Monday, November 30, 2015

Quick Trip: North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia

On my quest to get to all 50 states, we planned a four day whirlwind tour to hit three southeastern states. In actuality, it was a trip to South Carolina, with border nudges into North Carolina and Georgia, but border nudges still count. 

In March 2013, a Thursday, we had a 9:00 p.m. flight out of LAX for Charlotte, NC, with a quick layover in St. Paul, MN. The layover was my first time in Minnesota which Judy says does not count (it counts on my list), but we did a full-fledged trip to Minnesota in 2015 so that issue is now irrelevant as to Minnesota. We arrived in Charlotte about 10:50 a.m. Friday morning and got an off-airport rental car at Advantage Rent-A-Car, not one of our better car rental experiences (we waited in a very long line to get a car and had a similar experience on our return).  We love late night flights out of LAX to eastern destinations: the later drive to LAX allows a full day of work and a drive after peak traffic hours, then an early arrival that allows most of the next day at the destination. 

Our first stop was Cypress Gardens, outside Charleston in Moncks Corner, South Carolina, a 201 mile drive (3 hours and 25 minutes). A highlight was a boat we self-paddled into a swamp with up-close views of alligators and turtles - a real blast. We checked in to a SpringHill Suites on the outskirts of Charleston, then went into Charleston for a nice meal at Hominy Grill followed by a Charleston Ghost Tour. 
     Yellow-Bellied Slider  (Bob)
     Hominy Grill - Charleston  (Bob) 

Saturday morning we had a one hour carriage ride with Classic Carriage Works scheduled at 9:30 a.m. We had fun exploring the back-streets of Charleston behind the clip-clop of a horse. Then off to visit the Aiken-Rhett House Museum, home of the governor of South Carolina in 1844 and the headquarters of General Beauregard during the Civil War. Then a Spirit Line Cruise to Fort Sumter way out in Charleston Harbor (30 minutes out and 30 minutes back, with an hour at the Fort). The rest of the afternoon we visited churches for the most part, the Circular Congregational Church, the French Huguenot Church, St. Michael's Episcopal Church and the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. Finally we visited the Old Slave Mart Museum. Dinner was the best of the trip, FIG, owned by the 2009 James Beard Foundation best southeast chef, Mike Lata. We stayed at SpringHill Suites a second night.

Sunday morning we drove 108 miles to Savannah, Georgia (about 2 hours, 12 minutes). On the way we had a fun stop at Carolina Cider Company in Yemassee, SC, and tried samples of various kinds of cider, including blackberry, blueberry, cherry, muscadine, peach and apple, as well as a pecan pie. First thing in Savannah, we went by the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist and found a service was about ready to start. It was St. Patrick's Day with many people dressed in green. We stayed and enjoyed the service. We walked by the Mickve Synagogue and found it closed, then visited the Flannery O'Connor Childhood Home, very near the cathedral, and took a tour. We drove outside town to Fort Pulaski National Monument, the site of a Civil War battle won by the Union, then we drove into downtown and found many people celebrating St. Patrick's Day. We took a quick visit to the Jepson Center for the Arts and ended the day with a dinner at The Olde Pink House Restaurant in a beautiful old home downtown. We stayed the night at a Fairfield Inn in Savannah. 
     Savannah, Georgia  (Judy)
Fort Pulaski
The outer wall carries the scars of the Civil War battle. 
Monday morning we left Savannah for Charlotte, a four hour (252 mile) drive. We took a little detour up through Columbia, SC to eat at Lamb's Bread Vegan Cafe, not too far from the South Carolina State Capitol building. We continued on to the outskirts of Charlotte where we visited the Billy Graham Library and home. Late that afternoon we caught a flight from Charlotte to LAX via Memphis and arrived late Monday night.
     Lamb's Bread Vegan Cafe - Columbia, South Carolina  (Bob)
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Sunday, November 29, 2015

Lamb's Bread Vegan Cafe - Columbia, South Carolina


In March 2013, while we were driving from Savannah to Charleston, we did a search on Yelp for vegan food and drove about 15 minutes out of our way (each direction) to go to Lamb's Bread Vegan Cafe in Columbia, quite near the State Capitol Building. It was described in Trip Advisor as Caribbean, but it appeared more African from the decor. Lots of space, both inside and outside, was devoted to the Caribbean/African theme, and it was fun to walk around and enjoy it while we waited for our food. There are various weavings, like baskets and wall ornaments, carved animals, like giraffes, and walls full of masks. 







Judy got a nice kale salad and I got a combination plate with various types of vegetables: red cabbage, collared greens, macaroni salad, squash and sweet potatoes with raisins and lima beans (the beans were a little hard). It was good and good for you. We ordered a couple of vegan cupcakes for the road: cookies and cream and chocolate with walnut. Both were good. 



