Weather for Ducks

October 12, 2015October 12, 2015 ~ roselore ~ Leave a comment

I remember one of the stories in my grade-school reading book. It was titled Weather for Ducks. I think it was in one of the Dick and Jane reader series. In the story their town flooded. I can’t remember much else about it, but that’s where I got the title for this post. I remember thinking it might be fun to be in a flood, mostly because then school would be closed. I’m older now and know better–floods are inconvenient at the least and deadly at their worst.

During the week we were in The Villages with Joan and John, it was raining in South Carolina. The low-pressure system that brought the rain was held in place by Hurricane Joaquin, which lounged around in the Bahamas for days before it finally moved on. The rainfall was record-breaking and caused wide-spread flooding in South Carolina.

We were fine at Claire and Dan’s house, although a couple of small lakes formed in their yard. Other folks in Summerville were not so fortunate and some had to be evacuated from their homes. We waited out the monsoon, playing cards and drinking wine:

Of course we had the most fun watching the grandkids and keeping them entertained.

Fascinated with Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

The rain finally stopped (mostly) and we went for a walk and shopping at Claire’s new favorite grocery store, a sure cure for cabin fever.

We spent an extra day in Summerville because of the flooding. A stretch of I-95 was closed so we had to detour around it on our way home, but we still made good time. Steve and I were glad to get home, but now I’m going through grandkid withdrawal! Yes, I miss their parents too!

The next stop on the TABICS2015 tour is Bellvale Farms Creamery. I checked out the ice cream flavors on their website and my mouth is already watering! We’ll be going within the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned for the next scoop!

Lori

Casa di Rossi at Rossipolis

October 10, 2015October 12, 2015 ~ roselore ~ Leave a comment

You could say I’m writing about our first TABICS2015 trip in chapters. It would be a very long post otherwise, and I wouldn’t be able to give proper attention to each part of the trip. We stayed with Steve’s sister and her husband, John and Joan Rossi, at their home in The Villages (aka Disney for grownups) so we could make a day trip to Punta Gorda for the ice cream project. They are truly the monarchs of hospitality.

Just like Disney, Joan had the guest rooms ready with towel critters on the beds:

A manta for us and a dog for Bridget and Edda

Along with delicious meals and a beautiful home, Joan and John showed us around The Villages (yes, The is capitalized!), which has golf courses everywhere. We visited Brownwood with its bronze cattle drive entrance:

Florida was known for cattle! The cowboys were called crackers due to the sound of their whips cracking.

Steve and I spent a day in Tarpon Springs with Joan and John while Bridget and Edda had a “down” day. Tarpon Springs is a largely Greek town known as the sponge capital of the world. Or maybe just the U.S. We had a delicious lunch at a Greek restaurant there and dipped our fingers in the Gulf. Of course, Joan and I did some serious shopping too. Bet you didn’t know I had a business in Tarpon Springs.

John and Joan have been having a lot of fun decorating their home. Their most recent project is Rossipolis, a summer kitchen and Greek-inspired birdcage which they expanded from the original lanai. As you can see, Edda made the most of the chaise longue. John has written the history of Rossipolis, with many plays on words (I think they’re really funny). Be sure to take a look at it if you visit.

To get the full Villages experience, you really need to travel by golf car (that’s what they call them, not golf carts). We tooled around Thursday evening while Joan was fixing dinner, but she didn’t miss out on all of the fun. I really think Joanie enjoyed getting the mail more than Edda did!

We were sorry to leave on Friday, but anxious to get back to Summerville to beat the monsoons that were predicted in South Carolina for the weekend. Edda was a good little traveler again:

Lori

A fabulous day in Punta Gorda

October 4, 2015October 4, 2015 ~ roselore ~ 1 Comment

I was a little nervous about how today would go (actually it’s Sunday because I started this post on my tablet and it didn’t cooperate). Silly, I know, but I come from a long line of worry warts on my mother’s side of the family. For example, I worried whether I would be able to taste the malt in the chocolate malt that Claudia was going to make. Snort. It was sooo delicious.

This was a two-fer visit to Punta Gorda. After a leisurely lunch visiting with Steve’s cousins, who live near Harborwalk Scoops & Bites, we trooped downstairs for ice cream. Claudia greeted us with “Is that Lori?” as we walked in the door. I don’t know how she could tell. Maybe it was the 7 chattering adults and one toddler that gave her a clue.

Over the years of my quest for the perfect chocolate malt, I’ve had few that were up to my standards. IF I could taste the malt (which MANY TIMES I couldn’t despite asking for quadruple the normal amount–disappointing!), the confection (do you know there is no synonym for chocolate malt when you do a Google search?) was almost always overly sweet from too much chocolate syrup. I knew I had met a kindred spirit when Claudia told me she had looked up an old fashioned recipe that called for only one spoonful of malt and she didn’t think that would be enough. She said she uses three scoops and increases it to four when customers ask for extra. She made mine with five scoops of malt, vanilla ice cream, and exactly the right amount of chocolate syrup. It. Was. PERFECT.

Claudia arranged for a reporter from the local NBC affiliate to report on the ice cream project. Eeeeek! Here’s the link to the segment with my five seconds of fame (cuteness alert–notice my granddaughter in the clip):

http://www.nbc-2.com/clip/11885739/tourists-worldwide-flock-en-mass-to-charlotte-co

What I said in the interview is true–visiting top ice cream shops is a great way to pick travel destinations. Most of us go to the same place for vacation year after year, for various reasons. When I think about the huge variety the U.S. offers in terms of culture and entertainment, it seems a shame not to sample parts of the country that I would not normally visit. I guess this is my way of channeling Charles Kuralt, only with ice cream.

I also like the idea of promoting small businesses, which are the backbone of our country. At a time when more and bigger is considered an improvement in business, we should give serious consideration to the idea that a business paradigm shift is in order for improving both our mental health and the economic health of our country. Imagine having a job where the creative process involves coming up with new and interesting flavors of ice cream! That’s what Claudia and Ron have. I’m still marveling over their wine ice cream, made with red wine so it’s good for both your heart AND your spirit!

Enough philosophy. Here are some pictures from a day that I will savor forever in my heart, along with the memories of a warm welcome from Claudia, both by email and in person: