There are so many important times in our lives.  As life goes on we hit those bumps in the road that feel important, but they aren’t.  Just short emotional times,  it is the friends and family we spend our lives with, and how we treat them that is important.  So 44 years ago Chris and MJ became permanent parts of my life, the best choice I could make.  Thank you for sharing your life with me.  And thanks to friends and family that have been around through the journey!

Parents picture

small dinner party after,  Jeff, John and Deb still in touch

Lost Bob last year

Must have a bar picture. Will see cousins Joe and Jim in a couple of weeks

We just wanted to say Happy Easter to all.   We hope you continued blessings and new growth to come with Easter and Spring.  We continue to enjoy our life, and the winter has been beautiful.   We could actually use just a little more rain to keep the golf courses plush, but doing OK.    Some of our neighbors are starting to head north.  We saw Oshkosh was feel like 24 today and don’t need to think about that yet!   We will be going north for a wedding early May but will come back here after the weekend and wait a little longer.    It is time to start planning our route home and places to stay, we think Nashville is on the list this year.  But we have plenty of time to work on that.

To our friends we wish safe travels home.  Each year is a blessing and we look forward to meeting again, but first for most of us it will be north to family and friends.  

Happy Easter

Some Florida time with Enders and Koss’s

Cocktails and Food

Ron and Verna, and Marie already headed back home

Lot’s of fun courses to lose balls at

planned ocean fishing turned into canal fishing due to wind

We caught some snook and other things I had never heard of!

Life is good, take time to enjoy it!   We are trying to.  Florida weather looks much nicer to us than what we have seen of the northern weather!   It looks like 23 degrees with a good chance of snow in Oshkosh,  and 78 degrees here.  While we had some days we thought were ‘cool’, it doesn’t compare.    MJ has come down for here winter break and is at the pool.   We have been enjoying the sun and our neighbors.  We have continued our shared grill outs and breakfasts, so many good things to eat!  I also continue to work on my golf game, and am improving.  Fun either way (good or bad golf) while I am golfing with neighbors.   It is tax time and fat Tuesday coming up which means the winter is going by,  quickly again. 

Super Bowl Party

Breakfast!

Hawaiian Mimosa and fruit tray

Golf anyone?

From all of us we wish you a very Happy New Year.   It has been another strange year in some respects but overall it has been a healthy and fun year that has just flown by.  Time seems to speed up as you get older!  Or do the projects just get larger that I don’t get to them ‘today’.

From Snug Harbor we wish you a safe, healthy, and Happy New Year ahead!

Cruising

Snug Harbor, Boynton Beach, FL

Delray Tree

Time is flying by quickly and getting near the end of the year.    MJ flew down with Marie for Thanksgiving, and we had a few days of relaxing and pool time.   We made it to the farmers market and Delray already had their Christmas tree up.    I have tried to keep my golf game in practice, we have had some beautiful weather.   A little warmer and more humid the last couple of days, and last night had the Christmas boat parade go by our complex.  Always fun to sit out and watch the decorations.  Noel and JoAnn joined us, so back to old traditions!     Now continuing to get ready for Christmas and the end of the year.   That also means that once past Christmas more of our neighbors will be returning for the season and looking forward to seeing them again!

Golf friend

Christmas parade!

Again time flies by.  We seem to be busy going on the next thing!    Since the September update we readied to leave Wisconsin starting to plan what needed to come south.  Slowly the most used things are coming here.  We were also packing for a long weekend on Washington Island Wisconsin.  As usual we had a great time there with good friends.  Corn hole, drinks and eats.   Our private musical show in the evenings.  A little biking and hiking and this year for me a little golf.  When we returned we cleaned up and got ready to hit the road.

Our first stop this year was Grand Rapids Michigan, we had not been there for a few years and I wanted to stop at my favorite brewery, Vivant, for food and drinks.  And we were happy we did.  Then on to a couple of nights in Sterling Heights with MJ and John.  Then a night in Georgetown Kentucky, and then on to Asheville NC.   Lots of good food and beer in Asheville and we tried some new places this stop and were very happy again.   At that point we were getting a little anxious to get to Boynton Beach so decided to not spend a night in Savanah and instead went a little further to Brunswick Georgia for a night and the next day to Boynton.  It was a great trip.  Because of Covid and Delta we had decided not to spend extended time in any city but it still was a good trip and in many areas saw the changing of color in the forests.

