Category: My adventurous self

The Big Easy

I can finally check off that I traveled to The Big Easy aka New Orleans, Louisiana while on  vacation.  Ever since I saw the movie The Big Easy starring Dennis Quaid and Ellen Barkin I’ve been so wanting to go.  That movie was a hoot! And it came out in 1986 – 39 years ago!  Then 13 years ago I saw another movie about Louisiana that resonated with me but in a much different way.  It was called Beasts of the Southern Wild and it came out in 2012.  It starred then 6 year old Quvenzhane Wallis who was nominated for Best Actress Oscar at the tender age of 9 for her groundbreaking performance.  A phenomenal movie which I will never forget.  So much so that I held off traveling to Louisiana because the movie was all about the forgotten people in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and I did not want to even think about the horror and destruction…So here we are in 2025 and it’s the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina so of course I’m going (smile).

 

In real life I make all of the travel arrangements for me and James, my life partner, so while browsing online for hotels in the French Quarter, I searched for some place real, some place authentic, a place that would speak to the New Orleans experience.  I booked our hotel stay at The Royal Sonesta – New Orleans, a luxury hotel situated right on Bourbon Street.  I chose it so that we could truly be surrounded by all the sights and sounds of the city.  I did not choose wrong.  The Royal Sonesta – New Orleans took up a whole city block, featured a doorman and was outfitted with 3 uniquely different restaurants – Desire Oyster Bar, The Jazz Playhouse and Restaurant Revolution.  As part of it there was also a lively bar facing the street called Le Booze’ as well as  PJ’s Coffee House of New Orleans which sold coffee, sandwiches, fruit, pastries and such.  Our hotel room with an interior balcony and king sized bed was located on the 3rd floor where (lucky for us!)  The Oasis Bar at the Pool was also located and open from 7am to dusk.

 

Our King Sized Bed
With Interior Balcony

 

Wisely enough The Royal Sonesta gave us a $15 dollar a day credit to be used at any of the aforementioned properties and we had only 6 days and 5 nights to explore the French Quarter so explore it we did (smile).

 

Sunday October 12th

Did I mention that we traveled in the month of October?  You would not have known it was October because the weather felt like late August back in New England where I’m from – here it was mid to high 80s all week long, little or no humidity and sunshine for days!

 

We checked in well after the designated time of 4pm because the hotel had a huuuuuge party the night before that had just dispersed so our rooms were not ready.  We gave them our luggage to store away and headed through the courtyard to Desire Oyster Bar to try some of those chargrilled oysters we had heard so much about from friends back home.

 

Chargrilled Oysters – yummy but salty

 

After picking up and dropping off our bags in our now finished room we headed out (by the way you do not need a car in the French Quarter as everything is accessible by foot, by pedicabs, by horse and buggy carriages, by trolley, by bus, by ferry, by boat, by Uber or by limousine.

We were starving, the dozen of chargrilled oysters were good but real salty so they just exacerbated my hunger.  We stopped at a place nearby called The House of Buns where I ordered the Red Beans and Rice.

 

The House of Buns
Louisiana’s classic staple Red Beans and Rice

 

Afterwards we walked the streets and I felt like I was in the middle of Spring Break for all ages: young, old and in between.  Lots of people walking everywhere but from what we heard the crowds were thin and nothing like what was to come, i.e., Thursday night and the weekend…

 

A looooong game of Chess with Bayou Bobby and his latest prey (smile)

 

It was around this time that I started feeling tired (I had woke up that morning at 5am for our long travel day which took us from Bradley Airport in Windsor, CT to Charlotte, North Carolina and finally to New Orleans, Louisiana) so I was beat.  Not to mention the hour time change…But nothing a hot shower and a good night’s sleep wouldn’t fix.

 

Monday, October 13th 

We woke up late on Monday morning (I think it was after 830am which is late to me since in real life I wake up at 430am 5 days a week to head to the Orangetheory gym in Hamden for a kick-a– class (smile).

We decided on visiting The Garden District on our first day so we could get closer to the water.  We took a City trolley there for one low price of $3.00 (the ticket to ride lasted all day long for trolleys and/or buses).

 

You can ride the trolley or bus all day long on any given day for just 3 dollars!

 

We were starved when we arrived in the Garden District so we rang the bell and got off in front of this cute French restaurant called La Boulangerie on Magazine Street – like a lot of the fast casual restaurants – you order your food first, take your number and find a table.  The waitress or waiter then brings your food and drink to your table.  I ordered a sausage, egg and cheese on an english muffin and a double expresso.  It was delish~

 

Delish breakfast at La Boulangerie on Magazine Street

 

We headed to the Riverwalk Mall where there were restaurants, shops and you guessed it, the river (smile).  It was another beautiful day so we walked the boardwalk, went window shopping in the mall and then headed out to Caesar’s Casino to get our gambling on.

 

Loved the Riverwalk Mall

 

Caesar’s Casino – not so much…

 

We did not feel like waiting for a trolley car or bus to arrive so on the way back we caught a pedicab for just $20 bucks and our driver pedaled us back to the hotel in no time.

 

Our Nola pedicab driver

 

After a quick shower and fresh clothes,  we headed out for dinner and this time we dined at Nola because they had an upstairs balcony with al fresco dining so we could people watch while we ate.

 

Nola Restaurant
Taking a picture in front of the Hotel Monteleon
James’s delicious shrimp dish

 

Then we bar hopped (not for drinks but for live bands and karaoke) and were back in our hotel room by midnight.

