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Sharpe Hill Vineyard in Pomfret, CT

Boy, it’s been a busy few days. My parents landed at the Bradley International Airport, North of Hartford at about 12:30AM, Thursday morning. Laura and I got there at around midnight, so we had a hang around for a few minutes. It wasn’t too bad. Strangely enough, you get to watch some very interesting people while waiting outside an airport.

A few months ago, when my mother and I agreed on this trip, I had a whole itinerary planned out. We were going to go here and we were going to go there. Then, Laura and I went on that little trip to Stonington. It was during that trip that I remembered that I really don’t enjoy driving as much as I used to. I mean, short trips here and there are okay, but the long ones I can do without. Remembering this, I started planning to visit places that were just a tad bit closer than the ones I had previously planned to visit.

On Thursday, we all hopped in the car and drove up to the Red Lion Inn, in Stockbridge, MA. You all know that Laura and I have been there a lot, but my parents never have. I thought I would spare you the photos, since you have seen a million of them already. We had a nice lunch and I even let my father beat me at a game of chess.

On Friday, we had a great time up at the Sharpe Hill Vineyard in Pomfret, CT. None of us had been there before, so we really didn’t know what to expect. Luckily, we were all very pleasantly surprised. I think I heard the phrase, “You know, we could be in Italy right now and you wouldn’t know the difference” more than once.

For those of you who don’t know, Pomfret is up in the “Quiet Corner” of Connecticut. It’s a really cool place that brings you back to the good ol’ days. It’s peaceful, beautiful and best of all, nobody from Hartford tailgates you all the way down the road. Wow.

The Sharpe Hill Vineyard offers two different tastings; they differ based on amount of wine consumed. The first tasting costs $5 and you get to taste five types of wines. Actually, you can taste five of the same wines. They don’t mind. The second tasting offers eleven types of wines for $10. We chose the $5 one because I didn’t want to get tipsy in the middle of the day. Neither did anyone else. We were all very happy with our five choices.

I took a whole bunch of photos, so you can see what the vineyard looks like. It’s really nice and they even had a restaurant. Unfortunately, we were unable to eat there because reservations are taken three weeks ahead of time. Maybe Laura and I will have to make reservations to check out the food.

Here are the photos:

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Valentine’s Day At Foxwoods And MGM Grand

If you weren’t aware, yesterday was the day of love. It was the day that souls join, people buy each other chocolate and roses and tell each other how much they love one another. If you are “with” someone, it was the day to remind yourself how much they mean to you. If you aren’t with anyone, it was the day to get up and remind yourself to find someone. My friends, yesterday was the day of action and whether we like it or not, it comes every year. Oh, one more very important thing…yesterday was my mom’s birthday. Hi mom.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I had made a reservation at Firebox Restaurant in Hartford, only to cancel it. We decided to go back to Shrine at MGM Grand instead.

I was really excited to go back to Shrine. The food is awesome and the atmosphere is even better. We had a really great time the last time we went.

On the way down to the restaurant, I kept thinking that we were going to have the place to ourselves. For some reason, I figured that everyone in the world was going to be sitting on the couch, cuddling under the blankets, watching a good movie. I thought we were the only ones who would really brave this St. Valentine’s day on the outside. Well, I was wrong.

We made a right off of the main road and turned into the entrance of MGM Grand at Foxwoods. I read the sign above us while driving into the parking garage. It said, “Levels 1-4 Full. Level 5 Open.” “That’s not good,” I thought. I told Laura that something must be going on, but in the back of my mind, I knew there must be some mistake.

We drove up to the first level of the parking garage. Full. We drove up to the second level. Full. We drove up to the third level. Full. We drove up to the fourth level and found about five open spots, but I wanted to see if there was anything better on the fifth level. There was nothing up there, so we went back down to the fourth level. The five open spots turned into three open spots and I took one of them. I guess something really was going on, but what?

We got out of the car and started walking into the casino. I took Laura’s hand in mine. After all, it was Valentine’s day. We walked quickly through the doors and into the elevator.

Upon exiting the elevator and entering the casino, we were greeted by crowds of…say…”interesting” looking people. We knew there had to be some sort of concert or show going on, but we had yet to figure out which one. Laura guessed it was Motley Crue, because there were so many people wearing black concert t-shirts. She remembered seeing something about that band somewhere along the lines.

