Category: It’s the little things…

Fun things to do in Connecticut (besides fidget!)

There are plenty of fun things to do in Connecticut this Summer (or next Summer if you missed one or two here) and lucky for you they are all within driving distance.  For now here are just a few (in alphabetical order):

 

Bluff Point State Park, Groton, CT

This state park in Connecticut is not so easy to find by car but once you do locate it, you are in for a pleasant surprise…You will discover that it is a fantastic place to take the family for a picnic, to go for a swim at the beach, to go on a long hike, to clam, to fish, to go jogging…

 

Bluff Point State Park

 

Captain’s Cove Seaport, Bridgeport, CT

This Seaport is, in my opinion, one of Bridgeport’s best kept secrets!

It’s cute, it’s quaint and it’s a great way to while away an afternoon.  The outdoor shops, the fresh seafood, the live bands, the livelier crowds, most definitely a must-see in the Park City!

 

Captain’s Cove Seaport

 

Catamaran Lighthouse Cruises, New London, CT

My sister Casandra and her husband Alfredo went on one of these lighthouse cruises last Summer and had such a good time, they convinced me to try one (smile).  I love catamarans and travelling on water and educational tours so I’m looking forward to the good time I know I’ll have (smile).

 

Lighthouse Cruise

 

International Festival of Arts and Ideas, New Haven, CT

The arts become alive in New Haven the first 3 1/2 weeks in June and, as they say, there is truly something for everyone.  And most events are free and open to the public.  This year (2017) there were over 200 events(!)  from walking tours to workshops to master classes to concerts on the Green to film festivals…This is by far one of the best ways to learn about the arts and culture in the city of New Haven without breaking the bank.

 

International Festival of Arts and Ideas

 

Jonathan Edwards Winery, North Stonington, CT

I’ve heard nothing but good things about this CT Wine Trail winery and vineyard which is nestled in the hills of Stonington, CT.   I’m looking forward to going for a taste or two this Summer…

 

Jonathan Edwards Winery

 

Olde Mistick Village, Mystic, CT

I grew up in Southeastern, CT so Olde Mistick Village or “The Village,” as it was affectionately known, was the destination for shopping, for movies, for hanging out with friends, for enjoying ice cream or candy or fudge…

As an adult I find it’s an even better place to make memories – the movie theater now sells alcoholic beverages and snacks, there’s even a Brewport on premises!   The Village itself is dog friendly(!); the one-of-a-kind shops feature a variety of authentic, unique wares; there are a good number of restaurants serving breakfast or lunch and/or dinner.  There’s even a Sushi restaurant – Pink Basil – Yay!   And Franklin’s General Store is the place to go for unique gift items and free samples of “America’s Best Fudge.”  Yummy!

 

Olde Mistick Village

 

Travelers Championship, Cromwell, CT

The 3rd week of June is special in Connecticut because Travelers Championship (part of the PGA tour) takes place right at nearby TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, CT.   I love seeing live sports up close and personal because I find it is such a great way to connect to the sport as well as to its individual players.  And you don’t necessarily need to be a golf fan to enjoy Travelers as there is a Fan Zone with lots of unique booths, a Kids Zone for the children, plenty of food booths, ice cream trucks, beer tents and even live entertainment.  It’s truly a happening time~

 

Travelers Championship

 

That’s it for now – enjoy your Summer!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Island Time – Discovering my Happy Place…

I was having a tough time deciding where to go away on vacation this year as funds were tiiiiight!   However I kept at it as I knew we both needed and wanted a place far far away from Connecticut to unwind and decompress.   And we were looking for a place that involved the sun, the sand, and the beach.

As luck would have it, my friend and former co-worker Marnie listed her Freeport, Bahamas timeshare on Social Media.  Turns out that she and her family were not able to use their 2 weeks this year.  So she ended up selling me a one bedroom condominium unit for one of those two weeks for just $750 – the price of  their maintenance fees!    We were, however,  on our own for airfare, ground transportation, food and drinks…

We chose the last week of May (which included the Memorial Day holiday) to go on our vacation so that we could use 4  vacation days instead of 5 (smile).

We flew from Bradley Airport on Saturday May 27th and returned the following Saturday, June 3rd.

