Tree Pollen is Here
March 9, 2010 10:49 am – 10:49 amOkay, self. This is an official brief note that today, March 9, 2010, is the official start of “my nose is driving me crazy” season. The tree pollen has arrived. I’m not providing pictures.
Brunswick to Rocky Mount
February 14, 2010 9:37 pm – 9:37 pmWe’re at the Comfort Inn in Rocky Mount. After a nice dinner at Chico’s, we settled in for the fastest internet of our trip—over 9Mbps up and down! Not as fast as at home, but pretty damn good.
The drive from Brunswick to Rocky Mount was uneventful—fortunately. We’re listening to “Dead to Rights” by J.A. Jance, and enjoying it. I’m also listening to Kay Hooper’s “Chill of Fear,” when Karen dozes off. It’s about the FBI’s psychic unit… which I’m assuming doesn’t exist. I’m enjoying the book, and perhaps I’ll do some research to see if any of it is based on reality. A few quick Google searches, however, suggest that it’s pure fiction.
Karen & I ate at Chico’s for Valentine’s Day. I hadn’t planned on having dinner & drinks for under $30, but that’s how it worked out. I had beef fajitas, and Karen had the Toro el Bravo-which included a mini burrito, a mini soft taco, and a mini-something else–all beef. Two had shredded beef–and lots of it, and the other had ground beef. All of her main items and my fajitas were delicious.
Their salsa is especially good, and their XX on draft was nice and cold. The bill came to a little over $28 for the two of us, and with tip, the night cost just $33.
My only complaints would be that the chips were a little overdone, and they use refried beans rather than actual beans. We’ll definitely eat there again the next time we stay in Rocky Mount. Karen’s also came with dessert—fried ice cream, but I’m not factoring it into my review since it wasn’t a main course item. Karen thought it was okay, but I find the whole concept and the implementation revolting. Ice cream requires chocolate and nuts. The coating around the ice cream did not endear itself to either of us, but Karen wasn’t as revolted as I was. For me, the only acceptable dessert for Mexican food is sopapillas, but I’m not doing dessert these days, so I didn’t get a chance to assess their sopapillas—I didn’t even notice if they were on the menu.
Tomorrow, we make the last leg of our journey to home. I’m hoping we don’t encounter icy roads on the way. Happy Presidents’ Day weekend! By the way, officially, tomorrow’s federal holiday is called “Washington’s Birthday,” not Presidents’ Day, since that’s what it’s called in the U.S. Code. See http://www.opm.gov/Operating_Status_Schedules/fedhol/2010.asp for their justification. Of course, GW’s actual birthday is February 22, but who’s counting?
West Palm Beach to Brunswick, via Stuart
February 13, 2010 10:01 pm – 10:01 pmBefore leaving the south Florida area, we hit a couple of banks and went to the Sterling Elliott Museum in Stuart. I’d been to that museum many years ago. They have several rooms of nice art, as well as many rooms of historical artifacts. They have a large garage filled with 30-40 antique cars, as well. I didn’t know it was possible to buy a Mercedes for only $4,500. Yet, in 1959, had my piggy bank been filled enough, I could have bought one.
After the museum, we went to Don Ramón’s for lunch. Karen had read that they made a decent Cuban sandwich. And she’d read correctly. I ordered the vaca frita (thin-sliced fried beef and onions), which was decent. I didn’t care for the yellow rice or black beans side dishes, though—both had unfamiliar flavorings that didn’t quite do it for me. For yellow rice, I expected saffron… but the yellow came from something else. And, I’m definitely not a fan of fried plantains. Still… they had enough Cuban and French items on the menu that I would go there again. I would order their veal Normandie next time, though. It looked really good.
After the Don’s we got onto the road for Brunswick, GA. For dinner, I asked the guy at the desk of the Country Inn & Suites where he’d recommend for seafood. He told us to go to Captain Joe’s, which is off of I95 Exit 36B. It was a good recommendation. They have a very complete salad bar, two kinds of soup (the one I tried was some kind of seafood soup with small shrimp in it—it was top notch). For entrées, we both had combinations—Karen had wild Georgia fantail shrimp and scallops (bay scallops, unfortunately, but they were good nonetheless). I had the same, plus oysters.
And GUESS what I found as I was chewing one of my oysters!!! An actual pearl! That’s a first for me. I wonder if frying damages pearls.
Tomorrow, we’ve decided to drive another 400 miles or so to Rocky Mount, NC. That way, we should arrive home in the early afternoon on Monday—hopefully before any additional snow accumulates, but more importantly so that we can deal with the shoveling in the daylight. Monday’s home forecast calls for snow and then rain and snow. Shoveling snow is oh-so-much-fun in the rain.
Singing Bamboo in West Palm Beach—Off Key
February 12, 2010 9:37 pm – 9:37 pmThere were really good reviews of Singing Bamboo on the Internet. But, I’m singing a different tune. Karen ordered beef Hunan style. It was bland—no spiciness at all. Are they afraid to actually make those asterisks mean anything? It was decidedly lackluster, and the broccoli was overcooked.
