Sunday, November 1, 2009

Samhain at the Beach

Nothing ever turns out the way I expect it to be these days. October 31, 2009 at Myrtle Beach dawned bright and beautiful. A special gift, Rhiannon and Epona graced me with their presences. I was sitting on the balcony drinking my cofee, when suddenly about 20 horses(and riders, too, but who counts them :0 ) are marching in ones, twos and threes, past my hotel and all along the beach. They prance up the beach and back for about three hours. First marching, in the surf and along the edges of the water, then trotting, and then a few of them in an all out gallup in the surf pounding up and down the beach. Amazing! What a gift! Thank you Godesses!

I have many more tales of my travels--pun intended--and pictures too. I will be posting all week.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Leaving the South?

I have been out on the road since October 14. It is a mixture of pain and joy for me. Being on the road always brings out such mixed feelings and emotions for me. I would love to be able to travel WITH my wonderful husband Jamey ALL the time, but he has a 9-5 (good) job as an engineer back home in Lynchburg, VA. I am indulging in some tearful homesickness for my honey this trip, and for my house and home.

I miss my big, old, rambling, sometimes falling down, sometimes charming home on the corner back in the 'burg. I definitely do not miss the 'burg. It seems more like the center of radical right evil than ever these days as the cancer of Falwell-ism metastasizes out to infect the entire city. It has always been bad, but it's gettin' worse.

I miss my dog and cat, especially the dog. Now that my Rosie-kitty is in the Summerland and I have adopted the new little brat cat, Bijoux, Keri has become my angel. Keri-dog, my mostly black, Labra-beagle, is always there beside me at home. Sitting at the computer, all I have to do is drop my hand down to pat her head or scratch her tummy when she rolls over. I don't remember ever loving a dog so completely, even my Judy-dog, the gorgeous golden cocker spaniel with the cataracts to whom I was the seeing eye person.

Judy was a very special and wonderful doggie, but Keri is something more. I may have found another familiar. I am still not quite sure. I do know that I miss Keri terribly on this trip. It is creeping up on the anniversary of my Rosie's passing. Rosie left me on Thanksgiving night last year. Thanksgiving 2009 will definitely be a mixture of pain of missing Rosie and happiness of being with my Mom and my whole family. Mom is 80 now so every day is precious. She and my nephew by a previous marriage, Steven, and his family, are my only real family. Being an only and adopted child can be a lonely experience.

Here in Hilton Head today it is grey and overcast, melancholy, like my mood. It is only 66 outside and supposed to be in the low 70s. The next two days it is going to rain. DEPRESSION ALERT!

Mean while, I need to decide whether it is time to get back home or whether to soldier on and complete the articles I have not finished with yet. I have taken this trip and I feel I haven't gotten enough out of it yet. I wonder if any of you have ever felt that way?

The sweet potato harvest from Lynchburg and Brugh na Bhride--the name for our house and home--exceeded all expectations. There will be yummy sweet potato pie this year! I have herbs to finish gathering and pies to bake, wreaths of rosemary and lavender to make and brooms to create.

Jamey and Greg, my youngest son, 19, saw a big woolly caterpillar yesterday in the back yard. It was huge and totally black with a really thick coat and hardly any brown showing through. Look out! We are in for a real winter this year!

Well, I am all packed up now and have decided to spend another 3 days up in Myrtle Beach until it stops raining. The room is an efficiency oceanfront at the Ocean Park Resort. How awful can it be to sit on the balcony-or just inside the balcony if it is really pouring-and watch the rain on the ocean? The room is only $33 a night and it is a three star "resort." They are supposed to have real Wi-Fi and I can write while I am there.

The $33 a night at a resort is what you too can find if you look, by the way. I've got a lot of hotel and restaurant reviews to write and a few more Examiner articles before I can come in from the road. I am still stuck on the idea of celebrating Samhain on the ocean with a circle in the sand. We shall see.

I'm off to the shower now,so I'll talk to you tomorrow!

Sandy Fall Blessings!
Paula

Sunday, October 25, 2009

My Examiner.com column

Brightest Blessings everyone on this crisp and beautiful Fall day. I am sure that a lot of you know by now that I am the Pagan Travel Examiner on Examiner.com. I take great pride in my Examiner.com column and I am trying to help the greater Pagan, Wiccan, New Age, Earth-centered spirituality communities by providing this overview of all things related to Paganism to do in this wide, wonderful world. The scope of the subject is pretty limitless. My articles on Examiner are supposed to be news stories and in the third person, so this blog is where the real me will be hanging out for all the world to see. I hope you will subscribe to both columns and read them regularly. I am hoping to provide a constant stream of interesting and educational as well as funny stories and articles about cool Pagan places to visit in this world. Go to both pages and subscribe and come along with me as we travel the world together! Pagan Travel Examiner and Travels With Branwenn

