Layout:
Home > Category: Travel

Viewing the 'Travel' Category

Field of Dreams

June 24th, 2022 at 08:29 pm

I'm sure y'all remember the slogan, "Build it and they will come." 

Well, it rang true. Not only in the movie, "Field of Dreams" but now for the former movie set in Dyersville, Iowa. 

Our local tour company offered a short overnight bus trip there and my husband is a big fan of the movie and he was all for it. 

We arrive in Dyersville Tuesday afternoon and are met by two ladies from the local Chamber of Commerce. We are given a short tour while on the bus and then are taken to Basilica of St. Francis Xavier there in Dyersville. Not being Catholic I was sadly ignorant of the difference between a basilica and a church, but were soon schooled in the difference. The sanctuary was magnificent and then we were treated to a tocatta on the pipe organ which was nothing short of glorious.

Another stop was the National Toy Museum -- it's Iowa so three guesses and the first two don't count on what the toys depict. Wait, did you say farm implements? If you did, you'd be correct. Many, many of them from well known John Deere and Case and Ford as well as little dioramas of farms hand made by a local man. Ertl is a toy company that once made many of these toys in the same city. 

Our next day was to the field and farmhouse. And it is outside of town in case you wondered. 

Dyersville, Iowa, is only about 4,400, but I guess they aren’t as quick to annex as other cities are, so it actually may be closer to 5000. Thirty five years ago when they were scouting for a place for Field of Dreams, one of the producers found this one place with the house and the fields and said this was it. They renovated the farm house, put on a new porch, and then built the diamond. They told the farmer they would put things back the way they were and when it was all said and done, the farmer liked the changes to the house like the porch and a/c. After the movie people started coming to see the diamond and wanted tours of the house and I think that helped the farmer decide he liked this aspect. Dyersville also was famous for those  farm equipment toys like the brand name Ertl.  Since then, the town has embraced the tourism aspect and then last year MLB built a stadium for a game and it was such a success, they plan to have another game there this year. That stadium is considered temporary  and MLB plans to build a permanent one as well as youth baseball diamonds are in the works as well. There are two small baseball museums in town, one is by the actor, Dwier Brown, who played Ray’s father in the movie. The other the town is putting together giving history about the movie and how it was made. New factories and businesses are locating there, even a Belgium cattle farmer is bringing cattle there to have local farmers raise and sell them for him. The town created incentives to the older folks to sell their homes that were in the middle price range by building beautiful 55+ communities so there would be housing for younger folks and then the town sought out grants that would help young people move and stay there. Farm land goes for around $17,000 an acre. 
 
We had a "ghost player" get on the bus and talk to us. He was one of the extras in the movie. He said that at first when he was offered the job he wasn’t sure he wanted it, but he loved baseball and thought it might be a good experience. He said because of that, it changed his life and gave him opportunities he never dreamed of. The extras helped Ray Liotta learn how to play baseball and he said the work ethic of Ray’s was amazing. He would stay in the field hours and had blisters on his hand from trying to learn how to bat. After the movie, the “ghosts" were invited to different things and they did lots of things in the past 34 years. They played baseball games with real baseball players, famous ones like Lou Brock. They toured all over the world talking about their experiences. He didn’t tell us this, but the lady at the chamber of commerce did — our ghost, Frank, and some of the others, went to visit soldiers who were stationed far from home and talked about their experiences with the move and baseball and tried to cheer up the troops. Frank said it enabled him to take his wife to places he otherwise could not have afforded. He’s retired from the post office, but still volunteers at the site because he likes people and likes sharing his story. He continued to say how blessed he was from having been given the opportunity of being a ghost or extra. 
 
 
I went to take photos and was stopped by a security guard for the MLB saying I could not take photos of the MLB stadium that is beyond the field for the movie. I wasn’t planning on taking photos of it. I wanted to take photos of the field and the house. Apparently the professional stadium will be hosting the Cubs and Reds this August, and the MLB plans to build a permanent stadium in the area soon. 
 
 
The doll museum was pretty extensive. I guess they have way over 2000 dolls, mostly donated. It is in the house of the town’s founder. We had a tea there with sweets and a cup of tea. The house was Victorian and pretty interesting. 
 
