Tag: travel

And so it begins…

Now that many people are done with their Christmas, I am finally beginning mine. Sure, I’ve been to the extended family gatherings, but since Amy & Rachel weren’t there, they don’t count. However, today I drove Oop North to Detroit and am at elsaf‘s for a few days. We exchange gifts tomorrow and later in the week, Amy & Rachel come to Ohio for our family Christmas. So let’s hear it for Christmases that last all week!

I got the Elsa’s safely and on time this morning. And shortly after, I was sent off to pick up judiang from the Metro airport. Eep! But I drove there & back just fine. And I even remembered to pick up Judi!

We did a short shopping spree at Best Buy where I wasn’t allowed to be where Judi was (and apparently neither was Elsa), but as I had to park the car (somewhere in the vicinity of the store – I think I was only 17 blocks away) I managed to avoid her. While in the store, I noticed I’m getting slack in my DVD collecting. Season 4 of Bewitched and the final seasons of Dangermouse are now on DVD. Looks like I know what I’ll be getting myself after the new year comes!

After a bit of geeking back at the house, we headed off to supper at Sy Thai Shores restaurant. We started with the appetizer sampler – spring rolls, shrimp thingies, and crab rangoon. I had pad thai with tofu (hmmmm, couldn’t think of anything original, eh trina?), Elsa got the drunken noodles, and Judi got the orange duck. For dessert, Judi and I opted for coconut ice cream (yum!) and Elsa got the Thai version of banana cake. Everything was yummy!

To top off our evening, we headed off to the Fisher Theater to see Spamalot. I bought a $20 program magically (well, Judi swears she never saw me buy it) and we found our seats. We had great seats on the mezzenine. Nicely done, Elsa! The show was funny and the songs quite entertaining. And a lucky guy in the audience got to leave with a miniature Holy Grail. Heh.

On our way back, Elsa drove by Lakeshore Drive (Chicago doesn’t have the monopoly on Lakeshore drives) so we could look at the Christmas lights. Some pretty swanky houses out there with even swankier Christmas lights. If we get the gumption, tomorrow we’ll go again and Judi will try to get photos.

Well, now that I’m nicely settled, Judi is insisting that I make her an amaretto sour. Such a taskmaster is our Judi…

Sister Visit

Here we are at my sister’s apartment. Mom, dad, and I got up at 0’dark-thirty this morning to head for the airport. We had a 7am flight to Minneapolis/St. Paul. We arrived nearly 2 hours ahead of time and had no issues with security (though dad and I somehow managed to get in the express line while mom took the long way though – still, it gave me time to have breakfast – a Cinnabon Pecanbon). Though we had to wait for the plane to be de-iced, we arrived in MSP on time. We were at the far end of the airport, so it took us awhile to reach baggage claim. And lovely Rachel was there waiting. Yay Rachel!

Dad and I waited for the bags while Rachel walked mom down to Starbucks. And our bags arrived very quickly. Once we were all together again, Rachel drove us to Amy’s workplace and we enjoyed some coffee & cookies (turkey-shaped gingerbread) in honor of the upcoming holiday. The office space is very nice. As were the cookies, come to that. 🙂

As Rachel hadn’t had breakfast yet, we stopped at Bruegger’s Bagels for some bagels. I had rosemary & olive oil with cream cheese – very yummy! Rachel then took us to their apartment (home for now) and we greeted Früvous, who growled & swiped in response. (He’s such a cute, grumpy cat.) We vegged in the apartment some, then mom made the crusts for her pumpkin pies, then we vegged some more.

Around lunchtime, we headed back to Amy’s work and got to see her cubicle. Cute cubicle! And with the new park across the street, she even has a nice view. We walked a couple of blocks to a coffee shop in the Open Book complex. I had grilled panini (sour dough) with cheddar and their autumn minestrone soup. Very tasty! We were all happy to let dad foot the bill. 🙂

On our way back home, we stopped at their Co-op to pick up the turkey. It’s a 16lb free range turkey (though why Rachel had to pay for it if it was free, I’ll never know… 😉 Amy’s gonna be the Master Chef for tomorrow’s meal, so most of us will get to relax (and watch the parade, ha ha!)

