Category Archives: Honeymoon

The Proposal or: Magical Moments

31 Monday Jul 2017

Posted by in Honeymoon, Life as We Know It, Travel

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Salutations™!!

Yeah, I tell this almost every year and yeah, it gets mushy and yeah, probably to you, Dear Reader, it gets old. The truth is, however, I never tire of telling it and if you don’t like my mushy stuff, this would be a good time to check out. If you don’t mind or are reading it for the first time, then read on! A bit of warning, though, it will be long.

The BCPF and I got up on July 31, 2011, and were driven to Charlotte to get on a plane. It was our first plane trip together and it was the first time that we were going to go to my favorite destination in the world, Walt Disney World. It was to be the first time that I had been there in six years and we were going to celebrate the fact that I, after many years since my last collegiate foray, had finished my degree. My gift to myself was this trip and I was taking my best girl with me.

Whilst I know it is a fashion faux-pas, when I travel to WDW, I wear a fanny pack. I like having my stuff with me and I don’t want it falling out while I’m being jostled about on rides. This day was a bit different, though. Yes, I had the fanny pack but it was the contents of the pack that was different. I put it on the x-ray belt and hoped that the scanning officer didn’t alert anyone to the pack’s contents. It passed inspection, we moved on, got on the plane, and headed to the “most Magical place on earth.”

We got on the shuttle and were whisked away to Wilderness Lodge, our “home away from home.” After getting in the room, the first thing I like to do when I get to WDW is to go to Magic Kingdom and have lunch in the form of a hot dog at Casey’s Corner on Main Street USA. Being as Wilderness Lodge is on Bay Lake, the same body of water that surrounds Magic Kingdom, we took a boat over and made it through security with no alerts to my fanny pack’s contents. We had to wait as it was before 11 am and Casey’s Corner wasn’t yet open. We had our dog and conversed about the Ibis that populate the courtyard.

We then moved to Swiss Family Robinson’s Treehouse and had no wait. We walked through that with no resistance, no people rushing or pushing past us. We moved on the Jungle Cruise and unless you’re the first person, first thing in the morning, there’s no way to miss a crowded line here. But, it was minimal. We got on the ride and were given prime seats (toward the front of the boat in the middle so you see everything with little craning of the neck). I held her hand and we enjoyed the boat ride through Asia and Africa and under Switzer Falls (named after someone named “Falls”). From there it was Pirates of the Carribean. The line was minimal and we were seated at the front of the boat. 216852_10150326463895490_8196672_n

One thing to note is that it was July 31 and we were in Central Florida. But, it was only in the mid-80s. Not too hot at all, which was surprising, but definitely welcome. We walked our way around to Haunted Mansion and had virtually no line. Since The BCPF and I are history folks, we had to do the Hall of Presidents, especially since we’re both fans of Obama and his presentation had just been added to the script. All of this, you have to realize, was seventh heaven to me. I was getting to be a tour guide of the place I love with the woman I love.

It’s a rite of passage for anyone going to Magic Kingdom, or WDW at all, to have to ride It’s a Small World. Yes, that song is annoying as all get out, but you have to ride it. Again, short line (which never happens) and we were put in the front row. By this time it was almost 3 pm and it was time to make our move to Epcot, as we had rezzies for dinner at Tutto Italia Ristorante at 5:40 pm and sometimes that trip can be time-consuming. But, getting to the Monorail was no problem, getting on the Monorail was no problem and the trip to Epcot was easy-peasy-George-and-Weezy!

We wandered through the gates and since The BCPF had no bag, no purse, no anything, I sent her through the “No Bags” line as I got my fanny pack checked (plus I didn’t need her to know its contents and didn’t want to take a chance). The first ride you encounter from the Monorail is Spaceship Earth. No wait and no halting in the middle of the ride, which anyone who’s ridden that ride can attest, that is rare. We moved on to the World Showcase since that’s where the Italy Pavilion is and you choose the left path or right path. Italy is in the left middle but certainly in the middle so we took the left path. That brought us to Mexico Pavilion first and we rode the boat ride, Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros and were given the front row of the ride, with no other riders on the boat with us.

Next was Norway and the Maelstrom boat ride (RIP, it’s now Frozen Ever After – BOO!!!!!!!) and yes, minimal line and, again, front row. Next, China and their Circle-Vision 360 film, Reflections of China. That took a little bit of time and it was about 5:15 pm. I knew we had no time to do anything else, so we decided we’d be early for our rezzie. We traveled two countries in about five minutes (we were booking it) and got to the restaurant to find that our reservation was 5:25, not 5:40. We were five whole minutes early, whew! The meal was pretty good. We finished and it was about 6:30.

