Day Two, Atlantic City

I actually did not sleep that badly, from 10 to 1:30, then until nearly 6 a.m. Shortly after 8 Lucas joined us and we went to the buffet breakfast in the hotel. Not cheap, but excellent. The sausage patties and bacon were particularly good.

We then passed Guy Fieri’s Chop House, where we decided we will splurge and eat tonight. Walked through the casino and through a gift shop, with a very friendly, chatty saleswoman.

Then we headed outside. Walked directly out on the beach, admired the ocean, shooed away the sea gulls, picked up some shells.

We headed north up the Boardwalk. Stopped at cheap shops to buy Lucas a pair of sunglasses and me a headband (windy here!). Walked a long way, looking at all the sites, the people, the stores, the buildings. The casino buildings are hard to believe – especially the Trump Taj Mahal. The contrasts are enomous: the fancy casinos, the cheap shops, the rich tourists, the people who sleep on the Boardwalk benches.....

Weather is gorgeous, warm but not hot, windy, brilliant blue sky. Took lots of photos.....

One thing we saw was the Atlantic City Cat Project. Various cats live under the boardwalk (cue the song....) and are neutered, fed and cared for. Lucas loved them all, of course.

We came back to the hotel for a short break. The rooms had not yet been done, so we had to take off again.This time we headed up to the outlet center. It is not a shopping center as such, but basically stores along a number of connecting streets. Our first stop was the Tommy Hilfiger store, where we certainly did our part to ensure their continued success......

From there we went to Starbucks and sat outside to drink coffee and rest our weary legs. As I said, the weather could really not have been better. Life is good, we all agreed, and we are very lucky.

Lucas and Norbert also scored at the Reeboks shoe store, and then we went to Rite-Aid for bottle water, fritos and Little Debby Brownies.Very much into healthy eating, aren’t we?

The rooms were still not done, so we headed down to the Johnny Rocket diner for a snack. The guys had soft drinks and I a chocolate milk shake, and we shared chili cheese fries. We sat outside, and it was windy, so we rather had to hold on to everything to keep it from blowing away. There were also a number of sea gulls and pigeons who expressed their interest, sometimes rather loudly, in sharing our meal. We enjoyed it all.

Now the room was finally done, and after a short rest, Norbert and I headed out again. We walked through several stores (bought nothing) and then through the Willd Wild West Casino (small and not nearly as well visited as the Bally Casino).

Lucas had made dinner reservations for us at 6, and we arrived at Guy Fieri’s Chophouse shortly before that. It was incredibly expensive but also incredibly good I had an 8 oz filet mignon, which was so very, very tender. The guys both had the prime rib, which was HUGE. Lucas couldn’t even finish his, and Norbert managed to eat all of his. They both said it was “melt-in-your-mouth” tender.

We all ordered sides, but needn’t have bothered.

I again opted out of any evening plans. The guys did another round of the casino, and came back having won two dollars. Lucas then headed to the Sports Bar to watch the football game.

East Coast North to South, Day One

Up at five and out of the house at 6. Check in went fine, etc etc. As always, the plane was at least 95% full. We had a middle row of three to ourselves.

Delta serves lunch shortly after take off, and a hot sandwich & ice cream snack shortly before landing. They have now added another snack at the halfway point, which is nice. They also come around frequently with water.

The flight seemed to go rather slowly, but that was probably because I finished my book quickly. (updated Isaac Asimov biography – I didn’t know he had gotten HIV from transfusion during his heart bypass). Fortunately I had enough other books on my iPad but I had planned on that one lasting for the whole trip.

The only odd thing about the trip was that twice within the last two hours they announced that we would be hitting turbulence, all service would be stopped, flight attendants take their seats, thank you. And then nothing more than some very minor turbulence, thank goodness.

We had to separate when we landed in Atlanta. As a US citizen, I was directed to the new immigration automats to check in, so I was on the luggage band within probably five minutes. And a few minutes later our suitcases were there! Unheard of! How often have we waited up to half an hour just for the stupid bags?

