Jefferson’s Monticello

Thomas Jefferson wanted to be remembered for his contributions to the USA, not his titles, jobs or what the country gave to him. His gravestone at Monticello makes no mention of President, Vice President, Secretary of State or US Ambassador to France. The same man who wrote the iconic words, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness," owned more than 600 slaves and never acknowledged his six children from enslaved mistress Sally Hemings. Ugh. Greatness is in doing.

We had a thought provoking day in Charlottesville.

Charlottesville VA

An uneventful day on the road, over the byways instead of the highways, had us rolling into the hilly landscape of Charlottesville in the mid afternoon on Monday. The Country Inn and Suites by Radisson was highly rated on the forums but disappointingly farther from town than the advertising indicated. Oh well. It’s clean and reasonably new. We showered and consulted the internet for dinner venues. Sushi was on the agenda. The restaurant TEN offered fresh fish in a funky, romantic setting. After dinner we strolled the pedestrian mall and enjoyed people watching and window shopping in a vibrant college town. UVA is always looming in the background.

Beautiful Beaufort

After a delicious breakfast consisting of Bill’s homemade Greek whipped yogurt with granola, nuts and honey, we hit the Spanish Moss Trail. It was good to stretch our legs and explore Lowcountry on the well-maintained, partly-shaded, 10-mile scenic bike path. We ventured on and off the trail for hours, stopping at a dockside lunch place, Fish Camp, in Port Royal. Bill had to refuel with the chicken and waffles and I opted for a strawberry salad sprinkled with jalapeño bacon. Gotta love the south. Back on the bike to burn off the calories, just after mile 26, I found myself peddling on a flat rear tire. Ugh. Suddenly on a business trip, we were back in leisure mode, with a fixed bike, in no time.

Lowcountry SC is hotter than SWFL now. It reached 97° in the afternoon. It was good to cool off back in the hotel and plan our next meal. 😂 Bill found a most amazing restaurant on OpenTable: Saltus River Grille. A great spot in Historic downtown Beaufort. We shared wood fired oysters, mussels, truffle French fries and then, the star of the dinner, shrimp and grits, of course. I’ve been working on my own recipe for this iconic dish but realized Sunday night, I have a long way to go.

It was a spectacular 48 hours in Beautiful Beaufort all around! Even getting the tire fixed was just another adventure. Another story, too.

The Paris Seamstress to Beaufort SC

With a couple of weeks to catch up with family in friends in Florida, clean the house and do laundry, we hit the road in our SUV for another adventurous road trip. Bill installed the Thule rails at the last minute, but as it turned out, we didn't really need the rooftop storage. We rolled out of town around 9a. Immersed in my current novel, The Paris Seamstress, miles flew by while enjoying breaks in shotgun. It’s always a tedious drive out of the state. East, west and in between, there’s no easy way out of Florida.

Beaufort, SC has been a destination on our radar. However, it’s just slightly out of the way when we’re in serious Interstate driving mode. With this trip up north, we decided to make Beaufort part of the fun. We pulled into our Holiday Inn on Boundary St. just in time for a quick shower before dinner. According to Yelp, TripAdvisor and Google, the top place in town is Old Bull Tavern. Luckily, we were able to get a 6:30p reservation on a Saturday night in June. Dinner was very good. Afterwards, we strolled along the waterfront, plopped on a swing and took in the beautiful sunset at Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park. The present heat wave in Low Country made for a perfectly comfortable evening outdoors.

meh.

Thinking of adding a couple tee shirts to my badass collection:

Will and I just crack up with these edgy shirts

Although I'm totally off of caffeine

My original

What's wrong with just wanting light-hearted enjoyment in life?

A Long Day's Journey into Night

Packed and ready to go on Wednesday, we met for breakfast at the hotel before boarding buses for Heathrow at 8:15am. Sadly, a Marco Men's Club (MMC) traveler tripped over a bag and fell head-first on the curb. The ambulance arrived within 20 minutes (ugh traffic) and took Brooks to the hospital. That episode delayed our departure, but we still had plenty of time to catch our flight.

Some sort of electrical failure occurred just as we were finishing our check-in at American Airlines. Conveyer belts, escalators and TSA screening came to a halt. Luckily, Bill and I were not terribly effected, but many in our group had tedious manual security checks and lost luggage upon arrival.

We had a comfortable flight. I finally finished my book and watched the movie Free Solo. Once in Miami, it took almost two hours to get our group together between lost luggage claims and erroneous information for gathering and meeting the bus to Marco.

The MMC's group of 39 remaining travelers arrived on the island at approximately 10p. Long day, fun 17 days, Brooks will be fine and lost luggage will be found. Here's some parting shots of our transatlantic adventure:

Final Stop: Good Food in London

We have arrived! Such a lovely welcome into Southampton this morning.
CelebrityEdge Instagram

Monday morning came around pretty early. We checked out of our cabin on the Edge. Celebrity buses were waiting in Southhampton England for a final excursion of two nights in London. The Grange City Hotel in the Tower Hill section had an odd dark vibe with old Egyptian decor; especially obvious coming from a white, sleek, modern ship. Our group of six found lunch at the Natural Kitchen, which was around the corner and a perfectly refreshing stop for a pint and fish & chips after a nerve-racking three and a half hour bus ride in super heavy city traffic.

