Category Archives: travel

Sep2

Great chicken recipe

Posted on Friday, September 2, 2011 by Dianne

You don’t even have to write it down. I think I have it memorized after making it a few times. Get a pound or so of extra thin sliced chicken breasts. Mix up two egg whites with two teaspoons of cornstarch with a little lemon juice (the secret sticking ingredients). Then roll them in breadcrumbs, parsley, salt and pepper and grated lemon peel and fry up in olive roll. I did this entire ‘plate’ in 15 minutes. Enough for leftovers!

We are getting ready for our weekend excursion to National Harbor. Never been there, but pretty close. I believe I just read our hotel is fairly new. Sean isn’t sure if he wants to go because of having school work again. I said he could sit in this lovely area and do work as well as he could at the end of the sofa. Sometimes he gets a bit grouchy as he thinks the trips should revolve around him. He threw cold water in my face when we were in Chincoteague a few weeks ago as he thought the area was boring. He got to have his fun the night before. And I remember I stopped going on family trips when I was younger than him! He’s not paying anything this time around. I plan to be listening to music the entire time. Please send some good vibes as my lower back has been bothering all week. It’s awful in the morning and is better as the day goes on. I alternately use heat and ice. Crossing fingers!

Aug22

For the horses

Posted on Monday, August 22, 2011 by Dianne

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Well how could I not talk more about Chincoteague Island, VA? It’s a quaint little town that I’ve (well all of us) have never seen before.
I’ve always been curious about the wild ponies and I shared one of the photos of a herd we saw on the way to the beach. But we got to get up close and personal to a group of horses near the hotel that ranged in age from foal to 30! The sign said they were for sale. The tourists could buy them treats of alfalfa pellets and corn and put it in a few feeding boxes. The horses loved that! The little ones even started to fall asleep with their heads in the boxes.

One of the old mares had lost an eye this past winter. We felt so sorry for him, but he still begged for food. I think he’s in the back.

Their backs are really sunk in!
We thought this group of Mallards were comical. They apparently hang out near the horses and get the tiny pieces of treats. They were laying here resting with their headed tucked under their wings-well of course I stirred them up when I came to take their photo!

This seagull was hanging around the sliding doors of our room. Since he was so persistent, I tossed him out a Pepperidge Farm goldfish.

When he didn’t get anymore, he walked away in defeat:

We checked out and headed to the Museum of Chincoteague which just opened in April of this year. That was an interesting place! I would have loved to have some of the photos for collage. We participated in a scavenger hut to be entered in a drawing. This was a fabulous idea because we really looked at all the exhibits many times. We also got help from other guests.
These were probably the first taxidermy ponies I’ve seen (but have seen other animals in other museums). It was a bit weird to see Misty, the pony from the M. Henry book called ‘Misty of Chincoteague’. I didn’t know Ms. Henry bought Misty and she lived in Illinois for 10 years and went around to schools, etc. The other pony (darker) is Misty’s baby Stormy(both have been deceased for over 30-40 yrs).

A quilt with citizens names dated 1918!

Taxidermy duck:

Leaving Chincoteague, you see all these huge white satellite dishes. NASA has a place there! We zoomed past the museum and turned to go back.

Some fun shots of Sean:

We stopped off in Ocean City for lunch and then headed to Seashell City/Shipwreck museum in Fenwick Island, DE. This is one of those beachy gift shops I would have gone ga-ga for as a 10 yr old. They have tons of everything. I’ll show you want I bought in a later post. We always go upstairs to the ‘free’ Shipwreck Museum. The displays are so nicely done and it’s amazing what the divers find. I think some must have gotten very weathy from their finds.

Little childrens’ cups and saucers.

Dishes encrusted with coral.
Remember riding these outside of the supermarket. The dolphin is so cute!

We stopped several more times-the Rehoboth Beach outlets-went in The Gap store and got a few things; also walked around the Atlantic Book warehouse which is slowly shrinking in size. I only bought 3 books which are very nice. We ate a deep dish pizza at Pizzeria Uno and headed home. Whew! That was a long day on Thursday!
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Today I had to go to the eye doctor to get my eyes, mostly my right eye checked out. Both have been red, but the right one was terrible this morning. It’s inflamed and I have to use steroid drops in it for 2 weeks! I think some hair product was getting in my eye when I was asleep as I have that little bang on the right.
Sean and I will try to get down to right outside of Philadelphia to see the live taping of a local show called The 10! Show on Wednesday. You have to get there by 9:30 a.m., no small task for us. It’s about a 90 minute trip one way. Sean thought it would be a fun thing to do and a bonus for him, ace Phillies pitcher Cliff Lee is one of the guests! They are having a contest on the show’s facebook page and will pick someone tomorrow to introduce Cliff on the show. I mentioned that Sean hasn’t been able to afford to go to a game (which is true) and it would be a treat for him. Crossing fingers.

