022 and ended up at Club Med’s Sandpiper Bay instead of Destin. Destin just seemed like a crowded mess to me and so I sold him the all-inclusive resort based on the fun we’d had at Club Med Punta Cana a few years before.

It was on the trip to Sandpiper Bay that we decided to sell our real estate photography, because there was really no vacation to it. We’d just managed the business from a different location. Still, we did enough at Sandpiper Bay to know it wasn’t going to be our beachy place. Destin was still on the table and I still thought it was a crowded mess.

So, I sold him another vacation package – time with our friends on Lost Perdido Key and then some time on our own at Navarre Beach, because it is right around the corner from Destin and not so expensive. SOLD! Soon, the flight attendant was announcing we were landing in P-Cola! Yippee!!

Thrifty Isn’t Nifty at PNS

Bill thinks I don’t know how to get the best deal on a rental car and that’s fine with me, because that means he books them. He was quite proud of the great deal he found with Thrifty for this trip. At least he was until he got to the airport and discovered Thrifty did not have a desk in the airport or a shuttle from the airport. His great deal made us find an Uber to get to their remote location and our driver was Mr. Chatty Cathy. Having run into this hitch, which was his fault and was costing us money, Mr. Bill was not in the mood for Mr. Chatty Cathy. After basically telling Mr. CC to shut up, it was a bit of a tense drive for the rest of the drive.

However, we did get a decent car and Bill convinced them to let him return the car to the airport rather than the remote site, so it as a mere hiccup along the road to a fun time. Getting to Lost Perdido Key was a little tricky, but soon I was hugging my great friend and having an aperitif on her condo’s patio. No complaints here.

Lost Perdido Key Beach Club for Drinks & Coastal for Dinner

Moss never grows around my feet when I am with Iliana. We’d barely caught our breath from our travels when she loaded us into the car and took us to her Beach Club. After a drink there, she loaded us up in the car again and we went to dinner up the road. Coastal at Orange Beach was a beautiful restaurant. The food was great and the service, too.

We had plans to see the Blue Angels the next morning and you are going to love that, so join me next week.

Accommodations, Cruising, DESTINATIONS, International, Restaurants & Bars, TRAVEL, Travel Planning

Never Again Royal Caribbean

Jane Sadek

MAKING MEMORIES: ENJOYING OURSELVES IN SPITE OF THE CRUISE

Yes, It Was Free, But They Should Have Paid Us for the Mediocracy of Everthing

So, I attended a travel presentation and scored a free cruise – we’re talking flight & cruise. I thought any day cruising was better than staying home. I was wrong! Come along and find out why!

Navigating My Way to a Free Cruise

I adore cruising. My first cruise was my honeymoon and we cruised Hawaii in a cabin on a boat I probably wouldn’t even consider today, but still it was magical. We had a blast and loved every moment of it – in spite of all the lack of amenities I would have noticed these days.

Since then I’ve cruised the Nile, the Danube, the Mediterranean and the Caribbean (the Caribbean several times.) I’ve been on Celebrity, Norwegian, Carnival, Viking and few other smaller companies. Until I took a Viking river cruise, my all time favorite cruise had been one I took on Royal Caribbean. It was everything I ever dreamed a cruise would be and more. Then after the river cruise, I began to have my favorite small ship experience and my favorite big ship experience, but Royal Caribbean still reigned supreme for ocean going experiences. It had been a magnificent.

Then we took a quick cruise out of Galveston on Royal Caribbean and I wondered how it could have been the same cruise company. The food was mediocre, the ship needed some TLC, the entertainment was a joke and even the staff needed a little refresher course. My travel agent assured me it was Galveston’s fault. Galveston was where old cruise ships went to die. So in the future, we stayed away from Galveston departures.

When we got our free cruise, I had a choice of five cruises, but most of them were out of Galveston to ports we’d already visited. So it boiled down to 3 cruises. The one I preferred would have required a flight to San Juan and because it was out of the US, we’d have had to pay for it, which would have been more expensive than the (potentially) free flight to Florida. Just so you know, the whole free flight thing turned out to be smoke and mirrors. I should have lobbied harder for the cruise I wanted, but when traveling, I’ve learned to do things Bill’s way. It might not be optimal, but then when he complains, I can point out it’s his choice, not mine. This keeps my marriage afloat, which is more important that any number of given days on a trip.

