Random Bits

The last few days have been not quite a haze of jet lag, but I certainly know I've hopped time zones.

Germany was fantastic - I hope we go back!  I got to see the Victory Column (totally near the hotel - we were on that end of the Tiergarten) along with random men-killing-things statues (they used to hunt wild boar on the lands of the Tiergarten, so it really isn't a surprise). And the Deutches Technikmuseum (social event for the win with train cars!) and the Checkpoint Charlie museum - right at Checkpoint Charlie - the guardhouse is still there with taxis and buses whizzing by it.

Lots of things I didn't get a chance to see - like the Brandenburg Gates - they were on the opposite end of the Tiergarten from where we were and I just didn't have that much free time to try to go see them.  I went to the Checkpoint Charlie museum instead.

I am gearing up to go on vacation - which is my next big ADVENTUR!  Hopefully a ton of relaxation and driving around the area dorking about small history bits with friends.  Low key.  And maybe there will be enough breezes to fly a kite or two.

I find as I get older I care less and less about what "people" think.  Introvert that I am people wear me out, but it used to be paired with social anxiety where I would push to do something even knowing I would maybe have a good time doing it, but would pay for it later with exhaustion because people tend to suck my energy dry (except for when I am on stage, where, oddly, the exchange works the other way).  I have less anxiety about saying no.  Maybe it is age.

And still recovering! Vacation this year was the western shore of Chesapeake Bay in a beach house in Maryland. It is so awesome to get together with good friends and not have to worry about personality conflicts.

We are also way way WAY interested in history - so our day trips in the area are focused on things like state and national parks, historical sites, lighthouse tours and museums. My mother teased me about our "wild ways." I supposed five thirty and forty-something women don't usually do this sort of "lets go somewhere and take in as much history as we can" kind of vacation. We got asked if we were all teachers! None of us are - KM is the closest as she is employed by a school - just not as a traditional teacher.

Some highlights of what can be found in southern Maryland include (when asked, ALWAYS WATCH THE VIDEO!):

The Belair Mansion, and Belair Stables (both take donations but do not cost $ to tour). Belair had been a working plantation, and the Stables had produced many many many fine thoroughbred horses. Two which won the triple crown - Gallant Fox in 1930, and Gallant Fox's son Omaha in 1935 (the only father-son triple crown winners ever).

The Thomas Stone House National Historic Site (no fee, donations only). Manned by the National Park Service, this house was built in 1740 by Thomas Stone for his family. It was also a working plantation. Thomas Stone was the youngest signer of the Declaration of Independence - he was a moderate, wanting peace with England, but when push came to shove believed in breaking with England rather than surrender rights. He was not as much a hot-head radical as some of them, so he is a lesser known signer.

The Dr. Samuel Mudd House (tour costs $ - not a lot, but some). The docent and docent-in-training that conducted our tour were personable (Dr. Mudd was the doctor John Wilkes Booth went to when he broke his leg after assassinating President Lincoln - Dr. Mudd was tried and jailed for being part of the conspiracy, although evidence leans toward him not being quite that black-hearted. Not a choirboy, but not a killer, either). The house was interesting to see, and they had a lot of the ACTUALFAX stuff from the Mudd family - and quite a number of pretty wooden furniture pieces Dr. Mudd made in prison. Dr. Mudd spent nearly four years in prison before he was pardoned, and he came home and he and his wife had five more children (to join the four they already had).

Calvert Marine Museum and the Drum Point Lighthouse.

Cove Point Lighthouse.

Piney Point Lighthouse.

...Not very many Dairy Queens :(

It was awesome, and low-key. We beach combed, watched the sunrise and the blue heron fish. We puzzled - and completed three the week we were there. No kite flying - sadly the winds were not with us. We watched ships go by. We ate delicious food (possibly way too much food, but hey - it was vacation!)

It was exactly what a vacation is supposed to be... It was restful and lovely and I could have used another week! ♥

Spent a lovely weekend in NYC with friends. Wandering the city all decked out for the holidays was fun - if crowded.

Mostly dorked out with multitudes of stories and conversation. Hopefully, we'll be able to get together again soon! Perhaps April...

