"Nothing Compares To?"

[FluffyAngel]

I've never lived on or closer than six hours to a beach, but as a child I spent every weekend at a beach. My parents being divorced, mom having visitation on week

Sorry for the interruption...
Mom had visitation on the weekends and her sister lived at a beach so growing up I spent every weekend and several weeks in the summer at the beach. I agree the ocean is quite majestic & I have been telling my husband for years if something happened to my Dad, we are sooo out of here. (MOVING TO TYBEE ISLAND). I could sit or stand in awe of the beautiful creation that is the Ocean day in & day out. We go several times a year as often as we can really.
That being said, I am quite happy in my own back yard and I never grow tired of sunsets at home. We live kind of out in the country with very few neighbors (2 close enough to see). Two of my favorite sunsets are:
1. A cold wet foggy day where the fog hugs the ground like a blanket
2. After the rare South Carolina snow.
Don't even get me started on my field of Dandelions. When I think of my loved ones that I have too, it makes me feel unworthy of all that has been bestowed upon me.

It's bittersweet. I want so badly to move to the Ocean but everytime I go, I get homesick for the peaceful natural beauty of my own yard. I guess it all comes down to this. Anywhere loved ones are is always a beautiful place to be.

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

Pehaps, this is quite a difficult question, however, can you think of something that is more breathtakingly beautiful that you have seen ...

I have been fortunate to have traveled to the Grand Canyon (and the Colorado River gorge from north of Moab UT to south as far as Lake Meade in NV) where I have camped mostly on the rim and even a few dozen times next to the river). My about 40 trips to this area is in no small part due to the proximity to home (Los Angeles, a day's trip or a few hours to many places on the Colorado, and of course due to my love of camping).

I have been totally awed by the incredible scenery along the Colorado River, and in many places amazed by the solitude too. (4x4 helps that.)

I always cook when camping--of course, where else would you get food in remote areas?--and sometimes I have cooked what could be described as gourmet dinners, although some of those times eating anything other than a lizard or squirrel would be considered gourmet.

There is something about magnificent scenery and solitude that intensifies even the most mundane camp food. Even better with friends or family.

 

[Claire]

I've lived all over this country and have to say that for absolute every day beauty, my years in Hawaii probably did it for day-to-day beauty. I'd be in bumper-to-bumper traffic for sometimes hours, living in the hills in the middle of Oahu. Just when you'd think I'd be ready to blow (the car often would!), I'd make myself look to the left and see a rainbow over (or in front of) the mountains, and in front and to the right, the beautiful blue of Pearl Harbor, and remind myself there are worse fates than being stuck in traffic in Hawaii.

That said, every state I've visited (I think I'm at 48 -- never been to Alaska or Michigan!) and a few countries have something beautiful to regard. Once I was in a place I'd always thought was rather ugly (sorry if it hurts some feelings, but in the boonies in Kansas), and was taking a walk on a country road, and my attention was captured by a pair of lovely, HUGE deer. I went to our RV to tell my husband. "They were elk, silly!" I later heard them trumpet, what a sound!

I think if you gave me a state, I could tell you something I saw that was beautiful there.

 

[Claire]

Best food experiences tend, for us, to be those that are little ones that pop up at you unexpectedly. On our first trip together, my fiance and I were looking for a place to eat and wound up at a little pizza place in a strip mall in Florida. We have back-to-back birthdays, and he'd treated me to a high end restaurant. For some reason, for his we wound up at this little Mom & Pop (actually, always our favorites from that moment on). We had great pizza, but most fun was the pre-and teen waitresses, one of whom kept excusing the younger because her English was bad. It's the first time I heard the term "FOB". "You'll have to excuse her, she's FOB." This said in her own cute heavily Italian accent. You know what? We don't remember the fancy restaurant he took me to, but I wanted to treat him on my (much less) budget, and we remember those two little Italian girls and great pizza.

Sitting on a sunny river (creek?) side patio in Slovenia, with espaliared plums along a stone wall, drinking a wine I'd kill for now, Cvicek (might be misspelled, a very dry rose).

As a child, going to an ice skating show at a place called the Casa Carioca in Bavaria. The show was fun, they had a wood parquet dance floor that rolled over the ice before, at intermission, and after the show, and my parents could out dance anyone, any time (still can). But the meal was this huge platter of cheeses. Such a treat! Cheese for supper. My paternal grandfather was a cheese-maker, and my dad loves cheese, but it was an expensive treat when we were young, and we just gorged ourselves.