Four of us made our way to Harrods on the Tube with our newly purchased two-day Oyster cards i.e., electronic tickets for use on all of London's public transportation. We browsed around the iconic store in Knightsbridge and even had high tea there in the late afternoon. Of course we had to find a pub for happy hour and there wasn't one too far away. Haha. They all seem very similar but Paxtons Head was our pick. On to a nearby bistro, Bar Boulud, Chef Daniel Boulud's only London restaurant, for a really good casual meal. It's all about the food! (and wine)

Tuesday morning most of the Marco group boarded buses for an all day guided tour of London. Bill and I couldn't bear to get on another bus for the day, so we used our Oyster cards and did our own tour. It was a beautiful day of lallygagging around London. Our group of six reconvened at the hotel at 7pm and hopped a taxi to dinner at Cantina del Ponte in the Butlers Wharf Building 36c Shad Thames. A fun riverfront scene near the Tower of London. London's culinary reputation is turning and there is good food all around this bustling city. We found it!

The Beaches of Normandy

Breakfast was delivered to our room at 6:30am and we were on the bus before 8am. Pretty good for a big boat shore excursion departure. It was about an hour and a half from our dock at LaHavre to our first stop: Pointe du Hoc at Omaha Beach in Normandy. 

It was a day for the imagination as I tried to envision the largest amphibian attack in history. A wide beautiful beach filled with young boys making their way up the steep rugged cliffs into enemy fire. D-Day. June 6-8, 1944 was the beginning of the end of WWII. 

We spent a solemn hour at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial contemplating war and peace and crazy villains. A softly sounding Star Spangled Banner and Taps in the distance brought tears to hundreds of eyes while viewing thousands of white crosses. On to the Memorial de Caen for lunch, museum tour and a quick war movie before returning back to the ship. 

Our last night aboard the Edge was festive. A special dinner of prime rib was served and once again all eight of us reunited around the table and shared adventures from the long day. 

It was a super fun 15 days aboard Celebrity’s new ship, the Edge.

Bilbao to LaHavre France

Back on the treadmill Saturday, I was able to get a workout in before a 10am lecture on on next port: La Havre, France. At 11am, our captain of the Edge, delivered a fascinating presentation of commanding this vessel on a transatlantic crossing. He shared stats and statistics concerning the planning and execution of a cruise. Safety, navigation, crew, food, water, fuel, emergency contingencies and learning about so many other aspects of the ship were mind boggling.

We met Pat and Glenn for lunch at the Cosmopolitan. Our first full service on board lunch for us. We always just grabbed a bite at one of the self-serve restaurants. The food is very good everywhere on the Edge.

We reviewed our portfolio and started planning for an early morning. After our usual dinner at six, and the grand finale musical show, our 7am departure for LaHavre and Normandy was looming. We did make time for a quick Bailey's before bed!

Bilbao Spain: Basque Country

A leisurely morning was a must Friday after a wild night on board at The Petit Chef and Martini Bar. We rolled out of the terminal around 10am and boarded a bus for the town center of Bilbao. What a gorgeous city among one of the oldest civilizations: the Basques.

We just drifted around the banks of the river and enjoyed the beautiful architecture; old and new. Of course, the Guggenheim Museum was a must-see. We found Old Town and a sweet little place to rest and enjoy some pintxos, yummy Basque-style bite-sized snacks at Café Bizuete. The fascinating Mercado de la Ribera was bustling with shoppers for their daily provisions. The fish!!!! A sensational market all around.

We were reunited with our table for eight on board at the Cypress Restaurant and shared adventures from the previous few days. Great fun. Great cruising experience for all! Can’t post pics with tech problems.

**UPDATE: Fixed tech problems and here's some pics:

Lost at Sea

It was another rainy day as we cruised to Bilbao Thursday. Seating was at a premium inside and we found the perfect little corner to play with our devices and read our books. Had a fun dinner at Le Petit Chef on board. 

Mail2Blogger Test

I've been having serious tech difficulties with the convenient blogger feature noted above. With a day a sea, I can perhaps get to the bottom of this pesky problem. I had to download Chrome and add my gmail account on my new iPad. So, if you can read this, the test worked!

Two Hours in Cascais

The ship docked in Lisbon early Wednesday afternoon. We boarded our bus for Cascais, a cute little seaside town, in the rain. The one thing we really, really dislike about big boat crusing is the mob scene. People really lose dignity and manners where food, seats and shore excursions are concerned. Ugh. Our sarcastic mantra on the boat is, “I like coffee (vodka) and maybe three people.”

After a 40 minute bus ride, equipped with a tour guide, we arrived in Cascais and stummbled upon the best little restaurant. The main man at Luis Vaz de Camoes restaurant fed us authentic Portuguese dishes: freshly harvested clams (two minute old), garlic prawns, clam, potato and pork stew with arroz and the traditional condiments of bread, butter and olives. With so little time in rainy and foggy Cascais, we simply ate and ate and ate and sipped a couple of bottles of red wine. Just like the locals. They’re on to something.

Back on the boat, our feisty game of Spades continued until bedtime. Another night at sea with a time change. I suppose losing an hour each night is better than losing five at one time. Bilbao Spain is next.