A New Adventure | Peaches Prattlings

{May 24, 2024} Another great adventure begins!

So… I spent the night at CWB’s house last night because she’s closer to the Philadelphia airport than we are, That part would have been amazing!

I got up early, before the alarm, go figure, but no dogs to walk, I could have at least slept until the alarm, sigh…so…I got up, got dressed, and set up to teach my Day 1 of my class. I’m teaching two 2-day classes very week, for a few weeks, except when I’m on vacation. I do love what I do!

I got my setup going, it’s always a little challenging to be in a different space when you’re working. Now, I know you know that I was traveling for work for years, that’s not what I’m talking about. Being remote, I have my desk set up just the way I like it, and I’m comfortable, two monitors along with my laptop, and a keyboard. Today, I have my laptop and my portable monitor, and when you’re teaching, or at least when I’m teaching, it’s definitely easier to have mutlipe screens, set this up on this monitor, set this on that monitor, and so on. I made it work!

Once I was settled, I made myself some breakfast and a cup of hot tea, yum. I opened the call about 8a, 830a, people started joining. I got people settled, we started the class, I told bad dad jokes and it was on!

Oh, I also had some fur baby company, you can’t beat it!

PSM had been in Harrisburg at a food bank, a volunteer event for work, then came to CWB’s house, got there before I finished. it was fun, I could hear the two of them in the other room chatting, occassionally talking about me.

I finally finished class at 445p, got up, took a break, said hello to both of them, packed up my stuff, and we were off. 5pm…heading into Philly? really? Wasn’t thinking clearly of course…rush hour? Our first flight of our journey was leaving at 655p, boarding at 615p, great… Normaly, as I mentioned, CWB is closer to the Philadelphia airport, on a normal day…30 minutes…today…not so much! ugh!

Let’s just say…several accidents, slow drivers, lookie-loos, general rush hour, 50 minutes, eek! We got to the airport, about 608p…nail biting! Then when we made it to the parking deck, the entrance was closed, what?! We drove around, return to the airport, found the other way to get into the parking deck, whew.

Run! We made it through security, thank gawd for TSA pre-check! Made it threw security, ran to the gate, they were boarding! Hadn’t quite gotten to our zone, but…with my limited status, they let us on the plane a wee bit earlier than it would have been. No complaints! We boarded the plane at 635p!!! They noramlly close the doors 15 minutes before departure, we still made it, who cares!

Now, some of you know, I have cut it close on flights, but this… this was ridiculous! I never want to cut it that close again!

So…here we are on our flight from Philadelphia to Salt Lake City, first leg. Hmmm…do I tell you about the second leg, nope, not yet!

Oh! I completely forgot…dad is joining us, along with some other family and friends, which I’ll tell you about later, but… his flight was canceled! Nooo! But…he’s on the same flight tomorrw. He’s going to get there, of that I have no doubt!

Ok, that’s it for today, more tomorrow! Whew!

{March 30, 2024} We made it! Welcome to London!

Landed in London about 9am, went through customs, no stamp! What?! They do that now, they have machines that you can put your passort in, it takes your picture and you are good to go. Sort of…I wanted the stamp! I discovered this the last time I was here. Now…if I wanted to stand in the very long line, I could get the stamp, no thanks, I’m ok! I’ve got stamps from other countries, if they all start doing this…hmmm… Good thing here are souveniers!

I went through customs, didn’t even talk to a person, that was odd, but ok…I bought a round trip ticket for Heathrow Express, it takes you directly to Paddingdon Station, about a 15 minute trip, if I took the tube, about 30 minutes. I got out in Paddingdon Station, grabbed a croissant, I needed something, and walked out of the station and ended up taking a taxi. I wanted to take an Uber, it’s definitely cheaper here, but it was so crowded where I was that I said ‘you free?’ ‘Yes?’ ‘Hilton Bankside, please!’ and away we went!

I got to the hotel, SDL and Miss A weren’t due in for another hour or so, and it would take them a minute to get through customs and on the road, so I dropped my bag, went into the Executive Lounge, gotta love friends with status like yours! It was still breakfast time, I got a cup of tea and some toast, I wasn’t quite ready for real food.

After sitting still for a bit and chatting with a nice family who had a son that reminded me of Miss A, I went out in search of adventure and found it I did! One block away was the Tate Modern Museum, one of my dad’s favorites, and now one of mine!

One of the great things about the museums in the UK, they are free. A special exhibit might cost something, but the main musuem is free, isn’t that wonderful! Offering art to the people at no charge!

It’s a great museum, they have modern art, special exhibits, expressionist art, installations, odd, interesting, photography, you name it. There was a Yoko Ono exhibit, but I just wanted to explore the free stuff! And explore I did. I went from one floor to the next, to the next.