 

Halloween starts early here…
The Cat’s Meow
Cannot remember the name but I loved the music

 

Tuesday October 14th

We ate breakfast at the hotel this morning – Desire Oyster Bar (yes, they serve breakfast too!).  I had a huge bowl of steel cut oats with candied pralines, brown sugar and raisins and a large coffee.   It was delish!

 

Desire serves breakfast, lunch and dinner and even boasts a happy hour!

 

After breakfast we spent the day poolside at The Oasis Bar at the Pool to soak up the sun and relax before taking a shower, changing our clothes and heading out to Mother’s Restaurant.  My girlfriend Jeani in Atlanta works for Delta Airlines and she and her husband Brian travel everywhere so when she makes a recommendation, we listen (smile).  We walked to the restaurant as it was only about 12 minutes away.  It was crowded!  We waited in the ordering line, took our number and looked for a table way in the back because the front of the restaurant was already jam packed with people.  I had Jerry’s Jambalaya with cabbage and red beans and rice.  I drank iced water with lemon (actually I drank iced water with lemon with all of my meals as number 1: I don’t drink alcohol anymore and number 2: I knew I would be consuming an extraordinary amount of food on this vacay (smile).

 

Poolside at Oasis by the Bar pool
Soaking up the sunshine

 

The famous Mother’s Restaurant
Mouthwatering dishes
With long lines

 

At night we bar hopped again (for live music and karaoke) and found a spot where the singer originally from New Orleans had a rich and powerful voice.  We stayed out that night ’till 11pm then went back to our room and hung out on our balcony deck which faced the courtyard, not the street.

 

The hotel room door which led to our balcony

 

Wednesday October `15th

We woke up late again and headed to Desire Oyster Bar for breakfast where I had the same thing – a huge bowl of steel cut oatmeal with candied pralines, brown sugar and raisins.  Then we headed to the Nola Visitor Center to buy 2 tickets to an Airboat Swamp Tour (James’s pick).  We purposely opted to not go on a lot of tours for this trip as we felt as if we could navigate the city without them.  But this tour spoke to James so I agreed (smile).

Our Swamp tour was on a small airboat which carried up to 10 passengers.  With transportation to the pier and the tour it cost us $119 per person.  It was worth it though because we went deep into the swamp and stayed for almost 2 hours with a tour guide who was native to the area – 5th generation bayou family member – he regaled us with stories of him and his friends hanging out in the swamp when they were little boys looking for alligators and snakes.  He called the swamp his “backyard.”  I called him our Crocodile Dundee (smile).

 

Crocodile Dundee (smile)

 

The picture that was made for us before we even stepped into the Airboat (smile).

 

The alligators loved the marshmallows we fed them because of their white color

 

For lunch we found a cool looking restaurant called Crescent City Brewhouse on Decatur Street where I ordered the wild tagliatelle pasta with grilled chicken and a side salad.

 

Delish pasta dish
Yummy close-up

 

Fun Fact:  Our waiter, Joshua G. was also a budding actor.  He told us he was on pins and needles about a 2nd call back he just received for a role he was praying about and then told us he played the Jamaican dude in Kevin Hart and Will Ferrell’s Get Hard movie.  I googled “Jamaican in Get Hard with Kevin Hart” later that day and watched Joshua’s scene with a big smile on my face.  He was very good!

 

After we ate we went out for a long walk where we ran into the Louie Armstrong Park and more street performers.  Even one who sounded like so much like John Legend that we thought the outdoor restaurant was playing his song, Ordinary People on loud speakers.  It was another beautiful day.

 

I notice there is a lot of talent in this town – American Idol should take notice – this singer sounds just like John Legend~

 

We then took the trolley back to Bourbon Street and walked into a record store called Peaches Records!  I was so surprised because it’s not every day you see a record store in a city.  As it turned out, this record store was unique in that it used to be a Woolworth’s Store back in the 1960s where one of the more notable sit-ins took place.  Seven students staged a sit-in at the Woolworths lunch counter to protest racial segregation.

 

Peaches Records
Sitting at the lunch counter of one of the first sit-ins for racial segregation

 

Thursday October 16th

We were running out of time but could not leave New Orleans without at least trying a beignet – so many people, including my gym friend Penthy, told me how goooood the beignet was.  As it turned out there was a Cafe Beignet right across from our hotel.  At this Cafe Beignet the  dining was al fresco and it featured live jazz musicians, in this case a 3 piece band.  I had scrambled eggs with white cheddar cheese and bacon on a plain bagel with black coffee.  James had 3 different flavored beignets so I took a bite out of one of his beignets (smile).  It was tasty for sure.

 

Al Fresco dining at Cafe Beignet with live jazz musicians
My Egg, Bacon and Cheddar Cheese Bagel sandwich with coffee

 

That night for dinner we ate at Acme Restaurant which my gym friend Anne M. highly recommended.  We had tried to go to Acme Restaurant on Monday night but there was a large water main break that night which shut down all of the restaurants and bars on the street.  The TV news reporter was there interviewing one of the chefs so I had to smile since I’m in the TV industry.

 

Can’t go anywhere without seeing a TV news reporter (smile)

 

Anyway, we waited in line at Acme because it was so popular and then were seated in the back.  I enjoyed the seafood medley which was well worth the wait.

