Water Country, hmmm hmmm have some fun!

After York Beach, we met my parents and Jillian at Water Country! Jillian was SO EXCITED to go! Jilly's Papa had to work, unfortunately, but we went all around the park :)

Jilly quickly understood the relationship of the park to the map we got at the front office, and pointed out the places she wanted to try, starting with the Pirate Ship!Rick and Pa mostly watched. I think my father was trying to prove me wrong because I had told him he would be sorry if he didn't have a swim suit. He borrowed my brothers, but he didn't put it on. He went into the Pirate ship area with Jilly, and didn't need to get wet. Rick went down the big slide with me - Wild Canyon - so much fun! Jilly and I went 4 or 5 times together :)

We stopped for lunch - Fresh Moe's Italian Subs!! Woo hoo!

By the way, I'm still using aloe for my sunburn...

Union Bluff Hotel, Short Sands

Morning at the beach - the sand is empty of all the beach goers (they are still drinking coffee like we are) and the air is salty and fresh. After enjoying quiet time on the balcony, we made our way to the Union Grill for breakfast. Be sure you are ready to relax when you come here in the morning - it's all about relaxation, and a slooooowwww experience. The lobster benedict was divine!

I made plans to hook up with Isabel for lunch at Inn on the Blues. We had the fish burrito - so delish!! The Mojito was pretty awesome too!

We spent lots of time at the Union Bluff patio as in the afternoon there was some shade and a gentle breeze - perfect for a snack and a good book! If you have steamers, be sure you wipe your fingers before you turn the page :)

I also got to meet Kathleen for cocktails and snacks. We started at the Blue Sky - she had the cosmo, and I had the Mai Tai - they have a Mai Tai to die for! We also had mussels - they were really fabulous! Cooked in wine, with a very mild and sweet maple sausage, caramelized onions and pieces of brie, we were seriously considering having a second order! We ended up moving to the aforementioned Union Grill for Lobster Flat bread and Edemame. I'd never had Edemame, and these are really good! They were seasoned with garlic, chives and sea salt. You open the pods, and eat the pea sized soy beans inside. The pods pile up like little carcasses, but you do feel a bit virtuous for such a healthy snack!

Our time at York Beach was full of smiles, good books, good friends and good food! A significant amount of sun too!

Suzee's Crunchy Watermelon Cucumber Salad

For Michele and Dave's party, I made this fresh salad inspired by Tyler Florence. It came out even better than I thought it would. But darn - no photo. Guess I'll have to make it again sometime :)

1 roll of paper towels - you won't use them all, but you'll need them!
2 Cups cucumber, peeled, deseeded, chopped and dried on paper towels
4 Cups watermelon, cubed, and dried on paper towels
1/2 C thinly sliced sweet red onion, set in water for 10 mins or so to cut the bite, and dried on paper towels
1/2 C packed mint leaves, chopped
1 cup goat cheese crumbles
1/2 cup salty cashews
Juice of 1 lemon - if you have a microplane, grate the zest in too
2 or 3 T of really good olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Put everything in a big bowl from the cucumber to the mint, and give it a gentle toss. Add the cashews, lemon juice and zest, olive oil and s&p, and toss again. Top with the cheese. I tried tossing the cheese in, but it was too hot out and it just melted into the dressing. You will be surprised and pleased with this fresh side dish. Don't make it way ahead unless you keep it all separate and then combine at the end.

Enjoy!

Vacation - Michele and Dave's Party

We were too busy having fun, chatting, and catching up, and we realized at the end of the day we didn't take any photos! I stole these from Michele's facebook page :)

It's been one year since Deanna passed away, and we had a short memorial - a poem, a song and then we wrote wishes and prayers to Deanna on the beautiful mylar balloons. We cut off the string and watched them float up to heaven one by one. Laura got a great video of it with little Jayda in the background happily chatting as 2 year olds do. I'm glad we were able to take that time together.

After we ate, and swam, and went for boat rides, and enjoyed the day. It was beautful :)

Vacation - ManchVegas!

I made reservations via Open Table for Cotton - I think it's becoming our "go to" place in ManchVegas, also known as Manchester :D

We got a booth at the end where we could laugh and be obnoxious without interferring with all the folks there for a regular dinner. We started with a cocktail, and then ordered lots of good food. I have pictures on my camera phone that are struggling to upload, so perhaps I'll add them later if I feel particularly energenic. The highlights included Ann's crab cakes - she had these burger sized cakes (2 of them) as dinner. They are actually an appetizer, but my goodness, I'd be shocked if someone ate all that and then had dinner afterward. Rick started with a cool blueberry soup - a nice unique starter. Then he had the meatloaf. He wasn't feeling well later so something didn't agree with him, but he liked it while he was eating it! Kathy had the Turkey Schnitzel Ann had last time - that bourbon applesauce will get me everytime. I had the lamb sirloin - cooked so fabulously with some bitter greens. It was excellent.

Our server was right on top of things, bringing everthing we could possibly need (and perhaps a few things we didn't need but really wanted - hahaha!). A great meal.

We moved on from there to Strange Brew - Ann set that up, and they had a great blues band playing. Mike and Rick ended up going back early, and the rest of us stayed out too late, but had so much fun. It's so great to see everyone again :D

Bryant Grill Brunch - Delicioso!

Rick and I braved the heat today and headed over to the Bryant Park Grill. We were initially going to sit out side and read, but we realized our tummies were in need of a light little brunch. The lovely basket contained an assortment of mini muffins and tea breads - they were fresh and delicious. Well - the half of one I had was fresh and delicious. Rick said the rest were amazing :)

My omelet had fresh avacado and goat cheese, and it was perfectly cooked, soft and yummy. Fresh slices of tomato and grilled sweet onions were nice accompaniments.

Rick had the scrambled eggs with sausage, home fries and tomato slices - presented so nicely!

Even though it was was warm today, this alfresco brunch was a nice quiet respite in the crazy city. I'm giving it 2 thumbs up!

Lady Gaga at Madison Square Garden

On Friday night I made my way over to Madison Square Garden to see Lady Gaga in concert. She added an extra show at the last minute, and yes, it sold out. She's already scheduled to come again in the winter.

The tickets indicated the show started at 8, which I thought was funny because I always had thought they started at 9. The warm up band, a glam rock group a la Queen started at 8 and played for a half hour. At around 9:35 Lady Gaga took the stage. There were a lot of younger kids in the audience (8 - 12 year olds) and that surprised me, but since it wasn't a school night....

Lady Gaga spent a lot of time speaking to her fans (the "little monsters") and assuring them that being different is a good thing. She was kind and sweet when she spoke, and I could see how kids would respond to that. The show it self was entertaining - the sets were elaborate (thus the need for all the talking between songs) and the dancing was just like you see on the videos. The one disappointment was that she sang to her own tracks - not for every song, but for any with the big dance routines. Less than a handful were too new to have the big production, and she accompanied herself on the piano. I kinda miss the days where a live concert was actually live.

At any rate, MSG was a pretty good venue - though I was in the very tippy top row, and I had to scootch down to see the video screen Gaga had installed. For a game, though, the seat would have been great. The permanent jumbo-trons (is that what they still call them?) were easily in sight, and the chairs were pretty comfortable.

A good night of chair dancing :)