I ordered scallops & shrimp with “hot” garlic sauce. Actually, I ordered scallops and shrimp Hunan style, but they brought the other dish instead. I’m not sure what “Hunan Combinations” meant in their menu. Again, the food was very bland—with an almost-medicinal flavor to it. There was no hint of heat, and the shrimp was cooked to within an inch of its life. The scallops had been thin-sliced for some reason, and they, too, were overcooked.
The shrimp rolls were so-so—kind of greasy and not at all crispy. The fried chicken wings had no crispiness at all, but were otherwise flavorful. Unfortunately, they had fried rice rather than white or brown, and it, too, wasn’t worth the calories.
All in all, if you’re looking for good Chinese food in the West Palm Beach area… let me know if you find any. Maybe Singing Bamboo was having an off night. However, since it’s Friday night, I would think they’d have their better cooks on duty, not taking a breather. For whatever the reason, Singing Bamboo was definitely flat.
West Palm Beach Area
February 12, 2010 9:30 pm – 9:30 pmWe began our outing today by going to Tacos al Carbón in Lake Worth. I’d read that they had amazingly good & cheap Mexican food. They do! I had a shredded beef taco and a steak burrito. Karen had two tacos—one beef and one pork. We’re putting TaC onto our “go there again anytime we’re anywhere close to Lake Worth” list.
Unfortunately, we’d gotten a pretty late start this morning, and had time for only one major sightseeing thing, so we went to the Henry Flagler Museum. It’s a lavish mansion that 71-year-old Henry built for his 34-year-old bride. To hear the audio guide tell it, Henry—who “built Florida,” according to the folks at the museum—gets much of the credit for making Florida everything it is today. Carl Hiaasen, the Seminoles, and a few others might choose the word “blame” rather than “credit.”
Amusing story: A woman who reminded me of the late Al Searle was ranting in the museum gift shop about Henry Flagler being a robber-baron. After looking at a photograph of him, she pronounced him someone who looked really harsh and evil—not someone she’d ever want to have dealings with. To the contrary, asserted one of the shop staff, he was a very nice man who did lots for Florida and the people of Florida. To hear her tell it, Flagler was another Albert Schweitzer. They went back and forth several times. I suspect that the Al Searle-esque woman might’ve been a UU. I didn’t ask. I also didn’t disagree with her assessment. I just found the confrontation amusing and refreshing.
In any case, the mansion is indeed impressive. They allowed pictures, but I’m not that fond of taking pictures inside mansions, so I left my camera in its case. There was a very interesting statue of Venue with four leering satyrs at her feet. I snapped a couple of those with my cell camera, but I’m too lazy to retrieve the pictures.
After visiting Henry, we decided to drive up the coast and take a look at the Loggerhead Marinelife Center, in Jupiter. Their mission is to rescue hurt and stranded sea turtles. Among other things I learned is that each turtle egg has the capability of becoming male or female. Temperature controls what sex the egg becomes.
At the moment, we’re sitting here waiting for Chinese delivery from the Singing Bamboo. We ordered almost two hour ago, and it’s not here yet. I think they’re not coming. L Well… moments later, they came. I’m posting a short review in another blog post.
There were really good reviews of Singing Bamboo on the Internet. But, I’m singing a different tune. Karen ordered beef Hunan style. It was bland—no spiciness at all. Are they afraid to actually make those asterisks mean anything? It was decidedly lackluster. I ordered scallops & shrimp with “hot” garlic sauce. Actually, I order scallops and shrimp Hunan style, but they brought the other dish instead. Again, it was very bland—with an almost-medicinal flavor to it. There was no hint of heat, and the shrimp was cooked to within an inch of its life. The shrimp rolls were so-so, and the fried chicken wings had no crispiness at all. Unfortunately, they had fried rice rather than white or brown, and it, too, wasn’t worth the calories. All in all, if you’re looking for good Chinese food in the West Palm Beach area… let me know if you find any.
February 12, 2010 10:47 am – 10:47 am
We’re at the Springhill Suites in West Palm Beach. This is a fairly new hotel—too new for AAA to have rated. The room isn’t huge, but it isn’t tiny, either. It would be better if there were two workspaces instead of one, but we’re making do. There’s a small “kitchen” area with a mini-fridge, sink, and microwave.
The climate control doesn’t make you choose between heat and cool. Instead, if the temperature is higher than desired, the AC comes on. If the temperature is lower than desired, the heat comes on. What a concept! Although, it literally blows hot and cold. There are long periods of stasis, though.
The Internets aren’t all that fast here—about 400K using the wired, and about 1.4M using the wireless. Go figure. Firefox keeps giving this damnable “Server not found” message when trying to upload photos. Google Chrome is a lot more compliant, but it too balks. I’m guessing it’s a Facebook issue.
