Wednesday was the day we planned to visit the Chasin Fin Dolphin cruises. After a failed year last year, with a competitive Dolphin cruise, the Rollings were anxious to get back to the old reliable Chasin Fin Dolphin Cruises. Our first visit to Pensacola and Beachside II was highlighted by Chasin Fin. And this year it brought back a lot of memories from that first trip. We did the 9am trip and we weren't 10 minutes from the dock and we already spotted a group of Dolphins. Our deckhand Charlie made the trip very enjoyable. Fresh out of Fast Times at Ridgemount High, Charlie reminded me of Spicoli, accent included.
I'm not sure the others in our group were aware, but the middle of our trip would include the Wednesday practice session of the Blue Angels and I'll tell you what, I'm not sure we'll go back the to the Naval Air Museum for the show again. Charlie had everything planned. From the patriotic music to describing each maneuver, on cue, to having a two way radio tuned into the cockpits of the pilots aboard the Blue Angel planes. It was incredibly awesome. While passing the Naval base we also saw a new Destroyer that had just arrived from Mobile, AL for some final additions to the latest ship for the fleet. It's design is something out of James Bond movie. It has a new catamaran style and Charlie indicated that it has the capability of cruising at speeds of 55 MPH. It looks more like a tank than a boat.
After the Dolphin cruise we headed back to the condo for a much needed nap, followed by a trip to Fort Pickens. It is the largest of four forts built to defend Pensacola Bay and its navy yard. It has a great self guided tour and certainly the older I get, brings a new appreciation for the history in our country. Wouldn't it be great to have the ability to time travel back to see these places in their glory. We certainly have it way better than our elders. After our trip to the fort, Andrew wanted to fish off the pier at the fort. There were about 20 people their catching sheepshead fish, which apparently are better tasting than red snapper. They sure are big fish. Probably about 6 pounders on average. Andrew was skunked but I think he enjoyed himself. We even met another kid from Wisconsin trying his hand at fishing too.
Dinner was spent at Shaggy's after Andrews short fishing trip. We even sat at the same table (from last year) out on the deck that overlooks one of Pensacolas bays. Andrew and I split a dozen oysters on the half shell as an appetizer. Funny to see a 15 year old enjoy oysters as much as me. They are slimy you know. We also got a order of the fried pickles. And I had to remind Carsten again that the pickles were for everyone. We had great food from Shaggy's. Erika had commented about the voice of our waiter sounding like someone she knew from the tv show survivor. I made the mistake of asking him if he had been on the show. I told him Erika reminded him of some of the contestants that have been on the show. I don't think he took too kindly about that comment, because he was not very hospitable after that comment. He may have even spit in my food, who knows. I hope I made up for it by giving him a little more of a tip than I normally would have left. Oh well.
After dinner it was back to the condo to watch the original National Treasure movie and off too bed......
Friday, April 3, 2015
Thursday, April 2, 2015
Back in the saddle again
After two days of dealing with an advertising virus on my computer, I'm going to attempt an update of the latest chapter in the RollMon family vacation.
Monday, the first official day at the beach was strictly a beach day. Lots of sunscreen and a few missed spots on the bodies. Between a badly burned leg and a missed spot on the face, everyone pretty much learned that its absolutely necessary to lube up as much as possible. The Rollings made it clear to the Harmons that their style of vacationing is to kick back and take things in stride. We were certainly hoping that the Harmons would join in with the kickback style. They certainly rolled with the flow and are very hospitable travelers. Mike and I spent the day trying to get thru they're work that needed to be done despite being on vacation and the spouses took it in stride. Thank You!! Dinner was spent at Red Fish Blue Fish. Was well worth the trip. Finally, I was rewarded for taking a picture of my food, before eating. It's been an ongoing roll of the eyes, by my family, every time I take a picture of my food before eating. RFBF has a contest that if you tweet a picture of your food, you could win a free t-shirt. Well, I was rewarded with a free t-shirt. Drawback was they didn't have my size. So Carsten benefited from that. The t-shirt is exclusive to those that tweet a picture of their food. It cannot be purchased anywhere. After dinner the family took a stroll on the boardwalk. All in all a great first day at the beach.
