The last leg

Well, dear diary, I'm home again.  Didn't post yesterday but I don't want to lose the experience.  Even though it seems a bit mundane, the last few hours of driving from an outlet mall (essentially) to the place I usually call home, was all part of this particular road trip Peter Pan adventure.  So....

First, now that I have a good connection, I need to upload my photos from the Friday drive through North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia and Pennsylvania.  Wow, did I really drive through 4 states in one day?  Sounds like a movie.  Whatever.

  Pilot Mountain, North Carolina, where the guy was sleeping in his jeep.  At least I think he was sleeping.  There was no blood dripping down from the bottom of the door like you would see in Criminal Minds.  But you never know...

The New Gorge River bridge that I drove across that felt like it was a bridge across the sky.  The first picture is taken from the top of the stairs at the adjoining visitor center (I didn't go into the park, now on the bucket list!) looking toward the bridge.  After descending the stairs, which only go down about 200 ft - the bottom of the gorge is 600 ft down - I took the second shot looking left.  600 ft is a looong way down.

  

Young's Monument, WV, where a scenic lookout provided a lovely non-snowy winter vista, with the sunlight highlighting a distant rise.  

Now for the drive home.  When I left on Dec. 24, it was in the high teens Celsius, and the forecast was for the temps at home to be around the freezing mark.  So I had packed what I thought was enough warm clothes.  But it's cold here (in Grove City), the temperature has dropped (for me) about 25 C in the last 24 hours.  Savannah was hot and sticky when I left early Thursday afternoon, and I had been driving with the windows down and sunroof wide open most of the way to Winston-Salem, where it was about 9 C when I arrived.  That's chilly enough, but now... well, a windbreaker and sweater are just not going to cut it, and as it turns out, I've had a blowout in my favourite gloves.

So it's a good thing that there's an outlet mall just down the street and on the way to the highway, and they have a 75% off sale on just about everything.  Old Navy, here I come.  I find a lovely winter wool jacket for $13.99 (yes, you saw that right), and a warm fuzzy pullover for $3.99 (yup) and a couple of other goodies.  Next stop is G.H. Bass & Co., where I find two pairs of leather gloves at $14.99 a pair.  I know, right?

Off I go up the highway, and it looks like I might even be able to pick up the cat a little early.  At 11 a.m., little miss GPS (have to come up with a name for her, like Queen GPS) tells me that I should arrive at home about 3:15.  Cool.  I can take my time, maybe even stop for lunch, although the hotel included a hot buffet breakfast.  

I-79 North is mostly barren of traffic, or any life at all.  Still haven't seen any snow, anywhere, on this trip, although that's been largely due to the planning of my routes to avoid precipitation.  I'm about 15 miles south of Erie, PA when I start seeing a bit of white, just a dusting really, and still nothing in the air.  Hop on the I-90 toward Buffalo, start seeing a bit more, but nothing serious.  Then about 10 miles out from Buffalo, there's a sign that reads "Lake Effect snow ahead, reduce speed", and it starts to snow.  Not just snow, but sleet.  It's been a while since I've HEARD snow hitting the car, but this snow was downright noisy.  Not freezing rain, little white pellets (not hail either).  And traffic slows.  Good thing I have extra time!

But not really, although it gets worse and worse the closer I get to the city, and at one point I see a tractor trailer across the median, with the back tires of the trailer on one side of the median and the front tires of the tractor on the other side of the median, and not much underneath, and a lot of skid marks.  A bit further on, in the collectors lanes, there are two vehicles smashed into the guardrail, facing the wrong direction.  Traffic slows a bit more.

As I approach the city proper, the weather doesn't just clear up, it becomes almost dry.  Awesome!  The remainder of the trip is completely uneventful, and I have arrived to pick up Simba about half an hour early, and feeling like I've just had probably the best vacation ever.

Next blog post - interesting things seen on the road (that didn't make the daily post), and tips for making a road trip safe and enjoyable.  Home again - and planning the next one already.  Sigh.  

Driving through the mountains

Wow, it was a "bit brisk" this morning, as one of the other hotel guests said at breakfast.  About 5 C, which is the chilliest I've felt for a long time, considering that it was in the high teens when I left home on Dec. 24.  As I drive north, it's not going to get any warmer, I'm sure.  'Twill take a bit of getting used to.  Especially since I really didn't bring any winter clothing.  Good thing I'll be staying close to an outlet mall tonight!