We started walking towards the restaurant. I kept looking at people’s t-shirts to see if I could find some sort of clue as to what was going on. Finally, I saw two t-shirts that said, “Kid Rock.” “Oh, it’s Kid Rock tonight, sweet doll,” I said. Laura agreed because she had just seen one of those shirts too.

Have you ever seen Star Trek: Deep Space Nine? If so, have you ever noticed the area where everyone meets and drinks? It’s like a big mixture of all types of beings from all over the universe. That’s kind of what it was like last night at this casino. There were all types of people from all over the place. I mean, some of these people aren’t out in normal daylight. The only place you would find them is in a casino, tucked deep into the night. We saw truckers and bikers to ballerinas and trapeze artists. There were people with one head, two heads and three heads. People who couldn’t walk, people who walk too much and everyone in between. It was an interesting experience. One thing is for sure, Foxwoods really needs to update their anti-smoking rules…or make one altogether. The amount of smoke you inhale just by being in that place is terrifying.

We made it to the restaurant just in time for our 8:30PM reservation. We were promptly shown to our seats. We noticed that the restaurant was chock full of people. I mean, this place was jammed. We didn’t mind because with the frame of mind we were in, the more the merrier. The restaurant was really loud because there was a DJ doing his thing downstairs at the nightclub. People were talking, yelling and laughing while drinking their scorpion bowls…those big, huge scorpion bowls.

Our waitress came over to say hello after about five minutes of us being seated. Not bad, considering all the people she was taking care of. She said hello the first time and by the second time, we ordered every last thing, just to make things easier on her. We even ordered two glasses of plum wine because that is one of our favorites.

As our drinks and food arrived, I held my glass up and in the spirit of St. Valentine himself, I made a toast. I said…well that’s private, but it was well worth saying because we both smiled when I was through. We took a drink and began to eat some of the best food we had in some time.

When we were finished eating and fully satisfied, we left the restaurant. We thought it would be fun to take a walk over to Foxwoods to see what was going on over there. I mentioned earlier that I had never been to Foxwoods, so I was really curious as to what it looked like.

There is a long hallway that connects MGM Grand and Foxwoods, so you don’t need to walk outside. In this long hallway, there are two of those long, flat, moving floor things that you would normally find in an airport. You know, they are like flattened escalators that you stand on and they carry you along. When we arrived at the flat escalators, we instinctually stepped onto one of them. Now, the trick is to walk on these escalators, so you can really get some speed while heading down a long hallway, like the one we were in. You can maintain probably twice the speed you would if you were simply walking on regular ground. Well, last night, no one knew that you were supposed to walk on these things. Everyone in front of us just got on and stood there.

About half way down the hallway, Laura turned to me and said, “This is like a bad dream.” I said, “What do you mean?” She said, “Take a look at the carpet over there. Look how slow we are moving.” I didn’t know what she was talking about because I thought we were moving along at a nice speed. I was looking at the flat escalator that was moving in the opposite direction of the one we were moving in, so it looked like we were moving twice as fast as we really were. I looked up and past that escalator to the carpet and started laughing. We were going sooooo slow. It was like we were drunk or something. People were casually walking right past us on the carpet as we were stuck on this thing. There were people on crutches, babies crawling, old men staggering along…all moving much faster than we were. It was hysterical.

When we finally got off that thing, we buzzed right along. I forgot my camera in the car, so I wasn’t able to take any photos, but I will tell you that Foxwoods is much more interesting than I thought. I was like Disney World in the inside. There were all sorts of little shops with storefronts designed and painted with different styles of architecture and color. It was really cool…and big. Foxwoods is big and long. There is a shuttle, if that gives you any indication of how big it is. Much bigger than I was prepared for.

When we were finished with our Foxwoods tour, we decided to head back over to MGM Grand for a little midnight gambling. We walked and walked and walked. We walked right past that moving floor thing and made it back to the other casino. When we got there, we broke a $20 bill and walked over to a slot machine. I said, “Pumpkin, go ahead and make your bet.” Laura sat down and put a $5 bill in the machine. On the first pull, she didn’t win anything. On the second pull, she won $1.30. She instantly looked up at me and said, “You want to go?” I started laughing when I realized she was serious. She wanted to walk out a winner, so I said, “Heck yeah. Let’s get out of here while we are on top.” We walked over to the payment machine and cashed out. You should have seen us running through the casino floor like we had just won the lottery. It was great.