Tuesday brought us to the Naval Air Museum and the Blue Angel Air Show (practice). We decided to get an early start and arrived at the museum at 9am. The Blue Angel practice began at 11am so it left us with time to kill beforehand. The Naval Air Museum has another building named Hangar One that has more airplanes and helicopters. It even has a shuttle spacecraft from NASA. The Blue Angels started precisely at 11am with the traditional, drive by burn off, that filled the tarmac with smoke. For those that have not seen the Blue Angels "live", if you get a chance, take it. You won't be disappointed. They practice for about 45 minutes with lots of dips, turns and fast flybys. Very cool to see in person. After the Blue Angel show we made our way to Joe Patti restaurant. Another must when visiting Pensacola. We all had various seafood deep fried. What trip to Pensacola wouldn't be complete without a trip to the famous Joe Patti's Seafood market. We made are way after the great lunch to the market to purchase seafood for dinner. Joe Patti was in his usual position behind the counter calling out the number to be served. Always followed up by a thanks for coming to every person after calling their number. Joe must be in his eighties but still sharp as a tack. We decided on 3lbs of shrimp, for dinner, that I ended up seasoning and used skewers for grilling. After dinner everyone watch National Treasure:Book of Secrets. Preparation for our upcoming trip to Washington D.C.
Please check back tomorrow for a catch up on the activities from Wednesday and Thursday.....
Monday, the first official day at the beach was strictly a beach day. Lots of sunscreen and a few missed spots on the bodies. Between a badly burned leg and a missed spot on the face, everyone pretty much learned that its absolutely necessary to lube up as much as possible. The Rollings made it clear to the Harmons that their style of vacationing is to kick back and take things in stride. We were certainly hoping that the Harmons would join in with the kickback style. They certainly rolled with the flow and are very hospitable travelers. Mike and I spent the day trying to get thru they're work that needed to be done despite being on vacation and the spouses took it in stride. Thank You!! Dinner was spent at Red Fish Blue Fish. Was well worth the trip. Finally, I was rewarded for taking a picture of my food, before eating. It's been an ongoing roll of the eyes, by my family, every time I take a picture of my food before eating. RFBF has a contest that if you tweet a picture of your food, you could win a free t-shirt. Well, I was rewarded with a free t-shirt. Drawback was they didn't have my size. So Carsten benefited from that. The t-shirt is exclusive to those that tweet a picture of their food. It cannot be purchased anywhere. After dinner the family took a stroll on the boardwalk. All in all a great first day at the beach.
Tuesday brought us to the Naval Air Museum and the Blue Angel Air Show (practice). We decided to get an early start and arrived at the museum at 9am. The Blue Angel practice began at 11am so it left us with time to kill beforehand. The Naval Air Museum has another building named Hangar One that has more airplanes and helicopters. It even has a shuttle spacecraft from NASA. The Blue Angels started precisely at 11am with the traditional, drive by burn off, that filled the tarmac with smoke. For those that have not seen the Blue Angels "live", if you get a chance, take it. You won't be disappointed. They practice for about 45 minutes with lots of dips, turns and fast flybys. Very cool to see in person. After the Blue Angel show we made our way to Joe Patti restaurant. Another must when visiting Pensacola. We all had various seafood deep fried. What trip to Pensacola wouldn't be complete without a trip to the famous Joe Patti's Seafood market. We made are way after the great lunch to the market to purchase seafood for dinner. Joe Patti was in his usual position behind the counter calling out the number to be served. Always followed up by a thanks for coming to every person after calling their number. Joe must be in his eighties but still sharp as a tack. We decided on 3lbs of shrimp, for dinner, that I ended up seasoning and used skewers for grilling. After dinner everyone watch National Treasure:Book of Secrets. Preparation for our upcoming trip to Washington D.C.
