Melting in Mobile

Mobile, Alabama. Beautifully located on the Mobile Bay, home of the original Mardi Gras (unless you ask someone from New Orleans) and the Mobile BayBears. With the end-of-season-clock ticking, we went south yet again. While the Hank Aaron Stadium didn't quite rival the Pensacola Bayfront Stadium's view, the BayBears' performance outdid the Wahoos'. We saw firsthand why the team from Mobile was the Southern League first-half champion! Besides a great offense, we were treated to a couple of amazing double plays! Go BayBears!!
A first for us: the National Anthem was sung by an (approx. 100 years old) opera singer. And it sounded fantastic! I just hope the old man didn't get a heatstroke. Come on, take off that tweed jacket. It will be fine. I promise! And it will have the added bonus of not melting. The temperature at game time was about 104 degrees. It was so hot in fact, even the bugs didn't want to move. I've never seen a fly move so unwillingly away from a hot metal fence.

We stayed at The Malaga Inn, located in Downtown Mobile. An old hotel, with rustic charm, and one of the coolest courtyards I've seen outside of Europe!

We must definitely stay there again, since the heat kept us from appreciating being in walking distance to Dauphin Street. We walked there, yes, but it was oh so very hot. I'm looking forward to exploring the oyster trail - the history of Mobile and of oysters painted on giant oyster shells throughout the city. We took a first step in that direction by eating at Wintzell's Oyster Bar, a local favorite. And now mine, too!

Spanish Plaza

Thank you for traveling with me today!

Until next time,

Nadine

Secret Garden

I've alluded to our backyard before. With summer in full swing, but today's temperatures too high to actually sit outside in the afternoon, I figured I'd take you on a virtual tour of our garden.

Between the seating areas, little walkways, and abundance of plants one can (on non-100 degree days) spend hours out there reading a book, contemplating life, or in Pat's case, doing homework. 

I think the only improvement would be a rabbit. Alas, one can't have it all. 

This is actually a fig tree. I'm looking forward to our first harvest.

Here is the view from the garden towards the house.

It looks like we will need to invest in some kind of grilling device. Hmm, I can smell the bratwurst already. Guten Appetit! 

Thank you for traveling with me today!

Until next time,

Nadine

Battle of the Bays

This weekend found us in Pensacola, Florida. We've been wanting to check out their baseball team for a while and realized with a jolt, that the minor league season is almost over. Time to take the Beetle on the road!
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos were playing the Mobile BayBears. While the home team lost, it was still an awesome evening, partly due to the fact that it was Elvis night. I've been told that he had died on 16 August 1977. But how can that be, if he was right there at the Bayfront Stadium? The King lives! Here is proof!

Also contributing to the awesomeness was the stadium itself. With the gulf in the background, and a flock of pelicans flying overhead, it was one of the most romantic stadiums we've been to so far. 

And just when I thought things couldn't get any better. Bam! They serve oysters & craft beer. Cheers!

The game was followed by fireworks. To me, they belong to summer in America, like Bratwurst belongs to Germany. At times I am quite torn about me liking them. (I'm talking about fireworks here, moving on from the Bratwurst.) How can I be enjoying something so much, when it should make my environmental bristles stand up at the back of my neck? But there they are, beautiful and embodying everything about summer. The long evenings outdoors, the promise of fall just around the corner, new beginnings. All of that wrapped up in colorful blasts in the night sky. All that was missing was a slice of apple pie. 

We stayed at the Crowne Plaza Pensacola Grand Hotel. Not knowing what to expect from Downtown Pensacola, we were greeted by a beautiful hotel, built inside an old train station. It had a lot of charm and exceeded our expectations greatly. The onsite library didn't hurt! 

Before heading back home we stopped at Open Books, a non-profit bookstore that sends books to prisoners. We were positively surprised by their well-rounded selection, and were really glad we were driving and not flying. 

http://www.openbookspcola.org/

I also learned a new word on this trip. Along Highway 65 we saw a sign for picked scuppernongs. Since neither of us knew what they were trying to sell us, we just kept on driving. We weren't really in the mood for any kind of dead animal. Turns out, scuppernong is a large variety of muscadine, a species of grape native to the Southern United States. There you go. 

Thank you for traveling with me today!

Until next time,

Nadine

Welcome to the Neighborhood

Today's adventure started out a lot more serenely, probably due to the fact that I looked up my route of action before leaving the house. I also brought my phone & am happy to report I didn't need it for any SOS related calls.