Back in Boynton it was time to do some cleaning after the summer and get everything unpacked.  So everything in place, a trip to Goodwill to make room, floors cleaned, all good.   We have made it to the Saturday Farmers Market in Delray, some of our favorite restaurants, shared some breakfasts and grill outs with neighbors, and managed to get some golf in with Dan and Christy.  Life is good.   Major cold front this week, temperature drops 5 degrees.   Better than the snow I see forecast in Wisconsin. Next Marie and MJ will come in for Thanksgiving and we will celebrate the weekend with Marie staying for the season.

Washington Island fungi, they say it is edible!

Brewery Vivant

Asheville

Farmers Market

Delray tree is up

Building behind Prime Catch and Josie’s

Snug grill out

Golf Time

Washington Island Sunset Resort

A couple of months have gone by already since my last post.  It seems we have kept busy every day, I can’t believe those people who are afraid of retirement because they won’t have anything to do!  After my last post we headed up to Door County for 2 weeks, going up there in July a 40 year tradition for us.  While we no longer camp, we did make it into the park to see friends and participate in spaghetti dinner and Christmas in July.  Denise MJ and I golfed, and I managed to golf Peninsula Park a couple of times with friends.   This year we were able to visit some of our favorite restaurants and bars and breweries.  The cottage we rented turned out wonderfully for our needs and we will be back next summer.  It was good to see old friends and sorry we missed seeing others. 

When we made it back to Oshkosh we worked on unpacking and getting ready for a long weekend in Milwaukee for Irishfest.  We were excited it was back on this year, and turned out to be the first Milwaukee Ethnic festival to return.  They obviously could not book as many acts as early as usual, that and the fact bands from Ireland had a hard time traveling made it a festival of mostly US based bands.  But they were still great and we spent quality time with VW and Jeff and Donna.  Also this summer my friend Mark has allowed me to brew with him and share in our beers, which have turned out to be outstanding if I say so myself.

We have had some time to spend with a number of other friends we just don’t see enough of.  And we made it to Milwaukee to have an outstanding meal at Eddie Martini’s with my brother and Claire.  We also made it down a second time with them to share a meal at Polenez restaurant which turned out to be a favorite, and the only true Polish restaurant still listed in Milwaukee.  Skip has helped me identify some items with the state, if you ever want to hear a long story about state unclaimed property and stock shares just let me know.   I have kept up my golf game, which I truly believe has improved.  Thanks to John for sharing golf time with me at least a couple of times per week. 

For Labor Day we were back in the Detroit area to spend some time with MJ and John.  Another group of fun days with some small projects, lot’s of eating drinking and card playing.  Again we traveled through the UP of Michigan and enjoyed the scenery, other than the rain and hail part.  Trees are changing color and starting to lose some leaves.  Overall the temperatures are cooler and humidity is falling.  A great time of year we hope continues for awhile.  We are starting to make some plans to leave Wisconsin and head back to Florida.  We will watch the weather, be it hurricanes or snow.  Tomorrow we pause to reflect on 9/11.  The souls lost and the perils of life.

Spaghetti night, Chris Denise, Me MJ Donna

Me Bryan Noel

Michael Pres Darren Me

One Barrel Brewing Egg Harbor

Irishfest rock stage

Mark getting ready to chill the wort

Brown Iron Brewing Sterling Heights

Back in Wisconsin and enjoying the summer spending time with old friends.  Just like the winter,  time goes by quickly.  We are a month plus back here and we think we have found where we put most things when we moved in last September!  I have had opportunities to work on my golf game with my friend John.  We still get out early in the mornings and I have been feeling better about my game.  

Chris and I did an overnight in Door County and enjoyed the chance to be in some of our favorite places.  While there we saw the new observation tower in Penninsula State Park.  They had to take the old one down due to age and structural issues and replaced it with a handicap accessible one that is impressive.  Our old friend Judy and the friends of the park were involved and this is an engineering feat with better views than before. 

