Displaced Beachbums

As much as we enjoyed our visit to Oriental, North Carolina and the quaintness of the town, I was very disappointed in the restaurants. We went to lunch down by the waterfront twice while we were there and both restaurants were disappointments. The Oriental Harbor Deli is situated at the waterfront with a nice views of the sailboats in the harbor. Unfortunately, the food was horrendous. My mom’s salad had wilted lettuce, it was obviously from the bag. FG’s mac and cheese was directly from the Krafts Mac and Cheese box and FG ordered a chocolate mousse cake which was tasteless. When the server put the plate with the cake down she said “Sorry it looks messy but I had trouble getting it out of the box.”  Who needs a cook when everything they served came from a box, bag or bottle!

Another day, we went to M & M’s retaurant which is just around the corner from the Deli. I had high hopes for a yummy lunch since I’d had lunch there a few years ago on a previous visit. I ordered the same Grilled Portobello Sandwich and a coke. Unfotunately, the portobello tasted a little “old” and there was something seriously wrong with the taste of the coke. At first, I thought it was too much “soda” in the fountain but it then seemed like a soapy taste. Yuck. I asked for another but it was just the same…

The third place we went to was the International House of Pancakes in New Bern. My mouth was watering for a wonderful order of German Pancakes ~ it’s the only thing I order when I go there. I never got a chance to taste the pancakes though. It took 5 minutes to be seated, not because it was busy but because NO ONE was at the hostess station. After being seated, we waited 15 minutes and no one ever came by to take our order. It was bizarre because there seemed to be a adequate number of staff but they were orbiting in all different directions. The final straw came when I got a peek into the kitchen and saw someone dressed like the manager (suit and tie) COOKING! Never a good sign. With that, we were out the door and heading back to the house.

If you find a good place in Oriental, let me know.

With Grandma Betty

After driving so much on our cross-country roadtrip and feeling road fatigue, I almost put my visit to the North Carolina coast on hold. BUT FG was so excited to see Grandma Betty (GB) and vice-versa that who was I to stand in the way 🙂 What’s another 12-14 hours in the car? We had a wonderful 6 days enjoying the little “sailing” town of Oriental and, mostly, spending time with GB. FG and I decided to play “Mission:Organization” and help GB get her kitchen in order. She’s accumulated a lot over the years; some of which was no longer needed. We ended up with three boxes being donated to Goodwill and more than a few bags of trash. After being away from my own home for a month and a half, it was fun to be somewhere long enough to help organize and cook.

Speaking of cooking, when I’m in my own home, I like to cook one or two recipes a week from the Vegetarian Times magazine so I cooked a couple meals while in NC. YUMMY! Mom invited a few friends over to help us eat all the food and it’s so nice when “meateaters” are open to exploring other foods. I like to dispel the image of vegetarian meals being boring and tasteless. Everyone seemed to enjoy the food and all the flavors.

One BIG disappointment was we didn’t make it to see KBG and our old stomping grounds when we lived in the Ft. Bragg area 10 years ago. Sorry, K !! To pull off that visit would have required I leave my mom’s one day early and she was having no talk of that. Well, I could have gone but there was no way she’d let FG leave one minute early 🙂

It was a sad goodbye but, now that we’re so much closer, we’ll see GB much more often. Of course, she has first dibs on the holidays and will no doubt be with us for Christmas and New Years ~ enjoying all winter has to offer at Ft. Drum.

It was an easy seven hour drive to Atlanta and we drove straight to Dave’s place so we could see Sport and Maya:

Needless to say, the dogs are more than happy to be temporarily residing at Dave’s Pet Resort which includes lots of walks, rides in the car and nap time on the couch. I can honestly think of no one else who would have taken better care of them.  He really should go into the “dog business” of some sort or another.

I got in early enough to pick up our 2nd vehicle which was shipped from Guam. What a difference from our experience in Long Beach ~ literally, I was driving away within 20 minutes of getting to the pick up facility.

Dave had tickets for us to see “Dreamgirls”, with Jennifer Holliday, at the historic Fox Theater in downtown Atlanta. It was a fabulous show and since I knew it was going to be a late night, I booked a room for FG and I at the Hotel Indigo which is directly across from the theater. What a fun place ~ they are VERY pet-friendly. Even if you don’t have a pet, I would highly recommend it.