Please check back tomorrow for a catch up on the activities from Wednesday and Thursday.....
Sunday, March 29, 2015
Blue Angel greeting
What a day!! A previously planned day of getting up early to get to the beach ASAP turned in to a trip to the Jack Daniel Distillery, followed by another rookie day of driving.
The day started with the Rollings arriving at the Harmon hotel at the agreed time of 7:15am only to find their van with no one in it. Ha, second prediction gone by the wayside. The Rollings made the best of the couple minutes they had, to make a quick McDonald's run for breakfast. After the quick bite, the Rollmans we were off to Lynchburg to see the Jack Daniel Distillery. For those that have not had the pleasure of the free tour they offer, it is very much worth the trip. To know that every drop of Jack Daniels is distilled at this site amazes me even on the second trip. Our tour guide Wes said today that the Distillery writes an 8 million dollar check to the US Government every two weeks for the tax on the Whiskey they distill. WOW! Since my first trip they have built a very nice tour center and the grounds of the distillery are very well kept. The people that work at the distillery are very proud of their workplace. The tour lasted about an hour which worked perfect for our schedule. We left there at about 10:30am for our trip of 6-1/2 hours.
The back roads of Tennesee are very beautiful. The roads are very narrow and the speed limits a little higher than you would think. Little to dangerous for the rookies to be driving. After about an hour and a half we had made our way to Montgomery, Alabama. We decided on a quick lunch at the local Zaxby's. We were close enough to the interstate for the boys to take their turns behind the wheel. Needless to say they got quite a lesson in driving at high speeds in heavy traffic. I was suprised at how many cars and trucks were on the road for a Sunday afternoon. Both boys maintained the speed limit and were passed constantly by traffic going atleast 10 miles an hour faster. I can't speak for Andrew but Carsten handled things better than I thought he would. No rumble strips today. In fact there we a couple of times that I had to scold him for driving too fast. He pretty much took it in stride today and seemed to follow my advice pretty well. Hopefully he's learning and won't be too much of a hazard when he does get his license.
Well after about 6 hours in the car after lunch, we finally made it to Calle Bonita and Beachside II. We all got out of our vehicles only to be greeted a couple minutes later by 7 Blue Angel jets in formation doing a drive-by about 100 feet off the ground, over the beach. Unbeliveable, was all we could say. Mike and Andrew made a dash towards the beach. I was amazed at their cat like reflexes to get to a better viewing position. Certainly was a fun way to start our stay. I made comment to the Harmons that we had planned the Blue Angels to meet us when we arrived. For a second I think they believed me. Not! A few minutes later the Blue Angles passed again even lower in the sky. Probably about 50 feet off the ground or so. They passed by the adjoining town house so low, we could'nt see them over the roof. After talking to my Mom later in the evening, she said its typical for them to do flybys after returning from a day of air shows. But it was rare for them to fly back a second time from where they came. Certainly was a nice treat to start the week.
The two Dads made a trip to Publix for a purchase of groceries for the week, while the Mom's stayed back to get things settled at the condo. After a few frozen pizzas, Carsten and I made way for the first match of ping pong. Certainly is fun to play him and school him a little while he gives it right back. Match one goes to the youngster 3 games to two in the best of five. I'm sure the rest of the week will be hotly contested. Off to bed for everyone. I would imagine everyone will get a goods nights sleep. No plans for tomorrow. Who knows what tomorrows adventure will bring.......
