Happy New Year

We tried the newest country club and great Margarita pizza!

Enjoyed our New Year's Eve dinner of steak and champagne!

Official

Got our credentials as Village "residents."

Worked in the morning in jammie's - our Mom is rolling in her grave!

Beall's Outlet and Anthony's made a little money today from us.

Went to Publix for a special dinner for New Year's Eve!

Shark Tank on for hours tonight!

A little business in between watching the show.

Busy Day

Since we only had crackers and peanut butter in the house, I made a run to Dunkin Donuts for bagels and coffee.

Went to Sumter Landing for credentials but they weren't ready!  So back tomorrow.

On to Dollar Tree to pick up a few things.

Next was a stop at First Watch - a favorite place for pancakes!  We have to keep up our strength for grocery shopping at Aldi's.

Took groceries home - rested for two minutes before heading to Walmart.

Brought everything home from Walmart and headed to a favorite Mexican restaurant in Spanish Springs.  Sat outside listening to Rocky and the Rollers.  

Here are photos that Terry took at Market Night.

Terry bought a TOE Ring!

We are in The Villages

Stressful ride from Atlanta- lots of tie ups that had no explanation.

We are unpacked almost.  I'm waiting for second wind to unpack my office.  Terry's working on hers.

It's in the 70's Yea! Here's photo taken after our stop at Wendy's for a salad.

On to Atlanta

Breakfast at Baymont and then on to Atlanta.

Here's how the modern traveler travels- far cry from our road trips as kids.

WGN on I-Pad - Lou and then Kathy and Judy.  GPS for travel directions and cell to catch up on email, Facebook and calls!

On to Elizabethtown

Easy ride until Kentucky where there was an accident on the bridge and then construction.

Thought we'd go to Texas Roadhouse_ 45 minute wait.  So we went across the street to Outlaw

Gas has been cheap!

Food photos for Stacy!

A great Christmas

Great Christmas- good food, presents and Apples to Apples game!  Glenn won!

Sunday, September 21 - Home!

After breakfast at the hotel, I spoke with the on-duty manager about the smell in our room that they were unable to mitigate.  She offered me a free night, which I accepted. 

However, I'm sure that the room had mold and that I am in the midst of a severe allergic attack as a result.

The ride home was uneventful.  We stopped at a McDonalds for the washroom and then later another McDonalds for lunch (as I said before, nothing but the best for us).

When we stopped for gas, outside of Milwaukee, there was a Dairy Queen attached to the station.  Never a group of turn down a good ice-cream fix, we all indulged.

We made it home before 5 P.M. and said our good-byes!

Today, Jeremy is 20!

After breakfast, we went to pick up Jeremy for the day.

We stopped at a copper mine, where Jeremy and Ida took the 1 1/2 hour tour.  I did not want to go into the mine and certainly did not want to go when they said something about bats!

Terry and I watched the movie about the area, while waiting for them to finish their tour.  The movie was very interesting.

We then went to lunch at Toni's in Laurium  A nice little bakery/restaurant in a little town.

We then went up to Copper Harbor at the tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula.  Disappointing.  Thought it would be a cute little town with little shops, etc. It is a sleepy little town with nothing of interest.  We did see Lake Superior and yes, it was windy!

However, being with a boy scout has benefits - Jeremy found a waterfall for us to see.

We then saw a lighthouse in Eagle Harbor.

We then went to Calumet to see the theatre there, however we could not tour as a performance was taking place.  Fire regulations started there!

We then went into Houghton for dinner at Ambassador, an Italian Restaurant on the water.  You could see the mine that Jeremy and Ida toured from there.

 

 

Jeremy did not want us to bring his cake into the restaurant so we went back to his dorm, where we shared the cake on two plates with four forks!

 

 

 

 

 

We are now watching the Roosevelt Series after saying good-bye to Jeremy until he is home for a weekend in Oct.

 

 

Jeremy is still 19!

We started the day going down to breakfast with a note in the elevator telling us no Holiday Inn famous cinnamon rolls!  What's up with that?  No note the morning before - just no rolls.

We walked through downtown Houghton.

For lunch, it looked threatening so we had a bite at Culvers and went back to the hotel for a nap.