Funny incident: Dave was waiting for us in the lobby and when we came down from our room, he was giving me the “look who’s over there” nod. I thought there was a celebrity in the lobby but it was even better! It was someone we both worked with at the Swissotel many years ago, Rick ~ I hadn’t seen him since I left in 1993. Super nice guy and it must have been fate to run into him.

On Friday, I drove “outside the perimeter” to visit with another good friend whom I now refer to as ‘Atlanta Heidi’ ~ we’ve been friends since the early nineties when we were both young, single working women at the Swissotel.  She, too, is now married and has a beautiful little boy who took a liking to FG. The feelings were mutual on FG’s part. We stayed two nights with Heidi but I did spend Saturday back in the city with Dave as our “going down memory lane” tour guide. We drove to the two houses I lived in while I was there. FG was a bit bored with the whole thing but I loved it. Atlanta was a really fun place to live and I enjoyed revisting my old haunts. We went to lunch at Surin’s ~ if you find yourself in Atlanta, this is the best Thai place. I was a little afraid to go because I had such fond memories of it from 12 years ago but I’m glad I did because it was just as delicious as ever.

People are very friendly in Atlanta and strangers will strike up a conversation anywhere/anytime. Heidi and her family took us to dinner and then to Dairy Queen for an ice cream. As we were sitting outside enjoying the pleasant summer evening, a couple with a miniature schnauzer puppy started talking with Heidi’s husband. I was half listening to the conversation until I heard something about feeding the dog grapes. Yikes…grapes and raisins are thought to be toxic for dogs along with onions and macadamia nuts. The dog’s owner mentioned it must have been “fate” that they were there that night so I could warn them about the grapes.  Maybe…  

The ride to my mom’s house from Atlanta was going to be another long one so we left by 6:45 a.m. and a mere 10 hours later, and only one detour due to a horrible accident on I95 which closed traffic completely, we rolled into the beautiful coastal town of Oriental.

We said goodbye to FM and made our way towards Memphis. Even though my sister really lives in Mississippi, I still think of it as going “back to Memphis” for a visit. It was a LONG drive from Kansas City but FG was a great navigator and read me the mapquest directions so we didn’t make any wrong turns. It was so nice to finally arrive and be out of the car. 

FG especially loved seeing all the dogs at my sister’s house ~ she has four including two new puppies who are just 7 and 9 weeks old. Personally, my favorite is her golden retriever who has a heart of gold. Here’s FG with her favorite: 

and more dogs…

It was so fun to be at Jo’s and enjoy doing a whole lot of nothing for a couple days. So much so that I extended our two day visit to three days 🙂 That’s the joy of having a car and being able to make your own schedule. Next stop: HOTLANTA!

We’ve spent the last week in Kansas and had the opportunity to meet up with friends from Germany and also friends from 12 years ago when we lived at Ft. Riley, which is the first duty station FM and I lived once we got married. Surprisingly, a lot has remained the same in both Manhattan and Ft. Riley. Manhattan is a fun college town with lots of good restaurants. FM couldn’t wait to get back to the Hibachi Hut for some yummy gumbo and corn bread. Ft. Riley is such a beautiful post ~ don’t let anyone scare you away if you get orders for there.

The reason I was here in Kansas was to attend a class with FM. Funny how these Lieutenant Colonels and Command Sergeants Major are so young-looking these days 🙂 The Army must be promoting them earlier than they used to because I remember thinking how OLD FM’s commander was when he was a Captain. 😉  What do they say? 50 is the new 30?!

I almost didn’t attend the week-long course, not because I didn’t want to, but because of the time constraints with the move, traveling, etc. Thank goodness I did because the classes were SO interesting, professional and pertinent. I learned a lot this past week and met some new friends who are also going to NY.

