Pittsburgh Bound

We left Massachusetts in the rain and arrived in Pittsburgh 9 hours later in the snow.  Nothing of significance to report today; there was very little traffic, only a few kooks, and dramatic skies. 

It was good news on the NE Patriots front as they won against the KC Chiefs and advanced to the divisional playoffs.  Sweetness complained throughout the entire game about how rude it was of us to cheer the tossing around of a pigskin.  She did do her share of work, though, with some relief driving.

But then as soon as we hit the hotel, she started celebrating and is now no use to anyone.

On the Road Again

Coast to coast, big cities, little cities, trees, deserts, mountains and wide open spaces, you guys, yinz, and y'alls, symphonic, country, blues and opera here we go. It will be a full day of driving tomorrow to reach Pittsburgh where we will spend two nights.  

Lucky is staying with Margaret while we are away, studying law and preparing for the Bar exam.  

Blackie, the wild Black Beast

Maud, the Fake Wild Beast

Our neighbor John is feeding Maud, Blackie and the 2 raccoons.  He's also watering plants and checking for leaks.  He is the best neighbor eva'.  

My beautiful Aunt Juanita called to wish us bon voyage.  Thank you, my dear.  We will indeed have a good voyage.  Good night all, until tomorrow night. 

San Diego Bound

Sweetness Hotstuff

Sweetness and we are done with the New England winter.  Five days is enough already.  We're loading the car with enough chocolate to take us the two weeks to San Diego.  Departure is set for January 16 with stops in Pittsburgh, Nashville, Memphis, Dallas, Carlsbad, Tucson and Yuma.  Our chosen theme is music performance.  Look forward to reports on the Pittsburgh and Dallas Symphonies, Nashville's and Memphis' country venues (saloons mostly), and the Arizona Opera in Tucson. I can't wait to climb down the 75 stories into Carlsbad Cavern.  Should I never make it out, please send relief chocolate.  We will settle into an Imperial Beach condo for February and March.  Our toes can reach the surf from the condo deck where we plan to toast the sunset each evening glorifying in the fact that it doesn't set until after 6pm.  Our greater plans upon leaving San Diego are still unsettled but do include a route north through Wyoming, Montana, and South Dakota with stops in the National Parks. May the Force be with you and us.

The Burren and Cliffs of Moher

Cliffs of Moher

We left Galway today traveling through County Clare on our way to Killarney in County Kerry.  We passed through an area known as The Burren. Burren is derived from the Gaelic meaning "Stoney place". We have left the bogs behind and find ourselves in a moonscape of huge limestone crags. But unlike Connemara there is a diverse array of plants including wild roses and orchids which live in the limestone crevices where heat is generated by the limestone. Adjacent to these plants can be Alpine plants. 

The Cliffs of Moher, also in County Clare, are majestic formations towering 700' above the Atlantic. While windy it was clear and dry. We walked beyond the park which had built a safety wall since Wayne was last here 38 years ago onto a farmer's land where we were completely free to wander over the edge. 

To get to Killarney we took a ferry across the Shannon, the largest river in Ireland. Killarney is a market town known for its green hills, laughs, and the Killarney National Park. Upon arrival we immediately went for a ride in a jaunting car also called a jarvey, a traditional Irish horse-drawn carriage, for a tour of the Park. Our driver, Michael, wasn't top of the line. His banter was scripted, and he took 2 phone calls on the short ride. But we laughed with him and the scenery was gorgeous. Clancy was our horse, a type of Clydesdale. We dined buffet style in the hotel tonight. 

Thoor Ballylee and Galway

With some reluctance we departed Coopershill. While we had initially planned to revisit Sligo for a trip to The Cat and the Moon shop, it became a necessity when we realized Wayne left his credit card at The Embassy on Saturday night. Fortunately, the staff found it, we shopped a bit and then started for Thoor Ballylee. Thoor Ballylee was WB Yeats tower home with his wife Georgie. Here he wrote many poems about living in the tower and the area.  It was here that his patron, Lady Augusta Gregory, dramatist, folklorist and co-founder of the Abbey Theatre also lived at what is now Coole Park, a 1000 acre nature preserve. 

The Tower was closed for the season, but we enjoyed a walk around the space. From there we went to Coole Park.  Unfortunately our walk to the lake did not reveal 9 and 40 swans. But we did find the autograph tree, a large beach inscribed by WB Yeats, Jack Yeats, and George Bernard Shaw among others. 

