Other little bits about the Miami trip

Hello, everyone.

There were a couple of other little things I wanted to share with y'all about our trip to Miami for DD1's graduation and GS1's baptism.

One was a restaurant that we really enjoyed. It was called Latin2000 and we stopped there, in part, because we could see that it was popular. We went in and discovered that this was a place we could bust out our Spanish in. (My parents could use their English, too.) I had a burger like thing that was called something like Cubana Frita: beef and sausage patty, with cheese, shoestring potatoes, ketchup and maybe some onion. It was pretty good. I learned from DD1 later that the shoestring potatoes in a sandwich is a local thing. (They call it "potato sticks" on the menus.) My sweetie wanted to have a Tortilla Espanola ( potato and egg Spanish omelet) but he accidentally freaked them out. He asked for a "tortilla with ham, nothing else." They made it on the spot for him, egg and some ham bits, but no potatoes. I told him that his order was why he had no potatoes in his tortilla. But, really, their willingness to make it the way he asked for it is a good thing. Their Iced Tea came in cool promo cups and I took a picture of one:

The other thing I wanted to share with y'all was our experience on the way home. We were pretty tired of being on the road by then, so we skipped pretty much all sight-seeing. The first night on the road back was in Alabama, at the La Quinta there. It's right by the highway, and it's one of the most pleasant La Quintas I've ever stayed at. The lady gave us directions to the nearby grocery store, a Publix where we acquired excellent sandwiches and a bottle of wine, and she also was ready with the change when I needed quarters while doing wash. The room was clean and pleasant and roomy, too. So I give this La Quinta a Star for doing it right.

 On another subject, we're prepping to go on pilgrimage again, as you may know, and I finished a top to wear while walking:

This is orange trilobal nylon for the main fabric (you can see that it's a little bit see-through) and the piping is reflective piping. I am hoping that it may be useful when we're walking around sunrise in Portugal.

The plan, to the extent we have a plan, is to walk from Lisbon to Santarem, where there is a church that had a Eucharistic miracle some centuries back (look it up on Sacred Destinations.com) and then to Fatima. After that, we're thinking of catching a bus ride from Fatima to Tomar, which at one time was the world headquarters of the Knights Templar, those famous protectors of pilgrims, and see the Convento de Christo there. Then walk on to Porto--sample the famous wines--and walk to Santiago de Compostela. After we pay our respects to Saint James--possibly the scaffolding will be gone from the Porto da Gloria now so we can touch the sculpture in the doorway--we'll most likely catch a train to Madrid and go back to the Prada art museum. I have hopes to take pictures of details of one of the works there, Bramontini's "Risen Christ", and use them to make a picture to hang on my wall.

I'm not normally a fan of art museums, but the Prada, and the convent Real Descalzadas last year, have made me more aware of the value of viewing the art. (Also viewing the great numbers of works in their proper places--religious works hanging in churches--opened my eyes.)

If there is confusion in the posting in the next several weeks, it is because we're on the trail. We hope to use DH's Kindle Fire to take some pictures and post them to the blog while we're traveling. The rest of the photo goodies will wait until we're home.

I am personally also hoping to encounter many opportunities for adoration: Capilla del Santissimo, they call it in Spain, places where I can sink into the wonder of contemplating Jesus face to face. I did it in Rome, at the Cahpel of St. Nicolas in St. Peter's Basilica, and it was really the high point of the trip for me. I did it last year in Santiago de Compostela, where I sank down into the kneeler in the Cathedral and gave inarticulate silent thanks for bringing me through all the foot problems and weather and lessons in trust. I hope to do so again.

Enjoying our trip, day 2

Hello, everyone.

When we left Beaumont, we drove along the coast, stopping at the Welcome Centers the various states have built at the state lines. We got maps and a collection of brochures at them. (The lady at the Louisiana one was very friendly, informative, and helpful. She found for me a couple of magazines with recipes  printed for various Louisiana foods. Also, the Louisiana welcome center had free coffee.)

The Alabama welcome center is currently not where it is supposed to be. We saw the "remodeling project" from the highway, and it looks like they tore the building down to its concrete foundation pad! The temporary digs are in a town at the outskirts of Mobile. The ladies there are friendly and helpful, too.

We stayed in Gulf Shores that night.

Dawn from the balcony of our suite

As you can see, the sand at Gulf Shores isn't as brown as the sand at South Padre Island, Texas, nor is it as coarse and white as the sand at Destin, Florida.

The hotel we stayed at: Phoenix All Suites Hotel.

Little birdie getting his breakfast at the incoming morning tide.

We tried some Alabama wine--the liquor store only had in-state wine, and we got the driest one we could see on their little shelf unit. It was drinkable, but I can't really say I like it. Most of the offerings were "sweet Muscadine table wine" and I just don't like the sweet wines. YMMV.

We got some really good fried whitefish at the Shrimp Basket (I think that's the name of that chain) and DH had shrimp grits. I thought the shrimp grits were tasty but a bit on the thick side--I really liked my fried fish, however. This chain food place served its wine (an anonymous white Zin) in plastic punch cups, the kind you use for kids' parties. I don't think it hurt the wine any--but it didn't help it either.

The next morning, after taking about a mile walk on the sand in the early light, we stopped for coffee at the local Krispy Kreme and headed out. They make good coffee at Krispy Kreme!