For dinner last night, we went to Shells, a promising-looking seafood restaurant with good reviews. Shells is a chain with a number of “convenient” locations around Florida. The location where we went last night had ample parking. That’s because it was closed. We don’t know if that’s a permanent condition for that Shells, for all Shells, or just what. But, the nearest other location was 32 miles away—not that convenient. So, we did some research in the car and decided to go to Spoto’s. Karen is quickly becoming attached to her Motorola Droid.
Spoto’s is a hard-to-find pretentious trendy-chic place on PGA Boulevard. Almost all of the available parking is reserved for valet parking. Apparently, rich people can’t be troubled to park their own Mercedes and Porsches. That’s understandable. After all, it does sometimes get down into the 50s and 60s, and we can’t have them getting a chill on the way to their $45 appetizers.
In any event, we’d called ahead for the priority seating arrangement, and had to wait only an additional 10 to 15 minutes, rather than the 50 minute wait we might have had otherwise. We both had the house cabernet, which wasn’t bad for a California wine. It had a smoky flavor, which suggested it had actually spent part of its young life in a barrel.
For appetizers, we both chose the $6.95 conch chowder. It was a tomato-based affair, and the conch had been food-processed a bit. I couldn’t tasted the advertised sherry. But, it was pretty good nonetheless. Worth $7? Meh. But, the hot appetizer sampler at $45 didn’t grab us.
For main courses, Karen had the pan-seared panko scallops with rice. She said the rice was way too lemony. The scallops were good, but I would have liked the flavor better if they hadn’t tried to Asian-ify it. In my experience, American restaurants fail at Asian flavorings, and should leave them to the experts.
I had the bouillabaisse. It featured half a lobster, mussels, salmon, and clams in a tomato-based broth with onions and various other hard-to-decipher vegetables. Unfortunately, the chef went overboard with the fennel and some other licorice-flavored spice. It wasn’t awful, but it wasn’t what I expected, either. Having half a lobster still in the shell made it messier than it should have been, and much more time-consuming given the inadequacy of the implements provided. At home, we use lobster shears, which make tackling lobsters a lot less daunting. By the time I’d dispatched with the lobster, the soup itself was getting cold. All told, plain lobster without fennel tastes better. On the culinary scale, I’d give their attempt at bouillabaisse a D+. Shrimp instead of lobster would have brought the price down and would have made the dish more manageable.
We begin the march northward tomorrow. We’ll break it into three segments—here to Brunswick, Brunswick to somewhere-in-NC, and from there to home, putting us home by mid-afternoon on Monday, possibly, assuming there isn’t another blizzard or other calamity.
From Melbourne to Fort Lauderdale
February 10, 2010 10:25 am – 10:25 amYesterday was a travel & cell phone day. We stopped at two art galleries in Melbourne—the Cuba! Gallery and LoPressionism. Both are commercial galleries. The first features only art from Cuba. The owner has a permit to travel to Cuba. So, she goes there to meet with artists, see art shows, etc. She buys Cuban works and brings them back to the U.S. The second features art from local artists, hence the “lo” in LoPressionism.
Karen’s new-every-two came due on February 7th, and she’s been eying the Motorola Droid. So, last night, we bopped into the local Costco, where she bought one. Not only does Costco honor the new-every-two, but their price was $20 cheaper than Verizon’s price, and they threw in a case and a mobile charger, as well. She’s playing with her Droid as I’m writing this… trying to get learn how to use it. She has 30 days to decide whether she wants to keep it. Her current challenge: when reading an email, how do you easily go to the next message without deleting the one you’re reading. The “forward” button doesn’t seem terribly pushable, and is mostly frustrating. Apparently, cursing the Droid doesn’t help. We’ve both tried that.
After Droiding, we went to Flanigan’s. It’s a local chain (by local, I mean Florida) featuring standard fare. While we thought they were going to be mostly seafood, their seafood offerings weren’t all that extensive. I had the baby back ribs and shrimp combo, and Karen had the surf & turf combo. Both were quite good, although the baby back half rack was the smallest half rack I’ve ever seen—not even enough meat for a small BBQ sandwich. Don’t go to Flanigan’s if you want to leave full. Fortunately, I wasn’t looking to get stuffed, so it worked out okay for me.
Today, the forecast is for the upper 60s, windy, and sunny, with a red flag warning for fire danger. Apparently, even though Florida is slightly more humid than the average steam bath, there are dry spots, and that means brush fires. A bit of rain came through yesterday, so it’s not all that dry, but the red flag warning is out nonetheless.
From Palm Coast to Cape Canaveral
February 8, 2010 10:25 pm – 10:25 pmWe’re at the Country Inn & Suites in Cape Canaveral. We’re hoping to see a launch tomorrow morning. The Endeavor went up early this morning—way too early for us (4:15 am). But, the first Space Weather Research Network mission in the Living With a Star, or LWS Program of NASA is schedule to launch tomorrow morning between 10:26 and 11:26—which is much more our speed. So, if possible, we’ll watch it.
