St. Kitts is a relatively small island in the Caribbean. It is green and lush with the Caribbean Sea on one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other.The average high is 84,the average low is 75- year round! We are lucky enough to own a tiny bit of this paradise through The Marriott Time Share system. This year we reserved Nov 14- Nov 21st. Since our unit is a 3 bedroom villa we invited our good friends Bill and Betty Shively, and Mike and Diane Koughan to join us.

Bill and Betty

 

Mike and Diane

Getting to this Island Paradise is relatively easy from Florida: A 2 1/2 hour drive to Miami on Friday, a 2 1/2 hour flight on Saturday,and a 15 minute  taxi ride to the Marriott  Resort complex.

You know you are having fun when 7 days seems like just a couple. Lounging by the pool, Island tours with friendly taxi drivers, golfing on the Atlantic,dining from beach bars to elegant restaurants. The best way to describe all of this,I think is with a photo album so here goes:

Casual Dining on the Beach

 

 

Our tour guide

 

Doug's Closet?

 

Man's Best Friend

 

Lunch at a Sugar Plantation

 

Water Aerobics

 

Or Not

 

Three Beautiful Women

 

Watch Out PGA

 

Crucial Putt

 

It can't be that Bad!

 

Heavenly Golf Course!!

Nature at Her Best

That finally brings us to the present: the day before Thanksgiving. Let us all take the time to be grateful for the many rich blessings in our lives: Our friends,our families, and this beautiful world we live in. Happy Thanksgiving everyone. God Bless.

How could so much happen in three weeks! Our last post  ended three weeks ago as we were preparing for Marti’s Homecoming week.After a beautiful drive from Savannah to Macon ,with all the Fall colors ablaze we had lunch with Arty and Mel,Marti’s brother and sister-in-law, followed by an evening with Marti’s Mom and other brother Tommy. The following morning we headed to Athens,the Home of UGA.

 Friday night in Athens is rather festive,especially with a home football game on Saturday. Meeting up with our Bulldog friends,Lee and Linda-you remember them from last Saturday’s game in Jacksonville,we had our own private party in our hotel room.

Decorated Hotel Room

Then after a wonderful dinner and a few glasses of wine we found one the many Bulldog statues to pose with:

Saturday’s alarm clock seemed like the middle of the night! Well, maybe 430am is the middle of the night! Off to the practice field by 6am fot the Alumni Band rehearsal. How can you organize 350 past Redcoat band members in a couple of hours not only to play the music but to march in various formations on the football field. Amazingly, it all comes together and really looks and sounds great.

Where's Marti?

 

There she is

After a wonderful brunch it was off to Sanford Stadium where we joined 97,000 other Bulldog fans,also wearing red,of course.

Pregame Show

 

There she is!

After the pregame show the football game was somewhat anticlimactic since Georgia usually schedules a team they can beat. Poor Tennessee Tech was the victim 38-0.

Sunday and mondaywe were on the road back to our home in Florida. Needless to say, we have not spent much time there in the last couple of months. It would be nice to spend some time there ,BUT WAIT! We’re not done yet! After 3 days unpacking,doing laundry,checking mail and re-packing we’re off again! Going back to the Islands!

 

After checking into the Azalea Inn, we enjoyed our champagne and chocolates. Joey, the Yorkie, tried to enjoy them with us! His Mom came to take him home when she was ready to leave for the evening. We decided to walk down to the waterfront and find a place for dinner. Before we left however, we spent some time with another couple from Ohio who were also staying at the B&B. They were celebrating their anniversary and were going out to Tybee Island for dinner. We had a wonderful walk through town and ended up at “Tubby’s” restaurant where we enjoyed some fried seafood, definitely NOT on the health food list!

The next day in Savannah was wonderful. I had noticed a little disgruntled-ness in my husband after breakfast. We analyzed the problem and realized that the lack of physical activity was bothering us both. We put on our workout clothes and went for a wonderful power walk through Savannah. Our main destination was Forsyth Park with a beautiful old fountain. After that we just walked around the neighborhoods for about an hour.

 

Forsyth Park

 

 

Afterwards we showered and got ready for our 90 minute trolley ride through Savannah. We enjoyed the ride so much! Our driver Andytook us to many interesting sites and gave an overview of the city’s historical areas. Someday, when we come back, we will take the all day trolley ride where you can get on and off the trolley after visiting some interesting houses. On the way back to our B&B, we stopped at one house that is supposed to be one of the most haunted houses in Savannah. We didn’t really care about the haunting–we just enjoyed the architecture and the stories of the families who once lived there. I was  reminded of my grandfather’s house in Atlanta which was also a Greek Revival type home, built in the 1800’s.

