So we’re leaving for Santiago in a few days to join a cruise to Antarctica returning via Buenos Aires. This is a big deal – it’s something we started to dream about a few years ago and started to book 16 months ago. We’re in our mid-fifties; we started planning this when we were younger. This is our third cruise together. The shortest was 12 nights so we have certainly discovered that we are a younger demographic on longer duration cruise!
Questions I want to ask others are as follows. How did you decide to go to Antarctica? Why did you book on Holland America? When did you decide to go? Was this a long held dream or was it recent? If you have done it before, does the Drake Passage compare to other seas-of-drama? I’ve cruised the Bay of Biscay a couple of times and have touched a Cat 1 hurricane off the coast of North Carolina so I’m confident I will be fine – can it be that much worse?
For us, the story begins with a walk.
Walking in Valencia
When traveling and away from home we spend more time talking about things we enjoy. Often this happens when we’re sitting on a balcony watching the sea go by or when we’re on a long walk, or sometimes on a long run, because we do run. We talk about where we want to retire, how we want to live, or what we want to do next.
In 2023, we were in port in Valencia on a Cunard Queen Victoria cruise. We didn’t book an excursion because we felt we could explore Valencia on our own. Although Valencia port isn’t necessarily walkable, Cunard was nice enough to provide a shuttle to the City of Arts and Sciences. Valencia has a greenbelt built on the diverted Turia River bed that begins at the City of the Arts and Sciences and passes by the old town core so we used it as a conduit. It’s a two mile walk each way. We should have worn our running clothes and run instead.
Jardi del Turia
Anyway, I don’t know what exactly we discussed that particular day, but sometime around then we started talking about future travels and I suspect on the long walk we discussed much of what we wanted to see in the world. Patagonia and Africa came up as being fairly high on the list. To be honest, we didn’t talk about Antarctica.
Flash forward and we eventually started reviewing options and talking about planning. We discussed the merits of Africa over Patagonia, and I was sneaky enough to slide Antarctica in there. The Holland America itinerary is actually one I planned for January 2014 back in 2012 when I was still married. It’s a great itinerary starting in Chile and taking in parts of Patagonia, the Drake Passage and Antarctic Peninsula, and the Argentine and Uruguayan coasts along with the Falkland Islands. But obviously I’m not married anymore so I ended up canceling – my mother went instead, and we’ll see how this works out because literally two days after we booked this winter’s expedition she joined her local travel group to do the same. She swears it was merely a coincidence, but we shall see!
Compared to expedition cruises it’s very cost effective, and compared to other main-line options it’s longer and takes in a wider variety of ports, countries, and cultures. I was also looking at an Azamara cruise that covered roughly the same territory but we agreed upon Holland America. If we’re going to be on a ship for 22 days, we want relaxation and recovery in a larger cabin with more options.
So here we are preparing to embark in six days, and preparing to travel a few days beforehand.
When we depart in nine days now I want to write a bit, but not too much, and I want to do it every day. What I intend to do is be particular about what I put down on paper. Every day I’ll put a pen to paper briefly about:
Logistics and reality
Remaining active and fit on vacation
Food and entertainment, but only if it’s interesting
Opportunities for rest and relaxation, in the literal sense
What experiences in the moment inspired the strongest emotions
Logistics. This is actually the least most important subject. You can learn this anywhere, but it is essential to having time to have fun and remaining stress-free. What are the logistics of being where you are? Was the ride smooth or bumpy? Was it warm or cold or wet? Were the seas rough?
After the storm
How to remain active. Particularly true on package tours and / or cruises. How do you remain healthy? How do you stay young? How do you keep up your fitness program rather than gaining weight?
Waiting for a jazz show in Manhattan
Then, the opposite – food and entertainment. Did you see a band play? Did you see a show? Write about it if it’s interesting. Don’t right about it, except in passing, if it is just background music. If you decided to follow them on social media write about it. Same with the food. Once you’ve established the same dull habit of a bowl of fruit and yogurt in the room for breakfast every day no matter how much joy it brings you, don’t write a photo, but if you went to Morimoto’s latest or you found the freshest oysters in whatever strange country you’re visiting, go ahead share a photo and write.
Navajas
The next is where I am going to get controversial. I want to keep track of how I stayed well-rested. If you’re going to go on extended travels, you need to track your energy levels. Otherwise, you’re going to get sick. Fortunately, we have modern technology on our side.
Finally, this is what matters most. What did you see or experience that inspired you today? What was that one moment? Was it a flash of light across the sky? Or the sound your footsteps made in an alley on cobblestones? What will you remember the most about being there, away from home?
