Where in the World?

Summary of a fantastic day (at least for me!):

Awake at 6:00 a.m. to catch the sunrise on the ocean and do a little bit of photography. Definitely worth the early rise.

Back to sleep for a couple of hours.

Wonderful breakfast of fresh cantelope, eggs over medium, coffee, fresh baked muffins, and yogurt.

Great company.

11 mile bike ride along the ocean.

Late lunch of freshly made bouillabaisse with saffron, wheat toast and a garden salad.

Driving to Portland, Maine for a coffee and a lucious all natural burger at Mimi’s downtown.

Watching the movie called “2 Days in Paris.”

Sitting on the porch watching the almost full moon casting light on the ocean waves.

Talking late into the night with my new friends Al, Betsy and Erica’s mom, Marge while sipping some brandy. The topic was travel and there was one interesting story after another.

Falling asleep exhausted after a day of rest, relaxation and fun.

Michael

As I listen to the ocean waves tonight, I find them completely relaxing. Friday was more busy than the previous week combined. It was quite a contrast to the day I had today, which was basically sleeping late and watching the ocean.

I’m up in Biddeford, Maine this weekend for some R&R. The house I’m staying at is right on the ocean. I only have to walk about 30 yards to reach the water. It’s quite beautiful.

It is vital that we make time for ourselves after busy, stressful days or weeks. The balance is important and vital to regain our energy, stability and of course our attitude. The only people that we can count on to pamper us is ourselves.

So, take time off periodically and regularly. Do something fun. Have a rest. Play. Laugh. Talk with friends.

Have a great day!

Michael

I’m in Tarrytown, New York this weekend helping Erica with the Fall Craft Show held at Lyndhurst House. The arts and crafts booths were spread out over the beautiful grounds that slope down to the Hudson River near the Tappan Zee Bridge.The Lyndhurst house is located within a 67 acre park and was built in 1838. It was donated to the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1961. The style of the house is unusual but is based on Gothic.

At the end of the day I walked around the grounds for a little while enjoying the tremendous size of the trees. Many were simply huge and walking under them was like entering a tunnel.

The rolling lawns created wide open spaces that made the house and landscape feel even bigger. The views in the distance of the Hudson River and Tappan Zee Bridge were lovely and added to the grandeur of the estate.

For dinner we took a short drive to Irvington and ate at The Red Hat Bistro. I started off with a Red Hat Margarita which was perfectly balanced. I had the crab cake for a starter which was light, tasty and had very little filler. The sauce was spicy. I ate a pan seared cod for the entree. Dessert was an incredible toffee amaretto bread pudding with a scoop of ice cream. This was one of the best desserts I’ve had in a long time. If you are in the Westchester county of New York, I highly recommend this bistro for a fantastic meal.

Michael

Erica and I ate at a fabulous restaurant tonight called Uchi. The chef at Uchi prepares gourmet sushi, sashimi, and several hot and cold Japanese dishes, the likes of which I’ve never experienced before. The dishes were inventive, creative, artistic and had a blend of flavors that were simply divine. Our waitress was very knowledgeable, professional and key to the wonderful time we spent exploring and tasting items from the rich menu.

We ordered a number of dishes that were brought to the table one at a time to be shared. It made for a rich and varied dining experience. I supplemented the meal with a cold sake called Otokoyama. Otokoyama is light and very smooth with a hint of banana. This was my first time trying cold sake. I’ll probably never try hot sake again. The cold was that much better.

