Adventures in the USA Archives

Another Fabulous Photo Friday!

April 11, 2014 By Tam Warner 16 Comments

I kind of like these posts! I get to choose photos and relive a trip, or time, of my life. After much thought, I have decided that today is….Savannah, Georgia! For those who do not know, I am also a private college consultant, and Randy and I took a trip to Savannah to check out Savannah College of Art and Design. Fabulous school…and we fell in love with the city. It feels like going into the past…it is charming and beautiful, with so much history! We also loved the river, and the Bonaventure Cemetery. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil…we only saw the good side of Savannah!

The old theater and Leopold's Ice Cream! — The old theater and Leopold’s Ice Cream!

And who, you ask, was Johnny Mercer? An American lyricist, songwriterand singer. He was also a co-founder of Capitol Records.

Marilyn! — Marilyn visited Savannah often and they loved her!

Randy at his ancestor's marker. — Randy at his ancestor’s marker.

General Nathanael Greene, second in command to General George Washington, is interred in Savannah. General Greene is an ancestor of Randy’s, on his mother’s side.

General Nathanael Greene, Randy's ancestor. — General Nathanael Greene, Randy’s ancestor.

World Famous Clary's Cafe! — World Famous Clary’s Cafe!

As their website says, “It is a place full of nostalgia and intriguing characters. It is a colorful mosaic of times and people and the bonds that have formed throughout the years. The feelings of home and family are evident when you walk through the door. As you look around at all of the knickknacks, paintings, family pictures and memorabilia that form its décor, you may wonder how a drugstore could have evolved into what you see now…..World Famous Clary’s Café. ” If you go to Savannah, you must eat at Clary’s!

sav 12 col park tombstones yankees defaced — Colonial Park’s defaced tombstones.

The Northern Troops camped in Savannah’s sacred Colonial Park Cemetery, and defaced many of the tombstones, and changed dates and performed other mischief. When you go, be sure to view these stones.

sav 011 — One of the “changed” tombstones

Bonaventure is filled with statues — Bonaventure is filled with, and famous for its statues

River Street. — River Street is the place to be in Savannah in the evenings!

We loved our visit to Savannah, and looking at these photos, I’d love to go back! I have an excuse, I have 3 students at the Savannah College of Art and Design!

More from Lake Travis

June 8, 2013 By Tam Warner Leave a Comment

Ah, the longer we stay on Lake Travis, the more I like it! Lakeway is a wealthy, small town with all the amenities, easy to get around in, and deer are sighted on every drive in the neighborhood. The only real issue is how low the lake is. There are boathouses and stairs just sprawled on the ground in so many places….Villa de Vistas has a dock that is in the water, but it is quite a way down, then back up, to get to it. I made the trip with the dogs today, and we swam in the lake. I mean, how can I come to the lake and not swim?

Oh, Villa de Vistas also has a wine cellar where they do wine tastings for their guests! As I said, Villa de Vistas has everything you could possibly want…if you are a cook, they have an herb garden you can harvest your herbs from! They also have a home theater. complete with an old popcorn maker, soda, and a candy case! The owners have thought of everything, and it is all executed in grand style.

We enjoyed a lovely dinner at Hudson’s on the Bend with Jeri and Michael of Villa de Vistas. We absolutely loved the restaurant, it is rustically charming with an elegant flair in its decor. They grow their own herbs, indeed, herbs were growing on the roof! The excellent sauces are for sale in the restaurant store, and so are cooking classes held by the chefs. The food is tasty as well as tastefully presented. I had a Crab cake with corn, cheese and avocado….delicious! If you are visiting Lake Travis, you should give it a try, I highly recommend it. There is also an Italian Beef place here called Chitown, as in Chicago, Chi town, great for lunch, especially if you are from Chicago like my husband is! I’ve never met someone from Chicago who did not love Italian Beef….Randy cannot go by an Italian Beef place without stopping for one. I, on the other hand, don’t eat meat, so they certainly do not tempt me.

Tomorrow we head back to the Big “D”, but I do believe we will be back to visit!

Hamilton Pool in Dripping Springs, Tx!

June 6, 2013 By Tam Warner Leave a Comment

5/12/15: a little reminder about how wonderful the Texas Hill Country is! First published on 6/6/13

I took a little trip this morning in order to hike to Hamilton Pool. Hamilton Pool is an historic swimming hole, about an hour outside of Austin. Hamilton Creek empties into the Pedernales River, spilling over limestone outcroppings to create a 50 foot waterfall. In Cozumel, this would be known as a cenote. I thought it would be worth a look, and I was absolutely correct.

The pool is about a mile from the entrance to the trail. It is the Hill Country, so it is up and down, up and down. The path is rocky and uneven with plenty of gnarly roots. I had no trouble on it, actually, I love nature and I love paths like this. I am quite surefooted on uneven surfaces, it is only on smooth flat ground that I fall…or smooth steps. Hamilton Pool is one of those places where generations of people have enjoyed the “swimming hole”. The water is cool and green, and looks inviting, but sadly, there are times when one cannot swim because of high bacteria levels. Today was one of those days.

After the hike, I could see why you would want a swim. Whew. So I checked out the caverns and the pool, and enjoyed some time just watching and listening to the waterfall. It is nice and cool under the roof of the outcropping. It was nice to actually sit behind the falls as well.