We’re back in a vegetative state while we await Amy’s return from work. I decided to read my flist & update my journal in this time. The girls are reading and I believe dad is napping. Yup, this family knows how to par-tay! 😉

Swimming in MN

Yesterday, we did indeed head for Crate & Barrel and the Library. Didn’t buy anything at C&B, but the girls spent some time in the library looking for books. The library is a new building and really cool. Very modern. They have a neat Teen section too. I spent most of the time reading more from The Joy Luck Club (which I’d started reading Thursday). They have free wireless in the library too. And lots of PCs around.

On the walk back from the library, we stopped at The Local, the Irish Pub on Nicollet. We had 2 of the Bites for Pints specials. The 5 PK “Wee” Burgers and the corned beef & kraut poppers. The girls had Summit Seasonal beer, Scandia, which they both loved. I had an amaretto sour which I didn’t spill. The so-called “Wee” burgers were practically normal sized, so certainly a filling lunch. The corned beef & kraut poppers were pretty neat – they were wrapped in won-ton skins & fried and served with a side of Thousand Island dressing. The lunch was very nice.

Another quick stop at Target, and then we returned home. We vegged until Melissa arrived. She’s a friend of the girls who lives in the area. I met her when we were preparing for their wedding. Amy & Rachel then started work on the veggie lasagna. A couple of hours later, we had an excellent supper of lasagna and sour dough baguette with an excellent olive & garlic dipping sauce. We played a game of Euchre, which Rachel & I won with a Come from Behind maneuver. Then Melissa headed back home.

This morning, we actually got up a bit earlier than normal in order to head off to A Baker’s Wife’s Bakery. Amy had had one of their cinnamon & sugar donuts earlier this week & swore they were the best donuts she’d had thus far in her 8 years in Minnesota. So the plan was to get one to eat there, one to take back home to eat along with scrambled eggs. So we did just that. I agree, they were very good donuts. I also got a creme brulee danish for eating with the eggs. We had to stop at the co-op on the way back from the bakery to get some eggs & sammich fixin’s.

Amy made us scrambled eggs & I had my danish with it. Alas, there was precious little creme, but plenty of brulee. Still, it was very good. We then vegged by reading the Sunday paper. When lunchtime arrived, I had a smoked chicken & meunster sammich on croissant. More vegging ensued. But when it was 3pm, we put on our swim suits & coverings and headed off to the pet store (as one does). We didn’t have any luck finding a suppliment that Fruvous needs, so we then moved onto Becky & Michelle’s apartment, where church was being held this weekend.

Amy & Rachel are members of the St. Paul Mennonite Fellowship, a small congregation that meets at 4pm on Sundays, usually in the basement of a Lutheran church, except in the summer. Becky & Michelle’s place is air conditioned, so it was an ideal place to gather. The plan for the evening was games & swimming rather than singing & worship. Well, there was some singing. We began by playing some Encore (not seriously) and sang a bit while we played. Then the girls & I went to the complex pool to swim. No one else was in it at the time, so we enjoyed the pool all to ourselves. The water was warm, so it wasn’t as refreshing as it could have been. But it was pleasant all the same.

When we returned to the apartment, we rinsed off in the shower & put on dry clothes. Then it was back to the games. I played TransAmerica for the first time. (I came in second – in terms of losing.) Then Michelle taught us a funny game. We all stood around a table, on which sat a large Hershey chocolate bar, a knife & a fork. We took turns rolling the die and if you rolled a 6, you got to try & use the knife & fork to eat some of the chocolate. Folks kept rolling the die, so the possession of the knife & fork changed often, sometimes JUST when you’d broken off a nice piece of chocolate. We laughed lots & most of us got to have some chocolate. No idea about who wins the game, though I was the last one to get to eat some chocolate. 🙂

We headed home before 8pm and ordered some Galactic Pizza. Superheroes deliver the pizza (except when the weather is so fantastically hot like it was tonight) and they use an electric car to do it. We ordered the Mexicali and the Thailander pizzas and a hemp brownie. When the delivery guy left, he made sure to drive by the apartment so we could see the cute little electric car (the Gizmo). It was so cute!