Wayne at Thoor Ballylee

Selfie at Thoor Ballylee

Autograph Tree at Coole Park

The remainder of the day was spent driving to Galway, checking into the Ardilaun Hotel, returning the car and having an early dinner. There was a pub at Eyre Square with music where we enjoyed a smoked fish plate and beef stew. We grabbed a cab back to the hotel, and got some tourist information from the cabbie. He suggests Thaffs and Ca Colin(sp) for music and food, the Museum and the Spanish arch and Main Salt Hill, and Oscars for oysters and mussels.

Knocknarea and Donney Rock

Climbing Kkocknarea with Sligo in the distance.

Today we climbed to the top of Knocknarea, near Sligo.  A large flat mesa, it seems to have been a major place of ritual and meeting in the Neolothic era. There is a large cairn on top believed to be the grave of Queen Maeve, 200' long and 40' wide. It is believed to date around 3000 BCE.  WB Yeats refers to Knocknarea as "The land of heart's desire". It took us about 40 minutes to climb the 1078 feet, some of it rather steep, rocky and treacherous to an old lady (or so I'm told). The views along the way of Sligo and Lough Gill are spectacular.  It was very windy at the summit, and we sought the leeward side of the cairn to have our picnic where there was a fine view of the Atlantic Ocean. We ran into David, another guest at Coopershill. 

Wayne approaching the summit and Queen Maeve's Cairn

Back in the car we headed for Dooney Rock the setting for Yeats' poem, The Fiddler of Dooney. The small dale there that fronts Lough Gill was deep and green. We were satisfied to simply reach the Lough, listen to the lake water sounds lapping low on the shore and skip the kilometer walk to the rock. 

Wayne in the glen approaching Lough Gill

Dinner tonight was again at Coopershill. We asked David to join us. He was entertaining enough. A publisher of English origin who now lives in Stockholm, he had a great deal to say about technology, Jeff Bezos and the demise of the printed page. The fare was duck tonight. 

Yeats and Sligo

Both of us awoke this morning telling stories of waking during the night because we heard or saw someone in the room. It was totally freaky. Wayne said he actually saw someone near the door. I simply heard the door open. Separately both of us thought we were so jet lagged that we were dreaming and fell back asleep. But now sharing our experiences we're thinking......da da da da.  Simon says no one has ever reported ghosts in the house. 

Following breakfast we picked up our Coopershill picnic lunch and headed to Sligo in search of WB Yeats. Sligo is bigger than your average village with about 20,000 people and seaport town situated on the Atlantic coast. Sligo means abundance of shells so named due to the richness of sea life and the many large minions found there. It is also rich in culture and the home and burial site of Yeats. We were fortunate to find a young man in the Yeats House and gallery who showed us drawings by John Yeats and offered us maps and information. We walked a bit in the area past a very stylized statue of Yeats, found the local museum with Irish history and some small works by John Yeats. 

Yeats House in Sligo

Wayne with Yeats

We drove to a point on Lough Gill where we could see the lake Isle of Innisfree and ate our picnic lunch aided by the company of a very friendly black lab. The lake was a beautiful, clear blue. After, we went to Drumcliff, located at the foot of Benbulbin Mountain.  There is the little church where Yeats' grandfather was pastor and Yeats and Georgie are buried. 

Lake Isle of Innisfree behind.

Cast a cold Eye

On Life, on Death.

Horseman, pass by!

Our final destination, Knocknarea, proved too much for the old gps. We tried a couple of routes trying to see the cairn of Queen Maeve of whom Yeats wrote "The Old Age of Queen Maeve". Giving up we headed back to Coopershill for a rest. 

This evening we returned to Sligo for dinner at the Embassey Steak House, a mediocre meal. I had my first Guinness there which I described as, "Guiness! The beer that makes Bud Wiser taste good".  The Embassy is on John F Kennedy Parade which runs along side the River Garavogue. Many other pubs, restaurants and shops are here on this rapidly running river. 