We also have had a chance to spend time with our homebrewing friends and participated in the clubs 30^th anniversary party.  A good time was had by all!

We had a chance to see a concert with the lead being a hammered dulcimer.  Certainly a first for us but highly enjoyable!  Ted Yoder had a percussionist and marimba player with him that were also super talented.  Get the story https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFHkE3uQV8U  .  They play a wide variety of music with their own slant.

Chris and I also made it to the Detroit area to visit MJ and John.  John is working hard to empty his Dad’s house and they are trying to navigate the State of Michigan systems to get his sister placed in a quality home.  We had some fun and good times together.  This time through the UP of Michigan we stayed overnight in St Ignace both ways.  One time the temps were probably around 90 and the next time it was a high of 57!  While we were there we received a text from old friends Dave and Stacey who now reside in Georgia/Florida.  They were in a hotel 2 doors down, so we got together for a beer!

Chris and I are still unpacking from Michigan, and starting to pack for Door County again.  We will be heading there for our usual 2 weeks and looking forward to it.  MJ and Denise will join us plus our chance to see lots of camping friends.  When we get home then we will be thinking about Irishfest weekend in August.  We hope you are enjoying your summer!

Peninsula Park

Quite a structure

Great view

Bottle cap cake

President Mike retiring

a bunch of SOB’s

Lake Huron on a nice day

Lake Huron at 57 degrees

We started our trip home on time, Sunday the 23^rd.  We took our time getting the condo prepared to be vacant and left around 10am.  The first day was one of the ‘long’ days driving, over 6 hours.  I know, for a lot of our friends they are driving all day, which we don’t understand!  We had a good drive and arrived in downtown Savannah in time for cocktails and dinner.  We stayed at the Andaz, which is in the historic neighborhood we liked last time we were in Savannah.  And right next door to a restaurant which was a favorite last time, the Little Duck Diner.  That evening and the next day we did some walking around the squares and River Street shops.  River Street runs along the the river of course, which brings in major ocean going ships.  Savannah is still a major seaport.  The shops along River Street are in buildings originally built to handle the sale and shipping of cotton.  Lots of history dating from the 1700’s.  And lots of good food and drink. We also toured the Prohibition Museum which was full of interesting facts.  We did a lot of walking and being close to the hotel could make multiple breaks back to the room. 

2 good nights in Savannah and then back on I-95 for the start of the trip to Asheville NC. A good breakfast before we left and another good ride, this time into the mountains.  This time in Asheville we stayed right downtown at the Aloft, since we had plans we wanted to be close to some food and drink we were going to revisit!  The first night did not disappoint.  The full day in Asheville we had planned to visit the Biltmore Estate for the first time.  Built by the Vanderbilts at the end of the 1800’s and open to visits for close to 100 years.  Over 240 rooms in the house, and recognized as the first estate to utilize modern forestry techniques it is also home to a conservatory and multiple gardens.  Chris had noted we could catch the end of Spring Blooms in the gardens and even though they were finishing it was well worth it.  The conservatory was full of beautiful flowers and trains, the rose gardens were well on their way to full blooms, and the spring flowers were finishing and new plantings started.  Of course the house was pretty spectacular also.  We did the audio tour, self paced with an audio device you can turn to designated channels for explanations of different rooms and areas along the way.  The Estate is over 8000 acres with scenic drives and several areas to visit, including the winery.  We agreed it was well worth the visit, and we put down our share of steps!  Back to the hotel and Wicked Weed Brewery (closest to the hotel!) for some great beers and dinner, then rest in the room. 

