songbird's crazy world

Busch Gardens is a great park, lots of fun, but my heart still belongs to Disneyworld. Next time I want to walk around the 18th century, I'll go in autumn, not in the middle of a heat wave. And I will take the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel instead of I-95. The best part of any living history museum is when you get to participate in reenactments and converse with the reenactors -- from the wigmaker in her shop to the woman on trial for witchcraft to the Marquis de Lafayette, the costumed interpreters who got into character were the best. My two new favorite products - real lifesavers:

Dad came home from the local hospital yesterday.  Today he's headed into Manhattan to see a cardiac specialist.  And around and around we go.

I was on the train Friday night and reading Facebook when I saw Nina's post. Her mother died Friday. Drew and I are at an age where we and our contemporaries are dealing with octogenarian parents and all the issues if aging.   Drew had been helping Nina with paperwork issues, Nina's father is in a nursing home and she's trying to get him more benefits.  But her mother had been in relatively good health. Nina's mother went to the nursing home Friday morning, and was hit by a delivery truck as she made her way through the parking lot.  Apparently the driver didn't see the old lady hunched over her walker.

Tonight's dinner was at La Casa Latina.  We had eaten here several months ago, thanks to Groupon, and with another Groupon in hand tonight it was time for a second visit.  Our evening started with chilled sangria- sweet and refreshing- and crusty rolls.  We skipped an appetizer. He ordered a platter that contained shell steak, 1/4 roasted chicken (it looked wonderful!),  sausage, rice and beans.  I ordered Carne Asada, a NY strip steak accompanied by rice,  beans and sweet fried plantains.  Mine came with a salad - mostly romaine lettuce with a few tomatoes in a vinaigrette, nothing too exciting. I didn't care for the beans, he ate mine as well as his own.  My steak was perfect, though, and the rice was excellent.   The plantains were very sweet, a nice balance to the rest of the meal.  The dessert menu is very short  but the cheesecake flan - a firm custard served with fresh whipped cream and caramel sauce. . .was incredible.  Staff was very attentive.   We will be back. Then...

My dad came back from rehab last week.  Yesterday morning we called the paramedics to bring him back to the local hospital.  Nothing major but serious enough to have him admitted for a few days. When  my dad came home from rehab  we knew he faced many, many more doctor visits.  In fact he's supposed to go into Manhattan Monday to meet with the team that will do the transcatheter aortic valve replacement -- fancy new procedure that is minimally invasive.  We hope that he can come home from local hospital in time to keep this appointment. My dad's been sick for a long time, but . . . Well, not like this.  I saw a steady and obvious decline in his health from last summer until May.  And on May 10 he was admitted to the hospital, and the present saga began. It's like a merry-go-round of doctors and hospitals, one we can't seem to stop.    And I know where this is inevitably leading . . .the only question is when . . .

We went to a wedding yesterday. Both the bride and her mother are employed at the school where Drew teaches, so many of his coworkers were there. Beautiful venue -- a country club.  The ceremony was held outdoors (the weather was perfect for it, a lovely, not too hot, summer evening).  There's a garden with a small pond, and a platform inthe middle of the pond with a gazebo.  (Later I found out this place has a second location for outdoor ceremonies, a gazebo on the lawn next to a reflecting pool/fountain, which is just as lovely.)    Birds were actually flying around the gazebo during the ceremony. The color scheme was black and gold.  All the men in the wedding party, even the ring bearer, wore black, with gold ties and gold yarmulkes (Jewish wedding).  The maid of honor ( the bride's sister) wore a strapless gold gown, the bridesmaids were in black with gold sashes, and the flower girl wore white with a gold sash.  The mother of the brid...

Day started off well enough.  We packed up the car and said goodbye to our cozy little house.  Dropped off the keys and did some last minute shopping at the visitor's center gift shop.  Then pointed the car towards Richmond. Around noon we stopped briefly to get lunch at Hardee's.  I had never eaten at this fast food chain, they stopped doing business on Long Island years and years ago.  Drew was feeling nostalgic, though, so we stopped, and ordered burgers and fries to go.  The food was very good, much better than McDonald's or Burger King. The misery started just about when we got onto I-95 in Richmond.  Traffic and rain.  The rain, at least, was light and sporadic.  Traffic got increasingly worse; by the time we hit the Beltway we were crawling.  No relief until we left the Beltway in Maryland and resumed our trip north.  And relief was short-lived.  3:30 on a summer Friday = tons of traffic. We reached the point where the...