Trying our first Guinness

Boston to Galway to Sligo

We had a fairly easy flight from Logan to Shannon. After landing we took a bus from Shannon to Galway with a 30 minute layover in Innis. In Innis it was dark, drizzling and cold with only a bus shelter to stand under. We were all alone and hoping the bus would really be coming. We had passed many houses on the way to Innis none of which had lights on even though it was 7am by then. But then slowly people began to arrive. By the time the Galway bus arrived, we were about 20. The bus from Innis to Galway picked up a lot of young people either going to work or school. I thought it was expensive for them, 10 euros one way. The Galway City bus station was next to Eyre Square, a big green park, where we found Budget Car Rental. We got the car, dropped our luggage and went next door for a hearty Irish breakfast and coffee. Next we walked to the local shopping center where we met Oscar Wilde and got a SIM card for Wayne's phone. 

We then set off for Sligo and Coopershill B&B. What an amazing place Coopershill is. Simon, the proprietor, is the 7th generation O'Hara to live here. Built in 1774, it sits deep in the old woods surrounded by sheep and deer fields, orchards and a river. The house is a 3 storied Georgian stone structure filled to the brim with taxidermied animals, paintings, medieval weapons. Tonight we had a 4 course dinner that included venison and Irish cheeses. The deer are raised on the property. 

Coopershill B&B

Earlier today at Simon's suggestion we took a short trip to find an ancient (5000 year old) burial site. We ended up at a farmer's house at the end of a very narrow road. He let us park and with great caution sent us up a steep hill filled with much cow dung. We never found the burial site but did get a beautiful view.

Wayne in search of neolithic burial passages.

Dinner tonight was at the Inn and prepared by Christina, Simon's wife. Two other couples and a single man were in the parlor sitting in front of a roaring fire where we gathered before dinner. . We were virtually ignored although I said a very cheerful hello as we entered. Shortly thereafter Simon called us into the dining room. We had venison with a sumptuous cream sauce. There were Irish cheeses and lemon curd for desert.

Gasparilla

Wayne at Gasparilla Festival of Arts, Tampa, FL

The first of March and spring as definitely arrived.  The sun felt warm and wonderful on our skin as we sat out for Tampa and the Gasparilla Arts Festival.  The Festival is one of several events that orbit the annual Gasparilla Pirate Festival.  Jose Gasparilla is a mythical Spanish pirate that lived in and plundered the Tampa area.  Since 1904 there have been parades (much akin to the Mardi Gras parades) and events celebrating the apocryphal event. To read more about this event please see the Wikipedia article.  The Festival of Arts hosts hundreds of artists and offers $75,000 in prizes, first prize equating $15,000.  The art offerings run the gamut from kitsch to masterful.  Sunday was marred for many artists because of the mud invasion.  You can watch a video and read more about this here. We were not deterred and walked every corridor.  There were 2 music venues, one a folk venue and the other a Broadway offering.  A tenor at the Broadway setting was just magnificent in his rendition of Les Miserables songs. Sculling was happening on the river.  The event is adjacent to the Tampa Museum.  We took a quick tour of the very small museum where their Classical holdings were on view.  After, we drove over to Ybor City to check it out.  It is much larger and really a wonderful street of restaurants and shops.  We will definitely go back there.  

Fins and Feathers

Starfish Market, Cortez, FL

It was a raining and mild today, 2nd day in a row I did not walk.  Wayne the ever vigilant went to the Community Center, and I painted.  It was so dark with rolling gray clouds that I didn't see well enough to paint for long.  Around 5pm we went to Cortez to buy fish and clams for tonight's dinner. This is the coolest little town.  It is completely unaffected by the influx of affluent tourists and retirees.  The Starfish Market has very fresh catch, neat art and t-shirts.  One can also dine out back on the deck adjacent to fishing boats and a variety of large birds.   

It is the last day of the month and the Saturday that new renters arrive.  They were everywhere evident by the erratic driving, hordes of children with elderly (grandparents, I assume).  We stopped in Publix for basics and bird food (chicken).  The hordes were stocking up on all that nutritious vacation food: candy, candy, candy, chips, chips, chips, soda, soda, soda.  They were all walking around with their heads in the clouds and sauntering like life was grand, which it is.  

