My friend and co-Examiner at Examiner.com has posted a great idea and a really cool contest on her blog site! Take a look at this! Can yo see me "fantasied" as an Autumn Faery??
BB
Paula
Friday, February 19, 2010
Retro Cooking Giveaway #5: Fantasy Me Print!!
While this might not necessarily have a "retro" theme (though it certainly could, lol!), I'm never going to pass by a chance to work with Angelique from Angelique Art (among a multitude of projects that she handles, including the Pagan Writers Community)
Have you ever fantasized about being a fairy, a pirate or a princess? Maybe a fierce warrior with a pet dragon? Now is your chance to put those fantasies into a work of art!
The winner of this contest will get a custom made "Fantasy Me" digital creation!! If you aren't familiar with Angelique's Fantasy Me creations, she works in 3-D digital technology to create a custom made "If I were a fantasy figure or historical figure, what would I look like" picture.
I personally have a Fantasy Me done as me as Joan of Arc (one of my ultimate favorite historical figures. Here's what mine looks like:
Is that freaking cool or what?! To see other works by the artist, check out her Deviant Art Gallery, which includes other Fantasy Me works, among other things (Let me strongly recommend her take on Cernunnos on page 4 -- rowwwrrr!).
The winner will receive a high quality digital file of the work that Angelique creates specifically for her/him, suitable for a great print!
Requirements to enter:
Have an blog accessible through your user name or leave an email address with each entry.
Visit Angelique's Deviant Art Gallery and see what kind of work she does. Come back here, and leave a comment about your ideas on what historical or fantasy figure you'd like to see yourself made into.
For extra chances to win (required post must be made for these to count!), you may do any one or more of the following (leave a separate comment for each):
1 entry each (for a total of three possible) - Write about this giveaway on your blog, Myspace or LiveJournal. Leave a separate comment for each and include the URL to the post. (As per the new Facebook TOS, Facebook can NOT be used as an entry for giveaways.)
*1 entry (per day) - Tweet the following message: RT @MrsBsConfession Visit silvermoonwitch.blogspot.com to enter to win a Fantasy Me creation from artist @angelmroczka! (Leave a separate comment for each day's tweet, including the URL to the post.)
1 entry - Be or become a follower on Twitter of @angelmroczka
1 entry - Subscribe to Angelique's personal blog.
All Retro Cooking Month Giveaways will run until the last day of February. All winners will be picked at noon, EST on February 28 via an online, random number generator. Winners will be announced soon after.
***PLEASE NOTE ON THE TWITTER MESSAGE:
When you copy something from this blog, it automatically adds my URL to the message when you paste it again - basically a way to try to keep people from copying my content.
Just erase the part of the message that says:
"Read more: http://silvermoonwitch.blogspot.com/2010/02/retro-cooking-giveaway-4-inside-glass.html#ixzz0fov63F12"
PLEASE NOTE:
If your blogger profile is set to private, I will be unable to find your blog or email via your profile. If you don't leave an email address in your comments, and your profile is private, the entries DO NOT count.
Entries that are not on separate posts will be counted as one entry.
Entries that contain links not related to the giveaway (capital "s", rhymes with "ham") will be deleted, and those entries will not count.
Entries must be in English.
Read more: http://silvermoonwitch.blogspot.com/#ixzz0g0uNY5zI
Friday, February 19, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Many New Projects: Are You Interested In Being A Part Of One of Them?
January is already far, far too busy for me. Winter is supposed to be a time to relax and regroup. I already have ten different irons in various fires and need to either seriously cut back or find an organizational schedule to deal with all these "wonderful opportunities."
I am so overwhelmed on all levels right now. I need to drop a bunch of this stuff and concentrate on the basics like finding my house under the layers of built up clutter from the last four weeks I spent at my Mom's in PA. I am so depressed today!
Here is a list of all the links to my various projects:
1. My blog here, Travels With Branwenn, which is sadly neglected and needs to be updated. I could definitely use a copy editor to go over my blog and tell me what needs to be updated or changed.
2. My Examiner.com column and the series of articles for Imbolc that I have just launched that still has THREE more parts that need to be finished.
3. My newest undertaking, Black Walnut Magazine. Black Walnut Magazine is an online Pagan webzine of which Darci has so trustingly allowed me to become Assistant Editor. I have several articles for the magazine and have recruited a couple more, but I need more great articles about Imbolc! Email me at Branwenn@aol.com if you have any ideas to help me out here!
4. Someone to help me create, clean, and remodel my basement into my new office space and herbcraft space. I need an office assistant that will be able to help me in all aspects of this undertaking including the dreamwork in creating it as magickal space.
I am so overwhelmed on all levels right now. I need to drop a bunch of this stuff and concentrate on the basics like finding my house under the layers of built up clutter from the last four weeks I spent at my Mom's in PA. I am so depressed today!
