Peaches Prattlings











{April 19, 2024}   A new place and a meeting

Today was your average work day, it seemed to go on forever, was yours like that? I looked up, it was 12p, then I looked up and I thought it was 3p, nope, it was 1p, then 2p, what happened?! I was very busy, so that should mean the day flew by and I didn’t have enough time to get what I needed to done. Nope, it was weird. I didn’t quite make my deadline, but I got a lot done, go figure!

After work, take the pups for a walk, they got in their smells, found some potato-chippy worms to munch on, munched on some grass, I listened to a podcast, and that’s how it usually goes for us. Oh, we did meet some of the dogs in the neighborhood, we said hello to Charlie, the teeny poodle who definitely tries to defend and protect his property and his humans, Calvin, the black and white great dane, what a sweet and gentle doll baby, having a moment on the other dogs names, but they all did the doggie meet-n-greet, let’s sniff there, oh my!

Then PSM got home from work and we tried a new place on our Lebanon Valley Libations Trail, The Union Beer House. It is in a random place, nestled in between some car dealerships and other businesses, you almost drive by you. When you walk in, it’s very cool, they have beer coolers on the left, a lot of coolers, basically, a wall of coolers, these hold bottles by the six-pack for sale. Then on the right, there are shelves of wine, and a cooler with beer cans, I didn’t get over there to look if the cans were for sale in six packs as well. The last cooler had single bottles of beer, again, didn’t get over there to see if they were for sale individually.

At the counter you can order food and drink, on the left were all the taps and a proper bar. When I say proper bar, I just mean that you can sit or stand at the bar and gather, chat, congregate, which is the same as gather, right? In the middle, wide open space, they had tables and chairs for eating, they had a high top long bar along the window. Then as you wander, they have a video gambling room, that was different.

The food was ok, I’ll be honest, the only thing on the menu I could eat was veggie fried rice and an order of 5 mini spring rolls, I asked about a veggie burger, I was told they have a black bean burger, but it was spicy. Fried rice and spring rolls it is. PSM had fish and chips. The chips were good, we both liked them.

The place was crowded with friends, families, single folks, groups, couples. It had a good atmosphere of people enjoying themselves on a Friday night. Kitchen closes at 8p, brewery closes at 10p, welcome to Central PA!

We went because it’s on the Libations Trail, but it wasn’t a place I would go back to. I could see going if PSM wanted a beer or some friends wanted to go have a beer and hang out, but overall, not my first choice. I enjoyed the experience and I’m glad we tried something new, but it wasn’t for us. We really like to sit at the bar and talk to people. Oh well…

Now, the plus…we were only a 2 minute drive from the Lebanon Valley Motorcycle Club! Score! We got there a little before everyone was going up to the meeting, we just missed the home made carrot cake, bummer! D is a great baker! I really like everything I’ve tried!

Tonight the place was packed, not quite standing room only, but a lot of people! I think because the weather is getting nicer and rides are about to start happening, people were there to get more information. Tomorrow, I’m excited, we’re going to a bike blessing, not telling you much more because I want to tell you about it tomorrow!

I’m glad I ran into R when I was at White’s Harley Davidson and he told me about the club, and I’m glad we finally went to a meeting and joined. Everyone is very friendly and has welcomed us warmly and we’ve really enjoyed getting to know everyone. And…excited to go on our first ride with them and see what everyone rides!

And on that note, I’m going to wish you a शुभ रात्रि (shub raatree) [good night in hindi].



It’s December 25th, Happy Christmas to one and all who celebrate!

This is not such a bad way to wake up. Some days with the sun, some days before it, some days after, whichever way the wind blows. Yeah, cheesy, I know. But, c’mon…look at that view…sigh.

We had breakfast, since we went to Moe’s Market and picked up supplies, I made breakfast almost every morning, a fabulous egg sandwich, y u m! and headed out to explore. It’s Christmas day, not much was going to be open or available, and that’s ok, we’re going to see what we can see! We head down to Charlotte Amalie, the capital and the largest city of the USVI.