( A couple of pictures from our travels around the city together: )

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

So, Hurricane Earl is still bearing down. I expect we'll see some rain, but not much else. We're too far inland to get much more than a glancing blow.

Very glad I was on vacation at the Delaware Beach LAST week, and not this week. And I have a ton of things to say about vacation, travel, and life in general, but I don't really know where to start. Perhaps with the fact I put 1270 miles on my car in my Adventuring - and it was totally awesome!

The beach house we rented was almost smack dab in the middle of the Delaware coastline. Just north of Rohoboth Beach. And about fifty yards from the water. We spent most of the time while IN the house in the three-season porch, which had a picnic table, two Adirondack chairs, a small occasional table, and three other chairs. We moved in another cushy chair, the kitchen table, three kitchen chairs, and a floor lamp - completely rearranging the space so we had a table to do puzzles on right in front of the wall of windows.

We spent a number of hours out on the beach flying kites (both the ones drvsilla and I brought with us, and two others we purchased at a beach shop), picking up shells and ocean-washed pebbles, taking pictures, and generally goofing off. We also went exploring in Delaware. Not a heck of a lot there but agriculture and beaches. But we did tour Nemours Mansion and Gardens which was the home Alfred du Pont built for his second wife in 1910. It was well worth the $17 each price tag - they really showed a LOT of the house and grounds in the three hours we were there - although I could have used about another half hour wandering the grounds - they are not used to folks who really want to wander as freely and see as much as us.

We played an EPIC game of trivial pursuit - although the original is quite dated now - lots of the answers are now incorrect or OBE (overtaken by events, or obsolete by events) - especially history and geography. But we had fun. And by the end, we all had either all six wedges, or were one short, so we were pretty well matched as well (purestoneworker won!).

We had picnic lunches and home-made dinners, and watched sunrises and sunsets. Saw a double rainbow (what does it MEAN?), and a surprise giant Indian Head in Bethany Beach.

So. Summer vacation over. I am currently looking to get my tickets to Beijing for work. Hopefully I'll have my LOI soon so I can get my travel visa. Which I think I have to send away for (PITA!). Never a dull moment!

I leave in the morning. And except for a twenty-four hour period between July 19 and 20th I won't be back until August 1st. July 31st? It'll be August 1st in the time zone I'll be used to. So call it August 1st.

So, while I will have Internet access for almost the whole of the time I will be gone, I will be concentrating on other things.

I'm tired already.

Tuesday we were up and out fairly early, and tried to find a specific scenic overlook - which we eventually found, but the "overlook" wasn't anything spectacular. We had plenty of time, so we parked at the Cliff Walk instead, and walked out the first mile and back in the hot hot hot sun. Suitably sweaty, we proceeded into Newport to Bowen's Wharf to our sailing boat tour on the Adirondack II. The Adirondack II is an 80-foot schooner, and she was lower to the waves than I expected, but she gives a very gentle sail.

We took the Mimosa Sail and it was an hour and a half out on the bay. I was really glad to come back in off the water, because even with my sunglasses, the glare was starting to hurt my eyes. But we saw many things, although the more interesting things pointed out by our captain were things in the harbor - Athena, the largest sailing yacht owned privately (also the most expensive at a cool $200 million). You can charter it for a mere $500,000 per week. There was a boat that won the America's Cup with a titanium mast. There was a very pretty sailing ship called the tree of life (according to Captain Chris, the ship is owned by a husband and wife, the wife was diagnosed with cancer and they bought the boat to take their world-round trip they'd been dreaming about. Long story short, she no longer has cancer).

Back in Newport, we got back into the car and drove north to Green Animals, the last of the Newport Preservation Properties we were going to tour (we'd bought the five house package). A quick lunch in the shade of the 130 year old copper beach tree, and we proceeded onto the grounds. Green Animals is a topiary garden, and other than the fact it was hotter than the face of the sun, it was enjoyable to wander the grounds to identify the various topiary animals. I liked the elephant the best, I think. It was being shaved as we wandered, and it was interesting to see the guys working to "trim" and clean up the privet and boxwood.