In our on-the-road years, going on a pier in California (can't remember where, maybe Santa Barbara?) on a foggy, misty, miserably cold day. The restaurants on the pier each had someone outside, plying us with clam chowder. We went to the restaurant that had the best chowder, and warmed ourselves while watching sea lions caper on the rocks below us.

I can tell these are going to pop up on me at all hours of the day and night. You'll get tired of it! Thanks for starting it, if only to make me relive some and maybe I'll get a column out of it.

 

[CWS4322]

Nothing compares to a sunny day in mid-June spent in a boat fishing for walleye on Lake of the Woods, fresh wild asparagus, fresh pan-fried walleye, homemade ice cream. In July/August, no asparagus, but then there are the wild blueberries...A bonfire in the firepit, roasting marshmallows, and walking on the beach barefoot, collecting rocks and shells, and the "massage" your feet get from the sand....hearing the waves hit the shore at night as you sleep in the bunky with the windows open...(okay, hoping a black bear doesn't show up is a downside to that). Watching the sun come up over the lake. Firing up the potbelly stove in the morning and cooking eggs and bacon before heading back out on the water for another day of fishing. All done with family (intimate and extended).

 

[CWS4322]

Packing up a picnic supper and heading to the lake shore (my parents live on a small lake). When I was there last summer, we did this several times after we had been to LOW. We made burgers or sausages over a campfire and had potato salad or a pasta salad with that. Roasted marshmallows and s'mores (my dad cut the sticks to roast the marshmallows) and we'd stay until almost dark, enjoying the sound of the waves and the cry of the loons. Because of my mom's mobility issues, we had to drive the car across the lawn and bring chairs, etc. But the memory of those evenings with my folks (80 yrs. old) and sitting there on the shore is one I will always treasure. It was fun!

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

Best food experiences tend, for us, to be those that are little ones that pop up at you unexpectedly. On our first trip together, my fiance and I were looking for a place to eat and wound up at a little pizza place in a strip mall in Florida. We have back-to-back birthdays, and he'd treated me to a high end restaurant. For some reason, for his we wound up at this little Mom & Pop (actually, always our favorites from that moment on). We had great pizza, but most fun was the pre-and teen waitresses, one of whom kept excusing the younger because her English was bad. It's the first time I heard the term "FOB". "You'll have to excuse her, she's FOB."

What is FOB?

 

[taxlady]

What is FOB?

Fresh Off the Boat.

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

TYVVM!

 

[Margi Cintrano]

Thanks so much for such lovely feedback. Truly have enjoyed all.

I am in an editorial deadline for the 29th and thus, please excuse me for not answering each one individually.

I am on lunch break 16.30 Hours, going through all my threads now.

Kind regards.
Margi.

 

[4meandthem]

The trees turning color in Maine are pretty spectacuar. Tha California coast is amazing in most places. Hawaii as seen from a zodiac is right up there too.

As far as food goes the 2 most memorable meals were at hotels of all places. We dined at the Chateau Frantenac in Quebec and had a 3 hour dining experience that was superb incuding the best service ever.

The other was at the Ritz Carlton in Half Moon Bay. My cousin was one of the chefs there and they created a special menu for us while the sommolier paired wines to fit. Dinner for 5 was over 1k and we got comped to boot.

I guess I should mention another meal prepared by him at a steak house we visited him at. We had Wagyu steaks and tried every side dish they made plus every dessert. We only paid for the wine and stakes that time. We couldn't eat again for 24 hours after that one.

 

[taxlady]

4meandthem, How long ago was the meal at the Chateau Frontenac? We want to get away for a few days after tax season, and that's votes in favour of Quebec City.

One of our spectacular dining experiences was at an Auberge du Gouverneur in, I believe Shawinigan, QC or at least near there. DH thought the menu sounded awfully chichi, but was amazed at how good it all was.

 

[4meandthem]

It was over 10 years ago but I doubt much has changed in the way of their service.
We also enjoyed a chain restraunt "Le coin britton" or something similar. They specialized in crepes and they were wonderful. We ate there a few times. We stayed in the old city and walked everywhere. I really enjoyed watching the old city come to life every morning. Our hotel served fresh croissants and the best coffee every morning in the basement.

