Saturday, November 22, 2008
Fantastic day all around! We got up early(ish) and drove into town so we could fit in a visit to Every Bloomin' Thing before our 1:00 dive boat meeting time. EBT is behind the airport, on a road parallel with the runway, and we could see Tango at his tie-down spot near the tower as we drove by! The place is a combo garden center / store with Crabtree & Evelyn products, candles, Christmas ornaments, etc. / English tearoom. It was quiet and civilized, with fine china, linens, and a million different varieties of Twinings tea. However, since it's a much rarer thing to find, I ordered Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee, of which I approved! It was Jablum brand and came in a French press, with milk (not cream) in the creamer and a real sugar bowl. (Milk vs. cream is an English vs. American thing.) Dean had fresh lemonade, which was the best lemonade I've ever had. Nice and tart, and you could taste the real sugar. I also got a scone with Devon cream and extremely good strawberry jam, while Dean had creamy pumpkin soup. The scone with Devon cream and jam was really really good. The Devon cream was sort of like butter, but softer and tasted a little more creamy and less buttery. We also had a Crunchy Egg Sandwich (the crunchy part wasn't shells) and a Traditional Tuna Sandwich with sliced cucumbers added "for some crunch." EBT is into the crunch. Both sandwiches were cut into triangles with the crusts removed. They were good! We picked up some more Tortugas (Dean ran in while I stayed in the car) in town, then got back in plenty of time for the boat.
Posted at 9:24:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Even though I was sick of boat dives after our second dive yesterday, I insisted that I put in my time today (then I'll feel as if I've earned a break tomorrow), and I'm glad I did! Instead of following the rest of the group, we went off on our own, and it was way better, more like a shore dive. At the first site, Crusher's Wall, Dean found our own best swim-through yet. It was exciting going through it since there was no guide in front... I hung back a bit to make sure Dean didn't get stuck, and when he was able to see how it would turn out and signalled OK, I followed him through the rest of the way. It was a narrow one! Dean loved it!!! He went a good speed, unlike the insanely snaily guides who always swim zero miles an hour, barely moving a fin, while I'm stuck behind them in a narrow tunnel almost crashing into Dean's feet!!
I found more Yellow Tube Sponges and couldn't resist squeezing a few of them now that I know the cool dyes-skin-blue thing from yesterday! (My blue fingers were all worn off by this morning.) My fingers got really dark purple!! It's so cool how the dye and the fingers are yellow at first but by about 30 seconds later the yellow has developed into blue! I wish I knew why!! On our second dive, I found a branched one with five finger-sized holes (like for candles) and innered them all at the same time! It felt neat! The dye doesn't stain fingernails--only fingers.
Also on the first dive, we hung around with a big Nassau Grouper who kept looking at us with his eye. He had a special underpass where he liked to float around, and we were able to get really close to him and photograph him quite a bit because we were so still and patient and sneaky-slow. You can never do stuff like that on a guided boat dive because you always have to keep up with the group.
At the second dive site, Fantasea Land (silly name), I noticed a little pile of rocks, looked at it more closely, and found a Sand Diver lizardfish's head sticking out! It reminded me of the decapitated chicken head eel. It looked really reptilian and scaly, more like a turtle head than a fish's, but it had fins so I knew it was a fish.
I found an empty spiny lobster shell and signaled for Dean to put the camera in video mode, then took out my reg and simulated eating it (including licking my chops after it was devoured on down). Dean was LOLing. We also found a family of Yellowline Arrow Crabs, which barely retreated when I extended my hand, so I was able to pick up the big one and have it run around on my hand. It even pinched my palm lightly with its tiny claws. Right before we ascended, we saw a big barracuda with his mouth open (he had cool teeth!!!) and a huge crab (I think it was a Channel Clinging Crab... aka "King Crab," as in king crab legs!) It looked like it would have been as wide as Dean's arm is long if it had had its legs extended.
The ride back on the boat was EXTREMELY bumpy, kind of like a bull ride! We all had to hang on to any available surface as tight as possible. The other divers on the trip looked cold, miserable, and bordering-on-seasick much of the time we were on the boat but I was fine, especially thanks to my new Scuba Beater and wet clothes removal system. Good thing, too, since our hot water heater croaked and we have no more hot water! It's been flaky (I only had one actually hot bath or shower; the rest were all lukewarm) and now it died completely. Not that big a deal though... the tap water is room temperature, so at least it's not freezing cold or anything, and I can heat water in the microwave.