Friday, April 17, 2009

Chases on the Beach, New Smyrna Beach, FL

Chases on the Beach
3401 South Atlantic Avenue
New Smyrna Beach, FL
386-423-8787

A Real Change of Attitude and Right on the Ocean

www.chasesonthebeach.com

I can't help humming Jimmy Buffet's legendary song, "Changes in latitude, changes in attitude..." This is one of the best on the beach restaurants and watering holes I have found on my myriad journeys. There is live music twice a day. There are 2/1 drink specials and half-price appetizers at Happy Hour every day. I had the Calamari for $8.99. ($4.50 during Happy Hour.) This is hand cut and battered calamari tubes and tentacles served with a marinara dipping sauce. They were excellent! I had two Yuengling drafts both brought ice cold at the same time for $3.00. I had the Coconut Chicken Wrap Sandwich for $8.99-also excellent. It was crispy chicken fingers in an herb tortilla wrap with lettuce, pineapple, shredded coconut, roasted cashews and provolone cheese. Yummy! And the live music is classic--beach favorites from the Beach Boys to Buffet and beyond. Fire up the blender, Mama! The view is the best one in the Universe--waves rolling up onto the sand with a gentle swish, swish, swish... What more could you ask for? Oh--and if you dare, you can wear your bikini or bathing suit right into the restaurant or even swim in their pool right there in the restaurant. This is beach living at its best!


Thursday, April 16, 2009

Coastal Waters Inn, New Smyrna Beach, FL

Coastal Waters Inn
3509 S. Atlantic Ave
New Smyrna Beach, FL 32169
386-428-3800, 800-321-7882

Coastal Waters Inn would be lovely if they had more rooms with a view of the ocean and if they had an elevator and luggage carts. The rickety, old-style wood beach steps up the sides of the buildings are dangerous especially if you are elderly or even slightly handicapped in any way. It was raining the day I left and I had to carry my luggage one step at a time down the 17 very slippery and rickety steps from my room on the second floor to my car. When I expressed my dismay at check-in that there were such steep steps up to the room, the tiny check-in attendant offered to help carry my suitcases up the steps for me. She was tinier than the 50-60 pound suitcase that I take on long journeys. I ended up leaving the suitcase in the trunk and bringing up one set of clothing a day rather than make the dangerous trek even more dangerous with 50 pounds of luggage. I didn’t care for this hotel and I would not recommend it to anyone. There was a fully equipped kitchen in my unit, but how do you cook when you have no easy way to get the groceries up the steps to the unit? I guess if I was still in my 20s or 30s, it wouldn’t be such a problem, but I noticed that most of the guests were older than I am. The reservations were made through a company called All One Vacations who do time share tours in the New Smyrna Beach area. I toured a timeshare resort named Coconut Palms while I was there, but I was very unimpressed by the resort and the tour. I will discuss in depth the lack of customer service by All in One Vacations in another post devoted to just that company. There was no restaurant at Coastal Waters Inn. I would not return here in the future.

Shiki at the Beach

Shiki at the Beach
3192 South Atlantic Avenue
New Smyrna Beach, FL 32169
386-427-4930

I loved this incredible Chinese-Japanese fusion restaurant. The location is nothing special. It is in a strip mall on the non-ocean side of A1A with Food Lion and some other shops. The decor is very nice and the food is excellent. I had the Gyoza appetizer for $6.50. The Gyoza is 6 pan fried beef dumplings served with sauce. I also had two different types of rolls featured by this restaurant: the Park Avenue rolls for $5.25 which are made up of sushi rice, tempura shrimp, avocado, cucumber, flying fish roe, and mayo. I also had the Florida roll for $6.00. These are sushi rice, fried salmon (or white fish), mayo, lettuce, and avocado. All of the food was incredible and the Soda was inexpensive at $1.75. I heartily recommend this restaurant to everyone.

JB's Fish Camp, New Smyrna Beach, FL

JB's Fish Camp
859 Pompano Avenue
New Smyrna Beach, FL 32169
386-427-5747
I loved the rustic look and feel of JB's Fish Camp. Their Oyster Sandwich with fries for $7.50 was piled high with succulent fried oysters. These are the kind of oysters that oyster lovers dream about. I can only imagine that the rest of the seafood was equally divine. This restaurant is open from 11:30 AM to 9:30 PM daily. There is live entertainment on Saturday and Sundays during the summer season, weather permitting. If you love seafood, a laid back atmosphere and great music with your beer, then you will love JB's Fish Camp. I can't wait to go back. http://www.jbsfishcamp.com/

Barnacles Restaurant

Barnacles Restaurant
869 South Atlantic Avenue
Ormond Beach, FL 32176
386-673-1070

4/02/2009 and 4/03/2009

“Barnacles” became my favorite restaurant on Ormond Beach this April 2009. I was very unhappy that the dining room did not have a view of the ocean, but the food almost made up for this. (Who would go to all the expense of having an ocean front property and then not put windows that actually faced the ocean so you could hear and watch the surf while you dine?) “Barnacles” is rustic and seaside looking. The huge salad bar, all you can eat crab specials and the oceanfront location are the biggest stars here. The Stuffed Shrimp Appetizer is incredible. It is actually 4 large shrimp, each topped with a big chunk of first quality crab cake and drizzled with a lobster sauce that was heavenly. I ate here twice while I was at the beach and ordered this appetizer both times. A word to the wise: watch for the coupons specials in the various coupon books for Barnacles. The night I had the Rib-eye steak with my Stuffed shrimp, I met the $25 minimum and received two glasses of free wine with my meal. “Barnacles” also has a two for one Happy Hour and a huge salad bar worth the extra $3. The second night I dined at Barnacles, I tried the Shrimp Pasta Arasgosta which is shrimp and linguine topped with their incredible lobster sauce. This was a bit of a disappointment as they were a bit skimpy on the shrimp and the lobster sauce for my taste.

http://www.barnaclesonline.com/Home_Page.html

Seasons 52 Restaurant, 7700 Sand Lake Road, Orlando, FL

Seasons 52 Restaurant
7700 Sand Lake Road
Orlando, FL 32819
407-354-5212

Reservations Suggested

A Wonderful Restaurant for Any Reason

Seasons 52 Restaurant is sparkling clean and simply beautiful. The decor is earthy and pleasant: wood, stone, fountains, hanging lanterns, artwork everywhere you turned, and an incredible view of the lake. Everything is spotless in the restrooms as well. The outside of the building is fantastically landscaped in wood, stone, lots of plants, trees, flowers and fountains. This is a very impressive restaurant to see both inside and out.

The food at Seasons 52 was incredible. It more than lived up to its reputation of using only the freshest ingredients. I have rarely had such a wonderful meal as the one I completely enjoyed at Seasons 52. I chose an appetizer of stuffed mushrooms. These were served on a special plate designed for stuffed mushrooms. The tender morsels of mushroomy goodness were stuffed with crabmeat, cheese, and baby shrimp and then sprinkled with more cheese. My next course was a steak salad. The salad was actually a fresh assortment of spring greens, roasted yellow and red peppers, warm, smoky mushrooms and freshly shredded Asiago cheese topped with a freshly made Caesar dressing. This was then topped with a tender, warm pink in the middle, steak cut into bite size cubes and liberally sprinkled on the top of the salad. The entire presentation was hearty and elegant and claimed to be fewer than 500 calories per serving. The finishing coup was the Mango cheesecake. This has to be one of the best desserts I have ever eaten. The Mango puree was heavenly; the cheesecake light and fluffy; creamy and rich; and the tiny cup was just enough to conquer my sweet tooth without blowing my healthy eating plan for the rest of the month. The freshly made Cappuccino was the perfect beginning and end to an amazing meal.

My only question is why don’t we have a Seasons 52 here in Lynchburg, Virginia?

Monday, March 2, 2009

Back in Florida Again--

Hyatt Regency Orlando International Airport
9300 Airport Blvd. Orlando, Florida 32827
(407) 825-1234


SO GLAD I AM STAYING IN THE AIRPORT!

When I finally stumbled off the second leg of my flight from Lynchburg, VA to Orlando, FL at 9:30 PM, you cannot imagine how happy I was that I had the good, common sense to book my first two nights in Orlando right at the airport. My flight out of Lynchburg had been canceled and they stuffed us all into a "limo van" like sardines and trucked us off to the Roanoke airport over an hour away. The relief at finally being able to climb into a warm, soft bed was incredible after dragging around too heavy luggage all day. I didn’t even have to hassle with my luggage again after I arrived at the Hyatt Orlando because for a $10 fee, you give your luggage pick-up stubs and a description of your luggage to the bell captain and he sends someone off to pick up your luggage and deliver it to the room for you. (Yes—that monstrous green suitcase is heavy, isn’t it? Thank you—here’s another $5 towards your hernia surgery…You say you don’t have a hernia… Well, you will after you do the same thing for me on the return trip… Ask for Tony, you say…OK John! Thanks and I will ask for Tony on the return trip…) I also hadn’t eaten since breakfast and so I ordered room service, at 10 PM. Sushi—wonderful, incredible sushi—available by room service—at 10 PM! Amazing! I also ordered my breakfast for in the morning and a large pot of Starbucks coffee to wash down my zucchini and cheese frittata. This was served promptly at 10AM when I finally became conscious again. Now I admit to you that all of this luxury isn’t cheap. The least expensive rate is $145.52 a night after they add all the taxes and that is only if you are a Hyatt Gold Passport member and a senior—(Ahhhh… the blessings of AARP… It almost makes being over 50 enjoyable.) Lucky me, I am a Gold Passport member, an AARP member AND I had 24,000 points idling away in my rewards account, so I stayed for free for both nights. Soft, comfy king size bed, marble bath, room service, and a balcony overlooking the inner court of the airport central terminal where you could people watch for days and never get truly bored—ahh—what a life we frugal travelers live! If you can afford it—do yourself a favor and spend the first night or even two of your Orlando vacation at the Hyatt Regency Orlando International Airport Hotel. It was wonderful for me.