What I’ve failed to mention up to this point is that my entire adult life I’ve gone to WDW and have seen people on boats on the World Showcase Lagoon watching Illuminations: Reflections of Earth fireworks show. Again, this was my celebratory trip and I wanted to do that, so I booked it. But, that happens at 8 pm each night. We had time to kill and I wanted to see “O Canada!” a Circle-Vision 360 film that had recently been upgraded and since it was one of my favorite attractions, I had to see how it had changed. It was good and I was pleased. We had timed it right and had no wait to get in, other than hearing the spiel from the cast member that should be heard. After the film and some wandering about, we went to the Yacht Club, just outside of Epcot to get on our boat!

We get there and the boat house is closed!! What the heck!? It was 7:45 and it was closed. I had many plans that needed to happen and this is not what I needed to happen. The BCPF tried to calm me down. “We can do it another day,” she said. No. No, we couldn’t. There was a number to call for questions and literally as I was about to hit send on my cell, a door pops open from the back of the Yacht Club and (yes this could be in my mind and not what really happened) a line of five boat captains came marching out in single file, each pulling a rolling cooler and singing or chanting something Disney-like. It was surreal.

A fellow that looked and sounded a lot like Uncle Fester from Addams Family came over to us and the other groups that had gathered for their own boat rides and asked: “who’s from North Carolina?” I raised my hand and acknowledged it was us. He introduced himself as “Captain Ron” which I thought was funny. We were having to watch the weather as a storm was rolling around the area. We couldn’t take the boat ride if the storm came through. Luckily, it didn’t and we could get on the boats.

Cap’n Ron drove the boat around Crescent Lake telling us its history and the history of the resorts around it, and then the theme parks that are located on its shores. He paused in a few spots to let us “take it in,” although I knew what he was doing. We worked our way back to the Yacht Club, Beach Club and Boardwalk Inn area and moved our way through the channel into the World Showcase Lagoon. Checking with Control Central we were able to move farther into the lagoon to view the awesome fireworks display.

I sat on the pontoon boat’s seat normally and The BCPF leaned in on me, her feet up in the seat. The fireworks started. I sneakily took the item I’d been hiding from my fanny pack and adjusted it to prepare for the coup de grace that was about to happen. The BCPF said she’d like to sit on the opposite bench. Okay. I had to maneuver the item for her to not see it. After about 2 minutes, Cap’n Ron said that we’d see better from the side we started from. Okay. Maneuver number two. We assumed the positions again. The BCPF leaned back and said, “you know, today has been perfect.” I nodded with a “yep.”

And it had been perfect. A nearly flawless flight. A quick and easy shuttle ride followed by a quick and easy check-in at the resort. The boat ride to Magic Kingdom. The hot dog lunch with the Ibis. The short lines. Every ride with the option gave us front row. The dinner. This boat ride and the fireworks to end all fireworks. As the glittery display came to an end and the announcements started, I said, “you know, today has been perfect. There’s only one thing I can think of that would make it more perfect.” I rose took the item in my hand, dropped to one knee, and exposed the contents of the item I had been hiding for nine months. I asked her, “Will you marry me?” She stared at me blankly and asked, “yeah? Are you serious?”

2011-08-01_22-42-30_75I looked down at the box and the faintly sparkling stones sitting within it and said, “I got a ring…?” She finally said, “yes!” Whew, I thought I was going to fall over. I thought I had all this figured out. I thought there was no way she’d say no. I thought I was going to have a heart attack. She said yes. Yes. YES! Cap’n Ron announced what had happened. We were

Cap’n Ron announced what had happened. We had been tethered to four other boats in the lagoon and the one right next to us was full of seven women and they wanted to know what she said. I stood and at the top of my lungs yelled, “SHE SAID YES!!!!” People were looking over the rails of that same bridge where I had stood several times and watched the people in these boats observe the fireworks. We were congratulated a lot. We were taken back to Hollywood Studios because it was easier to get to the buses to get back to our resort. Along the way, I told her the few people that actually knew this was coming and the people who didn’t. Some really surprised her. She didn’t get to see the ring, which she calls her “precious” in a very un-Gollem-like voice, until we got on the bus.

Once back at the resort we went to the mercantile to grab some beverages and asked about something to commemorate the engagement. We got badges and wore them around the park the entire week we were there. People congratulated us constantly and cast members of WDW would yell congrats to us from across the promenade if that’s where they saw the badge. I don’t think we paid for any desserts during that week (we realized we needed to keep those badges on the entire time). It was the perfect trip.

It was the perfect trip. The entire week, with the exception of one day, the weather was near perfect. We had fun. We ate well. We loved each other and we loved, and still love, our time together, no matter where we are. We have many anniversaries that we celebrate, which is probably overkilling it, but we’re disgustingly cute and don’t care to show it. This, to me, is the second most important after the wedding anniversary.

To The BCPF, Stephanie, I still love you as I did that day, but the magnitude has grown infinitely exponentially. I fall in love more and more every day. Good. Bad. Indifferent. We always have each other and have a love that I defy anyone else to match. This is our fairy tale and I am not ashamed, afraid, or reluctant to scream it from the mountain tops, roof tops and this danged blog. Happy sixth engagement anniversary my baby. I love you.