Here is a list of all the links to my various projects:
1. My blog here, Travels With Branwenn, which is sadly neglected and needs to be updated. I could definitely use a copy editor to go over my blog and tell me what needs to be updated or changed.
2. My Examiner.com column and the series of articles for Imbolc that I have just launched that still has THREE more parts that need to be finished.
3. My newest undertaking, Black Walnut Magazine. Black Walnut Magazine is an online Pagan webzine of which Darci has so trustingly allowed me to become Assistant Editor. I have several articles for the magazine and have recruited a couple more, but I need more great articles about Imbolc! Email me at Branwenn@aol.com if you have any ideas to help me out here!
4. Someone to help me create, clean, and remodel my basement into my new office space and herbcraft space. I need an office assistant that will be able to help me in all aspects of this undertaking including the dreamwork in creating it as magickal space.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Pagan Travel 2010: green travel, eco-travel, sacred sites, Pagan Festivals and much more
Happy New Year! Happy Hogmanay! Welcome to Pagan Travel in 2010! (That's pronounced "twenty-ten" or so I am told by those who are way cooler than I.) Along with giving you the lowdown on all the cool “Pagan Places” you can visit on our waxing, waning, wonderful Mother Earth, I hope to dispel myths and misinformation about Paganism and Wicca along the way. Come along and see the world! Paganism is everywhere.
Like everyone else, Pagans make New Year's resolutions and sometimes don't keep them. This is not mysterious or arcane. Dedication, determination, hard work, concentration and follow-through are the characteristics that will help you succeed in the new decade. Sometimes these characteristics are harder to muster than we originally thought.
These are the same principles--dedication, determination, hard work, concentration and follow through -- that many witches, Wiccans, and some Pagans apply to any magickal work they attempt. It might be called magick, but it still takes hard work. Misunderstandings abound, as they do about much of what is labeled (rightly or wrongly) as Pagan or Wiccan. It probably will surprise many of you that some Pagans don't do magick. A larger number of Wiccans do, but not all. For those who are totally confused by the different sects of Paganism, the rule of thumb is, "All Wiccans are Pagan, but not all Pagans are Wiccan." It's close to the idea that all Southern Baptists are Christian, but not all Christians are Southern Baptists.
Every Pagan path (Pagan being the general umbrella term for a great number of sometimes not completely compatible "nature religions.") is different. Wiccans, witches, Heathens, Druids, and countless more spiritual paths embrace characteristics of Paganism. The joke is that if you gather six Pagans in a room, you will get six definitions of Paganism. The primary characteristic seems to be a strong sense of individuality.
Many Pagans follow what they call an “Earth-centered” spirituality. Some Pagans follow the law, "Harm none.” Wiccans have a version of this law that states in archaic English, “An that it harm none, do what thou wilt.” This is called the Wiccan Rede and can be very loosely compared to the Christian Golden Rule. Some Wiccans also believe what they call the “Rule of Three” which states that for every action or energy, positive or negative, that you send out into the Universe, this action or energy, positive or negative, will come back to you three-fold. Think “karma” or in secular terms “what goes around, comes around.” In scientific terms, think about the First Law of Thermodynamics: “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” The THREE-fold idea seems to come from the magick of the number THREE in some Wiccan tradition’s ideology, i.e. the idea of a Triple Goddess.
Some Pagans and many ceremonial magicians see "magick" as defined by Aleister Crowley as: "Magick is the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will. (Illustration: It is my Will to inform the World of certain facts within my knowledge. I therefore take "magickal weapons", pen, ink, and paper; I write "incantations" — these sentences — in the "magickal language" ie, that which is understood by the people I wish to instruct; I call forth "spirits", such as printers, publishers, booksellers and so forth and constrain them to convey my message to those people. The composition and distribution of this [article] is thus an act of Magick by which I cause Changes to take place in conformity with my Will." (From Wikipedia’s page about Crowley)
Many Wiccans see "magick" as a more psychological transformation, a type of positive affirmation with the added sacred dimension of making these affirmations before your personal Gods and Goddesses inside a "magick circle." The writings of Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell are good refernce materials for this type of psychology as it relates to Pagan thought. Another view of magic can be seen in a book written by the popular psychologiist and motivational speaker, Dr. Wayne Dyer. Dyer entitled his book, Real Magic. It is a great read with yet another view of magic and although it contains many ideas that embrace the Pagan paradigm of values, Dyer is not known to be Pagan. Neither are Jung or Campbell, but their ideas are well-known and loved in some Pagan circles.