Pelican at Cortez Starfish Market

Eat Here

5 Lakeview Place, Anna Maria, FL

Following a normal day of painting, computering, and exercising we went to Eat Here, the affordable version of The Beach Bistro.  Both are owned by the same proprietors and both have excellent fare.  The Beach Bistro is situated on the beach with beautiful views and lavish interior accommodations.  Eat Here is in a plaza next to a dentist's office.  It does offer a pleasant interior with great paintings and a long, raised community table.  Last year we ate several times at Eat Here and were able to make reservations.  Reservations are no longer taken.  I think it is part of the "We are great and you have to wait like everyone else to have our fabulous atmosphere and food" approach to alternative advertising. Against the advice of Martha and Oleg we went at 6pm, the height of elderly dining, and were informed it was an hour wait. During that hour we made great friends with a couple from New Hampshire who have been coming here for 15 years.  His brother was with them and knows people in Marion at Burr Brothers Boats.  There were also 2 women from Tennessee who have lived in Little Rock and Pine Bluff.  All of us were lamenting the very bad winter in New England and worry about our roofs.  It was a most interesting and uplifting hour.  Oh, and yes the food was worth the wait.  

Fog, Sun, Fog Again

Gulf of Mexico

The fog was thick today.  Despite this, the beach was filled with people as it was quite warm.  

Since my main objective with writing this blog is to act as an accounting for Wayne and me to remember places and events, I'm going to concentrate on our evening.  We went to Martha's and Oleg's in Bradenton Beach for sunset hors d'oeuvre, dinner at the Blue Marlin and a screening of my Costa Rica video.  The fog actually lifted around 6pm and we were hopeful for a beautiful sunset lighting some spectacular clouds.  Unfortunately, the horizon was shielded by a large, long blue cloud that we thought was sky.  We walked to Bridge St where the Blue Marlin is located.  By the name you could guess they specialize in fresh fish.  Our waitress was from Western MA and chatted with us about all things Berkshire.  We all liked our dishes.  I had black grouper Provencal and Wayne had clams and fish bouillabaisse.  All 4 of us shared 2 deserts:  key lime creme brûlée  and chocolate pate.  I would give it a 3 out of 4.  Service and atmosphere was a 4.  My dish was more like a 3.  The sides were black-eyed peas over rice that tasted like the peas were reconstituted and haricot verde that were over cooked a bit.  Also, I had asked for red snapper and got black grouper.

Back at the condo I presented my video to accolades.  It is too large to upload here.  So I will offer my beach walk video instead.

Lunch with Friends

Harry, the Great Blue Heron

Janet and Jeff Hathaway come up from Fort Myers today.  We spent some time on the deck talking about life in Florida and gated community living.  Harry offered some entertainment.  We ate out on the Anna Maria City Pier, our first time there this year.  As I remembered, it's not the best dining in town.  My shrimp and rice dish had so much sweetener in it to be on the level of a dessert.  But the pier is nice to be on.  People were catching fish, a musician was playing the guitar and singing, the pelicans were preening.  After lunch we walked up and down Pine Street.  The weather was warm and delightful.  

This evening we watched the Oscars for about 5 hours.  We had seen Birdman, The Budapest Hotel and Boyhood.  Having not seen the other nominees for best picture, we were happy with the choice of Birdman. Now we have a host of unseen movies to fill our nights.  

Let The Sun Shine, Let The Sun Shine

Sunset Lakeview Place

Today was the reason we love this place, perfect weather with temps in the 70's. After we lolled around the house until noon, we both exercised.  I walked the beach which was packed with February vacationers.  The town has really picked up in the last week with visitors.  We walked to the Sandbar for lunch.  There was a 30 minute wait in which we had a beer while sitting out on the beach benches.    A game of pool (Wayne is killing me nightly) finished off the afternoon.  We are watching the Oscar nominees nightly in anticipation of Sunday's award ceremony.  Tonight's performance is Whiplash.

Wherein We Toast the Sunset with Friends

Gulf of Mexico, Bradenton Beach, FL

Today was unusually cold. only reaching the 50's.  Last evening there was a frost warning.  We persevered through the cold and after a typical Anna Maria day of Community Center workouts, feeding the birds, and painting, we went to Martha's and Oleg's in Bradenton Beach to have hors d'oeuvre and toast the sunset.  Their second floor condo faces the gulf and is so close that at times it appears one is on a ship.  It was a short walk to French Table where we had dinner.  Three of us had the moules et frites, and Oleg had roasted chicken.  No one found their dishes to be extraordinary as we always expect French cuisine to be; Martha said their previous dining experience was better.  The owners are from Provence having been here only since October.  Their kids roam around helping and being cute French children.  Back at O&M's we had dessert and solved a lot of the world's problems.  

