Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Home!!

Just a short note to tell everyone we are home, the weather is nice, and the flowers have started their way up from their winter-hidingplaces!

The airfare went totally uneventful (thank you Continental) but I will send a little message to them to tell them that Norwegians are NOT chinese... the seats are so small Per and I had to eat one before the other! Terrible. Last time we fly Continental if they don't change back to their big flying machines!!!

Miss you already, Florida!

Monday, April 20, 2009

Delayed from Orlando

ok... usually I will stay longer but not in an airport! And finally not in a terminal without a good burger! This also means we don't get our goodbye-America-burger in Newark, since we (hopefully) gets in just minutes before the plane to Oslo leaves....

Have my computer, have a bottle of beer, and Per got his Diet Coke.. we are good for now! (2.30 pm)

Sunday, April 19, 2009

We will miss you so much!!


Ok - last night with our best best best Florida friends! And - Sharon! Thank you so much for the Brighton Florida Bracelet, I just love it! It is now glued to my wrist!


this blog will be filled with norwegian lies about snow, cold, travels, food (lutefisk), beer, Per, me, and other goodies when we get home!

Saturday, April 18, 2009

More dinners, more sun, more more more!

We went to Leverocks again today, the food was just wonderful! I had sauteed trout, Per the Ahi Tuna! jummi! And for dessert... Key lime Pie of course.

Weather: just have a look! Purrfect!



Here we are... purrfect couple, right?


The Harbourtown Marina, view from our table!

Dave and Sharon... what to eat what to eat!


And the weather perfect, the company perfect.... what could spoil this evening? Nothing!!!

The pelicans at Stump Pass Marina




I have been a lousy lazy blogger this vacation. But, we have a great time, if you wonder!

I have written about Stump Pass Grille before. We went there day before yesterday too, and I took some pictures of the pelicans.

Later we drove to our special wateringhole. On the way we met this little fella' an Armadillo!


This is for my good friend Torill in Norway

Monday, April 13, 2009

A cute new gator in the pond!

Today I saw this cute little fella' in the pond!

Easter dinner at Daniel's...

Yesterday we had a wonderful dinner at Daniel's Steak and Seafood.

I started out with Escargot, gently baked and prepared with Daniel's house garlic butter on a bed of fresh baby spinach. It was topped with a parmesan crust. I ate it before I remembered to take a picture!! Per had the Jumbo Shrimp Coctail - huge (enormous) shrimp served with a lemon wedge and zesty coctail sauce. Jummi!

Then I had Rack of Lamb - dijon crusted, it was perfectly seasoned and roasted, medium rare, garlic chive mashed potatoes and jummi vedgies.

Per had a seafood cassolette, with sea bass, shrimp and scallops baked in a creamy bechamel sause topped with crusted parmesan served with wild rice pilaf. Hungry??? it was just SO good!


















After dinner we jumped over to Joannie in the bar for coffee, and what did we see? The glass, Liv - the glass!!

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Boca Grande - busy and beautiful!



To day we decided to do something else. So, we drove to Boca Grande. It is 20 minutes drive from our place.The drive to Boca Grande is a beautiful one, and today the colors of the water was amazing. I could not take any pictures since I was driving though.


A good friend of ours, Kathi, works in the local newspaper in Boca Grande, the Boca Beacon (costs: 25 cents, for sale everywhere, in restaurants, paper-salesboxes and spa-salons....)


One important thing to do in Boca Grande, is to have an ice cream at the Loose Cabboose, in the old railway station. Goody! (and since my icecrem was 1 scoop of orange/pinapple and one scoop of mango/apricot, my white t-shirt needs to be cleaned - the spots have nice pink and orange color.....)

After the ice cream, we took a walk around the little town. It is filled with golf-carts, people use them in stead of cars (wrong, there are lots of cars here too, but if all the people had had cars Boca Grande would have been a big parking lot).
It seems like they have opened more access to the public beach. We walked and I took some pictures of the houses that have direct view... wow! must be wonderful to live like that! Well - at least outside the hurricane season. And outside the tourist-season. And when the sun is up. And during daytime. Actually... I think it is nice to live where we live.

And of course, every little town has its churches. In Boca Grande they have at least this cute little baptist church, and across the street an even smaller one. And, in one of the stores they sold coffee by the honor system (take coffee, put money in the box to the left. looked like people paid their coffee!)

