Back when I lived in Morgantown, WV I stumbled upon the Forks of the Cheat Winery. I had been out picking wild blackberries with my mother, who was in town for the summer from Florida. We decided to go to the winery and pick up some local wine and the owner, Jerry, asked what we had been out and about doing, since we were all smudged and rumpled from being out in the wild berry patches.

When I told him we had been picking berries all morning and still did not have enough for a pie, he took us up the hill and showed us the Vineyard’s lovely cultivated blackberry patches. In the end, he and I had made an agreement that I could come out and pick berries anytime I wanted and all I needed to do in return was leave half the berries in the vineyard’s freezer.

That was an amazing summer, filled with amazing blackberry pies and blackberry ice cream. I remember, in particular, hosting a blackberry ice cream party at my apartment for a bunch of my friends.

Anyway, today as my dad and my daughter and I were driving back across the state from my grandmother’s house to my dad’s place on the Shenandoah, we made a little side trip to the Vineyard. A few years ago my dad stopped and bought some of their Bad Cat and Airmail Jones (both sweet whites). He wanted some more and I wanted to pick up a bottle of their Niagara. She tasted it that day when we had been out picking berries and tells me often that it reminds her exactly of the grapes that used to grown in front of her childhood home.

Of course, I ended up with two bottles for myself – Reisling (my favorite) and a bottle of their Schwarzer Bär, which they categorize as an off-dry white. Both were outstanding.

The Forks of the Cheat Winery has changed a lot, but the wine is just as great as I remember. Now the grounds have terraced gardens and areas to sit and look out over the mountains. Apparently they have a lot of food and wine events there now. No wonder, it’s one of the most lovely places in the area.

Now, the challenge will be to get all of the bottles safely back to Florida in my suitcase, because the winery is unable to ship to Florida.

I have been thinking lately that my daughter and I dine out too often for my budget. We eat at places that are reasonable and I’m not breaking the bank, but I had a food epiphany today.

My dad took me to a little place in Charles Town, WV today called John’s. It’s right up the road from the old Rainbow Room bar, where Patsy Cline used to perform. It’s unassuming to look at and advertises country cooking, but it is anything but. The menu is expansive and everything on it is high quality and absolutely amazing.

My epiphany is basically this – I have no business dining out at all unless the food I am paying for is at least as good as the food at John’s, and that is not something you are going to find all that often in the price range of John’s. Therefore, I really have no business spending my money of food that is only mediocre when I am really rather a good cook on my own.

John’s is no particular style. It’s just skillfully prepared food at about the same prices you might expect to pay at any given chain steakhouse. I had an almond crusted chicken tonight that actually had me scraping the pan-drippings off my platter. The crab cakes and breaded shrimp were better than any seafood I have had in all my years of living in Florida. My daughter had vegetable soup that was more like a stew and a meal unto itself. I could go on and on, because I shamelessly sampled from everyone’s meals to make sure I had a taste of everything. I kid you not, if you are within 50 miles of this place you need to take the time to give it a try.

I’m looking for a good link now, but they must not have a website. So, here is the information:

John’s My Pappy’s Place
U.S.340S (south of Charles Town)
Rippon, WV 25441
Map
304-725-4348

Even though the newest thrill ride at Sea World Orlando does not officially open to the public until May 22, I got to ride it today! Manta is on soft opening. That means they are up and running, but testing various aspects of the ride, like line timing and such.

I went to Sea World as a chaperone with some of the kids from my high school. It was mostly Biology and Marine Science students and this particular trip had an overload of people volunteer to chaperone initially. I’m not sure what happened, but about a week ago they ended up with too few chaperones. I was not even going to ask to go, but I’m thrilled it worked out. I’m not sure I will ever have another opportunity to go to Sea World for free. ?