Our evening began in Christiana Campbell's Tavern. I had eaten here years ago and loved it. And I still love it. Just like in the King's Arms the other night, the room was lit by candle power only. Our waitress encouraged us to tie the over sized napkins around our necks to protect our "finery". We toasted each other with King's Arms ginger ale -- that stuff is amazing. I ordered Mr. Jefferson's pea salet -- a salad of peas and granny smith apples in a mayonnaise- based dressing. Drew ordered the seafood stew appetizer. Both were excellent. Our bread basket contained dinner rolls and these incredible sweet potato muffins. The cabbage slaw was a bit bland. We both chose the seafood fricassee entree, delicious shrimp, scallops and lobster served over pasta, accompanied by spoon bread. Yes, spoon bread. Too full to order dessert, of course. But you don't go to Campbell's solely for the food. Mrs. Campbell, upon hearing we were from New Yor...

So our day began on the Colonial Parkway, this time headed for Yorktown. Our first stop was the Yorktown Battlefield, run by the National Parks Service. This is the site where Washington won a decisive battle over the British, resulting in a ceasefire which ultimately led to American independence. We saw a brief film then took a tour given by a park ranger, who gave excellent descriptions of the military strategy involved. There's an extended tour you can take in your car. We bought the CD but opted not to do the tour. Instead we drove past the Yorktown Victory Monument, then headed over to the Yorktown Victory Center. This is a museum complex run by the same people who run the Jamestown Settlement. There's a farm (circa 1780) at the front of the complex (saw a turkey rolling in the dust to try to stay cool) and a military encampment at the rear, where a costumed interpreter showed us 18th century surgical implements. There's also a small gallery showing the Ameri...

So here we are again, this time for entertainment.   They've got something here called Illuminights, special evening shows culminating in fireworks.   That's in addition to the shows that run all day. First up was a acrobatic performance it Italy called Giardino Magico.  Two ladies doing all sorts of gymnastic moves.  At 6 minutes, it was good but too short. Next was Mix It Up, live music and dance by the cooks and waiters of Italy.  We got spaghetti dinners and sat down to watch the show.  It started to rain lightly towards the end of the show and I think one of the dance numbers was cut, buy it was good. When the show was over, so was the rain.  Next we hurried to France for Voila, can can dancers and a juggler.  Nice. We decided the German and Irish shows were too juvenile so we opted to ride the log flume, and Drew took another ride on Griffon.  Then we decided to do some shopping.  Then I  got ice cream, Drew got ...

This site is a national park, owned and operated by the federal government.  I guess that accounts for the number of times we were told "There's a heat advisory, stay cool and hydrated." This is the site of the original Jamestown.  Part working  archeological site, part monument.  The park ranger gave his talk in a cool, comfortable auditorium.  He told us all about recent archeological findings.  Showed us a picture of Captain Jack Sparrow then told us about the real pirates and privateers who sailed these waters.  Jamestown was part profit center for the Virginia Company and part military installation against Spanish interests in the New World. Outside, we looked at the obelisk erected in honor of the Jamestown settlers and the statue of Pocahontas.  By now I've got "Colors of the Wind" playing in my head.  Inside the church there are plaques dedicated to Pocahontas and to John Smith, and there's a statue of John Smith on the waterfront....

Back in time to the early 17th century.  To Jamestown,  founded in 1607.  That's just a few years after Elizabeth I died and left the throne to her cousin James of Scotland. First stop was Jamestown Settlement.   This is the place to find the recreated Powhatan village, the replicas of the Susan Constant, the Discovery and the Godspeed, and Jamestown fort.  Indoors you'll find a small movie theater and a gallery.    Today I learned a blacksmith didn't make anything.  You'd buy a chain from a chain smith, your thimbles from a thimble maker, etc.  And you'd bring the chain, or thimble, or whatever, to the blacksmith to be repaired. Believe it or not, there's a Disney animation cell in the gallery. It's there along with portraits of the real Pocahontas.  The point was that Pocahontas was a real person but has become a character of myth and legend.

So, feeling completely wiped out at Busch by 6:30, we returned to our lovely colonial house to freshen up, then ventured out for dinner. We'd seen a few likely places earlier in the day, and wound up at Yorkshire. It was late by the time we arrived, with very few other diners in the room. Our waitress was very attentive. We ordered the stuffed mushroom appetizer -- mushrooms stuffed with very fresh and tasty crabmeat, then covered with cheese. Excellent. Our New York strip steaks were tender and flavorful and cooked to perfection. The steaks are plated with baked potato or french fries, onion rings, and a medley of sauteed summer squash, zucchini and onions. A very nice dinner.

