Category Archives: special occasion

All those Little Things

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Those Things you almost forget to mention

I’ve got a few things to share with you. A little of this and a little of that. Things I forgot to mention and things that just didn’t seem to fit in any place else. So today’s post is a little bit of house keeping.

The “Sandcastles”

This post really seemed to hit the spot. So I want to share a couple more photos. The first one is The Sand with the Dragon Tattoo. Catchy

Sand sculpted like a dragon

Then there’s the sculpture named Wishful Thinking. Who among us haven’t indulged in wishful thinking at one time or another? Here’s a little I dream of Jeannie magic along with the winning lottery ticket. That’s really Wishful Thinking!

If you’d like to see more of my pictures from the Competition, you can stop by  http://dustyroadsphotos.zenfolio.com/p955600703. Be sure to sign the guest book and say Hi.

My Photo Page Has Gone to The BirdsFlamingos

Speaking of my photo page link, I had it in my menu but it disappeared. I’ve been trying to figure out what went wrong. You should be able to see it and click on it. Its really bumming me out. I will get it figured out but it might be awhile. Technology is not my friend, its my challenge. I put together a lovely slide show with music. The theme is Birds. So until I get the link fixed, you can find my Birds slide show at http://dustyroadsphotos.zenfolio.com/

 

 

Did I forget the Dessert?

Remember the Birthday Celebration at Woods Hole? I never told you where we ended up for dessert. A birthday celebration needs cake and ice cream so that’s what we had.  Leaving Woods Hole we made a stop in Falmouth, MA at Cupcake Charlie’s . What a great way to have Cake and Ice Cream. Everyone can choose their own flavors. Its easy to see why Cupcake Charlie’s is called “New England’s Best Cupcakes”.

Sift Ice Cream And a Cupcake

“Life is Short . . . Eat a Cupcake”

A Cape Cod Birthday Celebration

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A Cape Cod Birthday Celebration

What more could you ask for than spending summer time on Cape Cod. Throw in a birthday to celebrate and you have the ingredients for a perfect day. The question is, can you get there?

First there is the driveBourne Bridge to Cape Cod

 The only way on or off the “Cape” is over one of 2 bridges, the Sagamore and the Bourne. Which one you take depends on where you want to go on  the Cape. The Birthday Girl wanted a”lobsta roll” by the sea.  The Phantom Gourmet suggested Captain Kidd Restaurant in Woods Hole. The Cape Cod Birthday Adventure began at 10:30 am in Brockton, MA. About 3 miles from the Bourne Bridge traffic came to a complete stop. It didn’t matter that we were on a highway with a speed limit of 65 mph. Summer Cape traffic had brought our little excursion to a halt.

Cross Over The Bridge

We had reservations at the restaurant for 1 pm. By 12:00 we had the bridge in sight but we were still just inching along. Finally we squeezed into the 2 lanes of traffic to climb the bridge over the Cape Cod Canal. The views from the bridge are amazing, marred only by the suicide barrier installed to keep the depressed and hopeless alive until they can get help. What a depressing thought!

Captain Kidd RestaurantPicture window

Once over the bridge the traffic began to move and in less that 30 minutes we were entering the little town of Woods Hole. We spotted the restaurant as we waited for a draw bridge to close after letting several small pleasure boats pass from the inner harbor out to the open ocean.

With luck we found parking about a block from the restaurant. In spite of the reservation there was no room on the outdoor deck. The compromise was a table right in front of a large picture window looking out over the inner harbor.

 

Lobster rollsLobster Rolls were the lunch of the day as the birthday girl, her son and daughter all indulged in the seasonal delicacy.

 

I had to be different with a plate of fried sea scallops fresh from the boat. Trust me, you can’t mistake frozen for fresh. The difference is huge. Fried Scallops

 

 

 

 

We were all stuffed after that lunch so a break at the Aquarium before we looked for desert seemed like a great plan.

 

 

Happy Birthday America

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Happy Birthday America

Happy Birthday America. You are facing many challenges today but you’ve seen worse since your birth. You have survived the murders of 4 of your presidents. Abraham Lincoln was the first.Lincoln Assassination A shocking act that couldn’t have come at a worse time. Honest Abe’s death left you in a turmoil, carpetbaggers and reconstruction fanned the flames of hatred between North and South. Lincoln never had the chance to “bind up the nation’s wounds”. But you survived.

A lesser known President

Not as well known as Lincoln, your 2nd president to die from gunshot was James A. Garfield. Only 4 months into office he was shot for revenge. Who knows what he could have done had he lived.