The pizzas were both excellent. And I really liked the Thailander, which had peanut sauce & crushed peanuts on it. When I had my third of the brownie (which was VERY rich – almost like fudge) I had some ice cream & chocolate sauce on it. Yummy.

Alas, tomorrow is my last day with the girls. I’m going to buy them some Indian Fud for lunch, but that’s the only thing planned for tomorrow thus far. Oh yeah, and delivering me to the airport is in the cards as well. And now back to watching Shark Week on the Discovery Channel.

S-H-O-P-P-I-N-G

Yesterday turned out to be Shopping Day. After our breakfast, Amy & I did the dishes. Then she took a nap & I geeked on the computer. Rachel got home around 12:30, so we headed off to Ikea. Ikea is across the street from the Mall of America. So it’s a bit south of where the girls live. We headed up to the cafeteria for lunch so we’d have the energy to shop. I got the Swedish meatballs (with potatoes, gravy, and lingonberry sauce), salad, and Sierra Mist. The girls got the chicken marsala. I got us the lingonberry mousse and Amy picked up some cookies for dessert. The meal was quite nice – turns out I like lingonberries. 🙂 (My second “new” fruit for the day – the first being marionberries from marionberry preserves at breakfast.)

Once fortified, we headed into the furniture store. I found a few pieces that I thought would work, however forgot to record the aisle and bin number of the piece I liked best, so we wound up going around 3 times before we were done. Then downstairs to the descorations and stuff. I picked up a pair of those thin plastic cutting boards for under $2. The girls got me a pair of slippers for when I visit & some lightbulbs. We went to the aisles & bins to check on a few things, then checked out, hoping to get a catalog. No go on the catalog – they were out and the new ones won’t be in until the second week of August. No matter, I thought, I’ll just order the piece I want online. In the Swedish food shop, I bought some cookies with chocolate hazelnut filling.

Next stop was Best Buy (with Rachel headed on to Borders) so I could buy Amy & Rachel’s birthday present, finally. Their birthdays are in May just 4 days apart. (4 days and 4 years apart.) I had so many ideas and talked myself out of so many ideas for their birthday gifts that I never did get them something. Amy thought maybe I could get them the stuff for a wireless network at home & set it up. Sounded like a great birthday gift idea to me!

I picked out the D-Link gold router & PCMCIA card and it was just in the price range I’d intended. Then we went to the audio/video section hoping to find a solution to Amy’s VCR recording problem. (She can’t record with her VCR since the Coax-in plug is sheared off.) The saleslady said that maybe an RF modulator would do what we needed, so Amy bought that.

We headed onto Borders to meet Rachel & look at books. I saw a few things I might want, but had the good sense to say “no!” So we returned to the car and headed north.

A stop at Amy & Rachel’s co-op for milk and a few other items (I got some cream soda & seasame sticks while there) and then we were finally home. We collapsed for a bit. Amy fiddled with the RF modulator, but no luck on recording cable. We decided that, if we were going to be hot & bothered anyway, we might as well walk to Brit’s Pub for supper.

It was oppressively hot on our walk to Eat Street (Nicollet Ave) and Brit’s Pub. The walk would have been quite pleasant if it had been 15 degrees cooler. The pub was air conditioned, thankfully, so we didn’t have any problems waiting 20 minutes to be seated. The girls got beers and got me an amaretto sour (which I later spilled – whoops!) while we waited.