 

Acme Restaurant (see the line behind me)
My delicious dish – a Seafood Medley – at Acme Restaurant

 

That night we listened to live jazz music but this time at The Jazz Playhouse in our hotel.  I drank 2 mocktails as we listened to the sounds of The Brass-A-Holics.  This group was incredible as they all played musical instruments including the saxophone which is my personal favorite. I would have taken pictures of these gorgeous male musicians but my phone had died – bummer!   At the end of the night The Brass-A-Holics summoned everyone out of their seats to follow them around the restaurant where we all marched/danced to When the Saints Go Marching In.  It was another memorable evening spent with people whom I’ll probably never see again in my life (smile).

 

Friday October 17th

Travel day – I have to note: Traveling by air today is exhausting and it really tries your nerves – we almost missed our connection two times (one time on the way to Louisiana, one time on the way back from Louisiana) through no fault of our own.   Another thing –  on the flight headed to New Orleans our Pilot informed us that he thought he was going home after his shift had ended but was asked at the last minuteto stay on and take our flight so I’m thinking, Oh no, he’s really tired… Anyway, he then proceeded to tell us that 3 things needed to be fixed before we could actually take off so our flight would be delayed but he would keep us posted as each one was completed.  He came back after each one was completed to let us know the status.  On the 3rd “thing” he accidentally said it was ‘good enough’ and then changed it to mean it easily passed all of the tests but all I kept thinking was ‘good enough.’  Yikes!  As it turned out, God protected us and got us back safely so I really have nothing to complain about right?!? (smile).

 

At any rate, here are my memories of New Orleans in October:

Beautiful sunny and hot weather

Bare legged tattooed ladies

Daiquiris and pizza shops

Jello Shots

Po’Boys

Loud competing music in the streets

Independent art galleries in the Art District

Apartments, condos and homes with unique architecture and ironwork balconies

Street sweepers in the early morning cleaning up the mess from the night before

Poverty stricken children of color drumming on empty canisters for dollars

Homeless sleeping in the street

Young male street performers holding court on Bourbon Street while entertaining the crowds

Caleb the funny doorman at The Royal Sonesta

 

Sincerely,

 

TVFL

 

Saturday in the (Central) Park

In Connecticut this week it’s hotter than July, the weekend is always right around the corner and there’s no sign of rain so What to do, What to do, What to do.   New York City seemed like a good option and it is quite literally a Metro North train ride away.  So me and my partner in crime hopped on the New Haven train on that Saturday with the idea of exploring Central Park – a park that I personally had not been back to visit in over 25 years (gasp!) and literally gave no thought about.  It was his idea, I was thinking South Street Seaport so it took him a minute to convince me to change my mind (smile).

 

Metro North train ride to NYC

 

Here are some fun facts I discovered about Central Park during my quick online research while on the Metro North train ride:

1)  Central Park is bigger than some countries.  There are 843 acres in the plot starting on the Upper West Side of NYC, measuring 2.5 miles long and 0.5 miles broad.

2)  Central Park is the oldest public park in the United States – the plans for the park were approved in the year 1853.

3)  Central Park is one of the most popular filming locations in the world – some of these films include Home Alone 2, Enchanted, Elf, The Avengers, Stuart Little and John Wick 2.

4) There are 58 miles of pedestrian routes in Central Park.  Because it is so large, my recommendation would be to focus on the famous sights such as Strawberry Fields, Cherry Hill and Bethesda Fountain.

5)  Central Park has only one single straight line – this park was purposely designed to have a natural flow of nature in it so the only straight line in the park can be found at The Mall.

6)  It is the United States most visited park with 42 million visitors annually and only 14 % of those are first time visitors – the rest are mostly local New Yorkers or visitors coming back!

7)  And last but not least,  you will be shocked to learn that Central Park is entirely artificial – looks can be deceiving but all of the parks natural features are man made.  All of the lakes, forested areas and hills in the park were all artificially created.

We caught the NYC Subway from Grand Central Station to Central Park – it is not so easy to navigate the Subway – nothing is as clear as it could be including the simple purchase of a MetroCard from the vending machine.  The vending machine never once mentions the price of it,  just that you can buy one card to use on an unlimited basis or a single card to be used once.  At any rate we finally figured it out – it costs $9.00 for the unlimited MetroCard and $1.00 for the processing fee.  We shared the MetroCard which did not last us too long because a single Subway ride is $2.90 (smile).

 

Standing in front of the Subway stop to our way back to Grand Central Station

 

We both wanted to make the most of our day trip to NYC (time wise) so we had already decided on renting Electric bikes – all the rage now as everybody and their grandmother seemed to have the same idea on that Saturday (smile).

We ordered the 2 E bikes online while on the 1 hour and 45 minute train ride from a store called Bike Rental Central Park which appealed to us as it was located just across the street from the W57th entrance to Central Park.  The 2 E bikes cost us $180 and included a helmet (which we both refused – too hot!) and a map of Central Park.  Locks were not included because as one of the store associates told us, these E bikes are expensive and they would rather us not let them leave our sight then park them and leave them locked up somewhere where they would become easy prey…

 

The bike rental store we found online and which saved us $50 dollars for pre-purchasing the E bikes

 

The hardest part of the day was deciding which way to go.  There were pedestrians everywhere, pedicabs with couples inside, horse and buggies with families, bikers, walkers, strollers, rollerbladers, scooters and again, E Bikers.  We did follow the map they supplied because as with the E bikes you are limited to riding on the streets, you must stay off the sidewalks and pathways and you always, always give pedestrians the right of way.  Not everyone was following the rules…

 

My E bike – I can’t lie, it took a little getting used to, I’m used to pedal power so this was an exercise in patience

 

As I mentioned before, Central Park is huuuuge so in our 4-hour E bike rental time, we wound up seeing the following, in no particular order:

Conservatory Garden  – the only formal garden in Central Park  – it is 6 acres long and divided into 3 separate parks.

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir – this reservoir holds a billion gallons of water and is one of the park’s most scenic landscapes.

Wollman Rink – we lucked out on this place out because 300 tons of sand were dropped onto this rink for the first professional beach volleyball APV event ever held inside this park!  We could barely see from our picnic table as the crowd was massive but  nevertheless enjoyed our soul food lunch courtesy of Melba’s😋

 

AVP tour event – first time ever at this location!

 

Excited about eating our lunch at Melba’s – heard great things about it

 

Yummy lunch from Melba’s – catfish sandwich with chipotle mayo – I had previously eaten a ton of fruit from 2 different stands in the park due to the heat so I wasn’t as hungry as I thought but that sandwich was gooooood!

 

Melba herself touting her wares

 

Conservatory Water – Popular with families with children because of the famous climbing sculptures and the sight in the children’s classic and movie: Stuart Little.

 

Trying to hide my hiked up pant leg for E bike riding (smile)

 

Bethesda Fountain & Terrace – Bethesda Terrace is considered the “heart of Central Park” and rising from the terrace is Bethesda Fountain with the famous Angel of the Waters statue stop.

 

Lots of people wanted to take a picture in front of the statue so it took a minute before I could get my turn (smile)

 

That was basically it.  We plan on heading back on another Saturday this Summer to catch the other Central Park sights because again time and the unexpected precipitation (forgot to mention it started to rain lightly in the late afternoon from all of the humidity) worked against us.  Plus we were looking to drop off our E bikes so we could head to Times Square for some nighttime activity but all in all it was a good day and definitely worth the trip.

 

Sincerely,

 

TVFL

 

 

Re-Discovering Savannah

Life sure is funny.  Not Ha Ha funny, but peculiar funny…The first time I found myself in Savannah Georgia was wayyyy back in June of 2011.  It was the same year that I was  diagnosed with colon cancer.   I had planned a memory making trip down to Hilton Head, South Carolina with my niece Keedah and all four of my sister Dana’s grandchildren:   Rashidah (9), Ahmad (8), Kenyon (7) and Rasoul (5).  The goal was to give my oldest sister Dana a well deserved and much needed break.  I  rented a 4 bedroom condominium from this couple in Cheshire, CT (this is before Air BnB was invented), a Dodge mini-van with extra car insurance and brought movie videos, board games and lots of snacks.  As you might guess, I was receiving a ton of negative feedback on taking a long road trip after being diagnosed with colon cancer so before I was to go I consulted with my Colorectal Surgeon and I’ll never forget what he told me.  He said, Go, but when you return, we head straight to surgery’  Lucky 7.

 

I knew then that life was truly for living (smile).

 

All that to say, we spent 1 day out of our 10 day vacation in Savannah, Georgia –  just an hour’s drive away from Hilton Head, South Carolina.  That 1 day was so memorable that I promised myself that I would go back, but this time I would stay in Savannah.

 

This is that time (smile).  14 years later.  Life sure is funny…

 

Fast track to now.  It’s June of 2025 and the world has gone batshit crazy.  Fast paced and full of not so good surprises.  The goal this time was for me and my man to get the heck out of Dodge (Connecticut) to truly relax and unwind from everything.  I remembered the quaint city of Savannah with the cobblestoned streets that I had visited over a decade ago so that’s where we headed.  My weather app showed sunny days with plenty of sunshine for the entire week.  I was super psyched!  The reality was that when we arrived on Sunday June 8th the rain was coming down in buckets playing match games with thunder and the sky, dark and foreboding.  This scene played itself out so many times throughout the week that we decided to just rough it and try to enjoy ourselves.   Oops, I lied. There was one day of the week (Wednesday, June 11th) where the weather played nice and actually remained sunny and dry the entire day but the remainder of the weekdays and nights were unpredictable.

 

We stayed in the historic district of Downtown Savannah at a cute-as-a-button boutique hotel named The DeSoto Savannah.  I chose this hotel because it was convenient to everything – retail, restaurants, parks, and sightseeing.  The DeSoto had an outdoor pool on the second floor, as well as a small gym and a day spa.  We never did make it to the hotel restaurant, 1540, because we were too busy exploring other parts of the City but from what I heard the breakfasts and dinners were delish.

 

In my opinion, the best and easiest way to explore Savannah is to do what we did on our first day out.  Buy tickets to a Hop on Hop off trolley tour.  By the way, we purposely did not rent a car at the airport because The DeSoto only offers valet parking due to the congested parking situation and the historic downtown district, where we stayed, is walkable.

 

James purchasing our All Day Trolley tickets

 

We chose Old Town Trolley Tours because they were highly visible and very convenient.  No matter what neighborhood you were in, an Old Town Trolley  arrives every 20 minutes.  The cost was $45 per person and that got you unlimited trolley rides between 9am and 5pm to 15 different Savannah destinations.  If you rode the trolley from the 1st stop to the 15th stop without getting off, it would take you an hour and a half but if you, like us, hopped on and off to the neighborhoods where you wanted to take a deeper dive, then you might not get to all of them in the 8 hour time frame.  It’s worth it though because each trolley ride comes with a narrated tour so you are being educated about Savannah and her dark past.