Our first stop on the tour today was at the Ormond Memorial Art Museum and Gardens in Ormond Beach. They have changing thematic exhibits. “We have a video on NASCAR that runs an hour and fifty eight minutes. For the exhibit, it begins with the earliest NASCAR events on that wall there, then continues to the present date if you follow the wall. Would you like for me to start the video for you?”
I think to myself “You lost us at NASCAR,” but I ask “Is the entire exhibit about NASCAR?” I swear, she pumped out and enthusiastic “Yes—and it’s pretty great.”
Our time at the museum took a little less than 10 minutes. The gardens were much more interesting for us. I’m sure there are people who enjoy stock car racing… but we aren’t among them. I frankly fail to see the point…, but I don’t care for football, either. So, what do I know?
In the garden, there’s a small gallery featuring local artists. The art wasn’t wonderful, but some of it was quite good, and none of it was pictures of race cars. Outside, there was a pretty tiled work that was dedicated to one of the founders of the historical society (I think that’s what the attendant said).
Some of the items in the wall were things that had belonged to his wife and children.
The garden was very tropical.
A building outside the grounds had some very interesting columns—I’ve never seen twisty columns like it before
The garden also had some huge bamboo.
And a waterfall.
Leaving there, we wanted to drive by Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune’s house at Bethune Cookman University. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find her house—it’s being renovated.
Next, we made our way to the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. We had been there before, but wanted to go back. Here’s what I remembered most from our previous visit.
There’s a seven-mile nature drive that we took. There are lots of places for photographic birds along the way. My favorite is the roseate spoonbill.
Parts of Merritt Island look very much like pictures I’ve seen taken in parts of Africa.
We left Merritt Island at about 5, and headed towards Cape Canaveral, where we checked into our hotel. After a brief bit of research on the Internets using The Google, we decided on Papa Vito’s for dinner. The food was good, although, strangely, my favorite part was the antipasto salad. For starters, we split a piece of pizza to see how it was. Karen really liked it, but I thought it was average. Alex of Biddeford is still the winner. For entrees, Karen had the beef ravioli—which I thought was really good. I ordered the seafood trio, which was supposed to be shrimp, scallops, and mussels over fettuccini, in a red sauce. Unfortunately, they were out of shrimp, and they really skimped on the scallops, which I said they should substitute. They also were bay scallops, rather than sea scallops, and were therefore very small. Don’t get me wrong… the food was good. It’s just that it wasn’t quite the experience I wanted.
It was in the mid-60s today. Tomorrow, it’s supposed to be warmer, but with a chance of thunderstorms. I hope the weather doesn’t interfere with the launch, but it probably will. After that, we’re going to make our way down to the Fort Lauderdale West Palm Beach area, where we’re reserved at the Comfort Suites.
Around Palm Coast
February 7, 2010 11:39 pm – 11:39 pmYesterday, we drove from Savannah, GA to Palm Coast Florida, via Fernandina Beach and St. Augustine. I posted pictures on Facebook. Among our more interesting discoveries is that Zaxby’s has hot chicken wings that are way too salty, but has a grilled chicken Caesar salad that is top notch. For dinner yesterday, we went to O’Steen’s for their world famous fried shrimp. They’re good, but not the best we’ve had. Hingham Lobster Pound’s are still the winners for places still in business, and Drunken Jack’s easily beat out O’Steen’s. But, still, they were pretty darn good. The best I ever had came from the Peter Pan restaurant in Urbana, MD… but they stopped serving them in the 1960s.
Last night & tonight, we’re at the Fairfield Inn & Suites. We’ve never stayed at Fairfield before, and I was pleasantly surprised. Their weekend breakfast hours suck (7 to 9, and very crowded due to reduced hours). But, that’s okay—their high-carb offerings weren’t to my liking in any case. I had some of my own low-carb light Activa yogurt from our ice chest.
Today was cooler than yesterday—highs in the 50s. It was pretty cloudy most of the day, but the sun began to peek through after about 4 pm… just in time to set.
Today, we got a late start, had a quick lunch at Subway, and then went to Washington Oaks Garden State Park, near Palm Coast, which is where we’re staying, at the Fairfield Inn & Suites.
I posted pictures a-plenty on Facebook. After leaving there, we headed immediately for the Bulow Planation Sugar Mill Ruins. Bulow was a sugar plantation. The sugar mill stands in ruins, and it reminded both Karen & me of ancient church ruins in England & Scotland. I posted more pictures on Facebook, but here are a few for context.
While there, I heard a sound in the brush. It was a friendly local armadillo!
For dinner, we’d planned on going to La Piazza Café. But, they closed early because of some football game or something like that. So, we went to Golden Corral, instead. Their food is always good, but I think I ate too much.
Tomorrow, we’re heading down to the Cape Canaveral area… hoping to see a launch the morning of the 9th, assuming it doesn’t get scrubbed. There was a launch scheduled for 4:59 this morning, but it was postponed until tomorrow morning… about 4:15 am. I suspect that we’ll sleep through it. The one on the 9th is between 10 and11 am, so we stand better chance of being awake for that one. Speaking of awake… I’m going to post this without proofing carefully because I’m very sleepy. I’ll worry about typos tomorrow.