For supper, I decided upon steak & kidney pie with chips. I’m not a kidney person. I don’t want to eat the body’s filters, so kidneys and livers are right out. However, the pie sounded very good, so I ordered it anyway. Rachel got a Cornish pastie and Amy got the fish & chips. Everything was wonderful and the chips were big & thick and perfect for soaking up vinegar. Since the girls have been such gracious hosts (and took me to a pub) I bought the supper. They’re a cheap date, really. 🙂

We waddled in the (slightly cooler) hell that is Minnesota in the Summer towards Target. We got some other necessary items and a switch for their cable/VCR so they didn’t have to keep swapping cords. Another stop at the video store for a movie (Tristram Shandy) and back to home again.

I set up the wireless network, which worked like a charm – yay! Then we put the movie on. It’s an odd thing, but it was neat to see a lot of British actors that I recognized. Naomi Harris, Shirley Henderson, Stephen Fry. And I’m still trying to rectify Mole from Mr Toad’s Wild Ride with Steve Coogan/Tristram Shandy. Same actor (Steve Coogan, oddly enough) but he was a lot cuter as Mole. 🙂

We didn’t get through the movie before folks just got too tired, so we’ll probably finish it later this afternoon. (Movie is due by 7pm tonight, I believe.) I spent some time online before heading off to bed. And I slept in until after 8am. Had some odd dreams – one of which was a murder mystery with the 7th Doctor promising to solve the murder of a woman’s nearly born child. I always think “I’ll be able to remember this later” but I really can’t remember anything more than that!

Rachel made us blueberry (and plain) pancakes and Amy cut up some peaches & a nectarine. It was a very yummy breakfast. These girls sure know how to treat me! 🙂

I’ve done some searching online this morning and discovered that the shelves that I want from Ikea are not available online. Bugger! So now to figure out how to get them to me. We have to take the RF modulator back to Best Buy, so maybe we’ll get down to Ikea once more this weekend. Wonder if they can ship from the store to my house? That would be lovely.

Plans for today? Visit to the library, doing stuff downtown, maybe a stop into Crate & Barrel, folks coming around this evening. At some point this weekend, we’ll be getting Galactic Pizza (delivered by a super hero!) I’ve been having fun with my girls with more fun to come!

Minnesota Geeking

Heh, after a good start to my July LJ posting, I sort of went off the rails again. Since judiang returned to Chicago, I’ve just been working during the day, pulling carpet & playing City of Heroes in the evening. The good news is that the living room carpet (which is really 3 rooms worth & a hallway) is now completely up. There are spots which are dark due to Leo, but most of the floor looks gorgeous. (Why they ever covered it with carpet I’ll never know!)

Anyhoo, yesterday after work, the folks drove me to Dayton International Airport and I flew to Minneapolis. (There was a layover in Detroit that lasted longer than it should thanks to a big thunderstorm cell, but I got to MN just the same. I thought about elsaf while I was waiting in her city.) Amy met me just outside the airport & drove me home. Rachel was already in bed (she had to work a little this morning) when we arrived, but she said “Hi!” and “Welcome” to me all the same. Fruvous (two dots over the first u) was not happy to see me, but he is a grumpy cat. Amy stayed up some to chat and then we both buggered off to bed.

I was still wired from the Coca Cola I’d had at lunch (not a caffeine person) when dad & I treated John, the county tech guy, to pizza at Al’s Pizza. So I lay there listening to Sleepers, the third album by GRIMMS. For 20 years or so I’ve been trying to get my hands on that album. I’ve been a Neil Innes fan for a LONG time and this had always been the Holy Grail of my record collection. Even when I became independently wealthy and scoured eBay, it always elluded my grasp. I’d think “OK, I’ll bid up to $40” when one would come up. It would go for more. Then I’d think on another one “OK, $50 this time!” and it would go for more. But thankfully, the album is now on CD! Yay! So I ordered it from amazon.co.uk and it arrived this week. I put it on my iPod and now I’ve listened to it. It’s quite good. Worth the wait? Haven’t decided yet. I’m just glad I have it now. 🙂

I didn’t sleep well last night (thanks caffeine) and got up when Rachel did. She headed off to work while Amy made me breakfast. Scrambled eggs with garlic, Swiss chard, torpedo onion tops, and a little mozarella. Home fries with torpedo onion bottoms, garlic, chard stalks and seasonings. Toast with an assortment of preserves. Juice and milk. Yum! Amy’s quite the gourmet.

