Adventures
Two days in the Berkshires
In our continuing effort to take vacations-within-our-vacation, Ooma and I traveled to the Berkshires region of western Massachusetts this past weekend to stay with my college roommate, Hutch (the guy with the trees sprouting from his left ear in the photo), and his wife Linda. They also invited 3 other couples, all of the men … Continue reading
Three days in Portsmouth NH
Ooma treated me to three nights at The Hotel Portsmouth – a “boutique” hotel in Portsmouth NH. It is a lovely old building with updated rooms and all the amenities that one would expect from a superior hotel – tile shower, newer fixtures, a large flat-screen TV and a very comfortable king-size bed. Our room … Continue reading
4 nights, 3 days in Staten Island
Our original plan for our visit to New York City (a place that Ooma has never visited) called for 2 days touring Manhattan via the Big Red Bus hop-on, hop-off routes and one day driving to Wave Hill and Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. But then, as mentioned previously, Ooma came down with … Continue reading
Charleston SC
I have been to Charleston several times, but this was Ooma’s first visit. It was fun being able to share some of my favorite places in one of my favorite cities with my favorite woman. We dined at Tommy Condon’s (fried green tomatoes for an appetizer, heirloom tomato caprese salad with shrimp for Ooma and … Continue reading
St Marys GA
Our first stop on the TN8 was Kingsland GA. But the real attraction was the nearby town of St Marys – a town that Ooma and I visited today. This is a beautiful, quiet little town on the banks of the St Marys River and home to the Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base. Ooma has … Continue reading
Fireworks!
The COVID-19 pandemic killed a lot of fun activities over the past 2 years. One of the victims was 4rh of July fireworks. Most fireworks displays in 2020 and 2021 were simply canceled. And the July weather in southwest Florida is usually not conducive to fireworks – or so I have heard, as I have … Continue reading
Memphis Lightning
Last weekend Ooma and I attended the Memphis Lightning concert at the Buckingham Blues Bar “back yard” – an outdoor venue that I had not seen before. This is a venue with a capacity in excess of 1,000 and so is used when there they have a high-profile featured artist. Memphis Lightning, a 3-piece “rocking … Continue reading
Drag queen bingo
Yes, “drag queen bingo” is a real thing, at least in Ft Myers. It is a popular dinner show option. Ooma and I went to Drag Queen Bingo night at The Standard restaurant, had a good meal and an evening of bingo and raunchy fun. I was the big winner, too, winning both the first … Continue reading
The Morse Museum
Ooma and I had a free day in Orlando last weekend and we chose to visit, at Ooma’s suggestion, the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art in Winter Park FL. It was a good choice. It has works by other American artists, but the thing that makes this museum unique is the collection of … Continue reading
The IBPA Ben Franklin Awards
Ooma and I traveled to Orlando this past weekend. It was partly just a weekend getaway, but the raison d’etre for the trip was the IBPA Ben Franklin Awards. I was, in effect, a “proxy finalist” as I was representing David Benjamin and Last Kid Books. Fat Vinny’s Forbidden Love was nominated in the “best … Continue reading