We’ve Played this Game Before

We’ve Played this Game Before

Have you ever seen those games of lists on Facebook. You know the ones. They ask you things like how many of the following list of books you’ve read or how many classic films you’ve seen. There’s even a list of foods you hate! Well I was trying to visit all 50 states but I kind of got off track. So let’s play another version of the game called How Many states have you visited?

Rules of the GameWe've Played this game before

For a state to count you must have spent time there. You can’t count changing planes even if you do have a long layover. No you need to spend at least one full day there. Even better is a weekend or a vacation. For example, I had changed planes in Washington DC many times but I couldn’t cross Washington DC off the list until I spent a long weekend exploring the National Mall and looking at frozen cherry blossoms. If I truly want to experience the Cherry Blossoms I’ll need to go back but I can put a check by Washington DC.

The List of States

  1. Alabama – No
  2. Alaska – Yes- Breathtaking and majestic. Loved the glaciers
  3. Arizona – Yes- Sedona and Red Rock Country. I took my first helicopter ride in Arizona.
  4. Arkansas – No
  5. California – Yes but not for vacation (I spent 3 days in San Diego at a business convention)
  6. Colorado- No
  7. Connecticut – Yes (I spent a weekend in Old Saybrook but I don’t remember why)
  8. Delaware – No
  9. Florida – Yes- Love Florida, too bad it’s going to be underwater because of Global Warming. I go often to enjoy it while I can.
  10. Georgia – Yes The Georgia Aquarium is huge and don’t forget to go to the World of Coca Cola
  11. Hawaii –  Yes  Oahu, Big Island and Maui. Still need to go to Kauai. Best time is February when the whales put on quite a show. I also snorkeled with Manta Rays and watched Kilauea prepare to blow her top.
  12. Idaho – No
  13. Illinois- Yes But I need to go again. It was a business trip to Chicago, one of the first times I’d ever been on an airplane (a long time ago) I don’t remember much.
  14. Indiana – No
  15. Iowa – No
  16. Kansas – No
  17. Kentucky – No
  18. Louisiana – Yes, New Orleans. Great food!
  19. Maine – Yes Saw my first wild Moose there
  20. Maryland – Yes Went to the Navel Academy in Annapolis when my brother was a midshipman.
  21. Massachusetts – Yes I guess I can say Yes. I live in Massachusetts
  22. Michigan – No
  23. Minnesota – No
  24. Mississippi – No
  25. Missouri – No
  26. Montana- No
  27. Nebraska – No
  28. Nevada- Yes – Vegas Baby!  Great Shows Great Food Fun Times
  29. New Hampshire – Yes I explored the White Mountains
  30. New Jersey – No
  31. New Mexico – No
  32. New York – Yes My childhood home plus I have visited Niagara Falls several times
  33. North Carolina – No
  34. North Dakota – No
  35. Ohio -No
  36. Oklahoma – No
  37. Oregon – No
  38. Pennsylvania- No
  39. Rhode Island – Yes- Walked the cliff walk and visited the Mansions. Even went to a black tie ball in one
  40. South Carolina- Yes My brother’s wedding
  41. South Dakota – Yes That was an awesome vacation- So much to do there!
  42. Tennessee – Yes – Stayed in Gatlinburg and visited Pigeon Forge. Skipped Dollywood
  43. Texas – Yes – San Antonio. Stayed right on the River Walk
  44. Utah – No
  45. Vermont – Yes Maple Syrup anyone?
  46. Virginia – Yes Colonial Williamsburg and Busch Garden Christmas Town
  47. Washington State- Yes Spent a week on a business trip in Seattle. Took pictures from the top of the space needle and visited Chihuly Gardens
  48. West Virginia – No
  49. Wisconsin – Yes Say Cheese. Actually My brother’s retirement party from the Navy was held in Kenosha
  50. Wyoming – Yes One of my favorite places. Jackson Hole (Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone)
  51. Washington DC – Yes, On a frozen , icy weekend (as mentioned above)

Now Its Your Turn

What does your list look like? How Many states have you visited? Which of my “No” States should I visit next?

 

The “least” Favorite Vacation

If I have a favorite vacation then I guess I should have a least favorite. Doesn’t mean it was bad, just not one I care to repeat.

That one would be the Amtrak vacation Sandy and I took that covered San Antonio and New Orleans.

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Yellow roses of Texas

 San Antonio was great. I loved the River Walk and the tour of the old Spanish Missions.

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Seeing the Alamo was interesting too.

