Travel in the time of Coronavirus.....

Had a really great happy hour via Zoom with our friends from our Paris trip back in December 2019 for Will's birthday.  Almost all of us had interrupted travel plans, including us.

We had left Colorado, having gotten our youngest out of the house and into his own apartment, attending community college and working a part time job at Cheesecake Factory.  Our plan was to leave the country and resume our previous six months of "one month each" Airbnb's.  This time, we planned to start in Mexico and go south to Argentina over time, then perhaps over to India and Asia.

And then the best laid plans got waylaid by Covid-19.  We had four family members lose their service and retail jobs right away.  We had planned to have Williamsburg, VA be a "home base" for our travel this time and had moved to set up a spare bedroom in my daughter's home in February.  The grandkids are all on the eastern part of the US, so this was a good place to base out of, and a quick train ride up to New York for traveling internationally.

You can see where this is going.

We're still here in Williamsburg, enjoying the grandkids, and "hunkering in place" until we can travel again.  Our clients are considered essential, to keep water and wastewater treatment plants functioning for the better good and public health, so my business is actually doing well.  We are adding a recruiter on Monday, and I am feeling blessed about that.

In the meantime, stay safe, physically distance yourselves and let's get a vaccine for this thing soon!

Let's try DC when it's not a Heat Wave....President's Day!

We tried to visit DC a few years ago and there was a heat wave that soaked you to the skin within five minutes of walking.  We ended up skipping almost every outside monument.  Steven was deployed at the time, so it made sense to set up a weekend trip now that we live in Williamsburg, VA.  It's a two hour drive, but four in real life traffic:)

So we trundled the baby, five year old, mom and dad, grandma and grandpa into the Highlander and off we went.  First, all public spaces in our hotel were closed.  Second, it wasn't a heat wave, it was a cold snap.  Brr.  Either way, we did not time either of our visits at the perfect time, although we had two warmish days to spend mostly outside.

Lincoln loved seeing Lincoln's memorial and took home a stovepipe hat and a little lego like version of it.  We toured the indoor Portrait Museum to view the Obama national portraits, which were so very moving.  Watching the people stream past, snapping photos of themselves with the Obamas gave me hope again that our country will survive.  There were lines at President Obama's portrait. 

Little Benjamin is also named Benjamin Carter, after President Carter, so we got some snaps in front of another very fine Presidential Portrait. 

It was my first time visiting this museum, as I have only been to DC twice now, and I am excited for a third visit later this year.  Corinne enjoyed photobombing most of my pics at the Gallery:)

New Orleans? Always!

We have begun to combine our Memphis trips with a side stop in New Orleans, one of our favorite food cities in the world.  There is never any disappointment.  Meaux Bar, The Elysian Bar inside of the St. Peter and Paul Hotel were both new to us this time, we will return, they were both excellent and Elysian Bar is where our wonderful friend Adrian's daughter Grace works. They are considered a top 20 restaurant (number 5) in the country by Bon Appetit and are definitely worth a visit if you are a foodie.  Let Gracie know we sent you:)  The menu is ever changing, but the short rib and the carrot appetizer were incredible.

We returned to a couple of places we will skip in the future (Deanie's seafood just wasn't that great, and the service is incredibly spotty), but Pierre Maspero's is still on the rotation, as are The Palace Cafe (tableside Bananas Foster) and Court of the Two Sisters, for their lovely patio and their Sunday brunch with live Jazz served every day.  I picked up their cookbook and made their Crawfish Etouffee at home in Williamsburg.  Delicious!

And Robby Makes Five!

We had a wonderful visit to Oxford, MS with a quick stop in Memphis to meet our most recent grandbaby, Robert Brennan.  Why, yes, he is Irish!  And such a cutie pie, he looks like a little leprechaun!  Such red hair, and so much of it compared to little Benjie, his cousin in Williamsburg who is three months older.  And baby make three for my stepdaughter and her husband, all under four years of age.  Quite the accomplishment, and I know this having had four in five and a half years.

Sleep deprivation is the word of the day, and I'm very excited for them to have yet another baby sleep through the night, as their cousins don't do this very well:)  They are like little stairsteps, but oldest brother Walker is blond, while sissy and Robby are both red heads.  It's always great being with babies and I absolutely love making food and feeding people, which is always appreciated in new mommy houses.

My lovely sis in law in Memphis found a pop up high end Flea Market for us to attend as well, and every other booth seemed to be someone she knew, even though half of them were from out of town.  The benefits of being an interior designer in the south.  Picked up a lovely new necklace from repurposed antique watch chain. The florist was the one who did my father in law's memorial flowers one year ago.  She does wonderful work.

With our move to Williamsburg, VA, we are hoping to be able to see them even more frequently.

We managed to squeak in some fine music in Memphis, courtesy of brother in law and lead singer Lee Booth and company:)