We left the casino and walked back to the car. We hopped in, I started it up and took Laura back on the open road. But before we left the casino property, I did manage to get a few pictures of the outside. I know it’s disappointing, but this is the best I could do because of my forgetfulness. For that, I am sorry.

Well folks, there you have it. Our Valentine’s day 2009. See ya next year.

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Visiting The Harvest Restaurant In Pomfret, CT

Today was the day to get in the car to go for a drive up north. We have been planning for this drive ever since we came back from Thanksgiving dinner. We are basically looking for someplace to have a nice Christmas dinner.

The original plan was to drive up to Woodstock, CT to visit and eat at the Inn At Woodstock Hill, but we arrived kind of early. Dinner service started at 5PM and we were standing in the lobby at about 2:30PM. I knew we were early, but we wanted to check it out anyway.

We took a quick look around and decided to we would get back into the car to drive around for a bit. Since dinner didn’t start for a good long while, we had the time. Unfortunately, my stomach was growling. I was very hungry.

We headed back south a bit and stopped by the Mansion At Bald Hill, thinking they offered dinner service a little earlier. I liked the mansion’s website and thought it looked like a great place to visit. This time, we didn’t even see another car in the parking lot. Okay, moving on.

We continued to drive and ended up at the Harvest Restaurant in Pomfret, CT. We walked in and asked what time dinner service started and were pleased to hear that they began serving at 4PM. By this time, it was already 3:30PM. That was good enough for us. We sat in the waiting area, just bickering away.

Finally, the time came to be seated and to start eating.

We ordered our traditional Guinness and browsed the menu. I really hadn’t expected the restaurant to be so charming (how often do I use that word?), but it really is. They sat us next to the fireplace and were very attentive.

Harvest Restaurant fireplace

We ordered and then talked a bit. The food came out of the kitchen fairly fast and was really good. Towards the end of dinner, I was telling Laura that I had a very nice time. I expressed that I was happy, because we didn’t have to do any work. People just kept coming by asking us questions about what we wanted. It was refreshing.

I took some photos of the restaurant. They are the best I could do without getting caught. Yeah, I’m the guy with the camera.

Harvest Restaurant, Pomfret, CT

Harvest Restaurant, Pomfret, CT

Harvest Restaurant wine rack

Harvest Restaurant Christmas tree

Harvest Restaurant, Pomfret, CT

Oh, and just in case you were wondering, I think I am going to give the Mayflower Inn a call for Christmas dinner. If they have the room, we’ll go over there. If not, we better get up and boogy to see if we can eat at the Mansion At Bald Hill before Christmas. I like to see what I am getting into before we go somewhere for a big occasion.

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Duran Duran – MGM Grand at Foxwoods

As I wrote in my last post, we did a bunch of stuff this weekend, but what I didn’t mention was what we did exactly.

Do you know of Duran Duran? If you are over the age of…let’s see…4 years old, you probably do. Duran Duran is one of those groups that everyone loves. They have been around forever and have tons of great songs. Believe it or not, they are still rockin’ and rollin’ and traveling all over the place making people go nuts.

There was a day a few months ago when Laura told me that she would be satisfied if she could see just one more band in concert. That band is Duran Duran. I kind of half listened because she has seen about a zillion bands in concert throughout her lifetime. I am guessing that she has made this claim many times. I did tuck the thought way back in my head though.

About a month and a half ago, I was lying in bed one morning, debating on whether or not to get up. I know I was awake, but I wasn’t too sure if the person I was laying next to was. The radio/alarm was sounding and I knew I had to so something soon, or else I would fall back to sleep.

A few minutes later, the DJ started talking about how Duran Duran was going to be playing down at MGM Grand at Foxwoods on December 12. My ears perked up, because I am always looking for a good surprise to spring on someone. I hopped out of bed to check out the MGM Grand website and sure enough, Duran Duran was scheduled to play that evening.

I didn’t just go ahead and purchase the tickets. I waited and tried to learn if we had, or were going to have anything planned for that time of year. Who knew if we were doing something important in December. I kept my mouth shut and cleverly began my investigation. Oh, I was good…asking questions here and throwing out ideas there. I was executing all sorts of strategy to get the lowdown on December 12. It was like a game of cat and mouse.

It took me all day to get the facts, without giving my grand plan away. You should have seen me; I kept rubbing my hands together like I was an evil magician.

