MYRTLE BEACH, SOUTH CAROLINA

Underneath the peir in South Carolina..................very cool.



We set out on a walk today at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina...I have never been on a peir as they are in the east. But we found one today.
Check out the beach behind me...it must go on for miles and miles..............great exercise too
The locals find it a little cold though...it really wasn't. About 60 degrees or more.
Also, look closely to see the fish on the end of the line....lol

We ran into some fishermen who had a good haul....they call them "whities" I am not sure what type of fish they are but they are not very big....
There was three fella's at work. One of them was from Greece....just here visiting and fishing with his family

MY BOARDWALK WALK

Virginia Beach has a boardwalk that runs for 44 blocks. Just over 3 miles.....

And since my clothes are still tight I figured that I should get some extra exercise.

I headed out from 30th ave and round trip was 4 miles....

KING NEPTUNE

The beach is home to many hotels all facing the ocean. Very long beautiful sandy beaches with lots of restaurant ranging from Dairy Queen to high end eateries....

In between the hotels (where the streets would have run to the ocean) it is blocked off and there are a few creatures I thought I would share with you

For my friend, Sue

A happy tourtoise...(I thought little Mary Bronson would like him)

Some dancing fish

And some colorfull ones

Some one is feeling "crabby" lol

And then I found some fishermen...spotted bass are in right now

The old life gaurd station

Or, you could ride a horse on the beach if you wanted ...he was playing. Trying to get him to jump the sand dune

Or, catch a wave....lots of surfers here

And, at the end of the walk, a beautiful hotel with a great patio to sit and enjoy a nice drink by the outdoor fire. All while enjoying the sound of the Atlantic ocean

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 23,07

So, we had a cold but beautiful day today and decided to head out to view some of the local attratctions........besides the beach of course

At Fort Henry (a operating military compound)

A lighthouse built in 1792

The view from the original lighthouse looking out at the second lighthouse.....

If you look down and to the left you will see the existing "lighthouse" All done by satelite now...

A cross erected as a monument to the landing of the first settlers . Just over 400 years ago.... April 1607 they landed here to find a new world.

THE FIRST SIGNS OF CHRISTMAS

A festival of lights along the boardwalk in Virginia Beach.....$10.00 a carload and they give you a CD of Christmas music to enjoy on your drive

A pirate ship

ROCK LOBSTERS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TURKEY DAY IN THE USA

So, I have a new recipe that I tried out yesterday.....



It is now my new signature dish.



If you don't want to roast a whole turkey for thanksgiving or if you just love the flavor of turkey and would like to cook it more often, this is a great way to get it.



Take only the breast of the turkey without the bone. Season it with your favorite stuff. I used fresh rosemary, sage and thyme and put it under the skin.

You could use cajun spice or gramma's secret spice.



Heat a large shallow roaster on the stove and place the turkey, skin side down, in the roaster to brown the skin a bit.



Then, onto the bbq( you cook use the oven I guess 400 degrees). But the trick is that you have to take a brick, yes a brick, (wrapped in tinfoil of course) and put it on top of the turkey breast.



Let me tell you, that baby is cooked in about a hour and the skin is sooooooooooo crispy and the turkey is soooooo juicy.



So, that my friends, is the cooking lesson for the day.....LOL



It has gotten a little chilly here today. Yesterday and the day before was about 80....so pretty



So, I think it is a day to bundle up and go walk the boardwalk by the ocean......

NOVEMBER 19,07

AN ATTEMPT AT THE SKYLINE DRIVE..............



So, we leave Maryland and head out on route 66 west. (I know we are heading in the wrong direction LOL)



First off we run into construction and spend about 1 hour waiting....no problem though. Just getting more excited to see the Shenandoah Valley from the perfect perch atop of the mountain range.....



We head south again towards the Skyline Drive and the Shenandoah National Park.



Mr Forest Ranger was not the most excited guy to talk to...but we found out it will take us about 3 hours to navigate our way through the 109 miles of glorious vistas overlooking the blankets of color (fall colors and all that) throughout the valley.



As we head up the Skyline Drive...it gets foggy.



And foggier....



And foggier.



We couldn't even see 10 feet in front of us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Well, what are you going to do? Laugh, and take the first exit out of the park.



So, we headed south east again (the right direction now) and hook up with I-95 South to Virginia Beach, Virginia.



We find our nice little RV park (900 sites, 4 pools, restuarant ect) and decide to chill here for a week.



No need to travel on the busiest day of the year in the USA....Thanksgiving



So, sorry but the beautiful pic's I thought I would have to show you are just a wall of FOG





LOL



Happy Thanksgiving to everyone

NOVEMBER 14-18,07 WASHINGTON DC

Wow, we have left Philidelphia area and have headed into Maryland, just outside of Washington, DC

Washington, Maryland, Virginia are all very close to each other...(I could get into a long history lesson BUT nooooo)

Daniels sister and niece and families live in Burke, VA and we have spent about a week with them here.

We got to enjoy some lovely meals, some good laughs, and spend some time visiting with them all.

Very cool folks.....

We also had a treat on friday the 16th when Michelle (DR's neice) and her husband treated us to a Lebanese dinner in Georgetown, DC.

I LOVE the way that you all sit down and enjoy family style dining. Tabuli, fatush, fresh lebanese stlye "carpacio" as well as fresh, baked in ovens, flat style bread.... other delicacies that I can't pronounce or spell LOL

Also, a feast of grilled meat including lamb, filet of beef, and chicken.....