The Indiana Girl, by Marty Cooper
January 15, 2010 9:05 am – 9:05 amIn late 1972, I was a senior at Georgetown, and occasionally strayed from WMAL’s and WTOP’s traffic reports for my daily commute to school. It was while driving to school that I heard Marty Cooper’s The Indiana Girl on the radio for the first time — I don’t remember what station I was listening to. But, it was my kind of song, and so I immediately proceeded to learn all the lyrics I could understand.
One key phrase, however, has eluded me for almost 38 years. To me, it always sound like “Second wave up moving down life’s highway,” which made absolutely no sense. I searched through anthologies in music stores, but always came up empty. Was I the only person who wanted to know the lyrics to that song? For the past 15 years or so, I’ve done occasional Internet searches to try to find the lyrics. The only lyrics I could find were the partial ones I myself had posted to several newsgroups where I had gone searching.
So… yesterday, when I was trying to remember the rest of the words to a song that was going through my head — Rita Coolidge’s All Time High — I found it on lala.com. On a whim, I decided to look there for Indiana Girl. The only match for a song that might have been it was by Pat Boone. Skeptically, I listened, and to my amazement, it was it! It was not a version I’d ever heard before, but it was the same song. While I’ve never been a fan of Boone’s singing, he does enunciate clearly, and I was finally able to make out the missing phrase! “Second wave up” was really “Silky way of”. Finally!
I continued looking on lala.com for Marty Cooper’s version of the song, but Boone’s was the only one I found. Then, I decided to hit the Internet once again in search for the lyrics to see if they had finally appeared in the year or so since my previous search. I didn’t find them. However, the very first match was a YouTube recording of Marty’s version! No video of Cooper, but the song is there. Almost 38 years later, I can finally sing all the right words.
Amusingly, I also found a compendium of Olympia beer commercials from 1972 that features Marty Cooper singing several Oly jingles — including one based on The Indiana Girl.
In any case, here are the lyrics to The Indiana Girl for anyone else who might be looking for them. These are my own interpretation of the words based on listening to Pat Boone’s and Marty Cooper’s recording. Although I think they are correct, they might still contain an error or two.
The Indiana Girl
Words and Music Copyright by Marty Cooper
I can almost see you runnin’ through the summertime
The Indiana grass above your knees.
With the leaves and the water mocking you in pantomime
“Can I go swimming, can I Daddy, please?”
It’s a long long way from the Wabash to the Hudson girl,
And the first place that it shows is in your eyes.
There within I see the dim reflections.
Of long forgotten dreams and summer skies.
Come on in and a-kick-a your dusty shoes off.
Sing-a sing us a song of way back when.
Sing-a sing us a song of Indiana one more time.
And you can be your daddy’s girl again.
That silky way of moving down life’s highway,
Forever seeking what lay round the bend.
One day somehow she chanced to happen my way.
For a girl it seems can always use a friend.
And I lend just a little bit of shelter Lord,
To one of God’s own creatures gone astray.
Some lovin’ and another cup of coffee.
To pass the time until she’s on her way.
Come on in and a-kick-a your dusty shoes off.
Sing-a sing us a song of way back when.
Sing-a sing us a song of Indiana one more time.
You can be your daddy’s girl again.
Come on in and a-kick-a your dusty shoes off.
Sing-a sing us a song of way back when.
Sing-a sing us a song of Indiana one more time.
You can never be your daddy’s girl again.
Come on in and a-kick-a your dusty shoes off.
Sing-a sing us a song of way back when.
Sing-a sing us a song of Indiana one more time.
You can never be your daddy’s girl again.
Hotel Peeves
December 30, 2009 11:13 am – 11:13 am- The bathtub floor should be at the same level as the bathroom floor. Few humans are built like giraffes.
- Walls and ceilings should be thick enough that guests don’t need to travel with white noise generators. Yes, I would still have mine with me. But, it shouldn’t be necessary.
- Bathrooms need vent fans. If you don’t understand why, then you are very fortunate. In addition to the obvious, they help in clearing steam out after showers, too.
- If the room has a loud fan-based climate control unit, then the fan should stay on all the time while the heat or a/c cycles on/off as needed. Hint: when the system cycles on or off, it should not wake the guest up.
- If rooms have adjoining doors, smoking and non-smoking rooms should never be connected. We non-smokers don’t want our clean air to offend those who prefer smoke.
- If hotels have smoking rooms, they should be in a different hotel. See #4. Guests should not have to walk through clouds of smoke on the way to their rooms (this includes on the way into the hotel—so employees who smoke should have designated areas that the public doesn’t have to encounter).
- Bars of soap should be big enough so that they don’t break when you try to use them.
- In-room coffeemakers are fine. Hot water kettles would be better. Few tea drinkers like coffee-flavored tea, and coffeemakers don’t get the water hot enough anyway. Teabags are needed, too—and more than just one. If the room accommodates two people, why should they have to flip a coin to see which one has to have the decaf?
