Restaurant Season

While this picture is a Lemon Drop Martini I made at home, it makes me think of summer and "Restaurant Season". Why? People are out and about more in summer, people travel, go on vacation and therefore tend to eat out more. Recently one of the martini glasses I packed in my suitcase got broken. That got me thinking about peachsuite.com. This restaurant supply website has hundreds of items for sale. Shop right from the comfort of your computer chair. Open a free account, add items to your shopping cart and away you go. One of the items I noticed right off the bat, was a Polycarbonate Martini Glass!

Hosting a wedding, a conference or large family reunion? Hospitality supplies and Hotel Cleaning Supplies are also available. You might not be concerned with cleaning like a hotel does, but the supplies you need to put on an event are pretty much the same. Maybe you need linens, tables, chairs and other related items to pull it all together. Maybe, you're having a special class reunion and need to spruce up a large empty room. You're just one click away from finding everything you need to make your event a success.

You need a large blender, large ice-machine, snow cone machine, or other catering supplies, and quality restaurant equipment to take on the task at hand? Look no further, let your mouse lead the way by adding items to your shopping cart. AND, look for special free shipping available on large orders.

Speaking of Restaurants, don't forget to check in on Monday's. Menu Monday will be gearing up again with a host of restaurant reviews to aid you in your travels.

Olympics, Park City Utah View

This sign post lists locations of winter Olympics and their distance both in miles and kilometers and is located just off historic Main Street in Park City, Utah.

The sign reads:
Grenoble, 5,342 miles. The Olympics were there in France in 1968, Winter Olympics that is. And from this spot.........one knows the distance to the various spots other Winter Olympics have been held. The Olympics were held in that spot in 1968.

Lillehammer 4,801 miles away in Norway was the site of 199 Winter Games. I well remember this one, loved seeing people scoot about town on those funny little sleds. This perhaps was the one of most interest to me. Love the stories behind the scene. Not sure, in truth I had ever heard of Lillehammer before the Olympics.

Nagano is some 5,485 miles away in Japan and was the site of the 1998 Olympics, which I don't remember at all. Perhaps I didn't watch that year, but confess I had to look up the name Nagano; though thought it to be Japan........really had no memory of it.

1980 presents us with Squaw Valley. I remember that with a smile. The place seemed romantic; and from Park City, Utah is only 488 miles away.

Sapparo, another Japanese location is 5,099 miles from this spot in Park City, Utah. No double we all remember the 1972 Olympics............I got that married that year, I'm sure that's why you all remember it. lol Sapporo, however had been selected to host the Olympics way back in 1940, but due to World War II, was cancelled. After all, they were our enemy. They had bombed us. Who could ever forget the attack on men, women, and children............civilians as well as military on that dark December day. Though the games were cancelled prior to the scheduled openings of "The Games".

Austria..........one always thinks of The Sound of Music. 5,438 miles from this spot was the home for the 1976 Innsbruck Winter Games.

Albertville, France was the site of the Olympics (Winter as in all above) in 1992 which is 5,316 miles from this spot in Park City, Utah. No real memories of this particular games; even though it wasn't that long ago. I assume I didn't watch as much, or it was un-impressive?

Sarajevo, Yugolslavia 1984..........war torn but hosted the Olympics and is 5,834 miles away. Who could ever forget this Olympics. It was sad, and glorious at the same time. Sad, because the country was in horrible shape, ruins..........many pictures showed such devastation from bombing it was hard to understand the government expenditure at hosting The Olympics. Again a place many of us had little knowledge of before hand. Perhaps it's a story of a country and people wanting to come back? I don't know. I do remember thinking if I were a citizen AND I were helping to pay for this extravagance (and yes to me that's what it seemed like....extra, un-necessary = extravagance), not sure I would have been very supportive if my children had to walk through bombed rubble on their way to a partial falling down school each day....pretty sure I would think the government and it's people should be paying to have the rubble removed and the school building rebuilt for my children first. Glorious though...because it showed the human spirit.

Lake Placid......perhaps one of the most well known of the Winter Olympic Locations is only 1,916 miles away, the site of the 1932 and the 1980 Olympics. It's also been a contender to hold other Olympics. Lake Placid...makes me smile.

A small sign post, I wonder how many pass by without stopping to read, wonder and remember.

There's much to see and do in Park City, despite it's rather small town size.

Pizza House Columbus, Ohio

Hopefully you can read the motto posted on the menu at The Pizza House. The Pizza house a family owned business for 50 years serves pizza, sandwiches, as well as veal and spaghetti. The menu is varied and priced well for both lunch and dinner 7 days a week.

A neighborhood establishment located at 747 Lincoln Avenue, across the street from it's original location on Sinclair Avenue is a marvel. Against big powerful chain operations it has done more then maintained. It's grown and improved and delights the older original customers as much as the newer, 2nd or 3rd generation customer.

They offer dine in or carry out and something on the menu for anyone adult or child. The restaurant has always been family oriented, though back in day, was an awesome place for a date, or pizza after the local high school football game.

Good food, good service, and good pricing. They also offer Gluten Free specials, so much in need in this day and age.

Bill Colasante has been part of The Pizza House for 50 years. He purchased the business 30 years ago from Bob Tiberi and Richard Dorn. But, he didn't purchase an unknown; he worked there...was in fact their first hire. And this many years later is still at it with long time help like Jeff Tiberi (36 years) and Doug Wilford (39 years). It's no wonder they are a success, still serving family recipes after 50 years.

Recommend for families, couples, dine in, or pick up. A good time!

How to Safely Pack Wine and More

When we travel, here there and everywhere......Domestically or Internationally. We always pack kitchen essentials to aid us. This small Bread Dipping Seasoning pack is just the thing. We have larger ones at home, and have been (until this new find), packing those. We like to cook in a good number of our meals. This seasoning pack has 4 different blends, all good for seasoning your olive oil for dipping bread, or adding to pasta (always a favorite meal for us). I also think you could use this to flavor meat for the grill (beef, pork and chicken). The Flavors in this blend are: Sicilian Blen, Tuscany Blend, Parmesan Blend, Rosa Maria. 4 Flavors, 4 separate shaker areas, and the whole thing only weights .60 oz....perfect even when flying vs traveling by car.
Wine carriers a MUST in our travels. These come packaged 3 in a container, we recently purchased 2 packs. We've used these in the past with wonderful success.

1. They are easy to use, slid the bottle in and Zip it shut
2. Since it seals well, should there be a breakage the wine would be contained
3. They are well padded inside, but better then bubble wrap it's a super absorbent cushy fabric....which not only protects the bottle against breakage; but offers back up protection to minimize liquid.
4. They mold nicely and can easily be worked into your luggage.

One bottle of wine typically weights somewhere between 3-4 pounds, depending on how thick the glass bottle is. It's a good idea to weight what you're taking, as they all won't be the same. There are different limits of what you can take Internationally, depending on where you're going. A while back hubby and I traveled to Mexico and each person was then permitted to carry 3 bottles in their luggage.
Both above items were purchased through Amazon.com. SuperPoints (click on above badge to join). I belong to SuperPoints and earn points, I convert my points to Amazon gift cards and shop........when you're order is $25.00 you don't even pay shipping. SuperPoints is both a way to make and save money. You can clip coupons to save money, buy daily deals to save money on items you would probably purchase anyway...but this way you earn points to do so. You can watch video's and or play games.........again you earn points. You can spin the lucky wheel daily to win additional points. Joining if free, and easy. 3 Simple Steps:

1. Click on above button and join
2. Verify your email addy
3. Fill out your profile...........that's it, you're now ready to earn points.

I might suggest you use a separate email account in order to keep things separate from your personal and or business email account.

The above items are only a few of the thousands of things you can purchase through your amazon gift cards. You can always convert your points to Pizza Hut, Best Buy, and Starbucks gift cards.......and more. Additionally, you can turn your points into PayPal Money.

