Day 10 Madrid

Well I got up this morning and went down to the bakery again to watch the bakers make bread. As I had my nose pressed against the window, I could see them looking at me and I imagined them saying:

"There's that old homeless geezer from yesterday. Think we should call the cops?"
"No, just look at him, he's harmless."
"Maybe we should just throw him a donut, he's drooling?"
"Nah, don't feed him, he'll never go away."

Anyhow, the store part of the bakery wasn't open, so I went back to the apartment hungry. We still hadn't figured out what we wanted to do today.

Finally, we decided to do nothing special as tomorrow was going to be a long day. Although we did go out for lunch around one thirty and walked up to the Bilbao Metro station and stopped in a very nice restaurant called Cafe Comercial. It was fine except when we walked in they immediately gave us an English menu and a waitress who couldn't speak English and didn't know what was on the English menu. So we never got some of what we ordered and some other things that were just wrong. As it turned out it didn't matter, it was all good, besides, what we didn't get were the sweetbreads which Sylvia wasn't really looking forward to. We had a great buffalo mozzarella, a fabulous steak tartar, and a very nice looking caramelized pudding and rice with violet ice cream. The waitress didn't get the bottle of wine wrong, and it's a good thing or there would have been a scene.

Burrata de bufala con pesto de tomate seco, melon y brotes

Steak tartar de solomillo al gusto, a picado a cuchillo

Torrija caramelizada sobra arroz con leche y helado de violeta

I hope you read the captions because it took me forever to type them.

Tomorrow morning we leave for home. I will post a final blog when we get home.

Day 9 Madrid

Even though we had nothing planned for the day I got up fairly early and went down to the local bakery for a baguette to take back to the apartment. I got there a bit too early as they were in the process of making them. Not a problem, I just stood in front of the window watching three bakers making baguettes. They must have thought I was some hungry homeless man just staring in the window. When they were done making a couple hundred, they started on other breads. It seems as though they make the pastries first so I missed that, but I'll be back earlier tomorrow to watch that. A fascinating morning, can't wait till tomorrow. By the way the baguette was terrific, had it with butter and a smear of Camembert. I reluctantly left some for Sylvia, she doesn't like the Camembert.

Just before noon we decided to visit the Madrid Botanical Gardens. It was a nice 20 minute walk down past the Prado. I was surprised, after seeing pictures I thought it was small enough that we could walk it in an hour or two. Well, we walked around for less than that but we weren't close to seeing everything. It's 20 acres and contains 90,000 plants and flowers and 1,500 trees all well marked. I don't know how many beds there were but each one was lined with small box hedges. An unbelievable amount of work goes into this garden. There wasn't much in bloom, but I could imagine what it's like in the blooming season. I don't think you could walk all the paths in one day. It would be fun to see it five or six time a year. (Double click on the picture to enlarge it)

Botanical Gardens

We took the long way back and stopped for lunch at La Gustava in the Lavapies section of town. Again all the outside tables were full so we ate inside by the window. We had an omelette with onions and cheese, and ham croquettes, both of which are Spanish staples and served everywhere. They're very good, neither of which I could duplicate. We then marched back to the apartment for a few hours.

We did the 7:30 routine and went out for a before dinner drink at the Plaza de Chueca, but this time we managed to commandeer an outside table. The waiter gave us chips, olives, and nuts. They customarily give you one, but not all three. By nine o'clock we weren't very hungry so we got ice cream and went back to the apartment and I fell asleep early...again.

Day 8 Madrid

It was a slow day with not much to post. We did go to the Prado Museum and spent several hours touring a maze of galleries. The Prado's considered by many to be the best art museum in Spain and one of the five best in the world. It has a massive collection of old masters that's made up of massive paintings from the 1100's to the 1700's. It not easy to get around; we spent most of the time trying to figure out where we were. It was great seeing all the masters, but after two hours I was exhausted, and two hours is not nearly enough to do it justice.

Afterwards we went to an outdoor cafe up the street from the Prado and had a Jamon Iberico sandwich and some paella. It was fine but the people watching was better.

We've been traveling together now for eight days and it's getting a little tedious. At home we usually go our separate ways from early morning until late afternoon. Over here we don't get any time alone and the nerves get a little frayed. We haven't had much in the way of any "Lively Discussions". That usually happens in the car and we're getting too old and tired to argue very much - we just shut up. It seems as though most of our conversations consist of, "Huh", "What, "What did you say", "Did you hear me". I guess that's part of getting old? I think Sylvia can't hear, nor does she talk loud enough. Harumph!

In the evening we went up to the square by the Chueca metro station. As usual all of the 50 or 60 outdoor tables were taken, instead we got a window seat at a small cafe looking over the Plaza de Chueca and had a few before dinner drinks. As soon as it turned 8:30 we went to dinner Le Coco. Sylvia ordered a spinach fettuccine with three cheeses, and I had baked oxtail, pasta, and cheese that sort of resembled a lasagna. Both were very good. That was the end of the day and I don't know what we're doing tomorrow.

Prado

Large Art

Day 7 Still Madrid

Well we finally got off to an early start, if you consider 9:20 early? It's really not to bad because not much opens before 10. We walked over to the Royal Palace and got in line by 9:45. The line moved pretty fast for a museum line and we opted for the audio tour. It worked out pretty good because we didn't spend too much time on the first few rooms and got ahead of all the tour groups. The palace is unbelievable, there's 3,000 rooms but only 29 are available for touting. and that took an hour and a half. The royal family had it pretty good. You could easily spend 10 minutes in each room. I couldn't, but we still really appreciated it. One thing that stood out for me was the Stradivarious Room. There were five Stradivarious's in the room, 3 violins and two cellos - amazing. And they still get played occasionally by visiting artists. The whole place was amazing, beautiful, and interesting.  I highly recommend it, but go early and it's probably best to get tickets ahead of time. We didn't, but got lucky.