The next day, Laura walked up to me and told me that she bought three tickets to see Duran Duran down at MGM Grand at Foxwoods. What?

I guess she was awake.

Okay, so yesterday was the day. I won’t rehash the story I told you the last post. I will just start with the fun stuff.

We arrived in the parking garage of MGM Grand. I was a little nervous, because I have never been there before. I have driven by, but have never gone inside. MGM Grand is actually only a few months old. Foxwoods built it right next to the original casino. I had no idea if the parking situation was going to be far away in some secret parking lot somewhere or what.

The parking was great. It’s very light and safe. The parking garage is probably close to 10 levels. I am guessing here, because I didn’t walk up to all of them, but the garage is pretty high.

We did our thing and hopped out of the car, but first, I grabbed my camera. I always forget to bring my camera to concerts like this. I think they are going to stop me at the gate and make me put it back in the car. Then, after I get in, I see thousands of people snapping away with their cameras all evening. I get so mad because it happens every time.

This time, I had planned on hiding it in my sock, but the gate was very informal and we weren’t frisked like we usually are.

Let me tell you about dinner first.

We decided to get to the casino at 6PM, so we could have a nice dinner at Shrine restaurant. This was important to us, because it wouldn’t be a really great evening if we didn’t eat and get a little drunk first. I will bypass all the food mumbo jumbo and get straight to the neat pics I took inside the restaurant.

Shrine restaurant menu - MGM Grand at Foxwoods

Tables at Shrine - MGM Grand at Foxwoods

Candle on table at Shrine - MGM Grand at Foxwoods

Glass on table at Shrine - MGM Grand at Foxwoods

The dinner was great, but let me warn you…it’s expensive. They have you as a captive audience and charge like it. It’s pretty good food though, especially the appetizers.

After dinner, we had about an hour and a half to burn before the show started. To use up the time, we decided to do a little gambling and take pictures of the inside of the casino (some with me in them).

We walked towards the slot machines and got all sorts of excited. I stopped, puffed out my chest and pulled $20 out of my pocket. I handed it to Laura and told her not to spend it all in one place. Then, I said, “Wait, I am coming with you. That’s for the both of us.”

C’mon guys. I’m not an idiot. Does anyone seriously sit there and hand over more than $20 to a casino?

We played the machines. We kept changing between nickle and quarter bets. We felt like high rollers and laughed a lot, which is good. Then, it happened. You have to check this out.

Winning slot machines

Have you ever seen that before? Yup, we took our $17.63 and bolted. We cashed out and brought the winnings over to get some coffee for $4.25 each. Well, we didn’t exactly win, as you can tell from the $17.63, but we did come back from being way down and knew when to get the heck out of there. Yee haw.

We had some time left, so we decided to walk around a bit and take some pictures. The ladies had fun with the camera. So much fun in fact, I had to delete many less mature shots.

Ceiling lights at MGM Grand

Me, giving a fashion pose, in front of the huge Christmas tree

The huge Christmas tree at MGM Grand

The lobby fountain at MGM Grand

That was fun. I think I had 75 pictures on my camera and narrowed it down to 5. Nice job.

After that, we went in to grab our seats in the theater. As I mentioned above, nobody hassled me about having my camera on me. Inside, they did tell us that flash photography wasn’t welcome and one time, a guy came over to tell me that I couldn’t take pictures during the show. Whatever. Here they are.

Before Duran Duran came onto stage

Duran Duran in concert - MGM Grand at Foxwoods

Duran Duran in concert - MGM Grand at Foxwoods

Duran Duran in concert - MGM Grand at Foxwoods

The group put on a good show. I’ll leave it at that, because I am sure you have all heard about how great bands are when they perform. They are all pretty good.

One thing that surprised me was how many times I kept saying, “Oh, that is their song too?” I kept forgetting how long these guys have been around and how many songs they have out there. It’s not very difficult for them to pick the good ones.

After we got back to the house, we had a few sips of the wine Laura’s friend bought us. That made us all tired and we went to bed.

I think I need a nap.

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The Elusive Goal Of Freedom

Man, It’s been a rough week.

I did a little complaining recently. I called a few people who are close to me and vented my frustration about the goings on of our world. They politely listened for a while, but both came to the same conclusion. They said, “Well Jay, things could be worse. You could be doing this or that, etc…” I guess that’s why I call people, so they can tell me to shut up and put things in perspective. I need that every once in a while.