Back in our room, we had another wonderful time with Joey who came to greet us.

 

Doug & Joey on the couch

 

That night we went back into downtown Savannah for a wonderful dinner at “Alligator Soul”.  We had oysters for appetizers. I had sea scallops over collard greens & blackeyed peas. As I write this, I am still wishing I hadn’t left that last scallop on my plate! Doug had Red Grouper. It was truly an extaordinary meal and the service was wonderful. Since we had gone to dinner early, we were back in plenty of time to enjoy the DVD of “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” which takes place in Savannah. What a treat to watch this movie that was filmed in the very places we had visited earlier today!

Savannah is definitely a place we would love to visit again.

Tomorrow—on to Atlanta to see Arty & Mel and  Mama & Tommy!

 

 

 

Wow, we’re so far behind in our postings. We’ve just been having so much fun that we haven’t been able to sit at the computer and write! Actually as I write this, we are back home in Punta Gorda. After being away for over two weeks, the priority has been paying bills and catching up on other office work. But now maybe I have time to throw in a post.

We said goodbye to our friends in Jacksonville after breakfast Sunday morning. Lee and Linda are heading back to their home on Lake Lanier. Mike and Sharon are going home to Alpharetta. Doug and Marti are headed back South one hour to St. Augustine for a couple of days. We had a nice easy drive down to St. A, stopping at the outlet mall on the way. Would you believe a Tommy Bahama outlet store??? We did a slight bit of damage there! Before checking into our Bed & Breakfast, we had a great Mexican lunch at the Acapulco Restaurant in St. A.

We checked into the Bayfront Marin House–a charming bed and breakfast. Our room was overlooking the IntraCoastal Waterway with the St.A. lighthouse in the background. We had a private deck. Our room was the “Marie Antoinette Room”–very charming with a four-poster bed and antique furniture. We were pleasantly surprised by the flat screen TV in the room. Somehow the label “Marie Antoinette” did not bode well for modern technology! Like I said we were happy to see the TV since we wanted to watch the Vikings’ game Sunday afternoon. Neither one of us was hungry after our Mexican lunch, so we just watched the game and had snacks for dinner. The Vikings won over Green Bay at Lambeau Field, so it was a successful evening!

Bayfront Marin House

Our Room on the Second Floor

Doug Enjoying the View

Sunset from our deck

The next morning we enjoyed a wonderful breakfast served to us by a cute little French lady. Doug had ordered a pastry with his breakfast that was the most wonderful “melt in your mouth” thing I have tasted! Apparently the owners/managers/cooks there are French because they really know how to make pastry. Needless to say, when he was offered seconds he accepted because I had eaten half of his!

We spent most of the day walking around old St. Augustine. We especially wanted to visit the Memorial Presbyterian Church that Henry Flagler built in memory of his daughter. After our wonderful sailing trip this past Spring and enjoying seeing and learning about Flagler’s contributions to Florida development, we found it meaningful to visit the place where he is buried. The church is beautiful and was completed and dedicated in 1890.

Memorial Presbyterian

Henry Flagler's Crypt

We enjoyed our walk around St. Augustine. The day was cloudy and warm. We stopped at the Columbia Restaurant for lunch, having the required White Sangria (one of my mother’s favorites!). Before walking back to our room, we visited the old fort which was built in 1565 by the Spanish. Another relaxing, lazy evening where we enjoyed our deck. Tomorrow—-Savannah!

Lunch at Columbia

Castillo de San Marcos

After another wonderful French breakfast of pastry and quiche, we loaded the car and set off for Georgia. We had to laugh as we crossed the state line because the obligatory orange cones greeted us as we entered Georgia. We always encounter them as we travel through South Georgia on I-75–we were amused that even on I-95 across the state here they were again!

Welcome to Georgia!

On to Savannah! We checked into our second bed & breakfast in one week. This was the Azalea House in Savannah where we had booked the “Huntingdon Garden” room. Doug surprised me with roses, chocolate, and champagne which was waiting for us when we arrived! This is a lovely old mansion which is now a bed & breakfast inn like many of the old homes there. The staff was wonderful and we felt very comfortable there. The best part though—our room came with a Yorkie!!!! No, just kidding. However Joey the Yorkie spent a lot of time with us and was very comfortable resting on the couch in our room. Actually the owner of the Azalea House had to come upstairs and physically take him home (next door) when he wouldn’t come when she called! What a treat to have a “puppy fix”!