The next stop was a revisit of the Mercado San Miguel, and this time the crowd was half the size it was on Friday. We picked up a few tapas and a glass of Cava and managed to find two seats. Both the tapas and the Cava were excellent. The tapas were toast squares topped with various fish: cod liver, cod mashed with caviar, cod with honey, anchovies, and tuna. Sylvia also picked up a salmon wrap and a ham and cheese wrap??? It would be easy to have lunch there every day for several months and not get the same thing twice, and boy would I'd love to try. We stopped for another drink before going back to the apartment to do laundry. "We" might not be the proper word, but you get the drift.

Around 7:30 we went up the street to El Buho tavern for a drink before dinner. It was a pretty comfortable place and we had a good window table so we ordered dinner. Sylvia ordered a marinated pork kabob, and I decided to try some pig ears. I had never had a pig ear before so it was worth a try. They gave me way more than I thought they would, but I managed to eat all of them except for two. Sylvia had most of one and I left one. They weren't too bad, just a little gnarly. I won't be so quick to order them again.

Tomorrow we're planning on doing the Prado.

Royal Palace Dining Room
Can set up 110 people at one table

Pig Ears

Day 6 Madrid

Started off the morning with an espresso and a baguette with butter and cheese. Isn't it great when you can get a good baguette? Anyway, we headed straight off to what is called El Rastro. It's a huge Sunday flea market. It's supposed to be one of the must-do's on a Sunday in Madrid. I read a bunch of reviews and people either hate it or love it; there's not many in betweens. We tried to get there early but it didn't make a difference, it was already packed. The flea market started at the top of a hill and looking down I saw nothing but tents and people for as far as I could see. I said let's just do it and see what happens, so we waded in. It was no fun at all, but it was fascinating. For blocks and blocks it was tents with not much more than clothes, shoes, and accessories. This was pretty dull except there were so many people participating. After a half hour or so we got to the end and started back up a side road which was lined with at least a hundred antique merchants that had all their wares outside, and I mean these were real antiques, even older than Sylvia. (I just put that in to see if she really reads this gunk.) Anyhow, it was a pretty interesting event and I would recommend it if someone happens to be in Madrid on a Sunday; do go and have the patience to see it all and get ready to have a drink afterwards. It's worth a couple of hours.

Next up was the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, but on the way we stopped for lunch at a small cafe between Sol and Plaza Mayor. Sylvia had chicken and I had cuttlefish which was tough. We got to the museum around 3 and walked right in with no wait at all. The Thyssen is the second biggest private art collection in the world, just behind the British Royal Collection. This is a serious collection that is really well organized and includes all the biggies, Rubens, Van Dyke, Rembrandt, Monet, Renoir, van Gogh, etc. I really enjoy the Dutch and Flemish artists and there were plenty of them. What surprised me was how much North American art was on display. It was really, really good. I love the National Gallery in DC, but this was way more structured than that. I just wander around the National Gallery. Also, it was strange there was hardly any Spanish artists, a little Picasso, Dali, El Greco and a few I don't know, but that's it. I'd go back, no problem. We've still got to do the Prado which should be awesome.

For dinner we went down the street to restaurant Bazaar. We shared an excellent goose mousse with goat cheese. Sylvia had duck breast with some kind of sauce and I had a veal cheek cannelloni with the same sauce. Both very good except for the sauce. For dessert we had a something Madagascar, essentially ice cream and stuff which was very good. It was a pretty good experience that could have been better if we had ordered differently. We chatted with an interesting gentleman seated next to us, which was fascinating because here was a Chinese man, from France, in Spain, speaking English. Pretty cool.

Tomorrow we try the Royal Palace and Mercado San Miguel again.

El Rastro

Day 5 Madrid

There's not much to report today. We left around noon and headed to Retiro Park which is a park similar to Central Park in NYC, but a little smaller and a lot more trees. When we lived in New York going to Central Park on a Sunday afternoon was one of my most favorite things to do, but Retiro Park has Central Park beat by a lot, both in beauty and activity. I think if I lived in Madrid I would spend a least one day a week in Retiro Park, it's beautiful and a perfect people watching venue.

After the park we had a fairly good lunch at Taverna del Volapie. A bottle of wine, a tuna salad, calamari, fried anchovies, cod, and some other fish that I forgot it's name. Again we spent a lot of time walking just like the previous three days, according to my fit watch over 10 miles each day. Then we spent much of the evening sitting at an outdoor cafe just quietly watching people and avoiding any lively discussions. It was a late lunch so we skipped dinner and had dessert at a nearby cafe.

We've been to pretty many cities, but I've never seen so many people walking, shopping, dining as I have in Madrid. And this wasn't in the tourist area, this was the neighborhood where we stayed. These were people who lived here, both young and old. It was a remarkable sight and exciting to be around.  Madrid's way more interesting that I expected.

Below are some pictures from Mercado San Anton just two blocks down the street from where we're staying. Needless to say I go there a lot.

Day 4 Madrid

Managed to get a needed good night's sleep so we didn't get a very early start to do what we had planned to do. I was the first one up and went down to a local bakery and brought back a baguette and croissant for a late breakfast. We headed out around noon with the intention of grabbing a few tapas at Mercado de San Miguel then planned on spending the afternoon at the Royal Palace. As it turned out we were not very successful at either. We did get to the Mercado but it was way to crowded to get anything. Just walking through it was a real chore. It's very famous, although not a traditional market, but the best food court I've ever experienced. The tapas and drink stalls looked fabulous. It's to bad we didn't get to eat anything. We'll try again in a few days.

Undeterred, we had only a short walk over to the Royal Place. However, when we got there it was surrounded by barricades and hundreds of police. It seems as though there was some special event occurring there and it looked like it would be a long time before it concluded.  I understand it's a takes at least 2-4 hours to tour the Royal Palace, it has 3,000 rooms...yep 3,000. Pretty big place. We'll try again in a few days.