Sooo.....  one last long drive, since tomorrow should only be about a four or five hour run.  Today looks to be about 7 hours, and since I also hope to get a few pics while driving through the mountain, I head out fairly early, before 9:30.  Not long after I hit the road, I see a car in the ditch off to the right - surrounded by yellow crime scene tape.  Yikes!  No cops around, so no worries.

A bit further, and I see an odd rock formation way ahead in the distance.  Look for a place to stop and take a photo, nothing around... wait... Aha!  Scenic outlook up ahead.  Pull over, and there's only one other vehicle, and that's a jeep parked there.  Weird, doesn't look like anyone is around.  Oh well, grab the camera and walk past jeep to get a shot - omg there's a guy sleeping in the jeep!  Well, at least he wasn't driving if he was that tired.  The whole back of the car is full to the roof with stuff, including his cowboy boots stuffed up against the back window.  I hope he's just sleeping - better not hang around too long in case he wakes up.  Grab the shot... (which I'll have to upload later when I have a decent wifi connection - again).

Next cool experience was in driving through Virginia, and there was a wall of mountain ahead of me.  I couldn't for the life of me figure out where the road went - it didn't appear to go up and over, and there was no discernible way of going around it.  As I went around a curve it became apparent - I was going through the mountain.  They had simply drilled a hole through the mountain, and that's where they put the road.  So, feeling a little Lord of the Rings - ish, I went through the mountain.  The song is wrong, she's not comin' around the mountain, she's comin' straight through!

Next up was West Virginia - wow those mountains are big, and gorgeous, and so dark.  Where the road has been blasted through, you can see that a lot of the rock is black, what's that about?  When I stop at the Welcome center to grab a coffee, there's a little gift shop.  Asking for the one thing I could buy that's truly West Virginia, the clerk suggests the little coal figurines - aha, the black rock is from coal!  Never occurred to me before, although it should have.

Not much farther along, I find myself driving across a huge bridge that appears to be floating in the sky that's how far down it seems the bottom is.  What the heck???  Did they just put a bridge from one mountain top to the next?  That's even weirder than tunneling through a whole mountain.  There's a sign on the other side for a scenic lookout - awesome, I need to see this.  And wow, there's my exercise for the day too, because they've built a staircase partway down the mountainside so that you can get a great view of the whole bridge.  There's a river way down at the bottom, I have no idea how far down it is, but there are tiny cars down there.

Suddenly I hear screeches from below on the other side of the gorge and see people in the river - whaaat???  It's like freezing out here and people are swimming?  Oh ya, it's New Year's Day, a polar bear plunge.  They jump in and race right back out again.

Another stop reveals stepped excavation to build the road.  This must have something to do with the geological formation in this area, I've never seen this before but it's easy to see the layers of different types of rock.  The sky is partly cloudy, and the patches of sun dance across the mountains creating really intriguing patterns.

The rest of the drive is mostly uneventful, although the scenery is quite interesting.  Coming around Pittsburgh at dusk reveals a ton of residential building at the top of each rise, ruining the vista.  Although I'm sure someone made a ton of money.

Arrive in Grove City to a temp of about freezing, so it's a good thing I'll have time to do a bit of shopping tomorrow, didn't bring enough warm clothing!  (Haven't needed it yet...) 

Historic Savannah

Wake up in Savannah GA with no fog, and only five hours of driving ahead of me.  That means if I get my butt out of bed quickly, I can take in a trolley tour.  A number of trolleys (many of them refurbished from days gone by) tour the city driven by knowledgeable guides, following specific routes and stopping at specific points, and they run at 15 minute intervals.  You can hop on and off, take in the sights, shop in the market, take photos, have lunch, then jump back on the next one and continue the tour.  Fabulous, and reasonably priced.

The tour I take is Old Town Trolley Tours, for two reasons.  The first is that they have a nifty GPS tracker system, just scan the QR code on the tour map you get, and it connects you with a schedule for the next trolley at your location, even gives you updated changes to the route.  This was important today as the City Market got blocked off for traffic for this evening's New Year's Eve festivities, and the tour route changed by a block or two.  The second reason is that they also operate tours in a number of other cities, many of which I would love to visit some day (and almost did on this trip).

The tour guides are very entertaining, and provide great details about this very old city with a rich history.  Rich for sure.  Historical, wow.  And I finally get some decent photos of some of the historical and Victorian homes of the south (note that all of these are SOOTC).

  

  

There are so many other wonderful pieces of the city, and if it wasn't for the cars, it might seem like you were stepping back in time, with the brick roads, cobblestone streets, old cotton warehouses, markets, and parks.