 

Old Town Trolley tour bus

 

Our very first trolley stop was to The Savannah Visitors Center and History Museum where we totally enjoyed visiting the SCAD (Savannah College of Art) Museum –  a place where all the artwork is created by faculty, students and alumni!

 

SCAD’s explosive enrollment growth over the years includes international students from 20 different countries!

 

All of the artwork seen here at SCAD is done by students, alumni and art instructors alike!

 

Love all of the color schemes

 

One of the quilts on this  wall reminds me of one of my sister Casandra’s quilts (smile)

One of our most memorable hop offs was to City Market which is chock full of Artists, local merchants, candy shops, coffee shops and restaurants with bars.  We liked this neighborhood because it felt lively and energetic.  The cobblestone streets, the horse and buggys rides, all felt very authentic.

 

Love Love Love the horse and buggy rides

 

After our time in City Market, we caught a new trolley and headed for The Lucas Theater neighborhood.  Here we enjoyed a sushi lunch at Sushi Hana, an ice cream from the famous Leopold’s Ice Cream Shop and an almost dinner at The Olde Pink House…it was a Monday so The Olde Pink House, which was highly recommended by my girlfriend Kristie, is closed on Mondays…

 

Our last trolley ride was to Forsyth Park which is Savannah’s largest and beautiful green park and it covers many City blocks.  At the park we discovered the Forsyth Fountain which I realized made for a perfect photo op (smile).

 

Forsyth Fountain

 

The next day (Tuesday June 10th) we decided to spend on River Street since that was the very street that lured me back to Savannah.  When I was in Savannah back in the day with my two nieces (my other niece Dimitrica had driven up from North Carolina to stay with us at the condominium for a few days) and 3 great nephews and 1 great niece, we landed on River Street and I fell in love.  Back in the day there was a free riverboat ferry ride to the 4 squares of the City of Savannah,  This free riverboat ferry would drop you off in a neighborhood (square) where you would spend a certain amount of time before getting back on the ferry to be transported to the next square – we had a blast on all 4 squares.  Incidentally that riverboat ferry no longer exists, I suppose it was replaced by the Hop On Hop Off paid Trolley rides because there are no longer just 4 squares to visit, now there are 22!

 

River Street today is a whole vibe.  From the JW Marriott Art Gallery which features breathtakingly beautiful artwork, to the slow leisurely walks by the river, to the restaurants – from fast food to casual food to fancy food,  the gourmet chocolate and candy shops with free samples and many different types of popcorn, gourmet coffee shops, colorful bars, boutiques, and tour trolleys careening up and down the cobblestone street, River Street still has my heart (thump, thump).

 

JW Marriott – the art gallery is must visit!

 

The popcorn was delish!
The art gallery was magnificent!

 

 

Today’s riverboat ferry is Queen sized (smile)

 

Had a nice conversation with the Regional Store Manager of Byrd’s Cookies, one of the fastest cookies franchises in the South

 

Uber Day was Wednesday as we had plans to visit a real soul food restaurant called Geneva’s located about 20 miles east of downtown Savannah.  We lucked out because it was sunny, hot and dry all day.   When we asked the locals which restaurants they recommended for soul food, Genevas Famous Chicken and Cornbread Company kept coming up.  And it was worth the Uber ride – yum!

 

Our young waitress at Geneva’s was lovely and very accommodating.
I ordered the 2 piece roasted chicken lunch which came with black bean salad and their  signature corn bread – yummy!

 

Made it a point to meet Geneva, the owner of this establishment who worked alongside her staff, very down to earth, no airs whatsoever

After our meal at Geneva’s we called a new Uber and were headed back to our hotel when our driver convinced us to take a detour and go to Tybee Island.  My niece Mona, who lives in Nashville, Tennessee and visited Savannah with her son Harlem, highly recommended that we visit this island.  Mona was not wrong (smile).  And spontaneity ruled the day because here we were, our belliesfull from lunch, headed to the beach with no gear (smile).  I’m so glad we made the trip – it was a fun time – my kind of island – beach vibes and all!

 

Beautiful beach day
Nice time on the boardwalk but wishing I brought my bathing suit

 

Perfect weather for a Frozen Blueberry Icee

 

Popular place today for beach bites

 

On Wednesday evening,  still in the spirit of spontaneity, we bought tickets to an Old Town Trolley Ghosts and Gravestones tour.  Ghost tours seem to be all the rage so I read up on why Savannah is considered one of America’s most haunted cities.  It comes down to these 5 reasons:  1)  Bloody Battles; 2) Deadly Diseases; 3) Fearsome Fires; 4) Mysterious Murders and 5) Savage Slavery.  I won’t go into it in this blog post but it’s an interesting read.

 

Our host of the ghost tour was perfect for this role – captivating, believable, even had an English accent (smile)

 

I preferred this 2 hour nighttime tour because we actually visited 2 different mansions (The Andrew Low House and Perkins and Sons Ship Chandlery) where the ghosts allegedly still reside (unlike some of the other tours where you visit the actual graveyards which is little too creepy for my tastes).  The Ghost tour and trolley price was $55 for Adults (children under 13 were not allowed).