Somewhat disappointed, but okay with it since we have seven more days in Madrid. Instead we just wandered around checking out all the sights. We had a late lunch at an outdoor cafe and each had a Jamon Iberico bocadillo (ham sandwich). Only it's not your regular ham, it's really, really good ham. We walked a few hours more then went back to the apartment and waited to go out to dinner, When we did go out it was 8:30 and we went up the street to Lola Cocina. There was only one other couple in the restaurant, and they were Americans of course. By the time we had a drink and ordered our food and wine the place was packed. As is typical, nobody dines until after nine. We had a shareable appetizer of thinly sliced pork loin with capers and a sauce made of creamed tuna fish. It was very good. Sylvia had chicken and I again made a goof ordering. Instead of trying to pronounce the unpronounceable I pointed on the menu to what I wanted, and of course the waiter misunderstood.  I ended up with a hamburger and fries. Oh well, at least it was an excellent burger.  Overall, it was a good meal that we were more than satisfied with. That pretty much ended the evening.

Mercado de San Miguel

A few Tapas

More Tapas

Day 3 Madrid

It was a rather uncomfortable bouncy flight but at least we were on a working plane. We arrived at 7 am, got our luggage with no problem and took a taxi to our apartment that we rented through Airbnb. It turned out to be a nice newly renovated one bedroom apartment complete with washer and dryer. The owner and his sister met us and showed us around the unit. They were really nice and told us if we needed anything to just ask. We unpacked, and as usual, resisted the urge to take a nap. We were very tired since we hadn't slept much neither the night before or on the plane, but we found out it really works best if you stay awake and go to sleep the normal time. Otherwise we'd never get use to the time change. This is the most useful information I can give. Actually this is probably the only useful information I'll give.

The first thing we did was spend time walking the neighborhood to get the feel for where things are and what there is to do. The apartment is in the Chueca neighborhood which is noted for being Gay, trending, lots of fine food, shops, and culture. After spending a couple of hours checking out the area we were more than pleased with Chueca. We got all required provisions at a terrific nearby market and grocery store. By provisions I mean vodka, wine, coffee, baguette and butter.

Later in the afternoon we walked down to the Sol-Gran Via area to see what was happening down there. It was definitely the tourist area and way different from Chueca. We didn't have time to visit Mercado de San Miguel, probably the best market around, but we will probably go tomorrow. While we were there we had a late lunch in Sol at a place called Alhambra. It was busy and looked as local as anyplace around. Plus it didn't have an English menu, which is some indication that it's not too touristy. The downside is that we didn't know what we ordered. We ended up with paella, something with red peppers, tuna steak, beef steak, cheese cake, apple pie, and a bottle of wine all for less than $30. It was pretty good too, but way more than we could eat.

Afterwards we went back to Chueca and spent more time walking our neighborhood and had a few drinks at a nearby outdoor cafe that we'll probably go back to. We got back to the apartment around 7 and I managed to stay awake until almost 10 o'clock.

Our street

Out Apartment

Days 1 and 2 Newark, New Jersey to Madrid, Spain

I was undecided as to whether or not I really wanted to blog on this trip since we were just planning on going to Madrid and hang out for 9 or 10 days not doing anything special. But, since I'm always up by five every morning and have nothing to do I might as well write down what we did since it does settle a lot of future discussions about where we went and what we did when. Okay, so here goes, this should not be very exciting.

We started off at noon by driving up to Newark, NJ for a 8:30 pm flight to Madrid expecting to arrive at 7:30 the next morning. We've left from Newark several other times when we could not get a direct flight from any of the Washington/Baltimore airports. It's only another two hours drive, it saves us time since we don't have to change planes, there's less chance of losing luggage, plus it saves us about eight hundred dollars. We got there by 4:30 and in plenty of time to have a bite to eat and a few drinks. The International Terminal C is a really nice airport terminal and is a good place to kill time with so many dining and browsing options. Practically every seat in the terminal (restaurants, bars and waiting areas)  has an Apple tablet with an attached credit card reader. All you have to do is order what you want from the tablet and a server will find you. What a fabulous way to spend money, and we did. Unfortunately we ended up spending fourteen hours over two days in that damn terminal. It started off by a flight delay from 8 to 9, then from 9 to 10, then from 10 to 11, etc. all the way to 1 o'clock in the morning when they finally told us the flight was rescheduled until 6:30 the following evening and they would be providing everyone with hotel rooms and transportation. It was a pain, but I'd rather be on a plane that works than one that doesn't. It all sounded reasonable except that there was a mad rush to the courtesy desk to sign up for a hotel room and with 300 people in line Old Bill doesn't do so well. So I booked a room through the Hoteltonight app instead. We ignored the shuttle service and took a cab to the hotel only to find out there was actually no room booked or available. This was a problem, we were stuck in a hotel lobby at 2 am with no place to stay. We were very tired and not completely happy. Fortunately, the very, very nice hotel clerk gave us a transfer sheet to the Renaissance Hotel down the street and got a driver to take us there. She also got us the $366 room for free and made sure the Hoteltonight web site would refund us our original room rate. Who knew one could find a true angel at 2 o'clock in the morning pretending to be a hotel clerk. We got a very nice free room while those people who got rooms via the airline didn't get in their hotels until after 4 am. We were lucky, and for once my impatience paid off.

We got up the next day, had breakfast and got to the airport by noon and waited for the six thirty flight. We again exercised the Apple tablets way too often. The plane left on time.

Newark Airport, Apple tablets everywhere

Day 51 Home

Home at last! It was a really nice trip. The best part was visiting with all the people we don't get to see very often. The second best part was just seeing the country and how varied every part of the country is, except Texas, and that has it's own fascinating attributes.

The numbers:

51 Travel days
8466 Miles
24 Cities and towns
22 States
6 Sets of friends and families visited
21 Different hotels
36 Nights in hotels

Day 50 Wilson, North Carolina

It was another uneventful five hour drive from Bluffton to Wilson, NC. We got their by 2 o'clock, checked in our hotel, and immediately went to Parker's Barbecue. I normally get the pork barbecue, but decided on the Fried Chicken for a change, Sylvia did the same and boy was it good. I almost got chicken livers to go, but I really didn't need it. Didn't do anything after that, just went back to the hotel, we're heading home tomorrow. It'll be nice to be home.