Jeremy finished his classes and a paper that was due.  We picked him up and went over the bridge to The Quincy Bar and Grill.  Fish fry special was had by all.

Here he is with his grandmother!

Back to hotel to watch Roosevelt series

The Bridge to Hancock

We drove up to Houghton (Michigan Tech) from Iron Mountain.  Beautiful ride, full of color and even the spotting of a bald eagle!

We arrived at our hotel, Holiday Inn Express in Houghton (after a few missteps).  They were not ready for us yet so we were on our way to lunch on the water.  Our GPS got us lost and caused us to go over the bridge to Hancock and into a traffic jam! It's been the joke of the day - I don't want to go over the bridge again.


Finally found the restaurant after asking some locals.  Pasties - Ida did not like hers - Terry ate her whole one.  Marilyn had a BLT.  Some dessert added to our enjoyment for Ida and Marilyn.  Terry bought some for Jeremy and his roommate Jake!

 !


Went to meet Jeremy and drop off all of the things his Mom and Aunt Stacy sent.

We then toured the campus with him - great looking campus.

 

Dinner in a great Chinese Restaurant

Went back to Campus to meet Jake - who called us Grandma 1, 2 and 3!  Cute.

Came back to our hotel to watch the 5th evening of the Ken Burns series on the Roosevelts.

On the Road Again

Ida, Terry and I are on our way to Houghton, MI to visit Jeremy at Michigan Tech.  We are also planning on sightseeing in the area.

We started out stopping at Dunkin Donuts, in Skokie!

Then Green Bay for lunch at Hardee's!  Nothing but the best!

Checked into the Holiday Inn Express in Iron Mountain.  Asked the desk clerk for a recommendation for dinner.

Good dinner.  As we were leaving a lady came up to Ida and said I think I know you!  It was someone with whom she worked years ago!  Small world.

Ida and Audrey

Home!

Finally, a record  6 days after leaving The Villages, we are home.


The ride home was uneventful, except for some snow in Lafayette, IN.


There is a lot of snow here!  Yuck!!!!  I had to put on my new boots.  We had a funeral for my old boots while in Florida!

Gloom then sun

Yea- we left Atlanta!!!!

Gloom through Nashville then sun!

We stopped in Murphysboro for lunch at Olive Garden.

We are at a Hampton Inn in Elizabethtown, KY.  

Went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner - arrived in time for early bird - steak, sweet potato, salad for $8.99 each!

Quiet rainy day

Terry had not slept well so she slept in and I brought her some breakfast.

We finally got out and went to Perimeter Mall to walk.  We had a Chinese lunch and then went over to Target where I got an inexpensive - make that cheap - turtleneck.  It's going to be cold on the way home and I do not have a turtleneck with me.  Also got some sandwiches for dinner.  We also each have leftover cheesecake for dessert.

Took a warmer coat out of the car- yuck!

Went back to hotel thinking we'd watch a movie, but nothing we wanted to see.

Checking email, reading and watching TV.

Tomorrow moving onto Elizabethtown,Ky.

Jessica's group won First Place for tap.  We are so proud of our dancer !

Jewish Atlanta

Today we went to the William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum.

One exhibit was about the Holocaust and one was about the Rich Department Store (Atlanta's version of Marshall Fields).  It, too, was bought by Macy's and the name Rich was dropped.

Donor Tree - this has the name of donors.  There are also bricks with names of donors, but this looked so special.

 

 

This was in the lobby of the Breman Museum

Sidney Marcus Blvd.  Sidney was Myrtle and Sid's cousin - He was a Georgia State Legislator and ran for Mayor of Atlanta and died shortly after losing for Mayor.

After the museum, we rode by The Temple, from Driving Ms. Daisy.  It's on a busy street and up on a little hill.

It was after 2 p.m. when we got to The Cheesecake Factory for lunch.  I had a chicken sandwich and Terry had the chopped salad.  My sandwich came with a side of salad.  Terry had half of her salad, and I had my side salad to take home for "dinner."  We also each ordered a piece of cheesecake for "dinner."  We will eat dinner while watching The Oscars.

Congratulation to Jessica who won the New York Award and some other awards for dancing in a competition this weekend.  Sorry we missed seeing her dance.