      

   

After a light lunch on a patio (how did I manage to find a patio table?) on the riverfront, Blackened Tuna Bites with a chipotle sauce and avacado mash, I finish the tour and fire up the GPS to take me to Winston-Salem, NC.

The first leg of the journey takes me over a very high, very long suspension bridge - of course I can't grab pictures because I'm driving - that is gorgeous.  Here's a stock photo from waymarking.com to give you an idea of what it was like:



Once on the other side, I find that I am no longer in Georgia, but in South Carolina.  Thank goodness I bought this GPS - it is talking me through the entire trip.  If I'm hungry, I ask it for restaurants, it remembers the ones I choose for faster navigation later, and tells me important things like to slow down in school zones.  It shows me little icons where gas stations are, including what brand (if it knows it).  Love it.

The drive is easy all the way to Davidson, NC, just north of Charlotte.  There is a large lit sign by the highway indicating an accident ahead at exit 30 that is blocking both lanes.  Traffic slows to a crawl a couple of miles later, and after about 20 minutes, a tow truck and ambulance passing on the right, and no change to the crawling pace, my trusty GPS suddenly announces that I-77 has been closed and that it was calculating a new route for me.  Love it.  So I inch across to the right lane and take the next exit (which is before the accident), and little Miss GPS guides me around Davidson to the second exit after the accident and I'm on my way.  I tried giving the GPS a high-five but it just kind of bobbed on it's little stand.

Arrive in Winston-Salem, and it's much bigger than I expected.  There's a very tall building with a rounded shape on top that is brightly lit.  It will be interesting to find out what it is (Wells Fargo Center).  The hotel that I booked is really a conference center, The Hawthorne, and it's quite nice.  After the last couple of nights, my fondest hope is that I get decent wi-fi,  My wish comes true when I see that the WAP unit is attached to the ceiling in the hall - right above my room door.  Wonders never cease.

Tomorrow is a long drive up to Grove City, PA, and tonight is New Year's Eve.  Tomorrow is the beginning of a New Year, one which promises to bring many wonderful opportunities.  I hope that I am able to see them all, and grab all of them and make the most of each one.  I hope that more travel is in the future, and more photography, and more precious time with children and grandchildren, family, friends, love and life.  

Fried Green Tomatoes

After an awesome night's sleep, I awoke to... wait for it.. pick your jaw up from the floor after reading this...  Fog.  No shit.  Couldn't see much out the window, and had really hoped to go for one last walk on the beach.  However, it might be gone by the time I'm dressed and ready to go, so a quick shower and pack up (have to leave today :(  ), yup, the fog has lifted.  It's still very hazy out, although it has been since I've arrived.  After a couple of miles, a few more pretty blue jellyfish, some sand and surf between the toes, and feeling enough warm sun and breeze and water to hopefully last a few months, I head back to the hotel and check out.

First stop is... Starbucks.  Since I "lost" (ahem) my Miami Beach Starbucks mug, hopefully I can get a Daytona Beach one.  But no luck.  They are even sold out of the Florida ones, and never made a Daytona one.  That's ok, I can at least get a good cup of coffee, then it's off to find the Daytona International Speedway.  Ever since taking the course to become a race marshall (the people that wave the flags at races), I've thought it would be cool to see what a "real" world-class racetrack is like.  I was completely unprepared.  The sheer size of the place is something that you can't imagine until you see it.

It takes almost 20 minutes to drive on the ring road that runs around the perimeter.  You can hear the cars whining as drivers practise (I guess), and although it's very difficult to find a place to stop and get a photo, I manage to get a couple that at least (although not very photographically interesting) show sort of how big it is.  Unfortunately, due to a very slow connection here this evening, I will have to upload the pics later.  Although I missed the morning tour by about an hour, I find the gift shop, and need to find a few trinkets for my daughter, husband and grandkids.  Val and Chad are huge race fans, so this will be great.  

Next, off to Savannah, GA.  On the way south, I had skipped this in the hopes of getting to the Beach early enough to have dinner.  This time, I'll stay for a while and hopefully catch a bit of the historic area.  The traffic isn't nearly as crazy coming north along I-95 as it was (and is) southbound.  Nice, makes for a much easier drive.