Day 48 and 49 Bluffton, South Carolina

I started the day by going to by having a Fish and Grits breakfast at Anastasia Kitchen then picked up some Baguettes to take up to Jack and Carol's in Bluffton. We took our time, had an uneventful drive and, got there by 2 o'clock. We spent a good amount of time just catching up on things and meeting Carol's sister Ellen. For dinner Carol made a terrific Lasagna and Ellen brought a fantastic Spumoni for desert. I ate way too much and despite the fun conversation fell asleep way to early.

The next day we went over to Red Fish in Hilton Head for lunch. It's one of their favorite place and it's understandable why. We then went to old town Bluffton where Carol and Sylvia shopped a bit while Jack and I enjoyed a beer at Old Town Dispensary where we were soon joined again by Carol and Sylvia. Old Bluffton is a very quaint little village with several nice restaurant and pubs. It's one of my favorite little cutesy places around. On the way back to the house we stopped at Butcher's Market and Deli and picked up a few Meat Pies and Pierogi's and had them for a really good dinner. Butcher's is must stop shop for excellent deli foods.

We had another good visit with some old friends and hope they get up to Solomons soon. Tomorrow it's off to Wilson, North Carolina and a stop at Parker's Barbecue for Q and Fried Chicken.

Old Town Dispensary

Day 47 St. Augustine, Florida

I got up this morning and had breakfast at Little Margie's. Ordered Corned Beef Hash and poached eggs with a fresh made biscuit, and it was very, very good. Afterwards I thought I'd better bring back something for Sylvia (compensation for snoring), so I went up the road a piece to Les Petites Pleasures, an authentic French Bakery. I could tell it was authentic because I could see the old baker in the back room making pastries while singing old French songs. And I could really tell it was authentic when I tasted the the Peach Danish and the Croissants. I'm going back tomorrow morning for the Baguettes and something else, that's for sure.

We went downtown before lunch to walk around and see more of the historical sites before the predicted rain started. We spent an hour just wandering around before stopping at Casa Maya for a brief refreshment. Fortified, we did bit more walking and went to MOJO Old City BBQ for Brunswick Stew and Kansas City Burnt Ends. Burnt Ends are hard to find, and these were absolutely great and really hit the spot. As we were leaving MOJO's it started to rain. Undeterred, we had one more stop we wanted to make, The Tini Martini Bar. We had been there years ago and wanted to see if it changed. It didn't, it's still a small bar that makes great Martinis. We managed to get two of the only six seats at the bar and had an enjoyable conversation with two other couples that lived in the Old City. As we left the Tini Bar it was pouring so I got the car and we drove back to the hotel to watch the Super Bowl. It was a good game that was hard to get excited about because I really didn't want anybody to win.

Tomorrow it's off to Bluffton, South Carolina to visit our friends Jack and Carol.

Burnt Ends at MOJO's

The Tini Martini Bar

Day 46 St. Augustine, Florida

It was a short drive from Mount Dora to St. Augustine so we took the slow route and went directly over to Ormond Beach and drove coastal road A1A 51 miles up to St. Augustine Beach. It's one of the few roads along the Atlantic coast that you can actually see the ocean as there are very few structures between the road and the beach. Despite the dawdling, we still got to our hotel too early to check in so we headed a few miles over to the city part of St. Augustine and had lunch at Harry's. It's been a pretty long time since we've been to St. Augustine and enjoyed walking around the "Oldest City in North America". The hotel called around one o'clock and said the room was ready for check in so we did that and decided to come back to the city tomorrow.

After checking in we drove around the beach getting a feel for the area before stopping at Salt Life Food Shack, not to eat but for a few drinks. It seemed to be pretty active for this early in February, but it was Saturday and looked like a nice place to have a good time. For dinner we went to Sunset Grill which is next door to our hotel. It was crowed but we got a good table in the bar area. It seemed to be a goto place for locals and Snowbirds alike, lots of old people, with which we could easily identify. We had Mahi, Grouper, and Snapper fish bites along with Minorcan Conch Chowder. The fish bites were excellent and the Conch Chowder was unusual in that unlike most conch chowders it actually had conch in it.

We're here for another day and I think we'll spend most of it in town.

St. Augustine Oldest City in North America

Day 44 and 45 Mount Dora, Florida

The drive through horse country of Ocala to Mount Dora in central Florida was impressive for the magnificent horse ranches that consume the countryside. We arrived at our friends Toni and John's house mid afternoon and after catching up on things they drove us around and showed us the area. We got a bit thirsty so we stopped for a refreshment in downtown Mount Dora at "1921 by Norman Van Aken" who's a Florida artist that decided to open a restaurant to display various works of art. It's a beautiful place where we had a few drinks and ate some very good food before heading back to their house for the evening.

Mount Dora is charming little lakeside town with interesting shops and restaurants that's a lot of fun to just walk around in. I'm not sure it's exactly on a mountain, but if you start at the lake and walk towards the center of town you can almost tell you're walking uphill. At it's highest point it's 185 feet above sea level, and for Florida, that's a mountain. We really enjoyed the evening.

The next day we spent more time walking around town with a brief stop at One Flight Up for a glass of wine. A very pleasant waiter named Michael from Maryland took care of us and described some of the more interesting events going on around town. For dinner we went back to town and stopped first at Pisces Rising for Happy Hour, then at Goblin Market Restaurant for dinner. Sylvia had Rainbow Trout and I had Chicken Paprikash with Nokedli. It was fabulous. There seems to be an abundance of good restaurants in Mount Dora and we'd love to get back here.

It was a great visit with Toni and John with fun conversation and lots of good eats...and drinks. They were excellent hosts. Tomorrow we go to St. Augustine Beach for two days.

Hiking Up Mount Dora

Day 43 Cedar Key, Florida

It was beautiful day in Cedar Key and, I like a dope didn't take advantage of it and do something outdoorsy. Instead we just walked around town and ate and drank...again. We did watch some watermen take their work boats out of the water onto their trailers. The boats are unlike anything I've seen before. The steering is from the very tip of the bow and the outboard engine is in a well just behind the helmsman. The stern is completely open to the water and it's rigged for claming, oystering, and trawling. I talked to one of them and he said it's rigged that way because they mostly go backwards when working. I couldn't figure that one out, so I went for drink to contemplate things.