Aug21

Delmarva trip part 2

Posted on Sunday, August 21, 2011 by Dianne

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I’ve had a few days to unwind now, so I thought I’d continue my vacation post.
On Wednesday we checked out of our Ocean City, MD hotel and headed to the O.C.Inlet area. I love this area as it’s mostly ocean everywhere you look. We got comfy and a young lady lifeguard told us it was a ‘surfer’s beach’ to a certain point. If more than a couple surfers showed up, we were to move behind a certain area. They never did. There is a jetty in this area where people were fishing and a foghorn that goes off every so often.

We are pretty much the whitest people on the beach-lol! We all got some sunburn-Brian and Sean’s was more blotchy on their chests and tummy.

This it the parking for the inlet and boardwalk. Incidently, Sean is on the way home from O.C. from an overnight trip with pals. He stayed in a place that had an indoor skating rink!
So…we stayed here about 1.5 hours and then went for lunch and a little shopping before we headed to Chincoteague, Virginia. Sean’s phone GPS took us down some very rural back roads. We passed several decrepid houses, about 4 ancient cemeteries and acres and acres of corn or marsh. Another home had several ‘bottle trees’ like they have down in the south. I think they weren’t real trees, but like faux Christmas trees that were probably hand done. This is something I only saw for a few seconds.
This is what we saw when we were headed to the island:

We got to our hotel and were pleasantly surprised by this homey place:

The pool was half enclosed and there was a hot tub nearby. I’m the only one who splashed around in the pool!
We headed to the beach as we were early for check in. It’s about 5 minutes or so away. What a beautiful place! Even more ocean than O.C.!

We did see a herd of wild ponies on our way to the beach. That was a treat!

and with a zoom:

I wanted to see the Assateague lighthouse so we stopped there as it was minutes away from the beach. We were told while shopping to get ‘Off!’ by a helpful store clerk and didn’t think to spray ourselves before we started the trek to the lighthouse! I’ve never seen so many hungry mosquitoes. We did get some bites, I think I got about 7 that took a few days to show up. Here is the 140+ year old lighthouse. (We didn’t get to climb it though).

I’ll stop here and finish up tomorrow where I will show you the Chincoteague Museum with taxidermy of the real Misty the pony! I read ‘Misty of Chincoteague’ over 40 yrs ago!
PS-for Zoey!

Aug20

Photo Hunt-Drink

Posted on Saturday, August 20, 2011 by Dianne

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Orangey 4" x 4" Collage card, originally uploaded by DianthusMoon.

This is a collage card I made last year, one of the first 4″ x 4″ ones. I did a woven background and used a ‘drink’ label.
This was my birthday a few years back. It’s the middle of November and I remember it being bitterly cold, like January. We almost had the Mendenhall Inn to ourselves. This was the place my high school had it’s proms back in the day (didn’t go) and always wanted to see it.

I’m ‘almost’ a teetotaler, but like a nice Apricot Sour or Martini once in a while. Just had a strong Peach Martini down in Chincoteague on vacation-here it is!

Aug19

Whirlwind of activities-part one

Posted on Friday, August 19, 2011 by Dianne

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We take short vacations but really jam pack a lot of activities into that time! From stopping at our favorite sandwich place in Rehoboth Beach to seeing something new-we keep ourselves busy. When we got to Rehoboth, the sky looked like this:

It did start to rain, so we wondered into an arcade where the guys were attracted to the baseball games:

Brian has a good pitching arm from being on a team at one of his jobs. : )
Here is a sign to tell you about Rehoboth. Both Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb have ties (Kathie Lee’s parents parents had an inn there and Hoda’s mom recently bought a place there-they just had an episode there a few weeks ago)

Of the various beaches we visit, I love the little stores that line this area the best. Isn’t this a pretty pavillion?

We then hopped in the car (the rain was steadier then) and headed to Ocean City. It’s about 30 miles just to get to the outskirts of Ocean City, Maryland. We were staying on 13th and it starts about block 150.
Sean picked out this place and paid for one night. It was a good location, but we had a small room with double beds. I judged from the bathroom tiles it was built in the 1950s (as was the first apartment we lived in that had similar ones) and I was right-1954!

BEACH PLAZA HOTEL– Built in 1954 by Ethel Griffin Kelley and her son Harry Kelley, a former mayor of Ocean City. Richard Nixon and his family spent many vacations here. Bryce and Shirley Phillips have owned and operated the hotel since 1970.

They are renovating it and the lobby and restaurant are very lovely.

I’m not sure what the story is behind these ostriches on the front porch. There were plenty of rocking chairs to enjoy the beach scene too.

How clever was it to make the porch tables out of old Singer sewing machine tables?

We went down to check out the beach. Right before this photo was taken, a big wave came up and splashed my newly changed pants. What a shock!

That night we walked about 10 blocks! Whew! We had a pizza dinner that wasn’t too great and then Brian and I stayed in and Sean went to the young people’s night club. He rolled in about 1:30 am as he had to take a bus to the place. We finally got to enjoy some beach time on Wednesday. I’ll continue in another post.

Aug14

Roasting and Baking

Posted on Sunday, August 14, 2011 by Dianne

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I have some scrumptious Roma tomatoes roasting in not only their juices, but also, olive oil, a bit of garlic plus salt and pepper. Smells really good in here! I plan to freeze some, but also use some with pasta. The Romas (plum) are about twice what we normally get! Glad we moved the garden over!