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It wasn’t what I expected but then I’m, not sure what I did expect. There is so much written about the Alamo. It’s been immortalized and romanticized in so many movies, books and folk lore. I was disappointed that they were repairing the façade so there was no way to take a photo for myself without the crane in front but I do understand the need to maintain the building to keep it from crumbling. I could have bought a post card.

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The train ride from San Antonio to New Orleans was pleasant. We met some nice people in the dining car and the motion of the train and the clickity clack made it easy to nap along the way. There was a nice observation car with a dome and comfy seating if you wanted to sight see.

Once in New Orleans we had some minor issues with the room. That was fixed quickly but it was late (after 10 pm) so it was a bit annoying.

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We didn’t have a car so we walked to the tour bus stop on the waterfront. We had to be there early and I found myself watching over my shoulder. The street was pretty messy and with the garbage pickup still sometime in the future it was pretty smelly.

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Not too many people were out walking and although we did pass a jogger or two, I still couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling. I was very happy to see the ticket booth come into sight.

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I got the same feeling when we were out in the evening. We passed obvious “ladies of the night” and were accosted by hawkers and street vendors. Some even continuing to follow us after we said no thank you. I was just very uncomfortable.  In all my travels I have never felt this way anywhere else.

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On the plus side we had a nice time riding the steam boat up the Muddy Mississippi and the aquarium was great. Our trip into the bayou got rained out. That was disappointing but even with the pouring rain we got to the Court of 3 Sisters for an amazing, elegant dinner. So I can’t say New Orleans was a total loss, just not someplace I’m anxious to return to anytime soon. I’m sure that comes as a surprise to many. I know all my friends said I would love it. Maybe once I’ve seen all of the other states I’ll go back for that missed trip into the bayou.

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Rain Forest Exhibit, New Orleans Aquarium

Bayou Bridge

When Sandy & I took our vacation to New Orleans we included a City Tour to see the sights. At one rest stop while everyone was in the coffee shop I ran across the lawn to take a photo of a stone bridge that I thought was gorgeous.

Bridge

Back home  it made my top 10 list for 2015. I stared at it for almost 9 months before I decided it needed to be enlarged and framed. Not to pat myself on the back but I think it came out great and it hangs in a place of honor in my living room.

bridge

Recently I thought I should see if I could locate the name of the park. It was kind of embarrassing to keep saying “Its in a park in New Orleans”.

To my surprise as soon as I googled “parks in New Orleans” I found myself looking at “my bridge”.

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So I didn’t need any guesswork to identify the park. The bridge is the Bayou Bridge and it is located in City Park, New Orleans.

Current Weather Conditions

Some clouds. Low 71F. Winds NE at 10 to 20 mph.

Top 10 2015

I was just sitting here at the computer trying to learn the ins and outs of editing raw photos. One expert suggested going through the previous year’s photos and picking your top 10. He stressed it had to be the top 10 photos that you, the photographer, like not your friend, spouse, neighbor and so on.

That was a challenge! I took over 4000 photos last year. Still once I got into it I found that a lot of them were of the snap shot variety. I love having my prints enlarged, called gallery prints so that was the criteria I used to narrow down my selections. It had to be good enough that I would spend the “Big Bucks” to make a super large print.

To my surprise no people or pets made the cut. Here are my Top Ten Pictures of 2015.

The top 3 are from Orlando Florida when I was there with Nancy, her children and my friend Joe. I did have 2 of the egrets enlarged and framed as a set. They hang proudly in my office at work.

Egret 2

Egret 2

The Hot Dog picture is on Nat Geo’s site in the  “My Shot” section.

Hot Dog Anyone?

Sticking with the Bird theme I caught a shot of a Great Blue Heron doing something besides standing still. These birds can stand like statues for hours. This was taken in June at the Herring Run in Middleboro, MA. This one also made it to Gallery print and is framed and hanging in my home. Why buy prints when I can use my own photos?

Great Blue Heron

The next photos I chose were from New Orleans in October.

The bridge is in City Park.Bridge

The one I call Rain Forest was actually taken in the New Orleans Aquarium where I struggled with lens fog but turns out the effect was really pretty cool.

rain forest

The last New Orleans pic almost didn’t make the cut. It’s a shot taken of one of the cemeteries in New Orleans. Something about the dark atmosphere kept drawing me back to it. In the end I felt it captured the “spooky” atmosphere New Orleans is known for.

New orleans Cemetary

The last 3 photos came from my trip back to Orlando in December. The purpose of that trip was to take photos of the Holiday decorations at Disney World. Although I got great shots they wouldn’t make it to gallery size.

Lion

Mr. Lion is a resident of Animal Kingdom. He’d just given us a roar and was settling back down. I wish I’d caught the roar but the safari vehicle hadn’t pulled around the corner far enough.