The menu can be found on the Uchi website. We tried the following dishes:

• Brie tempura ringo – Lightly fried brie with apple chutney and sweet potatoe chips (Incredible combination of flavors and the cheese was to die for.)
• Avo bake – Creamy baked tiger shrimp and krab, served in an avocado (One of our favorites for the night. It was slightly spicy and the avocado was warm. Very different.)
• Spider sushi roll – Softshell crab, flying fish roe, Japanese cucumber and white soybean paper. (Crispy and soft at the same time with a slightly spicy sauce.)
• Shag – Tempura fried bond roll with salmon and squid ink sumiso sauce (We also loved this one. Crunchy on the outside and softer on the inside. The squid ink sauce was really good. I can’t explain the taste though.)
• Sunomono -A variety of seaweeds, Japanese cucumber, and radish sprouts in ponzu. (Fantastic, light and invigorating.)
• Shrimp tempura – lightly batter tiger shrimp. (These were fried to perfection and melted in the mouth.)
• Peanut butter semi freddo – with apple miso sorbet and ringo crisps. (The sorbet was light, sweet and addictive.)
• Valrhona chocolat and wasabi fondant – with pistachio ice cream and orange tuile. (The chocolate was unbelievably rich and the pistachio ice cream was perfect, not too sweet and just the right creaminess.)

Uchi was a fantastic find and I have added it to my all time favorite restaurant list. I’ll be eating here again next time I’m in Austin.

Michael

After a lazy morning, we ate lunch at North by Northwest near The Arboretum area of NW Austin. We then headed down to Zilker Park. This is a wonderful place full of paths for walking, jogging and bike riding. There are many open spaces combined with forests and streams. Our first stop was the Zilker Botanical Garden where we browsed around a cactus and succulent plant show while a light rain shower fell.Afterwards we walked around the Austin native plant area and drifted towards the Oriental Garden. It was quite lovely, peaceful and full of different textures. Many of the ponds had carp that were over two feet long! We walked back up the small hill towards our car.

Our next stop was Congress Ave. which was a short drive down Barton Springs Road. I was in need of a latte and late afternoon snack. During our coffee, my sister and youngest nephew who were also in Austin called asking if we would like to go for a canoe ride near Barton Springs Pool. This was a fantastic idea. Erica and I rented a canoe. My sister and nephew rented one person kayaks. We paddled together down Barton Springs to Town Lake (the Colorado River) and east towards the Congress Avenue Bridge.

After paddling about 25 minutes we turned around because thunderstorms seemed imminent. Before we got back to Barton Springs, the rain had begun albeit slowly at first. As we paddled quickly we were able to watch many turtles diving for the deep as we glided by. We also saw many ducks and geese along the way. By the time we got back to the rental place, the rains were torrential and we were soaked completely before we got back to the car.

After a change of clothes, Erica and I went to Satay for a Thai dinner. The food was fantastic. I really recommend this restaurant. We drove to back to the Congress Ave. Bridge to watch the bats. Unfortunately the bats didn’t really get going until close to 9:00 p.m. We could only see a few hundred at a time flying at breakneck speeds under the bridge. Typically, in summer you can see about 1.5 million of them flying up and out around sunset. Tonight was not one of those nights. It was still fun though.

Michael

Unfortunately, many people do not consider fun an important item on their daily agenda. For me, that was always a high priority in whatever I was doing. – Chuck Yeager

I’m in Austin, TX this week and decided to do something different. Erica and I went zip lining through a cypress grove in the hill country northwest of Austin today. The adventure is provided by Cypress Valley Canopy Tours. Wow! This was a lot of fun.

After getting our harnesses strapped on and our hard hats adjusted, we were off to ground school. We learned the basics of zip lining and the safety rules. After practicing about two feet off the ground, we climbed the steps to the first platform over the wheel house.

The first zip took us to a tree platform about 40 feet off the ground. We stayed at this height for the majority of the time. There were also several sky bridges that we had to cross. They were made of cable, rope and boards.

The zip line called The Screamer was the best. It was over 350 feet long and allowed some great speed before reaching the next platform. The idea for this one was to scream as long as you can. The guide was able to scream for the entire time, about 17 seconds. Impressive!

The last two zips were done in the rain due to a big thunderstorm that came through. It added another dimension to the experience, which we enjoyed.

There are other things to do here including a Canopy Challenge, bird watching, swimming, wildlife viewing, hiking and spending the night in a tree house called Loft Haven. Erica and I highly recommend this Eco Tour. Not only is there a lot of fun to be had, the staff is fantastic.

Michael