It was not until a trip a short time later, when we visited the capitols in Atlanta, Montgomery and Tallahassee, that we started to add state capitol buildings to our trip agendas. If we'd started earlier, the capitol in Columbia was right within our grasp. We may have to go back. Lamb's Bread is currently the no. 9 rated restaurant in Columbia on Trip Advisor (out of 878).   
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Saturday, November 28, 2015

Trip Wrapped Around a Seminar: Florida

In January 2013 I went to a seminar in Orlando, Florida. I'd not been to Florida before, so I decided to take in some sites both before and after the seminar to take advantage of the weekends. My wife Judy joined me after the seminar. I give a brief description of what I/we did and then link to posts we did related to our Florida activities. 

On Friday evening, I took a non-stop night flight from Los Angeles to Orlando. It arrived in Orlando at 5:35 a.m. I picked up a rental car at the airport and immediately started driving northwest to Crystal River on the Gulf Coast of Florida. It was 99 miles and just under a two hour drive. I had to be at Crystal Lodge Dive Center at 8:00 a.m. to take a boat out looking for manatees. I got off late, because of waiting for luggage and getting the car, so I drove fast and managed to make the boat, even though I was about 20 minutes late. I saw several manatees, one when I was in the water snorkeling and one from the boat. Afterwards I stopped for an early lunch at Pecks Old Port Cove where I had blackened grouper stuffed with crab cakes and a shrimp based cream sauce. Then I set off for St. Augustine, 123 miles east (2 hours, 50 minutes) on the Atlantic Coast. On the way out of Crystal River I spotted a sign for "piss clams."  I'd never heard of them before, so I stopped, ordered a pound to go, and ended up eating them there after the waitress showed me how I needed to eat them. They were the best clams I've ever eaten. I got to St. Augustine and loved it. I knew from grade school that Ponce de Leon discovered what he thought was the fountain of youth there, and I'd learned it was the oldest settlement in the U.S., but it has much to recommend. I visited Castillo de San Marcos and Mission Nombre de Dios and Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche where the Spanish first landed. I spent the night at the Regency Inn near the ocean. 
     Florida Manatee  (Bob)

Sunday morning the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park caught my eye and I made an unplanned visit. They had crocodiles and alligators from all over the world, and most impressively, a massive enclosure with hundreds of alligators. There I heard massive alligators raise their heads and push air out of their mouths making a sound like an African lion growling. I had a marvelous lunch at the Floridian, a place I stopped because it was there and I was hungry. Great choice. I visited several beautiful churches, the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine and Memorial Presbyterian Church. I walked through downtown St. Augustine and enjoyed the fun little shops and beautiful January sunshine. I'd thought of driving to Orlando to eat, but I'd enjoyed the Floridian so much for lunch that I went back there for dinner. After dinner I drove about an hour and 45 minutes (107 miles) to Orlando where I checked into a Quality Suites hotel. 

My seminar started Monday and went until Friday at noon. It was in a massive hotel that was expensive and full of people, so I ventured out for lunch and dinner to different places to eat. King O Falafel in Kissimmee was my lunch destination three of the days. It served great Middle Eastern food and was not crowded. I also tried Jerusalem Restaurant in Kissimmee and did not like it as well. For dinners I ate at Ethos Vegan Kitchen in Winter Park, the fabulous Cafe 118 Degrees in Winter Park (twice because I liked it so much) and the funky Dandelion Communitea Cafe in Orlando. 

I skipped Friday morning of my seminar and met Judy at the airport in Orlando at 5:35 a.m. Once she got her luggage we set out by car for Miami in southern Florida and ultimately to Florida City, outside the Everglades where we had a reservation for the night. The drive to Florida City was about 268 miles (just under four hours). On the drive down we looked on-line at Trip Advisor and decided to visit Vizcaya Museum and Gardens in Miami. As we were leaving I asked someone in the gift shop about a restaurant I'd read about that served stone crab. She called and found out an address and when it opened and we drove to South Beach to Joe's Stone Crab where we had some good seafood served by waiters in tuxedos - a very fun experience. Then it was off to Florida City, kind of a rundown area that seems to exist solely as a place for people visiting Everglades National Park to stay at night and to get something to eat. We drove into Everglades late afternoon and visited the Visitors Center, the wonderful Anhinga Trail, and the Gumbo Limbo Trail. We had a good grilled alligator sandwich just outside the park at Gator Grill. We spent that night and the next at a Travelodge that was highly rated on Trip Advisor but pretty mediocre. 
     Florida: Miami  (Judy)
     Green Heron  (Bob)

Saturday morning we got up early determined to spend the entire day in the Everglades. We went back to the fabulous Anhinga Trail where we saw lots of alligators and other wildlife. It is the best spot in the Everglades for wildlife. Then we continued down the road deeper into the Everglades and did the Pinelands Walking Trail, the Pa-hay-okee Overlook, the Mahogany Hammock Trail, a walk into West Lake, did a 3.2 mile walk on the Snake Bight Trail and drove to the end of the road at Flamingo. On the way out we stopped again at the Anhinga Trail. 
     Florida: The Everglades  (Judy) 
     Florida Chicken Turtle  (Bob) 
     Florida Redbelly Turtle  (Bob)
     Double-Crested Cormorant  (Bob)
     Great White Egret  (Bob)
     Snowy Egret  (Bob) 
     Great Blue Heron  (Bob)
     Little Blue Heron  (Bob)
     Tricolored Heron  (Bob) 
     American White Ibis  (Bob) 
     Wood Stork  (Bob)
     Black Vulture  (Bob)

