Home Leave: Quick Loop

After from returning to this year's Charleston home base during home leave (we would have loved to have spent more time at our town house....but it was booked the rest of the summer we were there...good problem to have! As a lesson learned, I have already pre-booked ourselves for next summer when it's time to take M to college!!). I had a minute or so to breathe and then I headed off on another whirlwind week. 

Given I was flying by myself and the price was not much different....I splurged for business class (on puddle jumper size planes....so not a real big treat...lol). First stop, see the Bestie! 

I spent a few days in good ole St. Louis, hit the fave restaurants, then went for a trim. I debated do I chop the quarantine hair or not.....

It was a spur of the moment decision....but went ahead and chopped the hair. I was even able to donate 12 inches! Stopped in to see my favorite barista at Starbucks (besties daughter)....no explanation for my weird face...lol! Then just as quick as I arrived, I was wheels up to the DC area.

It was a really pretty arrival in DC....blurry photo (we were going 300-500 mph..lol). I spent the next day with my parents (and oddly enough forgot to take any photos). Then since I was staying in a hotel to protect them (we are all vaccinated....but being cautious - thanks 'rona), I opted to drive to Delaware. Why? Well I've tried to go a few trips in the past, but everyone curls the nose up and says no thanks...(ok, it was lavender fields in Delaware). So since it was me, myself and I, we all agreed to go! I took a butt ton of photos which I will share in another post (so if you don't like pretty flowers you can just skip...lol).

Afterwards, I went and checked into a hotel on Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.....I mean...it's a beach and it makes my heart happy. I hit a local brewery and distillery to get Richard and I some local swag. I met Richard's cousin (who lives nearby) for a super tasty dinner. Then I went and walked on the beach. For July, the water was FREEZING! 

Chair/umbrella rentals huts!

Sand grasses on the sand dunes.

Dunes and cold Atlantic Ocean. After enjoying the beach a bit, I walked around some shops on the boardwalk and got some ice cream! 

The next morning, I headed back to DC. Stopped en route for a zoom meeting (I am on the Architecture Review Committee for the townhouse HOA....we had a call). Then I returned the rental car and flew back to Charleston.....it was a very short trip every where, but was also nice to visit after being stuck for so long in Qatar.

Summer Adventures 2019 Part 5 - Road Trip

After camp, we did laundry.....then Clarissa and I headed off on a road trip! First stop was Clarissa's belated birthday present....she's hit that age where she doesn't play much with dolls/Barbies anymore, we have a ton of Lego's, and is super picky with books (and we move so much and don't need more stuff to purge) so we opted for an experience as her gift.

Yes! We were spending the night in a real castle! The Kentucky Castle in Versailles surrounded by horse farms!

So we received a real key on a fancy keychain and unloaded the car. Then we looked at the on-site restaurant menus....and we opted to do a run to Sonic for dinner (it was her birthday celebration after all). 

When we got back from dinner, we walked around the property exploring while enjoying our drinks.

 

What is Clarissa looking at? She's checking out the grand entrance!

The top floor has a dance floor and apparently the Kentucky Castle is quite the popular wedding venue. The night we stayed, there were no events!

 We saw some guard birds....

They had flower beds and a green house.

Someone channeled their inner princess with this grandiose staircase!

After our exploring, we put on our swimsuits and walked down to the pool. Given there were non-guests in the restaurant and we didn't have our cover-ups easily accessible (buried somewhere in a suitcase). We used the hotel spa robes to head down to the pool. Someone loved it (it was a bit large)!

We had the pool to ourselves for a bit and then a couple other families came out and swam as well (saved mom from the freezing cold water). We were not in one, but you can actually stay in a suite that is located in one of the castle turrets.

After swimming, Clarissa took a nice hot spa bath in the the tub in our room that had the bath jets. She throughly enjoyed all the whistles and bells that were in the castle!

We saw the sunset and the moonrise.

The next morning, we got up a bit earlier than we had initially planned to - what had been Hurricane Barry was racing us with 3-5" of rain and gusty winds. Not fun stuff to drive in, so the quicker we could get to our next destination the better. Siri helped me text my bestie and keep her updated (I also shared my location with her to allow her to stalk me en route). We had about a five hour drive and the first half was just overcast then it gradually started raining a little heavier and heavier. We ended up stopping for lunch about an hour away during a lovely downpour band of rain. The rain slowed us down a bit but we made it in pretty good time. We stayed with my bestie for a week....and of course we didn't take any photos together....(yeah I don't know how I failed on that one).

My bestie had to work a few of the days we were there. So Clarissa and I find ways to entertain ourselves. We visited with my cousins. We let the kids jump at at one of the indoor trampoline parks and then went out for lunch. Another day, Clarissa and I went to a Chocolate Factory!! Uh, how did I never know this existed?!?!?! We went to Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate Company, which has been around since 1981 (okay....it was a young company when I left for college).