For dinner, we went about 500 yards down the road to Miss Vivine's kitchen!! (Yeah!) It's an enclosed porch (with tarp-like walls) off a local woman's house, with a window off her kitchen where you go up and request your order. The day's dishes are written on a whiteboard. Since I've already tried oxtail (last time we were on Grand), I ordered Ackee & Cod, which I later found out is the national dish of Jamaica. I didn't know what it would be like, so she showed me a laminated picture of ackee (I think her spelling was achee) that she had handy. Dean was just going to get a drink, since there weren't any vegetarian foods on the menu, but she said she'd prepare him something special! For drinks, Dean got a Mango Juice and I asked her what she recommended. She suggested Carrot Milk, but then sort of took it back, saying I might not like it, but I said I like carrot juice and wanted to try it. We had a seat at one of the tables (we were the only ones there) while she prepared first our drinks and then our meals, which she brought down to the table via the short set of stairs that led up to the half-door into her kitchen. Meanwhile, insane 45 mph winds flapped the walls very atmospherically.
Both drinks were interesting and good! Dean's mango juice had fresh ginger in it, and my drink tasted slightly sweet, sort of like cooked carrots. Later I asked her what was in it, and she revealed that it was carrot juice (raw), milk, and rum! There was only a tiny amount of rum, but it was a good combo. When she brought down our plates, mine had the seasoned shredded salt cod & ackee (creamy yellow chunks) mixture, rice (nice & semi-sticky!), mashed potatoes, and cooked plantains (tasted like cooked bananas). Dean's had rice & beans (made from a different kind of rice), plantains, mixed vegetables, and a salad (with a bottle of Thousand Islands dressing to put on top!). I LOVED the ackee & cod!! It was really good. (It kind of reminded me of something I'd get at Lupa.) I would leap at the chance to have it again! Everything was yummy and we were full when we'd cleared our plates. The whole meal was only $23, so we gave her a giant tip. Dean was scared to go, but I made him do it and he was glad he did!!
Friday, November 21, 2008
[Actually written Monday night from notes...]
Posted at 9:19:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Our two dives today were at High Rock and Kelly's Caverns (named after a dead dog), and I lost my pencil two seconds after we descended on the first one, so I couldn't make any underwater notes! I noticed it was missing when we were traversing the first superlong, dark, narrow, haunted seaweed-filled swim-through and I wanted to write down how Dean kept turning around and flashing me shakas because he loved it so much (and I kept groaning and doing Suder hand motions in response because I have OD'd on swim-throughs!). I made notes on my slate after the dives were over, though. Note to future self: always remember to bring a spare pencil in your BC pocket!! We did a ton of signing since we couldn't communicate via slate. Back on the boat, the Drum Guy commented jealously on all our signing, which apparently he noticed but didn't understand at all. Haha!
I liked the first site because it had lots of different kinds of cool sponges (bright yellow, green, pale lavender, ropey purple, red and chartreuse) and sea fans, and a wall filled with interesting stuff, tiny fishes, everything, all up and down and along. I even found an anemone (in the daylight this time) and petted it. It felt sticky/grabby at first, then it got used to me and I was able to run my fingers smoothly through its luxuriant Medusa-locks, over and over. It was wonderful!!!! I have wanted to do that for so long!
The second site was kind of boring (yes, this is a trend) with dead white coral rubble and millions of swim-throughs. I got sick of them and shadowed Dean from above on the last one, following his rising bubbles. I was also pretty cold on the second dive, although not on the boat, thanks to my Scuba Beater, including the hood! [Edit: Here are a couple photos of us from the second dive: Dean in his new gear (flashing a shaka because he loves all the caverns) and me with a cool anti-linear brain coral.]
It was very wavy on the boat today from the big swell, and while I didn't get seasick or anything, it still wasn't very pleasant. When we got back to our place, I felt like my head was spinning every time I closed my eyes (first a half-circle in one direction, then back again the other...). As I was tired and felt kind of whirly, I didn't really feel like trying Miss Vivine's (although I still want to go there, just not today!) and wanted some comfort food instead. Since one must eat sea turtle at least once every time one visits Grand, but I don't feel like a local turtle stew this time, I suggested we go to Portofino's, and I ended up actually liking it! It was exactly what I was in the mood for. Good salad, good Real Pina Colada, even pretty good cappuccino, after they turned around and remade it for me when I mentioned that I wanted a lot of foam just as the other waitress was in the act of carrying it over to our table! The turtle "steak" was as I remembered it--thin layers that looked and tasted a lot like veal.