There is a window box that is on the 3rd or 4th level that looks out over the museum and a giant installation of a metal flag of some sort, I love this piece. What I also love is watching people come in and see it from a different perspective, it’s great. I was so tired at that point that I sat in the chair and nodded off quite a bit, not complaining by any means! When a guard came in and asked me if I was ok, I told him I love watching people come in and see the piece. Then I got up and left! ha ha!

That was just the bit of rest I needed. I wandered a little more, then onto the balcony to see the riverwalk and the Millenium Bridge. I then went down to one of the gift shops looking for a magnet, not as important this trip since I was just here two years ago, but it would have been fun. They didn’t have any that had the name of the musem and the pieces they did have, I hadn’t seen, so no magnet for me!

I went out towards the riverwalk, walked down to the river, put my feet very close to the water, did not get them wet, but watched the swans, the ducks, the dogs, the kids, the boats, you name it, I watched them go by.

Back up to the riverwalk, I walked up and back, stopping to enjoy the people, sights, and sounds. I didn’t want to go too far in case they got to the hotel, I didn’t want to be too far away. I wandered up and down streets, into a few shops, nothing major, got the lay of the land.

I was starting to get hungry, it was about 2p and I stopped in a local bakery chain called Paul, got a chai and something to eat, which I didn’t finish, it wasn’t very good. About that time, I got a text from SDL, they were in the hotel, finally!

Turns out I wasn’t getting her text messages, she was getting mine! This area isn’t great for texting/signal! We finally found each other! Whew!

It was snack time for Miss A, then our room was finally ready, we went upstairs, our bags magically appeared! We pared down and headed out to greet the world! We walkedto Borough Market and walked up and down the aisles, looked at the stalls, tasted a few things, bought a few things, then it was time for food.

We went into a pub that was right there, The Market Porter, it was great. Miss A and I both had a veggie shepherd’s pie, I had a pot of tea, and SDL had fish and cheeps and a local beer. The atmosphere was great, very inviting and warm, the food was good, we were both just exhausted! It was nice to chat and catch up. Miss A, on the other hand was having none of the food, she was in a snuggling mood, until it was time to go, then she was interested in eating, nope, not happening!

We walked back to the hotel, we were almost done! We made a plan for tomorrow, where we are going to go explore, what time w need to be up, breakfast, the whole 9 yards! Then Miss A was ready to eat. Luckily the food was still warm, so I fed her, then it was time for bath and bed.

I may have been asleep by the time they came to bed! I was SOOOO tired! I’m not even sure how I’m writing to you! I am still getting over being sick and flying didn’t help, so I am mustering up the strength to talk to you, sort of, but I’m not going to last much longer!

Tomorrow is Easter Sunday, what adventures does London hold for us? I’ll let you know tomorrow!

Have a brilliant evening! The clocks get set ahead tonight, here! Good thing we don’t have anything scheduled that we might miss!

G’night!

{February 17, 2024} Another 2 bite the dust! Two more coffee houses done!

I know, I know, it’s another one bites the dust, but I couldn’t resist, give me a little creative license! Can you blame me? Is there anything better than Queen? Don’t answer that, I know you all have your own opinions. Queen isn’t my all-time favorite band, but it’s one of them. I have so many. But…we are not here to discuss my musical tastes, maybe one day.

No, what I’m here to tell you is we went to two new coffee places as a part of the Lebanon Valley Java Journey! Caffenation Station and Ancestor Coffeehouse & Creperie.

We decided to start at Caffenation Station. I love the tagline…Train your Coffee Craving! Muwahaha, too funny! We started here because it was further away from the next location, it was a nice drive and we made it in no time. There is a green play train on the front lawn/walkway, then you walk in and it’s trains, trains, and more trains. There are quilts, and pictures, and posters, oh my! There is a loft and around the outside were model trains and at one point, they moved down the tracks, fun!

PSM got the specialty drink, I got a chai latte, I know, shocking! with oat milk, then we each got egg sandwiches, I got mine on “a real NYC bagel, straight from the Bronx!” And PSM got his on some home made thick sourdough bread.

Drinks were good, food was good, atmosphere was good, staff was great! We got there at a good time, there was one other family in at that time, but by the time we left… it was crowded, perfect timing! You could tell it was a neighborhood place. We did see a few of the passports, but people seemed to know each other. That tells you a lot about a place.

When we went to the first Lebanon Valley Motorcycle Club meeting, the president’s wife and I were talking and I was telling her about the Java Journey, she was very excited about Caffenation Station, she spoke very highly of it! And she was right!

Would we go back again? I would!