Surprise from my wonderful husband!

Joey

The Azalea Inn

Well, I’m tired now. It’s now 6am and I’ve been up since 4:30 because I couldn’t sleep. I think I’ll go back to bed for a while and finish the Savannah portion tomorrow–oops, today!

Bye for now!

Saturday,the big day,has finally arrived!! Here’s the plan: Leave the hotel by 10am to arrive at our assigned parking/tail-gating spot by 11am,have bloody marys and snacks for an hour or so,and then walk to the Georgia tent for BBQ and an appearance by the REDCOAT Band. And finally go to the stadium around 2:30 for the BIG Game.

 We arrived at our tailgating spot at 11:02 thanks to some brilliant driving by Lee through some mighty heavy traffic. Lee and Linda were very well prepared with a table complete with a Bulldog tablecloth and all the fixins for snacks and bloody marys.

Experienced Bloody maker,notice the stir stick

Go Dawgs

Now off to the Bulldog BBQ

REDCOAT Band

Mascot Hairy

The Georgia tent is along the St. Johns River where boaters have their own version of tailgating.

A floatation device for each person??!!

Off to the game! Until we walked to our seats we didn’t have any idea where our seats were. Imagine our surprise when we sat down  8 rows from the front at the 40 yard line,right behind the Bulldog bench!!!

Half the stadium red,half blue

 

Redcoat Band at Halftime

 

Uga VII

What a great day, even though the Dawgs were humiliated 41 to 17. When the game clock showed 00:00, we walked back to the car for a post game glass of wine while the traffic thinned out.  We were too hot and sweaty to go to a restaurant, so we went straight to the hotel for wonderful hot showers and pizza delivery. Thanks again to Linda & Lee for sharing this wonderful experience with us.

Tomorrow we say a temporary goodbye to Linda & Lee(we’ll see them in Athens for Homecoming next weekend)  and move on to St. Augustine!

We left Ormond Beach Friday morning for our trip to Jacksonville. Before leaving Ormond Beach, we drove through Elinor Village where Marti and her family vacationed in the late 50’s/early 60’s. This was a charming little village of vacation cottages during those years and Marti had fond memories of staying there. Unfortunately time has not been kind to Elinor Village and it is now a run-down neighborhood with many vacant, dilapidated buildings. Very sad.

 On our way to lunch we drove through St. Augustine and stopped at the lighthouse–which looks a lot like Cape Hatteras, by the way. Once again, Doug climbed to the top while Marti waited at the bottom–seems to be a pattern here!

Doug from the top/Marti waving from the bottom!

View of St. Augustine

Driving up A1A to Ponte Vedra, we stopped for lunch at a quaint waterfront restaurant named Lulu’s. We sat overlooking the IntraCoastal Waterway and had some great seafood. From there we cruised on into our Jacksonville hotel and met up with our friends Lee & Linda who had invited  us to the GA/FL game. This longtime rivalry between the UGA Bulldogs and Florida Gators is always played in Jacksonville, a supposedly neutral site (is playing in a place called the “Gator Bowl” really neutral???)

Another couple, longtime friends of Lee & Linda, completed our football group. Mike & Sharon are a delightful couple and Mike is a UGA graduate. Friday night we attended a GA/FL party at the Jacksonville Yacht Club (member of the Florida Council of Yacht Clubs). We had a wonderful dinner in the dining room, then went upstairs for the band and dancing. It was a fun mixture of GA and FL fans, everyone dressed in their school’s colors.

Lee & Linda

Mike & Sharon

You Know Who

Stay tuned for our next post about the BIG GAME!!!   Later, (not gator!)

Where has the time gone? Here it is November 2 and it’s been a week since we’ve last blogged! The activities of the past week have been nonstop with friends and fun.

After a quick overnight on the beach at Singer Island last Sunday night, we proceeded up Highway 1 to Jupiter, FL where we met friends Dani & Larry for lunch. They introduced us to the Food Shack restaurant which was fabulous. We had some of the best fish chowder we have ever tasted.