Sunday morning early we went back out to the Everglades and Anhinga Trail and had the best experience there of the multiple times we visited. We saw alligators basking everywhere. The Anhinga Trail is a treasure. Then we set off for the Florida Keys, a two and a half hour drive (126 miles). The drive through the Keys is spectacular, up and over long bridges, small islands, water on each side of the road. We drove all the way to Key West, on the last island, and first visited the Ernest Hemingway home, then the Little White House where President Harry Truman used to vacation. Afterwards we had dinner at The Cafe. We spent the night at the Fairfield Inn in Key West.
     The Cafe - Key West  (Bob)      

Monday morning we drove back to Miami and had lunch at Green Gables in Coral Gables. Then we dropped off our car at Miami International Airport where we had a 3:55 p.m. flight. Unfortunately, our American Airlines flight had problems and we spent the night sleeping on the floor in the airport. We did end up getting back to Los Angeles the next day. 
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Friday, November 27, 2015

Trip Wrapped Around a Seminar: Georgia, Alabama and Florida

I had a week long seminar in Florida in January 2014 and decided to make a trip out of it. We picked up a car in Atlanta then drove down through Alabama to Mobile, east through the Florida Panhandle through Tallahassee, then to Gainesville, then put Judy on a flight back home from Orlando where I stayed the week for my seminar. After the seminar, I spent the next weekend on Sanibel Island and in Everglades National Park before returning to Orlando for the flight back home. This post gives a brief day-by-day itinerary with links to posts by Judy and by me. 

On Tuesday morning we flew from Ontario, CA to Atlanta, GA, arriving about 3:00 p.m. We rented a car, tried to visit the Catholic Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and found it closed, so visited the Georgia State Capitol building instead which was about a block away. We ate a New Mexican style dinner at Agave and spent the night at a Holiday Inn. 
     Agave - Atlanta, Georgia  (Bob)

Wednesday morning we visited the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site, which included a visit to King's birth home and the Ebenezer Baptist Church. This was the beginning of an eye opening and memorable journey into civil rights country. Late morning we drove to the Jimmy Carter Library and Museum, our sixth presidential library, and came away with a greater appreciation of Carter as a good person. We'd asked several locals at the King Historic Site for a recommendation to a restaurant that served good southern food. They recommended Gladys Knight's Chicken & Waffles and that is where we went for some southern fried chicken, grits and collared greens after the library. After lunch we drove 100 miles (nearly two hours) to Cheaha Resort State Park in Alabama where we mostly drove, and walked just a little, to the high point of the State of Alabama. From there, it was another 100 miles and two hours to Montgomery where we spent the night. 

Thursday was another memorable civil rights day and packed with activities. We started with a visit to the Alabama Capitol building. Then, right across the street, we visited the First White House of the Confederacy, the home of Jefferson Davis until the capitol was moved to Richmond. Then, just a block down from the capitol was the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, where Martin Luther King Jr. was pastor during the Montgomery bus boycott. Then to the Dexter Parsonage Museum where Dr. King lived while he was pastor and where a bomb went off one evening, galvanizing King's commitment to the civil rights cause. For a change of pace, we stopped at the F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald Museum in a house that they lived in for a short period of time. This was a must-stop for my literary wife. The head of the museum suggested that the "best hamburger in the world" could be purchased at Hamburger King, so we stopped by, purchased one and shared it. Good, but not best by any measure. St. John's Episcopal Church, the church of Jefferson Davis and his family, was next. Lots of beautiful stained glass. Finally, we did a quick visit to the Civil Rights Memorial Center sponsored by the Southern Poverty Law Center and then had the best meal of the trip, at True, a real culinary gem. We ended the day with a 106 mile drive to Monroeville, AL where we spent the night at a Best Western. 
     True - Montgomery, Alabama  (Bob) 

We started Friday morning with a drive into rural Monroe County, including a stop at the Burnt Corn Methodist Church. We were back in Monroeville for the opening of the Monroe County Museum which is the old courthouse and the model for the movie courthouse in To Kill a Mockingbird. We stopped for lunch at Mel's Dairy Dream, right about where Harper Lee and Truman Capote used to live, and we enjoyed breaded and fried chicken gizzards and livers. An 88 mile (one and a half hour) drive to Mobile brought us to beautiful Dauphin Street and the Cathedral of Immaculate Conception. We got sandwiches to go at the Mediterranean Sandwich Co., the highest rated restaurant in Mobile, and drove 110 miles (one and three quarter hours) to De Funiak Springs, FL where we spent the night. 
     About Town in Mobile, Alabama  (Judy) 

We woke up Saturday morning to a deluge. Britton Hill, our first destination, was 25 miles away, the lowest state high point in the U.S. It was so flat we had a hard time finding it, but we did find it and got a few minutes for pictures without rain. The next two and a half hours (146 miles) were spent driving with heavy and never-ending rain. Once we reached Tallahasee, we spent a little time on the Florida State University campus (their football team had just won the national collegiate football championship at the Rose Bowl) and then toured the old Florida Capitol building, now a museum, which is right next to the new and current capitol building. We finished the day with a two and a half hour (150 mile) drive to Gainesville. We had an un-memorable dinner at Ker's Winghouse and spent the night at Sleep Inn & Suites. 