It’s impressive how this little town as really taken itself seriously and embraces progress. Just like the movie, build it and they will come, not only the ghosts, but lots of tourist to see this wonder. 

Trip of a Lifetime

May 2nd, 2022 at 04:36 pm

For years we saved and saved and saved. We wanted to go to England. Then when we thought we were getting close enough to do so, you know what hit and shut down the world.

We decided to start planning anyway. We didn't have passports so a little over a year ago we did all the necessary stuff to get them ordered. We received them a year ago this month. We then went to a travel agent to discuss what we wanted to do. Neither of us have ever been out of the country so we wanted to go with someone who knew far more than we. We made our wish list. We didn't want to go with a tour company because we didn't want to go to Ireland or Scotland or Wales in addition to England. 

I wanted to go to Manchester because my dad's paternal side lived there in the late 1880s. I had Googled the address and the house is still around. I Googled the address of the restaurant he ran before having to file for bankruptcy and that building was also around and being used as a jewelry store. I wanted to see these places and see the city where they lived before immigration.

DH and are big fans of the series, "All Creatures Great and Small" so of course Yorkshire was also on the list. 

Then, of course, London. We emailed back and forth with the travel agent...instead of 7 days total, could we bump it up to 9 so we'd have 7 days to see things? We discussed it and said yes.

So, the Monday after Easter we started our journey, our trip of a lifetime. We were excited and scared at the same time. We had a written itinerary from our travel agent who had worked with a travel agent in England. It was very organized. 

After the many hour plane trip across "the pond" we landed at Heathrow. We then made a connecting flight to Manchester. I sat at the window of the plane and at my first glimpse of Manchester from the air, I'll admit it, I became teary. No one I know in the family still lives there, but it was unbelievable that I was going to be there. We were met by a driver who had our names on a card at the airport who drove us to our hotel. Talk about feeling like we were important! We stayed at a very nice hotel, walked around the first night, and the second day took a taxi and in 77 minutes saw both the house and the building the restaurant had once been housed in. We also saw some parts of Manchester before being dropped off and walking around a downtown area. We had afternoon tea at the hotel. And it was all good!

 

Here is the photo of us in front of the house:

The third day we took a train from Manchester to York. Finding the right platform was a bit of a challenge -- you have to either climb stairs or take the elevator or lift and go down and come back up, but we succeeded, found the right train, and could sit back and relax and watch the countryside. We walked to our hotel, left our bags, and was met by a driver/tour guide who took us around Yorkshire. We visited Thirsk which is made famous by James Herriot and visited the house/vet office. We had a lovely lunch at a wonderful place called "Upstairs Downstairs." DH and I shared a sandwich which was huge and included a small salad and coleslaw. And the tea! It was delightful. DH loved that they offered both brown sugar and white sugar and he has taken a shine to the brown sugar in his tea. We were then driven through many small villages, shown the ruins of the Bryland Abbey, and saw the lovely pastoral countryside.

Our fourth day we took a train to London and had a fancy hotel near the Palace. We had afternoon tea at the hotel and more wonderful tea as well as sandwiches and sweet treats. A Blue Badge guide met us at the hotel and we did  a walking tour. We saw Westminster Abbey, Parliment, St. Martin in the Fields, St. Paul's Cathedral, amongst other things and she dropped us off at the Tower of London. We had a private tour of the Tower of London and the Crown Jewels. It was delightful that the three guides there, one for outside, one for inside, and one for the actual jewels loved their jobs and sharing their knowledge. 

On our fifth day we took a bus tour to Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and Oxford. The tour guide was a man after my own heart; after teaching here all these years and he knew how to guide and give us hints for the easiest and best way of doing things. It was a long day, but it was interesting seeing all the grand things at Windsor, then wondering how Stonehenge was built, then going into what is considered academia of Oxford. DH loves the Inspector Morse and Inspector Lewis series so it was wonderful to be able to walk around Oxford and recognize some of the scenes we had viewed. 

