Dear Lord I can’t believe it. After weeks of being too
a) stressed
b) busy
c) uninspired
d) busy
e) couldn’t get into my account!
I finally remembered the secret password to get into my own space once again. But, now what to do with such freedom? Since returning from our wonderful trip to visit all the grandchildren Life has been so hectic, yet without exploration, sans excursions and short on inspiration. Sigh..
I am hoping anticipating new adventures coming up soon that I can share with you. For now we are in flux, transition and eyeball deep in moving boxes. Stay tuned, for I miss sharing beautiful things with you all. Meanwhile, I am trying to catch up on blog posts but forgive me for being so far behind. I’m still here, still love your words and images, and am still seeking the small and mighty miracles in this insane world we call life.
My guysLaughter in the cemetery is a mustThis memorial to honor fallen firefighters was movingFrom any angle the statue was strikingThere are quite a few famous and infamous people buried here
Some of the more famous people buried in Wyuka Cemetery are George Starkweather and Gordon McRae.
We didn’t get to see every marker but my little buddy helped me to find many very interesting headstones. It was beautiful and nippy there in Cornhusker land. What a grand time seeing everyone.
I always feel like the silence of the cemetery welcomes life and laughter with open arms, like they are saying,
“Thanks for remembering us here.”
Stay tuned…I’ll be back when life slows down to a dull roar. Meanwhile, a word from Ghandi…
When we went in search of breakfast on our recent trip to Chattanooga, we thought we hit the jackpot at Puckett’s, a local bar and grill venue with a lot of history and a tasty breakfast. Conveninetly located within an easy walking distance of our hotel and just across from the Tennessee Aquarium, it seemed the perfect stop on our way to see what the Aquarium had to offer.
The main doors were oddly unremarkable, although nice. The restaurant name is plainly visible on the huge awning that spans the length of the buiding but there was no sign on the door or near the door. The only indication we made it to the right place was a printed door mat as you step inside the front doors.
But look at that breakfast! Simple but yummy. And the biscuit tasted even better than it looks. I loved the mug so much we had to snag one for home. Of course we paid for it, silly. 🙄
I only wished we had more time to return for an evening meal when there was live music, but maybe next visit. The inside is appealing, open and warm-a lot like Cheers!
It wasn’t until I needed to visit the ladies’ room before we headed to the Aquarium that I found them! All in the ladies’ room. 🙊🙈
From the main door…
to the stall doors, which were so cool…
I was tickled to find such a treasure trove of doors. Then in the hall was a cache of train memorabilia that was the icing on the cake.
This time train memorabilia, next time real train experience!
This post is brought to you as part of our host Norm Frampton’s weekly doorscursion event, where participants post about doors they have seen, photographed, sketched…any doors. You can make a beeline over to his blog and get the schedule and itinerary for this event.
Well, we never saw the Chattanooga Choo Choo. In fact we didn’t even get to the train “museum” on our recent visit to the lovely little city of Chattanooga, for online research revealed the museum was not your typical garden variety museum. No, it is only a participatory museum, meaning that if you aren’t prepared to pay for one of the scheduled train journeys, you will be missing the history lesson.
I will admit the various train adventures look fun, but I was disappointed there was no museum, historically, to speak of. But…I digress.
If you want to schedule a rolling tour or just a really fun day of seeing some of the beautiful countryside, see the schedules and details Here
We did, however, find a great hotel room with a terrific view of downtown Chattanooga with easy access to the venues there, including everything from the AT&T stadium to the Tennessee Aquarium and much more.
The first thing we did was to drop off our bags and go out for food. We weren’t disappointed choosing Big River Grille and Brewing Pub. The menu is quite extensive, which can be a caution signal in many cases; but in this instance both of us were very pleased with our choices. Hubby loved his Mango Habanero Chicken, and I finally found a pizza I could sink my teeth into. The craft beers were great and well worth the very reasonable prices. We would definitely recommend this restaurant and hope to return there on our next trip.
Craft beers. Mine was a Stout Porter, aged in whiskey barrels. It was a roller coaster od wonderful flavors!
Ahhhhhh….away from home
View from our balcony
Mango Habanero Chicken was a hit for Hubby
The Aquarium is to the right
Simple but delicious Pepperoni Pizza. So hard to get a good pie these days
View downhill from the Bluff Art district
This room was perfectly located
And then there was coffee and dessert. The ‘short walk’ turned out to be a bit farther than we thought, braced against a 30 degree temperature with intermittent drizzle; but Rembrandt’s was the most recommended coffee house in the area, so we did our part as brave tourists and made the uphill climb to the Bluff Art District to check it out. Except for mediocre service, we loved the place. The coffee and Hubby’s eclair were really good. We were so ready for something hot once we finally made it. On the way up we stopped to walk onto the infamous walking bridge. It has a sad history causing many Chattanooga residents to avoid it altogether, but the view is beautiful.
The walking bridge
View downhill from the Bluff Art district
Mocha cafe and a walnut brownie were my choices. Above top photo is hubby’s Chocolate Chocolate eclair.