The day started with the Rollings arriving at the Harmon hotel at the agreed time of 7:15am only to find their van with no one in it. Ha, second prediction gone by the wayside. The Rollings made the best of the couple minutes they had, to make a quick McDonald's run for breakfast. After the quick bite, the Rollmans we were off to Lynchburg to see the Jack Daniel Distillery. For those that have not had the pleasure of the free tour they offer, it is very much worth the trip. To know that every drop of Jack Daniels is distilled at this site amazes me even on the second trip. Our tour guide Wes said today that the Distillery writes an 8 million dollar check to the US Government every two weeks for the tax on the Whiskey they distill. WOW! Since my first trip they have built a very nice tour center and the grounds of the distillery are very well kept. The people that work at the distillery are very proud of their workplace. The tour lasted about an hour which worked perfect for our schedule. We left there at about 10:30am for our trip of 6-1/2 hours.
The back roads of Tennesee are very beautiful. The roads are very narrow and the speed limits a little higher than you would think. Little to dangerous for the rookies to be driving. After about an hour and a half we had made our way to Montgomery, Alabama. We decided on a quick lunch at the local Zaxby's. We were close enough to the interstate for the boys to take their turns behind the wheel. Needless to say they got quite a lesson in driving at high speeds in heavy traffic. I was suprised at how many cars and trucks were on the road for a Sunday afternoon. Both boys maintained the speed limit and were passed constantly by traffic going atleast 10 miles an hour faster. I can't speak for Andrew but Carsten handled things better than I thought he would. No rumble strips today. In fact there we a couple of times that I had to scold him for driving too fast. He pretty much took it in stride today and seemed to follow my advice pretty well. Hopefully he's learning and won't be too much of a hazard when he does get his license.
Well after about 6 hours in the car after lunch, we finally made it to Calle Bonita and Beachside II. We all got out of our vehicles only to be greeted a couple minutes later by 7 Blue Angel jets in formation doing a drive-by about 100 feet off the ground, over the beach. Unbeliveable, was all we could say. Mike and Andrew made a dash towards the beach. I was amazed at their cat like reflexes to get to a better viewing position. Certainly was a fun way to start our stay. I made comment to the Harmons that we had planned the Blue Angels to meet us when we arrived. For a second I think they believed me. Not! A few minutes later the Blue Angles passed again even lower in the sky. Probably about 50 feet off the ground or so. They passed by the adjoining town house so low, we could'nt see them over the roof. After talking to my Mom later in the evening, she said its typical for them to do flybys after returning from a day of air shows. But it was rare for them to fly back a second time from where they came. Certainly was a nice treat to start the week.
The two Dads made a trip to Publix for a purchase of groceries for the week, while the Mom's stayed back to get things settled at the condo. After a few frozen pizzas, Carsten and I made way for the first match of ping pong. Certainly is fun to play him and school him a little while he gives it right back. Match one goes to the youngster 3 games to two in the best of five. I'm sure the rest of the week will be hotly contested. Off to bed for everyone. I would imagine everyone will get a goods nights sleep. No plans for tomorrow. Who knows what tomorrows adventure will bring.......
Saturday, March 28, 2015
Harmon Rolling part Deux
As we left the house to meet the Harmons at their house, I commented, to my family, about how I thought they would be waiting in their car ready to go. It was precisely 4am as we rounded the corner on Chowen Ave. to a dark Harmon house. I quickly said they were not even up yet, that they had overslept. As we got closer though, not only were the Harmons up, but they were packed and waiting in their van ready to go. Prediction number one, CORRECT. Do I know the Harmons or what. We all had a quick chuckle and quickly made our way to 35W southbound.
Day one of the Spring Break to Pensacola Beach, FL included a few trips to the bathroom, as well as a few trips to the rumble strips on our drive to Nashville. You see, each family has a rookie driver just learning the ropes of driving. Pre-planning included Andrew and Carsten bragging about getting to drive for a few hours during the trip. After all, they need 50 hours of behind the wheel, before being able to take the drivers test when they turn 16. So what better way to rack in a few hours then to drive a packed minivan 75 miles an hours on a freeway road.
