Friday, May 26, 2023
We had a very nice turnout to get to know each other when we gathered at 1:00 p.m. on the Piazza. It was sunny, but jackets and sweaters added to our comfort.
Abby served snacks of cheese and crackers, taco dip, cookies and cupcakes, plus juice and water.
We mingled and found out more about our fellow residents. Most I already knew from interacting in other activities.
May 30, 2023
We gathered in the Cannoli Room to remember the thirteen residents that died the past year.
Tyler Palzkill welcomed us followed by Abby Syverson reading a poem. We sang "Amazing Grace" accompanied by Jim Szantor on his clarinet. Chaplain Jeremy Bryan talked about our perception of death and resurrection. Another member of the staff read an excerpt from Ecclesiastes (3:1-8). We observed silence after the names of the thirteen deceased were read.
May 29, 2023
We declined Anita Kuchler's invitation for a Memorial Day get-together, and we could not attend the SRS cook-out, because we accepted an invitation from Peter's cousin, Wally Stefan and his wife Elaine. My GPS was acting out-of-sorts trying to find the address; I thought Peter had it wrong. We headed towards Mequon, but to make certain we would get there, I called Wally who said a GPS has difficulty finding his house because it is set back from the road. Once we got to Pioneer Road we turned west, but that didn't seem right. Another call got us going east instead, and Wally was waiting for us by the side of the road. It was a long drive to his home on a dirt road.
Wally and Elaine have a beautiful home on a very large tract of land where we sat with beers while enjoying a gentle breeze. Wally grilled hamburgers and pork chops that we put together indoors with other additions. The watermelon was refreshing. Elaine and I had a chance to talk, mostly about family, while Peter had an opportunity to examine all of Wally's equipment. Peter was impressed with all the equipment kept in the garage and a very huge outbuilding.
It was still early enough to do something else, and Peter suggested Estbrook Park. As we drove, I changed our direction to von Rothenburg. We could have gotten there much quicker from Wally's house, but we had a pleasant drive.
Peter put down a tablecloth and got our cold steins filled with beer. There was no live music or food service, but we enjoyed just sitting and enjoying the day. Our tablecloth was an invitation for Dave to join us as we shared travel, beer and people stories. I am amazed how complete strangers can have so much in common.
As we were driving home Peter complained about a pain in his toe. Google seemed to think it was gout. I hope he gets relief soon.
Sunday, May 28, 2023
I planned to get subs from Gold Coast subs, but they were closed. I got the subs from Subway on 60th Street south of Oklahoma.
We had a perfect day for our picnic at Whitnall Park. Peter brought Helen Hankwitz, and then he joined the hikers. It was great seeing people that we haven't seen for quite a while.
By the time the hikers returned we were ready for our lunches and the dishes that were contributed. Our numbers increased considerably with the hikers and others that joined later. My rhubarb crisp got polished off with two pieces for me to take home.
Saturday, May 27, 2023
I hoped to find fresh rhubarb at the Walmart on Capitol Drive, but there was none. I got my other groceries, then drove to the Fondy Farmers Market, thinking I'd have better luck. It was a far cry from a farmers market - mostly gaudy merchandise.
My next bet was the West Allis Farmers Market, but I was pretty early for the 1:00 p.m. opening. A cup of coffee would kill some time, but the Beecher Street Cheese Market was packed. I was surprised to see the upgrade with a beautiful pergola and outdoor seating. I will definitely keep that in mind for a less busy time. Back to the WA market, but it still wasn't open.
As a last resort I went back to my own neighborhood to Fresh Thyme, which I should have gone in the first place, with my gift card besides. All the rhubarb I wanted!
I made a large rhubarb crisp for the Vagabond picnic tomorrow.
Monday, May 22, 2023
Today is the feast day of St. Rita of Cascia, the patron saint of St. Rita Parish. After the 10:30 mass yesterday, we gathered in the church hall for a buffet of ham, rolls, potato salad, fruit cup, cookies, chips and beverage. Many of the usual after-mass group did not come down and didn't know what they missed.
I was invited to Jay and Laura's for a duck dinner that Jay was preparing. Laura and I watched "Vera" while Jay worked in the kitchen. I was expecting roast duck and could not imagine a duck would roast in the 10 minutes Jay had allowed. But it was not a roast duck, but duck breast medallions on a honey butter sauce with roasted carrots and a sauce for dipping. The crusty bread did not need butter but could soak up that delicious honey butter. We had wonderful conversation about Jay's recent trip with Brad to Eli, MN, to work on a National Forest building, plus other topics of interest.