 

[Margi Cintrano]

4 Meandthem,

Quebec is quite breathtakingly beautiful ... Had been several years ago ... We have a Montreal French native, Pastry Chef & Caterer friend there. Lovely ...

Thanks for posting.
Margi.

 

[Claire]

What is FOB?

"Fresh Off the Boat," meaning someone who is a new immigrant to this country. Most of the time I've heard it used, it was by people of the same ethnic background, whose family immigrated earlier. In other words, the people who'd moved here, then later helped bring family and friends over, would refer to the newbies as "FOB". I heard it many times since, in many cultural groups. As in, you'll have to excuse his/her accent, FOB; or a cultural thing the newbie doesn't understand (or inversely, doesn't "get" why I don't understand).

 

[taxlady]

"Fresh Off the Boat," meaning someone who is a new immigrant to this country. Most of the time I've heard it used, it was by people of the same ethnic background, whose family immigrated earlier. In other words, the people who'd moved here, then later helped bring family and friends over, would refer to the newbies as "FOB". I heard it many times since, in many cultural groups. As in, you'll have to excuse his/her accent, FOB; or a cultural thing the newbie doesn't understand (or inversely, doesn't "get" why I don't understand).

I went to university with a Chinese girl who had been born in China. She was very Americanized when I met her. I asked her about her very American sounding first name and she said, oh, you want to know my FOB name.

 

[Claire]

4 Meandthem,

Quebec is quite breathtakingly beautiful ... Had been several years ago ... We have a Montreal French native, Pastry Chef & Caterer friend there. Lovely ...

Thanks for posting.
Margi.

There are few places I have a real yen to return to, and old Quebec city is one. I was SO pleased with myself. Quebec provence is my cultural home, and all I can speak is school-girl French with a bad lisp ( can't roll "r" s correctly). We stayed at a B&B within the old walls that used to be owned by the Ursuline girls' school nearby, and was run by the nuns as a place for parents to stay when visiting their boarding school daughters. The couple who then owned it were wonderful; one spoke some English, the other none.

One of the funniest eating experience, I can actually remember the name of the place (don't think it exists now) was a brew pub called Lennix down on the docks. I thought we'd laugh ourselves silly. Asked for a menu. "Le Hot Dog." That's all. Choice of mustards. Foot longs steamed, then wriggled into a tunnel in a thin bagette. Amid much laughter from the working men there for lunch. I couldn't understand their ribald comments, but certainly got the gist of watching the (cute) waitresses inserting les hot-dogs into these baguettes.

We were there in the fall, so ate a lot of game. We did have drinks at the Frontenac.

I was quite pleased with myself, having never actually used what French I know (French is my father's first language, Mom is bilingual, albeit with my lisp, and all my childhood girlfriends' mothers were French) and only slipped up once. The phrase I asked one of my French linguist friends for was "S'il vous plait, parle plus lentement." Worked a charm. I also learned to say, "Speak to me as if I was a five year old child." My trying hard and blundering actually charmed people into helping me. I overheard a couple of ugly American women in line in front of me saying, "Oh, just ignore them, they really DO speak English, they're being snotty." Huh? Memere never spoke English in her life, and when raising her kids didn't allow them to speak English in the home. Hey, folks, Canada is NOT USA NORTH.

 

[taxlady]

Francophones (French speakers) are usually very helpful, if you try to speak French.

I once went to Quebec City with friend of mine, from Chicago, who went to university in Montreal for a few years. He heard everyone speaking French and said, "Wow man, what a lot of foreigners." I nearly died laughing.

 

[4meandthem]

We went to Quebec with my BIL who speaks french. I don't know if we would have had such a good time without him and his translating.

We rented a car when we were done in Quebec and drove to Maine. I couldn't even read the road signs so he had to sit up front when I drove which was very little.Had a blast going through the country. Seemed like every town had a big church and a big strip club or disco. Fun on Saturday night-confession on Sunday!

 

[CWS4322]

I spent a summer as a tour guide hitting the Gaspe Peninsula. We always ended at the Chateau. The food was WONDERFUL. QC is one of my favorite places. I lived just below the Chateau off of Place Royale when I attended Laval. Couchon Dinge is one of my favorite brunch spots.