Sunday morning we had better weather and drove 23 miles (30 minutes) to Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Historic State Park. Marjorie wrote The Yearling, for which she got the 1939 Pulitzer Prize, and Cross Creek. The park includes her home and grounds which we toured. From there it was a nearly two hour drive (112 miles) to Orlando where I put Judy on a plane back to Ontario, CA. I checked into the Wyndham Cypress Palms for a Monday to Friday seminar. 

One of the days during my seminar there were no classes that I felt particularly drawn to. So I drove out to Cape Canaveral and visited the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (I took the Black Point Wildlife Drive and Biolab Road), the Canaveral National Seashore and the Kennedy Space Center (where I saw the Vehicle Assembly Building, Atlantis Shuttle and Launch Pad 39). I did not blog on any of these destinations, all of which were fantastic, but did blog on some specific animals I saw. 
     Raccoon  (Bob)
     Hooded Merganser  (Bob)
     Northern Pintail  (Bob)
     Bald Eagle  (Bob)
     Great White Egret  (Bob)
     Snowy Egret  (Bob)
     Pied-Billed Grebe  (Bob)
     Laughing Gull  (Bob)
     Ring-Billed Gull  (Bob)
     Tricolored Heron  (Bob)
     Loggerhead Shrike  (Bob)
     Osprey  (Bob)
     Ruddy Turnstone  (Bob)
     Sanderling  (Bob)
     Willet  (Bob)
     American Alligator - Florida  (Bob)
Canaveral National Seashore
Kennedy Space Center
Launch Pad 39 - where the moon launches took place.
An alligator near the launchpad.
Shuttle Atlantis

Friday, after my seminar which ended at noon, I drove from Kissimmee, a suburb of Orlando, to Sanibel Island, near Fort Myers, 168 miles (3 hours, 15 minutes). I had a nice lunch along the way in Fort Meade at Just Ribs. I had enough time to walk the four mile round trip Indigo Trail in the J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge and saw some beautiful roseate spoonbills. I spent the night at a Travelodge. 
     Just Ribs - Fort Meade, Florida  (Bob)
     Roseate Spoonbill  (Bob)
Bridge to Sanibel Island

Sunset on Sanibel Island

Saturday morning I was out early to the Darling NWR and drove the four mile one-way road twice. Then I decided I really wanted to see Everglades National Park again (I'd been the year before), so I drove to Shark Valley, 125 miles and a little over two hours. Along the way I stopped for lunch at Lagoona Grille Restaurant and Bar in Naples and arrived at Shark Valley just in time for the tram which I'd reserved ahead of time. Lots of alligators and birds, but on the tram you have no control over how much time you stay at any particular spot or what kind of vantage point you have for the wildlife. After the tram I walked out for a distance on the road, then skeedaddled back to the car for the long (five hour plus) drive back to Orlando. I stayed at a Best Western relatively near the airport.
     Lagoona Grille Restaurant and Bar - Naples, Florida  (Bob)
     Purple Gallinule  (Bob)
     Red Shouldered Hawk  (Bob)
     Great Blue Heron  (Bob)
     Little Blue Heron  (Bob)
     Reddish Egret  (Bob)
     American White Ibis  (Bob)
     Eastern Brown Pelican  (Bob)
     American White Pelican  (Bob)
     Wood Stork  (Bob)

Sunday morning early I caught a flight back to Ontario, CA. 

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Thursday, November 26, 2015

Quick Trip: Arkansas, Oklahoma and Northern Texas

I'd never been to Oklahoma, had just grazed Arkansas, and my only time in northern Texas was several layovers at the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport. So in December 2014 we planned a trip to cover that area as part of my goal to see all 50 states. Below, I give a brief description of our activities each day, followed by links to blog posts by Judy and me. 

We flew from LAX to Dallas/Fort Worth on Wednesday morning and arrived just after noon. We got a rental car and immediately started for Little Rock, Arkansas, where we would spend the night, a 242 mile drive that would take us about five hours. On the way, we stopped for a late lunch in Texarkana, TX at Naaman's Championship BBQ, a food truck connected to a building, and one of about five barbecue places we would sample on our trip. Later that evening, in Hot Springs, we looked for the barbecue joint Bill Clinton loved while growing up, found it closed, so stopped instead at Smokin' In Style BBQ, then drove on to Little Rock where we slept at the Wyndham Riverfront, downtown near the Arkansas River.