You didn't really think we'd spend the whole vacation in the 18th century? The history geeks took a break today as we headed to Busch.  I won't do large roller coasters, I let Drew do those by himself. Loved Escape From Pompeii, a log flume ride that takes you through that Roman town after the volcano has blown.  Got drenched on Roman Rapids (every amusement park has a ride like this.   Embarrassed that I couldn't board their version of the pirate shio called the Battering Ram (inspiration to start a diet) but loved DaVinci's Cradle, which is similar.  Loved Darkastle, which I called "Disney's Haunted Mansion on steroids" (the technology is more like Universal's Spiderman.) Lunch in "Germany"  - huge hot dogs wrapped in pretzels. Bad moment of the day - Drew went to get our stuff out of a locker while I went to the restroom.  And got lost.  And he had my cell phone.  He found me just as I was starting to panic. No, wait.  . .second ...

Have I mentioned the weather conditions here in Virginia?  Hot and humid.  But thankfully much cooler in the shade than in the sun. Once again we had breakfast at the Lodge. We liked the breakfast buffet so much yesterday that we opted for it again today. Yesterday thete were fluffy little pancakes. Today there was french toast. Crisp bacon, beautifully browned breakfast sausage, scrambled eggs, fruit, customized omelets, delicious muffins and croissant. I saw grits and oatmeal, but I'm not really a fan of either - Drew had the grits yesterday and loved them. The fried potatoes were ok but would have been better without their skins. Then it was back to the historic area. We saw most of tge buildings and exhibits yesterday. Today we saw the Peyton Randolph House, the cooper, the brickmaker and the military encampment, where Drew went through firearms training. Toured one of the taverns. We also stopped by the St. George Tucker House. Drew donated to the Colonial ...

So I slept like a princess in a canopied bed.  We walked out of our room, down the stairs and out the front door.  Our next door neighbors are a flock of sheep!  One of them baa'd at me in a very rude manner. Breakfast at the Williamsburg Lodge.  You can order from the menu or enjoy the buffet.  We opted for the buffet, which included pancakes, bacon, sausage, fried potatoes, an omelet station, grits and breakfast pastries.  We plan to go back. Then we took the shuttle bus to the Visitor's Center.  We simply had to see the 1957 film, "Story of a Patriot", starring Jack Lord (long before he uttered the phrase"Book 'em, Danno").  I saw it in 1974 when I was here, but didn't remember it.  Beautifully put together but actually a bit boring, even for us history geeks. Right behind the Visitor's Center is a plantation.  I learned today that "plantation" meant any farm where the cash crop was tobacco, corn or wheat.  Plantain owners w...

7/14/2012 10:04 PM. Theme song "Vacation" . The plan was to leave between 7:00 and 7:30 this morning.  We actually left at 7:50, not too bad.  By 9 we were on the New Jersey Turnpike and I'm hearing Paul Simon in my head ("Counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike, they've all gone to look for America")  we stopped at a rest stop for coffee and breakfast sandwiches.  . .bacon egg and cheese on a croissant.   Very fresh, we watched the guy cook the eggs. The weather was strange.  It would be overcast for awhile,  the we'd get a light rain, then the sun would come out, then the whole thing would repeat itself.  Every time it started to rain I would sing "It's raining again."  Drew got so tired of that song.  . . So I came up with a whole bunch of songs about rain. We made a stop at Maryland House on I-95 and I had a flashback to 1974.  My first trip to Williamsburg.   Back then there was de facto segregation at th...

In no particular order, the Statue of Liberty,  Ellis Island, the lower Manhattan skyline and the Jersey City skyline,  followed by Times Square.

Our office is doing what's called a "restack", which means they're consolodating and condensing work space.  My cubicle was relocated from the south side of the floor to the north side.  Of course when you do something like that, you send your employees home so that the movers can do their job. Normally if the office closes at lunchtime I just head home.   But yesterday . . .well, Drew and I had theater tickets last night. So I found myself with a few hours to kill in NYC.   First stop was Zuccotti Park.  Now that the Occupy Wall Street crowd has gone home, the park has reverted to a nice place for office workers and tourists to have lunch.  Lots of food carts along the sidewalk, and across the street in front of 140 Broadway.  Mostly hot dogs and gyros ( you can get a kosher hot dog if you like, and lot of the carts indicate their food is halal - welcome to diversity).  I wound up with chicken and rice -- grilled chicken and yellow rice with tahini sauce, served...