They offered factory tours with samples at the end....uh...yes please!! I set up reservations for Clarissa and I once I knew our summer plans and we had one other family with us on our tour (we also had the first tour of the morning on a rainy day).

They specialize in handcrafting small batches of fresh chocolates. Literally hand crafting, we watched as this group hand dipped fresh raspberries and then sent then down to the chocolate water fall.

At the chocolate waterfall, there is someone watching to make sure there is complete and total chocolate coverage. If a spot is missing, another trip through the waterfall is in order (feels like a stop on Candyland!).

They also have a chocolate molds: letters, numbers, St. Louis Arches, and you can order something custom - if you wanted. We bought some chocolates to take home. Someone may have eaten her chocolates nearly immediately (I think was able to hold her off until lunch time).

We visited my brother and his family. They have a farm and take in stray cats and are able to spay/neuter them for free. Though sometimes they end up with strays dropped off already pregnant. Clarissa was in kitten heaven!

FOUR KITTENS and an Uncle!! So much fun! A little tough to wrangle. She would try to get all four to stay in the same place.....it was a lot of work! We also gave the outside adults a little attention.

We also visited with my cousins/family on the other side of the family. I picked Busia's brain to update information on my ancestry family tree. Clarissa was happy to see her great grandmother. We also met Baby Bunny (Honey Bunny's baby!)

I did sneak this photo of my bestie. We were celebrating a whole lot of birthdays here! Busia's 101st bday, cousin's bday, Uncle's B-day and the Bestie's B-day (and it was actually on her B-day!).

After our quick week in St. Louis, Clarissa and I continued on our road trip. We headed to Amish country - Millersburg, Ohio. On our way, we stopped to drop Clarissa's American Girl off to head to the American Girl Hospital. We figured MaryAnn would beat us back to Doha, but she ended up getting misrouted and got more passport stamps than we did. We also checked out a Lego store with a huge Lego cat!!

We stayed the night in Millersburg in a Holiday Inn Express (and Clarissa enjoyed the pool that night). The next morning, we headed to Zinck's Fabric Outlet. We were on the hunt for some holiday fabric for Christmas PJs, some other items we had on our list, and just something fun to break up the long 13.5 hour drive. Clarissa found the last piece of a cute cat pattern fabric and we used it to make a reading pillow for her to take to school. Sadly, I was driving and unable to get any photos of the Amish driving down the road in their buggies, but I did end up having to google a lot of answers to questions Clarissa had about the Amish in America.....we both learned a lot! After our shopping spree, we headed on to Maryland....the last part of of summer adventures!

Monday's Moment: When you are 101.....you go viral!

My grandmother, Caroline, just turned 101....and well. She's going viral...not for her age....but for being a great fan!

She started small with the local tv station in St. Louis, Missouri....

Then she made it big with an article on the NHL's website!!

The craziness that is vacation after home leave after training.....

You think the title of the post is crazy....our lives were crazy this summer. I just counted up. I think between our March pack out and arrival in Doha, suitcases were packed/unpacked for trips/moves/relocations twenty...yes as in 2-0...times!!! I was so ready to get to one place and stop packing/unpacking! Anywho, after training, we had a couple weeks left stateside before we were heading back overseas. It gave Clarissa a chance to see the baby deer that had been born/spotted in the backyard while were in Charleston the first time were getting big!

I had another cousin from St.Louis that was down in Hilton Head with her family and we were able to coordinate a meet up at the Angel Oak tree....aka the oldest tree east of the Mississippi River! This massive live oak tree has been standing for 400-500 years!! It was a tree before USA was well, USA!

Afterwards, we went blueberry picking (a yummy treat we don't get to do very often overseas) and then out to lunch. It was great catching up with them. Richard's brother and sister-in-law took us out on their boat. Clarissa had the chance to drive before being pushed overboard! We joked and said it would be like swimming in kava (since it looked like muddy water compared to the Fiji crystal clear waters we were used to).

Clarissa was able to catch up with her oldest friend (from 2 year old preschool) and we also met a friend of mine who just had a baby at local park....for some reason the baby didn't want to play in the fountain with Clarissa...lol.

Finally, we had a little situation to deal with....Clarissa is 8 and never been to a Cardinals game! It was completely unacceptable!! So we took a trip to St. Louis! Since there were no direct flights, we opted for the connection in Houston....where we picked Mason up on the way there! Perfect timing!! Some of the highlights included going to the arch again...why? Right before our trip, we kept seeing all the morning talk shows coming to us from the St. Louis Arch...huh?!? Well apparently, the Arch had been closed for renovations and a complete overhaul of the museum. So we had to go check it out.