Anyway, I’m sure you are much more interested to hear about Manta. It is amazing. I am a roller coaster fan and have never really played on anything quite like this. Besides that jolting second loop, the ride is smooth, freeing, and made me laugh with pure glee the entire time. I rode Manta with a couple of other teachers, one of which was dead set against going when we got to the park that morning. I think she just experienced so much enthusiasm throughout the course of the morning that she got all caught up and in the end she was the most excited person in our group.

I know Sea World is not known primarily for the thrill rides, but I think they made a brilliant move when they brought this one on board. It’s worth the entire price of admission. Well, that and those super cute puffins.

When the Superbowl comes to Tampa, there are always a ton of exciting events going on all around the Bay area. It’s festive, invigorating even. The last time we hosted the Superbowl, I regretted not spending more time down in Ybor City and in around the hot parties and all of the hot spots where celebrities were spotted night after night.

However, that was a few years back. I’m past my partying days and more concerned with finding fun family activities to do with my daughter this weekend. I have had it in my head all week to go over to Apollo Beach tomorrow. Another cold snap hit town and that means another good time to go over to the Manatee Viewing Center.

I mentioned my plan to one of my friends last night and she asked to come along. The more, the merrier. I mentioned the plans to another friend this afternoon and she reminded me that the traffic in Tampa is horrific right now. This weekend is just going to be insane with the additional people in town for the game and the parties. An awful lot of out-of-towers are clogging up the roads in rental cars. It’s not pretty.

Unfortunately, the quickest route to Apollo Beach is across the causeway and through Tampa. Apollo Beach is just a little south of Tampa. And while it is just across the Bay from me as the “crow flies”, I’m no bird and need to use a bridge. Someone suggested heading south, taking the Skyway and coming back up the other side of the Bay. Yikes, I hate taking the Skyway – it sways!

So, right now I am in flux. I need to call the friend going with us and see if she has any input. The thing is, she rarely does.

It pains me to think of missing this opportunity. The next time I have my daughter for a weekend is two weeks away and I cannot know now if it will be chilly enough to attract the manatees.

*sigh*

This is the time of year for manatee viewing in Florida. Of course, you can always go to places like Homosassa Spring Park to see manatees that have been injured in the wild and live there all year long, but for the most part the best time to see manatees is when the waters get cold and the gentle mammals move to find warmer water.

I was just talking the other day with one of the biology teachers about a fieldtrip she wants to take to Apollo Beach and today I saw an article in the paper about the same spot. With all of the cold weather we have been getting in Florida, the manatees are gathering more than ever in places like Tampa Electric Co.’s Manatee Viewing Center in Apollo Beach.

There are reports of as many as 50 manatees gathering in the warmer waters of the Big Bend Power Station this week. The viewing center is located at the west end of Big Bend Road in Apollo Beach, which is on the east side of the Tampa Bay, south of Tampa and pretty much parallel with St. Petersburg.

We also generally have a family of manatees that come to the lagoon in Tarpon Springs each winter. I have not been up there yet this year to see if they have come to visit again. I’ve also spotted them while standing on the pier of the Safety Harbor Spa in Safety Harbor, FL. Those would be easier drives for me, but the situation in Apollo Breach has the benefit of pretty much ensuring that you will see of the many manatees that are there to enjoy the warm waters generated by the power plant.

So, we never did see snow in Florida the other night, but it was sure cold enough. Those of you up north probably think I’m grousing for nothing. I know you’ve seen colder weather by far, but when you get used to the weather in Florida, a morning when its 35 degrees will really throw you for a loop.

For one, most people in Florida don’t really own clothing appropriate for very cold weather. I saw kids at school yesterday who showed up in t-shirts and shorts, because they assumed the day would warm up into the 70, like it generally does this time of year. Those poor kids were miserable when we ended up sitting outside on the bleachers for over an hour while the police swept the school after the bomb threat that was made over the weekend. I think I felt the worst for the girl I saw who was wearing a skirt and sandals.

My wardrobe isn’t much better. I realized this morning I only have three pairs of long pants to wear to work. The rest of my pants are Capri length.

