Thai Food, Coconut Cake and Roswell Cultural Arts Center

Has anyone out there every been to Historic Roswell Georgia? It is a beautiful little town full of old homes that have been renovated into art galleries, restaurants, antique shops and boutiques that would force any shopping addict into a frenzy. Most boutiques are filled with hand made jewelry, purses, clothing, home decor and much more.

Rice in Historic Roswell Ga

Hal, Natalie and I arrived at 5:00pm, hungry and ready to eat. Hal had already done some research via the Internet on restaurants and had found something that he thought would be fun. Rice Thai Food was the name, I was open to anything at that point. It was located in an old home with several tables set up in the front yard for outdoor dining. We chose to sit inside because it was still hot out and the cool air sounded much better than trying to keep sweat drops from landing in our food. A tiny Asian woman seated us in one of the rooms of the home. I noticed as we came in that the house had a fireplace in every room. Nice...

The food was wonderful, we got different dishes so that we could taste each others. I would tell you what they were but I have no clue. Very good though. We left and walked the main street down several blocks to another old home renovated into a dessert shop. The Clay Cafe' was its name. Right before my eyes was the most beautiful Coconut Cake that I have ever seen. We did indulge!! I estimated it to be 5,000 calories....lots of stadiums would need to be in our future. Through the last several years I have concluded that life is to short to say no to your favorite dessert EVER on the face of this earth. Words cannot describe the first bite sensation that went through my body. Oh my....

Me and Nat on the porch of the Clay Cafe'

After much shopping and a wonderful meal we headed over to the Roswell Cultural Arts Center to see Mac McAnally in concert. His biography goes like this.

"If Mac McAnally never sang or played another note of music, his place in music history is more than assured. And yet an almost inevitable momentum seems to be taking his career and carrying it to places it has never been. The fact that two of country music's biggest stars have given McAnally an almost reverential nod speaks to just how much energy the celebrated songwriter, guitarist, vocalist and producer is developing as a recording artist."

He is the most talented story teller I have ever heard. Anyone that can come to stage with only himself, a piano, guitar and mandolin and sound studio perfect, is truly talented. He had his song list written on a piece of yellow legal size paper folded up deep in his blue jean pocket. It had been sufficiently wrinkled because his day started early in Nashville, then on to Bonaroo for a impromptu with The Jimmy Buffet Band, then to Roswell. I could imagine Mac writing his song list as he drove, just like he writes his songs while driving with his knee and playing the Mandolin. He tells stories through song about the place and people of Belmont Mississippi, a one four way stop town that has many characters living within.

Hal has a wonderful talent of finding exciting things for us to do. He did not disappoint this weekend when we went to Roswell Georgia!

Ice Cream Party

Saturday in Ponte Vedra was a perfect ending to a long road trip. We arrived at 2:30pm with Harry and Linda warming up after 18 holes in very windy conditions. We got to catch up with them while sitting on the Lanai...we had lots to say. Our trip was so wonderful, everything that I had dreamed of and more. It never sounds as exciting or beautiful when you re-tell the stories. We did our best. Went to Sticky Fingers to eat...yummy. After returning to Saw Grass, Hal and I gave Linda a tutorial on the transfer of her digital camera pictures to the computer and e-mailing them to whomever. She is a terrific student. After the lesson we had a ice cream party, took some self portraits (above) and laughed so much my stomach hurt.

After a restful sleep, we ate a quick bite and took our bikes for a spin to the beach where we parked them and took a walk. It is a beautiful spring morning, the birds are beginning to chatter and the air is clear and cool. We will be home this evening..this has been the best time of my life.

Homeward Bound

I must say that this honeymoon has been nonstop! It has been one long and steady stream of fun. We have taken advantage of all of the opportunities and activities that we planned and even added a few. Today, we left Key West at 8:45 and began the 154 mile drive to Miami. It was a beautiful day and we had the top down on the Jeep as usual. We made great time with only one stop in Islamorada to shop for gifts. We checked into the Hotel at 1:30 and after unloading our luggage and bikes from the Jeep (a ritual that we have become good at!), we were off to South Beach for some sightseeing and shopping. Believe me, we had plenty of both. Today was much different than our trip to South Beach last Saturday night...a lot fewer Spring Breakers today. Brenda was overwhelmed in a good way with the stores that were there for her to browse. It was like being on Rodeo Drive. After some serious browsing, we stopped in to a quaint Cuban Restaurant and sat at the lunch counter. Brenda and I thought this was the best Black Bean Soup that we have had to date. After our snack, we walked about 12 blocks to the Linclon Drive Shopping District. On the way, we stopped into a Tattoo Parlor and were able to watch people getting tattooed. They all but invited us in to watch and ask questions. This was a first for both of us. Very interesting, too. We also walked down Espanola Way, which is a historic Spainish Village - see pics of Brenda above. When we finished taking in the stores at Lincoln Drive, we headed back to Coconut Grove to eat Sushi at "our" Sushi Restaurant. We have kind of adopted Coconut Grove as our home while in Miami. Such a great place!

Mile 0 You Ask?

It's Thursday, day seven of our trip. I honestly feel like we've driven to the end of the earth. When you drive to mile marker 0, there is no more...nada...no more. That is the weirdest feeling, especially because they closed the 7 mile bridge last night at 8pm and didn't re-open it until 6am. We were on the Key West cruise ship, no way to get off.