We arrived at Island Seas Resort on Saturday (2 airplane rides and one taxi cab ride later) at midday and boy were we starving!

It didn’t take us long to discover that there was only one bar and grille at the resort (Coconuts Bar and Grille) and one restaurant (Seagrape Grille).

We also found out from our new “friends” that the resort’s Wi-Fi, although ‘free’ in the units, was at best, ‘spotty.’    They did however tell us it was completely clear as long as you were poolside…

 

Here we are (with new friends we literally just met) eating lunch at Coconuts Bar and Grille on our very first afternoon.  We hadn’t even changed into our vacation gear yet!

 

Enjoying good, but pricey resort food

 

So after inhaling our lunch at Coconuts we finally headed to our unit.   Island Seas Resort consists of 10 buildings – all named after mammals – we were booked at Dolphin and found, to our surprise, that our building was just one of two buildings on the resort that was ocean side!!  Yay!

 

Long shot of the two ocean side buildings on Island Seas Resort

 

Up close exterior shot of Dolphin, where we stayed

 

Discovering our new Happy Place (smile)

 

The view of the ocean from our deck

 

Perfectly sized unit for the two of us

 

Our one bedroom unit also included a full kitchen

 

On Monday morning we (and a bunch of other resort couples) took advantage of the complimentary shuttle into Port LuCaya for the Island Seas Grocery Run.  It was a trip though because we had exactly one hour to shop for groceries or we would be forced to take a cab back.   I felt like we (and the other couples from the resort) were all on a reality game show as we dashed around with our shopping carts from one aisle to the next frantically searching for the right food and other stuff to make it through the week.   Not easy  to do when you first of all don’t know the store, or  the merchandise, or the prices.   If it wasn’t so serious  it would have been funny but at the time we were on a ‘mission’ (smile).

On Tuesday night, after spending all day on the beach, we headed to the ‘Bonfire on the Beach’ event which we heard cost just 20 bucks and included BBQ, 2 drinks, and live entertainment.

 

On my way to the Tuesday night ‘Bonfire on the Beach’ – could not help taking advantage of the beachy photo opp…

 

On Wednesday (after finding out that we could not participate in any of the tours that we were looking to book due the effects of Hurricane Matthew) we spent the day at Port LuCaya Outdoor Marketplace for shopping and the much talked about fresh conch salad at the marina…

 

Yummy fresh conch salad made right before your eyes!

 

We were officially on Island Time now and can I tell you?!?   It was sooooo nice sleeping in late every morning despite being greeted at the crack of dawn with bright rays of sunshine and 80 degree temps.

 

BTW, this is where folks from the resort would camp out every morning (especially if the tide was in)…

 

At night these same folks (including us) would walk barefoot on the beach for miles as it felt real safe in Grand Bahamas Island…

 

And how freeing it was regularly sporting shorts, tank tops and flip-flops and eating fattening fried foods (smile).

 

My typical daytime attire

 

Eating fattening fried foods — Goodbye clean!

 

And I won’t lie, decisions still had to be made, so here is what became the biggest decision of our loooong, leisurely sunny days…

 

the Ocean…

or the Pool…

 

At night our decisions were a tad simpler:

The strawberry frozen margarita…

or the Mango Bahama Mama…

 

By the way, before I forget, here are some good local spots to support that are within walking distance of the resort and which serve up authentic Bahamian food and drinks:

The $2 dollar Bar at the end of the beach (wish I had a picture of it…)

and Michelle’s Kitchen located right on the beach – good food & good prices!

 

Michelle’s Kitchen – good food & good prices

 

Michelle’s Kitchen right on the beach

On our final night (Friday) we took the last free shuttle from the resort back to Port LuCaya Marketplace for some outdoor shopping/dining/bars/marina activities.  We had just spent the entire day there a couple of days earlier but had heard  it was much more interesting and exciting at night.

 

It took us while to find a restaurant to eat dinner at as there were so many to choose from — each with attractive food and drink specials — but we finally settled on Agave and were not disappointed…

 

Dinner and drinks at Agave Restaurant – asian fusion cuisine – Delish!

 

Afterwards we walked down to the marina to hear live entertainment.