Oh yeah, the weirdest thing is that my fingers got dyed blue somehow and it won't wash off. I tried to scrub them with soap in the shower after our dive, but nothing happened!
[Edit, that evening: !!! It's from a Yellow Tube Sponge! I was looking up the sponge in my creature book and Dean ID'ed it from memory (he took a photo of me touching it)... then I saw the "Note: If squeezed, secrete a purple dye that will stain skin for several days." Weirdness!!!]
[Bonus: Here's an incredibly goofy video of diving at High Rock. Why????]
[I'm actually writing this day's posts on Monday morning from notes...]
Posted at 12:35:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
I'm doing so well with walking to the correct side of the car on this trip!
This morning before our dives, we checked out the nearby Foster's Express, which is pretty nice (although they don't carry Ubleys), the mini-deli branch of Ye Olde English Bakery (really small, with just a counter to get take-out sandwiches and stuff, nothing like the real YOEB), and a shop where I got some great "free" postcards using CI bills we got back as change. I also checked out Vivine's Kitchen, a local eatery just west of Compass Point. Dean drove by it about three times because he wouldn't believe it was a real restaurant and was scared to stop (even though there's a sign along the road, and a little parking lot with an "Open" sign posted). I finally got him to pull in, but he wouldn't get out of the car, so I jumped out and ran in. There were some people eating at one of the outdoor tables, and more tables inside, with a signboard listing the day's foods, and hours posted (open 'til 8) so it's definitely real! I want to go there for dinner! (Dean can get something from Portofino's Italian restaurant, which is really close by).
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Posted at 10:41:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
The night dive was GREAT!!!! I love night dives! I wish we could go on ALL night dives. I wasn't even cold, not even for one second, thanks to my new Scuba Beater and immediately (sneakily) taking off my cold wet swimming suit as soon as we got back on the boat. After we walked back to our place, we had Tortuga hot chocolate (and hot showers) but we didn't even need it! One always craves hot chocolate after a night dive, though.
I was going to rely on the photos Dean took to help write this entry (he took lots of them, using the new camera, and I helped by lighting up the subjects with my dive light) but he left the camera in his BC pocket, so we can't see them until tomorrow and I'll have to do this from memory. (Ocean Frontiers rinses our BCs, regs, and wetsuits for us and has them all set up waiting on the boat for our next dive, which is really nice.) I took a few notes on my AquaSketch but not too many because I was mostly just totally enjoying looking at and playing with all the cool night creatures x 1,000,000. I felt like a kid in a candy shop. All the giant anemones! They were so beautiful, and I've never seen so many in my life. Sensory overload! Two kinds: big plain cream-colored ones with long long wavy tentacles and a sensual flesh-colored ring at the base, and slightly smaller white ones with pink bulb-like tentacle ends. Also, squig anemones (they were scared of the light, and would close up after being shined on for a short time) (but not immediately) and this other kind with short fuzzy-looking stalked branched tentacles in low round clusters that retracted only the tentacles where I touched, revealing the knobby coral-like or sponge structure underneath. I think that was actually either a zoanthid (they live in sponges) or a cup coral, but I'm not sure. (I don't have corals in my creature book.) The best best best kind were the giant anemones, though (that's the real name... I'm not just calling them giant!). They held onto my fingers, grabbing them winding around, sticking on tight. I could reach my whole hand in and have it engulfed! It felt supercool. The tentacles were sticky/grabby, and the base ring was soft and slimy. SO shaka!!!
I also found a bunch of sponge brittle stars out for their night prowls, crawling in and on bright red and pale tan vase sponges. The reds were so red!!! Red is amazing at night.
When we first descended, we followed a cute little ray, and later we encountered a number of beady-eyed stripey shrimp with long antennas, a huge bearded fireworm (I signalled with my light for a billion years to get Dean's attention to show him) tons bigger than I've ever seen (five or six inches and very wide), a flamingo tongue, and two big sea cucumbers (hardly ever see cukes here). And some fish, but not too many. Mostly just a big blue dozing parrotfish. [Edit: Another cool/weird thing was that the water was filled with these little wormy creatures, who, if you shined your dive light out, would swarm to it like moths to a flame! Dean got a neat picture of them attacking my flashlight.]