After we rested on the wide, deeply shaded porch, gazing out over Narragansett Bay, we decided to see if we could find the butterfly farm - which we did. It was very hot inside the structure, but the butterflies were so worth the effort! They had a huge number of amazing species of butterflies - some brilliantly colored, and some that fade into the background. All were fascinating, even the one drunk fellow who didn't want to leave one of our party alone.

Then, we wound our way to Little Compton to find the oldest general store in the country called Gray's Store. We came upon it rather suddenly - but we wandered inside and drvsilla found a MOXIE - which seems to be a carbonated beverage from her childhood (smelled like root beer candy, and tasted sweeter, but similar to root beer). Fortified, we set off to see if we could find the grave marker monument of Elizabeth Alden Pabodie, considered the first white girl born in New England to John Alden and Priscilla Mullin, both who came to America on the Mayflower. We spent some time wandering the graveyard wondering at the folks who lived in the area during the 17 and 18 hundreds. Lots of Pardons, Rebekahs, Lizzies, and even one Wanton.

Wednesday we had a leisurely start to the day, getting on the road by about 8:30. Our first stop was to be the Museum of Rhode Island History at the Aldrich House, but that was a bust, as the house is the headquarters of the Historical Society of Providence, and only administrative offices were housed there.

Denied that we tried to find the Culinary Arts Archive and Museum - which after some circling and the questioning of a helpful person, we eventually found! We spent a good amount of time there, wandering the hall. I loved the stoves - large and small cast iron to white enamel. The vast array of cooking implements on display were dizzying - I wish the tools for cooking over an open fire had some explanation to what they were actually used for. Other favorite items were the mustache cups - coffee cups that have a guard so the mustache of the drinker of the coffee does not soak his mustache in his beverage - the exhibit of industrial size pasta makers, and the fruit crate art exhibit. Also appreciated were the two cooking-inspired Mr Potato Heads that flank the front doors ("Baking Potato" on the left as you entered, "Italian Chef" on the right).

Then we went off to find the Roger Williams Park Botanical Center - which was deceptively difficult to get to. But we persevered, and with a little circling, we made it. A nominal fee, and we were in! Lots of tropical and subtropical plants. They had all the doors and windows wide open, and it was likely because the humidity was so high, the plants could use the fresh air. Also inside was a container "bog" filled with carnivorous plants - itty bitty venus fly traps, pretty, but sinister pitcher plants, and sticky fly-paper traps. Fascinating! We walked the labyrinth of a rose garden, and wandered about before deciding it was time for lunch.

Lunch in the Roger Williams Park near the Temple of Music underneath a great ginkgo tree that seem to have had a healthy appetite for kites (it had at least five in it's upper branches). A local skunk wandered close to our picnicking spot, but must have been on a mission, because it did not tarry and was quickly gone.

One more try for the Historical Preservation Society of Providence - we stopped by their main offices to pick up a guide to the Benefit Street Mile of History - which we toured ourselves, and saw a whole lot of houses built in the early 1800s. Also passed by quite a bit of RISD, as well as either a pack of prospective students, or a herd of new freshmen. On the way back down into the city, we stopped to see the Roger Williams monument from the back (he is in a really silly pose - kinda looks like he is vogue-ing) in the upper bit to Prospect Terrace.

Then down to Waterplace Park, and the General Ambrose Burnside Statue - neither of which we really spent a whole lot of time, as we were tired, and more interested in going home.

Overcast and rainy tonight, but we still had dinner on the deck - the rain didn't begin 'til we were well and truly finished. It is quite a bit windier than it has been, and we watched another tanker (car transporter we *think* but it is dark, and overcast, so who knows what it actually was) going out to sea. Plus a couple of ocean kayakers went by one way, and then came back. Rhode Islanders seem to take their leisure time seriously, as most attractions have weird hours (11am-3pm, not open Wednesdays, Fridays or Sundays). We've gotten the odd "how did you hear about us?" question, usually paired with a look of surprise or shock. We are all of us geeks - and we love the strange and ridiculous. I mean, we spent an hour reading headstones in an old cemetery yesterday afternoon, and we actually sought out the oldest continuously operating general store - we drove by the oldest continually operating tavern *twice* - once purely by accident! The tavern was constructed in 1652 as a home, and has been operating as a tavern since 1673.