I still think about life way too much.

Sometimes I just sit here with my head in my hands. I would just like the answer to one question: when did it all change?

In 2000, right after a graduated from Binghamton University for the second time, I had a plan. My plan was to release myself from all attachments with the real world and walk the Appalachian Trail. I was going to set my school loans on auto-pilot with my bank and fly as free as a bird. All I have ever really wanted was freedom; freedom from thought, freedom from today’s world, freedom from being dragged down by anything and everything.

I figured that walking the trail would really change my life. I was not interested in repeating the 9-5 job I sat through the year before while living in Atlanta. That was painful. All I was looking for was a way out…something different that wouldn’t trap me in the good ol’ American way of living day in and day out like the rest of the population.

Did I ever walk the Appalachian Trail? What do you think? Considering the fact that it takes about 10 months to complete and I never mentioned it before, I think not. I have actually walked a few miles on it here and there, but towards the end of each hike, I looked forward to driving back to the house, taking a nice shower and drinking a glass of wine. I don’t think I am exactly wired for growing a beard down to my waist and sleeping with the bears. The thought of a bear picking my tent up and eating it kind of freaks me out.

Let me tell you what bothers me about life as I know it – Worry.

Every day, I concern myself with each and every thing that probably concerns all of you. I think about money and security and politics and friends and life and everything else. I walk around in a fog, trying to make sense of every decision I make. It’s rare that I break out of that fog to have a clear thought. Maybe that’s why I like tennis so much, because I don’t think about anything else besides having fun. Although, I do like mowing the lawn for the same reason.

So, when did I change from the care free Jay to the constantly worrying Jay? I can tell you the exact day.

I have mentioned the fact that I moved to Atlanta a few times in the past. I lived there for a year, but the way I talk about it, it’s like I have a “Braves” tattoo on my right arm. Really, it was only a year, but it was a fun year.

I moved down when I was 24 years old. I packed up my 1989 Honda Accord with all of my belongings and hit the road. Basically, I just repacked the same items that I unpacked about a month ago after graduation.

I remember that drive down. I had one of those luggage containers strapped to the top of the car packed to the gills. Everything else I owned was spread out inside…on the back seat, on the front seat and in the trunk. There was no room for anything else.

On the highway, I remember the pleasure of wondering what my new life was going to be like. I didn’t know one person, the area or anything else about the entire state of Georgia. I usually do my best in these types of situations. As Rob always says, “You need to be like an Chameleon. Just change colors and fit right in.” Well, I did that and started off having a very good time.

Upon arrival at Morgan Falls Station, our awesome apartment complex, I was crazy excited. While I was waiting for the folks to finish up the apartment, I walked around a bit. I visited the 3 swimming pools, the work out centers, the tennis courts and the nature trails. It was nicer than anything I had expected. I recall wondering how $800 per month was paying for all this. Then, I remembered that things were a little different in the South. Up here, you get a tiny apartment above some old lady’s garage for $800 a month, and that’s a good deal. Down there, it’s like living at Club Med.

Needless to say, I was pleased. After I got settled in and had the phone hooked up, I called Rob. I was a non-stop talker. I told him about all the cool stuff that was there and about all the things we were going to do. I could tell that he was getting fidgety because he kept asking questions. We even got to the point of discussing what time it got dark in Atlanta. There is about a half hour difference between down there and up North. We used the scientific method of, “Is it dark now? What about now?”

After a few weeks of driving around a midnight (because there was so much traffic during the day) and getting to know people, I had really gotten used to it. I had a few friends and was playing tennis like it was nobody’s business. I didn’t have a job, so what else was there to do? I felt like I was living in a resort.

At the same time, my parents were planning their big move to Wilmington, NC. My sister Laurie had her first child and I guess my parents thought that watching water drip off their cars in the morning was a better idea than scraping ice off of them, like they did up North for all those years. The stars were aligned and they made the jump. They broke out of the New York shackles and started moving to North Carolina.

For the years that I attended Binghamton University and up to the time I moved to Atlanta, my parents took care of my big, beautiful Golden Retriever. I acquired this hairy beast a few years earlier, while I was attending Westchester Community College. It’s funny, because before getting a dog, I really gave no thought to what was going to happen to him for the rest of his life. I figured I would give him to my parents after I moved out and that would be that.