Also, I felt so great underwater, like I could just float suspended, neither sinking or rising, not swimming or moving but just hovering there, with pretty much no effort at all. And I could move so easily, just using my breath to control up and down, gliding over and around the coral clumps, spying on the fantastic denizens therein. I didn't want the dive to end!!! I could have swum with the night creatures for hours!
When we got back, Dean checked our voicemail using Skype, and we had the greatest voicemail ever (!!!!!) from a certain long-lost LC member. We were laughing in helpless disbelief at its bizarreness and I was grinning like a loon. Dean listened and repeated the whole thing out loud about ten times so I could transcribe it!
Just got back from a highly successful visit to town (about 50 minutes away from our dive resort on the quiet East End), where we checked out Kirk's supermarket (left over from our '06 Places To Visit list!). Soooo inferior to the airport Foster's! Too American! It's like a Big Y. Nice and big and all that, but no British food!
Posted at 4:41:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Also made my stop at the good ol' Philatelic Bureau and got my stamps. (Actually snagged a parking space, too.) Even got some aviation-themed stamps, and nice illustrated post cards.
Us trying to visit the big Tortuga store where you can sample the rum cake flavors:
"Is this the real Tortuga store?"
"Is this the real Tortuga store?"
"This is the real Tortuga store."
Downtown is crawling with Tortugas!!
On the way into town, I spotted the Triple & Crown!!! Dean pulled over so I could run in and check it out to confirm they really have kidney. I talked to the friendly red-haired Irish(?) bartender, who was shocked and baffled when I told him I can't get kidney in the US. "Why not??" "I don't know... it's just not popular. I haven't been able to find it anywhere!" "Kidney's good for you! It makes you strong!" Triple & Crown definitely has kidney and I will definitely be back!!! It was nice and and empty and non-bar-ish at that time of day, too.
We visited a couple of dive shops, and Dean found an even better mini dive light to replace the one he accidentally flooded and ruined yesterday. (Did he break it on purpose???) And he made me buy a Billabong zippy sweatshirt at a Caymanian Oshima Surf equivalent, so I won't be so freezing on our dives. It's scuba-colored (black) with white tropical flowers on it and it's very snuggly and warm, although not as snuggly and warm as my real Oshima beater (which I did not bring with me). It needs thumb holes, though! Maybe I can add them later.
We had lunch at Icoa, which was very civilized and good. They've expanded since two years ago! On the way out, I was asking about Sunday brunch, and the lady remembered me from '06! I asked her if she was Shruti, but she was Shruti's cousin. Dean got a Mediterranean quiche w/Greek salad, and I got local yellowfin tuna Nicoise salad, which was big and tasty, with sashimi-style tuna, red green and yellow raw peppers, radishes, green beans, cucumbers, hard boiled eggs, croutons, potato chunks, and tomatoes. (No lettuce!) We also shared an Artisan breadbasket, which was really good, and a watermelon juice (not as good as at the Nantucket place). Dean had a chai latte, which looked like a soup! It smelled like a Larry's Famous chai (!!) and tasted really natural with real spices. Dean loved it. I had a cappuccino which was a bit strong, but not bad. Pretty good foam.
On the way back, we attempted to listen to the car radio but couldn't figure out how to tune in any stations other than the religious music one! (Pretty good version of "Rock of Ages"...) Finally we solved it, and the next one we found was 96.5 "K-Rock, where your right to party can't be taken away, not even on Sunday." We also passed a sign that said, "Give Satan an inch and he'll be a ruler." Pretty clever! My fav station that I found so far is 106.1 KISS ("yesterday and today"... I like the yesterday part).
We have our night dive tonight in about 30 minutes!!!
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Don't worry, we didn't get shot down by Cuba or anything, it's just a hassle to post! Landed in (on?) Grand Cayman yesterday afternoon (very very cool flight, and Immigration & Customs was really easy, thanks to the handling service!), and had our first two dives today. I LOVE my new gear!! I got really cold between the two dives though. But, I did not get seasick. (The only time I've ever been seasick was during our Advanced Open Water training in Grand in March '06. I guess the seas are calmer now.)
