Friday, 25 December 2015 Gulf Waters RV Resort — Port Aransas, Texas Temps: Hi 73F (23C) / Lo 69F (21C)
Nope, it wasn’t snow that made our Christmas white … it was fog!
The fog, which wrapped us in a warm ... if damp ... cocoon yesterday evening, was supposed to burn off by noon. There were occasional signs that the forecast might come true. In the end, though, it was to no avail, and we continued to be enveloped by the thick mist. The sun lost the battle today.
This is what it looks like on the beach when we go for our walk this afternoon.
It’s only slightly better looking back towards the GWRVR beach access … You’ll have to take my word that we’re not that far from it. As for that black spot on the photo … that’s not a spot, it’s a kite that the group is flying.
Oh well; can’t complain. We’re at the beach after all, and we’re not having to shovel any snow ;-)
Thursday, 24 December 2015 Gulf Waters RV Resort — Port Aransas, Texas Temps: Hi 72F (22C) / Lo 66F (19C)
Merry Christmas — or if you prefer, Happy Holidays — and a Happy New Year to all. May 2016 be a healthy, happy, and enriching year that we all share with family and friends … one that is filled with safe travels to destinations of our choosing regardless of the mode we use to get there ;-)
The Emperors of the Ross Sea join Erin & Mui in wishing everyone a fantastic holiday season.
After Mui finished his basic training with the US Air Force, his first assignment was at Hill Air Force Base in Utah.
In the eight years we were there, one of our favorite places to visit during Christmas was Temple Square in the heart of Salt Lake City. Decorated with twinkling lights galore — 215,000 of them to be precise — it was definitely the place to go for a bit of holiday cheer.
As we round out 2011, it seems appropriate to post this picture from 28 years ago to wish one and all a fabulous 2012.
TIMELESS HOLIDAY CHEER THE sALT lAKE tEMPLE, CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER DAY SAINTS — uTAH (scanned from photograph)
We took advantage of unseasonably warm weather — talking in the mid-50F (13C) range, with no hint of snow — to do one more “holiday cheer” outing before Christmas.
Rather than fight the traffic and the parking crowds, I took the metro into DC and met up with Mui for a quick bite to eat at Cosi. Then, our tummies sated, we hopped on the red line train to the Woodley Park/Zoo Station. A short 5-minute walk from there put us at Zoolights at the Smithsonian National Zoo.
It was still light out, so we opted to wade through the growing crowd and walk the main path through the grounds to the far end of the zoo first. By the time we reached the lion enclosures, it was dark enough to enjoy the shimmering lights.
As might be expected from a light display at the zoo, the theme was “animals.” From elephants, to pandas, to lions, and tigers; from an anteater snacking on its favorite critters, to a leaping frog, to cuddling monkeys, and a prairie dog popping in and out of its hole — there were electrified animals around every corner. Real animals, though, were already tucked away in their bedrooms and nowhere to be seen. We knew that would be the case, but from the whining we heard from the kids and adults around us, many were disappointed that they were not included in the festivities.
Here’s a glimpse into the sights and sounds of holiday cheer that we enjoyed as we made our way through the zoo.
Eventually, we returned to where we started and slipped into the visitor center to check out the miniature train exhibit. Since that was too much movement for my camera, I focused on the ceramic Christmas village display and the entries into the “Gin-GRRR-bread Habitat” contest instead.
Admittedly, after having enjoyed the Garden Fest at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Richmond (post here) and the fabulous Longwood Garden lights and fountain show (post here), ZooLights was not as impressive. But that didn’t stop us from having a really good time; and it was free to boot.
Our quest to enjoy the holiday decorations that others have labored to put up continues. This time, we drove north to visit Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania.
We drove up I-95N to Wilmington, DE and then to Kennett Square, PA via rural routes.
Longwood requires timed admission tickets, so we bought our tickets online last week for the 5:00p entry slot ($18/person non-peak rate; increases to $25 pp for weekends; once inside, you can stay as long as you want.) To ensure that we’d get there with plenty of time to spare, we left the house at 12:30p. Traffic was heavy getting out of DC — no surprise — but at least it flowed at interstate speeds. Past the I-270 cut-off, the number of vehicles dwindled down considerably and we made good time driving the 126 miles (202 km) to Wilmington in 2½ hours.