One day, while sitting on the floor (I had no furniture) of my Atlanta apartment, I received a phone call from my mother. “Jay, your father is driving a big truck down to the new house in Wilmington and he is bringing your dog with him.” she said. I replied, “Oh good, he will really like it in your new house.” “No Jay.” she said, “You are going to drive over and get him. He is your dog.”

Well, this came as sort of a surprise to me. Why in the world would someone want to hand over a perfectly good dog to someone as irresponsible as I was? As my mother put it, she couldn’t bear to see the dog laying on the kitchen floor looking up at her. His eyes broke her heart. She knew that he needed to run in the woods and swim in the river. He was a Golden, after all.

The day my father arrived at the new house in Wilmington, I was there to pick up the beast. I made the 7 hour drive and was quite excited to see my dog again.

I remember pulling in and seeing him tied to a small tree at the end of the driveway, waiting for me to give him a big hug. I leapt out of the car and ran over to him. I untied him and we instantly became entangled in a long embrace. That was my dog.

After a few hours of hanging out and going to the ocean, we left to head back to Atlanta. Again, I hadn’t given much thought as to what would happen next.

After my new roommate and I arrived back at the apartment, we did a little hanging out. Things were great. We went for a walk and I showed him all the stuff he was going to do for the next chapter of his life. It really was a grand ol’ time.

That night, a friend of mine called and asked if I wanted to go out to do something. I immediately said yes. Then, I looked down and saw my dog looking up at me. I paused and said something that I am not sure I have ever said to anyone in my life before that moment…”Wait, actually, I can’t.” I didn’t offer any reason for not being able to go out that night, but I definitely knew that something big in my life had shifted.

At that very moment, while standing there talking on the phone that night, I think I actually became responsible.

I know that sounds like the strangest thing you probably have ever read, but it’s true. I feel strange writing it. The reason I didn’t go out that night is because it was my dog’s first night in his new home and I didn’t feel right about leaving him there all alone.

All of a sudden, I started giving all types of thought to how my dog would feel if I did certain things. I knew I had to take him for a walk in the morning and that I had to be back after work to feed him and take him for another walk, but what really struck me was how I was unable to go visit friends in other cities and stay over their houses or apartments. I wasn’t ready to say no to trips to fun places, like the one that Rob made down to the Okefenokee Swamp in Southern Georgia. That one hurt because I really wanted to go there. I had to keep thinking about my dog and how I didn’t want to put him in a boarding kennel in a town I hardly even knew myself.

As it turned out, my consideration for everything and everyone snowballed from there. I began making sure more and more things were okay. I started saving my money and getting ready for the move back to New York to go to grad school. I stopped going out and doing stupid things that wouldn’t help me get to that goal. I never called in sick to work and I paid off that huge balance I had on my credit card. I don’t even want to talk about how much my soul has tightened up after I graduated from graduate school after the move back to New York. They basically train you how to become a herb.

I was most certainly becoming a worrier.

One might say, “Well Jay, aren’t those all good things?” I would agree, but I have to admit that once you grow up and become overly responsible, a little part of you disappears. How many times have you asked yourself, “Remember all those times we used to do that? Do you think we’ll ever do that again?” The answers are yes and probably not.

I was talking to Laura the other day about what I like to talk to my friends about. I told her my three top priorities are real estate, business and personal finance. Can you get any more boring than that? What ever happened to travel, drinking and where we are going to move to next?

At this point in my life, I feel that I am almost the opposite of what I wanted to be after graduate school. Sure, my little dream of walking the Trail may have been just a dream, but it was an indication of what I wanted to do and how I wanted to live my life.

At that time, I wanted two legal associations. I wanted one bank account and my student loan. That was it. Currently, I have more associations than I know what to do with. I understand that this is what happens when you buy a house and operate a business, but I must admit, at times it’s smothering.

Lately, I have been thinking about how I could get back to my ideal self, about how I could loosen up and at least become a shadow of that fun guy I think I used to be. I think I have a plan.

While I won’t precisely lay out my plan here, I will at least tell you that it has a lot to do with seasonal weather, long walks on the beach and campfires.

As you may have guessed, I gave Mickles a very good life and in return, he was a very good dog. I appreciate the fact that he spent the majority of his life with me. I would guess that he enjoyed his time in Atlanta the most. He had the field, the woods and the river. He couldn’t have asked for anything more.

