If life were predictable it would cease to be life, and be without flavor.

Eleanor Roosevelt

Another day. Another age. Hmmm Doesn’t feel like I’m older. That’s a good thing.

When I signed off yesterday we had arrived at our B&B and were getting ready to go to dinner.

But first a few housekeeping items from yesterday. My three children all texted Happy Birthday to me as I’m down south. They’re all great. And thanks for the QuannSpa gift card and the Starbucks gift card. One was even thinking ahead of time and gave me my birthday card at Christmas. Love them all dearly. One of yesterday’s last purchases that I forgot to mention was an absolutely beautiful jade necklace. Thanks Richard.

Now here’s where the unpredictable happened. Since it was my birthday i wanted to dress up for dinner so I brought a dress and my oh so amazing shoes and most likely the only Manolos I’ll ever own (a previous Christmas present from my daughter and son-in-law). The shoes look great and are also comfortable. Now that doesn’t always happen. All dressed up and was walking down the hall, oops the B&B calls it the Great Hall. Then the unthinkable happened. The sole of my left shoe started flapping. The glue had come undone. Insert crying here. Thank goodness I had the foresight to pack a pair of wedge sandals. Whew. Disaster averted.

So off again. Dinner at Jesse’s Restaurant and The Cold Hole https://jessesrestaurant.com/

Now if you were just out for a drive and drove by it, as we have many times on our way to Fairhope, you might not stop as the side by the main road doesn’t look over exciting. But turn the corner and it’s much cuter. And let me tell you, you must eat here. Yes you must. The food was outstanding.

The hard part of being a reservation for two is you usually get a small table off to the side somewhere. Here was no different. Would probably have been fine during the day when you’d have a view but we were fine with it. The plus was that we weren’t really close to other tables.

The menu. Our major disappointment was we had looked at the online menu and in our minds had made our choices but the one we received was different. Apparently they change their menu everyday. Too bad. We had wanted the baked Brie as our appetizer but onto new flavours. New choices. If you look at the menu you’ll see the descriptions for each item.

Appetizer: We shared it.

Baked Fontina – Nothing special. It was ok.

Entrees:

Richard – Turnip the Beet Salad and Crispy Onion Straws. A very unique salad and he liked it. Of course he did. He loves beets.

Debi – Gulf Grouper. Oh my. It was outstanding. I’m so glad I ordered it. The garnish of smoked winter squash was especially tasty.

Desserts:

Richard – Crème Brûlée. It was good but not the best he’s had. It came with whipped cream on it and he doesn’t like whipped cream.

Debi – Chocolate Turtle Decadence – pecans, caramel, gluten free chocolate cake,
chocolate ganache. OMG. Delicious. Yum yum.

I must give a huge shout out to our unbelievable server, Lauren. She was professional, friendly, and extremely helpful. I had asked her to omit the bulgar wheat and she expertly recommended risotto as a substitute. Smart lady. I wanted the Chocolate Decadence for dessert so as the menu was changed I asked if it was on the new menu. She replied it wasn’t and as it was my birthday I would get a free bread pudding for dessert. Then she offered to check if they happened to have my choice. And yes they did. Thanks so much Lauren.

Ok. This was a long post and I haven’t even mentioned everything about out B&B and as there is so much to say it there will have to be a Part 3. Stay tuned.

Jesse – Roberta Flack

Take care and stay healthy.

As always, thanks for your interest and thank you for reading.

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How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?

Satchel Paige

To me that is a truer than true statement. Those of you around my age know exactly what I mean. Most of the time I don’t feel old. Until I look in a mirror. That’s the killer.

So my birthday celebrations: shopping in Fairhope and then overnight at Magnolia Springs B&B. Dinner will be at Jesse’s Restaurant. This will be posted in two parts as it would make this post way too long. I’ll discuss the dinner in a following post and more regarding the accommodations as we just arrived at the B&B.

Today’s first stop was at Starbucks in Foley to receive my free birthday drink. A Venti Matcha Tea Latte. And Richard had a dark roast coffee. On the weekend I picked up my free carrot cake from Publix and put it in the freezer for the future. Gotta love it.

Fairhope https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairhope,_Alabama. Kind of our typical routine. I did some morning shopping and again I scored some nice items from the various consignment stores (a top, a dress, and a purse). Richard got records from the local record store. So much fun. For lunch we went to Sandra’s Place, a unique little sandwich + shop.

Food was very tasty. The coolest thing happened. We heard someone wish one of the workers Happy Birthday. I found my birthday twin! Of course I had to wish her Happy Birthday and tell her it was mine too.