We also missed the play at South Middle School where Miranda did make up.

Anne Frank

We saw a brochure for Sandy Springs and things to do there at the Georgia welcome Center.

One of the things to do was Town Turtles - painted fiberglass.  There are 24 total, we saw two plus a dolphin.

We then went to see the Anne Frank exhibit.  However, it was not open as yet.

We went to the Cobb Shopping Center to walk and had lunch at Maggiano's.

We went back to see the Anne Frank Exhibit, which started with an excellent documentary.  It is a period in the world's history that brings tears to my eyes.

Came back to the Hyatt Place for the evening.  Had peanut butter and crackers, with wine!  Nothing but first class dining for us!

Boo Hoo

We had to leave The Villages this morning and head to Atlanta.

With a few little traffic tie ups - nothing significant, it took us 8 hours to get here.

We stopped for lunch at a McDonalds (they charged us 30 cents for two cups of water)!  I guess as a stockholder I should not be too upset - but, really!!!

We checked into the Hyatt Place at Perimeter Center and will be here for four nights unless the Gods of winter change their minds. We hope to get home by Wednesday.

We had dinner at Sweet Tomatoes tonight and had too much to eat.

We stopped at the Georgia Welcome Center and got some tourist brochures and will plan out things to do for the next few days.

Of course, Terry is excited Shark Tank is on tonight.

Cinderella

We felt like Cinderella today, cleaning the house, washing and vacuuming floors, etc.

We thought after that we deserved a break so we went to the Mallory Country Club and shared a salad and a veggie pizza.

The day was a little overcast, but it was beautiful sitting by the golf course.

Terry did not think to take a photo until we were half way through the pizza!

 

 

We left Mallory and went to Sumter Landing and walked around.  It was Market Night and some of the vendors were already set up.  The entertainment had not started, but it is always a pleasant walk.

 

 

We recycled a few days worth of newspapers and then came home.

 

 

We packed up the trunk.  I don't think we could get a piece of paper in there!

 

 

We put some things on the back floor and will wait until tomorrow to put our travel suitcases, food, coats, etc. into the car itself.  We really do need a van - probably a maxi van would work well.

 

 

We keep checking the weather.  It will probably be Wednesday before we get home.  We'll hole up in Atlanta as it looks right now.

Lazy Day

We spent most of the morning reviewing the weather and discussing what our strategy for going home will be.

We could not find a hotel in The Villages for the weekend - so scratch plan A .

On to plan B.  Friday we move to Atlanta for 4 nights - go to Louisville for a night and Wednesday home.

Stay tuned - our plans are J-ello!

Rest of day working, eating, reading.  

Did I mention it poured all day long.

Last Nice Day Before We Leave

They are predicting rain for the next two days so today was the perfect day to go out and enjoy the weather.

We decided to go to Eaton's Beach Sandbar and Grill, on Lake Weir, in Weirsdale.  We left a message for Diane to see if she wanted to join us (Tom is in Chicago helping their daughter, Cheri).

She had just come off of the golf course but wanted to join us, but, had to go home and get her car.  We met her at Beall's Outlet on Highway 42.  BTW:  Terry bought a few things while waiting for Diane.  We all also went into the store again after lunch and all bought a few things.

We had a nice lunch.  The menu is a little strange.  Terry and I both had cheeseburgers (Terry had bacon on hers and could have had peanut butter on it also - she declined the peanut butter).

BTW:  I was looking at a jar of peanut butter the other day and it said "made with peanuts" -dah!

We sat where we could look at the water.  The table near the water that we originally sat at had a bar the interfered with a view of the water so we moved to a table where we could see the water.  The outside was really not outside as it had plastic "windows."

 

 

We looked at the weather and thought that we might be better off leaving on Thursday, rather than our originally scheduled Friday.  However, when we told that to Mindy she said they were expecting 6 inches of snow over the weekend - oops!

 

 

We now are leaving on Friday and may go somewhere to chill out for a few days until the route home is without snow and ice.  Stay tuned!

 

 

Of course, we watched Shark Tank tonight.  One of the people told two of the Sharks that THEY were out!!  He did not like their offers.