And then there were three

William McKinley had led you to prosperity, added territory in the form of Puerto Rico and the Philippines. He should have been well loved but a disturbed individual who adhered to the doctrine of anarchy took his life as he reigned triumphant in his 2nd term! wWilliam McKinley marker with flags

And John Makes Four

John F Kennedy was the fourth successful assassination. Kennedy had guided us to the moon and prevented a third world war with nerve wracking brinkmanship over the Bay of Pigs. And then he was gone. War raged in Vietnam and our commander in chief was dead. And yet, you survived.

Newspaper heading announces JFK is dead

Today is an uncertain world

I am no historian but in my 60 plus years I do not remember a time when we were more divided. Can our polarizing president overcome today’s divisions and, to borrow from Abraham Lincoln, “bind up the nations’s wounds?”  Only time will tell.

The best country in the world

You have hard times ahead I’m afraid. America , you have been through worse. This too shall pass and you will be stronger for it. Happy Birthday America. Celebrate!

The 3 BD’s

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It was tempting to just turn around and get back on the plane back to Hawaii when I landed in Providence Saturday night. It was dark and cold. Snow was piled everywhere. I had heard about the 14 – 18 inch snow storm while I was in Maui but I was a long way away from it.

I was wearing my Aloha shirt and digging through my pocket book for my claim ticket for my car when 2 airport police approached.

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They were wearing ski masks and bundled up big time. They stopped by to tease me about my shirt and we chatted about the snow and ice and COLD…brrr.

Eventually I was home greeted by my little fur baby.  Sunday was just time to relax, unpack and get ready to return to the real world. I had a birthday on Wednesday. I haven’t paid much attention to birthdays in a long time so I was surprised when one of my co- workers brought me flowers, another left me a message wishing me a happy birthday and then sent more flowers! The office paid for lunch. They even bought a birthday cake!

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Nancy’s kids, Dawn and Alex both have birthdays in February too. For years, since they were just toddlers, we have made it a tradition to get together for a breakfast or brunch to celebrate out 3 birthdays. In the beginning we did it because how do you explain to little kids that one kid gets presents but the other one has to wait? It turned into a tradition to just celebrate them all together.

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This year Nancy & I were both watching our pennies so Nancy suggested we go to Braintree to a place called Kristin’s. Nancy said it had a great reputation.

It’s a little hole in the wall at 349 Washington St, Braintree. Parking is a real problem but eventually we found a spot about a block away. It was a nice day, fairly mild and sunny so walking back wasn’t too bad.

menu

We opened the door on chaos! It was loud and the place was packed. If busy-ness is any indication, this was going to be good. Eventually we were offered seats at the counter. The portion sizes were huge! Nancy, Dawn and Alex all had pancakes. One each was ample. Alex chose the most exotic. He had a Boston Cream Pancake.

This is 1 pancake. Can you actually imagine eating 3?

boston-cream-pancake

Nancy was more traditional with a Blueberry pancake and Dawn had an M & M pancake.Sides of bacon and juice were added to round out the meals. I strayed from convention with a plate of Texas Toast French toast. It tasted a lot like the french toast I make with lots of cinnamon but I don’t have those lovely thick slices of bread.

french-toast

It was really good and the best part was the bill came to under  $10.00 per person. Can’t beat that! We had a good time, exchanged gifts and the tradition continues!

Maui Luau

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Everyone should experience a Luau at least once. Sandy and I are getting to be old hands. We went to a Luau on the Big Island. The imu with the kalua pig was a pit right next to the beach.

On Oahu we attend ed a huge luau at the Polynesian Cultural Center. Now on trip 3 we wanted to be sure Kathy had a chance to enjoy the experience.

This time our Luau was at the resort, Kannapali Beach Club better known as the “Pink Pyramid”. The luau was held on  a large flat  lawn behind the pool. There was a stage and the Imu pit was just off to the side of the stage. Tables were lined up filling the area.  The buffet tables off to the left.

luau

Each group was welcomed and shell leis given out. We were then directed to the bar for our complimentary Mai Tai.

There is a well known Luau in Lahaina which is purported to be the mist authentic Luau in the islands but it doesn’t have the fire dancer. The Fire dancer may not be “traditional” or “authentic” but its always a good show so I wanted to be sure that this would be a part of the luau we attended and it was.

Once everyone was seated the imu pit was ceremoniously opened. It was quite windy but the luau progressed anyway as napkins and light weight objects were blown around the area. No one let that stop the fun.

Shortly after the Imu pit was opened the buffet was opened and everyone went through table by table. Once everyone had their food the show began.

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My favorites were the children or Keiki. Seeing them perform so young gives some insight as to how they can all be so confident and relaxed as adults.

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And finally the fire dancers. There were 2.

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The larger gentleman was very funny too. His amazing sense of humor really came through.

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Then the finale! A great show and a good time.

dsc_4040-3-copyAnd the nice thing about going to the resort Luau…no traffic or driving when it was over, just a nice stroll back to our rooms.