A few pictures.

My birthday so more shopping. Two more tops. Then a coffee/tea break at our fav spot page & palette.

The first time we visited here in. 2019 I went to an advice booth. What a hoot. Just like You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown. It’s no longer there but when I went to the bathroom (as I do most places I visit – gotta love getting older) I found the advice booth hidden on the way there.

Ever notice how you can go to places again and again and always see something new. I guess I do as I’m not the most observant person. Let’s face it. I’m not observant at all. My mind is usually somewhere else. Often singing a song. Oblivious to all around me. I have to give Richard credit for pointing the following wall hangings out to me. Take special note of the bottom one.

Pretty neat, right? A famous PEI author on the wall in Fairhope, Alabama.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_Maud_Montgomery

We’re staying at Magnolia Springs B&B and it is located obviously in Magnolia Springs.

https://www.magnoliasprings.com

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnolia_Springs,_Alabama

What a fantastic tree canopy leading to our B&B.

This is from their website.

“Off the beaten path in southern Baldwin County on an avenue of stunning live oaks, Magnolia Springs is the last community with year-round mail by boat on the Magnolia River; a lazy river that flows through Magnolia Springs into Weeks Bay and on into Mobile Bay…You’ll be delighted to stay in this grand and historic Alabama landmark, which was built in 1897 and has been lovingly restored over the last 20 plus years, with original stained glass and woodwork.”

It’s absolutely lovely. Sweet entryway. Beautiful, beautiful woodwork. Fine linens. Much more about this historical B&B in tomorrow’s post. Our room is the McLennan. Again from their website. “ A beautifully presented room offering 12 ft. ceilings, an iron canopy king bed, and comfy sitting area. This bedroom and bath are restored to a magnificent level and include an original “soak worthy” claw foot tub and elephant trunk toilet that is over 200 years old and works like the day it was made! The resplendent king bed faces the south window overlooking the front porch and our beautiful canopy oak trees.”

That’s it for now. We have to dress for dinner.

Stay tuned for more on Magnolia Springs and Jesse’s Restaurant.

As I grew up being a fan I just had to use this song.

You Say It’s Your Birthday – The Beatles

Take care and stay healthy.

As always, thanks for your interest and thank you for reading.

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Sometimes, things don’t go as planned. It’s called life.

Unknown

Rainy day. But not complaining. Better than the 20-25 cm. of snow projected for PEI tomorrow and Tuesday. Brave the storm family and friends. Stay safe and get your storm chips. 😉

Ever since we first came to Gulf Shores in January 2019 Richard has dreamed of going to Waffle House https://www.wafflehouse.com/ for breakfast. Maybe one reason is they’re everywhere. On the drive down we’d always see them advertised on the exits. And down here there are quite a few.

So today was the day Richard finally got to fulfill his dream. Or should I say nightmare. Hmmmm. Yes. Definitely a nightmare. My apologies to those who love this place but we had a poor experience.

The first indication that things weren’t going to go well was when I ordered hot tea and she brought me sweet tea. Then she couldn’t find tea bags to make hot tea. But yes she finally found them way in the back of the cupboard across from us. Brought me a half cup of luke warm tea. Thankfully I had a glass of cold water.

Richard ordered the Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Bowl. I had the Two Egg Breakfast & Bacon. Oh my. I did not like their hash browns. They looked crispy on the top but underneath super soggy. The rest of mine was ok. Wish I’d remembered to take pictures. Why can’t I engrain that into my brain? Richard’s looked nothing like the menu picture. Obviously our breakfasts did not live up to Richard’s expectations. Lesson learned.

Two things on the menu we found quite unique.

First, look at all the toppings for the hash browns. We’d never seen that before. Would have loved to have seen some with these toppings in person. But I did find a picture online.

Second, look at what’s displayed at the bottom of the menu. All brand names. We thought that was pretty cool.

Boulevard of Broken Dreams – Green Day

Take care and stay healthy.

As always, thanks for your interest and thank you for reading.

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Give every day the chance to become the most beautiful day of your life.

Mark Twain

Intrigued by my title? I’ll tell you later.

Often when we’ve been out driving we’d pass many thrift shops and say to each other, “Let’s take a day and visit them.”. Yesterday was that day. Off we went in search of hidden treasures. Now why is it when you’re not looking you see them everywhere but today we kept missing them. We only found one. I even had a list, you know me and my lists, and we still missed them. One reason is that not all places have their street number displayed. By the time I found a number posted we were already past the number I wanted. Oh well. We’re going to try another day.