How fast (or slow) are you? I'm somewhere in the middle, neither the tortoise nor the hare.If I'm in the city I have no patience for people who are oh-so-casually strolling along in front of me. It's called a sideWALK, not a sideCRAWL.  If you're not going to walk, move to the side and let me through! Stairs, on the other hand, are the bane of my existence.  Climbing stairs leaves me exhausted and gasping for breath. When I was pregnant with Becca (20 years ago!) we lived in Briarwood, Queens, just a block or so from the Van Wyck Blvd. Station.  If I remember correctly there are about 5 flights of stairs between the street and the train platform.  I never had a problem going down. . .coming up was another matter.  Got to the point where I'd get off the train at Union Turnpike and walk a mile along Queens Blvd to avoid those stairs! Drew, on the other hand, walks very quickly.  I often have to ask him to slow it down. And his sister - who joined us last ...

So last night we saw Potted Potter at the Little Shubert Theater. This short show (only 70 minutes) started as street entertainment for the crowds outside bookstores waiting for the release of every Harry Potter novel. It's a kid-friendly parody, lots of wacky humor with a British accent.. The two performers interact with the audience. Loved it. Thought about grabbing a bite in the theater district but wound up heading downtown to Chinatown, for an old favorite, Wo Hop. This place is a taste of old New York, a crowded, no-frills basement restaurant, open 24/7. At peak dining hours the line extends up the stairs and spills out onto Mott Street. Everything, including rice and crispy fried noodles, must be ordered from the menu. The Cantonese dishes tend to be better than Szechuan. The cold sesame noodles had too much soy sauce and not enough sesame oil, and the sauce was much thinner than elsewhere. Honestly, not a dish I will order again. In most restaurants the fried...

That's what I had in loose change.

And my nickels, dimes and quarters. Taking the lot to the coin counting machine at the bank.  Want to guess how much I've got?

No, I am not about to sing about Sgt. Pepper. I am about to wish Becca a happy 20th birthday. I can no longer claim to be the mother of a teenage daughter.

Saw the new Spiderman movie tonight. It's a reboot, they go back to the beginning - Peter Parker in high school, getting bitten, learning his new superpowers. Not as good as the Toby McGuire version, but definitely a fun movie. Highlights are Martin Sheen and Sally Field as the aunt and uncle. Dr. Connor's tower looked exactly like Tony Stark's tower in "The Avengers" (different facade but the same shape). Stan Lee was wonderful in his cameo role as a teacher. The man must really be enjoying himself this summer, his characters are destroying NYC in two hot movies. There's a bonus scene midway through the credits. Don't leave until you see it. Afterwards we wound up at Denny's. Food here is cheap and plentiful. Tonight I had the meatball sub, which was flavorful and filling. I like the waffle cut fries. They were not hot this time but still ok. Got the Denny's app and with it a coupon for a free soft drink. Not bad. Th...

Sitting here in a freezing examining room. What brought me here is fairly routine. But I have a lot of "fairly routine" stuff these days.  I am becoming high maintenance.   And I don't like it.

It's 8 AM and it's raining. Hope it clears up by this afternoon.  We have a barbeque planned!

Cit Field That's my post from April 2010, our first baseball game at Citi Field, when I had the time to take photos and my camera phone really worked.

I'm sure I've posted this before. Jews are commanded to pray three times a day. They can recite most prayers as individuals, but some prayers may only be said while part of a group called a minyan -- 10 adults (the Orthodox say 10 men , but we Conservatives count women).  Our synagogue is fortunate enough to be able to hold two prayer services every day, a morning service and a combined afternoon/evening service. We never seem to have a problem making a quorum of 10 in the morning, but at night... Periodically the Rabbi or the Cantor will call me to ask me to come to the service, to be the 10th needed to form a minyan. It happened again last night.  I'd come home from the unveiling, and was just hanging around the house when the Cantor called.  Of course I went. The Amidah is a lengthy prayer that is recited at every service. In our prayerbook the Amidah runs about  4-5 pages.  Since our service encompasses both afternoon and evening prayers, we recite the ...

I believe this is a uniquely Jewish ritual.  Several months after the funeral, family and friends gather at the cemetery to unveil the newly-erected gravestone.  Prayers are recited and the deceased is memorialized.  It is a somber occasion.  My friend Bonnie's father passed away last September. Drew and I were unable to attend the funeral, so when Bonnie asked us to attend the unveiling we had to say yes. Bonnie and her nephew are the only members of her immediate family who still live in New York, and Josh wasn't able to come because of his work schedule. Her mother lives in Florida, her sister and brother-in-law in Atlanta, her brother in California. They, as well as her aunt and cousin from New Jersey, were the only family members. The rest of our small party was made up of Bonnie's closest friends. Very hot day today, but there was a cool breeze blowing at the cemetery. The Rabbi was a baby boomer, gray haired but wearing a pony tail. He didn't a...