So, we booked the Royal Caribbean cruise out of Tampa to Cozumel, Roatan, Belize and Costa Maya. I remember the day Royal Caribbean sent us our confirmation. I thought I really scored something big. I worked on scheduling shore excursions and redeeming my free flights (which never manifested).

Embarking on Our Adventure

In spite of the dirty tricks the agency played to avoid providing the free airfare the promised, I was still excited about going. Remember, I love cruising and even though Royal Caribbean had already had one strike, I blamed it on Galveston and looked forward to an experience more like my favorite cruise.

We’d had a very early flight, so we were among the very first to get on board. We made our way to the Embarkation Buffet and realized we were about to relive everything we hated about the cruise out of Galveston. I took the photo above of what I was able to glean from the nasty things offered on the buffet. I know being gluten free I miss out on all the lovely bread, desserts and fried things, but still, this was sub-par.

New Empathy for Non-Cruisers

I’m one of those odd people who isn’t crazy about beach vacations, but I’ve never understood anyone who didn’t like cruises. Something for everyone – am I right? On this cruise I imagined someone like me being stuck on that boat for seven nights without other, more pleasant, experiences and I could see why they’d think cruising was torture.

To give Royal Caribbean its due, we did talk to several people who were having the time of their lives. One set of retired Floridian ladies cruise with Royal Caribbean constantly – at least once a month. They gamble and they claim their cruising is a source of income! During one breakfast they schooled us on retiring to cruise boats. If we hadn’t been living through what we considered the worst cruise ever, it would have sounded pretty good.

I used to think that a bad day on a cruise was better than a good day anywhere else. I now know that is not true. There’s a lot of bad days at home I’d prefer to relive than the days we spent aboard the Vision of the Seas. But we’re Bill and Jane! We live to have a good time. So, come back next week and I’ll touch on a few highlights, but let me assure you, I will never, ever cruise Royal Caribbean again – even if its FREE!

Accommodations, DESTINATIONS, Memory Keeping, Restaurants & Bars, Road Trips, TRAVEL, United States

So What Exactly is a White Coat Ceremony

Jane Sadek

MAKING MEMORIES: SO PROUD OF OUR GRANDNEPHEW

In the medical field, when I student gets to the point where they will be dealing directly with patients, they get their white coats. They’ve been trained enough to deal with people, but they aren’t trained enough to handle them alone. Our Grandnephew Karim, had reached that point and this proud Great Aunt & Great Uncle were invited to the ceremony. Come along and hang with the fam!

Multiple Milestones to Celebrate

Two of our grand nephews live in the Phoenix area and with Karim’s ceremony to attend the family came in from LA, Dallas and the Detroit area. But Karim was not the only celebrant. There were several family birthdays also, Bill’s sister Mona, his grand nephew Fady (Karim’s big brother) and grand nephew Adam. Adam is the youngest member of the family and it was his first birthday. So, you can imagine we wanted to have lots of fun.

Fady found a restaurant at Papago Golf Course called, Lou’s Bar & Grill, where we could all meet. The food was mediocre, but the company was great. It was impossible for darling Adam not to be the star of the show. I’d love to show him to you, but his parents don’t want him on social media, so you’ll just have to trust me.

Then the Party was Over

I have to be gluten free in all of my food choices. I’m quite serious about it, because if I’m not, I get sick. I thought I had followed the GF p’s & q’s at Lou’s, but then I started having stomach issues. I won’t bore you with the details, but eventually it meant we had to leave. I got a little respite in the car and then when we got to our hotel, I was in severe pain.

I went almost immediately to bed, even though it was still quite early. I woke up a few hours later and unpacked my bags. It was all of 9:30 PM, but 11:30 Texas time. I went back to bed in a bit and at 11 PM, realized I’d failed to put in my retainers. I put them in and went back to sleep until my usual wakeup time – 5 AM. Thankfully, but then I felt fine.

Our Accommodations

We stayed at the the Hilton Phoenix Resort at the Peak. I can tell you the resort was not at its peak, but suited our needs just fine. In fact, in our room, the bedroom was separated from everything else, so it was easy for me to get up early and not interrupt Bill’s beauty sleep.

At one time, I’m sure this was a great vacation resort, but those days had passed. The food venues were either closed or mediocre. Some of the pools were closed and others needed maintenance. Frankly, everything was run down – but it was clean and it was quiet, and it had been a real bargain. There was even a water park and some other amusements. We availed ourselves of the lazy river at the water park and truly enjoyed it, in spite of it not being in top condition.