We’ve got a hard freeze warning over a good portion of the state for tonight. I live along the west coast, so my immediate area is a small region that will probably only see frost. Our strawberry farmers over near Dover are on full alert, though. A hard freeze is never good for our berry crop.

The tourists I saw over at the beach on Sunday were shocked at the weather. People come to Florida all year for vacations, but in the winter they are especially looking forward to a warm paradise that will allow them to escape the cold at home. We surely aren’t enjoying beach weather right now! If you’re going to enjoy water sports here this week, bring a wetsuit.

I’ve not complained about my loss of rights while flying. I’m OK with the fact that I can only take a tiny bottle of shampoo and a sample tube of toothpaste with me on the airplane. I even sucked it up and did not complain about having to pack things in little baggies. I wear sandals when I fly, so taking my shows off will go quickly. I even endure how early I have to get to the airport for a flight these days.,

However, I am finally ready to complain!

Why? Because now it appears that I have to allow a stranger to see my completely naked in order to be allowed to fly. That is a HUGE loss of personal rights.

The Tampa International Airport is ready to “unveil” their new “denuding scanners”. These scanners will electronically undresses travelers by use of electromagnetic denuding rays and send an image to an officer in another room. In the image, passengers will look completely nude.

According to officials, not every passenger is scanned in such a manner. No, those under-educated, loser security officers who herd us through the security lines will have the right to “randomly” select passengers to scan.

Just try and convince me that young females will not be unfairly represented in that mix.

Two scanners were installed in Miami International Airport in July. Tampa is the second airport in the state to get the machines.

While I am no fan of the American Civil Liberties Union, I am certainly on the same side as them for this issue. They say the scanners are a flagrant invasion of privacy. It does not allow a person to choose modesty.

Some supporters claim the images appear like a mannequin; private parts are not shown in detail. If I wanted people to see me that way, I would wear a beige body stocking.

Just yesterday I wrote a post about the Cabin Cuddler, talking mostly about how good it is to have your own pillow and blanket available on public transportation for purposes of cleanliness.

Now, here is yet one more reason to bring your own compact pillow and blanket on airline flights. JetBlue Airways is going to begin charging passengers $7 for a pillow and a travel blanket (available on flights over 2-hours long). For that fee, the items are yours to keep, so at least it does way with those creepy, dirty, re-used pillows and blankets. You’ll also receive a $5 coupon for Bed Bath & Beyond.

Still, it is just one more way the airline intends to make additional profit. JetBlue says they will probably take in about $40 million from customers buying seats with extra leg room this year and about $20 million from people checking a second bag on flights. They are unwilling to predict yet how much revenue the pillows and blankets will bring in annually.

I had the middle seat today on the airplane, because my daughter wanted a window seat. And because I would not want her to have to sit next to a stranger while she is in her squirmy stage.

The guy who sat on the aisle seat was one chatty fellow. I do not know his name, but I know everything about his work history since he was 18. I know how much he makes an hour, how many hours he works, what he does in detail, all about his current relationship and his 10-month-old daughter. I have the goods on this guy, I’m telling you.

Chatty seatmates on an airplane are not necessarily a bad thing. However, if I am wearing headphone and watching the in-flight entertainment, laughing out loud at the funny parts even – it is probably a sign that you should not continue to talk to me whenever you feel the urge. Every now and then I would see this guy out of the corner of my eye and he would be animatedly talking to me. Of course, I would feel awkward and pull off one of the headphone sides so I could hear him.

I’m not an impolite person. I’m just not the type to chatty-chat-chat for two hours on a plane. I thought I was sending all the right signs to show that I was cozying up to some quite time with the in-flight NBC-fest.

Any thoughts on what else I could have done without resorting to rudeness?

Flying is stressful in even the best circumstances. I get nervous easily and irritated, even, if the child in front of me is crying or a couple of tipsy businessmen are talking loudly and laughing too boisterously. There are hundreds of us enclosed in a small space and the least we can do for one another is be quiet.