Why Wilmington, you ask? Because that’s where we booked our overnight hotel. With limited accommodations in Kennett Square, we figured we’d have better luck with Priceline bidding for a hotel in a larger city. We were right; we got the Doubletree for $50/night … a 49% savings. And yes, Priceline came through again with a very nice, clean room with a bonus — scrumptious chocolate chip cookies still warm from the oven when we checked in!
Room 358 — a nice, quiet room for an overnight stay. And the chocolate chip cookies — well, you had to be there to taste how good they were!
The one mistake we made after checking in was our decision to grab a bite to eat before continuing on to Longwood Gardens. It wasn’t that the restaurant didn’t deliver on a good meal. In fact, the crab cakes we scarfed down at Harry’s Savoy Grill were really good. No, it was that we didn’t have a chance to enjoy a leisurely meal, because I started stressing about the time it would take to get to Longwood for our 5:00p admission. It wouldn’t have been so bad had I not left the pre-printed admission tickets in our hotel room!!! Duh!!!!
A 10-minute detour to pick up the tickets and rush-hour traffic added about 30 minutes to what is usually a 15-minute drive from the Doubletree to Longwood, but we made it just as the clock struck 5:00p. (Yes, Mui, I know you said we’d be OK!) By the time we parked, bundled up in our layers (it was already 41F [5C] and dipping fast), collected our camera gear, and stopped at guest services to drop off the tripod permits we’d pre-completed, it was well past our entry time, but we made it through the doors before 5:30p so we were golden.
The elegant grandeur of Longwood can’t be described in words, so here are some photos to start out with …
The Holiday Fountain Show from the trail that runs behind the Open Air Theater. [Sorry about the two spotlights that resemble eyes peering back at us.]
Left: The Wildlife Tree is decorated with edible icicles, suet bags, and citrus cups filled with bird-seed, dried flowers, and Indian corn for wildlife winter treats. right: inside the peirce-du Pont house.
The Conservatory shines like a golden oasis on a cold winter night.
No holiday decorations, but on this very impressive “Green Wall” 47,000 vibrant plants sprout from floor to ceiling — the largest indoor “Living Wall” in North America.
lights and reflections across from the Music Room in the East Conservatory.
Trees of Light
I tried to select for this post some of the scenes that are not included in Mui’s video below. If you’d like to see more of my pictures, feel free to browse my online gallery; you can adjust the speed of the slideshow in the top left corner. The tripod was definitely worth its weight in gold.
Now for Mui’s perspective of our visit — complete with Christmas carols and dancing water. Enjoy!
We wandered around the grounds until closing time (9:00p) and took our time walking back to the visitor center to let the traffic dwindle a bit. With the parking lot at near capacity when we arrived, I expected that getting on the road might be a bit of a challenge. Surprisingly, it turned out to be a piece of cake. I guess not everyone stayed until the last minute! The drive back to the hotel took all of 15-20 minutes, with no traffic back ups along the way.
The gardens were certainly crowded; especially the conservatory — and that was on a non-peak evening. Highly recommend an in-week visit. Not only will you save on the admission, but you’ll be able to take your time touring the enclosed spaces. Dress warmly in layers that can be easily removed when inside. The conservatory was comfortably warm without our jackets, but the rooms in which the historic exhibits are displayed at the Peirce-du Pont House were sauna-warm and we didn’t linger long although there was much to see there.
And on that note, time to snuggle under the comfy duvet for a good night’s sleep. We have no set plans for tomorrow, and didn’t see any signs on the drive north to give us any ideas on things to do as we head back home. I guess we’ll just play it by ear.
It’s 10:00p and it’s about 40F (4.5C) outside. After having spent several hours wandering around in cold temps, we’re now tucked in cozy and warm in Room 1812 at the Omni in Richmond, Virginia. Why are we here? Because we wanted to enjoy some holiday cheer at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden (LGBG); a change of pace from the usual Christmas light displays we’ve enjoyed in DC in the past.