On our sixth day we started with the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. I was amused that the band played music from "Mary Poppins" for this. This was pretty neat to see all the pageantry and tradition. As we stood by the fence, a family came up and we started talking. They were from Albany, NY, and this trip was a birthday present for their 12 year old. We talked about the best places to get our Covid tests in order to return to the U.S. We were fortunate, there was a testing site almost across the street from the hotel and we could make an appointment. They asked how much was it and I said 23 pounds each. They said the airport charged more as did the pharmacy -- the pharmacy was asking 60 pounds each and there was 4 of them. So, they were delighted to learn of the place we had an appointment with. Then there was a couple next to us on the other side and they were from Charleston, S.C. and we visited with them as we waited as well. That really was nice. They were there on a whim -- decided to hop a plane and come and see the sites. 

After the changing of the guard, we went to a 3 course lunch at the Game Bird at the Stafford. I felt like I was rich. We were waited on and served such delicious food and treated so well. We had three types of salmon that was thinly sliced served with toast. It was sliced in front of us. Then they brought out this beautiful standing beef rib roast and it was sliced in front of us and we were served roasted potatoes, roasted carrots, broccoli, cauliflower casserole, and Yorkshire pudding. Dessert was a small oval of ice cream and this type of cake ball which had a hard chocolate shell. This is an aside, but there were two other couples who were seated next to us. They came in slighty after we did. I guess we have Midwestern Manners becasue we looked our servers in the face and thanked them repeatedly and asked questions. These two couples treated the servers with aloofness. I noticed that we received the best service of the three of us, and I looked at the roast beef that was served to the table next to us, and we most certainly got the prime pieces compared to what they were brought. I guess I'm not too proud to be nice. 

Next we went to Westminster Abbey for Evensong. England is 6 hours ahead of us in Central Illinois so at 3 p.m. in London, it was 9 a.m. back home and our brothers and sisters at Mt. Calvary Lutheran were having church at the same time. It was most certainly a wonderful service. The choir and cantor were amazing and that pipe organ! The choir master knew how to use the acoustics and would have the choir end in such a way that the last note would reverberate off the walls for a delightful effect. We walked back to our hotel and discussed what a fabulous day it had been.

Lunch at the Game Bird:

Our last day was busy with getting Covid tests, touring the Japan exhibit at the Queen's Gallery, and then walking tour of the sites that were Beatle related. We visited the building the Beatles had owned and did the rooftop concert in a very fancy men's clothing district, saw the Abbey Road studios and had our photo taken crossing where the Beatles crossed. Our last evening in London was a dinner cruise on the Thames River. It was fabulous seeing London at sunset and then the lights as it became dark. 

Our crossing Abbey Road:

I know we often discuss how to save money and investments and all that, but we did not scrimp on this trip. We spent a lot. We did a lot. Am I sorry? Heck no. All those coupons, all those rebates, all those leftovers, all those times I made do, it was a way for us to be able to fully fund and pay for this trip and not go into debt. 

My only regret -- the Queen didn't invite us to tea! But, we were told she wasn't in London when we were there. OK, I'm kidding about the tea invitation, but it truly was a trip of a lifetime!

Catch up!

December 19th, 2021 at 10:18 pm

It's hard to fathom that Christmas is less than a week away! This year has flown by!

Our British dinner a week ago was a success. We all made new recipes and realized there was a certain thrill to trying the unknown. We liked everything and I ordered those Christmas crackers and those were an absolute hoot. The other two couples are good sports about being willing to try new things. Although the dinner wasn't cheap, I'm sure it was still far cheaper than going out to a fancy restaurant. We all provided different things. And with this being the second year of Covid, it was just nice to have a little normalcy.

Christmas shopping has been finished and paid for so no January surprises there. I spent a lot in postage, both for Christmas cards and packages. Last year I sent two packages that took over a month to get to their destinations. This year things went better. Seems the place I mailed them last year has a worker (it's a post office annex, not the post office) who apparently doesn't know what she is doing, and puts something on them that sends them all over. One was to go to San Francisco and it went to LA, then SF, then came all the way back to Kentucky, then back to Springfield, Illinois, then finally back to San Francisco. The other one was to go to Terre Haute which is two hours away and it sat in Springfield for almost a month. I take them to a small town post office near us now and so far, have had no issues which is a blessing after last year's debacle. 