Tomorrow we'll be looking at villages and parks. Possibly a covered bridge. Big plans!

Home from Orlando. The weekend had a bit of multiple personality going on - And we stuffed a hell of a lot into three days. Friday afternoon was lunch at the Royal Pacific Universal property. Then gwendolyngrace, jennclack, and I wandered the property to do a little preliminary space planning for Infinitus. There is a lovely outdoor area where the hotel does Luaus and it can be a great little party spot for the event.

Afterwords, we took the water taxi to CityWalk and wandered around and did a little shopping. I got a lovely sun hat in a pretty blue. Then we took the water taxi to the Portofino - the other hotel property we have a big block of rooms at. The Portofino is a lovely property - nicer, I think than the Royal Pacific. It was definitely Venice inspired, and has a lot of that old world charm, with courtyards, plazas, and terraces throughout the property. Really nice.

Then we took the water taxi back to the Royal Pacific (about twenty minutes - but we had to change taxis at CityWalk), where we left jennclack and took a taxi to our hotel where we registered for the event that brought us to Orlando.

That evening Gwen went out and I stayed in. It was a long day of travel for me, and I wasn't feeling particularly well. So I watched the debate with one of my roommates and another con attendee. They didn't last through the whole thing, and we talked through a lot of it. But I guess I got a little angry at the TV. Hopefully I didn't freak out the friend-of-roommate too too much. Why I generally don't watch anything political with anyone else in the room. I stress out, and I hate feeling stressed out.

I got to bed around 11. My roommates (we had two adjoining rooms, so there were six of us all together) trickled in between midnight and two am. Saturday, we were up and out early. heidi8 drove Gwen and I back to the Royal Pacific so we could have breakfast with jennclack, keytothecage, and sap_78. Then we went back to the event in time for the first Q and A session.

We snuck out of the last Q and A session of the afternoon because we had VIP passes to the client party at Universal Studios and "RIP Tour" for their Halloween happenings opening weekend. The party was a lot of fun, our sales rep is fantastic, and our tour group was the most fun (two different Universal folks defected from their tour groups to play with us, because we're so damn awesome). We were fast tracked through the events of the evening, so we wandered through three haunted houses, and the Bill and Ted stage show (this year's show? Bill and Ted Meet Hellboy). The Bill and Ted show was a mixed bag of pop culture references. Some of it was funner than other bits of it. The haunted houses were a hell of a lot of fun. keytothecage only lasted through one, but I am so proud of her for doing that one! We knew way ahead of time that haunted houses freak her right out, and she made it through a couple of rooms before tucking herself between me and Gwen and focusing on my back and nothing else.

I *loved* the theatrics of the haunted houses, and I am sure the wide-eyed excitement and compliments were not quite what the monster actors were going for. I didn't scream or shy away from any of them. I think the Zombie house was my favorite, closely followed by the Hallows. I thought the pack of traveling Prison Zombies were hysterical. And then we veered away from the tour group because we were all a little on overload. They tried to get back-doored onto the Mummy ride, but it was down due to technical difficulties, so instead we wandered down some of the streets and saw the flying monkeys - right near the wicked witch of the west's tower.

Sunday was up for some photo ops (Gwen and I got one only because heidi8 couldn't use one of hers), and more Q and As. Last night was mostly relaxing with new friends. The travel home today was uneventful, and I napped most of the afternoon to make up for very little sleep the last three days.

The con was... well, for me, kinda disappointing. I am used to a lot of things going on all the time. I am used to having to pick and choose carefully what you go see and do. I am used to lots and lots of people doing lots of different things all at the same time. I am used to way more bustle and less standing around waiting for an event to begin. So while it was an interesting experience, and I loved my roommates (wow, so damn fun!), I don't think I'll go to an event following this model again.

But I met some really cool people. And had some fun at Universal Studios. And saw some really good friends. So I count the weekend a great big win.

I'm hangin' out the virtual "gone fishin'" sign. Tomorrow morning I am headed to the wilds of Maine for a whole week. I will (likely) not be online again until late August 23. There will be hiking, and a whale watch, and wild blueberries. I can't wait!

Catch you all when I get back!!!