Then I wanted to use a zucchini, maybe two, but alas, this recipe only called for 1 lousy cup. I am doing good using the zucchini anyway!
Quick to mix up with a base of butter and confectioner’s sugar. Glad I had some parchment paper (forget I did) as they came off of it nicely.

They are a bit crunchy from the cornmeal…not alot of zucchini taste, but good!

We’ve had a rainy weekend down here. We all did a lot of sitting and vegetating yesterday. Today I got my clothes ready for a little trip this week coming up. It took me an hour to decide and I think I need more than a tote bag, but it will do I guess. Brian is the one who has problems packing, like remembering to locate his swim trunks. I was making him try things on which he didn’t like. I like to have one dressy outfit, though not many people dress up to eat out. Shame on them!

Aug4

The fun continues

Posted on Thursday, August 4, 2011 by Dianne

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(The above video is 25 yrs old-Sean will be 25 in October!)
Longwood Garden hosts a number of popular singers and performers in their outdoor ampitheatre. A few years ago we saw Boz Scaggs. This year we are seeing Bruce Hornsby and the Noisemakers! A pal from high school said he is really good live, so I decided to get the tickets today. I don’t think there are more than 300 seats, so it’s a small venue. This is after the couple of days at the different beach areas and before Beatlemania. My mom wants to take a daytrip to Atlantic City near her birthday. It’s about 85 or so miles one way for us, but I remember doing it a few times, once when Sean was little. My high school class also has a reunion in Ocean City, NJ either late September or early October. We haven’t been going because of our vehicles, so now since we have more reliable ones, we can hopefully go.
After Beatlemania, I want to have a big yard sale (gotta pay for all these fun things). I haven’t had one for years. I tried the thrift shop, but it isn’t worth driving back and worth there for a few dollars of sales.

Aug2

Beatlemania!

Posted on Tuesday, August 2, 2011 by Dianne

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Today I bought the deal to attend this:

I found it through Living Social. They could have fun deals in your area! If I can get three other people to buy the same deal-mine will be free! Wow, that would be nice. I sold a few gold necklaces that I will never wear and have more than enough to go to this for a few days with Brian. We really need it. Carole went to the Elvis event and influenced me greatly to go to this one. I hope it will be cooler near the harbor. It’s about 2 hours from here. I just love taking photos and this will be great. We have several Beatle t-shirts. We should take the Cruiser! : )

Beatles fans the world over Come Together for this Labor Day weekend tribute festival on the banks of National Harbor—and we’ve got you covered with a two-day reserved pass for two people, including one night at the Gaylord National Resort—just minutes from DC and Old Town Alexandria.

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Zoey asked how I am liking my Kindle-I enjoy it very much! I’ve only downloaded freebies from Kindle though. I read two books on Kindle and then read two ‘hard copy’ novels as I have so many of them to read! It’s so portable and easy to charge by either plugging it in the wall or computer.

Jun12

Sightseeing in Baltimore

Posted on Sunday, June 12, 2011 by Dianne

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Sightseeing in Baltimore 4" x 4" Collage card, originally uploaded by DianthusMoon.

I certainly had to make a collage card honoring Baltimore. My guys are great at grabbing brochures, so it was the assembling part that was the challenging. I had a rip off calendar with ships, so that came in useful.
We had a good rain last night, so the ground was nice and soft. I’m starting garden maintenance. Well…maybe. Sean has had a garden for years and lately he is mostly buying the plants and only putting in a few. It was looking bad, so I went to town and planted 18 impatiens he had bought plus a few marigolds! That took me away from the veggie corral which needs a little attention right now. Maybe I’ll do that tomorrow.
The lilies are starting to bloom now along with the Red Hot Pokers. It’s nice to have perennials blooming each month.
Brian came out and planted a few pots of perennials that were hanging around for a few weeks. I have some annuals to finish planting and need to finish with a clean-up project on the back patio.
Busy busy!

Jun5

The view from the 27th floor & a few favorites

Posted on Sunday, June 5, 2011 by Dianne

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The view from the 27th floor, originally uploaded by DianthusMoon.

At the top of Baltimore’s World Trade Center at the Inner Harbor. I’m proud of this photo.

A view from the walk ways of the Baltimore Aquarium. Those are paddle boats.

The Civil War ship ‘The Constellation’ showing it’s masts.

Sean with Aquarium behind him.

Fort McHenry with harbor in background

Young lady building a fire to wash clothes at Fort McHenry

Fort McHenry became famous when the British tried to attack Baltimore during the War of 1812. When the bombardment began on September 13, 1814, there were 1,000 soldiers defending the fort. Some were federal soldiers who were stationed at Fort McHenry all the time. Many were volunteers from the city of Baltimore. Their commanding officer was Major George Armistead. For 25 hours, the British bombarded Fort McHenry, but the fort’s artillery fire kept the British away. Baltimore was saved.

Captain George Armistead-only lived to be 38.
Francis Scott Key was in a ship and saw the ‘Star Bangled Banner’ still flying, thus inspiring the American National Anthem which became the ‘official’ national anthem in 1931.