Posted at 9:10:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
We dove at River of Sand (like River of Stars!) and Maggie's Maze. Both had super-dark and narrow swim-through tunnels that Dean loved ("shaka," according to him) and I didn't like too much but didn't freak out or anything. My new gear felt so light and streamlined, it was fantastic. It felt totally comfortable and natural. The water was very calm and easy to swim through, but the viz wasn't as good as Hawaii. No echinoderms, either! But lots and lots and lots of fish. I was warm on my first dive but cold on the second, after I got all lizarded on the boat in between. The new underwater camera is also fantastic (haven't looked at any of the pictures yet, but the viewscreen was 1,000 times easier to see). [Edit: Here's our first photo using the new camera, me hanging onto the mooring line! You can see how streamlined my gear is. I love LOVE my gear. And here's one of me looking kind of cold at Maggie's Maze.] On the second dive we saw a cool giant green moray eel, up pretty close. He reminded me of the one I touched at Stingray City, but you could only see his head and neck, not whole body. I don't like boat dives as much as shore dives... it's hard to really look at things the way you can when you bumble around on your own. And I don't really like doing two dives in a row. But Grand has great water.
So far I have eaten three incredible yogurt products from Foster's Food Fair (one Waitrose, one Ubley, and one Muller) but no local foods except for an immediate beef pattie on the way to our place from the airport (it was just as good as I remembered!), and a weird green Kool Cayman Cucumber Juice (cucumber, lime, sugar & ginger) drink that would have been good but it was too sweet. I have not eaten kidney YET, but I am staking out a steak and kidney pie. I think the Triple Crown (aka Triple & Crown, like Triple & Shine at the carwash) serves it.
Typing on the laptop hurts my wrists! I am imbibing some Angostura Lemon Lime & Bitters (from Trinidad & Tobago) mixed with Metromint water (brought from home) and it's interesting and good! LLB is a beautiful pink grapefruit color. Hydration.
Okay, no more of this. Will post more when I can. Too many notes in my blog notebook to get a handle on at this point! Lots of good notes about flying over Cuba! Maybe Dean will help me type them up.
Posted at 11:50:00 AM by Laura W. Petix.
Ubley for breakfast! I was going to save the rhubarb one but it opened accidentally when I was separating off the one next to it, so I had to eat it first. Incredible. Dean wanted to steal it but I only let him have one bite. He could've gotten his own Ubley! Rhubarb Ubley is the standard by which all else is judged. It is perfection.
Last night when I was going to sleep, the wind was blowing and blowing, and I dreamt that it was going to be cold today, but it's not. It's warm & sunny and I'm sitting out on the balcony drying my hair and watching them load the dive boat down below. The ocean is about five different beautiful shades of turquoise. It's a little breezy, but not too bad. We're doing afternoon dives, so we get to slack 'til 1! [I was bored while waiting for Dean when it was time to walk down to the dock for our dives, so I took a headshot with my dive watch in it. :-) I like it! The new topper photo I put on my home page is from the same time.]
Bed! Bed is back!! It's in the Good Taste Guide! [Update: Waa! Bed is closed for vacation & renovation from the 18th - 24th (we arrived on the 18th and are leaving the morning of the 25th). :-( Well it's still great that it's back and is no longer a pile of rubble. It's in a slightly different location now, too.
Posted at 12:01:00 AM by Laura W. Petix.
NOTE TO FUTURE SELVES!!! Visit the airport Foster's! It's the only one with Ubleys and Mullers! We learned the hard way. It was devastating to find NO UBLEYS at the Savannah branch!
I had a "Waitrose Fig & Orange Blossom Honey yogurt dessert" as a midnight snack, and it was amazing. Rhubarb Ubley-level good! (See food rating list to follow, for full report.)
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
11:20 AM: Just took off from Key West! Turquoise, shallow ocean, transitioning to azure deep. It was chilly & breezy in Florida, but it's warm up in the air, totally clear sky, sun warming my arms. ETA in Grand is a little under 3 hours. Similar tail wind to yesterday! Dean keeps squealing, "Ooooo!" because Havana requested we level at 8,000. He is so silly!
Posted at 11:20:00 AM by Laura W. Petix.
"Cherokee 137AT, contact Havana Center at 133.7!"
...It's almost impossible to understand the Cuban controller!!!
Dean's so excited!!