But as it turned out I had a lovely day. No. Make that a GREAT day. We went to Tanger Outlets Mall. https://www.tangeroutlet.com/foley I’ve talked about it before. Always able to find something. Usually it’s Richard who finds clothes but yesterday was my day. Lovely winter white pashmina, sleeveless black accordion pleated top, and white jeans at TJ Max. Sweet little sparkly necklace at Kate Spade. But the absolute best part of the day was finding so many clothes for my five month old grandson at Carter’s Babies and Kids https://www.carters.com/and OshKosh B’gosh https://www.oshkosh.com. So, so many cute outfits on sale. I do love a good sale. Especially when there’s an extra 20% off the clearance price. I had tons of fun looking through all their clothes. My son loooved dinosaurs as a child and I was so fortunate to find some clothes with dinosaurs on them for his son. Score. I made sure to buy larger sizes so he can have them a bit later. He has lots for now.

So now about today’s title.

You’ve all heard the saying ‘third time’s a charm’ right? Richard calls it ‘third time lucky’. Which do you say? In past posts I’d mentioned we tried twice to go to The Safari Club Restaurant https://safariclubgulfshores.com/ (Think I might have mistakenly called it The Zoo Restaurant.)

Both times we were unsuccessful. Guess there was a reason. We should have listened to what the universe was telling us. Third time was definitely not a charm. Oh yes we got in but the food was not up to the quality we had a few years ago. Now to be kind they did have a sign saying they were short staffed. And our server was excellent. Attentive but not too much. I really don’t appreciate a server who constantly comes to the table to see if everything is ok. I find that disruptive to our relaxing meal. How about you? What’s your preference?

First our appetizer.

Delicious. We both loved it. The five crusted goat cheese balls were served warm with yummy fig jam. Thank goodness as Richard wasn’t fussy about ordering it. He caved ‘cause he knew I was keen to try it. We should have ordered two. Read on.

Next our entrees.

Richard’s was the tacos. I commented that there weren’t many fries but he said there were too many for him. Cause they were awful. Not crispy. The tacos were not great either. Nothing you could really put your finger on but just kind of blah.

Mine was the Chicken Salad Salad. To put it simply – tasteless. Too bad. I was looking forward to it. The plus side is they gave me the smaller serving. Thank goodness.

A positive was that as it was Thursday night they had a singer, Delta Donnie. Smooth deep voice.

We’ll be trying some new place soon so I’ll let you know how they go.

Happy Birthday Marie Anne. Have a lovely day tomorrow.

Lovely Day – Bill Withers

Take care and stay healthy.

As always, thanks for your interest and thank you for reading.

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Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one.

Dr. Seuss

Great attitude to have. Love it.

Yesterday was a quiet day. Relaxing on the deck while the sun was out. What an unexpected bonus. The weather forecast said it was to rain all day but it only did for a short time.

Then out with friends

Dinner was at a place where we hadn’t previously been. Always fun to try a new spot. GTs on the Bay in Orange Beach. https://gtsonthebay.com/ About a 25 minute drive but took us longer. Oops. We kept missing the turn. But honestly it was very tricky. I mean it really was when you didn’t know what you were doing. Its weird. You drive past your exit road and then do a legal U Turn to approach it from the other direction. Took us a few tries.

What a great place. Very big inside. We arrived in time for Happy Hour but by the time she served our drinks it was one minute past so she charged us full price. A little annoying.

As an appetizer we had GTs Dip. It was tortilla chips served with a dip consisting of cheese, poblano (a mild chili pepper originating in the state of Puebla, Mexico), corn, and bacon. It was very good.

Our friends had been before and obviously like what they ordered (Chicken Carbonara, and Shrimp ‘n Grits) as they said that’s what they often have. His grits were interesting as they were fried Parmesan grit cakes. I’d never seen them before. And Caroline is so good. Puts me to shame. She eats half and takes the other half home. Smart and sensible. My salmon was delicious. It was fresh Atlantic salmon chargrilled and brushed with sweet bourbon glaze. I usually order blackened salmon but this was yummy. Richard said his club was ok.

As it was Thursday night there was an aging southern R&B band that played mostly 1960’s music. Aging? Perfect for us. Loved it. Wonderful when you can sing along as you remember the lyrics. I tell you as soon as the band started the dance floor was never empty particularly on the slow numbers. I had so much fun watching the dancers. So easy to recognize they had been dancing together forever. Smooth. I had to live vicariously through them as Richard doesn’t dance.

As we were leaving we noticed these on their wall. Very creative. Something to think about making this spring. Look closely to see how they’re made.