 

Really good 3 piece band – at Port LuCaya Marketplace

 

We ended up taking a cab back to the resort as it was late and the resort’s shuttle service had already ended at 615p.  It was real easy hailing a cab and it felt very safe.

We awoke early the next morning (Saturday) and made preparations to leave.  We felt sad saying goodbye to the cool ocean breezes, the bright sunshine and the lazy, carefree days.   Truly our new Happy Place…

 

The end of our vacation – at one of Charlotte International Airport’s restaurants – taking our sweet time eating dinner as we had a 5 hour-long layover…

 

Fresh is Best!

In spite of the fickle pre-Summer weather this month, my work and social life (which are both calendar-driven as opposed to season-driven) appear to be getting busier and busier.

 

 

At the same time this girl (with her history of colon cancer) absolutely needs to find the time to eat healthy in order to stay healthy.

 

 

While I do enjoy eating the healthy dishes that I prepare in the crock pot, or buying, heating and eating Amy’s organic canned goods, or even micro-waving and eating clean frozen meals, it’s beginning to get monotonous…

In a perfect world, I would have my own personal chef…ready, willing and able to whip me up a variety of fresh and healthy dishes that taste as good as they look (smile).

Lucky for me I found the next best thing through my early morning conversations with Margot, my gym friend.

Margot suggested I look into the Fresh Meal Plan.  It’s offered at all of the Edge Fitness Centers in Connecticut.   And it’s ‘the nation’s largest farm-to-table meal plan service with free delivery to your doorstep.‘   What ultimately sold me on it though (outside of the obvious benefits) was that all Edge Fitness members receive 10 percent off the weekly rate of $109 for the first 6 weeks and, THIS IS HUGE,  we could cancel at any time!

Here’s how it works:

You register by logging onto FMP’s website

Once online you can read all about the program including  the history of its Founders, FAQs and testimonials.   They even have a phone number to call and  talk to a live person who explains how everything works.   Once I was satisfied with all the answers to my own questions I was ready to begin.

The first thing I did was decide on one of four meal plans:  Traditional, Paleo, Signature or Vegetarian.  Each of the meal plans come with a featured image  and each plan is detailed in full so that you truly understand what you are signing up for.   This also helps you to decide which meal plan is right for your lifestyle.  However, no matter which meal plan you initially choose, FMP gives you the option to pick and choose meals from any one of the 4 meal plans!

I chose the Paleo meal plan because, for the most part, me hungry but me still needs to eat clean-healthy (smile).

 

 

Selecting your weekly meals:

This must be done on a desktop or laptop computer, not a mobile device.  Simply log onto the FMP website and select your healthy meals for the following week.

Here’s what I chose for my first week of 10 prepared, ready to heat-and-eat meals  (1 lunch; 1 dinner per day):

Korean BBQ Pork Chop

Teriyaki Chicken Stir Fry (pictured)

Roasted Mediterranean Mahi

Miami Cuban Turkey Burger

Truffle Steak Frite

Panca and Chive Turkey Meatloaf

Chicken Caprese Salad

Blackened Mango Mahi Tacos

Spartan Bison Burger

Kung Pao Chicken

 

Free Delivery right to your doorstep!

On Mondays by 7am a local courier delivers the first 6 meals and on Thursdays by 7am the remaining 4 meals are delivered.

All of these meals come neatly packed with 2 disposable ice packs inside an insulated cooler bag.

 

 

They are all stored in bake-friendly disposable containers.

For the best in fresh, you should refrigerate them immediately.

The now empty insulated cooler bag is left outside on your doorstep the day before your next delivery.   The containers and ice packs are yours to keep or dispose of as you wish.  Easy breezy 🙂

Again, I pre-paid $98.10 for the week or $9.81 per meal for my first week of 10 meals which is not too shabby considering the fact that I did not have to grocery shop, do prep work or spend precious quality time in the kitchen (smile).

And the taste — Yummy!

 

 

So far I’ve had the Truffle Steak Frite with Sweet Potatoes and Green Salad and the Chicken Teriyaki Stir Fry with Broccoli.  All of the Paleo meals are high protein, low-fat and low calories (less than 400 calories!)