So, if location and price mean more to you than other considerations, these accommodations might be just what you need. If you’re expecting a resort atmosphere, don’t book this.

The White Coat Ceremony

Confession, I goofed up. We did not get an official printed invitation to the ceremony. We just talked to his mom and told her we were coming. I googled dental schools in Phoenix and found Arizona School of Dentistry and went with that. As we drove towards the ceremony, I got this strange feeling we were going to the wrong place. We’d chosen the hotel because it was close to where his mother told us the ceremony would be – but she hadn’t told us the name of the school – and the GPS was not taking us in that direction.

I had a little meltdown, made several calls to family members and headed towards Midwestern University, which was Karim’s school, but it was not my finest moment in travel or family relations. I felt like an idiot and the pretended I wasn’t , but I had done something idiotic!

The ceremony was wonderful. Karim was so glad we’d come and the school did a great job on the official part of things. After the ceremony we got to visit the lab where Karim was learning his trade. It was great to see how well loved and admired he was. He’s amazing!

Post Ceremony Family Time

I’d been off that morning. Bill had his turn that afternoon. At his request I’d made reservations for the tour of a historic home. Then he got with his family and totally forgot we had the reservations. He’d been all for trading snacks for dinner, but then I had to remind him of what else we had planned. When he got his brain back, we made plans for breakfast the next morning and headed off for our next adventure.

Come back next week and join us at Wrigley Mansion.

Accommodations, Architecture, ART, DESTINATIONS, Restaurants & Bars, Road Trips, TRAVEL, United States

The National of OKC

Jane Sadek

MEMORY MAKING: MARRIOTS “THE NATIONAL” – AN ELEGANT & HISTORICAL EXPERIENCE

Like most people, I have a budget when traveling. When I’m with Bill, the full cost of the room will land on our credit card, but when I travel with the girls, I only pay for half a room. I’ve been known to get us into some interesting places so I can save a little money, but this time I stretched the budget as far as I could. We stayed at The National and it was a wonder. Come see what I mean.

Gorgeous Inside & Out

As I pulled up to our hotel I was gobsmacked at the elaborate exterior, but I also had to figure out how to we would handle the logistics of unloading and parking. Vicki immediately solved that quandary by saying, “Go ahead and valet. I’ll pay for it.” My husband is valet adverse. A forgotten valet ticket in my car can ruin a perfectly good outing. “Is this what I think it is? Why did you do that?” But if Bill found out about this valet parking session, then I could say, “It’s Vicki! She paid!”

The bellman pointed us inside and gave us direction to go up the elevator to the lobby. This place was gorgeous and I was walking around like a rube who’d never been to the big city. The main floor looks just like an elaborate bank lobby from the 20’s or 30’s, which it was, but instead of gutting it and modernizing it, they went with it. It was so very cool.

We checked into our rooms and made plans to meet back in the lobby for drinks. The rooms were very modern, elegant and well-appointed. I was loving this place more every minute.

Drinks & Dinner

At the appointed hour we found a table in the lobby of The Nationial and ordered up some drinks. It was a blast to sit there and people watch, around the teller cages which had become a central bar.

We’d made reservations at Mickey Mantle’s Steakhouse, which is a very popular (and very good) restaurant on the canal in Bricktown. Nothing to complain about except that it was not the Mantle’s Deb and I had enjoyed during a 2015 visit to OKC.

That meal at Mantle’s is remembered by us as one of our favorites – ever – and we’ve been around the world together! The atmosphere was amazing, the food was great and we had one of the best waiters ever. He’d thought we were going to be a couple of old ladies ordering a Caesar Salad and undertipping. We had a little bit of everything and I am sure we over-tipped. By the end of the meal he was our new best friend (we get a lot of those as we travel) and we wanted to take him with us.

By comparison, the sterile sports-focused steakhouse of today just couldn’t compare. The food and service were great. No complaints really, it was just sad not to have the opportunity to visit an old favorite. It had only recently closed and we’re sure that in the ensuing years they’d probably “improved” it, but I have to give it a shout out.

I’m guessing we ubered back & forth between the restaurant and the hotel, because we didn’t want to move our valeted car and find someplace to park in Bricktown, but now, a year later, I can’t remember! Back at the hotel, three tired girls went back to their respective rooms and slept up for the big day of walking ahead of us.