A little stop at the cute condo they’re renting and then home. Fun evening. Great to get out with others.

Girls Just Want to Have Fun – Cyndi Lauper

Take care and stay healthy.

As always, thanks for your interest and thank you for reading.

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Days well spent are those with friends.

Albert Schweitzer

Reconnecting has many meanings. It can be joining items that became broken or separated or connecting a piece of equipment to a power supply after it was disconnected. It can have a more personal meaning like connecting with self through meditation, self reflection, or creativity.

One meaning according to Cambridge Dictionary for reconnect is to create a relationship with someone again after a period of time. 

One of the pleasures of returning to our familiar winter spot is reconnecting with friends we made in previous years. That’s what we’ve been doing this past week.

The last time we were here, pre pandemic, we became friends with a fellow yoga enthusiast. (She is amazingly good.) We kept in contact over the Covid years so how wonderful it was to finally see each other again in person and meet her husband. They’re from Minnesota and come down for January and February. On Friday we had lunch at Happy Pappys https://happypappyscoffeehouse.com/ It was especially nice as Friday was her birthday 🎂. Hopefully more lunches or dinners in the future.

In past years we made great friends with a couple from Michigan who rented the beach house next to us. What fabulous times we used to have over afternoon drinks and our once a week dinners, alternating houses. I especially enjoyed deciding the menus and preparing the meals with Richard. But even more fun for me was the presentation. Love the creativity. I may not enjoy cooking but I love entertaining.

Saturday we had dinner with them at their new rental. Although not next door to us 🥲 it’s only about a mile and a half away. They’re on the Little Lagoon side but on the same street as us.

What a fantastic evening. How wonderful to finally get to hug each other again and catch up on everything that’s occurred in our lives over the past two years. Well not everything. Way too much to cover in one night. They’ll be over this coming week for dinner and gradually over the next two months we’ll cover all of our happenings. Other than having so much to talk about it was like we hadn’t been apart. Just slid into our normal, comfortable groove. As always they made a delicious meal and we’re looking forward to having them at our place this week. Hmmmm. Now what will the menu be? Stay tuned to find out next Sunday.

Today was a breakfast out but after I called My Aunt Fran. I call her every Sunday morning-have since Covid. She is my only remaining Aunt and such a caring and giving soul. My mom was her sister and Fran did so much for her. I started this weekly routine when the pandemic hit. Wanted to keep in contact to make sure she was doing ok and have continued doing it. Love our weekly conversations.

So today we tried a new place The Ugly Diner. It was meant to be as this was on the wall.

It was an interesting little spot with just a few people eating when we arrived but many more coming after us. It was very full by the time we left. Our first time here. When we’re down here we like to try new places as well as our favs. Very, very, very reasonable prices. My omelette with toast and panfries was $8. Richard’s biscuits and gravy was $7. Mine was tasty but Richard didn’t enjoy his. Huge, huge servings but that seems to be a theme down here. Richard called it “the breakfast equivalent to Lamberts Cafe”. Not quite but they were large servings.

Pics from The Ugly Diner

Read here for more on Lamberts. https://throwedrolls.com and https://throwedrolls.com/foleymenu/ I don’t think I’ve ever been to a restaurant that served as much food as Lamberts Cafe. We ate there our first year as we were intrigued by the thought of roll throwing but never again. It’s an extremely popular spot but it wasn’t for us. (The roll throwing is unique and fun to watch.) I can understand its popularity as customers can stock up on the sides and take them home with them. People do love a deal.

Friendship – Lucille Ball and Red Skelton

Take care and stay healthy.

As always, thanks for your interest and thank you for reading.

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The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.

Dr. Seuss

Today’s post is brought to you by little things I have seen over the past month but didn’t include in any previous posts.

I saw the above quote last week and how timely it was. My grandson (he’s such a sweetie) received his first Imagination Library book on Tuesday.

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is a book gifting program that mails free, high-quality books to children from birth to age five, no matter their family’s income. Inspired by her father’s inability to read and write Dolly Parton started her Imagination Library in 1995 for the children within her home county. Today, her program spans five countries and gifts over 1 million free books each month to children around the world.

What an amazing gift.

What an amazing person.

https://imaginationlibrary.com/

https://m.facebook.com/100050432862246/

https://instagram.com/imaginationlibrary?igshid=Zjc2ZTc4Nzk=

https://twitter.com/dollyslibrary?s=11&t=JvIziKOOTfh31yJtEDO-og

For Christmas a special treat I always make is Nuts and Bolts. Some may call it Bits and Bites. Sacrilege in my family. Haha. This year it just wasn’t the same. I always add Bugles to this mix. None to be found. I looked. My family looked. Nope. None. Later my family discovered that they’re no longer sold in Canada. What? Unbelievable. What will I ever do. The mixture is still good but just not quite the same.