Well, after the Dads drove the first four hours until the sun came up, we found a long stretch of straight road, for the boys to continue the trip south. The next fours hours went fairly well except for a little wandering by both boys, to the rumble strips on the road. Susan boasted about Andrew getting the a hang of maneuvering the van back to the center of the lane after venturing a little too far towards the ditch. I was awaken a few times while Carsten made his way too close to the white line and quickly jerking the car back into line. Guess my hopes for a long nap will NOT be happenin' as thought. Oh well, I guess we all have to suffer for the sake of the children. Right?
Our lunch hour choice was a trip to the Cherry Street Cafe in Troy, MO. It came highly recommended after a google search by Michael. Apparently after making his pitch in his rendition of "Don Pardo", his family quickly thought it was a good idea. Well, Michael was correct. Not only did the food hit the spot, but the waiter splitting up parents and children, at separate tables, was the best idea of the day.
After lunch, the two Dads took the wheel for the rest of the trip to Nashville. Which is the "pit stop" for the first day of the trip.
The plan after arriving to Nashville, was to eat in Downtown Nashville at Jack's BBQ. That idea was quickly dashed after seeing the surrounding streets full of people. Thus our wait to get in would be too long. No problemo, plan B was to head to the Loveless Cafe, a mere 25 minutes away. Well, when we arrived there, it too was packed and the wait was and hour and a half. Ugggh! Now we were all hungry, a little cranky and just wanted to go anywhere. Everyone was throwing out fast food choices. I was not going to be swayed. I quickly googled the nearest restaurant to where we were staying. The Longhorn Steakhouse came up and I quickly dialed to find out the wait. I was told thirty minutes. Yes, jackpot. Most everyone agreed and we were back on the road. I thought dinner was about average. But we had good company and nice conversation, except for another feable attempt my the Mrs. to decorate the hidious laundry room. Just add it to the long "honey do" list. Preferably towards the bottom.
After dinner and short trip across the parking lot to the hotel, we were camped for the night. The Rolling family finished the night listening the the Wild, on my iphone, defeat the Kings to move past the hated Blackhawks for third place in the division with 6 games to play in the regular season. Keep it going boys, you're a blast to follow this year.
Some of the discussuion today also included a plan to visit the Jack Daniels Distillery on our way to Pensacola Beach, tomorrow morning. Three of the four kids are not too happy about it. Hopefully the tour guides will perk them up when we get there. More on that in tomorrow's summary of Harmon Rolling part Deux.........
Friday, August 24, 2012
Need more followers
Ok, I'm sitting here tweeting back and forth with my godson while I'm watching the Vikings on TV. It occurs to me that the barrage of tweets are going to 3 people. How much of a loser am I?
So I'm hoping more people will read this post and choose to follow me on twitter. My handle is @kurtrolling. So come check it out. Please?
Topic for the night: The KFAN radio broadcast is simulcast on TV too. I'm loving it.
Also, lots of ramifications from Scott Diamond being tossed last night. Any comments?
So I'm hoping more people will read this post and choose to follow me on twitter. My handle is @kurtrolling. So come check it out. Please?
Topic for the night: The KFAN radio broadcast is simulcast on TV too. I'm loving it.
Also, lots of ramifications from Scott Diamond being tossed last night. Any comments?
Monday, August 20, 2012
Not just another fond memory
After a day of rest of figured I would summarize our trip to the Grand Canyon.
Our last day started with some disappointment that our hotel did not have a pool. The plan was to let the kids swim until around noon and then shove off on our last drive. The good news is that we were able to get an earlier start and got home around 7pm.
About halfway thru our last day, we stopped and got gas. I noticed that one of our tires was low. I filled it up and really didn't think much about, until Sunday morning when we went to get in the van and the tire was completely flat. Thank goodness that didn't happen during the trip. A quick trip to discount tire and we're back in gear.
Pretty uneventful last day. The Harmon's brought over pizza and we had one last dinner and then called it a night.
We had a blast and I want to thank the Harmon's for introducing us to the camping experience. We couldn't have asked for better weather. No bugs! And most importantly, a great family to travel with.
The Rollings are already trying to think of ways that we can use the camper next summer.
