Hart 2 Heart

Remembering Cabo

Two weeks ago today, Andy, Emmet and I returned from a beautiful week in Mexico. We really needed a vacation.

This was the view from our room at the ME Cabo resort. Gorgeous right? Only problem was the sound track. From about noon til 1 a.m. techno house music was blaring from pool side through the whole resort. We got used to it. Oh, and the go go dancers. Somehow I didn't get a picture of them. They performed in the afternoon on little stages by the pool. We stayed at this resort 7 years ago, when it was "family friendly". Seems they changed things up a bit.

A self portrait by Emmet.

We did a lot of alfresco dining. . .

and hung out with the locals.

I had planned to take long walks on the beach, but breaking my toe on our first night altered things a bit. So before you ask, it's a little embarrassing, here it is. I brought my laptop with me (knowing we'd have wifi at the hotel, which turned out to be crap anyway), and it was sitting on the bed (a very puffy, slippery bed). Somehow, it slipped off the bed, and the corner of the computer made a direct hit on my bare big toe. Which really turned out to be a good thing, because if it had hit the marble floor, it would have been toast. I must say, I have never experienced such sudden and excruciating pain my my life. I'm serious. It must have hit a nerve, and it wouldn't stop hurting for like 8 hours. I iced and iced, which didn't help, and I had no Advil. It was 11 at night, so nothing was open. I literally could not sleep. I just laid there thinking how incredibly ridiculous I was, and how I ruined my vacation. 

At 8 in the morning, my hero (Andy, if you were wondering), found a market and brought back the Advil. That $#@t is good. I managed to sleep most of the day, and the pain was pretty much gone. . . unless I touched my toe, stubbed it, or moved it.

After a day or so I managed to take slow, short walks. And we even walked to the marina and around town. My boys were very patient with crippled me. So, back to our tour. . .

Love these lanterns that were adorning a really good restaurant.

After spending the first few days spending way too much money on food at the hotel and beach restaurants, we found a local hang out that was in the alley right across from our hotel.

It was DELICIOUS! And cheap. The three of us had breakfast for under $15! That included the custom cappuccinos created by the charming Kjell (pictured below).

He spoke English with a really thick and unusual accent. Turns out he's from Norway, but prefers the lovely climate of Cabo. Go figure.

It's the little things that make a vacation unique and memorable. Like the tasty candies on the table in the corner cafe. I was really relaxed by the time we left for home. I'm trying to hold onto that feeling as I become engrossed, once again, in the everyday challenges of life. It's all good. My toe is healing nicely. 

Scenes of Cheyenne

My parents are in town from Wyoming for their annual grandson birthday visit. So we've been busy relaxing. I needed a break. I thought I'd take this time to share some sites from our visit to Wyoming a few weeks ago, that I hadn't gotten to. It's a nice place to visit.

This is the house I grew up in.
 
 
And this is the side yard Andy and I were married in. . . 24 years ago. Picture a big white tent and a string quartet.

This was my neighborhood growing up.

As well as this. Quite a contrast to living in a southern California harbor town.

 

Emmet is such a city boy. This was a highlight of the trip for him, visiting with an adolescent of another breed.

 

 

This was where we shopped for back to school clothes.

 
This is the kind of sky we never see in L.A.

 
 Despite the challenging weather and short growing season, my dad always grows a beautiful flower and vegetable garden.

 
 His other hobby is chopping wood. Uh, yeah, I think he might have enough to last through this century. But if you have an old dead tree in your yard, he'd be glad to come remove it for you!

 
 
 
 
 

Denver Sites

On our way to the Denver Art Museum, Andy met some new friends.
 
Before we could explore the museum, we needed to fuel up.

"View Through Fork" by Emmet

 
Andy took this photo of Emmet (wearing Andy's glasses), but Emmet took most of the photos you see here. He was still feeling under the weather, but once I gave him my camera to document the day, he perked up and was more enthusiastic about spending the day at a museum. 

 
One of the coolest features of the Denver Art Museum is the architecture. These were scale models of the place.
 


 
We mainly viewed the contemporary exhibits. Emmet was drawn to this one with the skull, somehow.
 

I should have noted the artist for each of these pieces, but that would've been a lot to ask. Anywho, the piece above, is about six inches tall, made from the little tiny styrofoam balls that make up a piece of styrofoam. Do you know what I mean? So cool!
 

Now, this guy, on the other hand, was HUGE, made from heavy metal. Quite a contrast.

 
I would say this a great museum to take your kids to. This activity was included in an African art exhibit. It was inspired by the amazing work of El Anatsui. 
 

He used screw top bottle caps, cut and flattened to create this very large work.
 

I think art like this can be really inspiring to kids, especially when there is some explanation, and an activity to go with it.
 

Naturally, Emmet is very familiar with the use of scraps in both art and craft. 

After our day at the museum, we were off to the ball park for a Red Sox/Rockies game. Must have a little balance in life, right? More on that next time, and the rest of our trip, to Wyoming.
 
 
 

 
 


 

  

 

 

 
 

 

New York - part 2

Back to the beginning. . . where we stayed. I've been to New York half a dozen times, the first with Andy on our honeymoon 23 years ago. This time Andy found a very hip hotel on the lower east side. The best aspect of the Hotel on Rivington, was the bed. Yes! The bed had one of those Tempurpedic mattresses. I had heard they were great, but I had no idea the bliss that sleep could be. Of course we spent a little too much time in that bed, but we were on vacation after all.

 

The lobby and restaurant decor was a sort of modern victorian gothic, with stunning chandeliers. I thought this one might look good in my bathroom. We did actually leave the hotel on occasion. 

 

This candy store was on view from our room. At lunch time there was a huge line of middle schoolers out the door. I had to check it out.

 

Economy candy was stocked wall to wall, floor to ceiling with every variety of candy you can imagine or remember from your grandfather's childhood and beyond; and where ever there wasn't candy, there were people packed in. I came home with a giant Homer Simpson Pez dispenser. For Emmet. Of course.

 

Dining is really my favorite thing to do on a trip. Well, at home too. Anyway, This was a great diner. My favorite food is that which someone else prepares. I like good food, but it can be cheap diner fare, or fabulous sushi.

 

We spent a great evening at Sachiko's. It was a long evening, because their computer system died, so every thing was in slow motion. The servers were incredibly gracious and friendly, and we were in no hurry. Among other things, we ordered their special "jewelry box" seen above. Very delicious. 

Tomorrow I'll tell you about the other sights we saw. Besides food. Lots more good stuff to come. Thanks for stopping by.