 

I felt like I was entering a house with no exits when I spotted these three (smile).
The house slaves pictured here interestingly enough outlived everyone in the house

The very next day Thursday June 12th  we headed to Franklin Square to visit  Broughton Street and eat and shop.  We had some time to kill before our next tour:  Savannah is for Morons so this close-by-us neighborhood was perfect for killing time.

 

We ate appetizers at B Common Restaurant – one of our super friendly Uber drivers recommended it as a great place to go if you are looking for somewhere to eat downtown
The 2 dozen oysters we devoured were delish 😋

 

Who knew that sausages wrapped in glazed donuts was a thing?!?

 

After eating we arrived to an air conditioned trolley tour called Savannah is for Morons.  It was 2 hours of non-stop craziness and laughter.  These 2 zany female comedians, both named Dani, took us on a wild hilarious ride throughout the City of Savannah and gave us a drunkard’s view of its history.  We even (in the middle of the tour) stopped at an irish bar called McDonough’s for drinks which was ironic because on this very day I was quietly celebrating my 5th year anniversary of being sober (smile).  Consequently I ordered a cranberry juice with lime (double smile).

 

The 2 Dani’s in cute matching rompers were a hoot!! And well worth the $55 dollars apiece for this comedy tour!

 

On Friday we had a plane to catch at 4 in the afternoon (by the way, Delta Airlines is by far one of the best airlines I have ever flown on – from beginning to end, it seems like they truly take pride in customer service.  I’m so glad my girlfriend Jeani has built her career there).   End of commercial (smile).

We walked back to the City Market neighborhood for more shopping (I found a fab boutique called Whispers that I didn’t want to part with) and we lunched at the Cafe at City Market.  We also spent a ton of time in a small art gallery which featured various artisans and their wares.  I met this dynamic artist by the name of Jery Taylor –  her work spoke for itself – simply beautiful!

 

Mrs. Jery Taylor, Quilt Artist, Basket Weaver, Painter, shall I go on?!?

 

These 2 women ran my fav boutique called Whispers and offered impeccable service!

 

So that’s my Savannah story.   Fun Fact – Forrest Gump’s iconic bus bench scenes were filmed in Savannah, Georgia.  I’m sure you can imagine why the actual bus bench has long since been moved to a Georgia museum for safekeeping (smile).

 

Sincerely,

 

TVFL

 

My Current Situation Part XI

I have not followed up on My Current Situation series since 2021/2022 so I have to catch you up.   Here we go:

 

I am working 100% of the workday in the office as a Media Sales Professional at WTNH TV (ABC) News 8.  This has been the case for the past 3+ years (post-Pandemic).

 

 

I no longer wear a face mask to anywhere.  I only wash my hands when they are dirty (smile).  I don’t clean my vegetables.  I still look suspiciously on when someone coughs or especially hacks near me…I dress for work in work attire since I am actually in an office and meeting with clients.  I’m back to traveling for pleasure – both domestically and internationally.

 

 

And honestly, when someone catches Covid 19, I look on with sympathy as if they just informed me they have a nasty cold.

 

 

The former is my reality in the month of April of 2025.  Since I started my blog a decade ago, I have been diligent about not including politics as the purpose of this blog is to do one or two things:  inspire, motivate, entertain, bring joy, hope, and spread good vibes.

 

 

With this particular blog post I have to deviate off the path a bit because I am so annoyed at the state of affairs in the U.S. and beyond under our current administration.  And I am also quite saddened by some people who do not practice compassion or empathy for others whose own boat is smaller or may not even exist.

The overall mood for me is that the Pandemic was a walk in the woods compared to what is going on today (smile).

 

 

I don’t want to get too deep but I will say that despite what’s going on, I still feel hopeful that in the end, human nature’s goodness will triumph over wickedness and depravity.

 

 

My recommendation for all this madness is finding solace in a higher power, working with a Mental Health professional, practicing meditation, exercising at a gym or from home, making time for yourself to do the things that bring you joy, staying away from toxicity and negativity (people and otherwise) and finally, being grateful for having a sound mind, healthy body and spiritual soul.

 

Cheers!

 

P.S. If you are a non-drinker like me, the glass of wine may be swapped out with a fruit juice of your choice (smile).

 

Sincerely,

 

 

TVFL

 

 

 

 

 

Island Hopper

I was born in a blizzard in Newport, RI on Valentines Day, 1962 so it comes as no surprise to anyone that I have spent the majority of my birthdays bundled up in winter coats, gloves, scarves and snow boots.  So this year, as my 63rd Vday Bday was fast approaching, I decided to switch things up and spend my special day sunbathing in the United States Virgin Islands.

For our 7 days/6 nights island getaway, James and I departed Bradley International Airport on Sunday February 9th and returned on Saturday February 15th.   By the way, it snowed in Connecticut both ways (smile).

St. Thomas was our island dream destination, but we had previously discussed that while on this island we would travel by ferry on day trips throughout the week to both St. Johns, USVI and Jost Van Dyke, BVI.  My mother-in-law Irene, who was born in St. Thomas but grew up in Jost Van Dyke, reminded us to bring our passports.  I’m so glad she did as we would not have gotten on that island without them.  Jost Van Dyke is part of the British Virgin Islands (BVI) so you need your passport to get through Customs and Immigration.