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This shot of Germany at Epcot was a spur of the moment shot. Joe and I were walking around the lake and it just caught my eye.  I love the way it came out.

Ice Castle

And of course what is a trip to Disney in December without Cinderella’s Castle all covered in Ice? I thought this night shot was a fitting choice for the final picture on my top 10 list.

So what do you think? Maybe I’ll get some pets or people in 2016. The goal is, of course, to improve in 2016.

http://dustyroadsphotos.zenfolio.com/

The Court of Two Sisters

It’s the last night of our Amtrak vacation adventure, our last night in New Orleans and the last night we get to use a voucher for dinner.

It’s still raining buckets with gusty winds. Our reservation is at the Court of Two Sisters only a couple of blocks from the hotel but in this weather, it’s a cab ride. No walking for us.

Our doorman called a taxi for us and we made a mad scramble to get in without getting too wet. However we learned a new reality about New Orleans, they close off streets. Yup, some of the streets in the French Quarter are closed nightly from about 4 pm to 7 pm. Our reservation was 6:30 so we had to be dropped off at the end of the street and make a run for it to the restaurant about a block down.

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Its called the Court of Two Sisters because the tradition is a brunch in the courtyard. This has been expanded to include a dinner menu and luckily for us, they have indoor seating too. I would not have wanted to try to eat in the courtyard in the pouring rain!

As you enter the restaurant you pass through a set of ornate gates.

charm

These charm gates at the 613 Royal entrance were wrought in Spain especially for The Court of Two Sisters.  Legend says that Queen Isabella of Spain had them blessed so that their charm would pass on to anyone who touched them. Yes, we made a point to touch them.

Once inside we were shown to a lovely table in a beautiful room. The atmosphere is elegant to the point that you can almost taste it. Our waiter, Stephen,  was wonderful.

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He came over with a flashlight so we could read the menu in the dimly lit room and introduced himself as the “inspector”.  His fine sense of humor kept the evening light.

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Our Table D’Hote Dinner Menu was for use with the voucher.

HORS D’OEUVRES

Turtle Soup Au Sherry

Creole Seafood Gumbo

Shrimp En Brochette: Bacon-wrapped Shrimp served over a crispy toast point. Finished with citrus Beurre Blanc. (add $6.00)

Barbecue Shrimp: This dish was created in New Orleans and is not barbecued at all. The shrimp are braised in a peppery butter sauce. Very unique and very tasty. (add $6.00)

Salades

Court of Two Sisters Dinner Salad: Seasonal greens and red onions in a Creole French dressing, garnished with tasso, pecans and chopped boiled eggs.

Caesar Salad: A classic prepared tableside (add $4.00)

Entrees

Chicken Oscar – Boneless skinless chicken breast served atop new potato mash and steamed asparagus. Topped with jumbo lump crabmeat and tasso hollandaise.

Corn Fried Louisiana Catfish – Served with jumbo lump crabmeat Napa slaw and green onion & cayenne tartar sauce.

Shrimp and Grits – Louisiana shrimp and Andouille sausage poached in a Creole Meunière reduction. Served over southern grits.

Trout Meunière or Amondine: Pan fried filet of trout served with rosemary roasted new potatoes and steamed asparagus. Finished with your choice of Meunière or Amandine style.

Char-Broiled Tenderloin of Beef – The whole tenderloin is lightly charred and cooked to perfection and sliced. Served with marchand de vin and béarnaise sauces and accompanied with new potato mash and haricots verts.

Veal Oscar – Baby white veal cutlets served atop new potato mash and served with sautéed jumbo lump crabmeat, tasso hollandaise and steamed asparagus.

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We could order from the main menu but we would have to pay for that ourselves. I did so ordering the Escargot Au Champignons: Mushroom stuffed Escargots sautéed in garlic butter with herbs.

Sandy bravely tried the Turtle soup for her appetizer.

The meal came with 1 glass of wine so we felt we could each have a 2nd glass as it would be like 2 for one then.

I don’t recall what Sandy had for her main course. I bet she will let us know in the comment section.

I had Trout Meunière : Pan fried filet of trout served with rosemary roasted new potatoes and steamed asparagus. Magnifique!

I also ordered an “extra” for desert. I wanted something flambe at table side so I ordered

 

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Strawberries a La Ray: Fresh strawberries laced with sugar and strawberry liqueur, flamed tableside with brandy and served over French Vanilla ice cream (add $4.00)

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Strawberries have never tasted so good.

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Everything was excellent. This meal was a real high point in the trip, easily the most elaborate that I’ve had in a long, long time.