Thanks for reading the blog of our trip!
If you liked what you read, please follow this blog. I will be blogging about everyday day life. Oh yeah, and about construction too!
Our last day started with some disappointment that our hotel did not have a pool. The plan was to let the kids swim until around noon and then shove off on our last drive. The good news is that we were able to get an earlier start and got home around 7pm.
About halfway thru our last day, we stopped and got gas. I noticed that one of our tires was low. I filled it up and really didn't think much about, until Sunday morning when we went to get in the van and the tire was completely flat. Thank goodness that didn't happen during the trip. A quick trip to discount tire and we're back in gear.
Pretty uneventful last day. The Harmon's brought over pizza and we had one last dinner and then called it a night.
We had a blast and I want to thank the Harmon's for introducing us to the camping experience. We couldn't have asked for better weather. No bugs! And most importantly, a great family to travel with.
The Rollings are already trying to think of ways that we can use the camper next summer.
Thanks for reading the blog of our trip!
If you liked what you read, please follow this blog. I will be blogging about everyday day life. Oh yeah, and about construction too!
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Don Juan Nebraska
We ended up pulling out of the Alamosa KOA at 9:00am. We are veteran campers now and it takes no time at all to set up and take down the popup. I even got a compliment from the Mrs. about the speed of hooking up the trailer.
Today's mileage was the topper of them all at over 650 miles and 14 hours.
We stopped in Denver to meet the Christensen's for lunch. They moved from Bloomington to Denver a year ago after the BAA Baseball playoffs. We had lunch at an awesome gourmet hot dog place a few blocks from Coor's Field. The city reminds me a lot of MPLS. Especially where the ballpark is located. Very much like the warehouse district in MPLS.
It was great to see Charlie, Stephanie and their kids! They seemed to be doing well. Too bad we could stay longer to visit more.
The rest of the day was pretty boring. Not really even much yelling at the kids. Maybe we are getting better at this parenting stuff. I'm sure they'll probably make up for it tomorrow.
We had dinner pretty late again at the Village Inn in North Platte, NE.
I only mention that because apparently Mike got hit on by the waitress. When it was time to leave Mike stayed back to buy a glass of pop for the road and asked her how much for the pop. She said it was on her as long as she could feel his beard. When he came out of the restaurant to tell us, we all started laughing. I think he made up the story because he hasn't shaved since the beginning of the trip. He's been good for a couple goofball moments everyday. This one just topped them all! LOL!
Tomorrows drive will bring and end to our trip to the Grand Canyon. 8+ hours scheduled on the road. We are planning to sleep in, especially after todays long one.
Good Night!
Today's mileage was the topper of them all at over 650 miles and 14 hours.
We stopped in Denver to meet the Christensen's for lunch. They moved from Bloomington to Denver a year ago after the BAA Baseball playoffs. We had lunch at an awesome gourmet hot dog place a few blocks from Coor's Field. The city reminds me a lot of MPLS. Especially where the ballpark is located. Very much like the warehouse district in MPLS.
It was great to see Charlie, Stephanie and their kids! They seemed to be doing well. Too bad we could stay longer to visit more.
The rest of the day was pretty boring. Not really even much yelling at the kids. Maybe we are getting better at this parenting stuff. I'm sure they'll probably make up for it tomorrow.
We had dinner pretty late again at the Village Inn in North Platte, NE.
I only mention that because apparently Mike got hit on by the waitress. When it was time to leave Mike stayed back to buy a glass of pop for the road and asked her how much for the pop. She said it was on her as long as she could feel his beard. When he came out of the restaurant to tell us, we all started laughing. I think he made up the story because he hasn't shaved since the beginning of the trip. He's been good for a couple goofball moments everyday. This one just topped them all! LOL!
Tomorrows drive will bring and end to our trip to the Grand Canyon. 8+ hours scheduled on the road. We are planning to sleep in, especially after todays long one.
Good Night!
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