Friday, April 10, 2009

Stump Pass Grille

One of our favourite lunch-places in the sun is Stump Pass Grille. It is located at the end of Maryland Ave. - down by the water. In the old days, they even had a swimmingpool for the guests, and you could lay there in the sun all day beeing served drinks and burgers and other goodies! Just like on a cruiseship!

There is a marina there too, and an old lighthouse (don't really know if it has been a lighthouse, but it looks like one). We have also rented a pontoon-boat there a few times, really a great way to enjoy sun and intra-coastal water!

Yesterday we went to Stump Pass Grille to enjoy the late sun and the smell of saltwater. The view is also great, lots of boats passing, the fishermen feeding the pelicans. The pelicans are strange and wonderful birds. Their flying skills are good, but when they try to land... they look like they are having a belly-flop contest!
Stump Pass Grille have good (not great, but good) burgers and sandwiches (called sammiches) Their burger is juicy and tasty, so together with view and smell, and reasonable prising, the place is actually great!

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Breakfast, goodbye and poolday!

A sad day - Eric the golfer/ plumber/ carpenter/ taxpayer/ doorman/ gardener (Morten) left to go home to Norway. He was sad, because he really got the swing on his golf, and also found a new golf-friend. So - I am sure he will be back within a few months. We had breadfast at Pix-sea before he hit the road, and what a breakfast! They call it The Jogger, and I can understand.... he surely need to go jogging after all that food!

Erics plane is already 1 hour delayed from Tampa to Newark, so then he gets lots of time to eat a huge real American Bacon Cheese burger before he leaves the US of A!! Have a safe trip home, Morten (Eric)!

After we said goodbye, we went to the pool, and I had my daily swim... Per did his daily sudoku, and I got to read some pages in my book. After 1 hour and 30 minutes other people ruined the peace with their yelling and cellphones, so... now I am by the computer again!

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Genealogy on the lanaii - with some good red wine.


Last night I sat outside, it was a lovely night, temperature around 70 F.

One of my goals for this vacation is to go through my source-database and correct, fix and clean up.
Almost all genealogist experience that the things they found the first years of their work, is to sloppy source-vice. So do I - and lots of my genealogy-friends!

I have till now gone through all my norwegian census-sources, and made them look more logical and easier for others to read.

The picture shows me and my laptop (and this IS a laptop, see??) ... and the glass. Glass to the left.

Saturday, April 4, 2009

J. A. P. D. I. P

Weather: purrfect!

There are no words to describe how it is to be back in Florida!

Last night (Friday April 4th) we went to our favourite wateringhole, Daniel's, and there they were. All of them! I think the rumour about our return has gone around town.... and it was a purrfect first night!

And, since I managed to sleep till 7.30 this morning, the jet-lag will disappear in a flash. Usually I am up before the sun. Per had already made coffee of course (his days usually start around 6 in the morning Mondays and Sundays. No difference there.

I went out to get some sun, it took less than 1 hour to get that sexy pink tan.... and, since it is 5 o'clock somewhere......

Yeah! J.A.P.D.I.P!

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Thank you Continental!

We got this offer when we checked in online at Continental - upgrade to business class from Newark to Orlando, 100 USD each. Worth every cent! After a very crowded monkey-class from Oslo to Newark, that was just what we needed. Huge seats, free red-wine, and the dinner they served was actually really good!

Now we are at Marriott Airport Hotel in Orlando, 9th (consierge) floor with a view. Dark though, so we don't see anything. But, the room is nice, and Per is already sleeping.

Tomorrow we will take the shuttle back to the airport, and get our rental-car, and I will drive us home to Englewood. Really looking forward to get there!

Just a short note...

We are in the US of A! Newark right now, leaving here in 2 hours for Orlando! Sun sun sun!!!! The airfare was ok, long but ok. So now... a bar for me and a coke for Per!

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

We are ready guys!

Ok - we are ready - 1 suitcase filled with... suitcases, and 1 small carry-on, my computer and 2 Gold Credit cards... sounds like vacation to me!!

Per is counting his (read: mine) USD.. 4 dollars 25 cents! He can buy me a good glass of wine for all that money during Happy Hour at Daniel's, right??

Ok guys, see you on Friday, maybe Saturday, depends on mr. Per.

The picture is mostly for my norwegian friends... you down there know how it looks like.. Paradize.. Right? Right?

Ok - see you guys!