After a couple of nights and breakfast from the café across the street it was on the road again.  This time some delay for bridge maintenance in the mountains, closing down 1 lane of a major 2 lane interstate does that!  A pretty and interesting ride we have done before, this time heading to Bardstown KY.  Along the way a pit stop in Danville KY to visit a distillery we had been at 4 years before (Wilderness Trail).  At the time of our first visit they were new and had no bourbon yet.  This time a lot of new rick houses filled with 10’s of thousands of barrels and multiple bourbon choices.  I had tasted some thanks to it being distributed in Michigan, and MJ and John.  Plus something new to try.  Since I had on my Wilderness Trail hat (thanks MJ) and our story of last being there I received a quick private tasting.  Oh, and I bought a few bottles.  I had picked Bardstown for our next stop because I enjoy bourbon and Bardsown is one of the oldest homes to bourbon and has a number of distilleries.  A lot of people are traveling so most tours were booked weeks in advance, but Chris has already seen distillery tours!  We did book one tasting and did some visits to others.  Bourbon is similar to the late 1800’s breweries in that they were local, were hit hard by prohibition, and in the mid 1900’s many closed in favor of the mass produced popular beverages.   But the late 1900’s saw a resurgence in people wanting more taste and cared about who made the beverage.  So distilleries have greatly expanded and old names have been brought back to life. While there are large businesses that own a lot of labels, there are still the smaller distilleries contributing to the whole.  Willet is still family owned and producing great bourbons, 1792 is part of Sazerac but still producing great whiskey, some shipped elsewhere for bottling while other bourbon comes here to be bottled where the bottles better fit their bottling line.  Heaven Hill is another distillery that encompasses a lot of labels and is finding a way to make them all fit under the umbrella.  Most are expanding their distilleries and gift shops.

It was our rainy day so had to scrap a visit to the civil war museum since it included walking outdoors, but we filled in time!  The area is fairly easy to go from place to place and I started to know my way around.  We found a great restaurant in a bourbon museum; well,  we had a hard time finding it because we didn’t know it was in the museum building.  Kentucky hot brown is a well known sandwich/plate started in Louisville.  The Rickhouse restaurants’ is covered in an 11 cheese sauce; how can you go wrong? 

Day 7 back on the road.  Last year we went through Tennessee and into Illinois bypassing Chicago and we liked that route.  This year being further north in Bardstown we followed I-65 up to Indianapolis and then west to Bloomington IL.  We left Bardstown in a light rain but arrived in Bloomington to sunshine but a cool breezy 60.  Time to get the jackets out.  On the downside of the trip now, so pulled off after 5 hours of driving and saw the end of the Bucks sweeping the Heat and will check out some local Mexican food.  Then in the morning the short stretch home!

Day 8 left Bloomington and headed straight north on I-39.Some construction on the way but most opened up for the holiday weekend, and Sunday is a nice quiet day to travel. We only had 4+ hours to drive which was a nice end to the trip. 

We had only been in our apartment a short time before leaving for Florida in the fall, so it is a new experience finding where we put things.  But we are back in Oshkosh, Mark kept an eye on the apartment for us while we were gone and filled our refrigerator with beer we had brewed last fall.  So there was something for us when we returned (maybe for me).  So now settle in for our summer life and looking forward to seeing old friends. 

Savannah Harbor

Prohibition Museum

Prohibition Museum

Savannah breakfast at Goose Feathers. Birds nest= grits, Vermont white cheddar creates nest, homemade salsa, 2 poached eggs. I never knew grits tasted so good

Biltmore Estates

The conservatory gardens at Biltmore were spectacular

Wilderness Trail original visitor center and new rickhouse behind

Willet distillery in Bardstown

Almost Memorial Day!

The winter has gone by quickly.  We have been in good weather and we spent time with a number of neighbors outdoors.   Most of us here now have had our 2 shots and are feeling free and comfortable.  Things are opening back to normal in Florida.   We have missed many friends who were not here though.  Covid and health issues have gotten in the way.  We very much look forward to next season being much more ‘normal’  And there were family and friends that we have lost the last 6 months which reminds us that life keeps changing, enjoy it.

Wisconsin weather looks to be getting more consistent so maybe it is time to head back?  We have put together a rough itinerary for our trip, planning on 7 days on the road.  Savannah, Asheville, and Bardstown KY all in the plans. 

This week more cleaning and decisions on what needs to go back with us. I have a new tooth, got a last round of golf in, and had another grill out with neighbors.  If nothing changes we will be on the road next Sunday the 23^rd.