June 1, 2016

We reached Cousin Susan and Gary’s lovely home in New Hartford, NY late Saturday afternoon. Geezer Girl had a swim in their pool and we settled in for the next four nights.

New Hartford is about twenty minutes from Ilion, my hometown. I had not been there in over a decade. The next days were spent visiting the old neighborhoods and stomping grounds seeing what – and who- had changed and what remained.

[Much of this post is for the benefit of those friends and family members already acquainted with the area. By necessity it will be rather long and contains many photos. It may be boring to the rest of our gentle readers. We understand and … [Read the rest]

May 29, 2016

This is a special catch-up edition of Geezers on the Road to discuss a few of our collected observations.

LAWYERS
We have all had it happen.
A quick discordant sound or sight… then again, then again and again.
More and more until it gradually impeded on our conscious awareness and we realize we have been seeing or hearing it for awhile.
That’s Highway 98 along the coast of Mississippi, Alabama and Florida when it comes to lawyer billboards. As we drove along we began to be aware that there were an unusual number of billboards advertising PI lawyers offering representation. Then it kept getting worse… at one point they were so prevalent passing our windshield we counted … [Read the rest]

May 27, 2016

Some spiritual force seems to continue to protect us and provide pleasant weather and driving conditions. Other than the few hours of storm in the Florida panhandle we have had clear roads and pleasant temperatures.

The favorable conditions continued as we got together in Charlotte North Carolina with niece Catherine, (Cat to me,) her husband Brian, children Molly and Zoe and Jerry the Wonder Dog. Once we checked in we stopped at the house and visited before dinner. We had not met Molly or Zoe, or Jerry.

Jerry is a registered and highly trained service dog assigned to assist Molly with certain medical issues. On part of Molly’s brain continually runs in flight-or-fight mode causing frequent meltdowns … [Read the rest]

May 26, 2016

It’s time to leave the family. We packed up, took obligatory family pictures and headed out. We didn’t go far. Our first stop was Lawless Subs in Altamonte Springs to pick up a sub to share for on-the-road lunch.

Lawless has been the family’s go-to sub shop since Joe’s daughter Catherine discovered and adopted the place. They do make a good sub. And what I like is that they offer sliced bread as well as rolls. I prefer sliced bread sandwiches, rolls are too much bread.

Then we were off for Savannah. We took the Interstate in order to have some time exploring.

Savannah was a surprise. Not what I pictured at all. We stayed several miles … [Read the rest]

May 24, 2016

Monday my brother Joe took GG and me on a tour of what’s known as the Walt Disney World Resort. Most of us think of Disney World as the fascinating Magic Kingdom amusement park part of Disney World. To give a perspective, Magic Kingdom takes up only 107 acres of the resort’s 38-plus square miles of property the Disney corporation owns and controls here in central Florida.

We didn’t go into the Magic Kingdom on this visit. This tour was to gain perspective on the business side of how this “Happiest Place on Earth” all works so efficiently.

Joe is a good resource. The family has lived nearby in Longwood for several decades and the kids were … [Read the rest]

May 23, 2016

After we left Panama Beach the rain eased and the scenery changed more toward what I had pictured in my mind… smaller fishing and outdoor oriented villages joined by miles of road unimpeded by traffic or traffic signals.

We overnighted just north of Crawfordvillle at the Magnuson Wildwood Inn. By the time we arrived there the rain had stopped.

I had pre-selected Posey’s, a funky bar and seafood spot for dinner but after checking in the hotel we realized it was a ten mile drive. We instead took the suggestion of the  desk lady who suggested the little seafood restaurant next door. It turned out to be a fortunate choice. We walked over.

The Seineyard is a … [Read the rest]

May 21, 2016

On the road from Naw-Lins we skipped the interstate, choosing the longer but more interesting state routes. I have long been curious about this section of the country along the Gulf Coast between New Orleans and the Panhandle. I had this route pictured in my mind as two lanes wandering through a string of well-separated fishing villages. Try three lanes… in each direction. And with traffic signals about every mile, seemingly timed to encourage plenty of time to look around before the green. That coast is fully developed with the exception of some nature reserves.

They may be developed but they are centered around hunting and fishing as well as tourism and retirement. We drove near several … [Read the rest]

May 18, 2016

Tuesday morning we packed up and headed for New Orleans along I10. We stopped for gas along the way at the one-of-a-kind Tiger Truck Stop.

featuring a roadside attraction, a live tiger.

They also offered some not so lucky alligators.

Our semi-trusty GPS carried us accurately to our the Place d’Armes hotel in the French Quarter in the early evening. The hotel consisted of five or six old buildings joined into a common central court and filling the block.

This was not your OSHA-issue place; Bricks and steps and small drainage channels to be stepped over left in place from when the buildings had been merged were testament to its age.  Our room was big and had … [Read the rest]

May 15, 2016

HOUSTON

In the evening following our walk in the old neighborhood, once my emotions had settled it was time to explore a new restaurant. We chose Nino’s, an old-style mid-scale Italian restaurant a few miles away. By then it was raining and umbrella weather. I dropped GG at the front and parked in a shared lot in the back, way back. As the reports online suggested, though there are three busy restaurants in the complex, there is plenty of parking.

We began with a glass of Chianti then ordered the lasagna to share. It was really good. We have been frustrated of late trying to find good lasagna. Now we have a new standard to compare with … [Read the rest]

May 14, 2016

Lady Anna was a good walker with a pace that challenged Geezer, whether on the streets of Manhattan or a fire road in the Sierras. We liked to walk. The Houston Crestwood neighborhood where she grew up was ideal with its level blocks and sidewalks, with its variety of homes and folks in their yards. Anna knew most of them. Our first loop could take a while as she stopped to chat.

Some twenty-five years ago, the evening before her operation at M.D. Anderson, when we didn’t know whether or how she would survive, we once again walked the Cowan loop and wandered around the grounds of her old school, Memorial Elementary, where we stopped to watch … [Read the rest]