Now that the class is done, FG and I will continue on the long, round-a-bout journey through the south and on to NY while FM continues his studies here in Kansas. FG and I are looking forward to seeing Sport and Maya even though they may not want to leave Dave’s Pet Resort. I have a feeling the attention they’re getting there is at a much higher level than they’re used to…

Enjoying the view in Utah

We drove from Eastern Nevada all the way past Denver in one day ~ it took 12 hours and FG was SO good up to about 11.5 hours. I was impressed and a little shocked as to how well she tolerated the long drive.

Even though we had a long way to drive, we did take time to stop and enjoy the view. It’d been at least 10 years since I’d been to the Wild West and really enjoyed the drive through Utah and Western Colorado. So gorgeous. I’ve got to get back soon so we can take the scenic route through those areas.

It was very hot until we got into Colorado. We went from 120 to 58 degrees in a matter of hours.

The second half of the trip was Denver to Kansas City ~ another long day but at least we arrived during daylight hours. Thankfully, we’ll be out of the car for a whole week 😉 Then FG and I are on the road again…

Running on the Golf Course

We were so excited to get our car and be on our way out of Long Beach. We drove past Las Vegas and stopped in Eastern Nevada to visit with good friends. Unfortunately, what we thought was going to be a relaxing 2-3 day visit turned into a less than 12 hour stay because of the Customs Broker ~ can you tell I’m still bitter about her?

The drive through California and Nevada was crazy HOT ~ it was 122 degrees as we drove past Death Valley. I don’t know how those folks in NTC handle it. I guess they stay inside during the heat of the day.

When we got to our friend’s house, which is beautifully situated on a stunning golf course, FG started running along the fairway which was by the house we were staying at ~ she was so happy to be out of the car.

We made the most of our time visiting though and it was a thrill for me to see them after a five year lapse. Now that I’m back in the states, I hope to see them more often. They are so fun to be around!

We’re in Long Beach, California to pick up our vehicle which we shipped from Guam. The ship arrived on Sunday, the car was off-loaded on Monday but, because we were required to use a Customs Broker who turned out to be the most inept and unconcerned person I’ve met in a long time, we’re still here 5 days later (Thursday afternoon). She made an error on the forms which caused us to be here over the holiday and then we found out the dock workers are off today due to some dock workers holiday.

Fortunately for the customs broker, FM is keeping me away from her until we actually get the car because I’m more than ready to let her know just how I feel about the entire situation. The ironic thing is how some people talk/complain about things not getting done on a timely basis in the islands but this goes to show it can happen ANYWHERE.

The original plan was to pick up the car on 3 July at the latest and we would start a leisurely drive to Kansas stopping in to visit friends along the way. Now, if we don’t get the car tomorrow, FG and I will be driving and FM will fly since he HAS to be there on Sunday.

Other than the time and expense of hanging out here, there are a lot worse places we could be stuck in. Long Beach has lots of attractions and we’ve enjoyed a few:

Disneyland is only 30 minutes away so we went there for a day. FG loved hearing everything in English and she’s pretty pleased that she’s been to two Disneylands in one year, Tokyo and California.

Also in Long Beach is an Aquarium and the Queen Mary ship. We went on the Ghosts and Legends tour which really scared FG. At one point, she about ran screaming from the tour. Other times she just clung to FM. The ship itself is very interesting and has a long history beginning back in 1936 until it was “parked” at Long Beach in 1967. It also serves as a hotel with over 300 rooms. Don’t think we’ll ever get FG to stay there 🙂

Since it was the 4th of July, the ship was very festive and there was even a wedding going on. We didn’t stay for the fireworks though ~ way too many people and we were too tired.

The aquarium was fun especially the “pet the sharks and manta ray” section as well as the sea lions and sea otters. Those sea otters couldn’t get any cuter if they tried. They always put a smile on my face.

There was a whole exhibit dedicated to “Palau” which we really enjoyed going down memory lane especially seeing all the fish we saw “in the wild” during our snorkeling there.

FG loves all the spanish speakers here since she wants to learn spanish. We even have the car radio tuned to the spanish music station for her which is fine with me since I can still understand a lot of what is said in spanish.

One interesting observation FG has said a couple times is how rude she thinks the Americans in California are ~ oh, my…wait til she gets to NY 🙂

Hopefully my next blog will be from somewhere PAST Las Vegas!