Thursday morning we visited the Arkansas State Capitol building and the Clinton Presidential Library followed by lunch at the Whole Hog Cafe, our third barbecue stop. That afternoon we visited the Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site, then drove about two hours (120 miles) to Mount Magazine State Park in northwestern Arkansas. There we hiked 1.2 miles roundtrip to the summit of Signal Hill, the tallest mountain in Arkansas, then checked into the beautiful Mount Magazine Lodge where we stayed the night. We had a light dinner at the Skycrest Restaurant in the lodge. 

Friday morning we drove over four hours (256 miles) to Oklahoma City, OK and visited St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral, the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, the amazing Oklahoma City National Memorial and then had dinner at Cattlemen's Steakhouse where we feasted on t-bone steaks, a favorite of President George H.W. Bush, and lamb fries. We spent the night at a so-so Best Western. 
     Oklahoma City Museum of Art  (Judy) 

Saturday morning we visited the Oklahoma State Capitol building, then drove an hour and a half to Norman to visit the University of Oklahoma campus, particularly enjoying the Heisman park with five bronze statues outside the football stadium. We ate lunch at the Earth Cafe & Deli in Norman, then drove about three hours (188 miles) to Dallas where we went to the Dallas Art Museum. Across the street from the museum, we had a burrito and ice cream at food trucks, visited the nearby Guadalupe Cathedral and then drove to Arlington for the Texas Christkindl Market outside the Texas Rangers baseball stadium where we ate crepes and bratwurst to finish off a third and fourth course for dinner. We stayed that night and our remaining nights at Hawthorne Suites in Dallas. 
     Texas: Dallas Museum of Art  (Judy) 

Sunday we visited the Lakewood LDS Ward in Dallas for an hour, then were at the fabulous Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza (the Texas School Book Depository) where John F. Kennedy was shot, then drove to the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, stopping at the on-site Cafe 42 for lunch, before going inside. We completed the day with a visit to the Museum of Biblical Art and dinner at the fabulous Meddlesome Moth restaurant. 
     Cafe 43 - Dallas  (Bob) 
     Meddlesome Moth - Dallas  (Bob) 

Monday morning we drove one and a half hours (90 miles) to Glen Rose where we visited the Fossil Rim Wildlife Center and got to drive our car through this animal sanctuary with all kinds of African, Asian and European mammals. We followed that with a visit to the ho-hum Dinosaur Valley State Park in Glen Rose, then a one hour drive to Fort Worth where we walked through the Fort Worth Stockyards. For dinner we drove to Y.O. Ranch Steakhouse in downtown Dallas where we enjoyed buffalo fillets, quail medallions and venison. 
     Glen Rose, Texas: Fossil Rim Wildlife Center  (Judy)
     Addax  (Bob)
     Barbary Sheep or Audad  (Bob)
     Blackbuck  (Bob)
     Emu  (Bob)
     Fallow Deer  (Bob)
     Gemsbok  (Bob)
     Hartmann's Mountain Zebra  (Bob)
     Red Deer  (Bob)
     Rio Grande Wild Turkey  (Bob)
     Roan Antelope  (Bob)
     Sable Antelope  (Bob)
     Scimitar-Horned Oryx  (Bob)

Finally, Tuesday we visited the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth, the IMAX Theater where we saw the movie "Jerusalem," and ate a barbecue lunch at Railhead Smokehouse in Fort Worth, before driving to the airport for our flight home. 
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Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Quick Trip: South Dakota

One of my goals is to visit all 50 states. Toward that end, when we have a long weekend or two-for-one Delta pass, we'll sometimes take a quick trip to a state or states. This trip to South Dakota in September 2014 was one of those. We visited southwestern South Dakota and fell in love with the area. There are an amazing number of wonderful places to visit and a surprising variety of wildlife. Following is a list of posts from Judy and me relating to that trip. Note, some of Judy's posts put activities out of order and combine activities over multiples days into one post. 

On a Friday, we had a direct flight from Ontario, CA to Rapid City, SD and rented a car at the airport. After a quick sandwich at Jimmy John's in Rapid City, we visited Reptile Gardens and Mt. Rushmore, then drove the Iron Mountain Road into Custer State Park where we drove the Wildlife Loop Road and saw bison, elk and pronghorn antelope. We ate dinner at the Blue Bell Lodge (bison stew and bison tips) inside the park and then drove to Custer where we stayed in the Bavarian Inn. 

On Saturday, we took a drive in the morning into Custer State Park, saw more bison, some turkeys, a beautiful white-tailed deer buck, and some bighorn sheep. Then we drove the Needles Highway to Sylvan Lake where we hiked seven miles round trip to the summit of Harney Peak, the tallest spot in South Dakota. On the way back to Custer, we stopped at the Crazy Horse Memorial, then we checked in to the Holiday Inn in Custer (we could only get the Bavarian Inn for one night). After a shower and brief rest, we drove back up to Sylvan Lake where we had a wonderful dinner of bison chislic, bison tenderloin and an elk chop at the Sylvan Lake Lodge. 
     Dakota White-Tailed Deer  (Bob)
     Merriam's Wild Turkey  (Bob)
     Wild Burro - South Dakota  (Bob)
     Harney Peak  (Bob) 

On Sunday morning, I got up early, leaving Judy to sleep in, and drove once again into Custer State Park to see the early morning wildlife. I was rewarded by seeing hundreds of bison, as well as more turkeys. I went back to the hotel, picked up Judy and drove through Custer, admiring the decorated bison in front of various stores downtown, then drove to Rapid City where we attended the Rapid City LDS Ward for an hour. Then we drove to Wall, SD, visited the famous Wall Drug Store, then drove in to Badlands National Park where we saw 25 bighorn sheep. Finally, we drove back out to Wall where we spent the night.