I was dying for more clams so we got an early start and went to Tony's Seafood for an 11 o'clock lunch. The place is rather famous and also very small with only 40 seats. Sylvia had steamed clams and I had the clam chowder which is unbelievably good. We had the early lunch so we could stop by the Big Deck for more steamed clams. We each got two dozen. Yum! After a brief rest we stopped at the Black Dog Bar before going to Steamers for dinner. Worn out with seafood Sylvia had beef and I had chicken neither of which we could come close to finishing.

Tomorrow we head to Mt. Dora to spend a couple of days with our friends from 30A, Toni and John.

Cedar Key workboat

Day 42 Cedar Key, Florida

The five hour drive from Seaside to Cedar Key was without traffic but very boring. We got there shortly after noon and checked in at Harbour Master Suites. We didn't get the water front room we rented the last time we were here, instead they put us in a huge suite that overlooked the town with a semi-water view. We dropped off our bags and went immediately to Steamers for a lunch of clam chowder and fried oysters. Later on, we stopped at Big Deck Bar for steamed clams and fish. I had a couple dozen clams and expect to get more tomorrow.

Cedar Key's an interesting place to visit. We were here 6 years ago and found it fascinating. It's a very small island that's known for clam and oyster aquaculture, and in my opinion, the oysters are pretty good and the clams are simply the best I've had. A small local place, Tony's Seafood Restaurant, is noted for winning the World Championship Clam Chowder competition three consecutive years, and I can tell you, it's really, really good and I believe it's a result of the clams. I will be going there tomorrow. Cedar Key has a population of only 800 and is really small. You can walk the town in an hour if you walk slowly. There's not much here except for a few restaurants and a convenience store. Most of the residences are either retired or watermen. We stopped at 83 West for a drink and talked to a guy who is the sole resident on an island that can only be reached by airboat. He built the only structure on the island and loves it, except for the summer deer flies. An interesting conversation.

Cedar Key

Day 33 through 41 Seaside, Florida

Left Lafayette in the middle of a rain storm. It was only a thin line passing through, but that line was with us the entire six hours it took us to get to Seaside. It was not a pleasant drive. We rented a condo for a week in Sea Grove, but we got there a day early to spend the night with my brother Randy and sister in law Carol. We had a really nice evening hanging out with them except Randy made me drink way too much scotch...and vodka...and wine. A good time was had by all.

On Tuesday we checked in the condo and went to Great Southern for a drink and then met Randy and Carol for dinner at Johnny McTighe's.

On Wednesday we had lunch at Wine World and dinner at Surfing Deer which was really good.

Thursday we met Randy and Carol at lunch for oysters at Shunk Gulley Oyster Bar which had the best oysters I've had in years and they were only $8 a dozen. For dinner we went to the Cafe Thirty-A for happy hour and the $5 martinis. Also earlier in the day I dropped my laptop and broke it. I went to Best Buy and got another one. I tried to blame it on something besides me, but I couldn't figure out how.

Friday was Sylvia's birthday so we went and picked up my new laptop and stopped at Local Catch for a light lunch. I guess I got a better birthday present that she did, at least more expensive. Then later stopped at the Craft Bar for a snack. Steven the bartender made me a couple of innovative bourbon drinks.

Saturday was an easy day. We only went to see Neil at AJ's in Grayton Beach. Had a pleasant lunch there and a good chat with Neil. AJ's is only a year old, but it's huge and is a really interesting restaurant to check out.

Sunday's always a busy day on 30A. We met Randy and Carol at my favorite brunch place Trebeache. Sylvia had the most interesting item, three slices of bread pudding french toast with whipped cream, berries, and a drizzle of honey caramel . I was extremely envious. Randy had grits and grillades. We all had the bottomless Mimosas, probably too many. Afterwards we did what we do every Sunday down here, stop at the Red Bar to see the local band Dread Clampitt and that of course meant more Mimosas. We watched the first set then crossed the street to Chiringo. At least we got off the Mimosas and switched to beer. The final stop was Local Catch to see another group, The Forrest Williams Band. They're terrific and always worth seeing, probably our favorite in the whole area. Needless to say, that was the end of my evening, at least as far as I can recall.

On Monday, our last day on 30A, we stopped at Bud and Alley's Pizza Bar to see Judy and have a delicious clam pizza. In the evening we met Randy and Carol the Craft Bar for $5 hamburgers and more beer. We had a good visit on 30A and are considering coming back next winter for January and February. Tomorrow we head to Cedar Key, Florida. It was really nice spending time with Randy and Carol

Day 32 Lafayette, Louisana

Did the drive from Austin to Lafayette and boy was it boring. After all the great scenery the last month I guess we were due for a bummer. Anyhow, we got there early afternoon and figured out where to have dinner. We could have done the Cajun thing, but we weren't quite up for that, so instead we picked Zea Rotisserie & Bar. We checked with the hotel check in lady and she said it was very, very good. Apparently everybody else in Lafayette thought so too because it was packed and the waiting line was an hour. We got lucky and managed to squeeze in at the bar. It was nuts with bartenders going crazy trying to keep up. We managed all right and got our drinks and just hung out there waiting for things to calm down a bit. It took over an hour, but it finally did. It turned out to be fairly enjoyable because we chatted quite a bit with some locals. I think bartenders were appreciative that we weren't pushy because they comp'd us a few drinks. We eventually ordered food and it was good, especially since it could have been a not so nice experience.

Tomorrow it's Seaside, Florida

Days 28, 29, 30, 31 Austin, Texas

Got to Fred and Mica's on Wednesday after what seemed like a very long drive. Their condo is on the top floor of a 43 story building and has a fantastic view of downtown Austin. We had a great time running around Austin, it's a really active city and we covered a lot of it. I can't even begin to name all the places we went or all the food we consumed, but two that I do remember and will never forget are Clark's Oyster Bar and Perry's Steakhouse and Grill. Two places that I for sure would recommend that everyone go to. Perry's especially for the Friday lunch special Pork Chop. It's a half order of their normal smoked pork chop. Sylvia and I split it and still didn't finish it. Best of all it's fabulous, never had a more tender and moist chop. I saw the dinner one and it's 4 ribs thick and about 7 inches high - whew! I wouldn't begin to explain Clark's except to say they had 20 different kinds of oysters and, I don't know, everything's just so good especially if you're up for raw fish.