The Cuban channel is super-staticy. [Dean says it's because they have really weak radios.] Ha! They're talking in Spanish to the fellow Cubans. "Correcto."
Dean keeps squealing!
Dean: "Is that Cuba?? Is that Cuba???" (Pointing at mirage across the ocean.)
11:44 AM: We are now officially in Cuban airspace! The Cuban ATC didn't say "Royer," he said "Roger roger!"
Excellent!! Dean just pretended to say "I like Fidel Castro and his beard" over the radio.
There's a layer of clouds hovering right over Cuba. Dean says it's a security shield.
12:08 PM: We're officially over Cuban soil! There's a little airport below us, and the runway looks nice and black! Now we're above the clouds (they're at about 4,000 feet and we're at 8,000) but there are holes to peek through. Cuba looks nice and green! With baseball fields!
12:32 PM: Bay of Pigs! (Mostly covered by clouds.) Oink! Hi, Triggerfish! WOW. Cuba has beautiful looking water--all turquoise and reefy.
"7AT, eh?" (asking for a response from us)
and
"Roger, Alpha Tango. Thanks."
The Havana Center guy is nice. :-)
The Cayman controllers say "decimal" instead of "point" (as in "133.7"), just like the Cubans, but they speak really clearly!
1:29 PM: Bye, Cuban ATC! Hello, Cayman Approach.
1:33 PM: ATUVI. We're out of Cuban airspace.
We were in Cuban airspace for about 1.5 hours, and actually over Cuba for about .5 hours. The whole flight from Key West to Grand Cayman was slightly under 3 hours. When we landed, we were greeted by the helpful Caymanian lineman who walked us through the Immigrations & Customs process and helped us with our bags. It was all so easy! Tango's tied down right near the tower, so he feels right at home.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Posted at 11:20:00 AM by Laura W. Petix.
11:20 AM: 2nd Flight Day underway! Smooth smoothliness. Super-easy taxiing, calm and clear, and departed ahead of schedule! We even have a slight tailwind!
12:00: Just passed Hilton Head and Savannah! Now we're officially in Georgia. Not a cloud in the sky. This whole part of the country looks very flat and swampy with only patches of developed land. I like the snaky dragons in the land along the ocean. [I have a good photo of this in the video above! BTW, if you "watch in high quality" (an option when you view within YouTube), it's much sharper!] The ocean here looks shallow--I can see sandy patterns beneath the surface.
12:30: !! Nice tailwind! Our airspeed is more than double what it was on the way down!
12:35: Just crossed into Florida! Jacksonville's off our right. I said Hi to Jan's place as we went by even though I don't know exactly where it is. We got a short-cut over the ocean and are zooming right along! Everything's still flat and undeveloped except the tiny patches of city.
1:40: I'm getting a grouper sandwich at Stella's in New Smyrna Beach, Florida! Dano's style, grilled w/tartar sauce! Once we hit Daytona, suddenly everything was built up, with tons of high rises all along the beach. Looks yucky! There were several fires slightly inland, with big gray clouds of smoke rising high and drifting out to the ocean. We could smell one of them as we flew through the smoke.
New Smyrna Beach is a busy airport! Lots going on. The grouper sandwich was v. good, but not as good as a Dano's.
3:25: Wow, we just flew by the Kennedy Space Center [in video at about 0:42 mark], where they launch the space shuttles. It's a big complex out in the middle of nothing. Why are there so many fires in Florida??? Swampy and dry? [Edit: My Gs told me the reason! It's because they intentionally burn sugarcane to harvest it. Yuck. I have some good fire photos in the video above, too.]
3:50: Just passed Tango's birthplace, Vero Beach [0:43!], and took a picture. Oooh, we got a new route instead of the one along the Keys: we're flying right over the Everglades and gulf, cutting straight to Key West. I wonder if we'll see any gators?? Dean keeps chanting excitedly about how we're going to go right over Lake Okeechobee but I have no idea what he's talking about. Apparently it's the big lake in the taily part of Florida.
It's so flat in Florida!! And there are SO many fires! Smoke, smoke, smoke. Tons of farmland in this section--I wonder what they're growing? Pink grapefruits?
A toke-y Okie from Muskogee flyin' his poky Piper Cub over smoky Okeechobee to Pahokee!
Wow--Okeechobee is BIG! It looks like the ocean. I can't take a picture because it won't fit in the camera.