I’ve been looking in the grocery stores down here every week but to no avail. That is until Tuesday. Casually thrown on top of a bin of various crackers was my find of the year. And the only ones in the store. It was meant to be. Home they’ll go with me.

These caught our eye one day in Publix grocery store.

Berry De Blanc (Pineberries).

What is a pineberry?

According to http://www.astinfarms.com/produce/berry-de-blanc/

Contrary to the typical strawberry, a pineberry is the polar opposite in color. Instead of looking for the brightest red berry in the store, you will be looking for a pearly, off-white colored berry, with red seeds. The flavor profile of these berries are similar to a traditional strawberry, however, when you bite into a Berry De Blanc, you may notice a subtle pineapple flavor.

A little side note. I see that they’re from Plant City, Florida. My late husband’s parents had a place in Lakeland, Florida and would go to Plant City for what they said was the best Strawberry Shortcake. Has anyone else tried it?

Bits and Pieces – Dave Clark Five

Take care and stay healthy.

As always, thanks for your interest and thank you for reading.

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Sometimes sitting and doing nothing is the best something you can do.

Karen Salmansohn

And that’s what today was. Usually we have things to do. Our regular routine. Gym. Groceries. Out for coffee and tea. Today was a do nothing day. Just stay at home. Relax. Enjoy the day.

This wasn’t what I had planned for today’s blog but as it was a do nothing day this is what you got. Stay tuned for what I had originally planned.

What a delightful way to wake up. No alarm. Knowing we’d be home all day with nothing to do. Ahhhh.

Relaxing breakfast. Read the PEI newspaper The Guardian. Did a crossword puzzle. Did Wordle. And was in no rush to get them completed.

And I’m lucky. Richard always does the dishes. So lots of down time. Even better.

Next a little walk to the gated community down the road from us. Just a nice, easy walk while listening to Billie Holiday: Heroin Hounds … on the podcast Disgraceland.

Disgraceland is a podcast about musicians getting away with murder and behaving very badly. Thirty-ish minute episodes that trace the most insane criminal stories surrounding our most interesting and infamous pop stars.

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/disgraceland/id1275172907?i=1000592580061

Love. Thanks so much Rachael for recommending it. There are many interesting episodes on Disgraceland. Give them a listen.

Then on the deck with a lime water and a book. I’m currently reading Wicked City by Ace Atkins.

A “noir crime classic” about one of the most notorious towns in American history, Phenix City, Alabama.

When I’m down here I try to follow these reading requirements: read books by authors from the area or about the area. (Ace Atkins was Alabama born and now lives in Mississippi.)

My reading view and sound. How soothing.

A little, light lunch and then back to reading on the deck. My kind of day.

Mid afternoon we went for a long, leisurely stroll on the beach. Picked up shells that called our names, listened to the sound of the lapping water, plus enjoyed splashing our feet in the cool Gulf water. I could see for miles and not a person in sight.

Back to reading on the deck. Super indulgent.

And to top it off Richard made Chili for supper. Spoiled I am.

All good things must come to an end. But what a day. One good thing? I can do it again whenever I want. Cheers to that.

Tomorrow back to the regular routine. But as for today, it was fabulous. And all I can say is everyone should have a do nothing day. When will yours be?

Busy Doing Nothing – from the movie Christopher Robin

Take care and stay healthy.

As always, thanks for your interest and thank you for reading.

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Approach the New Year with resolve to find the opportunities hidden in each new day.

Michael Josephson

Great quote. May we all find inspiration in it.

It’s a quiet night for us at the beach house after a sunny afternoon on the deck. On the menu is homemade pizza (the one on the right is gluten free) and Prosecco.

The gluten free pizza dough is made by Duinkerken. I love their products. They’re delicious. Duinkerken Baking Mix Company has been creating their fabulous gluten-free mixes on Prince Edward Island for more than 16 years.

Duinkerken facilities and products are free from gluten, wheat, peanuts, tree nuts, dairy, casein, soy, egg, lupin, mustard, fish, shellfish and crustaceans.

https://www.duinkerkenfoods.com/

Have a nice night and a great new year.

Let’s Start the New Year Right – Bing Crosby

Take care and stay healthy.

As always, thanks for your interest and thank you for reading.

I invite you to click Follow or Subscribe to receive timely updates, Like to show your love and support, Share my post on your social media site, and /or Comment.