- Guests need supporting surfaces or luggage stands for at least two standard pieces of luggage.
- If you’re going to have a table in a room for two people, then the room should have at least two chairs. Plus, the table should not be chin-high when you’re seated. The furniture should be functional—not merely decorative.
Mostly Columbus, Indiana
December 29, 2009 10:38 pm – 10:38 pmWe’re at the Country Inn & Suites in Sharonville, OH, just outside Cincinnati. We dined at Skyline Chili (okay, but not stellar). I’d put Tony Packo’s chili at 8 on a scale of 1 to 10–Skyline comes in at about a 3. Hard Times gets a 9. I’m not sure I’ve ever had a 10 in a restaurant.
We had a whirlwind photo tour of Columbus, Indiana today. I’m not sure what all the pictures we took were—I’ll have to ask Karen, who did the research and fed me the addresses for our Garmin. While there, we had lunch at TC’s Memphis BBQ, which had been closed last night when we tried to have dinner there. We should’ve read that as an omen.
TC’s is decidedly so-so. We go there shortly after 1 pm. I ordered a two-meat platter with pulled pork and rib tips. The rib tips weren’t ready. Excuse me? Aren’t you open for lunch? Anyway, I substituted “I have some ribs ready” for the tips. Of course they were ready. They’d been ready since last night, I’m guessing. They were definitely reheated, and not fresh. The pulled pork was dry and hard to chew. The green beans were way too salty. Yes. I’m hard to please. But, I expected a lot better from the “top rated BBQ in Columbus, Indiana.”
On the way to Columbus, we paused in Piqua, Ohio to take a look at the Ft. Piqua Hotel, which is now a library. It’s famous for all of the faces that are carved into its façade.
We spent last night in Columbus, then headed for the visitors’ center this morning. We came to see the building. They have a driving tour that takes you past 71 remarkable building. We didn’t see all of them, but we saw quite a few. Here are some.
These are some of the colorful bike racks that are on the grounds of the visitors’ center.
And, here’s a random weird guy standing at the side of the library.
We poked our noses into the library, which itself is quite an attraction, with high ceilings that are an aesthetic treat.
I’ve never regarded ice melt as a propellant. Someone will need to explain that to some arsonists I know. I think there are better ways to remove snow & ice than to set the town on fire. I’m just sayin’…
It was about 12:20.
Although, this clock didn’t agree. The First Christian Church apparently has its own notion of time.
The garden was closed for the season.
Oh, well…
The Columbus Inn was once City Hall.
Here we are next to the main source of employment in Columbus—the Cummins Engine factor.
How much is that doggy in the window?
The same shop juxtaposed a mannequin in a tux and some penguins. They’re hard to make out because of reflections.
This fire station was designed by a female architect.
The court house has a memorial adjacent to it.
Nearby, there’s a bridge that we used several times while we were there.
Karen says she doesn’t see the face in this sculpture. Do you?
Many of the buildings use reflective surfaces to increase visual complexity.
Here’s their Cent l Fire Station. Anybody got a spare art deco “RA”?
I’ve forgotten which church this was.
But, it has a bell.
There’s an interesting looking school house that has a pond and fountain that are dry for the season.
Ignoring the sign…
The building has a guard, who was watching us like a hawk!
We set a target time of 4 pm for leaving Columbus, but got delayed a little looking for some bears in Donner Park. Bears? Yes.
After three days of snow, salt, and ice, my Jetta TDI was pretty filthy. So, I got it washed at the Sparkle Car wash, and we hit the road for Ohio.
Maumee Morning
December 27, 2009 10:23 am – 10:23 amWe have some “light snow” falling here this morning. It wasn’t supposed to amount to much. Here’s a picture I took about 30 minutes ago.
And, here’s the same view 30 minutes later:
And here are a couple more pictures from 30 minutes ago:
Home to Maumee
December 26, 2009 9:20 pm – 9:20 pmWe’re at the Homewood Suites in Maumee, Ohio. We left home at about 9:30, and arrived in Maumee just after 18:30. The trip was about 9 hours, and just under 500 miles—less than a full tank of diesel. Thank you Jetta, TDI.
We hit a lot of slow traffic on I270 and I70, but the knots got untied about 10 miles south of the I68 exit. So, we decided to come up via Breezewood. It took about 3 hours to get from home to Breezewood, but after that, traffic moved well.
It was rainy and dreary until after Somerset. Shortly after Somerset, it was as if someone turned off the faucet and slowly turned on the sunshine. It’s cloudy here now, with a chance of snow showers overnight. But, it doesn’t look like we’ll have to do a lot of digging out in the morning. At the moment, it’s 33 and cloudy.
We had dinner at Smokey Bones. We went to the one in Woodbridge a while back. I had the ribs. They’re okay, but not nearly as good as Rocklands’.
Nine hours of driving tends to wear me out. I hope I’m able to sleep as much as my body thinks it’s going to sleep tonight. I’m glad were just a few miles from Karen’s cousin’s house so we don’t have get up & drive an hour tomorrow morning.