Key West has a carnival like feel to it. A great place to visit, I wouldn't want to live here. There are a lot of homeless/street people here. Either out of necessity, most likely out of choice. Hal said most of them choose this life to be nonconformists, plus most are mentally ill. We got suckered by one of them, Hal gave him 5 bucks...He loves everyone. I do too, however; they kinda' scare me.

Coconut Grove, Miami will be our last night in South Florida. I really liked Coconut Grove. We found a great gym, pic above. Great environment for working out, pictures of Shaq plastered all over the place. I guess if it's your gym, you can put your face anywhere you want. Loved the gym. Funny thing happened right after we had worked out. We walked across the street to do some window shopping and heard a bunch of people yelling "24 Hour Fitness discriminates against fat people!" We then followed the noise and right in front of the gym was about 15 people picketing the gym. Only in Miami!

A word to my girl...Mom will be home Sunday late. More later, the closer we get to home.

The Eagle Has Landed...

Today, Brenda and I reached our ultimate Honeymoon destination, Key West! We left Key Largo at 8:30 this morning after another superb breakfast at the Treetop Restaurant. We really enjoyed our time there. We were very excited to begin our journey down A1A all the way to Mile Marker 0! We had a great ride all the way, listening to Bluegrass music with the top down on the Jeep. We drove straight to downtown Key West and began our exploration of Duval Street (Duval Street is to Key West what Bourbon Street is to New Orleans). We had a great time walking in and out of all of the shops...most were the typical tourist traps with 2 for $10 T Shirts, but there were also some unique shops, including some nice art galleries in which we spent some time. Kinda funny, there was a Banana Republic right on Duval Street...on the way out of the store we were laughing hysterically that we had to go in BR while in Key West. We had a recommendation from a friend of Brenda's of a great Cuban Restaurant called PePe's, and we made our way there for lunch. Like everything else in Key West, the atmosphere was so laid back that were hardly annoyed by our absolutely fabulous waiter that just loved to hear himself talk (he was absolutely fabulous, darling). We had some good Cuban food and then headed back to check in to the Doubletree Resort. We managed a quick turnaround and were back Downtown for appetizers and people watching on the deck right on Duval Street at Hardrock Cafe. Everything was great. Next we headed down to Mallory Square for Sunset and all of the Street Theatre that we have heard so much about. Needless to say, we were not disappointed. We saw a juggler that juggled big sharp knives and stuff that was on fire. But the best part of his act was the two dogs that he worked into the show. They had hats on! See picture of Brenda above. This guy was really a great showman and he probably makes a pretty good living. It was getting dark and we decided to ride bikes past Hemingway's house and then head back to the room. We will have an early morning tomorrow on the bikes as we explore Old Town Key West. Y'all come back now, ya hear?

Anticipating Sunset...

Hal and I are seated at the Islemorada Fish House, waiting for sunset which is 20 minutes away. Our table is the best in the house...perfect view of sunset and a front row seat for the Tarpon and Shark feeding.

We had another great day. We drove to Coral Reef High School at MM 90 and off loaded our bikes. I got on the web and found a great little run along the old hwy adjacent to A1A. The temperature was perfect for a 16 mile ride and several stops along the way. We rode through Plantation Key, Windley Key and Upper and Lower Matacumbe Keys. It was a pretty strenuous ride given the head wind, traffic and rising temps. After our return to the Jeep we headed straight back to the Resort for a nap at the pool. This is the life!

After several hours at the pool we hit the gym for a quick workout, then we took a stroll down the nature trail that is on the Key Largo Resort property. We decided that next time we definitely needed a hammock. Hal has avoided a definite butt whipping at ping pong as we are leaving tomorrow and there is conveniently no more time.

Dinner was perfect for our last night at Key Largo. We had a wonderful view of sunset from our table as the Tiki torches created the perfect atmosphere. We had alligator, chips and spinach queso and Dolphin as our main course. We are off to Key West early tomorrow. More later...

Just do it...Move to the Keys!

Brenda and I have been dreaming about our perfect honeymoon ever since we became officially engaged way back in August. I must say that we are pulling it off magnificently. Yes, we brought our lifestyle right along with us and have been applying it everyday. We were on the bikes today riding South on A1A, and the great thing about that is that there is a nice bike path off the side of the road. Brenda was leading the way and established a comfortable pace for us. When we made it to Mile Marker 95, we pulled in to Key Lime Products. See our picture on the left. We took a little time to check out the local tourist stuff, but resisted the temptation to buy several "irresistible" little items (OK, we have been hit with the Key Largo lifestyle). We rode a total of eight miles and headed back to the pool for a couple of hours before we hit the dock to go on a three hour trip (sing it now, a three hour trip!, Remember Gilligan's Island?). We had a 25 minute ride out to the reef and had nice conversations with several guests that are also staying at the Key Largo Beach Club. Once we arrived, we were instructed on the dangers of snorkeling by a crusty old Boat Captain... Once we were in the water, it took me a minute to perfect my technique...Brenda was off to the races. I learned to just go with the flow of the water and enjoy the beautiful world below us. Somehow Brenda found me about 30 minutes into the session...I was so happy to see her and we continued to enjoy the reef together. We saw fish of every color and it was just like a beautiful aquarium. We saw some scary Barracuda, it is a good thing that we did not know they were Barracuda! Lastly, we were fortunate that we used wet suits because we were so cold on the way back to the dock. We proceeded to Winn Dixie and bought some food to eat in tonight. There you have it! See you tomorrow, y'all!