The plan for today is to shop for wireless equipment (my belated birthday gift to the girls) and then do a stint in Ikea (my first time!) so I can look for furniture.

Chicago Again

Yay! I’m back in Chicago staying (as usual) with judiang. The flight (out of Columbus) was uneventful. (Reminder to me – I’m parked in 10C in the Blue Lot.) Judi was there at the foot of the escalator when I headed to the baggage claim.

We took the Blue Line to Jackson then switched to the Red Line. Then a short walk to Judi’s place and it was time to sit out on the balcony while Judi burned some hot dogs for us. The weather was perfect out there as I sat and watched the city lights and Judi’s neighbors. She’s got the perfect place for voyeurs. I think I’ll get her binoculars for Christmas.

Tomorrow, elsaf arrives and we’ll do all sorts of fun things, like Taste of Chicago. Should be a fun weekend!

A Comparison of Days

Yesterday morning, I got up at 5am and woke up judiang in the next half hour. She had a 6:55am flight back to Chicago (gah!), so we headed out to the airport. We arrived at United’s desks at 6:27am. And they wouldn’t let her get a boarding pass. They cited the 30 minute rule for not giving up her boarding pass (and did the same to an irate businessman). So Judi was forced to go on standby for the next flight out. Yuck!

(Oh, Judi, MJ says that it’s quite possible that UA had already given up your seat to someone else because they always overbook. Her hubby’s had that happen to him several times – they use the 30 minute excuse because they can. Blech. Dirty rotters!)

I would have stayed or driven Judi back or something, except that I had to get to work. I had promised MJ, the senior class adviser (and HS secretary – one and the same), that I’d be a chaperon for her on the senior field trip to King’s Island (an Amusement Park in Southern Ohio). Yeah, difficult work to get, no?

We left the school a little after 8am and headed for the park. We made good time and arrived before they opened. No matter, MJ got our tickets and we all skuttered into the park. It wasn’t long before the rides opened and a good portion of us rushed over to Drop Zone. I, of course, did the ride. And once I got off, I took my glasses out of the case where I’d stored them for the trip – and the screw promptly fell out of the left side. The lens fell to the ground, but didn’t break. However, the screw was a loss. Thankfully, MJ and the senior girls with us led me around to the next few rides. We did Face Off and the Racer. Oh, and the Vortex. And some others – but I’ve forgotten them!

Once it became lunch time, MJ and I headed to Skyline for lunch (yay 4-way Cincinnati chili!) while the girls headed off to try the bungee jumping ride, which was currently only $5 instead of the usual $20. After lunch, we headed for a store to see if they had any glasses repair kits. No luck there, and the salesman called to another store – they didn’t either. He did let me have some masking tape and I managed to repair the glasses for the rest of the trip.

MJ and I then headed off to the train station to meet the girls again. Once we got there, we discovered they’d been trying to call us – whoops! We never did hear the phones. Turns out they’d just left on the train we saw leaving when we arrived. So we sat in the train station and enjoyed a breezy, shady break from what was becoming a miserably hot day.

We headed to the water park section of King’s Island where we became Table Sitters. Joy joy. Almost all of the 27 seniors were in the park and left their bags, clothes, shoes, etc at a table (and half of another) where MJ and I sat, watching & waiting. Thankfully, a couple of girls arrived an hour later or so with smoothies and told us where we could get ’em. They watched the table while we nipped off to buy smoothies – yay! I got Mango/Pineapple. Note to self – don’t go barefoot when it’s nearly 90F and sunny – hot on the soles!