Sorry, Dear Reader for the 2200+ word explosion. I did warn you.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Yes!” – The BCPF

Talking Tuesday or: Another Anniversary

27 Tuesday Sep 2016

Posted by in Honeymoon, Life as We Know It

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Salutations™!!

So, here’s it is, another Talking Tuesday. This time it’s another anniversary. Listen here to hear about it:

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(Note: this podcast has been edited because some couldn’t keep their minds or comments out of the gutter)

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“No man succeeds without a good woman behind him. Wife or mother, if it is both, he is twice blessed indeed.” – Godfrey Winn

Two Years and Counting or: How She Puts Up with Me

02 Friday Sep 2016

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Salutations™!!

So today marks the second anniversary that I suckered… er, had The BCPF walk down the aisle to stand next to me, after being piped down said aisle by Andrew the Piper. Standing there in my kilt, in some uncomfortable ghillie brogues (I rented those) watching a beautiful woman smile at me as she made this journey. In a castle, in a land far, far away. Breathing in an overcast day with lush green lawns, over a beautiful rock bridge, on long log benches, beside a falconry with its flock whirling from post to post and under scattered trees standing like sentinels protecting their acreage. That’s my experience and that’s my fond memories of one of the most important and significant days in my life. A glorious day, indeed and a glorious two years this has been.

I’m no catch, I don’t think, but she always begs to differ with me on that. I spend more than I make, I don’t like going to the doctor, I have something snarky to say all the time, I pick and tease and she just looks at me lovingly and smiles. She sees through those flaws and loves me, probably more, for them. She allows me to be me, through and through and I certainly wouldn’t change a thing about her. Well, I’d say probably stress less about some things but, that’s also part of her makeup and what makes her “her”.

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She’s my best friend and my biggest supporter, possibly overtaking Ma Mère in that account (though it would be very close). She makes me feel, truly, like a man and she enables me to be the man that I am. She’s my protector and watches over me. I’d never have made it through the many health scares and situations I have in the last 5 years without her by my side. She’s the reason I’m alive, I’d say. As my great friend Bruce Cole would say, I definitely married up or I definitely upped my coverage. I am the lucky one to have such a wonderful, understanding and, to me, darned near perfect wife.

So, happy second anniversary to you, my Baby, whether I call you that, The BCPF or Stephanie. I love you more than I could ever express, no matter how “pretty” I talk or how verbose I can be. I’ll never find enough words to tell you or ways to express what you really mean to me. But, I’ll keep exploring ways and I’ll keep spouting words (whether I make them up or not). Here’s to many, many more and I can’t wait to see where our lives take us.

Okay, sorry for the sappy, Dear Reader, but I hope I made my point. If you’d be so inclined, or even glutton for punishment, use the search feature to look up The Honeymoon Chronicles (there’s several under the category of Honeymoon, reading it will start you at part 10 when you get to it, so keep scrolling… and scrolling…), where I documented the whole honeymoon. Well, at least the trip and wedding part. Thanks so much for reading!

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Happy is the man who finds a true friend, and far happier is he who finds that true friend in his wife.” – Franz Schubert

But, the Manneken Pis or: Pensées de Belgique

22 Tuesday Mar 2016

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Salutations™!!

Another terrorist attack and in another city that I’ve spent a little time. We all remember this past November when there were attacks in Paris, probably my favorite city dans le monde. Brussels is home to NATO and the European Union so it’s a very important city, not just from an historic angle but for financial, humanitarian and political angles, as well. It’s the capital city of a beautiful and mostly docile country.12794359_10207848998577380_2288901122513598825_n

I’d like to say that I have fond memories of the city, but truthfully, I really don’t. Well, that’s not exactly true. There were parts that I really liked. The Grand Place (pronounced grahnd plah-s) is as beautiful and welcoming as any large-scaled, historic city in the world. It is like stepping into Fantasyland in Walt Disney World every time you step into and out of  any store or just when you open and close your eyes.The Manneken Pis (which really does mean what you’d think it would; see the pic, right) is classic and, really, it’s funny. It has other points, but overall, my thoughts of Brussels is that it is a dirty, miserable city. And, we’ve been there twice.

The first time The BCPF and I were there, it was March, 2013. We had just gotten there from Amsterdam, which we loved. It was exciting getting to Brussels; cool and sexy. Then we got out of the train and it was like a cloud was just on the city. It didn’t help that it was kind of cold at that time. We stayed at the Crowne Plaza and that hotel was quite nice. We made the mistake of asking the concierge about where we should eat and they basically sent us to the European version of Shoney’s. A place called Chez Leon. I had mussels there, which is kind of a specialty in Brussels. Well, The BCPF had one style and I had another; can’t remember which is which. Whatever the case, I got sick, she didn’t. I think mine was food poisoning.  It’s a good thing that our room was nice and comfortable because I was laid up all that night and most of the next day. The bathroom, I must say, was pristine! I swore that I’d never eat any food that rhymes with the city I eat it in again. In fact, I’ve probably had about 3 mussels, total, since then.