Wherein Figaro Gets Married

Female Cardinals, Oil on Board, 8"x8"

I have been able to paint on this trip.  Rather than trying to adapt my abilities to watercolor, I simply packed my oils and prepared boards.  I have 8 boards and am currently working on 5 of them.  I'm set up next to the large sliding doors.  The light is good, but I miss the accommodations of my studio.  

Tonight we went to the Sarasota Opera with Oleg and Martha.  We picked them up at 5pm during a deluge and drove over an hour due to heavy traffic.  Reservations at Selva Grill in Sarasota were for 6:15; we arrived on the dot. The Selva Grill is a Peruvian restaurant.  They served the most delicious sauces with small plates and ceviches.  Unfortunately, our waitress was less than attentive, and we arrived late for the opera. The overture to Mozart's Marriage of Figaro was playing, thus we were seated in the back row waiting for Act III to take our seats. The performance was so delightful, playful in the way Mozart can be.  The sets, 4 of them, were magnificent. 

St Petersburg and the Dali Museum

Dali Museum, St. Petersburg, FL

We took off around noon for St Petersburg and the Dali Museum.  It was a bright and warm day.  To get to St Pete from Anna Maria, one drives over the skyline bridge.  This is one of the most beautiful bridges I've been on.  Also, it is an engineering marvel.  From the top one can see St. Pete, Tampa and also Anna Maria Island.  The beginning sections of the old bridge have been left for fishing.  

Skyline Bridge viewed from our car.

The Dali Museum is located on Old Tampa Bay and adjacent to the Mahaffay Theater on beautiful grounds.  The garden is designed in a Surrealistic manner with melting benches, a giant mustache and little surprising sculptures.  As soon as we arrived we realized it would be crowded; there was no parking remaining in the Museum garage.  We found parking near enough, though, and walked to the Museum to be greeted by a line that stretched around the side.  Wayne reminded me of my NMWA pass with reciprocity.  Sure enough the Dali was on the list and we were able to skip the line, the outside line.  Inside proved to have its own line that took about 20 minutes.  The place was packed everywhere:  shop, cafe, bathrooms and most of all the Picasso/Dali exhibit.  It was so difficult we decided to come back another day.  We stopped at the cafe for a delicious Cuba sandwich in the delightful garden.  By then it was 4:30 and the place seemed to have emptied.  So we went back to the exhibit and were able to enjoy it.  

The Picasso works were few and not all that intriguing.  One nice work was the Portrait of Olga, Picasso's first wife.  I was unfamiliar with the work. It's always nice to be surprised by something unknown.  Dali was a Fascist, which makes for a nasty taste when viewing his work.  But as George Orwell said, "One ought to be able to hold in one's head simultaneously the two facts that Dali is a good draftsman and a disgusting human being.  The one does not invalidate or, in a sense, affect the other."

Olga by Pablo Picasso

Tropicana Field

Wayne outside the Dali Museum

The Dali Museum and Garden

St. Petersburg from the Dali Museum

Birds, Art and Piers

Great White Egret, Lakeview Place, Anna Maria, Florida

Generally our days begin with the illegal activity of feeding the birds.  That task takes on a whole new meaning in here.  We don't need to fill a feeder with seed.  No, indeed, we only need to have some sardines on hand.  Wayne has been buying frozen sardine bait (he doesn't have the heart to feed them living beings) and offering one fish per day.  Our visitors include Harry, the juvenile great blue heron, Leroy, the alpha male great blue, Harriet, the great egret, and a small to be named snowy egret.  It's sometimes a battle when they appear all at once.  

Tonight we were to meet Martha and Oleg at our place to have a beer at The Sandbar and watch the sunset prior to attending the art opening at The Gallery on Pine.  We decided it was too cold for the sunset and headed straight for the gallery.  The show was a grouping of Cuban artists' works, all of which had a surrealistic overtone.  Oleg bought a collagraph by??  The works were very interesting and very narrative.  

We had dinner at the Rod and Reel Pier Restaurant.  The waitress was a hoot, a take off on Seinfeld's soup nazi, the small space crowded with tables.  But the food was fantastic, the wine delicious.  We came back to the house for key lime pie.