I think the thing I liked most about the renovations was they replaced the glass windows you see at the top of the arch (sorry for the random people in the photo). The last time I had been (pre-renovations) the windows were all scratched up from 50 years worth of people pointing out and touching them. Now it is so clear and sharp!! Check out this photo of the Busch Stadium from the top of the Arch!!

Afterwards, we walked over to the Old St.Louis Courthouse (Richard likes history stuff). They were displaying a huge 33-star American Flag. We were guessing this was the flag when Missouri became a state, but a little research tells me Missouri was the 24th state....so I don't quite know the significance other than it was the flag when Abe Lincoln was president and this was the court house where the Dred Scott case started.

Richard has heard stories of my brothers eating bowls of Polish Kielbasa at Christmas (as in there was the community bowl, Bob's bowl, and my cousin Matt's bowl). So we had a special request for this trip....would my grandmother/aunt please make some kielbasa for Richard....

They did!! My grandmother is almost 100 (lol by the time I get this finished and published she probably will be 100!), so my aunt helped a good bit....but the kielbasa was enjoyed by all (non-vegetarians that is...)! Richard really enjoyed it and now understands the hype!!

It was great for Mason and Clarissa to hang out with their cousins (and my besties kids....uh, you know I was seeing her all the time!!). They shared social media contact info of course....

Have to post the family in front of the fireplace photos! Busia (Polish for grandmother...a name she adopted when she became a great-grandmother). Here she is with her great-grandkids! Fun fact, the one in black (you remember honey-bunny) is carrying Busia's first great-great grandkid! That's what 100 years gets you!!

That evening, Richard took Mason (along with my Bestie taking her girls) to his first concert! Fiji was not exactly a hot spot for concert tours. Imagine Dragons (Mason's favorite band) was in town and we were able to make it work. Apparently shadow photos are all the rage now! That way everyone knows you were there but can't prove it was you?!? (Clarissa and I opted to stay behind and get haircuts from my cousin and catch up on the family happenings).

So being that we were doing everything St. Louis, we went the Missouri museum (I may have been as a child, but I don't recall). They have a new kids section....what did Clarissa choose to play with....the 1904 World's Fair International Cafe...of course.....

We had some Imo's Pizza for lunch and then headed to Anhesuer-Busch for a brewery tour! Clarissa was super excited for the eagle....her house at school in Fiji was Eagles.

Not seeing American TV commercials very much, we really didn't understand the whole Dilly Dilly thing (lots of attire in the gift shop)! The kids did enjoy playing in the little prison set up. Afterwards, since we just happened to be in the area, I had to introduce Richard to Ted Drews! He enjoyed it a lot!

That evening, my bestie and her girls came over to swim in the hotel pool. We then headed out for a some dinner for those that were hungry (and more bestie time).

The next day was sadly our last in St. Louis. We headed out to Illinois to catch up with my older brother and his family. We had a great lunch!! Clarissa was a bit aloof to him (maybe worried he was Santa undercover?!?).

Mason has passed one uncle in height!!

After lunch, we headed over to Cahokia Mounds...sneaking in some more history this summer break!! They were having a special art show, Mason ended up chatting with this Native American gentleman from a tribe in Texas near Houston.

Another bonus to Cahokia Mounds, it put us directly across the river from the ball stadium. So we didn't have to worry about traffic. When the museum closed, we headed downtown. My Dad and group of his buddies bought a paver brick when the stadium was being re-done back in 2004. So we got downtown a little before the game to find his brick....which we did!!

Yes - it says 'Old Fart's Club' and then lists the members (including my dad)!

It was cowboy hat night at the game....so once through the gates and geared up in our cowboy hats, we found fun things like giant pigs and huge bobble heads!

We eventually made the long, long, long trek up to the nose bleed section (but we had an awesome angle of home plate). Man it was HOT! The air was stagent and I think we all sweat buckets!

Clarissa asked lots of questions about what was going on. She really enjoyed doing the cheers (Let's Go Cardinals, Let's Go...clap clap, clap clap clap) and the wave came by two times! So exposing Clarissa (and Mason again) to proper major league baseball - check!

The next day, we flew back to Charleston. We got to the airport a bit early (not knowing how long rental car return/shuttle might take), so the kids had the chance to play in this awesome play area designed like a mini airport! There was baggage screening, loading it on the plane....

Then I caught Clarissa doing the safety briefing (she could likely do it by heart) and pointing out all the emergency exits on the plane!

We had a couple more days in Charleston, a few more doctors appointments, some cousin time, lots of laundry time, and of course the final packing of our suitcases before flying out.

So that's it for our time in the States....next blog post, we will be en route to our new home....coming soon!