Unless things get locked down, 2022 may be a very spendy year for us. We have some trips planned as well as a bathroom remodel. We have the money in savings so it isn't like we have to go get loans, but we are both retired, and we figure if we can travel, we should before we get too handicapped to do so.

We visited with a couple the other day and it's interesting that when you think people are the same as you are, then realize they are not. Don't get me wrong, I'm not criticizing. But, they were talking about some issues they have. They are always looking for a deal. Seems she saw some ad on Facebook for some shoes that she thought were name brand, but seems they were a knock off and the name on them was similar, but not the same, but only discovered it after she received the two pairs she ordered -- not well made and the soles are slick, not treaded. Apparently they cannot be returned and they were less than half of what the name brand would have cost. The other thing was they received a notice from a company that claimed since they were good customers, they could pick a prize and only pay postage of $5.95 or something like that. So, they picked something, and gave their credit card number to pay the postage. Well, besides the postage, another charge of over $70 was added. These are not stupid people, but we believe they have gotten scammed. It is just scary! 

Hope all of you have a Merry Christmas and let's hope 2022 is a successful year for all of us!

Soggy Sunday

October 24th, 2021 at 08:38 pm

 

Fallingwater

Lots of rain today -- woke up to a storm and could just hear the rain pelting down. I guess we have a chance of bad storms tonight. Certainly hope that doesn't come to pass.

I went out and picked a few things from the little bit that remains of our garden. I want to make some soup for this week and use up some vegetables I have in the bin. I waited until it stopped raining for a bit.

We had purchased a bus trip in 2019 for 2020 and of course could not go. We did get to go this year and went to the Laurel Highlands to see two of Frank Lloyd Wright designed homes: Fallingwater and Kentuck Knob. Both were really amazing in their own way. Kentuck Knob is supposed to be Usonian which supposedly is for the average man -- but with the final cost, I don't think it was for the average man, but cool nonetheless to visit. Fallingwater was, of course, amazing. We had budgeted money to eat out and buy a few things. My purchases were basically postcards. DH did find a shirt he wanted. But, we used money we had saved so we aren't in debt. Of course the trip was totally paid for in 2019 and to be honest, I was a little worried we might lose that money if the travel business went under. Fortunately we did not. We enjoy our time away and got to see a part of the country we had not been to so that was really cool. But, I can tell you, it was mighty nice to sleep in our own bed when we returned. 

I have tried to finish my Christmas shopping. I thought I had succeeded, but one item did not fit DH so I will have to return it and see if I can get something that does. But, other than buying stamps for the Christmas cards we send, I believe I am finished. I know they have said there might be problems getting things, but hopefully people will have planned ahead if they planned on shopping. 

 

Kentuck Knob

 

Does Anticipation Make Things Special?

May 9th, 2021 at 06:55 pm

Does anticipation really make things more special?

Based on our experience this past week, I'd say a resounding "Yes!"

A year ago we had planned on going to Laurel, Mississippi, to visit the town of Ben and Erin Napier of the HGTV show, "Home Town." We had been saving money to make the trip and then last spring the plague of Covid got in the way. So, watching reruns, talking about what could have been, and hoping that this year might be the year...

Well, it was. We drove over 700 miles over 2 days to get there. Since we had an extra year to save, we decided we were not going to scrimp. We stayed in nice hotels for the whole trip. If we wanted something, we bought it. Since we were driving, we took more stuff than we needed so we were comfortable. 