The second time, we got there in 2014 for the last night of our honeymoon; we had just been in Bruges in the northwest of Belgium, that was one beautiful (and plentiful on the beer) city. It was important to be in Brussels to catch our flight home and yes, we were leaving from the very airport that was involved in the attacks this morning. That one night we stayed at the Sofitel Brussels and I have to say it was one of the nicest hotels that I’ve ever stayed in and I’ve stayed in some nice ones. That night, too, we decided to have dinner in the hotel’s restaurant, BE Café Marché Jourdan which is an awesome and quite fancy restaurant. I think one of the best meals I’ve ever had was at that restaurant.

So, the hotels (especially the ones that I sell there) are fantastic and food was hit (in BE Café Marché Jourdan, at least) or miss (Chez Leon). It’s just that the rest of the city is dingy and gray and dreary. The people, for the most part, were polite and helpful, but there’s just something about the city itself that I don’t care for. All that being said (and I know it was a lot), I truly feel for the people because I do feel a twinge of kinship with the city. It’s just like the cousin that I really don’t care for. I do like all my cousins, by the way. But, that whole area of Europe is near and dear to my heart. The fact that yet another country is hit hard by these selfish, ungodly monsters is enough to hurt your heart, no matter how you feel about the town. These Belgians are human and deserve to live without fear of this craziness, but right now, especially today, they aren’t afforded that luxury. I hope they rest well and come back stronger. My thoughts and positive vibes to them. And, here’s hoping that Brussels, as a city, brightens up after they’re back on their feet.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“L’union fait la force!” – Belgian motto (Unity makes strength)

The First 400 or: On and On and On

19 Thursday Nov 2015

Posted by in Beer, Blogging, Food, Honeymoon, Life as We Know It, Movie Review, Music Review, Podcasting, Rant, Travel

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Salutations™!!

This, Dear Reader, is my FOUR HUNDRETH blog post. 400! Four-oh-oh!! I’m proud of that. Of course, three hundred eighty-four of those came in the last year and nineteen days. I’m okay with that, too. Indeed, even more proud, I think, for that.

400

©Cerise Wolf

As I mentioned on November 1, I’ve talked a lot about music, movies, beer, podcasting, videoing, voice overs, travel, a few birthdays (another comes tomorrow), the Honeymoon Chronicles, food, life, The Boy, tragedy, confusion, whys and whats and the list goes on and on and on. And because I’ll be doing a lot of that, still, as I’m not stopping anytime soon that I can see, I’m going to spare you with a long, drawn-out, spew-fest of words today. Just know that I am glad that I made it to #400 and have enjoyed writing for you every, single day. Thank you for reading it. I understand if you don’t do it every day, but I am glad when you do, nonetheless! I hope that you’ve learned to trust and enjoy me, as well.

Here’s to the next 400, Dear Reader! Au revoir!

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Trust is built with consistency.” – Lincoln Chafee

One Year On or: Not-So Silent Sunday

01 Sunday Nov 2015

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Salutations™!!

It was one year ago today. On the suggestion of Kristen Daukas, I started my journey for NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month) for BlogHer.com and its “everyday through November” requirement. I did that, actually scheduling the first three posts that first day. My blog posting style actually evolved a bit over that month.

Luckily, I had some “Honeymoon Chronicles” to write that took up some of the slack.I also had started the Rolling Stone Top 500 albums of all time. At the end of November, I was only up to #411 out of 500. I’m now on the south side of 200, as you’ll see tomorrow. My brother, my best friend and I all have birthdays in November and there’s Thanksgiving. I talked about the shows (The Less Desirables, Electric Camel Pod, Fan Interference, Tart & Tangy Triad and The Beer Dads) and sponsors of The Less Desirables Network. There was a start about the history of Heavens Sake, the band I played in and I maintain that we have never officially broken up (I need to get back to that). The rest of the month was scattered with my life, my thoughts and my opinions. Which is pretty Head in Handsmuch what a blog is. All that was easy. As November came to a close, I signed off the final NaBloPoMo post by stating that I thought I was going to back off the everyday posting, hoping to take it to at least 2-3 times a week. Well, I’m a man of habit, a lover of streaks, and on December 1 last year, I wrote that I couldn’t bring myself to not posting, thinking, still the 2-3 times a week but every day it was a matter of not being able to quit.