The FL airwaves are so busy! Everything about today is the opposite of Saturday. (Except that both are fun.)
speedy vs. snaily
tailwind vs. headwind
totally clear vs. overcast
uber-bright vs. dark
smooth vs. turbulent
busy airwaves vs. quiet airwaves
shortcuts vs. longcuts
Fields, fields, fields--flat green rectangles as far as the eye can see. And smoke.
Now there are trees, trees, trees. No more crops. There are all these weird things that look like giant anthills, and the sun is reflecting off water in between (you can only tell it's water because of the sun reflections... otherwise it looks brownish green). This must be the Everglades. All the gators and anacondas are hiding between the anthills.
Ocean now. Gulf of Mexico. Royer.
[Evening, at dinner:] Landing in Key West was cool--interesting looking, with all the low pastel buildings. I'm so tired now, not from flying but from nights of cumulative poor sleep. Our place at the Beachside Resort is huge. I keep getting lost. They upgraded us to a three bedroom because something was going on with the rooms we originally reserved. We're getting a "Havana Banana Split" for dessert. :-) I like the food at the restaurant here.
The Havana Banana Split was great. It was cooked rum bananas with brown sugar & macadamia brittle ice cream.
Hi! Charleston was nice! We leave in a few minutes for the airport to begin our flight to Key West. I'll update with some real entries soon (made notes in my blog notebook but didn't have time to type them up yet) but, for now, here are our actual flight paths from Saturday. We had to divert a bit from the original plan because of the huge line of storms all down the East coast.
Posted at 9:58:00 AM by Laura W. Petix.
1) Hartford to Georgetown, Delaware, 2) Georgetown to Wilmington, North Carolina, and 3) Wilmington to Charleston, South Carolina (the weird jagged bits near the end of this one are just a screwup with the FlightAware data; we didn't really do that).
Sunday, November 16, 2008
2:45 PM: Charleston Place is nice! Most importantly, the beds are nice and soft, and the bathroom is bright, with a nice tub. Leisurely relaxy day so far. I was cold during my massage, but I'm good and warmed up now after a long hot shower and bake-y sauna. Dean walked to the Lamp while I was in the spa. I feel all limp and halfway snoozy now, which I never do in the middle of the day. Not sure if it's from my only partly-restful sleep, the massage, or all the southern charm.
Posted at 2:45:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Last night in bed, I could feel the room moving, rocking, like a post-diveboat feeling. From Tango!
6:40 PM: Thoroughbred Club - "Back Stretch Mojito" (excellent) and a cappuccino (pretty good!). Wanted to have tea there, but no tea on Sunday. Still, it was fun hanging out and writing a postcard. First we walked around the Historic District near our hotel and checked out all The Market buildings. Decided Charleston is obsessed with the Civil War, ghosts, she-crabs, and palmettos. Visited two fine hat shops. Grits for breakfast. Fine southern hospitality, y'all.
[Dinner o'clock] Dean is raving about his chef's special treat vegetarian soup. Carrot ginger in a square bowl, w/a great presentation. My fav thing about my lobster appetizer was the fantastic crunchy sea salt!
Dean is a mojito fiend. Charleston Grill's mojito isn't as good as the Back Stretch though. Second course = Nicoise veg tart w/spinach and Lamb Duo (maaaa!) including a lamb loin and a lamb pot pie. (I wasn't crazy about the lamb pot pie... too meaty, like a beef stew.)
Also, arm warmers RULE! [We had a big in-depth revelatory discussion about this, and determined that arm warmers are my ideal piece of clothing because my most vulnerable part is my skinny arms, and that I should have a collection of arm warmers for every occasion, like Dean's hat collection. He declared that he was going to buy me a million arm warmers for Christmas and that I must purchase them for him when we get home. Also, we determined that arm warmers are incredibly versatile, which was illustrated by the fact that I was cold at dinner, dressed up in my sleeveless silk top, so I put on my arm warmers and was no longer cold and, surprisingly, it looked good, not silly. You can even eat while wearing arm warmers, although you have to take them off or scrunch down the hand part to eat bread. I also wore my arm warmers in Tango with my short sleeve top and was the perfect temperature.]
Wrong spellings of our last name encountered so far:
Petrix (most common one)
Pettix (how the front desk spelled it)
Pinnix (how the Charleston Grill spelled it, which incited me to break into uncharacteristic peals of laughter.)