When I started flying with a child, I did what I could to keep her quiet so we would not disrupt the other passengers. When she was an infant, I would nurse her for the ENTIRE flight. It was awkward, but it kept her peaceful and the seating agents were nice about making sure I was seated next to a woman.

I’m a mixed bag of opinions when I see this story about a woman and her autistic child being asked to leave an American Eagle flight in North Carolina. The article I read painted the flight crew as unsympathetic. I imagine they were feeling a lot of pressure from other passengers, though. On the flip side, the mother apparently was not keeping her son buckled in during take off and refused to allow her carry-on bag to be placed in the overhead compartment. She was seated in bulkhead, where there is not a seat in front of you to put your bag under.

While I have a lot of understanding for those who parent disabled children, I also believe you must know the limitations for yourself and your children. If your child is upset by seeing you upset, you have to make more effort than ever to never appear rattled in public. If you need to have your carry on within reach at all times, do not request a bulkhead seat. If your child cannot abide being restrained, perhaps drive or ride the train when traveling. The family in questions did say they will take the train now and I think that is a wise move.

I read some comments by other people on the original report of this story and at least one mother of another autistic child felt that the airline workers should have been specially trained to deal with disabled children and should have given special considerations. Another mother of a special needs child pointed out that the airline still needed to follow FAA rules. One personal called the motehr “entitled”.

I agree that she did seem entitled to special treatment. Many of us live with children that see the world in a unique way. I have to make special plans every time I travel. However, I would never expect it to be OK if my child disrupted other passengers or if our situation was making it impossible for FAA rules to be followed. I do not expect society to make allowances for my life.  The work-around might be difficult for me to accomplish, but it is always there if I look.

The new luggage rules are driving me bonkers.

I have luggage. I have nice luggage. But, some of it is too large and too heavy to even bother packing and taking with me when we go north next weekend. I have seats booked on a United flight. My daughter and I can each take one carry-on, one personal item, and one checked bag.

Our carry on bags can be a total of 40 pounds and 45 linear inches. The checked bags can be 50 pounds and 62 linear inches. You figure your linear inches by adding the length + width + height. Check the luggage you already own. You might be surprised to find it is too large. I’m not in the mood to pay $25 for each additional bag I check, so I am packing light.

Packing light might just mean new luggage for me. I am looking at feather light rolling duffle bags. I have found several good options online, but to be quite honest, I can go to WalMart of Kmart and buy 4-piece lightweight sets for less than one of the duffels I have seen online. I could just use the pieces out the sets that work for my needs.

And all the while, I keep thinking about my old luggage out in the garage. I need to at least go measure and weight my smaller pieces. The big bags are out of luck. They won’t be used anytime soon.

I know a lot of you fly to Florida to enjoy our sun, sand, and surf. Make sure you go to the website for your airline and read their luggage requirements. My friend, Christie, booked her flight and had me over to help her pack. When I asked why her multiple bags were so heavy and told her about the new rules her response was, “they did not tell me when I booked the flight.”

Nope, knowing the new rules is up to you. At the airport, they will simply charge you for additional or heavy bags.

As I mentioned in the previous post, I grew up just outside of Washington, DC and my family fully took advantage of the Smithsonian museums. All my life I wandered the National art galleries in particular. I was taught at a very early age how to appreciate works of art for their own unique attributes, inspirations, and messages.

When I moved away from the DC area, I began to really see that there was indeed the presence of amazing art outside of the National galleries. As soon as I went away for college, I began to seek out and explore any and all art galleries I could find. I continued that practice as I moved from state to state.

One thing that particularly struck me is that more often than not, galleries and art museums reflect the regional art styles of their own surroundings. Take, for example, the Stark Museum of Art in Orange, Texas. True to its regional roots, their exhibitions tend to feature the inspiration of the American West, including Native American art.