The next day we saw the OKC Memorial, the Edith Head exhibit at OKMOA and the Crystal Bridge Conservatory. Come back next week and join us.

ART, Attractions, DESTINATIONS, Restaurants & Bars, Road Trips, TRAVEL, United States

OKC Girls Trip

Jane Sadek

MEMORY MAKING: LET’S GO SEE THE EDITH HEAD EXHIBITION

From the moment I heard about the Edith Head Exhibition at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art I knew I had to go, but I also knew it wasn’t the sort of trip Mr. Bill, my usual travel companion, would enjoy. Not to worry, Deborah and Vickie want to go everywhere. Come along as we take a trip up I-35 to OKC, stopping in Norman for lunch.

The Jane Gang

There’s a group in my contacts called, The Jane Gang. This is a group of women I’ve collected over the years and consider the inner circle of my tribe. Perhaps the most important thing about us is the faith we share. Monday Morning Bible Study and Life Group are the places on the calendar where we’ll always see one another, but these guys are fun, so we also love adventures. If I ask, “Do you want to go…” I can’t even get to the destination, because it’s always YES. On this particular trip Deb & Vickie were my companions, because Victoria couldn’t come along. Poor Victoria.

Our Trip from Scratch!

I was the designated driver for this particular adventure in August of 2024. I first dropped by for Deb, then Vickie and then we were on our way. Needless to say, the conversation did not lag for the whole trip. We three always have something to say about everything and nothing.

Eventually, our stomachs chimed into the conversation and Vickie started googling “restaurants near me” and she found a humdinger: Scratch Kitchen! Norman was a bit of a surprise to me. I’ve driven by the college town without so much as a nod, comparing it in my mind to the fast food thoroughfare dominating Nacogdoches, my college town. Was I ever wrong.

Scratch was in an area that reminded me of what the Dallas West End used to be, when it was the cool place to be – ancient history I know. There’s an upscale warehouse vibe to it and in fact, Scratch is in a revamped industrial space with some other eateries. The restaurants are all built around an arcade with restrooms they share. It’s a great idea. Instead of each one having a tiny dingy restroom in need of some TLC, there’s a nice, bright, recently cleaned facility. I approved heartily.

Lunch Alfresco

I’m an eat-on-the-patio kind of a girl, as are my gang. It was August, but not awful so we opted for outside. I can’t say it was my favorite patio ever, because it is right on Main Street, so your view is the local traffic, but it was fun.

The menu was full of delicious sounding sandwiches and salad. That meant this gluten-free girl was opting for the salad, but I have no complaints. It was delicious. In fact, everything was delicious, well-served and priced reasonably. We had no complaints and we were soon back on the road.

After lunch we were on our way to the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. Come back next week and join us.

ART, Attractions, DESTINATIONS, Museums, Restaurants & Bars, Road Trips, TRAVEL, United States

Monday Funday in Seattle

Jane Sadek

MAKING MEMORIES: SENSATIONAL SEATTLE CENTER

What a difference a day makes. Look at those smiles! Bill had been ready to head home, but this day made him glad he stayed. Come along, we’re going to have a great day today.

Getting Ready for Fun

The day before we’d dragged back from Seattle Center sorry to have wasted a day of our vacation. We’d grabbed the nearest light rail and spent the evening watching TV. Not good vacation form.

On Monday, I was in the gym by 6:30 and had my breakfast at the same sad GF-less buffet. We got ready for the day and headed out to the light rail. This time I had us get off so we could ride the monorail again. We hopped off and headed toward MOPOP.

Museum of Pop Culture – MOPOP

This is MOPOP from above, a deconstructed architectural oddity. It used to be called the Experience Music Project and music is a lot of what it’s about, but these days you also experience video games, anime and other forms of entertainment, so they expanded the name.

We went there first because it opened first and wandered around for awhile. Figuring out the building from the interior takes a little doing. Bill likes to touch things, so he had a great time in some of the exhibits, like the one with sound booths. He didn’t know what he was doing, but he was having fun.

Various galleries highlight a variety musical artists and you get to see lots of costumes, instruments and other memorabilia related to the artists. Their selection of artists to highlight did not interest me in the way I hoped they would. Had I seen similar exhibits related to artists I care more about, I would have had a better time of it.

We didn’t take a lot of photos, but Bill did grab this one of me enjoying this sculpture made of guitars donated by some of the top names in music. I’d say the museum is worth a morning and the price of admission. I’m glad I went, but it certainly wasn’t my favorite attraction of the day.