We had a delightful time visiting Laurel, Mississippi, where Erin and Ben Napier showcase the homes they remodel on HGTV’s “Home Town.” What drew us here were the locally owned shops and restaurants and the fact Erin and Ben strive to support local craftsmen or offer things made in the USA. We felt we were “framily” when we first entered Laurel. As we stood on the sidewalk Tuesday morning waiting for a shop to open, Jim Raspberry, Erin’s cousin, stopped and talked to us, telling us it was worth the wait and welcomed us and a few minutes later a lady got out of her car, crossed the street, stopped directly in front of us, asked us if we were visitors and when I said “Yes,” she said welcome to Laurel and introduced herself as Erin’s mama. We talked for a few minutes like we were friends. We also saw “Miss Pearl” of Pearl’s diner talking on the phone outside her restaurant and we saw Mallorie walking down the street and then Jim and Mallorie walking back. The owner of one shop visited with us for quite awhile while he and I discussed John Grisham’s “Painted House.” I did not take photos of these “celebs” because I did not want to violate their privacy. But, it was a wonderful visit, even if the heat and humidity were both high. 

I've concluded that I'm either a John Grisham groupie, or his books have flavored my life to the extent that I see things possibly the way he would have written them. When we were eating at Pearl's Diner in Laurel, MS, the place filled up and three ladies had to either take the table for 6 or stand. They sat at one end of the table and in comes three gentlemen and they ask if three local men can join them. They just reminded me of what I would imagine characters in Grisham's books. One had a three piece suit on, gold watch chain, and salt and pepper neatly trimmed beard and hair, and was ever the gentleman. Another had dress slacks, white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and tie, while the third had on dress slacks, dress shirt, and suspenders. All three engaged the ladies in talk, asking questions such as where they hail from, and what they liked about Laurel, all the time enchanting them with their southern drawl.

DH and I bought Erin and Ben's book. I started it that night and finished it a couple of days ago. DH started it yesterday and is almost finished with it. It is a heart warming tale of two people who love each other and their families and their home town. It just gave me a good feeling that there are still good people out there and the world although has been turned around with Covid and ill feelings, it still is a wonderful place. I needed this trip more than I could ever imagine just to see something different and be embraced by a very warm, welcoming town. My goal is to be friendlier to strangers and perhaps they will leave our city a littler happier as well. 

To answer my own question as the beginning of the blog, does anticipation make something more special? In this case, it did, it sweetened my life like a glass of sweet tea. 

 

 

Monday Musings

August 27th, 2018 at 10:41 pm

We have stayed busy.

On Saturday we took a bus trip to a city about two hours away to go through thrift stores. We visited 7 shops. Four were actual thrift stores and 3 were consignment shops/antique malls. But it was a fun day. The trip also included a box lunch and it was really good. There was a choice of turkey and cheese, chicken salad, or ham and cheese on a croissant, and then pasta salad, a bag of chips, fruit salad, brownie, and a small peppermint. The lady who runs the travel agency also provides water for us as well throughout the trip.

DH and I did find a few things, but we were not the big spenders on the trip. I think we spent less than $20 total on our purchases, but it was fun to look around. We were on a different bus than what the travel agency normally uses. Sadly, the bus company she had been utilizing suddenly shuttered after 75 years. Two years ago the owner sold the company and the investment group that bought it ran it into bankruptcy. I just hope this doesn't make this travel agency owner also have financial problems because she had paid for many of the trips in advance.

The funny thing about the trip was the fact we were on a bus, but these folks shopped. At the end of the day, there was a church pew, a rocking chair, a couch (yes, a big couch), an end table, a floor lamp, and a child's ride on motorcycle toy under the bus besides all the boxes and bags. At the last stop, the antique mall folks said they would stay open past their closing time and they had bags of popcorn, cookies, and water for us. Pretty nice gesture, for sure!

Yesterday we had church and after we came home and had brunch, DH watered his garden and then picked tomatoes. Finally we are starting to get more tomatoes. He also picked bell peppers. I used a bunch of the tomatoes and peppers to make a spaghetti sauce. I canned that today and realized 2 quarts and a pint of it.

Our knitting group met last week and we are up to 895 hats. Our goal if 1000 seems attainable. We have had some problems though with people bringing donations of yarn. I am trying to think positive, and hope they are just being nice, but three of the last four donations of yarn were really nasty. One smelled of mildew and the yarn was filthy. Another smelled of smoke. The last one just smelled and the white yarn had yellowed. You would hope people would realize no one would want to work with the yarn in this condition and hopefully they didn't use this as a means to dispose of it. I would hope not. But, yuck.