I decided to post a few photos of my good friend here. I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed taking them throughout the years.

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Just Getting Some Stuff Done Around The House

After I came back from playing tennis this morning, I moseyed around just finishing up some stuff that needed to get done.

First and foremost, I had to make a new batch of beer. I am almost out of my current beer (Irish Stout). It will be horrific if I run out. I ordered the ingredients for my new batch a few weeks ago. This time, I am not messing around. I mixed things up a bit with a new recipe. Here’s what I did…I went ahead and did my thing with the original recipe. I added what I needed to add and stirred when the directions told me to stir. This time, instead of just sealing up the big jug and waiting for it to ferment, I decided to brew a pot of decaf coffee and pour it in with the rest of the mixture. I also added 100 grams of cocoa powder. When I was finished mixing everything together, I took a big smell. It was like I had my nose in a huge wine glass. Ahhhhh, the aroma of chocolate coffee stout in the making.

Now, all I need to do is to find somewhere in this house that remains between 70 and 80 degrees. Yeah right. Like there is anyplace that hot here. I think I am going to store the beer downstairs, because that is the most heated area of the house. Even if the temperature goes up and down, I think it will be ok.

Beer kit thermometer

Today, I also made another batch of ice cream. I decided to make traditional vanilla bean, because I haven’t made a real smooth one yet. I am very proud of myself because this batch came out very well. I believe that if you tried it, you would give me a hug. It’s intoxicating.

Later on, Laura and I went outside to hang the Halloween lights around the door and to trim the Lilac bushes in front of the house. She did most of the lights and I did all of the Lilac trimming.

Rob, just in case you were wondering, this is what I was doing when you called.

I’ll take a picture of the Halloween lights another day. It’s pretty windy outside right now and I might blow away.

Since it was a great “working outside” afternoon, Holly the dog decided to join us. I tapped a metal stake into the ground and put her leash around it. Laura took a bunch of pictures of her and I wanted to show you the one where she (Holly) looks the most buff.

Holly the dog - Norwegian Elkhound

Doesn’t she look like such a punk?

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The EU, Cheap Oil, Toyota Prius, Solar and Clean Coal

European Union Bans Incandescent Light Bulbs

The switch to energy-saving bulbs was approved by EU ministers this past week. Advocates claim that replacing the worst-performing lamps with today’s best available technology will reduce domestic energy consumption for lighting by 60 percent; equivalent to preventing 30 million tons of CO2 pollution every year.

Is Cheaper Oil A Good Thing?

It has plummeted nearly 40% in just three months, from about $147 a barrel in July to below $83 on Friday, with no obvious bottom in sight. If that sounds good, you are probably a driver who winces these days at filling your gas tank. But the downward spiral could mean trouble for oil-rich countries and for the environment.

2010 Toyota Prius Adds Muscle at Expense of Fuel Efficiency

A Toyota spokesperson said the changes were to increase the vehicle’s mass-market appeal, but with the changing economy and increased concern for the environment, it remains to be seen whether top speed will be among buyers’ concerns.

Introducing the World’s Largest Solar Powered Winery

The largest solar installation of any winery in the world is set to be built for Constellation Wines’ Gonzalez winery in Monterrey County, CA by Pacific Power Management.

Exposing the Bi-Partisan Myth of Clean Coal

There’s at least one topic the candidates in the US elections won’t be wrangling over: so-called “clean” coal. That’s because they all support it.

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Gritty McDuff’s Black Fly Stout & Samuel Adams Cream Stout

I think I went to a bad store because I am very disappointed.

This evening, I ran out to the local market to get some food for dinner. While I was walking in, I noticed a beer and wine store right next to the food store. I did what I had to do in the food store and then made a quick visit into the alcohol store. I bought Gritty McDuff’s Black Fly Stout and Samuel Adams Cream Stout.

Gritty McDuff's Black Fly Stout and Samuel Adams Cream Stout

The reason I think I went to a bad store was because both beers were horrid. I opened the Gritty’s Black Fly Stout and began to pour it into the glass. The instant the beer hit the air, it turned to foam. I must have poured about a half inch of beer when the entire glass was full of suds. I waited for a while and then tried to pour more. It just kept turning into suds once the beer hit the air. I tasted the beer out of the bottle and it wasn’t any better. I poured that one down the drain and tried another. The same thing happened. Either it was a bad brew or someone left that beer out in the sun or something.