Monday morning, we drove back in to Badlands National Park and took the Sage Creek Rim Road where we saw lots of prairie dogs and some bison. Then we drove back to Rapid City where we walked through part of downtown, ate lunch at Everest Cuisine, a Nepalese restaurant, and finally went to the airport for a flight back to Ontario where we arrived late that evening.
     Black-Tailed Prairie Dog  (Bob)
     South Dakota: Rapid City  (Judy)
     Everest Cuisine - Rapid City  (Bob)
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Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Quick Trip: West Virginia, Maryland and Virginia

In October 2013 we flew to Charleston, West Virginia, rented a car and did a circular driving trip, north up through West Virginia into Maryland, east and then south down through Virginia, and west back to Charleston. This post is a summary of that trip with reference to the posts that my wife, Judy, and I did relating to that trip.

After spending the night at a hotel in Sutton, WV, our first full day we drove to Spruce Knob, the high point of the State of West Virginia. We enjoyed the beautiful fall colors and then a snow storm blanketing the ground with snow as we got higher. We drove past the beautiful Seneca Rocks and then visited Blackwater Falls State Park and viewed Blackwater Falls in a snowstorm. We finished the day with dinner at Hellbenders Burritos and stayed the night at Bright Morning Inn in Davis.
     Almost Heaven, West Virginia (Judy)
     Spruce Knob - High Point of West Virginia (Bob)
     Hellbender Burritos - A Gem in the Boonies (Bob)

The next day we drove north to Maryland and visited Antietam National Battlefield, then to Harpers Ferry, WV and an evening ghost tour. That evening we drove to Harrisonburg, VA where we spent the night.
     Maryland: Antietam Battlefield  (Judy)
     Dunker Church - The Battle at Antietam  (Bob)
     West Virginia: Harpers Ferry  (Judy)
     St. Peter's Catholic Church - Harpers Ferry, WV  (Bob)

The following day we drove the Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Then to Charlottesville where we visited Thomas Jefferson's Monticello and then the University of Virginia campus. Later we drove to Staunton where we visited the Woodrow Wilson Birthplace and Presidential Library and then saw the play "Return to the Forbidden Planet" at Blackfriar's Playhouse. That night we drove to Lewisburg, WV where we stayed in a Holiday Inn.
     Virginia: Shenandoah National Park and a Bear Sighting  (Judy)
     Black Bear  (Bob)
     Virginia: Jefferson's Monticello  (Judy)
     Thomas Jefferson and Religion  (Bob)
     Staunton, Virginia: Woodrow Wilson's Home  (Judy)
     Staunton, Virginia: Blackfriar's Playhouse  (Judy)

Our final day, we drove to Tamarack in Beckley, WV, a circular venue where arts and crafts are sold. We spent an hour at church in the LDS Beckley Ward, then spent time at the West Virginia Capitol Building and grounds in Charleston. That afternoon we flew from Charleston back home to LAX.
     Charleston, State Capital of West Virginia  (Judy)
     Capitol of West Virginia at Charleston  (Bob)
     Black Squirrel  (Bob)
     Eastern Gray Squirrel  (Bob) 
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Sunday, November 22, 2015

Quicke's Elderflower Cheddar

The Quicke family have been farming at Newton St. Cyres (near Exeter) in Devon, England, for over 450 years. Their commercial cheese production goes back 40 years to when Sir John Quicke and his wife, Mary, built the dairy. Their daughter, Mary Quicke, has continued the cheese production and runs it today, producing mild through vintage Cheddars. The farm is 1,500 acres and has 500 cows, consisting of Kiwi Friesian, Swedish Red, Montbeliarde and Jersey mix, supplying the milk. All of the cheese is made at the farm. 

The cheese making process for this cheddar is very similar to that of Barber's 1833 Vintage Reserve Cheddar as it, too, is a PDO West Country Farmhouse Cheddar. Milk is placed in large vats where starter culture (bacteria) is added. This increases the acidity and starts development of the unique cheese taste. Natural rennet is added and separates the milk into curds, that become the cheese, and whey, which is poured into the pastures to enrich them. The curds settle and then are cut into large strips by hand, and turned, to allow the last of the whey to drain away, known as the "cheddaring" process. The cheese is milled to provide texture, salt is added, and then presumably machine-punched into muslin-lined molds. The cheeses are then placed onto wooden racks and allowed to age. 