Chihuly Garden & Glass

Now this is what I showed up for. If you haven’t figured it out, I love all things Chihuly and Tacoma had not delivered up enough of him to satisfy me. Not sure anyone could, but Chihuly Garden & Glass was pretty wonderful, perhaps because it had been designed and curated by Chihuly himself. Enjoy the slideshow below to get a taste of why we loved it!

If I were actually in charge of our traveling as Bill pretends I am, then I would have enjoyed lunch at Chihuly Garden & Glass, because there’s a restaurant and wine bar there. I must have mentioned it a dozen times, but Bill never even acknowledged that it registered with him. So, I can’t tell you if the restaurant was worth it or not – but I’d vote YES!

The exhibit itself is beyond wonderful. It just seems to end to soon. You go through several galleries which highlight various forms that Chihuly repeats over and over in his work. Think of all the positive superlatives you know. Yep, that’s almost enough to describe the amazing and beautiful works that inhabit the attraction.

But wait there’s more! It is Chihuly GARDEN & Glass, so once you’ve made your way through the galleries, then you go outside to the gardens. Luckily, the sun came out to play and we got a bright and beautiful look at the displays Chihuly chose to represent himself.

And here are my pages:

The Space Needle

We took a break for lunch, because it wasn’t quite time for us to use our timed ticket for the Needle. We went to the Armory, which was where we’d been the day before. Bill wandered around to find something new, but I enjoyed the Middle Eastern food we’d eaten the day before. I think Bill wished he’d done the same thing.

Then we got in line and rode the elevator to the top of the Space Needle. Left to his own devices, I think Bill would have skipped what he assumed was a tourist trap, but once he was aloft, he was awestruck.

Unfortunately, the weather was not cooperating. We’d appreciated the bright sun which made our visit to the Chihuly Garden so gorgeous and gave us such awesome photos, but as we’d eaten lunch, the Seattle Gloom has descended once again. That’s why the photos of the exterior are so gorgeous, but the photos from inside the Needle are so gray. See what I mean:

Still, regardless of the weather, you’ve got to go to the Space Needle when you’re in Seattle. We loved it.

Back at the Artic Club Hotel

We took the monorail and light rail back to the hotel, where Bill decided to take a nap. I went down to the lobby bar for a glass of wine and suffered the poor service that came with any food and drink we had while there. Such a blight on an otherwise wonderful accommodation.

When I returned to the room, Bill was all napped up and it was time for dinner. A few blocks away, the Marriott Courtyard had a restaurant called The Bistro, so we strolled over there. Nothing to write home about, I assure you. I’d heard Seattle was a foodie paradise, but we didn’t find heaven while we were there.

This was a great day of sightseeing. Coming next week is our last day in Seattle. Come see what we find!

Attractions, DESTINATIONS, International, Restaurants & Bars, Road Trips, TRAVEL

The Parliament Building & Other Sites

Jane Sadek

MEMORY MAKING – THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE HARBOR

Come along for a tour of the Parliament Building in Victoria British Columbia. Washington State was so close I couldn’t mis the chance on the day before to see Butchart Gardens. Today we’re taking some of the rest of the city. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Starting the Day Off Easy

Traveling is hard and every once and a while you need to take a break from it. I had carved out this morning for a little R&R before hitting the trail again. The extensive spa in the hotel allowed us to swim, steam and sauna. Then we hit the road, having lunch at a small Mexican cafe at Fisherman’s Wharf and then driving Dallas Road. First, because we’re Dallasites and then because it was another oceanside drive, very different from the busy Harbor area and Fisherman’s Wharf where we’d just had lunch.

The Parliament Building

Free guided tours of the building are offered during the summer, but the schedule had not been published by the time we left Dallas, so we arrived at the building after our lunch and driving tour, not knowing whether we’d have a guide or would be showing ourself around. We picked up this brochure, but we got lucky enough to show up at the right time for a guided tour.

The tour of the harbor’s highlight starts in the beautiful rotunda, where a canoe holds the place of honor. An early Governor said, “We’re all in the same canoe,” and it became a tagline for the government of the province.

The building is graced with some finely worked stained glass windows and other elegant adornments. The Parliament was not in session, so we got a look at their meeting space. The Hall of Honor, where Bill took a picture of me, is where new citizens are sworn in and other ceremonies of merit take place. I just had the honor of being a visitor.