That mentality stuck with me and now, one year later, I’ve not missed a single post. There were a couple of days that I may have hit it just after midnight but the post was there. Kind of like when you miss your pills you should take them as soon as you can, even if you’re doubling up. It happens. But, I’m committed to continuing it. I do reserve the right to not post (which what does it matter, anyway?) but I have found that I really, really like writing. I like my writing style, although, as I said earlier, it changes a bit over time, always evolving. I’m going to try some other things, as I had talked about last week including posting videos, memes, etc. I’ll still do The Less Desirables Beer of the Week (brought to you by City Beverage) on Wednesdays and The Less Desirables Movie of the Week (brought to you by a/perture cinema) on Saturdays. Sundays will still be “silent” or as minimally verbose as possible. I will also continue to piggyback on my food news and views blog, The Man Who Ate the Town: a Food Blog. That’s my plan, for now. And notice, too, that the picture here is the picture I posted for the November 1, 2014 post.

As always, I appreciate you reading and commenting, either here, on Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, Twitter or Tumblr. I don’t care how you respond, I just appreciate that you do and hope that you continue to do so. Don’t hold back, either. Send it on! Happy anniversary to us, dearest blog o’mine.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Commitment is an act, not a word.” – Jean-Paul Sartre

Time’s Fun When You’re Having Flies or: Every Day I Love Her More

02 Wednesday Sep 2015

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Salutations™!!

Okay, so you knew it was coming soon, and yes, I know that Wednesdays are usually reserved for The Less Desirables Beer of the Week (brought to you by City Beverage, the Official Beer Sponsor of The Less Desirables) but this is important and takes precedence. I’m going to talk about my wedding anniversary.  As of 7am EST (noon in Edinburgh, Scotland), I have been married for one year to the girl of my dreams.

I’m not going to go into long detail about the wedding itself, I’ve done that and you can read about it here. Actually, I’d suggest reading all the Wedding Chronicles posts. Just click on the category and it will bring them all up to choose from.If you’re into traveling and sappiness, then you’ll like this. And the two aren’t mutually exclusive; the sappy part is really just the wedding day.Stephanie & Tim Wedding Day -139

I will say it was a great day and whilst we have had some ups and downs with money, my health (again) and life in general but there is one thing that hasn’t changed at all in that year: how The BCPF and I get along. I’d say we’ve really only had one real argument. I don’t count disagreements. We have those, everyone does, but only one real argument and it was resolved in a matter of an hour at most. I realized that I was in the wrong (I knew I was from the beginning of it/as soon as I opened my mouth) and had to excuse myself, at her behest, from the room. We talked, I apologized, she didn’t have to, but did, too, and that was it. Such a departure from many of my past relationships.

We have the same tastes in travel and food and genuinely just enjoy each other’s company, no matter what we’re doing. I can watch things I wouldn’t normally watch, go places I wouldn’t normally go, listen to music I wouldn’t normally listen to, just to do it with her. We really do enjoy being with each other. Again, in the past, I’d have found a reason to just get away for a bit, but I don’t like losing my Saturdays and Sundays and other days off with her. Not because that’s what she expects, that’s what we expect. In fact, we have to push the other to make plans with other people because of it. She needs to go have some “girl” time with her friends and I need my “guy” time with mine, but we have to push each other to take them, not talk us out of going. This year has been nothing shy of awesome. Every day I love her more. I know that’s cliche, but it’s absolutely true. Every day I love her more.

I know that this is a lot of PDA and some are against that, but contrary to their belief, it’s not about “proving” anything to anyone, especially in this marriage/relationship. It’s about professing. When you love someone, you’re supposed to show it. It’s not how much I need to prove to anyone how much I love this woman. And, yes, it’s not something that is circumventing telling them in person. In fact, she sits beside me, right now, as I write this. I’ve told her Stephanie & Tim Wedding Day -126everything I’ve written here already. Maybe not in the same words but in the same thoughts and feelings. I have a public blog and I am a “public figure” (don’t read that as celebrity, I haven’t that kind of gross delusions of grandeur) that has people reading my thoughts everyday. And, if you think that’s what I’m doing, I don’t care. The same as you show your love for your favorite sports team, favorite movie or favorite musical act, I show for her. If you’re turned off by that, just stop reading.

To you Stephanie Beeman (The BCPF), my wife, my love, my life, I love you to the end of time and beyond. Thank you for being my rock, my pilot, the awesome StephMom to my son and my everything. I see a bright life with a brilliant wife ahead and while I don’t want to rush it along, I want to hurry and experience it – all of it, good or bad – with you. I love you. I love you. I love you!

Everyday, I love her more.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp, a very happy one, indeed, out!

—
“Experts on romance say for a happy marriage there has to be more than a passionate love. For a lasting union, they insist, there must be a genuine liking for each other. Which, in my book, is a good definition for friendship.” – Marilyn Monroe

Chugging On or: The Two Hundred

04 Monday May 2015

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Salutations™!!

So here it is. The 200th blog post. Not the 200th since I started writing a blog, mind you, as I had another blog for a while on Blogger. The 200th since I started this version of the blog. This number is big for me. The bulk of the posts coming from my writing for NaBloPoMo on November 1, 2014. That was thirty days of posts, without missing any days, and I did that with intentions of stopping the daily thing on December 1.  Well, I can’t do that, I have an addiction to streaks and couldn’t stop.