White Christmas Forecast at D-7: 30% Chance of “New” Snow
December 18, 2009 8:35 am – 8:35 am
Or is it D-8? I guess it depends on how you count. “How” is an important question.
How exactly do you define “White Christmas”? Does that mean that the ground is white — regardless of how long ago it snowed? Or does it mean that it has to snow on Christmas day itself? If it’s the former, then a White Christmas looks very likely — a 90% chance at this point. If you mean the latter, given the highs and lows that currently are forecast, the chances for new snow accumulation on Christmas are not all that great, according to the Weather Channel.
Meanwhile, it’s looking like the weekend storm might really happen. It’s forecast to begin late tonight and end Sunday morning. The NWS is now forecasting 6-12″ by tomorrow night, with additional accumulation before stopping Sunday morning. So, my own forecast of 8-14″ is looking pretty good. Here are the NWS forecast icons for the weekend event in 22307:
They come with a Winter Storm Warning that goes from midnight tonight through 6 am Sunday for the DC area.
Looking ahead to December 25th, it’s still not definitive. I now think we’ll have our white Christmas, but the probability of new snow (from Xmas Eve or Xmas Day) is still pretty small. The Xmas Eve forecast is for an overnight low of 34°F, with a 60% chance of snow showers. Normally, at 34°F, snow showers wouldn’t do anything. But, it’s likely that we’ll still have at least 6-10″ of compacted snow on the ground. So anything new that falls — even at 34°, will not melt as it falls.
A complication for forecasting is that a major coastal storm like the one we’re probably going to get this weekend changes the dynamics — particularly if it’s snow. Snow cover will include most of Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee, and parts of North Carolina. That means that any southern winds reaching us will be cooled by snow cover at the surface —reducing temperature forecasts. The current 43°F forecast for December 25th is based on current dynamics — which don’t include snow cover. Once we have snow on the ground, all post-event forecasts will need to be retooled. Temperatures aloft behave differently, but they aren’t unaffected. One way or the other, however, it’s looking like we’re going to beat the long-term 13% chance of a White Christmas this year.
White Christmas Forecast at D-9: 10% Chance of “New” Snow
December 17, 2009 9:34 am – 9:34 am
What a difference a day makes. Today, the December 25th forecast at TWC calls for a 40% chance of “Rain/Snow Showers” during the day, and a 60% chance during the evening. The Christmas Eve forecast calls for a 60% chance of a snow shower.
The bad news is the forecast highs and lows. They forecast an overnight low of only 36°F on the 24th, and 45°/33° for the High/Low on Christmas day.
All in all, I’d say that the higher temperatures offset the higher POP, keeping our chances for new Christmas snow at 10%. Anyone know the lyrics to “I’m dreaming of a wet Christmas”?
But, hold that thought.
Why did I say “new” snow? There’s a storm currently building in strength in the gulf. It is forecast to move to the coast of NC, and then head NE. Can you say “Coastal Low”? Current models are very optimistic from a snow-lover’s point of view. Saturday temperatures are forecast to be around 32°/26° for highs/lows. If the track and strength continue as anticipated, we will get from 8″ to 14″ of snow over the weekend. That much snow will still be here on Christmas, giving us a white one. That much snow is almost unheard-of for December in the DC area. By Sunday, I expect the hyperbole crew to be using words like “blizzard,” although, I learned that a true blizzard requires 25+ MPH winds, visibility less than 500 feet, and wind chill temperatures of -15°F or lower — lasting at least three hours.
By the way, I just love the weather icons that the NWS uses. Here’s the graphic forecast for 22307 for this coming weekend.
If we get 8+ inches of snow, it will also change the dynamics of the temperature forecasts, bringing radiational/reflective cooling at night, dropping overnight lows into the teens and low 20s next week. With these changes in dynamics, we would expect to see forecast highs/lows for later in the week to drop considerably, increasing the chances that additional precipitation on the 24th and 25th would be snow.
Just to cinch the deal, however, I’m heading out now to have my car washed. I sang at the Frog Pond Early Learning Center last night, and got stuck in the mud. My car had to be pulled out. Mud flew everywhere. You can bet that if I’m having my car washed on Thursday, there’s going to be plenty of nasty stuff on the roads within a few days.
Of course, I could always kill the chances for snow by a) putting together the Wovel I got for my birthday or b) heading out & buying some cross-country skis.
White Christmas Forecast at D-10: 10% Chance
December 16, 2009 8:39 am – 8:39 am
TWC’s 10-day forecast has my zip code as “mostly cloudy” on December 25th, with a 20% probability of precipitation (POP). The forecast high and low for my zip code are 42° and 32°, respectively. Right now, I’d say that those temperatures + mostly cloudy + 20% POP translate into about a 10% chance of a white Christmas.
I plan to check the December 25th forecast each day to see how it changes. December 24th’s forecast is for mostly cloudy, 41°/33°, 20%. So, Christmas Eve’s forecast isn’t any more promising.