An added treat was Terry Lin, a friend we worked with in Harrisburg , came in for the evening. We all got together and talked old times, then Terry, Fred, and I went out for drinks and drinks and drinks...another whew!

We're leaving tomorrow morning (Sunday) for the Gulf Coast of Florida, but we'll break up the trip by spending the night in Lafayette, Louisiana.

View from Fred and Mica's condo

Perry's Pork Chop

Day 27 Lubbock, Texas

Today was the first day that the drive got boring, There's a lot of new highway construction in the area and Google Maps doesn't have the updates. Soooo, several lively discussions occurred, and eventually we got to the hotel somehow. We checked in and went for drinks at CuJo's for a few and had a bite to eat. Sylvia had catfish and I had a Chicken Fried Chicken sandwich, both pretty good. CuJo's is owned by Curtis Jordan who use to play safety for the Redskins back in the 80's. Lubbock isn't such a great place, but you have to go through some not so great places to get to the good ones. Tomorrow we're going to Austin for a few days and spend some time with our friends Fred and Mica, a great place.

This trip obviously was not a sight seeing trip; it was a trip to see the country and experience what it really looks and feels like. I have spent time in all four corners of the United States and many impressive places in between, but driving across the country and seeing the transition of the geological features from state to state and day to day has a totally different feel to it. It's incredible, and I was totally in awe of how different every region of this country is. Plus, the people, the cities and towns are amazingly diverse, and I was never able to get a sense of that from my casual visits. It's been an unbelievable experience. This is truly an extraordinary country. I wish I was able to better describe and clarify why this experience of a free and easy drive across the country is so different than just going somewhere and seeing the sights, but maybe later.

Day 26 Albuquerque, New Mexico

It was an easy drive to Albuquerque, turn right leaving the hotel for 2 blocks, turn right on Route 40 for 473 miles, turn right for 1 block and into the hotel. Even though the drive was totally in high plains desert, it was beautiful. The mountains and desert change constantly with completely different views. There was always something to look at, plus we could still average 80 miles an hour.

We had been to Albuquerque before and were not impressed with Old Town then, so naturally we went back again and walked around. Our view of Old Town hasn't changed, it was just something to do. We had dinner at St. Clair Winery & Bistro within walking distance of the hotel. It's pretty big winery that grows all it's own grapes and they're pretty good. The place is very nice and the food is probably better than most other restaurants in town. That's it for today. Tomorrow we go to Lubbock, Texas  because it's on the way to Austin. I don't think there's much to do there either.

Day 25 Kingman, Arizona

Yesterday we drove an uneventful  365 miles from Santa Rosa to Bakersfield on a lousy cloudy and misty day through the San Joaquin Valley which is miles and miles of agriculture, consisting mostly of citrus groves and almond groves (or orchards, or nuttery's, or whatever you call large groups of almond trees). Anyhow, really heavy duty food producers. We settled down in Bakersfield and found a French Basque restaurant just up the street called Benji's. We got there at 5:30 to make sure we could get in, and it's good we did, because when we left just before seven, they were lined up waiting to get in. It was a strange menu, you only really ordered the meat, fish or entree and "The Fixings" came with it. First came a cabbage soup, beans, and hot sauce that you mixed together yourself. It was great, especially the beans. Second, came a green salad, tomato and onions, and marinated beef tongue. The beef tongue was very tender and tasty. Then, finally came the entree with french fries and some excellent green beans. Sylvia's entree was Sole and mine was sweetbreads. Both were outstanding.

Sole and Sweetbreads

Salads and Beef Tongue

Today we drove to Kingman, Arizona exactly 365 miles, the same as yesterday. Although it was a much better drive today than yesterday. The desert was so different than I ever imagined and I was totally mesmerized. We stopped in Kingman because it's a major stop on old Route 66. We drove around downtown a bit before stopping at Canyon 66 Restaurant and Lounge where we watched a NFL playoff game and ended up having diner there. It was a pretty cool place with mostly edible food.

Canyon 66 Restaurant and Lounge

Day 23 Bodega Bay and Santa Rosa

We were off early for what would be a pretty intense 180 mile drive down the northern coast of California.The 22 mile section over the mountains between Leggett and the coast had the most extreme twists and turns that I ever driven.  It's beautiful with Redwoods and all, but it seems as though nobody really wants to drive it. We saw a total of seven automobiles for the entire 22 miles. Then the 120  miles drive down the coast to Bodega Bay is no picnic either. Turnpike Trance is not a possibility on this part of Route 1. It again was spectacular with lots of variety, the northern part is wooden and the southern is more like pastureland, and all very rugged. We completed our 800 mile Pacific Coast trip from the Columbia River to Bodega Bay in four fabulous days. It's well worth doing with spectacular scenery everywhere.

We marked the end of the drive at The Tides Wharf in Bodega Bay. I had a Seafood Chowder that was tasty and would have been better if it actually had seafood. A bust. Sylvia, still a little woozy, had a salad and chicken. Afterwards we started back east by heading over to Santa Rosa. We expected to have a nice dinner there, but I seemed to have caught whatever Sylvia had and crashed as soon as we checked in. We've traveled over 4000 miles so far. I think we'll go to Bakersfield tomorrow and decide then whether to take Route 40 or 10 back towards Austin or San Antonio. That's another 1800 miles.

Day 22 Garberville, California

Sylvia was still feeling a little funky this morning so I went solo for an early morning breakfast.The diner next to the commercial fishing docks seemed like a good idea, and it turned out to be a perfect choice. Fish, eggs, potatoes, and biscuit, what could be better? I had four choices of fish and I picked snapper, I have no idea what a Pacific snapper is, but it was good.