 

After lunch we drove along the beach on Hwy. A1A to Indialantic which is on the island off of Melbourne, FL. We stayed with Sandy & Royce for three nights. Sandy and Marti have known each other since the mid seventies when they both flew for Hughes Airwest. Royce is a former test pilot for the Air Force and later Northrop Grumman. Today he is flying tanker missions for the Navy & Air Force. Tuesday we all drove to Disney’s Epcot for the Food and Wine Festival. Had a great day there sampling food & wine from many different countries.

 

Royce tackling a turkey drumstick

 

The next day Doug and Royce played golf, while Marti and Sandy lunched & shopped. One of the day’s highlights was seeing the Ares One rocket after it had launched from Kennedy Space Center. Sandy spotted it as we were driving down the road and pulled over so Marti could snap some pictures.

 

 

Thursday we said goodbye to Sandy & Royce and proceeded up the road to the Kennedy Space Center, about one hour North. We spent a fun day touring the facility, especially enjoying the Apollo Exhibits. One of the highlighted missions was Apollo 8 (Christmas 1968) when our son-in-law Eric’s dad was one of the astronauts (Bill Anders).

 

 

Shuttle Lauch Pad in the Distance

 

Shuttle Assembly Building

Tomorrow Jacksonville and a rendevous with the DAWGS!

Well, after over a month’s respite, the Olson blog is back up and running! I don’t know why we aborted in the middle of our Minnesota visit–maybe because we were living out of our suitcases and moving from house to house in order to visit our family and friends. Next summer we have rented a house in Minneapolis for six weeks so we can feel “grounded” while we visit our loved ones.

We returned home to Burnt Store @ Sept. 13 after having a wonderful two weeks in Minneapolis. Enjoyed the time at home, even though the temperature had not settled into its normal gorgeous fall weather. It remained beastly hot and made running/walking outside very difficult especially due to the high humidity. However we enjoyed our six weeks at home reconnecting with friends and enjoying our condo.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN!!!   Literally! We left today on a two week road trip entitled “Bulldog Mania”!!!  Our first week’s destination is the Georgia/Florida game in Jacksonville, FL. At the end of the second week we will end up in Athens, GA for UGA’s Homecoming (where Marti will make her second appearance in the Redcoat Alumni Band). Can we mention how often our home has been permeated with strains of “Glory, Glory to Old Georgia” and “Bulldawg Medley” in the past few weeks? Along the way, we are excited to visit with friends and enjoy some of Florida’s attractions as we make our way up the East Coast.

We left this morning at 9am and crossed the state of Florida on our way to Palm Beach. No kidding, we were amazed at how fast our drive went before we were already on the other side. We had hoped to see Lake Okeechobee and take some pictures since we probably won’t have the opportunity to traverse it as long as we have a sailboat. When we arrived at Clewiston, we tried to get close to the lake, but found that we really couldn’t see anything. So we just drove on without ever having seen the water. I told Doug that maybe there really isn’t a lake there and it’s all just a big hoax.

The reason we started here in Palm Beach was we really wanted to see the home that Flagler built around 1900 for his 3rd wife. She was 34 and he was 71.  It is now a fabulous museum that is mind blowing to say the least. At least 15 bedrooms for guests,all with fireplaces and private bath; unbelievable ceilings and imported marble sculptures from all over the world, and they were only there 8 weeks a year!!!! Talk about your ultimate Snowbirds!!!

Just a couple of pictures which cannot do justice to the opulence and elegance of one of the homes that Flagler built.

Marti on a marble bench in the yard

 

A ceiling not found in normal homes

Music Room

Master Bath

Whitehall

Needless to say I think he spoiled his wife with this Florida cottage which was only used 8 weeks per year. And as immense as a project as this was it was constructed in less than 18 months in 1902.

That’s all for now.

We arrived in MSP on Monday, five days ago. We got on our first attempted standby flight out of Seattle. Didn’t get First Class, but had two seats together in the exit row with lots of leg room. Nice flight–only @ 3 hours. We picked up a rental car to get us to Patty’s since she was working until 5:30. Had a wonderful reunion with her and a delicious dinner at her home. Patty had to work on Tuesday, so we ran errands and had a great walk around Lake Nokomis. We fixed dinner for Patty that evening. On Wednesday Patty spent the morning getting packed for her trip to Finland with friends Duane and Sharon. We did a airport car exchange and said goodbye to Patty and friends as they began their journey to Finland. We then went to Bobbi and Paul’s home in Burnsville for a night of good food and lively conversation.