Hitting Savannah before 4 p.m. means I can chill out a bit, figure out where I'm at, and book my next two nights hotel, which could be just as tricky as Christmas even and Christmas Day/night. Check the weather, which so far is holding at no more snow and ice for a couple of days at least.  Check the driving times and hotel availability, and it looks like tomorrow will be Winston-Salem, NC, about a five hour drive.  New Year's Day is probably a good day to just drive, so my next stop after that will be Grove City, PA so I can do a bit of shopping at the outlet mall on Saturday morning before heading home (a four-hour drive).

Anyway, now it's time for dinner.  My friend Myra has recommended two places that she and her husband love when they come to Savannah, the Olde Pink House, and Pirate House Restaurant.  However, neither have any reservations available.  So I check the hotel lobby for flyers, and find a couple that seem like they have good food, reasonably priced, take walk-ins, and are casual.  Perfect.  My trusty GPS gets me to the riverfront, and I'm already excited to come back tomorrow for a trolley tour.

The restaurant I pick is Savannah River House, which seemed to have a fairly extensive menu and lots of southern food (when in Rome...)  I'm really getting to like this southern food, maybe a bit too much.  The drink of the area is the Chatham Artillery Punch.  Which is pretty much what it sounds like.  And I get to take the glass home - like I needed another brandy snifter?  Appetizer is Fried Green Tomatoes, which I've never had before because frankly, it sounds kinda yucky.   But here they are not super greasy, and are served with a paella onion relish and goat cheese - and I'm hooked.  Entree is Pecan Bourbon Salmon, served on a bed of sweet potato mash over sauteed collard greens.  Sooooo yummy!

After that it's time for a walk.  The streets are full of happy people, and live music drifts from a couple of restaurants and bars.  The streets themselves are cobblestone or brick, and you can see the old buildings that are now the eating establishments and stores are very old.  The streets come down to the riverfront down very steep hills, and there are long steep stairs for those brave enough to walk back up.  Hopefully I'll get some good pictures tomorrow.

Beach Days

A couple of days of slowdown.  Charleston appeared to be getting hit with a t-storm, so did some checking and discovered that most of FL would be getting sunshine and warmer than usual temps.  Sounds great, but no longer had the ambition required to drive down to the bottom end of the state, so a compromise, Daytona Beach, where I've never been, but have heard much about (mostly related to March break or Reading Week shenanigans and college students marauding the beaches).  This time of year seems safe enough, so a room is booked for a couple of nights.

Leaving Charleston, I realize that I didn't stop at Starbucks.  The last few trips have netted me some pretty cool Starbucks coffee mugs, and it seems appropriate to look for a Charleston one.  Unable to find one that says "Charleston" on it, like the ones I got from England and Bahrain, at least I was able to find one that was very Charleston-like - it has camelias on it!  Even better, it's 50% off in price.  Score!

The drive to Daytona takes me down the I95 for most of the way, and lo and behold, (I know this is a shock), it rains a good part of the way.  But it's not the kind of downpour I saw through VA and NC.  And somewhere halfway through Georgia, it stops, and the sun starts to appear occasionally through the clouds.  Traffic is very, well, interstate-ish.  Heavy, slow at times, constant watch required but not difficult, as most drivers appear to be quite courteous, not the kind of craziness that I'm used to on the 401.  Jacksonville is pretty busy with road construction everywhere, and then I'm in the home stretch.

Although I had booked a room at The Shores Resort and Spa in Daytona Beach Shores before leaving Charleston (actually, the night before), there was a bit of a glitch in the reservation system, and I arrive to find them scrambling to find rooms for more guests than they have places to put them.  I am asked if I could please stay at their sister property for one of the two nights that I have booked, and since it doesn't really seem like I have a choice I agree.  Not the best decision, not the best hotel, but that's part of going on an unplanned road trip - you don't always get what you expect.  Actually, it was a bit like an old, poorly maintained highway motel room, twin beds, chipped tub, an iron but no board, pretty basic.

The Shores is a 4-diamond VIP (hey, I'm on vacation, I'm worth 2 nights at a good place!) and went out of their way to compensate me, by providing a gratis dinner in the original hotel's very fine restaurant, valet parking, and the first night was on the house.  So all in all, it worked out, just last night wasn't the most pleasant surroundings.  But the room tonight is fab!

This morning I woke up early and took a long walk along the beach, had no idea it was so wide, and so soft.  The surf is pretty high, and there are signs warning of a rip current.  But the water is crazy warm and the air is already hot and humid.  A gorgeous breeze makes it lovely though, and I can't wait to get settled in the Shores in a proper room so that I can have breakfast and enjoy the sand and sea.  On my walk, I find some Tidal Treasures, and set them aside, but it seems the tide is still pretty high, so hopefully later in the day I'll find a few more.