Monday, May 22, 2023
Today Cookie Anderson led a group of us fold origami butterflies that Bruce and Terry Wiggins want to use when they celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary on June 10. Terry used colorful calendar pages which were more difficult to fold but put paper to another use. I used a glue gun to attach a tiny flap that held it together.
Monday, May 15, 2023
I started the day at Educators Credit Union to transfer my money from High Yield to Super Yield for a better rate.
Next, I drove to Wayne's Daughters Nursery for plants. It was a perfect day: not too warm, after Mother's Day and before Memorial Day, so there was a very nice selection. I did not find Mexican Feather Grass, but I'll use snapdragons for height. When I got home I filled the planters with the soil that I saved from last year and made quite a mess on the balcony. I planted two Sunsugar tomatoes, two dragon wing begonias and a mint plant before sweeping up the mess. I'll save the rest for the next couple of days. I was pretty tired.
But I managed to get to Happy Hour with a lot of people.
Friday, May 19, 2023
It was fun tracking Janice's driving progress as she was coming to SRS. She arrived at noon with her bag of lunch. It was a very pleasant day, so we set our places on the balcony and enjoyed a very tasty chili with saltine crackers (butter with mine), chocolate pudding and refreshing cranberry juice.
Janice had so much to say about the special beans she uses, plus other ingredients, especially the chocolate that was not included in the recipe.
For Mother's Day Brad and Janice gave me some on-line meals that she ordered and we will share.
Charles Vinson is moving from the first floor to the room across from me. He said he would like more privacy.
Peter picked me up at 4:00 p.m. for a drive to Maifest in Germantown. We were very early and got the pick of any table in the gigantic tent. Peter wanted to go on Friday because he wanted to meet up with his relative Wally. The Wunder-Bars were playing and I had a hot (warm) dog and potato salad, Peter a bratwurst. Peter had our steins and we went to get them filled with German beer. I was charged $30 for the two steins. Peter was outraged and continued to complain when he sat down. While he was getting his brat a man told me that the bartender wanted to see me. The bartender said he made a mistake and my "husband" and I could each have another refill of our steins.
Wally came at 6:00 p.m. and he and Peter had a very nice visit. Then Bella Cain, the featured band, came on with very loud music. I could understand why there was a $10 cover charge for anyone coming in after 6:30. This band drew a large crowd, but the music was not for us.
Sunday, May 14, 2023
Today Donald would have been 86 years old.
Laura hosted Mother's Day without Jay and Brad who were working on some National Parks housing project in Eli, MN. Anton was a very capable co-host. Annika was missing also because she was working at Char'd, which is very understandable.
Janice provided plenty of appetizers to tide us over until Laura's dinner of lasagna, salad and garlic toast. Sorbet with assorted cookies was a refreshing dessert.
Laura and Jay gave me a certificate for a dinner at Buttermint and an orchid. Claude gave me an Asiatic lily that I'll pot on my balcony, also an Amazon gift card; Brad and Janice gave me a food selection like they did previously.
Monday, May 8, 2023
Not as nice weather as yesterday's summery day; rainy and chilly.
Peter and I sat with Chuck and Bonnie at the luncheon with Leon and Debra, plus another gentleman next to Peter. Peter's pork chop was very small and dry; my chicken breast was dry also.
Five seniors received $3000 each to further their pursuit of degrees in education. One of them named Annika (center) will be going to Lawrence. I told her that she will love Lawrence and wished her good luck.
Friday, February 10, 2023
Instead of leaving my house at 8:00 a.m., we left just
before 9. Peter drove to the pharmacy on Oklahoma Avenue before picking me up
to get a refill of his medication. It will save us the bother of trying to
refill it in FL. Peter brought a very large cooler and I managed to fill it with
a lot of items from my frig that we can use before having to shop for groceries
right away.
We stopped for a filling breakfast at Cracker Barrel.
I had used a toll paying APP on my phone for the Illinois toll
system, but Dwight Morgan talked about having an IPass that would apply to
almost all toll systems. I did some research and learned that we could buy one immediately at an
Oasis. Peter got the necessary attachment and information, attached the transducer to the windshield and we were on our way.
The day was sunny and breezy, traffic moderate. We stopped at some rest stops.
Two near calamities: I forgot to plug my phone and it died, and we were low on gas. I managed to get my phone powered and we found a Shell station with a low price. We still had an hour before getting to the Comfort Inn in Franklin, KY.
When we checked in at the Comfort Inn the desk manager suggested a Mexican restaurant just up the hill, and our room card
gave us 10% discount. We enjoyed Margaritas and Fajitas for two,
very filling and enjoyable. We took some
home in a box.