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Why, yes. Yes it is.

I have written about a lot of stuff in my 200 posts. It really got started with two major episodic writings. One was The Honeymoon Chronicles, where I wrote about The BCPF‘s and my wedding and honeymoon, the events, the hotels, the train rides, the cities and the food. Oh my goodness, the food. I love European food. Our time in Europe was awesome and we can’t wait to go back and to more writings about it.  I’d like to actually take a film crew and do it for a mini-doc series or something bigger. That’s dreaming, there.

The other major episodic series was and has been the Rolling Stone Top 500 Albums of All Time. I seems I have a list fetish, or so Eugene would have you think of me. The list is up to eighteen parts so far, each highlighting a ten-album segment. I give my take on each album (and yes, I skip greatest hits and compilations) with what history I may have found about it, my thoughts on the instrumentation, my history with the genre or artists of each one, what I think about their positioning and I give it a rating of either “dug” or “didn’t dig” or a variation therein. We’re not even halfway through, but when I get on a roll, I can crank out one a week. If it’s not quality, I take more time, when needed.

Things have become somewhat routine but at the same time, it’s still fresh to me. If I didn’t enjoy doing it, I’d stop. Routines would be on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. Wednesday is for The Less Desirables Beer of the Week, brought to you by City Beverage. That’s so the people that may listen on Wednesdays (or anytime, really) to the latest webisode of TLD can know what beer we’re enjoying. They’ll have to listen to hear our ratings. On Saturday, however, I give a full on recap of the Movie of the Week, brought to you by a/perture Cinema, that I featured on the past Wednesday; what I thought, would I recommend it, etc. And Sundays is my relaxation day, at least in theory. I call it “Silent Sunday” and the idea was that I’d just post a picture of something that I found interested, usually something that The BCPF and I did over the weekend or some special event of the week, etc. That grew from a small synopsis to sometimes lengthy explanations. I’ve had a few “Silent Sundays” that have had a higher word count than everyday posts.

Another reason I kept up past NaBloPoMo was that I was afraid that I’d get out of the habit of writing and I didn’t want to lose that momentum. I love writing and it’s my way to be a “published” writer whilst writing for myself and it allows me to write about anything that I want. Not only do I do it here, I write for The BCPF’s and my food blog: The Man Who Ate the Town: a Food Blog and sometimes even write original content for Camel City Dispatch or have my articles or blog posts from here or “TMWATT” re-posted on CCD. I repeat, I love writing.  But, I have to keep at it. I appreciate you, Dear Reader, keeping me company and keeping up with these writings. I hopefully have many more to do.

Oh and since you’ve definitely not seen it enough today, May the Fourth Be With You!!

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

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“I started blogging a decade ago because I like blogging. Writing’s a kind of lonely thing to do, and I liked the idea of demystifying the process because I loved it as a kid and teenager and as somebody who wanted desperately to write.” – Neil Gaiman

Joyeux Anniversaire en Paris or: Towering Above the City of Light

31 Tuesday Mar 2015

Posted by in Honeymoon, Life as We Know It, Uncategorized

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Salutations™!!

Today is the 126th anniversary of the opening of Paris’ iconic Eiffel Tower.  The BCPF and I have been to Paris twice and we both consider it one of our absolute favorite cities, if not the favorite.  It’s a beautiful, historic wonder that holds our hearts.

The Eiffel Tower (or Tour Eiffel in French) opened on March 31, 1889 on the Champ de Mars as the entrance arch of the 1889 World’s Fair. It was designed and built by Alexandra Gustav Eiffel and then it was named after him.  It is truly a sight to behold standing in front of it or under it.  I can only imagine what it’s like to stand on it but we didn’t do that either time we were there.  We had other things to do and standing in line for this was not what we had in mind for a good time.  Maybe the next time. One thing to see is when the sun goes down, and the lights come on, every hour for 5 minutes, it does the Tour Eiffel “Flip Out” as I’ve come to call it.  That’s when the lights go all a-flutter. I really recommend seeing it. I included a video of this in a post for the Honeymoon Chronicles. Read that post here.

Anywhat! Joyeux anniversaire Tour Eiffel and many, many more!

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

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“If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast.” –  A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway

A Picnic in the Park or: Brussels, Why Brussels? (The Honeymoon Chronicles pt 10, Finale)

18 Wednesday Feb 2015

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Salutations™!!

So, last we visited we had had a very beer-filled day in Bruges; high gravity and The Beer Museum and what not.  Well, this is Bruges – Belgium, I say – so beer was going to be a recurring theme as long as I can help it.

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Sex shop on the left/Toy shop on the right

After buying our chocolates and animal-fat-cone-shaped jelly candies, we made our way back to the hotel to drop off the goodies and then went out to get some dinner.  We wandered around looking for a place to eat.  Trying to not go back to the “Ol’ Standby” De Vier Winden, we stopped and looked at several menus before stopping in a cute little bistro type place, that in a completely rookie mistake we forgot to document with either pictures or writing it down.