I digress too long on my second favorite subject which is debunking misinformation assigned to Paganism. This is my secondary goal in these columns. My primary goal is telling the world about all the “Pagan Places” that are just waiting to be explored in this world. In 2010, I hope to approach this wide-flung subject matter in a more organized fashion starting with an outline of all the “sacred places” in the various regions of the USA and then moving over to Ireland, the UK, France and on across a large portion of the world.
Pagan Travel Examiner will continue to feature the Pagan festival calendars, the Renaissance Faire calendars and interviews and reports about people and places Pagan-related all across this world. As always, I encourage you to subscribe to my columns, comment at the bottom of each of the articles and write to me at Branwenn@aol.com with any additional ideas or suggestions you may have for these pages. I want to hear from you!
**********************
This article kicked off the year 2010 on my Examiner.com column Pagan Travel Examiner
Like everyone else, Pagans make New Year's resolutions and sometimes don't keep them. This is not mysterious or arcane. Dedication, determination, hard work, concentration and follow-through are the characteristics that will help you succeed in the new decade. Sometimes these characteristics are harder to muster than we originally thought.
These are the same principles--dedication, determination, hard work, concentration and follow through -- that many witches, Wiccans, and some Pagans apply to any magickal work they attempt. It might be called magick, but it still takes hard work. Misunderstandings abound, as they do about much of what is labeled (rightly or wrongly) as Pagan or Wiccan. It probably will surprise many of you that some Pagans don't do magick. A larger number of Wiccans do, but not all. For those who are totally confused by the different sects of Paganism, the rule of thumb is, "All Wiccans are Pagan, but not all Pagans are Wiccan." It's close to the idea that all Southern Baptists are Christian, but not all Christians are Southern Baptists.
Every Pagan path (Pagan being the general umbrella term for a great number of sometimes not completely compatible "nature religions.") is different. Wiccans, witches, Heathens, Druids, and countless more spiritual paths embrace characteristics of Paganism. The joke is that if you gather six Pagans in a room, you will get six definitions of Paganism. The primary characteristic seems to be a strong sense of individuality.
Many Pagans follow what they call an “Earth-centered” spirituality. Some Pagans follow the law, "Harm none.” Wiccans have a version of this law that states in archaic English, “An that it harm none, do what thou wilt.” This is called the Wiccan Rede and can be very loosely compared to the Christian Golden Rule. Some Wiccans also believe what they call the “Rule of Three” which states that for every action or energy, positive or negative, that you send out into the Universe, this action or energy, positive or negative, will come back to you three-fold. Think “karma” or in secular terms “what goes around, comes around.” In scientific terms, think about the First Law of Thermodynamics: “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” The THREE-fold idea seems to come from the magick of the number THREE in some Wiccan tradition’s ideology, i.e. the idea of a Triple Goddess.
Some Pagans and many ceremonial magicians see "magick" as defined by Aleister Crowley as: "Magick is the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will. (Illustration: It is my Will to inform the World of certain facts within my knowledge. I therefore take "magickal weapons", pen, ink, and paper; I write "incantations" — these sentences — in the "magickal language" ie, that which is understood by the people I wish to instruct; I call forth "spirits", such as printers, publishers, booksellers and so forth and constrain them to convey my message to those people. The composition and distribution of this [article] is thus an act of Magick by which I cause Changes to take place in conformity with my Will." (From Wikipedia’s page about Crowley)
Many Wiccans see "magick" as a more psychological transformation, a type of positive affirmation with the added sacred dimension of making these affirmations before your personal Gods and Goddesses inside a "magick circle." The writings of Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell are good refernce materials for this type of psychology as it relates to Pagan thought. Another view of magic can be seen in a book written by the popular psychologiist and motivational speaker, Dr. Wayne Dyer. Dyer entitled his book, Real Magic. It is a great read with yet another view of magic and although it contains many ideas that embrace the Pagan paradigm of values, Dyer is not known to be Pagan. Neither are Jung or Campbell, but their ideas are well-known and loved in some Pagan circles.
I digress too long on my second favorite subject which is debunking misinformation assigned to Paganism. This is my secondary goal in these columns. My primary goal is telling the world about all the “Pagan Places” that are just waiting to be explored in this world. In 2010, I hope to approach this wide-flung subject matter in a more organized fashion starting with an outline of all the “sacred places” in the various regions of the USA and then moving over to Ireland, the UK, France and on across a large portion of the world.
Pagan Travel Examiner will continue to feature the Pagan festival calendars, the Renaissance Faire calendars and interviews and reports about people and places Pagan-related all across this world. As always, I encourage you to subscribe to my columns, comment at the bottom of each of the articles and write to me at Branwenn@aol.com with any additional ideas or suggestions you may have for these pages. I want to hear from you!
**********************
This article kicked off the year 2010 on my Examiner.com column Pagan Travel Examiner
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.
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
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.
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.
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/
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/
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