Saturday, February 11, 2023
We were ready to leave our room when Peter felt a tingling sensation
from his feet upward. I suggested sitting
with his feet propped up on the bed and drinking water. A couple of glasses later, he started feeling
better. He was probably dehydrated. We will have to be more conscious to drink more
water. We were ready to go at 8:30 a.m.
Skies were overcast. We
stopped for gas at Jack's Truck Stop when it started to rain and it continued our
entire trip, not a downpour, but pretty steady. As we reached Walton Beach it stopped. We found Island Echoes at about 6:00 p.m. I got
a luggage cart which we loaded up. I waited
while Peter parked the car, then we went up to 7E. The apartment is immaculate,
with all the necessary equipment that we should be needing. We can hear the ocean, but it's too dark to see
it. I warmed up the fajita from yesterday
and served it over toast with an orange and beer. That really beat having to go out.
Sunday, February 12, 2023
I wore my winter coat to the 10:00 a.m mass at St. Mary's Parish, and I wasn't too warm on this dull, overcast day. We arrived early at this huge church that could accommodate very many people. No standing room here; I was wrong. The church was packed, and there were people standing. In the middle of the priest's homily, I saw light coming through the stained glass windows.
After mass we did our grocery shopping and shed our coats. When we got home we put on shorts and had lunch on our balcony with sunny skies without a cloud to be seen.
When we stopped at the Welcome Center the woman said that we have Stewby's right down our street. That "restaurant" was the first one that anyone mentioned when asked for recommendations. So, of course, we would have to try it, and that's what we did today. It has a walk-up window to order and your order will be called. There was an assortment of fish dinners all served on paper; Peter and I each ordered two shrimp tacos that came with some fries, also large iced teas. The total was $31.19.
The joke is that yesterday I made a dinner with 1 pound of garlic jumbo shrimp on a bed of buttered spaghetti squash with cilantro and a beautiful salad that cost less than $20.00. An extra treat was a bottle of Reisling wine that I got as a present from Claude.
What was so special about Stewby's that people just came streaming in? It never ceases to amaze me what people consider good food.
We have a small balcony overlooking the beach with a small round table big enough for beverages and maybe a sandwich or snacks. The ocean is constantly moving and provides a soothing background.
Below, we can see the shuffleboard and people playing in the morning.
Walking on the soft powdery sand is such a different experience than the sand of other beaches that had so many seashells that cut your feet; there are no seashells here.
Our apartment is at the top just to the left of the jutting out partition.
We really packed it in today!
Peter was not happy with the route we took getting here, via some back roads instead of the Interstate. He thought AAA would have some better options. We packed some food in the event we would find a picnic spot and headed to Pensacola, arriving at about 12:30 p.m. The agent said that the route we took was the shortest route and the only way to get on I65. Peter wanted to avoid those back roads and the only way to do that would be to go to Pensacola, then Mobile. We got a Triptic and some maps (the Florida map was not included) and headed out to find a picnic spot.
Google found Bryan Park next to the Library where we set out our usual fare of bread, sausage, cheese, apple and beer in a gazebo. That was just enough to tide us over.
Peter thought the Subaru might need some oil. He checked, and it was about a quart low. So instead of buying a quart of oil, he thought going to the Subaru dealership in Pensacola could take care of it; we had been there previously. They could take us immediately. I had my knitting, Peter found some coffee and cookies while we waited an hour for the car to be completely serviced: fluids checked, tires rotated and the car washed at no charge since the car is still under some service contract.
When we got to Island Echoes a driver behind us helped Peter enter the gate code. It took Peter a long time to get to our apartment because he struck up a conversation with the man and found they had a lot in common relative to Germany.
I made chicken, spinach and potatoes for dinner.
Thursday, February 16, 2023
Another suggestion was for a tiny Korean restaurant in a strip mall with delicious food and a very friendly waitress.
We tried that for lunch and it surpassed the recommendation. It was very tiny and our petit waitress was very busy and efficient. We got our menu with a little vegetable roll.
I chose the top item.
Peter chose the third from the bottom.
My portion seemed immense, but I finished the entire bowl.
Our lovely waitress answered any questions and gave me a hug as we were leaving.
Monday, February 20, 2023
This complex is very large, but there are some social groups that are most welcoming. We met John and Nancy from Minnesota who invited us to the 8:00 a.m. coffee hour on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by an hour of shuffleboard. We watched the championship round last Wednesday and Peter signed us up to play this week. The coffee time is ideal for finding out about places to eat, like the Korean restaurant. I also signed up for the Thursday Pot Luck.