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Kneeling at the Beer Wall

Anywhat, as I said, there was more beer.  I had a Pauwel Kwak, which is a lovely 8.4%ABV Amber Ale.  It’s charm also includes, as does most European beer, its own specialty glass. However, this glass was bulbous at the bottom, wide at the top, long in the middle and fits into a wooden handle.  The idea is the handle is there to ensure your hands don’t warm the glass.  The first bit is annoying because I thought the glass was going to move, but the design is true and the glass moved nary a bit.  The BCPF had some wine, a rosé, I believe.

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Coconut beer

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Kwak

We had had a great deal of food and beer for the day so we skipped appetizers and just ordered main courses.  She had rabbit with cheese croquets and I had shrimp in a saffron sauce.  Both were tasty, perfectly prepared and as is the case with just about every other dish on this trip, nothing but fabulous flavors abounding. Afterwards, we just walked back to the hotel and had our now-routine Grand Marnier and Sprite in the Oud Huis de Peellaert bar.  Early to bed, early to rise.  Well, we did watch some BBC (the only English speaking television there) news, reality and game shows.  We actually, talked about how we miss those, just this week.

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Neptune in Koningin Astrid Park

Our last day in Bruges we got up and found some lace to buy for our mothers and some other Bruges-made souvenirs before we stopped in front of a very strange combination of toy/hobby shop on the right and a sex shop on the left.  They weren’t really “together” but the wall between them was barely wider than me.  Then we moved down the street to the famous “Beer Wall.”  Said huh…?  Wall o’beer?  For serious?  YES for serious.  Holy dang!  At the end of this wall was a tasting station.  I say tasting, you paid for the beer, but there was a huge selection.  One that I saw that I just could not pass up was Mongozo’s Cocunut Beer.  It was only 3.6%ABV but holy dang! it was some fabulous beer.  Light, clean, very refreshing and very coconutty.  I loved it.  The BCPF, at this point, had had enough, I think.  She did taste mine but that was about it.

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Swans in the pond at Koningin Astrid Park

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Picnic in Koningin Astrid Park

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Statue of Koningin Astrid

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On an old bridge in Bruges

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Bonne Jovi

We wandered a bit more through the old city and came upon the beautiful Koningin Astrid Park which has a statue of Neptune (as far as I can tell) in the middle of a little pond.  The thing that I thought the most awesome about it was there were actual swans and a little swan bridge that enabled them to get out of the water easily.  The whole thing was quite serene.  A group of about 8 college kids brought blankets and picnic baskets and set up a mid-afternoon picnic, with wine and snacks. They were laughing and drinking and it was just cool to watch that.  Felt good to watch the scene.  We had stopped along the way at a little candy shop so while sitting on a bench watching the kids and swans, we ate a little of the goodies we got. Great stuff.

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Belfort at Night, Bruges

Then came more beer.  We stopped for a few and they were potent.  After that we walked through the streets taking pictures of many of the old canals and bridges.  Then we ended up back in the square where we stopped at, you guessed it, De Vier Winden; we just couldn’t stay away.  We had our “very best friend,” Vincent, again.  We had more beer and some fries.  We watched as a group of guys (and some young ladies) carried a guy to the square, and left him standing in the middle.  That’s not odd, but the fact that they had him tied to a lamp post, plastic-wrapped with a sign and wine and dolled up in make up was.  It turns out he was getting married the next weekend and this is somewhat a tradition.  The sign translates to “I’m Good Jovi. Half nun half Bon Jovi.”  I’m not sure what “the faith” part at the bottom was.  He was taking it well and laughed it off.

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Apple Pie

More walking and looking until that night we ate in the square (not at De Vier Winden).  As we approached the square we hear the bells in the Belfort and it sounded like it was being accompanied by other instruments.  It seemed like it never stopped.  As we sat to eat dinner at a street cafe called the Golden Stretcher Café or La Civière d’or Au Petit Café we asked the server (don’t remember his name) about the bells.  He said it was the closing night of the bell tower concert season.  He said there were accompanists and if the entire song was performed it would play over 24 hours. Wow. Anyway, it was beautiful to hear and beautiful to look at from our seats.  Whilst eating there The BCPF had croquets (she wasn’t ready for full-on dinner, yet) while I had a steak, rare.  We, of course, had beer and I opted for dessert. She wanted the apple pie but didn’t know that she could eat it.  I wanted something and even though I’m not a fan of apple pie, I got it so she could have some.  It was really good pie.  Off to the hotel, and up the next morning to head to one of my least favorite cities in the world, Brussels. But first, more Grand Marnier.

The train was on time and we were in “first class.”  The ticket, however was an “any Belgian train” ticket and we left earlier than expected.  We arrived at the Brussels station two hours before our driver was to pick us up.  So we waited in a little food court and waited until the time we were supposed to be picked up and went back to the platform we arrived at and did what the instructions we had said to do.  We never saw this driver. We even begged someone to tell us how to find the hired cars and they were rude. We ended up having to get a taxi to our hotel.  Strike one for Brussels this trip.