Royal BC Museum

This museum is huge, but we didn’t have much day left or much interest in tackling the galleries of the building. We told ourselves we’d come back some day and instead watched an IMAX feature called Cities of the Future. Entertaining, but not remarkable.

An Evening Around the Harbor

We lucked into a restaurant called Wind Cries Mary. It was quite the hot spot and we were fortunate they made space for us. I haven’t got much praise to offer for the service, but our meal was delicious, if a little avant garde.

As we strolled back to our hotel, Bill took several of the evening photos you see above. As for me, I couldn’t resist snapping a shot of this t-shirt. I don’t wear t-shirts much and neither does my bestie, but since she’s a cat lady, I had to send her this photo.

And so ended our time in Victoria B.C. We’d be up early the next morning to catch the ferry. This time I had no trouble getting Bill there on time. Come back next week for what might be considered a repositioning cruise, if we’d been on a boat rather than in a rental car.

DESTINATIONS, DFW Metroplex, Restaurants & Bars

A Steak in the Burbs & Other Things

Jane Sadek

TRAVEL HERE: RICHARDSON’S SILVER FOX

An Evening Out That Inspired a New Direction

Motivating me usually takes more than one nudge. I was sorting my blog archive over in my FOREVER account earlier this week. I was happily reminded of days gone by, when blogging and traditional scrapbooking were my primary pastimes and I churned out three blogs a week. The golden days of my blogging!

A lot has happened in my life since then. I figured out that I was not going to become the next great novelist of our decade, we moved away from Dallas to a small rural community called Heath, my husband decided he was going to start hanging out at home on Sundays rather than run around with me and my bestie took up ballroom dancing which replaced our Saturday adventures. That wasn’t all. Mr. Bill & I started a real estate photography, video & drone business that ate up our lives for 8-9 years. Then I started a Memory Keeping business and that passion has replaced the others for the most part.

So, back to my blog archive. As I read through my blogs, so I’d know how to tag them, I was reminded of my bestie, who loves my travel posts, and she had mentioned she missed reading what I had to say about local things. I thought if she did, others might feel the same way, so I considered blogging a little more frequently and writing about local things.

Locally this week, we’ve been iced in. The Metroplex doesn’t know what to do with cold, freezing weather when it comes with precipitation. Mr. Bill had a birthday on Tuesday, but everything was pretty much closed and even if it wasn’t, getting there put your life at risk. Last night there was a break in the cold and we went to celebrate his birthday. Come along! There will be no AI used in the writing of my blogs. I will use my usual wandering method of storytelling!

WHY THE SILVER FOX?

Remember what I said about having a real estate photography business. In that endeavor we made many good real estate friends and one of them still sends us monthly coupons for Dallas entertainment and dining. Most of the coupons go into the trash, but when we received one for The Silver Fox, it jogged a memory. My hair stylist had mentioned a dinner at Silver Fox once – said the food was good, but complained about the price. That didn’t recommend the restaurant to me, since my fella is very price sensitive. But if it was his birthday and we had a coupon – well maybe.

Then came the ice storm, which put all our plans on hold and in the meantime, I found a $25 gift certificate I won at a Newcomers Luncheon. So, when the ice melted enough for us to make some reservations, I did so, knowing I was shaving $50 off the top.

A LATE START

If you know Bill, you won’t be surprised we were about 15 minutes late leaving the house. I’ve gotten wiser over the years. Instead of fretting, I called the the restaurant and let them know we’d be there by 7:15, rather than 7.

When we arrived, we were asked to wait a few moments while they sat up the table. That was fair and it gave us time to look around. The decor was dated. The ceiling was acoustical tile, the walls were beat up paneling and the painting in the foyer looked as if it had been purchased at one of those Starving Artist Shows, you know the ones that sold cheap oils in hotel ballrooms. But it was the wine cellar that gave us the biggest clue, that no matter how much it cost, this was not going to be the fine dining experience we’d hoped for! Their wine cellar looked like a utility closet with a wall of wine storage. They didn’t have any mops in there, but there were opened wine boxes and a counter had miscellaneous stuff just laying around on it. They should invest in a curtain TODAY and put it up before the evening rush.