Norbert and Lucas were not allowed to the automats but had to go to the long line for foreigners – where they were eventually sent to the automats.... which didn’t want to accept Norbert’s fingerprints..... but at least I was there waiting with the suitcases when they showed up.

Re-checked the bags and made our way to the gate for our connecting flight, with enough time to buy a snack. Flight took off a little late, but all worked out. We did have to go from one end of the airport in Philadelphia to the other (at least it seemed so) but again our bags came quickly and we got on the bus to the rental car agency. That took a while but eventually we got a rather large Jeep SUV (RAV4???).

Norbert and Lucas oohed and ahhhed over the skyline of Philadelphia and we went right by the ice hockey arena and the football field. Over the Walt Whitman bridge and into New Jersey, a new state for both of them.

We decided not to take the expressway to Atlantic City (for one thing, you have to pay), so took the “normal” road with all of its strip malls, discount liquor stores, auto dealers and Wal-Marts. Typical USA, in other words.

Eventually (about an hour later) we saw the bright lights of the Casinos, and yes, they are impressive. Missed the first turn to Bally’s but eventually found the Valet Parking, la di da. Norbert stayed with the car, while Lucas went with me to check in. He was SOOOO impressed with the hotel lobby, and has surely never seen anything like that before in his life. I will try to get some photos Monday.

Nice rooms on the 8^th floor, with an oceanfront view. The guys decided to take a look around, so they went out. Norbert said they made it to the Boardwalk but there were too many suspicious-looking persons around and after being offered drugs for sale, they came back inside. Lucas donated $5 to the slot machines, and then they went to the Sport Bar. Where they were astonished to pay $37 for 4 beers.... welcome to Atlantic City!

I judged the best thing for me would be to stay in, take my shoes off and put by legs up, which I did. Travel days become harder the older I get....

Leaving on a jet plane

Why yes, I am a John Denver fan, why do you ask?

On Sunday we will be flying across the pond again! Fourth time this year for Norbert and me, and only about a month since we got back from our last vacation.

This trip is entitled the North to South East Coast trip, as we will visiting a significant portion of the Middle Atlantic coast. And I do mean coast!

I will be blogging the trip as we go along so won’t go into too many details, but here is the rough itinerary.

Fly to Philadelphia and drive to Atlantic City, there two nights. Norbert and especially Lucas are looking forward to the casinos. I will gladly leave them there and investigate the Boardwalk and shops. Incidentally we are staying at the Bally’s Casino Hotel, all of which combines to make me Mom of the Year....

From there we drive a few miles down the coast to Cape May, where we spend one night before boarding the Cape May Lewes ferry and heading to Ocean City. There we plan to meet up with my brother Bill and his wife Cindy. Looking forward to it very much!

The next day we will visit Assateague State Park and Assateague National Park (north section). Then off to Berlin (Berlin, Md., that is) on our way to Chincoteague which we love and haven’t been to for a few years. Bill and Cindy will be there one night with us, we are there two nights.

From there we will drive down the peninsula and over the Bay Bridge-Tunnel – which we also love – to First Landing State Park in Virginia Beach. There we have a cabin (and probably no internet, helpppppp) for two nights. Time to relax in the beautiful nature and do as little as we want!

That brings us to a Monday, and we head away from the coast and to Edenton. Lucas’ only request when planning this trip was that he visit his grandmother’s grave for the first time since her funeral, so of course we will do that. And equally of course take advantage of being in Edenton to visit with some very dear friends.

The next day we are off to Heaven on Earth, or the Outer Banks as it is also known. We have rented a condo there for three days of chilling and good eating. On Friday we head up to Norfolk and start flying home again, boo hoo.

Hmm, perhaps I ought to start thinking about what to pack and all of that sort of thing......

Counting Down....

In only six more days we will be on vacation again. Hooray! But somehow I doubt that the time until then will go slowly.

Monday: Finished off some translations early this morning. Went out with my friend Conni for some window shopping (but somehow we both managed to buy a few things.....) One load of laundry.

Tuesday: Appointment with the hairdresser first thing in the morning. I love my perm and my new curly locks, just need to give them bit of shape. The main thing for this day is to do all the laundry and figure out as far as possible which clothes I want to take – so I can make sure they are all clean and don’t get worn again before being packed. Norbert has a hair appointment in the p.m.