Our next stop was Ancestor Coffeehouse & Creperie. This might sound familiar because we went to the other location a few weeks ago. This location is closer to us, hence going to Caffenation Station first. Easy to get to, not much bigger than the other site, menu is the same, welcoming environment. We each ordered a drink, decaf coffee for PSM and a chai latte made with macadamia nut milk. I also bought a strawberry something macron, it was good. I’m not a macron expert by any means, but I liked it.

This location is a little bigger than the other location, it’s open, charming, welcoming. I loved the walls, brick on one wall, the brick fed into another wall and it was painted blue, then the opposite wall was all stone, I liked it! PSM had a decaf coffee and I had a chai latte with macadamia nut milk, I was excited, because I love macmilk and chai, I know you’re shocked by that, ha ha, and I really liked it at the other location, this one, not so much. Maybe it was an off day for me and mac milk chai lattes, but it didn’t hit the spot.

Would I come back and try again, absolutely! I want to try their crepes, give them another chance, if it was the first time, I would say no, but I liked the other one, so why not! And it’s closer! Of course, the other one is attached to Schnitz Brewery…imagine…have breakfast/brunch at the Coffeehouse & Creperie, hang out and move right into the brewery when it’s beer:30! Sounds perfect to me!

So… all in all a success! Two more stamps and we are at the end! That’s tomorrow, I’ll tell you about our entire journey, right now…zzzzzz nothing keeps me awake when I’m that tired, which is funny coming from someone who deals with insomnia!

Have a happy Saturday night!

{January 8, 2024} Tap & Still: Burgers, Booze, and Beer

Best burgers in the USVI! And the cheapest meal to boot!

If you’re in St Thomas, St John, or Sint Maarten, we can’t recommend Tap & Still highly enough! Honestly, the atmosphere is great, the food is good, and as I said cheapest meal going!

The one we went to was in Red Hook, on the east side of St Thomas. We almost went to the one on St John but ended up passing. I do have to tell you, the first time we went, it was better, I don’t mean the food, that was spot on both times! the atmosphere, staff, and clientele have a lot to do with a dining experience.

This is definitely a local’s hangout, not to say that tourists don’t go there, once someone tells you about it, you understand why it’s so popular. First of all, the food in the USVI ain’t cheap, I’m sure you already knew that, but to give you an idea…at the airport, it’s not inexpensive, but not unreasonable, on the mainland, that is. When we were at the airport to leave, 2 burgers, fries, plantains, and 2 drinks…$52! That might tell you something. Back to why we’re here….Tap & Still.

It’s open, from front to back, which is on the water, looking at the boats docked, this is where several boat tours leave from, two of ours in fact. There is an open window that you can order food and drink, no worries about walking around with open container, it’s all good. When you walk in, there is a bar in the middle, everyone is just hanging out at the bar or the few tables against the wall. We love to sit at the bar, it’s usually an easy way to get a seat and you meet all sorts of people that way. We sat next to a guy who, when he sat down, a beer magically appeared, that kind of place.

The ceiling had dollar bills taped to it with people’s signatures, the cabinets were covered with stickers people had added, not sure if there was extra space to put another sticker! Posts were the same. It was also decked out for christmas with tinsel and lights, same with the bar tenders!

Ordering was simple, take an order slip and a pencil, mark off what you want: burger, hot dog, veggie burger, grilled cheese, chicken sandwich, wings, or a BLT, simple. Next, toppings, a bunch were no charge, a few cost a little extra. Do you want fries? Check the box. Do you want funnel cake? Check the box. Best part? Burgers: $9, Fries: $4, seriously? Hand in your slip, don’t forget to put your name on it!

Have a drink while you wait, talk to the bartenders, talk to the other patrons having some food, talk to each other, listen to the music, stare out at the water, whatever makes you happy. I even asked for them to cook mine on tinfoil, they said they did, I’m hopeful! When the food comes out, doesn’t matter if you’re eating in or taking out, it comes out in a paper bag, burger is wrapped in foil, fries are hanging out in their own bag. Grab some paper towels for napkins and you’re good to go!

When the food came out, we opened the bags and dug in. What good burgers, oh my! And the fries, fresh cut, the only problem for me is I found the pound of salt at the bottom of the bag! Oh my! but up until that point, y u m!! We ate, talked to the bartenders, talked to each other, talked to people hanging out at the bar.

Talk to anyone on the island, best place for burgers..Tap & Still. I love the concept and the food, would love to see something like that here on the mainland. oh, I know there are places like it, but not quite this and it just has that island vibe. So…if you’re in St Thomas, St John, or St Marteen, if you’re in the mood for a good burger, maybe even some fries at a great price…you know my recommendation! Man, I wish we had had the room to try their funnel cake! Next time!

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