It's really hot and humid here in Central Illinois. Many of our schools had early dismissal today and plan to do the same tomorrow. I no longer work in those schools, but I'm glad for the students and the staff because I remember how miserable it was working in those conditions.

Back from Branson

August 20th, 2017 at 09:23 pm

A couple of months ago, DH and I saw a flyer from a local travel company for a short trip to Branson, Missouri. It seemed like a good deal with six shows and some the meals being picked up as well as the hotel and the bus. We had the money saved in our vacation fund. We view bus trips like this -- it is like a buffet -- it may not exactly be what we want, but we do get to meet different people and try different things.

It turned out to be a pretty neat trip overall. We received the schedule a few days before and other than lunch on Monday and lunch on Thursday when we returned, all the other meals were either picked up or it was a free hot breakfast at the hotel. On our way, we stopped at a Sirloin Stockade for lunch. She had called ahead and they offered a deal -- $10 for the lunch buffet which included the buffet, drink, tax, and tip. The menu said the buffet alone before tax was $8.99 so we felt that was a pretty good deal. We have never eaten at one, but felt it had some nutritious and tasty items. On the way home we stopped at an area that had a McDonalds and Arby's side by side and we went to Arby's for two reasons -- we like their food better and they give a senior discount.

We actually saw 7 shows. The show Monday night was a talented couple playing at the restaurant. The other shows were diverse -- one was singing and dancing in lovely costumes with music by Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, and Cole Porter, and another was a Creedence Clearwater Revival group. We left the hotel at 9 a.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday and didn't return until after 10 p.m. Busy days, but fun ones.

We owe no money. We did shop a bit. DH bought a belt at a leather shop to replace one he has that is worn out. I bought a couple of gifts for people. One was a jar of jam -- what do you get a 94 year old besides food? I also bought post cards to send to the ladies I write each week and wrote those out and mailed them. But, the trip was paid for with savings and we took some spending money with us, so we didn't charge anything. Other than the two before mentioned meals, we wouldn't have had to spend anything.

I will say, and I know that part of the price was for tourists, but as expensive as jam is, those jars I have been making and canning are worth far more than I ever thought! Yikes!

We had a nice time, it was a great get away and what even added to the enjoyment was it was the first week of school here -- I always wanted to travel when we were in school so that was an added benefit. That was the reason we went to Tybee Island in January last year -- we went because it wasn't as busy and we couldn't when I taught. Same thing with the Branson trip -- there were plenty of things to do and see, but it wasn't so overly crowded that it was a hassle.

Thanks and more

July 9th, 2017 at 08:32 pm

A big thank you to those who commented on my last post about losing a friend to suicide. I read somewhere that it takes three days for a person to adjust to a change and I think that is really true. There are still questions and I doubt if there will be answers. My heart goes out to the family and friends. We are going to attend the visitation and it should be a lengthy wait since he was a popular guy and his wife has many friends as well.

A friend suggested we do something different yesterday to have a mini getaway so they drove us to St. Louis. We had lunch at an Irish Pub. We've never been there and it was quite good. We went to a place called "The Hill" which is a neighborhood with Italian restaurants and stores. We shopped at an Italian grocery and viewed more types of pasta than I have ever seen in one place. We walked around to some of the other stores and bakeries and then stopped and had some gelato. We then went to another part of St. Louis where Concordia Seminary is located. I am Lutheran and in the Lutheran Church -Missouri Synod, men who are called to the ministry must attend a synodical seminary to earn their master's of divinity in order to receive a call from a congregation. We walked around the lovely campus and went into the chapel. It was a relaxing day spent with good friends. We did spend some money - we paid for our lunch and bought a couple of things at the grocery as well as purchasing the gelato, but I don't think we spent more than $50 in total. We offered our friends money for gas since they drove, but they turned us down saying that they planned on going anyway.

It looks like another hot week. I turn the thermostat up when we leave the house so the a/c doesn't work as hard and we use ceiling fans to help as well when we are home. DH mowed the front yard and did get pretty overheated. Because we haven't received much rain lately, he hadn't mowed in a few weeks because the grass was dormant. We received about half an inch over two days so the grass grew a little and became rangy.