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Manneken Pis

We get to our hotel and I must say that if you ever get the chance to stay at a Sofitel, do it!!!  I’m a travel agent and I recommend them anytime I can. That hotel was one of the nicest in which we’ve ever stayed.  I can’t really say what it was about it, but it just felt cozy.  The room was spacious, had a great view of a neighborhood street, the lobby was immaculate and the staff was so very friendly. We went up and put our luggage away and went to the only place that I enjoy in the city, The Grand Place.  We had to find our way to the “Metro.”  We didn’t even know that Brussels had a Metro. The metro station didn’t look like it was in any good shape; like they were just building it but I understand that it has been around for a long time.  It was a big construction zone and it was hard to traverse. Strike two, Brussels.

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Salmon appetizer

We finally got there and unlike last year, they had flowers out and the place was really nicely decorated.  It’s majestic and historic. Full of shops and restaurants, the Grand Place is a bright spot in one of the dirtiest, most miserable cities I’ve ever been in.  We decided to eat at a restaurant called La Chaloupe d’Or.  The BCPF had a goat cheese, honey and rosemary pie that came in a filo shell and I had a meatloaf in savory sauce. The food at this restaurant was fantastic. The BCPF talks about that being one of her favorite meals.  Of course, there was beer.  I have to say while this restaurant was fabulous when it comes to food, the service was kind of crappy and to even use the restroom you have to pay €.35 just to be in there.  That ticked me off. After this, we skipped dessert and went exploring.

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Main course at BE Cafe Marche Jourdan

We ended up in a record store where The BCPF purchased a CD that included Ric Ocasek teaming up with Billy Corgan. She also bought a Band of Horses disc.  We then went to the Hard Rock Cafe and looked around. I saw Vinnie Vincent’s (one-time guitarist with KISS) boots and a set list from a David Bowie concert.  We wandered down to to the Manneken Pis (the statue of the little boy that is taking a pee) which happens to be one of the nation’s landmarks.  We made a point to see it last year, too.  We then made our way back to The Grand Place and had waffles and lambics, cherry and peach, at a place called Aroma.  We made our way back to the hotel, including taking a wrong turn trying to get to the correct Metro station.  I HATE BRUSSELS!

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Amuse Bouche – BE Cafe Marche Jourdan

We relaxed for a bit for our last night in Europe and did our airline check-ins and all that jazz.  We then decided to walk down to the restaurant, BE Cafe Marche Jourdan, to have dinner.  It’s a 4 star restaurant with the prices to match, but as with everything else on this trip, we didn’t hold back.  We looked over the menu and ordered the salmon appetizer, trout with cauliflower sauce and shrimp and a selection of sweets for dessert.  Here’s the funny story about this: the prices were up there and we overheard a neighboring table talk about getting bread or an appetizer.  Out to our table came a very, very small piece of salmon on a thin slice of cucumber.  The BCPF and I looked at it and looked at each other and then looked back, again, at the small ramekin containing the itty-bitty piece of fish.  We laughed.  We couldn’t believe this was the appetizer, especially at these prices.  We wanted, so badly, to tell the neighboring table to not expect much.  We ate the sliver of fish-on-a-cuke and said we didn’t know what we’d do if the entree was that small.  Again, we reiterated to each other, this can’t be the appetizer.  Well, it wasn’t. It was an amuse-bouche. Then we laughed harder.  The appetizer was a good size portion and the entree was as well.  And the fish (the waitress commented, “so, fish and fish?”) was perfectly prepared, tender and delightful.  We had plenty of beer, again, knowing that this was our last night in Europe. The last night of our honeymoon.

Not to give so much away or TMI, I ran a bath for The BCPF and we just enjoyed holding each other in the water.  Nothing too graphic, just enjoying each other.  We slept very well that night.  We got up, got showered, ready to go and received the call that our car was waiting for us downstairs.  They took us to the airport and somehow we had no problems (this is Brussels after all).  The flight back was uneventful, which is always the best way to fly.

And, so, Dear Reader, we concluded our honeymoon, our wedding trip. Here we are, five months later and all is well.  I love that woman with all my heart and she really is my saving grace.  We both hope you enjoyed reading about the honeymoon and wedding.  I know it was long (this one is well over 2000 words) and it was a journey.  I hope you felt like you were there with us.  If you have any questions, comments or want to take a trip like this for your self, please let me know.  I love to talk travel and this trip was so wonderful, I’ll talk your ear off. The whole trip was amazing – a dream – and writing this for you was great; being able to walk through those memories again. It’s hard to believe The Honeymoon Chronicles have come to a close.  Thanks for reading about it.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

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“A country like Belgium, or socialist countries in central Europe spend more money on art education than the United States, which is a really puzzling thought.” – Mikhail Baryshnikov