So good. Thank you again Michelle and Mark....we really enjoyed it

We also spent a few hours around Eileen's (Daniel's sister) table. With great home cooked meals and lots of laughs....Thank you too

Sunday, the 18th we ventured downtown Washington.

Again, a city so full of history. They have the Smithsonion museums there as well as The Mint, The Capitol, Library of Congress, Vietnam and WWII war memorials, Lincoln Memorial, White House ect ect ect.

Here are some pics

The Capitol

The Washington Monument

Lincoln Memorial

Vietnam Veterans Memorial....very moving

Korean War Memorial

"Freedom is not free"

Carved soldiers of war

And, after a cup of coffee with "George" at the White House (lol) I found a new freind on the street...........

A DC cop on horseback....

The horse loves mints.....

Funnnnnnnnn

We are off to the Skyline drive tomorow....

More later

NOVEMBER 12,07 PHILADELPHIA

So we left the family in Enfield yesterday and skirted around New York City.....man there are alot of highways, biways, streets, roads, avenues, blvd's and lanes around THAT city....

No problems though

We decided to chill a bit just outside of Philadelphia. But I had to make the journey into the city. I have never been there before so off I went.

It is a wonderfull city for tourist. A large tourist bureau is located downtown in the midst of all the historical sites.

So, I headed there and found alot of great history and of course, (Jessica) food. LOL

There was the Libery Bell...in the background
Independence Hall

Independence Hall ...............

A beautiful garden in the style of the late 1700's

Very cool, right downtown Philadelphia

I thought of you Sue D.

Here is the back of the Towne Tavern where the Declaration of Independance was discussed over some Wassail, Shrub or a good ole fashioned Ale.

Notice the small red building in the front...this was used as a gaurd post.

This alley was soooooo coooool

WOW!!!!!!!

Betsy Ross's House...

Ben Franklins Grave..............

And then for some lunch at the originator of the Philly CheeseSteak sandwich.....

You have to order wit or witout onions, mushrooms or cheese (provolone or yes cheese whiz)

You have to have your $ ready....do all your borrowing or bumming in line...lo

Very good.....Very fattening......oh well, holidays

So, I blasted into Deleware to go to the HD shop and found a little treat. They had a museum of sorts for this guy who was very cool.

He has served in 4 nations in the wars, is the only man to ride a Harley Davidson AROUND the world. Yes, around the world, and he is a double amputee...

Nothing is impossible....nothing

NOVEMBER 10,07 cont.

Check out this little #....a bit scooter, a bit service car, a bit of ?????? All Indian Motorcycle....

very cool

Here is a teaser for the Indian Enthusiasts....

this is #1 of 4 made at the factory in 1928...can you guess what this engine is for????

That's right. The Indian motorycycle company built only 4 cars for use in the early 1928. Although the car was very functionable and good looking, they didn't continue to produce them.

They thought is might be wise to hold of because of ...... THE DEPRESSION!!!!!

This car was #4 of the series. After the comapny decided to stop production, this car was given to one of the engineers at the factory. It was his family car for years and years. It was collected by Esta in her persuit to preserve and maintain the Indian Motorcycle history....

And, then to top it all of, when the original company closed down, a company in Enfield, England started to produce the motorcycles again.....

This is a "Enfield Indian"

The curator of the museum was telling us that a fella with a lot of cash and a very nterprising mind is looking into starting up the Indian Motorcycle Company again.....

One never knows............

This blog site is for my Indian Motorcycle friends......Keith and Hazel, Dehran and Lisa (Jessie too), Ron and Mary, and all the other lovers of the beautiful styling of Indian Motorcycles

NOVEMBER 10, 07

INDIAN MOTORCYCLE MUSEUM




SPRINGFIELD, MASS








Oh yeah.............







This lady has 54 motorcycles in her collection. She was the curator of the original museum at the original factory (tried to get in there about a month ago) but she is now 93ish and can't manage it any more. She has given her bikes and memorabilia to the Springfield Museum for display.....






The museum is not yet ready but we were lucky enough to catch one of 3 days of pre viewing at the new and not yet complete Indian Motorcycle Museum in Springfield, Mass. For the layperson, this is where Indian Motorcycles first came to be......









Here is one of the originals....




















And here is a little scooter for the kids......























And for the boat lovers in the crowd...









I didn't quite know all that Indian Motorcycles had done in the lifetime of the company....



For the airplane lovers.....a Indian airplane engine....Wow hey????

A Bit of History

There are so many things that you can do in this world, it sometimes boggles my mind.

We went on the 9th into Hartford, CT and visited Mark Twain House. This is a cool old house where you can learn a bit about how the author and his family lived in his time.

When Hartford was actually down the road a bit from his home. Located on a farm on the outskirts of the city.

Built of red brick painted into a funky design. The house had central heat which was very uncommon and something that only new upscale homes had.

The family loved to entertain and had a wonderful entry way, where you left your calling card on a large metal receptacle. And a beautiful dining room and parlor.

I noticed that the house also had fireplaces in most of the rooms as well as in the landing of the staircase.

Very cool to see where "Mark Twain" (his name really was Sam Clemens) sat in his billards room at the top of the house, overlooking his farm, smoking cigars and drinking, and writing his famous fables.

Notice the word work at the entrance to the house.....and the painted brick

The view from the street....

I will send more later on... I had another wonderful and unexpected adventure the next day....

Ciao