DH picked his first bell pepper and ripe tomato on Thursday. Both were delicious. We had another ripe tomato with our brunch today and there is one for supper tonight. We will have more than one at meals when they start coming on, but they are like a treasure when they first come on. Homegrown certainly taste different than store bought.

DH has had problems with a baby bunny wanting to live in his garden and eat his carrots. He chases it out and uses something called liquid fence. It is a product that has garlic and rotten eggs that is pretty stinky. But the rain the other day washed it off and Baby Bunny decided to visit. I had to chuckle over DH's comment as he chased it -- he said that if he ever caught the little twerp he would kick it over the house. I rather doubt if he could catch it and knowing what a softy DH really is, he wouldn't kick it anyway. But the entertainment is pretty good!

Haven't been Around Lately

January 22nd, 2017 at 07:31 pm

I haven't been around for over two weeks. No, I wasn't boycotting SA. I was either getting things ready or away on vacation. Yep, you read that correctly...two weeks of vacation. Never in my life have I been on vacation that long. It as something we had planned and saved for. In fact, we've been planning this for a few years. A goal we had once I retired was to rent a condo in Savannah, Georgia, and spend some time there. A friend suggested we rent one on Tybee Island so we did.

It was an enjoyable time, but I can say from my perspective, two weeks is too long. I missed my home. I missed my routines (does that mean I'm getting old and crotchety?).

We planned to eat out some, but we ate the bulk of our meals at the condo. I took many non perishables and we bought some fresh stuff while there. There is an IGA on the island and we made friends with the butcher. I asked him to tenderize some meat and he told me it would be a little bit because he had to clean the machine...fine with us. But get this, we were going to come back to the meat case but we didn't have to. He found us and delivered the meat to us! I felt like Tybee was a small town. We had lunch at a place and the owner was friendly and learned our names and was happy to give us directions and advice. Although I took some things with us, it isn't the same as having things in my pantry and freezer, so I had to plan carefully what I would fix because I didn't want to buy unnecessary things.

Our condo had a beach view. It was fun looking at the freighters and fishing boats as well as other boats. One afternoon and night it was really foggy over the ocean so there was a ship that had a continual fog horn. Living in land locked central Illinois, this was truly a new experience.









We found Sandra Bullock's house on the island. We viewed it from afar, but DH is a big Sandra Bullock fan so that was pretty exciting, even if she wasn't there. We did eat at a restaurant there she supposedly likes called the Breakfast Club. It is a small building and not real fancy inside or out, but the breakfast was marvelous. We were fortunate because we didn't have to wait for a table...I guess there are often lines outside waiting to get in.





We went into Savannah a few times. Let me tell you, if you go to Savannah and Tybee, be sure and have a pocketful of quarters. You pay for parking everywhere from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. We mostly went to eat some place. We really like Leopold's Ice Cream Shop. We've been to Savannah three times before this, so this is a must do place on our agenda. It was as good as ever. While we were there and parked, we walked around to some of the different shops. I did buy some tea from a locally owned shop and some spices from another that sells only things grown/manufactured in Georgia, I am not a big shopper so I don't think we increased their economy much. We walked to some of the shops on the main highway in Tybee and I got a bigger kick out to finding some pinecones on the way. Georgia pine trees are much taller than those here in the Midwest and the pinecones are huge. We also collected sea shells on the beach which we will give to the 5 classes DH and I volunteer in as souvenirs. Here are photos of DH and then me on the beach. I hate having my photo taken, but I figured I'm not getting any younger and I'm not going to ever be beautiful, so why not?






We had saved money to pay for everything. I still owe the credit card for two hotel room stays, one on the way there and one on the way back, but I have the cash put in the checking account to pay that. So, we walk away from our vacation not having a big bill over our head.

I think the best thing was getting home. It was an adventure -- we have never rented a condo before and we haven't been beach folks either, so it was something different and sometimes challenging. The condo was small -- we knew that and it isn't a criticism. We couldn't see paying more for the condo than we would for a hotel room. But, after being in a place so small, our house which isn't huge seemed very roomy! I'm glad to be home and I'm glad to be back on SA.