My only caution is that the food is soooooo good that it may be difficult to go back to your normal, regular diet.  Outside of that I have just two words:

 

 

What it means to be a woman of a certain age…

I turned 55 years old a couple of months ago and it suddenly dawned on me that I am officially a middle-aged woman.   Yikes!  By right the standard definition of a middle-aged woman is somewhere between ages 45 and 65.   It is during this time that she may, among other things, physically and emotionally experience hair loss or thinning, vision problems, mood swings, graying hair, night flashes, hot sweats, hearing loss,  wrinkles, age spots, fatigue,  joint issues, sleep disorders, difficulty concentrating, bloating, weight gain, depression and more.   However, I still maintain that you truly are as young as you feel which is why I vow to continue working out at The Edge Fitness Center 5 mornings a week, getting at least 6 to 7 hours of beauty sleep each night, eating mostly healthy foods and drinking lots of fluids.  But even with this regime I can still feel the signs and effects of aging setting in.   Consequently, here are 10 reasons why I am closer to being described as “old” rather than “young”:

I will drive somewhere and forget where I was originally going

 

 

I cannot tell you the names of any of today’s top 5 music artists on any single chart

 

 

I have no trouble beginning a story with “30 years ago…”

 

 

I have misplaced my car or house keys more times than I care to admit

 

 

If I go out on the town just one night during the week it takes me the next 2 days to “recover”

 

 

I have trouble remembering passwords

 

 

I can no longer quickly shed 3 to 5 pounds overnight

 

 

The television is watching me after a certain time of the night…

 

 

It takes me longer and longer to recover from the flu or a common cold

 

 

And finally, my definition of “Old” keeps changing.   For instance, when I was 16 I thought 30 was old (smile).

 

 

 

Hot Comfort Foods

I used to love me some weekends growing up ‘back in the day’ in Groton, CT.   Especially  in the dead of Winter because my mother, Jean Anna Tinsely Hollis, would cook all 7 of her Hollis kids pancakes and bacon or waffles and bacon on Saturday mornings and eggs, bacon, grits and buttered toast on Sunday mornings.   Weekends were truly a time to sleep in, eat a ton of “Brunchy” foods and then go to church.

Perhaps that is why to this day I Love New Haven, as it is truly a foodie destination, and restaurants that serve “brunch” are not at all hard to find.

I celebrated my 55th birthday this past weekend with my girls – it was almost 2 weeks after the fact as I was actually born on Valentine’s Day.   However, one of my three girlfriends was not available until this past Saturday since I had bucked tradition by choosing to celebrate my birthday this year over brunch instead of dinner.  And believe it or not, the hardest part for me was choosing where to go as I had 3 former neighborhood faves in mind:  The Pantry, Bella’s Cafe and Lena’s Cafe and Confections.  

I spent my first 10 years in New Haven living in the East Rock section where The Pantry was the place to go for brunch.

You can’t miss the awning or the colorful building.
The interior is small but inviting.
The Pantry’s pancakes are heavenly!

I spent the next 11 years living in the Westville section of New Haven and everyone who lives in Westville knows there are two go-to restaurants for brunch:  Bella’s Cafe and Lena’s Cafe and Confections.

The interior of Bella’s Cafe.

“Bella’s,” as it is affectionately known, is long and narrow inside and the food is fantabulous  – especially the brunches which are served from 8am-4pm on Saturdays and Sundays.  The brunch menu changes each and every week and they don’t disappoint.  The weekend we went I had the fabulous french toast.  Yummy!   And well worth the long lines and the wait!

(Almost) too pretty to eat!

Lena’s Cafe and Confections is less than a block away in a much larger space.   As it turned out, this was the chosen restaurant.  And surprisingly we did not have to wait in line at all and the food was out of this world.  I had 3 blueberry pancakes with 4 turkey sausage links.

Love Lena’s Blueberry cakes!

One of my 3 girlfriends had an omelette stuffed with crab meat, avocado, hash browns and toast on the side.  She washed it all down with a mimosa.

Afterwards there was not a speck left on her plate!

The other two girlfriends had a chicken quesadilla and a chicken Panini.   Hot Comfort Foods are now my new birthday treat and the good news is there are so many more restaurants to try in so many other New Haven neighborhoods (smile).

Bon Appetit!