Conference Calls Galore

After breakfast, I participated in a two-hour conference call as a member of the North Shore-Barrington Association of REALTORS' Government Affairs Committee meeting.

After the meeting, Terry and I had a quick lunch and headed to do some errands. 

We recycled our newspapers at the Temple and then headed to shred some documents that Terry had.  We went to Pack and Ship, who advertised that they shred.  However, someone comes on Thursdays with a truck and picks up their shredding, which resides in some sort of box until then.  Terry was concerned about using them, since this was sensitive client information.  So, we went to Office Depot, where she was able to shred the documents herself.  It was inexpensive and she felt better doing it that way.

We wandered into Cracker Barrel to look at the store part, but did not find anything that we wanted to buy.

It was Market Night at Spanish Springs and Rocky and The Rollers were there as the entertainment, and even though there was the threat of rain, the place was packed.  I bought another chain for a necklace that I had purchased at Sumter's Market Night.

We stopped at Publix for lottery tickets and a few fill-in items.

After dinner, Terry and I both had conference calls.  I called into the Township for the Board meeting and Terry is on a conference call with AADMM.

We are watching the weather carefully for our trip home.  We are hoping to leave on Friday, but could leave on Thursday if we needed to.  We cannot stay any later as we don't think the lady who is renting the house for March wants to share it with us!

I think the weather here for the next few days is not going to be good as we heard on the radio that they are rescheduling Wednesday's Strawberry Festival, which is a big event.  I guess the weather is getting us ready to go home!
 

Mah Jongg Tournament

After lunch we headed out to a Mah Jongg Tournament to benefit the American Cancer Society, held at Colony Cottage Recreation Center.  Our friend, Joy, had told us about this event and she was there also.  The event was in memory of a gal, Mary Beth, who died from breast cancer and was run by her friends.

In previous years,  Mary Beth used to run a similar event.

Sitting Area at Colony Cottage

Invitation to the Event

Terry's envelope

 

 

 

The instructions were for each person to bring their mah jongg card and, if they had one, to bring a pusher.  The recreation center had mah jongg sets.  There were 21 tables of 4 each.  When we arrived we were each given an envelope with our name.  It told us what position we would play.  Terry's envelope said Seat D (mine said Seat C).  We both started out at table 17.  After 4 games of mah jongg, we each moved to the table designated in round 2.  Terry moved to Table 15, I moved to table 19.  We played another round of 4 games and then moved to the next table for the last round of 4 games.  The person sitting at Seat A was the score keeper.

 

We each also got a raffle ticket (they had a raffle prize for each person).

 

You could also buy 50/50 tickets (the winner was our friend Joy's friend and she won $140).

 

They also had tickets you could buy to try to win special baskets, wine, etc.  You put your tickets into the bucket in front of the basket or item you hoped to win.

 

They had snacks and beverages and asked for a donation to offset the cost of the snacks and beverages.

 

Each round of four games was 55 minutes.  That is playing fairly quickly.  It was for intermediate and better players!

 

The rules were in each person's envelope.  Basically you got the value of the hand if you got mah jongg, 10 bonus points if you picked your own mah jongg.  20 points for a jokeless hand (unless it was a singles or pairs hand).

 

Penalties for player who discarded the winning tile. Minus 10 points if winning player had no or one exposure.  Two exposures was minus 20 points to the person who discarded the mah jongg tile.  Minus 25 points for the player who discarded the mah jongg tile if there were 3 exposures.

 

For a wall game all players got 10 points.  If a player's hand had been declared dead during the game, that person got no points.

 

If the 4th game in the round was not completed when the horn sounded, all players got 0 points.

 

There was a 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize - all monetary prizes.  WE DID NOT WIN ANY OF THESE.

 

We came home and had our leftover salad, from yesterday's lunch at Too Jays, and are now reading.

 

Below is a photo of the type of palm tree that Terry likes that she had tried to explain to our friend Fran.  If you notice, it looks like a pineapple.

 



 

 

BTW:  For those of you who know our friend, Janet, who had open heart surgery this week, you'll be happy to know that she is doing very well.  We've talked with her for the past two days and she'll be leaving the hospital for rehab soon!  We told her today that she would not have liked the tournament as they played too fast.