Quicke's Elderflower Cheddar is aged for three to four months and has pieces of elderflower running through it. 
Quicke's Elderflower Cheddar
The elderflower addition apparently adds an aromatic flavor. Elderflower is being added to all sorts of products to add a "floral and fragrant, subtle yet heady, not sweet in themselves but heaven" when infused in other flavors. I thought it was one of the most distinctive tasting cheeses I've ever tried. Judy called it "piney." For me it conveyed a grilled taste, like barbecued chicken, a taste that really came on subtly at the back-end. That taste just screamed to be added to a chicken sandwich using Costco barbecue chicken, the perfect addition. The elderflower cheddar was the winner of a Silver award at the British Cheese Awards in 2014. I got this cheese from Anshu Pathak, who sells cheese in addition to exotic meats. 
Elderflowers. Picture from here. 
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Thursday, November 19, 2015

Barber's 1833 Vintage Reserve Cheddar

Barber's 1833 Vintage Reserve Cheddar ("VRC") is a PDO West Country Farmhouse Cheddar. To be a West Country Farmhouse Cheddar, the cheese has to: (a) be made from milk of cows reared and milked in the English counties of Somerset, Dorset, Devon or Cornwall; (b) contain no coloring, flavoring or preservatives; (c) be made by hand in the traditional method using the process known as "cheddaring" where cheddar curds are turned by hand in open vats; and (d) be aged at least nine months.  PDO is an acronym for Protected Designation of Origin, a status granted by the European Union to cheeses and to other kinds of products. As it relates to cheese, the PDO designation protects the use of that cheese name for cheese made in a particular region that are made using traditional methods.

The Barber family is the longest operating cheddar producer in the world. They have been making cheese at Maryland Farm in Ditcheat, Somerset, England, since 1833 (where the name for the 1833 cheese comes from). They are 13 miles from Cheddar, England, the village that gave its name to Cheddar cheese. The Barbers own 10 dairy farms totaling 2,500 acres of land and 2,000 Holstein Friesian cows. They get additional milk from other local herds. The character of the cheese comes from starter cultures that are unique to the Barber family. The cultures were developed from bacteria found in local milk and have been refined over the years to isolate the best strains. The cultures are added to the milk to start the cheese-making process. Cheese batches are started at 3:00 a.m. each morning with culture being added to the milk. The mixture is pumped into individual cheese vats, rennet is added, and the milk coagulates. The solid curds are separated from the liquid whey and the curd is cut and turned by hand, the process which is known as "cheddaring." This allows the cheese maker to feel the curd and make any necessary changes. About 5:00 a.m. the curd is tasted and salt is added to preserve and control development of the cheese. The curd is then pressed into blocks, starting at about 8:30 p.m. The cheese is kept in wooden boxes in stacks. After three months each block is graded by an expert and the 1833 is selected from those blocks of the best quality. The cheeses that age for 12 months are known as farmhouse cheddar, for 16 months are extra mature cheddar and for two years or more are the 1833. 1833 was named best mature cheddar at the 2012 World Cheese awards and is the only UK Cheddar to make it into the top 50 world cheeses.
Culturecheesemag.com calls it creamy and sharp, with both "savory and naturally sweet notes." It also has hints of caramel and toffee. igourmet.com calls it "deliciously creamy." Cheese.com says it has a "rich, intense flavor, finishing off with smooth, creamy and crunchy texture." Wholefoodsmarket.com says it has a "smooth, creamy texture with nut and fruit flavors." Happiness-is-homemade.com calls it "creamy and sharp with a little bit of sweet tone."

Anshu Pathak, who sells cheese in addition to exotic meats, provided me with some of the 1833. We found it relatively crumbly. Each taste produces a brief crystally crunch with the rich, intense flavor mentioned above, made much more-so if you bite and chew, as opposed to letting it sit and melt in your mouth. Very strong, very wonderful. No question it is Cheddar. 
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Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Index - Cheese

This index puts the cheeses into broad categories, then lists the cheese alphabetically. The broad categories are as follows (note that most cheese is made from cow's milk):
A.   Goat's Milk
B.   Sheep's Milk
C.   Milk Mixtures
D.   Cow's Milk (primarily)
       1.   Bland and Butter Style
       2.   Blue Type
       3.   Brie and Camembert Type
       4.   Cheddar Type
       5.   Extra Hard
       6.   Monastery Type
       7.   Pub Cheese (added ingredients)
       8.   Swiss (Fondue) Type
       9.   Other

 A.   Goat's Milk
    Buche Caprifeuille
    Goat Gouda   
          Central Coast Creamery
          Cypress Grove Creamery Midnight Moon (aged 6 months)    
          Trader Joe's
          Trader Joe's (aged 16 months)  
     Goat Milk Brie  
     Humboldt Fog (surface ripened)
     Soignon (surface ripened)
     Truffle Tremor (surface ripened)  
     Wyngaard Chevre Affind (aged 4 months)
     Wyngaard Chevre Gris (aged 11 months)  