I love our neighborhood! The trees, the parks, the fact that I don't get weird looks just for walking around.

Every street has a little something to discover. I found the Cloverdale Playhouse, which is showing Mary Poppins at the moment. Just a spoonful of sugar....
.

My destination was Cafe Louisa, and I can see myself spending a lot of time there, just reading, writing, sitting. Oh, and eating. Did I mention their Blackberry Bread Pudding? Or the Orange Pecan Muffins? But wait! There is more! They also serve Gelato, which is perfect for those "I'm so hot, I need a frozen coffee. Now." kind of drinks. 

Right across the street is the Capri Theatre. They show less-mainstream movies, and also have a "Classics" night every once in a while. We got to see "Dr. No" when we were here in March. It was my first time watching that film, along with my very first martini. Shaken. Of course. 

Right now they are showing "Chef". I am waiting for Hitchcock's "Rear Window" next week. The walk home might just get a little creepy...

Thank you for exploring with me today!

Until next time,

Nadine

Follow the Yellow Brick Road

Today I've really done it. I mean, I know about my navigational skills - or lack thereof. I just thought I could outwit myself. You know, do an easy out & back. Follow the same road home that I've run to begin with. For that to work though, one must be able to remember which road one has taken. And there lies the problem. It all started out according to plan. Then for some reason I decided to turn down a road I've never been on. Why? It looked nice. That's it. I couldn't even tell you the name anymore.
At some point I decided it would probably be best to head towards home. Only by now, I was high on endorphin and figured a loop would be more fun than taking the same road back. And that's where the trouble started...
You see, I orient myself by sights. It works pretty well in large cities with big monuments to guide you, for example the Eiffel Tower. In a neighborhood where every street has trees and old houses, this strategy has the potential to backfire.
Some of the street names seemed familiar, so I took those for a while, running up & down all kinds of Virginia themed roads (Mt.Vernon, Arlington, etc.). After seeing the same lawn ornament 3 times, and wondering why the name "Winters" is so common in this area, I realized I've been running my loop after all. Just not towards our house.
At least it was a great day for running (in August, in the South) - cloudy, with a slight breeze to cut through the humidity. But at some point, once the panic starts to rise, you lose all that beauty & recount your survival knowledge. That's when I vowed to bring my cellphone on the next run. For I had neither my phone nor any money to use a public phone. I suppose money wouldn't have been of any help anyways, since the last time I saw a public phone was in 2003.
Luckily, there was a young man out, walking his dog. I had passed him before, and instead of running by him again (in the same spot...), I asked for directions. He pulled out his magical phone, and mapped out my route to safety. I was 10 minutes away from our house. (Has anyone ever read Stephen King's "The Girl who loved Tom Gordon"?)
So here I am now, eating chocolate, celebrating my return!

Thank you for running with me today!

Until next time,
Nadine

Just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in

After a week of having received our household goods shipment, I can report real progress. Not real enough yet to call it "done" or to even post pictures, but progress nonetheless. I'd call a clear path from the dining room to the kitchen a great accomplishment. Wouldn't you?

We went grocery shopping the other night. It seemed like a good idea after unpacking all the "kitchen boxes" and finding the fridge to be the only area with empty shelves.
At the store, I had one of those moments where I felt rather old & curmudgeonly.  All I wanted was a box of frozen waffles. Apparently, that is not as easy as it would seem. Waffles with cinnamon, extra fluffy, Wafflettes, round, square, soy, only handled by brunettes. I mean, come on! We are talking about frozen waffles here. They will most likely get covered in Nutella as soon as they come out of the toaster anyways. In the end I chose the buttermilk variety & a family size jar of Nutella. Breakfast, here I come!!

This weekend, we will continue with the project "Turning The House From Storage Unit Into Home". It is very exciting to see everything coming together.

Thank you for going shopping with me today!

Until next time,
Nadine

Where's Waldo?

Our stuff finally came! The movers were early, efficient, and fast! One saw my Hula Hoop and did really well. I might have to practice.

We did get the usual comments about the amount of books we own, and I responded with my usual "less than a library". Little did they know, that we are actually working on acquiring library level numbers. One of these days, we will even have a rolling ladder/bookshelf combo. It just might get harder to find movers at that point.

Right now we're playing our very own version of "Where's Waldo".  

I'm also debating just leaving the boxes and building a giant fort, although that might make having company over a bit awkward. 

Thank you for unpacking with me today!!

Until next time,

Nadine