Around 9 we got started south for a relatively short drive to Garberville. And again the radar showed no rain and yet again it rained all day. The drive was interesting because we took a couple of side roads through three National Redwood Forrests. I've never seen a Redwood and I was totally amazed, they're magnificent. It's good they're not in Maryland because the utility company's would cut them down so they wouldn't interfere with their power lines. Anyhow, we got to Garberville in good order and took 20 minutes to walk around the whole town. Like most of the towns we've seen up here in northern California they're old: like from the very early 1900's, pretty much run down, but still cool. One interesting town we drove through was Eureka. The old part of town is gentrified and really worth a visit. I'd like to spend a day there (This is just a reminder to myself, not that I have trouble remembering).

Snapper and Eggs

For dinner there was only two places worth eating, we picked Calico's Cafe. I don't know how to describe it but, Sylvia had Spaghetti Bolognese and I had Tamales, and we drank a local Pinot Noir. There was a guy on the balcony playing the fiddle, he never finished a song, or took a break. There's no way to characterize the place. It was pretty good though.

Day 21 Crescent City, California

Finally made California, only by 20 miles though. It was a pretty good drive, about half near the ocean and half in the mountains. As soon as we got within 30 miles of California it started drizzling and never stopped. It was kind of strange because if you looked at the radar it didn't show up as rain, just clouds. We stopped a lot to take pictures. In some sections it seems as though there's scenic view pull-off's every mile or two. We stopped for lunch in Mattie's in Brookings, Oregon for a quick bite. Small cafe with nice people, excellent choice.

Once we checked in, Sylvia did laundry and I went across the street to where the commercial fishing fleet docked. There were at least 100 crab boats with thousands of crab pots stored in the parking lot. I talked to one of the fishermen and he did say that the weather is always like this, rain and drizzle. Too bad, what a pretty place.

By evening Sylvia wasn't feeling too well (flu we think), so I went searching for something to eat by myself. Things were really slow, but I did see a tiny Mexican cafe with a Negra Modelo sign in the window. It might as well have had my name on it. Perlita's was a perfect stop, small and no gringo's, except me. I had the special, enchilada and a tamale, Modelo too. I took some really good chicken soup back for Sylvia. She still wasn't hungry. Not sure how far we'll get tomorrow.

This is one of my better pictures

Oregon Coast

If you look close or blow it up you can see a guy bending over near the rock.

One of a hundred like it in Crescent City

Typical Crabber

Thousands of Crab Pots

Day 20 Newport, Oregon

Woke up this morning to wind and rain. I thought it would be a wasted day, but by 10 o'clock it cleared up and the sun semi-shined. We found out it's possible to rain here every 15 minutes for 5 minutes all day. Just something to deal with in coastal Oregon. It sure makes it green though. The Oregon Coast Aquarium is here in Newport and was suppose to be well worth a visit. We got there before noon and enjoyed the extensive collection of fish, otters, seals, birds, etc. We almost had the whole aquarium to ourselves.

Afterwards, we drove down to Seal Rocks and took a couple of pictures before going to lunch at the Clearwater Restaurant over by a huge fleet of Dungeness crab fishermen. Naturally we didn't have any crab, instead I had Halibut and Sylvia a Salmon Burger. It was an enjoyable lunch watching the seals grumbling at each other and the boats heading out with their decks overflowing with crab pots.

We skipped dinner and got ready to leave early tomorrow for more coastal driving down to Crescent City, California.

Oregon Coastline

Our Hotel's Hot Tub

Day 19 Newport, Oregon

The drive from Seaside to Newport was only 120 miles but took almost 6 hours, not because of traffic, but because there's so many spectacular places to stop and take pictures. It's a beautiful drive and we mostly stayed on route 101 except for some side roads to checkout anyplace that looked interesting. The only touristy stop we made was the requisite 15 minute tour of the Tillamook Cheese Factory. We bought too much cheese and a cone of really good ice cream. We continued down the coast to Depoe Bay and stopped for some pretty good clam chowder at Gracie's Sea Hag Restaurant. The final stop before Newport was the Yaquina Head Lighthouse for a quick walk around for a few pictures. We checked in at the Inn at Nye Beach in Newport around 3 and were very happy with a nice room on the beach. For once we hadn't eaten too much at lunch and were semi-hungry for dinner and Nana's Irish Pub seemed about right. Sylvia ordered Fried Oysters, and I had a Steak and Guinness Pie with an appropriate beverage of course.

It's been 19 days and we've been a bunch of places and we found ourselves trying to recall where we stayed, what we did, and what we ate when. Thank goodness for this dumb blog, because we've used it several times already to settle what could have easily turned into another lively discussion.

Yaquina Head

Nye Beach or thereabouts

Day 18 Seaside, Oregon

We left Portland around 9 heading for Astoria, but instead of going the direct route, we went over to the Washington side of the Columbia river and up route 5 and across to Astoria via a rural two lane route 4. I think it was a little more interesting, but a little longer too. Anyhow, it was only 135 miles and didn't add much. And, I really wanted to cross the 4 mile Astoria-Megler Bridge to Astoria and see the "Graveyard of the Pacific" the Columbia River Bar where over 2000 ships have sunk trying to cross the Columbia River. We stopped in Astoria and spent an hour in the Columbia River Maritime Museum which absolutely fascinated me with exhibits of life on the mouth of the Columbia River. It was really well done and shouldn't be passed up.

Of course we had to stop for lunch and a refreshment after such a trying museum experience. By luck, we just happened to stumble onto the Fort George Brewery and Public House. Sylvia coerced me into giving it a go, and I have to admit it was very good. I doubt I could have found a much better lunch spot. We had Seafood Chowder (razor clams, Albacore tuna, shrimp, salmon, and bacon), and a side of Fire roasted brussel sprouts with cranberries, hazelnut cheese, lemon etc. And, it came with beer and wine. I'd like to go back tonight because they had a great menu.

It rained the rest of the day so we just drove a short distance to Seaside and checked in at a Holiday Inn Express. It would have been a nice little town to walk around in, but it was raining way too hard. We weren't very hungry so we went to Finn's Fish House for something to do and ordered food anyhow. Sylvia got Salmon fish and chips. Neither of us ever had breaded and fried salmon, but it was good. I had a burger and it hit the spot. Nothing like a burger in a fish house. Tomorrow it's further down the coast.