To punish us for being late, they seated us in their overflow room, the place where people have meetings to sell financial planning and cemetery plots to their potential clients. We must have been right at the end of the rush, because only one other couple was sent to detention hall with us. We were determined to have a good time, so we laughed when we had to play musical chairs to find a pair that would actually hold us up throughout the meal. Then we were overwhelmed by the BACKGROUND music which was hindering our conversation.

We’d already decided the Silver Fox did not deserve our respect, so Bill went over and turned down the irritating jazz music, which they probably thought was sophisticated. Our friends were right about the prices. The cheapest steak, a la carte, was about $50. Reading through the menu we found a “Dinner for Two” deal that gave us a small steak, some mashed potatoes and a side to share. We opted for asparagus and waited for our drinks to be served.

NO FOOD YET, BUT DEFINATELY AN OPINION!

I laughed when the server removed the wine glasses which had been on the table. Bill was getting a beer and I ordered a glass of white wine. This little thing, which virtually all restaurants do, is a bit of snobbery that gets under my skin – as if their glasses were to exotic for the house wine. I think that says more about their choice of house wines than it does about me as a patron. So there!

And when the wine was served – which took entirely too long – I swear it was cheap Chardonnay, not the Sauvignon Blanc I had ordered. I’m sure the bartender didn’t have a bottle open and figured I wouldn’t know the difference. (BTW Silver Fox, Costco has a great twist-top Sauvignon Blanc. You should try it.) Yes, I did know the difference, but I wasn’t going to argue with anyone about it. We were already done with any hopes for saving the evening, so were weren’t going to waste our time.

Eventually, the waitress arrived with our dinners – a hunk of meat and a blob of mashed potatoes standing alone like sentinels at the gate of an abandoned fort. The asparagus, of which there was a generous serving, came on another plate, but they were very chintzy with the sauce. Perhaps as a gluten free eater I wouldn’t be having any, but there was barely enough for anyone.

Honestly, not very appetizing, but then we were offered sliced tomatoes and green onions from a platter. Once they were on the plate, it looked a little more edible. Along with installing the curtains in the semi-wine cellar, management needs to do away with the crudité platter thing today and just add the fresh vegetables to the plated meal.

I have to be honest. The steak was delicious, as were the side dishes, but it was too little too late. If we’re paying $150, before tip to a restaurant, then we expect a little more and for this special occasion, we wished we’d just gone to the Texas Restaurant, which is in the same center, and where we’ve had much better experiences.

TIME FOR THE BILL

So, I drug the coupon and gift card out of my purse. The gift card was still in the package and when I opened it, I realized it required activation before use. REALLY? I hate some of the things the internet has done to us. I went with those machinations, but wasn’t hurried. Service was slow and the only ones around were the couple stuck with us in detention hall.

The bill arrived and Bill offered our various forms of payment. I could tell from the get go the waitress was flustered by it and when she returned we found out why. Whoever they are using for credit card processing has some trick that leaves $5 on the card. It was obvious the waitress didn’t want to deal with it and hoped we’d just put the card back in our pocket and use it somewhere else. We’d had a rough evening of it and we didn’t want to hassle of remembering to use that other $5. So Bill asked for the manager, who explained we could use the $5 towards the tip, which was fine with us. He apologized for the waitress’ inability to communicate that. There was a tip, but not our most generous. This had not been an evening to inspire largesse.

OH YES, THE ICE STORM

On the way home we shared a few laughs about our evening and then compared it to evenings we had enjoyed more thoroughly. At home, Bill headed up the driveway and discovered our slush had frozen to a solid sheet of ice and he couldn’t gain enough traction to get into the garage. On his side of the car there was no ice, but I faced a slippery slope in high heels. He gallantly retrieved my galoshes and in them, with his help, I made a safe reentry to our home, to be greeted by our cat who was certain he’d been abandoned to starve on his own.

MORE LOCAL REVIEWS IN THE FUTURE?

Yes I’ve resolved to be more attentive to my blog to include cultural and entertainment experiences from the Metroplex. In the coming week, I’ll be eating at Toulouse, visiting the DMA and attending a Titas Flamenco Performance. I do have a life, even if it’s not as active as it was in my Dallas days.

The travel blogs will continue. In fact, a good number are already written and scheduled: a few more for Washington State, a girl’s trip to OKC, a short visit to Phoenix, a trip to the Florida Panhandle are all awaiting your reading pleasure. What’s not written but coming after that are a weekend in Tulsa and a cruise to Greece and Turkey. Stay tuned!!