I’m particularly taken by the museum’s interest in rare books and manuscripts (a passion of mine). They have an upcoming exhibit called “Pictured Prayers: Medieval Books of Hours”, which will feature illuminated manuscripts. They have other exhibits in the past that showcased other illuminated manuscripts as well. And, they own some of the folios that belonged to John James Audubon.

Since my favorite style of painting comes from the Hudson River School, I was beyond enthusiastic to find out they own pieces by one of my all-time favorite artists, Albert Bierstadt. The American West was brought back to the people in the East in all its glory by the Hudson River painters. They shaped the way people saw the frontier and facilitated our nation’s move to fulfill the concept of Manifest Destiny.

I grew up just outside of Washington, DC. I was absolutely spoiled with the free Smithsonian museums, the National Zoo and other amazing attractions in the District. Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo holds its own against the bigger zoos, though. It is worth the price of admission any day.

With the 20th Anniversary of the zoo happening this year, you can get the best deal I have seen so far for admission. On the 20th of select months the admission fee is only $20 for two tickets (ages 3 and older). Plus, there are $2 ride and food specials. If you consider that the full price of an adult admission is $18.95, you will have to admit this is a super deal.

Check the zoo’s website out for more information: lowryparkzoo.com.

I’ve only been to Chicago once. It was for a trade show back in 1998. I had just stared working for the company as their lead graphic designer and it was s time for me to both get to know the business and get to know my co-workers. The president of the company spared now expense and we ate at the greatest restaurants, ordered cocktails all over town, and had spending money to play with in the stores. I had a blast.

I ended up staying with the company until just before I gave birth to my daughter. In fact, I still do a lot of freelance for them.

While we were in Chicago we took a night and went to bar under the observation dck of the Hancock building. Of course, it is close to impossible to get a good table over by the windows. I observed firsthand that night, for the first time, how imposing my boss can be in public. He somehow strong-armed us a table and I think the people who had been sitting there never knew what hit them. I got to sit in a chair that bumped right up to the glass and when I looked down it felt like I was floating out over the city of Chicago.

The next day I had a whole other view of the “Windy City” when I was standing on a sidewalk in front of an office building and saw an entire window come crashing down from a hotel. The heavy winds had sucked the window right off the building. Thank God it did not hit anyone!

Now one of my best friends is moving back to Boston with her husband and children. We met when we were both living in Gainesville, Florida and she had moved there from Chicago. They just miss the city so much that her husband finally found a job there again so they can move back. I am planning to go visit them soon, so I can see Chicago on leisure terms, instead of having to mix business and pleasure.

I like where I live, but I am regularly bothered by the fact that it is never truly dark at night here. When I go to look at the moon and stars, I can see them, but I can also see a persistent ring of light coming from ground level in all directions. Since I have lived in places where nights were as dark as this cup of black coffee sitting next to me, I know what I am missing by living in an area with so much light pollution.

I think the best night skies for me were when I lived in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia after college. At one point I lived out an old orchard road and my home had big farms on both sides and across the street. Behind me rose the foothills of a mountain. Those were some black velvet night skies and I spent a lot of time outside stargazing.

Even when I lived one county north in Florida I had darker skies, due to less development. Now I live in a very convenient location, but you see lights all night, as well as hearing cars, train whistles, and airplanes.

Harmony, another city here in Florida (somewhat south of Orlando and west of Melbourne), has the right idea. Their community will be the location for the 5th Annual Dark Sky Festival on Saturday, April 5. The event is by the hosted by the International Dark Sky Association (IDA), and will kick off National Dark Sky Week.

God bless electric lighting. I love being able to turn the lights on in my house at night and shop in the stores in the evenings, but the road signs and business signs and car lights and stadium lights all add up around here and it is just overpowering.

Anyway, if you are anywhere near Harmony on April 5, think about joining them for the Dark Sky Festival. There is going to be live music, telescopes for viewing the stars, speakers, and a lot more. I actually just called my sister to ask her if she wants to get the families together and plan a road-trip.
<