On Thursday we enjoyed another wonderful walk, this time around Lake Harriet. Doug is doing some research on homes we could possibly rent next summer. So far he has found two really interesting possibilities, both near Lake Harriett/Lake Calhoun area. Lynette flew in from Amsterdam at 3pm and we picked her up and whisked her back to Patty’s. She graciously opted to delay her commute home to Denver in order to spend the evening with us. So we had a lovely evening at Amore Victoria (Italian restaurant near Lake Calhoun). Afterwards we enjoyed coming back to Patty’s and talking to Lynette’s husband Mike on Skype. Friday we had a fun lunch at Cafe Ena before taking Lynette to the airport.

We tidied Patty’s house, packed our suitcases once more, and headed to Minnetonka to visit Jim and Barb. They have a lovely townhouse with a beautiful guest suite. Barb had a delightful dinner of burgers, brats, and salads. We were also happy to get to see another “Florida” friend Bill at their home for dinner.  Saturday morning Jim and Barb took us to the Uptown Grill for breakfast and then a nice tour around the city–especially to see the new Gopher Stadium & Twins’ Stadium. We look forward to next summer getting to enjoy attending some Twins’ games in their new stadium!

So today we look forward to our God-daughter Angi’s engagement party! We will meet her fiance and celebrate their engagement. They plan to marry in the fall of 2010. We’ll take pictures at their party this afternoon and post them when we can. I have to say, these past few days have been so busy that we have not been able to keep up our blog. Suffice it to say, we are doing the best we can. We’re enjoying our time here, but the pace of activity has kept us hopping!

Patty is packed for Finland

 

The Finland Contingent

 

Bobbi & Paul's

 

Lynette at Amore Victoria

 

Evening at Jim & Barb's

Doug took this gorgeous shot

 

Well the past few days have passed in a blur–flurry of activities and fun!

Friday morning we once again availed ourselves of the wonderful workout facility across from the hotel. This was in hopes of somewhat negating the crab and corn chowder we had planned to eat for lunch at Ray’s Boathouse at Shilshole Bay. When we first arrived into Seattle, I had called Ray’s to find out what day they served the crab/corn chowder. Friday was the magic day, so we planned to eat lunch there then. It was as wonderful as we remembered–although sometimes we have to feel guilty about eating bowls of cream!

Friday night at the opera–”Siegfried”–opera # 3. It was magnificent and we always love Act 2 when Siegfried fights and kills a very cool dragon! The opera was over after 11pm and we met the Ring conductor Robert Spano for dinner. Robert is the conductor of the Atlanta Symyphony and is a family friend, so we are especially enjoying this production of Wagner’s Ring Cycle under his leadership. Also joining us for dinner was Dennis Hanthorn, the director of the Atlanta Opera Company, also a friend. It was so fun to see the interaction of the two musical directors from Atlanta. We had a wonderful dinner again at “Ten Mercer”, then finally got into bed around 2 am.

Saturday was a DAY OFF and we took advantage of the free time to enjoy Pike Place Market and then some “down time”. Doug, Tommy, and I enjoyed the market for a few hours, then walked back to the hotel . I did another load of laundry, but mostly just caught up on emails, etc. We all rendevous’ed in our room for a dinner from room service, which was surprisingly delicious. Early bed for a change!

Sunday we actually set our alarm clock, so we could get another workout in before leaving for lunch. We were meeting four other friends at Cutter’s. Linda is a new friend that Mama and Tommy met this past May in New York. She is from Vancouver, so drove to Seattle to enjoy the Ring there. Ivan, Diane, & Clara are longtime friends of my family. Diane used to be the music critic for the Atlanta Journal. Ivan, her husband was a singer, and Clara is their charming daughter. Now they live in New Jersey, so it was a nice treat to see them.

Opera # 4  ” Gotterdammerung”     Sounds like a curse word, doesn’t it?  I leave the critiques to brother Tommy! Click here to read his comments about the operas.
We loved the performance, as usual. We were especially happy to have the “flying” Rhine Maidens make another appearance. Tommy got some good shots of them at the curtain calls.

Monday we leave Seattle for the next leg of our journey. I’ll catch up on that portion later!

Bye for now!

 

Ray's Boathouse

 

Robert Spano (L) & Dennis Hanthorne (R)

 

Lunch at Cutter's

Night #4 !

 

Curtain Call with Flying RhineMaidens