Since I still wanted a beer, I opened up a Sam Adams Cream Stout. I poured the beer and everything looked good. I am not sure if tasting the previous beer altered my taste buds or what, but this beer tasted watery. I was hoping that the “Cream” in Cream Stout would make the beer taste creamy. I guess not. It got slightly better throughout dinner, but I still wasn’t a happy camper.

I am going to bring the one six-pack of Gritty’s back to the store tomorrow. That’s BS.

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Widmer Winery in Naples, NY

Back in the day, Laura and I lived in Naples, NY. It was an interesting adventure, I would say. If you have never lived in Western NY, I would recommend it. Even when we talk about that year today, I always mention the peace and quiet of it all.

At times, usually around the holidays, we would travel back to Southern NY to visit family and friends. We were always kind of disturbed by the buzz that was in the air. I mean, we had fun, but were getting way too used to the quiet of upstate. We would drive back to Naples and (I always say this) right at the entrance of town, I swear the buzz would slide right off me. It was a really nice little town.

One of the best things about that town was the wine. Naples is a wine town. The biggest winery in town is called, “Widmer Winery.” There were vineyards all over the place. In the Autumn, you could smell the grapes in the air. After the winery would scrape the barrels, they would dump the pulp in the fields. That pulp filled the air with scent.

The other night, Laura and I went down to the local Chinese restuarant in town to grab some veggie Chinese food. I didn’t order over the phone because I wanted to spend some time outside the house, even if that meant sitting in a parking lot waiting for the food to be prepared. She sat in the car reading while I walked down and placed the order. During the wait, I decided to walk up to the liquor store to restock some of what we have been craving. I walked in a picked up a bottle of Manischewitz Wine. I like the rasberry one. I also got some Brotherhood Winery spicy holiday wine. It’s a great dessert wine. I like sweet wines. After I had those two wines in my arm, I walked to the back and picked up a gallon of Carlo Rossi Sangria. That’s my favorite cheap red wine. It should be on the counter all the time.

What’s the point of this post? Well, it really has to do with Naples and Manischewitz Wine. Widmer Winery makes the Manischewitz Wine. When we went on the wine tour, they showed us that brand of wine. It’s fun because you can mix it with a bunch of other stuff on hot summer days. After the tour was over, we sampled some of it and bought a few bottles. They do a good job of “getting you loose” to purchase more.

I drank a glass of Manischewitz Wine the other night. It tasted delicious, of course. The only issue is that I think this wine has something in it that gives me a headache. I really like it, so I think I will have to drink it in smaller doses.

Wow, that was an abrupt ending.

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The Shakespeare Festival at Boscobel – The Two Gentlemen of Verona

Every year, towards the middle of August, Laura and I venture to the Shakespeare Festival at Boscobel in Cold Spring, NY. This is one night a year we really, really have a good time. It reminds us of the culture in this world that we miss so much by focusing on work, day in and day out.

Last year, the show offered “The Two Gentlemen of Verona.” I am not going to attempt to give a review of the show, as I am sure there are people out there who could write much better than me. Here is one from the Utah Shakespeare Festival. What I am going to try to do, is to sell the show and experience to you, and hopefully my photos can do that. You really do deserve a unique night out like this.

I have to say, the whole experience is a good one, from the drive over the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge, through Beacon and down along the Hudson River into Cold Spring. It’s a beautiful ride. Continuing through Cold Spring and finally arriving at Boscobel is a pleasant surprise every time. The parking at Boscobel is even nice. The lots are shaded by trees and tucked back from the road. There is about a quarter-mile walk from the parking lots to the tent area and the mansion.

The gardens are especially nice on a cool, clear evening.

I always spend a good amount of time browsing around the gardens, getting good ideas for the future. I seem to forget that the fun is right around the corner. It is kind of like stopping and getting attached to the first ride you come across at an amusement park. You can’t stop there. I eventually snap out of it and wander onto the lawn.

This has got to be one of my favorite places in the world. Just being among people who are having such a good time with their wine and food makes me forget all about every day business. It reminds me a little of “Alice in Wonderland…”

We usually walk around for a while and wait for them to sound that the show is about to start. We have yet to set up camp and relax with our food and wine. This is a definate for next time.

When we hear them asking us to take our seats, we make our way to the tent to enjoy the show!

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