B.   Sheep's Milk
     Azeri: Motal Pendiri and Taza Penir
     Cypress Grove Creamline Lamb Chopper (aged 3 months)
     Halloumi
     Idiazabal (aged 2 months)
     Manchego
     Myzithra  
     Oscypek - Polish Smoked Sheep Cheese   
     Pecorino Romano
     Piacentinu  
C.   Milk Mixtures
     Campo De Montalban   (cow, goat & sheep) 
     Double Milk Melange (cow & goat)  
     Iberico  (cow, goat & sheep)

D.   Cow's Milk (primarily)

       1.   Bland and Butter Style
             Asiago with Rosemary and Olive Oil
             Beemster Classic Aged Gouda (aged 18 months)  
             Beemster Vlaskaas (aged 13 months)
             Granfor Tilsiter
             Meadowkaas Spring Cheese
             Montasio
             Old Amsterdam Aged Gouda (aged 12 to 18 months)
             Rembrandt Extra Aged Gouda (aged one year)
             Renard's Havarti Jalapeno
             Renard's Monterey Jack: Morel & Leek, Ghost Chili Pepper  
             Reypenaer
             Reypenaer V.S.O.P.  (aged 2 years)
             Reypenaer Wyngaard Kaas B.V. Reserve Special (aged 2.5 years)
             Trader Joe's Danish Aged Havarti (aged 9 months)
             Trader Joe's Cave Aged Gouda (aged 9 months)
             Trader Joe's Gouda
             Trader Joe's Double Cream Gouda
             Unie Kaas Parrano (aged 5 months)
             Unie Kaas Reserve Naturally-Aged Gouda (aged 18 months)
             Wyngaard Affineurs  (aged 5 months)

       2.   Blue Type
             Cambozolo Triple Cream Soft Ripened Blue      
             Bleu d'Auvergne (aged 4 to 8 weeks) 
             Gorgonzola
             Saint Agur
             Shropshire Blue  
             Societe Roquefort (raw sheep milk)
             Somerdale Shropshire Blue
             Trader Joe's Blue Stilton

       3.   Brie and Camembert Type
             Camembert (oven baked in Talinn, Estonia)  
             Delice de Bourgogne (triple cream)
             Delice de France Grand Camembert (aged 4 weeks)
             Saint Andre (triple cream)  
             St. Jacques Brie with Sage   
             Supreme (Brie) (aged 4 weeks) 
             Trader Joe's Triple Cream Brie with Wild Porcini and Chanterelle Mushrooms 

       4.   Cheddar Type
             Barber's 1833 Vintage Reserve Cheddar
             Cahill's Original Irish Porter Cheddar
             Cahill's Original Irish Whiskey Cheddar  
             Cantal or Cantalet Dore
             Cotswold Double Gloucester with Onions and Chives  
             Kerrygold Aged Cheddar with Irish Whiskey
             Kerrygold Dubliner (age 12 months)
             Kerrygold Reserve Cheddar (aged 2 years) 
             Mull of Kintyre Scottish Cheddar  (aged 14 months)
             Quicke's Elderflower Cheddar (aged 3 to 4 months)
             Quicke's Oak Smoked Clothbound Cheddar     
             Renard's Natural Olive Cheddar    
             Trader Joe's Vintage Irish Cheddar with Porter (aged 8 months)

       5.   Extra Hard
             Kerrygold Ivernia (aged 3 years)
             La Villa Reggiana Parmigiano-Reggiano
             Pecorino Romano
             Trader Joe's Grana Padano Parmesan (aged 18 months)  
             Trader Joe's Parmigiano Reggiano Stravecchio (aged 3 years)    
             Vella Dry Monterey Jack (aged 7 to 10 months)

       6.   Monastery Type
             Abbaye Sainte Mere  
             Chaumes (aged 4 weeks) 
             Chimay 
             Limburger
             Port Salut
             Taleggio
             Trader Jacques' Pont L' Eveque

       7.   Pub Cheese (added ingredients)
             Clauson Cotswold (Double Gloucester with chives and spring onions)
             Clauson White Stilton with Pear & Apple
             Gaperon (garlic and cracked peppercorns)  
             Derby - Port Wine
             Derby - Sage
             Havarti - dill
             Havarti - jalapeno
             Leyden - cummin
             Tintern - chives and shallots
             Trader Joe's Asiago with Rosemary and Olive Oil
             Trader Joe's Red Leicester with Chilli and Red Bell Pepper
             Trader Joe's White Stilton with Cranberries
 
       8.   Swiss (Fondue) Type 
             Jarlsberg
             Trader Joe's Comte (raw milk - aged over 180 days)
             Trader Joe's Emmentaler (raw milk - aged over 100 days)
             Grand Cru Gruyere (pasteurized)
             Reblechon
             Trader Joe's Gruyere (aged 6 months)
             Trader Joe's Gruyere (raw milk - cave aged - one year)
             Trader Joe's Morbier
             Trader Joe's Raclette

       9.   Other
             Annabella [Water] Buffalo Mozzarella
             Cacique Cotija (part skim milk)
             Feta
                  Bulgarian
             Juni
             Mimolette Vieille
             Toma Piemontese
             Tomme de Savoie
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