Wednesday: The only day I don’t have any kind of appointment, but still a big day. Lucas has his “Zwischenpruüfung”, a big test at school for his job training. Needless to say, it is important that he does well! For me, more laundry and ironing, no doubt, and start seriously pulling clothes out to take. Also need to stat cleaning the house because.... well, see Friday.

Thursday: Sewing course! And then more housecleaning. And remind Norbert to get the suitcases/bags out.

Friday: A holiday in Germany, Day of German Reunification.

I agreed to work for CN on this day (news) before I got a phone call from our cousin Anja in Bavaria. Could they come visit us this weekend? Sure! We want to see them. We can make this work out! Invited Norbert’s siblings and their spouses to join us all for dinner.

Saturday: Visit with Anja, Wolfgang and Lisa. Pack suitcases! Right now it is unclear whether they will leave this day or stay the night. These details can be worked out later....

Sunday: Get up bright and early and head to the Düsseldorf Airport! (Vacation details to be announced later-)

Never a dull moment around here, and doing our best to keep it as stress-free as possible!

Time to return to blogging!

I think it is time to return to blogging! Now that I have less writing work, I find I still want to keep on writing -- but without stress.

My first task was figuring out how to access the blog log-in, which took an enormous amount of time. But I finally figured it out all by myself (hooray!)

What am I up to these days? We came back from vacation, I had a long and hard stint with Cyclingnews, and since that ended, I have been enjoying having time for myself. In March I started a sewing course at a local store and have kept that up, nearly every week. Lots of fun, nice people, learning something, and especially enjoying the three hours a week that I can dedicate to my hobby. I do sew at home too of course, but never have that much time at once and it can even be surprisingly had to find any time at all.

Work-wise, I have my Baku team (things are quiet there at the moment) and various translations, including for Tony Martin, who I assume will again defend his two world championship titles this week.

Norbert and Lucas are also both working hard as always.

Our next vacation starts two weeks from today! It is named "East Coast North to South", and takes us from Atlantic City-Cape May-Ocean City-Chincoteague-Virginia Beach-Edenton-Nags Head. Why yes, we do love the beach, why do you ask.......

And the biggest thing about this trip is that it will be our first vacation with Lucas in two years! Hard to believe.

After that Norbert and I look forward to Florida again in late January......

So that is just a taste as to what is going on. I will do my best to keep this up, and of course especially during the vacation!

Freezer days

One of my goals this year was to consolidate my two freezers into one, and to make better use of the freezer and the food within it. The first step has been made: the older freezer has been emptied and defrosted. Now to find out how to get rid of it....

This morning I made an inventory of the other freezer. The plan is to move it from its present rather inconvenient location to where the old freezer is. So the old freezer has to be removed, and the newer freezer has to be … emptied.

As soon as it is empty enough that I can put the rest of the stuff in the teeny-tiny freezer in my fridge, the freezer will be unplugged, defrosted and moved. Then it has to sit 24 hours before you can even plug it in and then of course it takes time to get it back to temperature. Sigh...

The freezer is heavy on meat and light on everything else (except somehow there is a lot of ice cream....) The good news is that there are things there for 16 entrees, which is just about right to get us through to our next vacation and the first few days back. The freezer will have to run while we are gone anyway, as Lucas lives from frozen pizza in our absence, I gather.

As soon as it is empty enough that I can put the rest of the stuff in the teeny-tiny freezer in my fridge, the freezer will be unplugged, defrosted and moved. Then it has to sit 24 hours before you can even plug it in and then of course it takes time to get it back to temperature. Sigh...

Interestingly, six of the entrees are fish. Yum! Fortunately I have found lots of new heart-healthy fish recipes lately, so I am looking forward to trying them out.

The hardest part for me, I think, will be not buying any more meat or anything else to freeze! It goes against my nature! I have become so used to buying up meat on sale and preparing it and freezing it, it is hard to change! But I can look forward to some great (and big!)

Meanwhile this will all give me an excellent exercise in menu planning, so that I can use up as much as possible without repeating too often or at least too close together!