Farewell South Beach

Posted on February 10, 2016February 10, 2016 by Dusty Roads | 2 Comments

Well it was my last day in South Beach. I finally got to spend a little time with my favorite cousin. Kathy and I had lots of fun growing up but we haven’t seen too much of each other as adults.

deb and kathy

Kathy picked me up in front of my resort and we went in search of someplace to have lunch off the strip finally settling on a little deli style place where we could eat at a table in front.

My afternoon was spent packing up and roaming the strip. I ran into some of the homeless folks that I’d gotten used to meeting on my walks. I was touched and surprised when one grabbed me and hugged me and wished me well.

For my last evening I decided to treat myself to a salad and shrimp cocktail right on Ocean Drive. Shrimp-Cocktail-2-800

The shrimp looked like mini lobster tails and were delicious. I rounded out my healthful meal with one glass of chardonnay. I got sticker shock when I got the bill. After I added the tip it came to $108.00! Wow! I could eat a lot of steak in Boston for that. But it was worth it.

spiced-prawn-cocktail

The next morning my cab ($40.00 including tip) picked me up on time and delivered me to the airport with time to spare.

All too soon I was winging back to the cold northeast but at least my furry roommates would be glad to see me.

Twins 001a

New Tags

Posted on January 26, 2016January 26, 2016 by Dusty Roads | 2 Comments

I’m so excited. (Believe me it doesn’t take much). I started using custom luggage tags a couple of years ago and they have made spotting my luggage easy and they are great conversation starters.

My first tag was of Rocky. The picture wasn’t great. I was still getting the hang of creating these little gems.

RockyTravel 006 copy

Then I upgraded to a better picture. Rocky doesn’t look very happy , does he. He hates when I pull the luggage out.

RockyTravel 004 copy

I’ve got more luggage now so I needed more tags so I’ve added some of Buddy.

more cats 001 copy

The finished product has my name and cell # so if my luggage does get lost I can be contacted and reunited.

Aren’t they cute. I just love them! Can’t wait to get the new order!

Its A Blizzard Out There

Posted on January 24, 2016January 24, 2016 by Dusty Roads | 2 Comments

Yesterday an unprecedented storm struck much of the east coast reaching blizzard conditions in many areas. Washington DC, Pennsylvania and NYC reported record snow fall. As the storm progressed northward it wound it’s way through Connecticut into Southeastern Massachusetts. Falmouth, Cape Cod, Plymouth were some of the communities most hard hit but I’m happy to report that in my little corner of the world the storm was just a snow storm.

And I’m also happy to say that my condo folks were right on top of the clean up.

Not everyone was upset about the snow.

Enjoy your day everyone!

DSC_2321a

Frankly My Dear, I don’t Give a Clam

Posted on September 20, 2015September 20, 2015 by Dusty Roads

News flash…Summer is not over. Nope not at all. Don’t believe me? Just ask my sister.

We just had an awesome weekend. In my family you don’t just go visit someone. You need an excuse like a wedding or funeral or birthday and the perfect excuse presented itself this weekend. This was the weekend of the Scallop Festival.

Now anyone who follows this blog knows I am a sucker for a plate of scallops. Well my sister is the same way. So I was pleased, if surprised when my sister said she was willing to drive over from upstate NY for the weekend and go to the Scallop Festival with me.

Sandy arrived Friday night and after getting her settled we went to the Longhorn Steakhouse for dinner. I have to tell you their $12.99 dinner combo is an amazing value. We started with a salad. (we both chose Caesar), then a sirloin steak (6 once which can be upgraded) cooked to a medium rare perfection with a baked potato that was really baked, not microwaved. Even though we were pretty stuffed we couldn’t say no to the cinnamon carrot cake for dessert. Yummy! and all that for only $12.99 each. The service was excellent too.

We returned home and rolled out the air mattress for me to sleep on . Sandy got the bed. I expected the cats to be all over me since I was on the floor at their level but no, Rocky checked out the situation and retired back to the living room.

Buddy had to see if he could get the bed from Sandy so he took a leap right onto her back. I’m not sure who was more surprised but he didn’t linger. He jumped down, landed on my air mattress, took a couple of staggering steps to solid ground and apparently gave up.

He did persist in standing guard at the bathroom door whenever someone was using the facilities.

So after a good night’s sleep and breakfast the next morning at I HOP we were ready to check out the Scallop Festival in Falmouth (on Cape Cod), MA

That Made My Day

Posted on September 12, 2015September 12, 2015 by Dusty Roads

Some days things just don’t get any better and then something happens that proves there are still nice people in the world. Not that I ever doubted it since I have many nice people in my life.

I had a long list of errands to run today and started out early. I wanted to get done early because I was going to take some pictures of a friend’s puppy for her. I’d taken some last weekend but poor little puppy was so tired from all the excitement around the pool that we didn’t feel we really captured his puppy cuteness, hence a do over.

Here’s a few shots from the first shoot.

So today we tried again. Little Henry was certainly more lively and we had a couple of photo bombs from big brother Jack.

But Henry still has a soulful eye roll as his signature look.

Even their cat Autumn graced us with her regal cat-ly presence.

Finally I think I got a “keeper”! It almost looks like he’s smiling.

I had a great time. It was just about time for lunch when I left so I decided to stop at Friendly’s for lunch. I was waited on by a new waitress who explained she was in training. I promised I wouldn’t bite her and we laughed. I gave my order and pulled out a book.No one came by my table except the wait staff and I enjoyed a quiet meal. When it was time for my check the first waitress told me it was all set. I misunderstood and said ok, bring it along. I’m ready for it. That’s when the 2nd waitress chimed in. “No, you don’t understand. Your check was paid for by another customer.”

I was flabbergasted! I’ve heard stories about kind strangers doing things like that but I never expected to have it happen to me. I looked around to see if I recognized anyone but the restaurant was filled with strangers.

The staff finally told me that it was the man in the booth behind me (who had already left) and I should”pay it forward” which I intend do. I will start looking for that opportunity right away.

All I can say is that it was such a nice surprise. It took my nice fun day and really put it “over the top”. Thank you kind sir, and may you have many wonderful days too. You certainly made mine!