Peter and I were the last to play today and lost 34 -35; I thought that was pretty good for novices. Needless to say, we did not qualify for the championship round on Wednesday. We got a lot of sun waiting our turn.
We also learned that Pampano Joe's in Destin has the best crab legs, also a Happy Hour from 3 - 5 p.m. that we tried tonight. We struck up a conversation with some people from the Wisconsin Rapids area, and discussed beer with a man with a connection with the Destin Brewery while having Margaritas and pork nachos. We will definitively be back for the crab legs. We left at sunset.
Tuesday, February 21, 2023
Thursday, February 23, 2023
Today was overcast with the horizon barely visible, but it was pleasantly warm. I made a celery salad for the pot luck today and did some knitting; Peter took a very long walk.
There were five round tables set for six and we drew a number to determine which was our table. That was to avoid the same people always sitting together, a great socializing tactic. 
There was an abundance of various dishes, with the signature dish, meatloaf with sour cream as an ingredient. Besides filling our plates from the buffet, each table had a whole meatloaf on a platter. Sue (standing) was the principle organizer. Following the main course, Sue passed a sheet at each table with 25 questions with states for the answers. Each table worked on a sheet together. Did you know that root beer was invented in Mississippi? And guess which table had the most correct answers: Table 5, our table, so we got to go to the dessert table first.
This was a very congenial group that made us very welcome. Many expressed hope for us to return next year, but right now it it's too early to commit.
Friday, February 24, 2023
We could barely see the water today, it was was so foggy and overcast, but warm. We started putting things together for our return home.
We followed the recommendations for crab legs by heading to Pompano Joe's in Destin. We were there for Happy Hour a few days ago.
We opted for outdoor seateing, even though we would not have a view of the water and it might be chilly. I was not disappointed. Instead of a clear view, it was almost surrealistic, with the fog and haze.
The evening was very mild and I was quite comfortable.
This is the reason to be in Florida, for this fabulous food, grilled crab legs; Peter had grilled tuna. The vegetables were as good as they look.
We completed our meal by sharing a key lime pie.
We drove back home in dense fog.
Saturday, February 25. 2023
We had an early start, a little after 7:00 a.m. on a very foggy morning. We had wishes to see us again next year as we were on our way. Peter opted to take the shortest route, even though we would be driving on back roads for a while, and I thought we might find a local diner for breakfast. The first one had an all-you-can-eat buffet, but I don't do buffets. Shortly after, Peter spotted the Gator Café, just what we wanted, a very friendly local café. We were pleased with the service and the food.
Good driving with rest stops along the way. Alabama had a picnic area with its Wayside that provided an opportunity for our picnic lunch. It was a good stop because a stop farther down the highway would have been raining. We had light rain for quite a few miles, but cleared up when we reached the Comfort Inn in Franklin, KY. A bar and grill seemed like a good idea and the hotel clerk suggested Holly J's. That's where we headed with its pool table, some high tables and a bar. We ordered glasses of Yuengling with tacos for me and quesadillas for Peter. Out heavily tattooed waitress was very attentive with her Southern drawl.
There was a man sitting at a table behind Peter that was not in my line of vision, but he said some greeting to me as he was leaving and I answered him back. We finished our meals and Peter asked for the bill. "It's already been taken care of", our waitress said. By the man who was sitting behind Peter. This is the second time this has happened to us, someone doing an RAK (Random Act of Kindness).
Before going home we stopped at the Brat House for hamburgers and beer.
Sunday, May 7, 2023
Austrian Club meetings have been permanently changed to the first Sundays of the month and we met on a beautiful sunny, warm day, almost too nice to be indoors. Unfortunately, attendance wasn't that good. Peter was happy to announce that he recovered a number of the club's items from Doug Scott's garage: Christmas song books, a large plaque with each region's coat of arms and flag pole stands.
Peter picked up an item from Karl's Meat Market before heading to the Von Rotthenburg Bier Stube. As we sat down to order, our waitress informed us that our beers were being paid for by some gentleman who is a police officer. Peter did not know him, but probably Peter's Tyrol hat caught the man's attention. We enjoyed our beers in the cooled steins Peter carried and made plans for our next German celebration. I mentioned the fest we attended where we met a nice couple, but Peter said that was in West Bend. Not too much time elapsed when Steve and Karen joined us! We enjoyed our reunion and I was able to read the blog that I wrote from our previous meeting.
https://mzientek.blogspot.com/2022/08/west-bend-germanfest.html