Keeping in mind an earlier experience - Myrtle Beach many years ago - when we were warned to not step on the jellyfish that buried themselves in the sand to stay wet, I had worn my beach shoes.  Good thing, too, because I did find a couple - that I found out later were actually very poisonous, although very beautiful.

After a large, southern breakfast, I learn that my room at The Shores is ready, and I spend the rest of the day lolligagging about on the beach, enjoying the sand and surf and sun and soft warm air.  It may be a few months before I experience this again.  Can't help but think how great it would be to have my brothers and sisters and family with me so that we could splash about like we did when we were kids, swimming and running, and making sand castles and throwing frisbees and not wanting to ever go home.

But tomorrow, it will be time to start heading north again.  There has been a lot of snow and ice there in the past couple of days, so hopefully I will not have to drive through too much yucky stuff, but it will be another day or two I think before I have to worry about it.  Think I'll take a different route back.  First stop, Savannah.  I think.

Downtown Charleston

The day dawns - not foggy!  And a forecasted high of 78, and lower humidity.  So, shorts and a tank top, pack everything in my new camera gear knapsack that I need for the day, and hop in the hotel shuttle (that way I don't have to find parking, and it's free).  The shuttle drops the passengers at the Market, which looks very interesting. The market is open till 5, the horse-drawn carriage tours are only available till 4 and book up quickly, and the hotel shuttle runs till 9:30, so I decide to walk around a bit, then get a carriage ride, then walk some more, eat, drink and be merry blah blah blah.

Map in hand (yup, doing it the old-fashioned way) I make my way down Market St., and find the carriage company that had been recommended by the hotel.  Ride booked for 2:30, so I have a couple of hours to explore and have some lunch.  Walking down Meeting St., and I spot what looks to be a great place for lunch.

And I get a spot at the chef's table - perfect.  The menu looks fantastic and it takes me a while to decide on the blue crab salad plate, with a pear and ginger sangria (yes, it was even better than it sounds).  Starting with warm, real southern cornbread served with soft butter, it just kept getting better.  

After this, I wandered for about an hour through the French quarter, hoping that the guide on the carriage ride would explain some of what I was seeing.  When I got to the barn for the tour, I asked if I could be seated at the side or the front so that I could get lots of pictures.  (Single person advantage - almost always get the best seats because it's easy to fit in).  Yup, got a front seat at the end.  Perfect.  And I am now officially in love with Charleston.  Not just the historical and beautiful architecture, the southern charm, but the smells of southern spruce and whatever flower it is (magnolia?) that gently touches your senses and then disappears, leaving you wanting more.  The quiet streets, the gracious grandeur, the way complete strangers nod and say "har ya doin'?" when they pass you.  This is definitely a place I could become very accustomed to.  Charleston, I don't think I'm done with you yet.  

   

  

After the carriage ride, the market beckons.  According to the carriage driver, it used to be a slave's market - where the slaves would come and buy things, not where the slaves were sold.  Although almost everything in it can be found elsewhere, the sweet grass hand-woven baskets, from a West African tradition, are beautiful, and this is the only place you can get them.  After watching a couple of people making them, and seeing the craftsmanship, I pick one out, bargain with the vendor for almost half off, and tuck it away.  

Supper is beef chimichangas in a little Mexican restaurant that has mostly Mexicans as patrons, and it's quite good and not too filling.  But it's a little noisy, so off to a rooftop bar for a mint julep and to browse through the photos I've taken today - boy do I ever need a lot of practice! - and rest my somewhat tired feet.  Then it's back to the hotel to rest up.

Tomorrow the weather is supposed to get cooler, so I'm off to warmer climes.  It's supposed to be sunny and warm in Daytona Beach, hopefully I can get a decent room for not too much moolah.

The scent of Magnolia

In the true spirit of a journal...

Dec. 26, 2015 - Charleston SC

7 a.m.  - Awake feeling refreshed and ready to explore.  Great bed for a hotel, and that's what matters when you're traveling, not whether the wallpaper is peeling in the bathroom.  The fog has once again taken over (what's with me always managing to find places with poor visibility when I travel?) but it's supposed to clear.  Hope to get out to one of the plantations.

9:30 - finished breakfast, still so foggy that the "riverview" restaurant on the 15th floor shows only pure white outside.  Plantation tours run all day, so will take some time now to clean lenses, backup SD cards to the laptop, and recharge batteries.