We rented a car for this vacation which we picked up at the airport (it makes sense to rent a car on St. Thomas because there are no Ubers or Lyfts and taxis can get pretty pricey pretty quick) and James drove us on the wrong side of the road (smile) to our hotel, the Island View Guesthouse.  We normally stay in resorts when we travel to tropical islands and if necessary, we get around by Uber or Lyft so it felt different staying in an actual hotel and using a rental car.  What really sold me on this particular hotel was the free daily breakfasts, plus the hotel’s proximity to downtown Charlotte Amalie which featured a waterfront, local shops and restaurants and nearby beaches.

 

Our rental car in St. Thomas – a brand new 2025 Nissan Sentra

 

Our hotel suite at the Island View Guesthouse – a funny story – not so funny at the time…

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since I used a 3rd party app (Expedia) to book our travel, I chose the bundle package which in our case consisted of airfare (United Airlines), a hotel (the Island View Guesthouse) and a car (Budget Car Rental).  I would not recommend using a 3rd party app to book your travel anywhere because as I found out from Libby, the friendly and accessible owner of  the Island View Guesthouse, the 3rd party app folks take 20 to 30 percent off the top of your bundle packages which in my case meant we were put into the tiniest room at the hotel with no amenities and the car we rented came without GPS.  James quickly took care of the hotel room issue the very  next morning when he had a talk with Eileen, the Island View Guesthouse Manager.  Eileen was a dream – she not only upgraded us to the largest suite in the hotel for 3 nights, but she also managed to upgrade us into 2 more spacious hotel rooms over the final 2 nights of our week long vacation.  Libby, the hotel owner, arrived with her Executive Chef Husband Marshall on the Wednesday of our vacation and ensured that the remainder of my Vday Bday week went off  without a hitch.  Libby and I hit it off right away and even shared a similar sober conscious story that begun at the height of the Pandemic.  I can’t begin to thank both Eileen the Manager and Libby the Owner for attending to all of our needs and would highly recommend anyone looking to book a hotel on St. Thomas to make their reservations at the boutique style Island View Guesthouse.

 

The view of Charlotte Amalie from our hotel room window

 

Sunday — Day 1 – Travel Day

All things considered, the trip to St. Thomas, VI from Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, CT was not too shabby.  There were no delays and the time spent in the air was, for the most part, uneventful.  We flew from Windsor, Connecticut to Washington, D.C. in record time and the same can be said for our 2nd flight from Washington D.C. to St. Thomas, VI.

The very first restaurant we ate at was The Greenhouse – it was okay – popular for tourists because of its location…

 

My dinner at The Greenhouse – I was starving so anything would have tasted good – and St. Thomas is one hour ahead of Connecticut so I was “hangry” by then (smile)

 

Monday – Day 2 (Coki Beach at Coral World on St. Thomas)

Coki Beach is a small and very quaint public beach on St. Thomas (one of the 11 beaches on the island!).  The sand is silky smooth and the water, crystal clear.  We rented a large beach umbrella and 2 beach chair loungers for just $40 dollars.  Thank goodness we did because it rained off and on all day with blustery winds.  The large umbrella saved us from running back to our car for cover.

 

All smiles in between the raindrops at Coki Beach

 

What I could not help but notice at Coki Beach were all of the yachts that were parked in the beautiful crystal blue water annoyingly blocking our view…

 

Tuesday – Day 3  (Trunk Bay on St. Johns)

The first of two day trips that week was to St. Johns.  And everything I heard about it was true.  It is truly paradise, the weather was picture perfect and it was not too crowded.  We drove to the Red Hook marina to catch our island ferry – the round trip fare was only 16 dollars and the entire ferry ride took all of 20 minutes.  We then caught a trolley/cab to Trunk Bay (one of the 10 beaches on the island!) and spent the entire afternoon there.  Trunk Bay Beach is gorgeous with fine, silky smooth sand and crystal clear baby blue water.  It was 80 degrees outside but the sun did not seem that strong so we laid out on our beach blankets and soaked it up.

Love the contrast of the green mountains against the crystal blue waters

This soft and supple sand feels so good between my toes

 

James taking a quick nap

 

The snack bar where we ordered lunch – the food was soooo good! There were outdoor Tiki bars selling exotic drinks but I did not indulge since I gave up alcohol 5 years ago at the onset of the Covid 19 Pandemic…

 

Wednesday – Day 4 – Downtown St. Thomas  – Charlotte Amalie  (Walking on the Waterfront, Shopping for gear and Lunch at Gladys Restaurant)

Wednesday was primarily a rainy day (way too much rain to dry up on the beach) so we turned it into a shopping day – there are a ton of shops downtown in Charlotte Amalie (mostly local merchants) selling lots of wares.  By the way, if you are looking for any kind of jewelry, downtown Charlotte Amalie is the place to be to buy gold, silver and diamonds all in one central area and best of all everything is tax free!

 

James and I finally seated at Gladys’s Restaurant (smile).

 

Gladys’s Restaurant did not disappoint – I all but inhaled the brown stew chicken, plantains, fresh cabbage and peas and rice!