The first thing we wanted to do was to go to the Hebrew Congregation of St Thomas, we thought…what better place for two Jewish kids on Christmas than to go to a synagogue. Alas…just like most of St Thomas, it was closed, oh well. We’ll go another day, promise! We got back in the jeep and looked for a place to park, that wasn’t on heart attack hill! Which a lot of St Thomas is! Oh my!

We went to Main Street, this is the street you probably see in photos of St Thomas, and if you’ve ever been on a cruise to St Thomas, you probably took a shuttle or a taxi to Main Street, this is where a lot of the tourist shops are for jewelery, and cosmetics, and liquor, and…and…and… It’s open whenever the cruise ships come in and since none were docking on Christmas, this street was shut up tight! It was kind of nice to be able to walk down the street and look at the beautiful colors without being accosted, so to speak from shop owners and people who work in them to come in and look at their wares. St Thomas really is beautiful and charming in some areas.

When we came back around towards the water, we heard music and saw lots of people. We walked over and discovered Emancepation Garden and a wonderful celebration happening! It was the Christmas Emancepation Celebration, 175th celebration to be exact! From the article I just linked “A sea of people in red with sprinkles of green and white, traditional treats to fill the belly, and the island’s best renditions of Christmas songs converged at the Emancipation Garden on Monday morning for the 47th Challenge of the Carols as people gathered to be lulled by the holiday spirit.”

What a treat and honor for us to happen upon the celebration and to be swept up in the festivities and excitement! Everyone was decked out in festive wear, sparkling, not just from the sun, but their outfits! Steel drums, snare drums, and brass instruments made amazing music and sweet sounds that filled the air, the ears, and the hearts of all who were ther!

It almost felt like the music would never end! Not that we were complaining at all!

After the celebration, we decided it was time for a swim and a snorkel, so we headed to another beach on our list, Sapphire Beach. We were told it was gorgeous, fabulous beach, and a great place for sunsets. I have to admit, it was pretty, but it wasn’t our favorite beach that we went to. It was nice, the water felt great, but it wasn’t great for snorkeling, I didn’t snorkel for long, ended up taking off the gear and just floating for a few. The sand on one part of the beach was smooth, but a lot of it was the hard, broken shell type of sand. It was also very crowded when we got there, you have to get there really early to get a good spot, not exactly sure where that was, but it was very crowded. We enjoyed our time on the beach while we were there, but for us, it wasn’t a highlight.

After the beach, we were hungry so we went into Red Hook, it was on the way back to the resort, very convenient! We were both in the mood for sushi, so we went to Saki House Thai and Sushi Restaurant. The atmosphere was nice, the staff friendly, and when we walked in, we were the only ones so the service was great! By the time we left the place was filling up.

We orderd green tea, miso soup, sushi rolls, and spring rolls. The spring rolls were by far our favorite! The miso was flavorful but a little too salty for me, the sushi rice wasn’t the best, but I loved the avocado and cucumbers in the roll.

There was Christmas music playing and all of a sudden I hear a little voice singing the parum-pa-pa-pum from The Little Drummer Boy, it wa the cutest thing and I complimented him on the way out of the restaurant. We really did enjoy ourselves, the atmosphere, service, staff, a nice way to spend a Christmas dinner.

We walked around a little, then headed to the resort. We parked and walked down by the beach to watch the sunset and it was stunning. We did what we did the first or second day, we sat for a while, then when the sun set where we were, we moved left, and when it went down there, we moved left, until it was completely down and we made our way back to the room to shower, chill, and crash. Not a bad way to end the day!

We started our day with a beautiful sunrise, had a walk about, joined in an important and joyous celebration, got in the water, tried a new place, and ended with a fabulous sunset, what more could you want?

Happy Monday, Happy Christmas to all and to all…you know it, say it with me! a good night!



et cetera