10:30 - fog starting to lift, so I make a reservation for one of the plantation tours.  20 minutes later the swamp on the other side of the road is visible from the hotel room window, and I can see several ibis grazing in the marsh grass.  Another 10 minutes later and the sun is shining, the fog should clear completely soon!  I get down to the lobby to meet the driver, and step outside into - omg I should have worn shorts and a tshirt!  It's very humid so good thing it's only about 75 F.  But wow does it ever feel great to be in the warm sunshine.

12:00 - At the Visitor Center, downtown Charleston, getting on a shuttle to the Magnolia Garden Plantation.  My pass includes a tour of the house and a train ride through the Audubon Swamp, where hopefully we will see a couple of alligators and other wildlife.  It's about a half hour's drive, and the driver promises I will get lots of pictures.  On the way, I see the odd small tree loaded with large red or dark pink blooms, but the driver does not know what they are.  The other shuttle passengers think it might be camellia, which I've never seen before to my knowledge.  Gorgeous.

12:30 - Arrive at the Magnolia Plantation, 500 acres of the original 2000, where the Drayton family (who still owns it, the only original owner left in the area) to explore.  I start in the garden as my ticket for the train tour is for the 1:30 train, and the house is at 2:30.  Yes, they are camellia and there are several varieties here at the plantation garden.  And other flowers blooming too, azaleas and magnolias (I think, they smell wonderful!), pansies, snapdragons, sweet william, those are just the ones I recognized.  If I let myself daydream for a few minutes, I could easily be a southern belle walking through the garden with my beau, with a parasol on my shoulder to keep the warm southern sun off my delicate face.  Bahahaha!  Ya right.  Ok, back to reality.  Camera comes out, and catches this little beauty, among others.

There are probably an hour's worth of pathways through the garden, plus a conservatory, but have to get back to catch the "train".

1:30 - The "train" is a tractor pulling a couple of trolley cars typical of tourist attractions.  Find a seat and we pull away.  The driver is chatty and informative, and it isn't long before we start seeing some critters, including large turtles (too far away to get a good shot), ibis, great blue heron, ducks (cinnamon teals), and alligators.  Lots of them.  By the end of the train ride, the driver admits he has never seen so many alligators in one tour.  A couple of dozen at least, all sizes, all sunning themselves on little platforms provided, or swimming about lazily.

   

This one was pretty chill.  A couple of turtles joined him on the platform, although smaller turtles are sometimes gator gourmet.  All in all, a lovely ride, although we didn't stop very often, nor long enough when we did, to get many decent pictures.  

2:30 - House tour.  Interesting, but this isn't a true plantation home as I was expecting.  The current home was the third on the property, and the first one was 13000 sq ft.  Now that's a mansion!  The second was only 11000 sf.  The current one was probably less than half of that.  Very historic, and beautiful, but the wraparound porch probably makes it look twice what it really is.  Still, you could have a party on that porch...

4:00 - back at the hotel, trying to find a decent restaurant that has "southern" or at least local food and that I can still get a reservation for at the last minute.  Stars Rooftop and Grill Room looks awesome, and has availability.  And it's only a 5 minute drive.... score!!!  Reservations at 6:45 so better go clean up...

7:00 - 9:00 - Dinner.  Unbelievable.  Must go back, Stars is amazing, fantastic food, impeccable service, perfect atmosphere (for me), great wine...  As usual, I try to eat local and drink the house specialty.  So, started with a cocktail called an Aviation (how fitting) and it was ah-mazing.  Gin, lemon, maraschino cherry liqueur.  However, this place also added a bit of lavender cordial.  It was actually really good.  Appetizer:  Baked Oysters, with sauteed spinach, Asiago cheese, fresh garlic and brandy.  Phenomenal.  For the main course I chose another appetizer and a sharing plate which was actually exactly the right amount.  The appetizer was "Bacon Tater Tots", so, fluffed potatoes and bacon bits coated and deep fried (like croquettes) and served with a bacon aioli.  The sharing plate I selected was more like a small entree, so perfect.  Rare grilled bluefin tuna, crusted with pecans, served with a spicy mustard, a honey-almond sauce and a mixture of vegetables like heirloom carrots, purple cabbage and mild radishes in a wonderful creamy sauce - they called it Vegetable Slaw but it was the best Slaw I've ever had.  Then dessert, which was Smoked Chocolate 'Smore Pie.  Words do not do it justice.