We stayed at the table for awhile longer, when MJ’s daughter and some of the other girls said we should switch tables – there was another near the wave pool that was shadier. Everyone gathered all the stuff up (except for one boy’s boots – we’d warned him we weren’t taking them with us) and we moved tables. MJ and I did get to wade in the water – which was refreshing.

Eventually, folks were ready to go back to the main park. Our group of girls decided to do some kiddie rides. We did the Wild Thornberry’s water ride – we thought it should be safe. Everyone getting off the ride was barely wet. Nope. I went with 3 of the girls in one log, MJ went in the next with her daughter and another. And we all came out drenched! Damn, if only we’d known this earlier in the day! 🙂

We did some other kiddie rides, then headed towards the Festhaus for supper. Only we got distracted by the Pop Star try-outs they were doing under the Eiffel Tower. The girls decided they’d enter and sing Stacy’s Mom (but substitute it for Amy’s Mom in honor of MJ). They managed to get a number of the other seniors there to watch and finally got to perform. They did pretty well, and I thought they were better than the girl who kept winning the rounds. They lost, despite being the audience favorite. They got tissues and Loser badges, which they wore proudly to dinner. Supper was La Rosa’s pizza (you’d think they’d want to distance their name from the pizza they serve at King’s Island, but there ya go…) And then Graeter’s Ice Cream for dessert. Graeter’s is a local ice cream manufacturer that is wonderful. And the ice cream here was no different. Yum! I liked it so much, I had some before supper AND after supper. Judi would be so proud!

After ice cream, it was time for the park to close. So we all met up front and took several pictures of the seniors in front of the fountains and Eiffel tower. They even got me in a couple – yuk! Anyhoo, we all headed off to the bus for an uneventful ride home. It was a truly good day.

And while I was having all this fun (hot & shitty fun, but still fun), where was Judi? Still at the airport! Gah!

While I was chaperoning, I kept texting Judi to find out her status. And it just never got much better. When the 10am flight came around, they were too full, so no go for Judi. Then she was shooting for the noon flight. And the 3pm flight. And eventually the 6pm flight! Already at the airport for 12 frickin’ hours and they couldn’t get her on a flight?

We sent several text messages (I think I got 14 from her throughout the day) with a couple of actual calls during the day. I felt so bad for her having to deal with all that shit & boredom while I was having fun watching senior bags and shoes. Once they finally DID get Judi onto a flight, it was delayed! Good grief! There were storms in Chicago, apparently.

In the end, she did get home – yay! And she got home around the same time that I did! Eeep! Poor Judi!

Apart from Judi’s horrible trip home, I think she had a nice weekend with me and elsaf. I know that I loved having them here again! And it’ll be great seeing them in Chicago for the 4th of July! And grief, I hope I don’t have to wait a day at Dayton International to get there!

When Cold Air & Warm Air Meet

The parental units and I are in Indianapolis right now, getting ready to attend another Jesus Seminar on the Road. We went to one back in November where I got to meet two of dad’s little Internet friends. Alas, Daryl Schmidt died March 23rd due to a very aggressive cancer. 🙁 Tonight I’ll get to see Bernard Brandon Scott again, but also get to finally meet Ed Beutner, one of dad’s “cronies.” I’ve heard quite a few stories about Ed, so I’m really looking forward to meeting him. Plus, the two of them will be talking about parables. And I like parables.

So, after dad and I returned from our monthly county tech meeting, mom drove us towards I70 to make our way to Indiana. We were driving down Hogpath Road and, according to mom’s car’s thermometer, it was 78°F. Suddenly, a storm came up on us and before the storm was over, the temperature had dropped down to 54°F! It was quite the frog strangler and there was hail larger than moth balls falling. It was rather impressive to watch. Mom got us through the bad weather and onto Indianapolis. And now we’re in a Baymont Inn that says it’s a La Quinta. Gee, I just love staying in hotels that change their identities on me! (Have I ever mentioned the time when I stayed in a Comfort Inn in London that became a home for refugees before I’d left it?)