Astoria, Oregon & Columbia River

Seaside, Oregon

Day 17 Portland, Oregon

Last day in Portland and I started it off right by going to Voodoo Doughnuts. I had to get there before six o'clock because it gets packed. It's an amazing doughnut shop that's open 24 hours and if you don't get there early, the line for their doughnuts goes out the door and down the street. It's not easy deciding what kind to get, they have 50 to select from. I randomly picked a Maple Bacon Bar, a Portland Cream, and a Ain't That a Peach. I want to tell you, they're really great, not too sweet, just perfect. Check them out ( www.voodoodoughnut.com/doughnuts). No wonder they line up.

After that healthy breakfast we met Larry, Linda and Sarah Zeigenfuss for lunch over across the river in Vancouver, Washington. We met at a neat riverside restaurant called Beaches Restaurant and Bar. It was a very pleasant lunch and good conversation. They provided much needed information for the rest of our trip around Oregon. It was really nice seeing them and catching up on things.

Needless to say, we didn't need anymore food so we pretty much skipped eating for the rest of the day, except for a soft pretzel and a few drinks at Red Sky Tavern. It was a good soft pretzel too. And, that's all we did. Tomorrow it's off and up to Astonia, the most northwester town in Oregon,

Day 16 Portland, Oregon

I got up a little early this morning, had breakfast and went out for a long walk about town. Portland's a terrific city and different than most. There's a million pubs, but they're all pretty much the same. I even stopped in an Irish pub and asked for a Guinness and the bartender said, "You won't be able to find any Guinness in Portland, because I've been trying for two years." Irish Pub? I think not.

Portland's an old and classic looking city, I think most of the buildings were built in the early 1900's. They're classy, ornate and well maintained. It's a really nice walking city with blocks and blocks of shops and store fronts to amuse oneself. Although it's a bit uncomfortable at times, because Portland has a huge homeless population; they're all over the place and sometimes create quite a disturbance. The city does admit they have a major problem but nobody bothers to do anything about it. You just deal with it.

The population seems to be very young, energetic, and like doing stuff together.  In restaurants there's always a couple of large groups of young people enjoying themselves. They also dress a little bit different here than they do back east. For instance, I think an Eastern European cab driver and myself were the only men to wear regular shoes. Everyone else wore either sneakers or hiking boots, and not a sole was hiking and hardly anyone running. Tom Mcan Shoes would go out of business in this town...Oh, I guess they are. I forgot, I'm a geezer.

Back to the rest of the day. I met Sylvia around noon and we walked around town  until mid afternoon (as I was getting tired by now). We went in a couple of stores, walked the waterfront and stopped for a late lunch at LeChon, a nice little restaurant specializing in South American food.  We had an appetizer of grilled octopus, chorizo, fried potatoes, salsa verde, and preserved lemon. I ordered the Peruvian roasted chicken, and Sylvia got the Pastel de Chocio, sweet corn, beef, peppers, and aji amarillo? ( It's kind of like a South American shepherds pie). A bottle of wine too. It was a really good lunch and we both would love to go back for dinner.

We didn't do anything else.

Portland Street Food Trucks

Typical Portland Hotel Lobby (Ours)

Day 15 Portland, Oregon

Hooray, we finally made Portland. It was 15 day 3320 mile trip, but we made it in good order. The drive from Boise to Portland was 433 beautiful miles with a little messy snowy stretch around Deadman Pass. The rest was a piece of cake. One of the coolest drives I've ever driven was the 140 mile section from Boardman to Portland on the Columbia River. The road was next to the river for the entire140 miles and went through gorges and past beautiful winter waterfalls. I've scoured the internet to find any picture that does it justice and I couldn't find a thing. We stopped for lunch at the Riverside in the town of Hood River on the Columbia River and arrived in Portland around 3. It was another fantastic drive. We didn't do much after we got there except stop for a bite and a cocktail at the Senate, which isn't worth saying anything more about. We're staying at the Embassy Suites downtown and it's in a 103 year old gorgeous building and our room is huge, perfect ending to a great drive. We'll be in Portland three days.

Columbia River Drive

View from Riverside Restaurant

Day 14 Boise, Idaho

I got up and decided I would again suffer through the free hotel breakfast. I usually hate them, but it's so easy that I do them anyhow. This time I was totally surprised, they had Miso soup and sticky rice with seaweed and all the fixings. I had two bowls. Sylvia wanted to hangout at the hotel this morning, so after breakfast I went for a walk through the park and stopped at the Boise Art Museum. It's not a bad little art museum, very entertaining. Afterwards, I went back to the hotel and Sylvia and I finally got the Basque lunch we wanted at Bar Gernika, It's a little local bar that seats 30 at most. Sylvia had a Solomo sandwich (marinated pork and pimientos), and I had a Lamb Dip, just like a French Dip only with thinly sliced roast lamb. We both had Croquetas, which are made from butter, chicken, milk, flour, and onion. Fabulous! We walked around a bit afterward because we were too stuffed to sit down anywhere. I couldn't possibly have dinner...could I?

Yep, more food. We read a very good review of a restaurant up the street called Juniper. The menu looked pretty good and it had some items that weren't so heavy. So off we went. If I wasn't so stuffed I would have loved to get the Pork Cheeks and Gnocchi's. Instead I got the Spicy Pork Ramen which had Duck Confit, poached egg, mushrooms, etc. It was good, but it wasn't the Pork Cheeks and Gnocchi. Sylvia had a Roasted Cauliflower, Grilled Kale and Fried Egg Salad with crispy prosciutto and fried capers. She loved it and wants me to make it. It looks too hard.

Juniper Dinner

Boise's a great not so little residential city with about an 8 block by 8 block really nice dining and shopping district. There's at least 30 to 40 restaurants I'd like to try. There's the Boise River that runs through it and a 25 mile bike path that runs next to the river. I understand why so many young people are moving here. It's a wonderful up and coming city.

Tomorrow it's off to Portland, Oregon.