 

Thursday – Day 5 (Magens Bay Beach on St. Thomas)

We spent our 2nd to last day at Magens Bay Beach which had come well recommended by the trip advisors.  It truly is a beautiful must see and do beach. Magens Bay was super crowded the day we arrived with rows and rows of beach chairs and umbrellas lined up in formation.  There was also a sun and surf rental shop, a souvenir shop and an indoor/outdoor bar and grille.  Lots going on.  We were in the mood for peace and quiet that day so we headed further down the mile long beach where there were no beach chairs, and very few people.  Another well thought out idea…

 

 

That evening we went out for a late dinner in downtown Charlotte Amalie to a restaurant that was recommended by one of the locals in town.  It was called the Sugarcane Grille at Bunker Hill.  It was way up a hill on a narrow winding road with no parking.  We lucked out though because we managed to squeeze our rental car into a tight space.  The restaurant was so cute.  We had to walk a bunch of stairs to get there but at the top was the dining room with a view of a well-lit swimming pool.  The food was awesome.  Our super friendly waiter even talked me into a delish mocktail made with Ginger, yummy!

 

Love the ambience in the dining room and the Caribbean dishes were delish!

 

Friday – Day 6 – My Vday Bday – Jost Van Dykes, British Virgin Islands

We popped out of bed at 530am that morning to catch the 730am ferry leaving from Red Dock marina to Jost Van Dyke, BVI.   There are only 3 ferry rides a week to Jost Van Dyke so if you miss one, you have to wait a few days for the next one.  It’s much more involved than going to St. Johns.  First of all you need your passport.  Second it’ll cost you $120 round trip per Adult to ride the ferry plus 10 dollars to enter the island and 20 dollars to exit it.  Third, you have 7 hours on the island to spend as you wish and believe me, the time flies by.  We spent half the day on White Bay beach which we had to catch a cab from the harbor to get to.  White Bay beach was breathtakingly beautiful. I felt like I was in a Hollywood movie because it painted the picture of a true tropical beach scene.  There  was so much all at once to take in.  And the beach wasn’t even crowded!

 

White Bay beach has beauty written all over it! By far my most favorite beach this week! So happy I got to spend my Valentines Day Birthday there.

I kept pinching myself – I could not believe how beautiful and uncrowded White Bay Beach was!

 

I had to take a picture in front of Gertrudes – a landmark and treasure – in spite of the perfectly set up photo op (smile)

 

The second half of our day was spent at Great Harbor – we were on a mission to grab lunch at Pinky’s restaurant and we could not leave without visiting the likes of Foxy’s Restaurant Bar and Grille!

 

Pinky’s Restaurant was easy to spot – love the Caribbean themed spot and enjoyed meeting and chatting with Pinky herself

 

Pinky herself cooked us her signature dish while chatting it up

 

Our official Ferry boat to Jost Van Dyke

 

Our ferry ride back from St. John to St. Thomas – feeling sunburnt but accomplished

Day 7 – Saturday – Travel Back Home

We purposely took our sweet time on Saturday morning because our flight was not leaving until 3pm and we would not arrive into Connecticut until 12midnight.  We realized we had a long day of travel ahead of us which included 3 airplane trips this time around – St. Thomas, Virgin Islands to San Juan, Puerto Rico; San Juan, Puerto Rico to Washington, D.C.; and finally Washington, D.C. to Windsor Locks, CT.  We spent the better part of the morning shopping in downtown Charlotte Amalie at one of our fav surf shops, Ocean Surfari, which,lucky for us, was having a huge storewide sale.   Then we picked up our lunch at a local grocer.  We arrived at the airport at 115pm and dropped off our rental car so we could relax, eat and soak up a little sun before we headed to Cape Air Airlines to check in.  This is where the disconnect happened.  Neither one of us realized that because we were flying from St. Thomas, VI to San Juan, PR it would be necessary to go through Customs and Immigration so consequently, after we checked in at Cape Air Airlines, we were told to get in line with the rest of the travelers.  The said line was super long and wrapped around and around  and around the airport about 3 times!   I looked at my Fitbit and it said 215pm which meant we had all of 45 minutes to catch our 3pm flight.  There was no way in Hell we were going to make that flight.  After about 10 minutes panic started to set in and James said ‘why don’t you call Cape Air and see if there is something they can do to get us to the front of the line?’  I looked at my Fitbit again – it was 230pm now and I saw 3 missed calls from Cape Air.  I immediately called them back and explained that we were stuck in line and was there anything they could do for us.  They said they would send someone to get us but we could not find that person and ended up trying to move through the line ourselves as time was ticking by.  I said a quick prayer to God and the rest of the time was a blur as we were pushed and pulled and stopped and started before we found ourselves at the point where you take your shoes off and load your stuff into gray bins.  One of the airport workers familiar with our situation stopped us and told us that we were wasting our time, it was 250pm and our plane was now preparing to leave without us.  We felt dejected but went through the motions of looking for and finding our original departure gate.  When we arrived to that gate an employee mysteriously appeared out of nowhere and told us that this never happens but they had a backup plane outside and a pilot who would get us to San Juan well in time for our Washington, D.C. connection!   The pilot had a Cessna 402 and James and I  were the only 2 passengers on board.  The pilot flew 6500 feet up in the air to San Juan, Puerto Rico in 35 minutes!  Not only did we make our next connection to Washington, D.C., but we were only a half hour behind what would have been our original time of arrival to San Juan airport!  I thanked God for answering my prayers so quickly and thanked the pilot of Cape Air Airlines for safely flying and landing us.

 

Too Blessed to be Stressed – at this point of the trip I am still pinching myself as we travel on what is now a tiny aircraft from St. Thomas VI to San Juan, PR – this flight took just 35 minutes and was truly a Godsend…

Cheers to our next Great Adventure!

 

Sincerely,

 

TVFL