National Christmas Tree — Washington, dc (2008)
Lest you think we pulled the Phaeton out of storage for this outing … no, we didn’t. With the coach all winterized, we have no intention of going anywhere in it until the temps warm up considerably. But, Mui and I talked about our various blogs, and decided that with less than a year to retirement, we’d start posting our local adventures in Phaeton Journeys. So, here I am.
What a splendid evening we had with thousands of lights glittering and shimmering all around us.
That said, the start to our adventure wasn’t so great. We left DC around 2:45p and all was well at first. The sky was blue; there were interesting cloud formations; the temperature was a “balmy” 57F (14C); and traffic was flowing. Then we hit I-95 South and found ourselves in bumper-to-bumper traffic that was moving slower than molasses. No, there wasn’t an accident; it was just the usual daily exodus from the city. It seems rush hour starts earlier and earlier around here. It took us over two hours to drive the 60 miles to Fredericksburg. Ugh! After that point, however, traffic picked up nicely, and with an average speed of 70 mph (112 kph), we traveled the remaining distance to Richmond in about an hour.
It was crowded at the LGBG; more so than I thought it would be. In fact, the reason why we braved the Friday afternoon traffic was because we hoped there would be fewer visitors as compared to Saturday. We were especially surprised at the number of children — school groups, it seemed like to us — that were roaming the grounds. Most of the kids were well-behaved and seemed to be enjoying the colorful lights around them. But each group had the requisite few who were “up-to-no-good” with their loud, pseudo-enthusiastic appreciation that the teachers seemed to have difficulty controlling. Oh well; until we retire and can sightsee at our leisure during the week we just have to deal!
I’m going to share just a few of my photos here. I was lazy and didn’t take my tripod. I should have known better, but I was hoping the monopod would suffice. It didn’t. I ended up using an ISO setting higher than optimum and that introduced more “noise” than I like to see in my pictures. I have no one to blame but myself, of course. And yes, I’ve learned my lesson!
Fear not; for those who would like to see more of the festive lights, here’s a short video from Mui. Ascribing to the “KISS theory” — keep it simple … you fill in the second “s” word of your choice — he took only the Canon S95 point and shoot still camera, leaving his video equipment at home. He got really good footage with that little camera; handheld and in HD, no less. Maybe I should just chuck all my SLR gear and just get one of these cameras myself!
We left the LGBG shortly after 9:00p. Despite the cold temperature — it was down to 43F (6C) — we really enjoyed our three-hour stroll. Of course, it helped that we were bundled up in the expedition parkas we received this summer when we went gallivanting in the Norwegian Arctic. What would have made the garden fest better? Music. There were no carols being sung; nor was there any music broadcasted around the grounds. Some Christmas audio cheer would have put the finishing touch on the festivities.
One last glimpse of holiday cheer — from the Conservatory towards the Visitor Center.
A short drive from the LGBG put us at the Omni Richmond Hotel for our one-night stay. Whenever we find ourselves in need of a hotel room, we tend to use Priceline to bid for one. It’s a great means for getting a really good room at a discounted price — provided you do your due diligence first. We’ve not had a bad room yet! And in every instance, we’ve gotten a hotel with a higher star-rating than what we bid on. It was no different this time; for $85 we got the Omni, located in the heart of the historical district and just steps from the Virginia State Capitol! Even better, when we reiterated our request for a quiet room, they upgraded us to the Club Floor at no additional charge. Not a peep can be heard from outside, so we’re happy campers :-)
The hotel promises “southern hospitality.” So far it’s delivering on that promise.
After checking in and dropping off our overnight bag in the room, we went back out to briefly enjoy the holiday cheer at the James Center, which is adjacent to the hotel. The small outdoor plaza was a-twinkle with white lights and deer … and there was even some music to add to the festive atmosphere.
Not only is there holiday cheer on the grounds outside the Omni …
… there are Christmas decorations in the indoor plaza as well.
All in all, a very satisfactory outing and well worth the 120-mile (192 km) drive down from DC. We have fluid plans for our return trip back north tomorrow … we’ll see what the day brings.