We actually spent the rest of our evening curled up in the room, warm and cozy, enjoying the view and staying dry. My original hope was to get to Lookout Mountain/Ruby Falls or to Rock City on the way home.
Sadly, the sun on Monday arrived late, leaving things damp and cold still, so we settled on a visit to the Aquarium, just across the street from our hotel. First, though, we went in search of breakfast. That led us to a nice venue called Pucket’s, a bar and grill that, when not serving up dinner and music, makes a pretty decent breakfast and nice cup of coffee. We loved the coffee cup so much we had to buy one to bring home! The restaurant has a train theme and great doors, so look out Thursday, here I come!
Meanwhile….
It was defenitely tasty!
And I found a buddy outside the Mellow Mushroom on our walk.
Okay, okay, the main event! The Tennessee Aquarium, though not as extensive as one might think, was well put together, with a friendly staff and all the habitats very beautiful and well kept. I particularly liked that the local freshwater wildlife was well represented. My favorites? Oh, besides the turtles, of course! The butterfly garden and the penguins are wonderful! So adorable. Here are a few shots from our visit.
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Why do I feel I’m just getting nowhere?
Oh dear, maybe we should have spiffed up for guests..
Hellooooo….wanna come in for a little swim?
I also wanted to visit the Hunter museum but it was just a bit late for the three building adventure. Maybe next time. Meanwhile, we enjoyed the beautiful sculptures that are in front of the museum which is located high above the Tennessee River and houses works from key American artists. I’m already eager to go back! Thanks Chattanooga!
The Hunter Museum
This sculpture dating back to the early 1900’s was one of half a dozen placed around the museum.
This? Oh just a gratuitous crane (of sorts) for my friend Dan. Happy Wednesday!
It’s sad to think it has been nearly four years now since we made the move back from Costa Rica. Since that time we have planned and been unable to revisit our second home on two separate occasions, both due to natural disasters.
In the past few days I have been going through photo files and reminiscing about our very special experiences there. I loved the photography opportunities almost as much as the people and all the unique places we were able to visit.
As I explore more files I will share more of our time there since many of my new friends here didn’t know me back in 2012 when I first began this blog as a way to share our lives in the beautiful country of Pura Vida!
Once upon a time in Costa Rica, we visited a spice farm named Villa Vanilla Spice Farm. As it happens, this tour was one of the first we took on our original journey to Costa Rica, long before we made the move. Once we lived there I had the opportunity to revisit the farm with my best friend when she came to visit us.
The farm grows orchids, which include the vanilla plant, which is actually an orchid. They also grow various bromiliads, cacao trees, carambola (star fruit), peppercorn plants and ceylon cinnamon trees. Ceylon Cinnamon is known as true cinnamon and is the variety you need for real cinnamon health benefits for blood pressure and blood sugar control. The best part of the tour is learning how the owners and workers grow, harvest and prepare these natural plants for consumption. Tasting was fun too. Near the end of the tour, there is a treehouse with a magnificent view where the tour ends with chocoalate and cinnamon specialty coffees, vanilla cookies and a very special mandarin lime cheesecake. Heaven!
Take a walk with me and I’ll share a few photos with you.
Sally and me
Brand new cacao blooms and pods
These are growing but not ready yet
When ready the cacao is yellow outside and has a pure white yummy flesh
Vanilla beans
There were so many gorgeous bromiliads
See the water collected on every petal?
And at the end, with the heat finally taking hold, we climb to the patio of the “treehouse” for a cool breeze, tasty treats and a breathtaking view. If you make it to the Manuel Antonio/Quepos area, this tour is one of the traditional ones but well worth the time and sweating.
I could sit there all day……and you can when you live there. 😉💕
I must apologize for being very absent over the last week; but we had a busy weekend of events, fun, love and mini adventures.
I’ll share more later, but can you guess what we did from this collage? I’ll be catching up on all your blogs this weekend since I will be laying low! 😘❤️
And it started with a crack, not a gunshot. What, you may ask? Well, the race to have a relaxing, productive, fun, peaceful, exciting, safe, drama-free yet noteworthy mini vacation. Easy peasy, right? 😳 And we were off to a great start until Alabama decided to step up and say, “Hey, you know what day it is?”
3 great years and whack! Of course it must be filled soon or it will spread like a taunting grin and shouting, “Friday the 13th is reeeal” If I didn’t know better I’d think Nick Satan (I mean Saban) threw it himself. 🙊
But, we had a great trip otherwise and saw a cool new set of bridges, some great cloud antics, a nice sunset and sunrise. More on our food adventures later but mine was good last night, once we found the right restaurant.
We are excited about visiting with family and friends. Hope your #Free48 has no cracks, holes, breaks, tears or rot.
Cool twin bridgesI loved the lines and squares in it
This is a saki margarita. Oh yeah, it was..
Ummm those are tuna tatake sliders. Yum!
*Okay Linda did I make the extra points? Do visit Linda’s blog for more great #SoCS posts and to join the fun. Today’s prompt was to use a three letter word. I had a few four letters in mind but tried to be good. 😂
"I have enough time to rest, but I don't have a minute to waste". Come and catch me with your wise words and we will have some fun with our words of wisdom.
Dreaming Reality 
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