Join today and start earning, and keep checking in for helpful travel information. Travel Safe

Drayton Hall, Charleston South Carolina

Drayton Hall
The front of the historic sign indicates this plantation house is the only one along the Ashley River that has survived. That's it architecture is that of Georgian Palladian. The nature of that architecture is that the house inside and outside is balanced. What is to the right of door for example visually appears to be the same as that on left. If a bookcase or fireplace is a room with a shelf or window or one side, you'll find the same feature on the other.

Side 2 of the sign talks about how grand, the Drayton families were. That William Henry (1742-1779) was a Revolutionary War Patriot, and Chief Justice in South Carolina, and a member of The Continental Congress. A person who fought for his rights, a person who fought to be free of someone else's control. It goes on to tell us Dr. Charles Drayton (1743-1822) was Lt. Governor, and John Drayton (1767-1822) was Governor of the State of South Carolina. Well yes, on the surface this would seem to be quite a family. It does not tell us about the huge number of slaves they owned. I personally found it ironic that a family who fought for their own freedoms, from the control of others would ignore the rights of others, and not only control them...as England tried to control the colonies; but buy and sell them and hold them in bondage.
This is the front view of the large plantation house. Notice the number of windows on each side of the door, the stairs lending up both sides. The balance of the design.

A side view gives you a feel for the depth and size of this house. This was indeed a grand house that would have been surrounding with out buildings, slave quarters, crops and the like.
And speaking of out buildings.

Notice again the balance with a doorway on each side of the fire place. The family crest above the fireplace. There were examples in the house where a door might not have been a door, but appeared to be by the way it way painted and the molding etc....this might have been one.

A magnificent tree. It was quite large with moss hanging down. Here it looks rather eery due to very bad smoke the day we were there; due to forest fires in the area.

Beautiful details even on the ceiling.

Excavation has taken place and plenty more scheduled. This plantation, is a preservation project , not a restoration project. There are 2 distinct schools of thought on learning history from historic areas/houses etc. Preservationists believe things should not be rebuilt, as rebuilding focuses on one time in history. They believe letting something stay in it's natural state is more of a living history. Personally, I disagree. I would rather have seen this place restored, to see it in all it's grandeur. The grandeur is what demanded the use of slaves, and as that was it's peak time, it's place in history such a vital part of our country; I'm not sure what happened to the house afterwards is of much interest. So, one family changed a color in a room, or added shelves or took out a wall...that seems insignificant to me. But, to see this house as it was, with period furnishes would have been a marvel to me

A small gift shop/museum is on the grounds.

Looking up to the 2nd story. Again...balance, details in the stairs and the walls.

Difficult o see, but if you click to enlarge and look where the Guides finger is pointing, you'll see a growth chart. Every year the family's children would measure up.

Another view of the staircase. Can't you see someone in a fine gown decending...making their appearance as the quest looked up?

Though the older generations don't appear to be buried on property there is a small circular grave area. Only 2 burials appear to be here, that of Mary Jervey Drayton (July 13, 1920 through March 22, 2006), and John Garrnett Nelson (March 11, 1939 through Dec 8th, 1999). Obviously these are very recent burials. The hope is that these later generations will have a place at The Drayton Home. The center stone reads Haciter Ad Astra, which was the family motto, meaning; "this way to the stars".
A model showing 2 additional buildings exists. One of these building footprint is marked from the excavations.

The plantation became part of a National Trust in 1974.

It was very interesting, and I do recommend the tours for adults; definitely not for small children. There's lots of talking and no one is permitted to touch anything, or sit down. Standing still and listening would be very difficult for children. There's also a rather heavy push for contributions to the cause at the end of the tour. I'm all for honoring and remembering history, and giving people the opportunity to participate via contributions. But, you see the sign about that as you drive in; it's on your ticket, and your pamphlet, signs in the gift shop...and so the push at the end of the tour seemed a bit over bearing to my way of thinking.