I headed back after 20 minutes at the pool (since there was no swimming I didn’t stay for a long time) and somehow, I missed the turn off to the main path back to the parking lot. Instead, I hiked an additional mile along the Pedernales River. I have no idea how I could have missed the main path….but I was in unfamiliar territory, and I thought, great, I can see myself lost, wandering along the river to the pool and back again for hours. I can hear Randy and the kids already, another “kooky” mom story! Fortunately, I managed to find the path again and headed up. And I mean UP. The Hill Country is very hilly indeed! So I did over 3 miles of up and down terrain. I can hear some snickering that 3 miles is not much distance. But hey, I am over 50 (I cannot believe that, it is astonishing to me) and I have a few health issues. I have an erector set in my spine, 8 pedicle screws and rods holding it all together, so I am pretty happy with my hike this morning. Of course, diving or snorkeling would be better, but the water didn’t look too clear, and I admit that freshwater fish are kind of boring. Most of my trips tend to be near diving, but not freshwater. I have been diving in the cenotes, with incredible geological sights, but there are no fish at all in cenotes, so I only did it once. Kind of boring. I need action! Anyway, if you are near Austin, Tx or in the Hill Country, take a hike to Hamilton Pool. It is a beautiful place to relax.

Evening: Tonight we headed to the Oasis, one of the most popular restaurants on Lake Travis. The views are panoramic! On the way home, we ran into some of our neighbors! I LOVE wild life!

Villa de Vistas, Lake Travis outside of Austin

June 4, 2013 By Tam Warner 3 Comments

Wow. That’s really the best way to put it. First, we are in Lakeway, Texas, and it is a lovely little town in the Texas Hill Country and on Lake Travis. Yes, there are hills in Texas, quite beautiful ones…just not in Dallas. The house is absolutely wonderful! Click on the link because I believe it will show you the “wow” better than I can say it. We are enjoying luxury, I will tell you that! Every little detail is perfect, from the decor to the soaps and shampoos in every shower. There are robes in every bath as well, and soft slippers. Any game you could possibly think of to play is here! There are indoor games like billiards, board games, card games, and outdoor games, badminton (that’s us, haha), Bocce Ball, croquet….fishing, kayaking….all accoutrement are here. Our hosts are thoughtful and delightful people as well, very helpful.

Our friends Lyn and Mark came for the first few days to hang out with us and our two Goldens, Luke and Lucy. Lyn kept saying there was no way to get her away from the villa, and actually, except for a trip to the H E B store for groceries, she didn’t leave!

The pool is so inviting, the views are marvelous, there are 3 gas grills, a fire pit, a hot tub….so you can see, there really is no reason to leave. We have been in the pool, explored the grounds (vast, they even have an herb garden!), and enjoyed a movie in their Home Theater. The Home Theater is amazing, and a post on its own. We played a bit of ping pong, Mark and I against Lyn and Randy.

Yes, a little spouse swapping for the ping pong. Mark and I were the victors!

How did we find this lovely oasis? On 3rd Home. 3rd Home is a “club”, really, for those who own second homes. I joined and put our villa in Cozumel into the club, Villa Coronado. When you donate weeks to 3rd Home members you accrue “keys”, and the homes are rated from one key (for smaller homes) to 5 keys. When you have keys you can open the door to any 3rd Home available! Quite a wonderful deal. Though I have donated several weeks in the past couple of years, Villa de Vistas is the first 3rd Home I’ve booked. It won’t be the last! Learn all about it at www.3rdhome.com. If you have a second home in a wonderful location, you really should look into it!

3rd Homes can be found all over the world….except Antarctica! And it wouldn’t surprise me if something was available there. I have already booked another home for August, in Spicewood, Texas, also on Lake Travis. The only drawback to the Lake is that it is 53 feet low. There are docks at the marina I visited that are on dry land. Someone needs to do a rain dance.

One of the most wonderful aspects of this trip has been having our Goldens with us. Since our second home is in Mexico, we would have to fly our dogs there, and that is not an option for our doggies. Luke and Lucy are both rescues, and have a few issues here and there. Luke was abused, we don’t know how badly, but he cringes at the sound of a metal food bowl and refuses to get into a crate. I did coax him in once….he completely broke the crate apart. It is somewhat obvious that he is terrified of it. So, no flying for Luke. Our hosts at Villa de Vistas also have a Golden Retriever, and were kind enough to allow us to bring them as a special favor since this is our first 3rd Home trip. Our little Lucy is a very nervous little girl, afraid and unsure of everything that exists on this earth. She is afraid of trash cans, noises, other dogs, Christmas decorations….you name it! She is the most adorable dog, and so pretty, but it is very tough to get her to relax. They have both absolutely loved being here. There is so much space and they have explored every inch of it. Luke patrols our front windows at home in Dallas, alerting us of anyone in the vicinity. I guess his territory includes the street because he barks up a storm at dogs on walks. Here, he patrols the lake!

He is fascinated by every boat and jet ski that goes by…he doesn’t bark much about it, but his tail is up in the air, and he is on alert. He has been up and down the outside staircases so often I’m feeding him extra food. It has been so much fun to have them with us. There are also deer around, I’ve seen them but the dogs haven’t. I wonder what they would make of a deer?

We have had some amazing sunsets and we look forward to more of them! Tomorrow, we are heading out to explore. Hasta la Vista, baby!

Adventures in the USA

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