Episode 65: October – December 2013
Highlights of the quarter:
I have decided that fall is my favorite season in Michigan. The cooler temperatures lead to the changing
colors of the leaves, great fashion trends (switching from flip flops to knee-high
riding boots), and a crisp evening air.
It’s a fantastic time of year, and while our fall was short this year, we
made the most of it.
Over one weekend, we decided to pay another visit to Philadelphia. While there, we took a stroll through the
Italian Market district where there are several little delicatessens, bakeries,
butchers, and grocery stores, all with an Italian flair (and a few Mexican
stores sprinkled in to remind you just how multicultural the U.S. is). To continue with our theme of diversity, we
walked through Chinatown for a snack of dumplings before venturing to Pat’s King
of Steaks, one of the two Philadelphia institutions – located across the street
from each other – that is notorious as the creator of the famous sandwich, the
Philadelphia Cheesesteak. (The
cheesesteak, for those curious to know, is basically chopped meat, cooked on a
flattop grill, and then stuffed onto an Italian roll, topped with onions, and smothered
with Cheese Whiz – the more processed the cheese, the better.) Happy and fed, we continued exploring the
area for the rest of the afternoon. That
night, we had dinner at a great farm-to-table restaurant called Fork.
Thanks to Neal’s research and planning, this weekend ended up being
quite the culinary adventure. Other
notable restuarants we visited on this trip were Talula’s Garden for Sunday
brunch, Amada for a lovely Spanish dinner, and Parc for a great French bistro
experience. We also spent some time at
the Franklin Institute and took a tour of Independence Hall, both of which provided
us with good science and history lessons.
In late-November, it was time to check another location off our “bucket
list”: Buenos Aires. This was a place
neither of us had visited previously, and therefore a great location to spend the
Thanksgiving holiday week. Our trip
started with a short stopover in Sao Paulo, Brazil, to visit Luis and Stephanie
and see how they have settled in there.
They have a gorgeous home and were fantastic hosts during our brief
visit, doing a great job to modify our sightseeing program to accommodate for
the rain that just refused to stop. We
visited the quaint artist town of Embu; went to their local market where
Stephanie impressed us with her very fluent Portuguese; and visited the Mercado
Municipal de Sao Paulo, a huge indoor market.
We discovered a great restaurant that specializes in bringing produce
from the Amazon into modern-day cuisine.
Our favorite meal was at the local Feijoada joint, a small place that
Stephanie and Luis visit frequently, where the famous bean and pork stew and the
local cocktail (caipirinha) are available in an endless buffet all day long.
From Sao Paulo, we flew to the gorgeous city of Buenos Aires. Our time in the city was limited, but we made
the most of it by walking through all the main neighborhoods of Centro, San Telmo,
Recoleta, and Palermo. Our hotel was
located in Puerto Madera, which was a safe and central place to be
stationed. One of our favorite activities
was the Argentine tango show that we watched at Esquina Carlos Gardel. Some friends of ours, who also work for Dow, joined
us for dinner one evening, taking us into Palermo for a fantastic meal at a
restaurant that specializes in food from country’s Patagonian region.
Other highlights of Buenos Aires was the amazing architecture of the
city (very European in style); a visit to the cemetery where Eva Peron is buried;
seeing all the sights from the hop-on/hop-off bus (I’m still mad for it); and
the friendly locals. On a side note, one
of the more common professions we observed in the city was that of a dog walker
– literally dozens that we saw each day, some with as many as 30 dogs on
leashes. It was quite the spectacle to
watch!
From the summer of Argentina we headed back to Michigan and a very
early winter, complete with snow and temperatures below freezing. Needless to say, we were keen to get out of
the cold and begin our next adventure. We
were very excited to welcome my mom, stepdad, and both of my sisters to U.S. to
join us over the Christmas break. Our
trip started in New York City where Neal and I flew to meet the travelers en
route from their various starting points.
Christmas time in New York City is magical, and even better seeing the
sights from the vantage point of first-time visitors to the city. We hit all the major sights, with special
visits to the Christmas Village at Bryant Park; Rockerfeller Center for a bird’s
eye view from the top floor; Battery Park; Wall Street; Times Square; and even
a pedicab tour around Central Park. No
trip to New York City is complete without a show on Broadway, and on this trip
we saw the stage production of one of my favorite all time musicals, Annie. To top if off, we were fortunate enough to
have unseasonably warm temperatures in the city, which made our walking weekend
very pleasurable.
Our next stop was Michigan where the family came to enjoy some down
time, see where we live, and get a real dose of winter weather. It was one of the most memorable Christmases I’ve
had in a long time, with snow falling outside and the fire on inside – just the
way Christmas should be. We spent the
day at home cooking, laughing, and playing outside in the snow, making snow
angels and a snowman on the front lawn. The
highlight of my stepdad’s time in Michigan was discovering the joy of shoveling
snow – not sure he’ll find it such a joy if he realizes how often you need to
do it, but he enjoyed doing it a couple of times. The remainder of the time in Michigan was
spent shopping and touring the town (albeit briefly since it was so cold
outside). Michelle and Ed joined us for
dinner one night so they could meet the family, and they showed up with a deep
fried turkey for us all to enjoy (delicious!).
The adventures did not stop in Michigan. Our next stop on the family vacation was Fort
Lauderdale, Florida, where we thawed out over a seven-day cruise of the Eastern
Caribbean. The cruise was a blast –
plenty of activities for all to be entertained with on the boat. And we did plenty of adventures on land at
our various stops. In Grand Turk, we did
an ATV tour of the island; in St. Thomas, we took a scenic bus tour to the
highest point on the island; in San Juan, Puerto Rico, we explored the historic
old town on foot; and in the Bahamas, we did our own triathlon, complete with
some snorkeling, biking, and kayaking. We
also spent as much time as possible swimming in the crystal blue waters of the
Caribbean. We spent New Year’s Eve on
the cruise, which turned out to be very special, with all of us attending a
party to see in the New Year and dancing at the onboard nightclub until the wee
hours of the morning. We had some fantastic
memories that will last a lifetime.
Our family adventure was a great way to end 2013 and welcome in
2014. We wish you and yours a fabulous,
fun, and prosperous year ahead. Until
next time, take care!