Latin for Dummies
December 12, 2009 6:07 pm – 6:07 pmLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Maecenas porttitor congue massa. Fusce posuere, magna sed pulvinar ultricies, purus lectus malesuada libero, sit amet commodo magna eros quis urna. Nunc viverra imperdiet enim. Fusce est. Vivamus a tellus. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Proin pharetra nonummy pede. Mauris et orci. Aenean nec lorem.
In porttitor. Donec laoreet nonummy augue. Suspendisse dui purus, scelerisque at, vulputate vitae, pretium mattis, nunc. Mauris eget neque at sem venenatis eleifend. Ut nonummy. Fusce aliquet pede non pede. Suspendisse dapibus lorem pellentesque magna. Integer nulla. Donec blandit feugiat ligula. Donec hendrerit, felis et imperdiet euismod, purus ipsum pretium metus, in lacinia nulla nisl eget sapien.
Donec ut est in lectus consequat consequat. Etiam eget dui. Aliquam erat volutpat. Sed at lorem in nunc porta tristique. Proin nec augue. Quisque aliquam tempor magna. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Nunc ac magna. Maecenas odio dolor, vulputate vel, auctor ac, accumsan id, felis. Pellentesque cursus sagittis felis.
Pellentesque porttitor, velit lacinia egestas auctor, diam eros tempus arcu, nec vulputate augue magna vel risus. Cras non magna vel ante adipiscing rhoncus. Vivamus a mi. Morbi neque. Aliquam erat volutpat. Integer ultrices lobortis eros. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Proin semper, ante vitae sollicitudin posuere, metus quam iaculis nibh, vitae scelerisque nunc massa eget pede. Sed velit urna, interdum vel, ultricies vel, faucibus at, quam. Donec elit est, consectetuer eget, consequat quis, tempus quis, wisi.
In in nunc. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos hymenaeos. Donec ullamcorper fringilla eros. Fusce in sapien eu purus dapibus commodo. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Cras faucibus condimentum odio. Sed ac ligula. Aliquam at eros. Etiam at ligula et tellus ullamcorper ultrices. In fermentum, lorem non cursus porttitor, diam urna accumsan lacus, sed interdum wisi nibh nec nisl.
Margarita’s Cantina—Soso.
October 3, 2009 8:23 pm – 8:23 pmWe’re at the Binghamton Comfort Inn, in NY. It’s an older property, but seems to be okay. One oddity, however, is that the public restrooms downstairs require keycards to access. That doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in the safety & security of the motel.
For dinner, we decided on Margarita’s Mexican Grill, which is a regional chain. We ate at a franchise in Portland, Maine a while back, and it was excellent.
Except… that there’s Margarita’s Cantina, which is just up the road from the hotel, and a lot closer than MMG. We decided to eat at MC. It turns out that they used to own both locations, but that the Mexican Grill location (in Endicott City) is now closed. So, it’s a good thing we didn’t go there. Margarita’s Cantina is okay, but if we lived here, we would keep on looking. Karen says that if she lived here, she’d commit suicide. I reminded her of the line from A Chorus Line and she agreed about the redundancy.
Karen had the carnitas, which to me tasted more like pulled pork BBQ than a Mexican entrée. It was supposed to be pork tips, and instead was shredded pork. I had the carne asada, which they misspelled azada. It was cooked perfectly, and the black beans were good (hard to screw those up), but the pico de gallo was decidedly subpar, as was the salsa. My food could have been about 50 degrees warmer, too. I tasted a few small pieces of the chips, which were heavily salted. Enough said.
Thursday, October 1—Belfast to Skowhegan, and back
October 1, 2009 10:18 pm – 10:18 pmThis morning, we decided to drive to Skowhegan, via Waterville. In Waterville, we visited the art museum at Colby College. They have a very extensive, if eclectic, collection that includes the likes of Georgia O’Keeffe. No pictures there. However, we did see a couple of interesting sights around Waterville. I usually check with the Garmin to see if there are UU churches in cities we visit. The UU church in Waterville is on the National Register of Historic Places, and was built in 1832.
Across the street from the church is a beautiful Victorian house.
Apparently, some of the town’s residents get a little wild when asserting their 2nd amendment rights.
I guess they don’t left turns.
But, seriously, my theory is that there’s a lot of wind there, and the holds keep the signs from flapping too much.
In Skowhegan, we visited the Margaret Chase Smith Library and Museum. MCS was the first woman to be a U.S. Senator in the U.S. She was also quite a principled person—she was thrown off of McCarthy’s witch-hunting HUAC because she had a conscience. We’d all be better off if the current Senate followed her creed. I didn’t take pictures there, but I did take a picture of the mayor of Skowhegan.
After Skowhegan, we drove back to Belfast. We stopped in at Young’s Lobster Pound, and picked up a pound of lobster (oddly enough) to have for dinner. We also stopped in at the Belfast Co-op, where we bought some cultured butter and assorted veggies to go with the lobster… which was all good.