The nice thing about this Baymont Inn is the free wireless Internet. Yay! I should be able to work some on my online class (which is over online classes) while we’re here.

On the Way…

I’m currently in elsaf‘s living room watching Mirrormask and typing on my laptop. And tomorrow morning, we’re off to Chicago to hang with hergrace & judiang at Judi’s apartment. Should be lots of fun. This weekend marks Judi’s birthday, too, so we’re bring presents for the soon-to-be birthday girl. 🙂

I think I remembered to bring everything that I needed to bring (yes, Judi, I remembered your presents). I fed Leo 2 days worth of food (which he had mostly eaten before I headed off to Elsa’s). The drive was uneventful (my favorite kind of drive) and I listened to Chumbawamba the whole way (their new album twice). And once I arrived, Elsa & I went out for Thai food. I had pad thai, as usual and Elsa had Drunken Noodles. Both were tasy.

The goal is to get up early in the morning and head off to Chi Town. We’re going to try & avoid the bad rush hour traffic. And once we arrive? Hopefully lots of fun, fun, fun! 🙂

Ya, in Bavaria, where the trees are made of wood!

Yesterday was Frankenmuth Day. elsaf drove judiang and me to Frankenmuth, MI. It was the first time there for all of us. Frankenmuth (the “u” is long in the name) is a town that considers itself Bavaria in Michigan. And it was a cute little town (well, little as in a hell of a lot bigger than my little town, but smaller than Judi & Elsa’s towns).

We started at Bronner’s, the world’s largest Christmas store. Indeed, it was. There were some neat things there – including some cool (expensive) nutcrackers that almost made me go back to my old Collecting Nutcrackers habit. I picked up a few things for my Christmas tree and some incense candles for my smoking men dolls.

After Bronner’s, we drove over to the River Place. This was a series of shops, many of which were cute & somewhat unique. I managed to get through without buying anything – yay! And then we found a parking place in the downtown area, so we could walk to the shops there.

We started at the Cheese Haus. I almost bought mom & dad some Cheap White Wine and Cheap Red Wine. These had generic labeling & were really cute. But they weren’t actually cheap, so I didn’t get any. 🙂 I did finally buy something at a Scottish fudge shop. (Buying fudge in a Scottish shop in a Bavarian town in Michigan – go figure!) I got some peanut butter fudge & some German chocolate fudge. The lady working there let me taste vanilla fudge, but I didn’t care much for it. (Not vanilla-y enough.)

Our final stop in Frankenmuth was the Bavarian Inn. There was a considerable wait for the seats, but the food was worth the wait. We’d ordered appetizers, but it turns out we didn’t actually need to. They had pickled beets, cranberry relish, chicken pasta salad, cole slaw, and noodle soup as starters as part of our meal. Then our ordered appetizers arrived – potato & cheese dumplings and ham & cabbage dumplings. We’d all ordered the Bavarian Combo, which had smoked pork chops, saur bratten, and wiener schnitzel. “Potatoes & kraut” were also provided and we then discovered the potatoes were the same potato dumplings we’d ordered as appetizers. Heh. (They were awfully good, so I didn’t complain.) The meal also came with noodles & corn – but we didn’t know this, so we all ordered spatzel (German pasta). So we had a LOT of food on our table. And we ate quite a bit.

Before supper, however, we made a pact to save room for dessert. So for the second night in a row, we had leftovers. And then we ordered dessert. I wanted to have the Holiday Peppermint Roll. Chocolate peppermint cake wrapped around peppermint ice cream and topped with handwhipped cream and crushed peppermint. Yummy! And all that peppermint probably helped with my digestion. Heh.

Today is Shopping Day (somebody forgot to get me a birthday present… I won’t name any names, but I’ll point at Judi) followed by an evening of fun at Elsa’s folks’ place. I hope that you all have a Happy New Year! (Some of you are already into 2006 – hope it’s going well for you!)