Christmas this year was peaceful. We had conversations by phone with family starting with Tyler, my 14 year old, calling me at 5:30am. I was sound asleep in the dark and my watch started vibrating. I woke up with a start and realized the phone was ringing so I rolled over and grabbed it. Tyler on FaceTime. “Oh, so you ARE up,” bright and happy! I was expecting could not sleep or upset about something, but nonetheless I was in the dark and a couple of teens were wide awake at their mother’s house and ready to interrogate me…
“Yes, I’m up now, but I’m going back to sleep.”
The next time they called us we were out on our Christmas run.
View of the airport
In my house we run separately except on Christmas and on major holidays, so today was the day. Usually we go down the National Mall from Lincoln past the White House and to the Capitol and back, but neither one of us wanted to see “that part of the town” in the current circumstances so we parked on Ohio Drive and ran south to Haines Point and back opposite the Wharf.
DC Wharf
The Wharf in DC is a newly-redeveloped waterfront area of hotels, condominiums, restaurants, and nightlife. We head down there a few times a year for various events. Even though it’s a hassle and it’s overpriced, we usually enjoy it. Near the Wharf there was a flock of geese loitering.
Geese
Our run ended basically at the Jefferson Memorial which has always been my favorite as there are fewer crowds and it has a view over the Tidal Basin.
Jefferson Memorial
A lot of the seawall near the Jefferson Memorial is under construction and to be replaced, hopefully all the way down to Haines Point. They’ve built a temporary concrete plant next to the MLK Jr Memorial to handle all of this.
Anyway, after this we went home where we had mimosas and omelettes.
And then the presents
One of the more interesting gifts I received was a book of useless information. I haven’t read through it yet as I am busy reading a novel about Antarctica and flipping through Antarctic cruise guides.
As I was awake at 5:30am, the afternoon involved a nap.
Fish pie with pastry crust
For dinner I made Paul Hollywood’s fish pie with pastry crust from his cookbook Baked. And then we topped off the evening with a longer than usual dog walk down to our neighborhood landmark Alcova House.
Alcova House at Christmas
Alcova House was the farmhouse of the original property on the land where we live. The owners sold the land off to the Alcova Improvement Company in 1920 at which point individual parcels were sold over the next couple of decades to people wishing were build. This practice, unlike some of the neighboring communities where the developer owned the land and homes built were consistent, led to the hodgepodge we have here today. We have a mix of ramblers, 1920s Cape Cods, small cottages that sat on large wooded lots back in the day, and infill development.
Not actually this week
On our particular lot, many of the houses are built on lots that are three hundred feet deep and fifty feet wide, like half of a football field. Ours, however, is part of a lot that was diviced two or three times over the past hundred years. Our rear neighbor’s house was built in 1989 off of an eight-sided parcel that was taken from our lot. Our house was built in 1992 after the previous house on the lot – a house built in the 1920s that sat on the rear lot line – burned down due to a maze of extension cords catching on fire.
Thus, a hodge podge.
We’ll see what I get into this week. Today it’s time to start packing.
I always feel like The Waitresses – Christmas Wrapping is stuck in my head on Christmas Eve as I dash to and fro possibly while bundled up too tight, but today was typical Virginia, where the weather was showing it can be bright and sunny and warm for the day. And for this I took advantage of some outdoor time, first by walking to coffee with my retired old man group, then by walking the waterfront in Old Town because I arrived too early for yoga, and finally by enjoying the waterfront at dusk after having a mid-afternoon dinner.
Latte at Idido’s
Back before the earth cooled, or at least in the pre-COVID era, a coffee shop opened across the street from my home, where I was living in a large apartment building before I settled down and moved into a house. This was Idido’s Coffee and Social. I actually wrote entire proposals while sitting at Idido’s.
Once I moved I started walking to Idido’s a few times a week to get out of the house as well as I was still working from home all the time. I started noticing one of my neighbors was meeting his friends there, mostly retired civil servants, once a week, and eventually he invited me to join them.
Well, I have long since gotten out of the habit of going to Idido’s, but my neighbor’s group has grown to include between ten and eighteen people, and I still show up once or twice a month. That’s what I did today. I didn’t have to leave early to go to work thankfully. Instead, I left early got head to yoga.
Months ago I started going to a new yoga studio in Old Town Alexandria. Usually I go with The Boss, other times I go by myself (today was maybe the once this month I will go alone). And being the next town over you never know how long, with metro DC traffic, it will take to get there and find parking. Today’s answer? About 17 minutes. Sometimes it’s 30 or 40 minutes. End result, I was early.
Yes, I know I’m droning on and on about this but there’s a point.
View of DC from Alexandria
I walked out to the waterfront to a spot I have never experienced. Let’s call this “things to do while waiting for yoga.” On this point there was, until recently, an empty warehouse but now there is a city park. It has a great view. I took the photo above with my new phone, an iPhone 17 Pro that I figured would be great for penguin photos next month.
I tried to make a joke about penguins but it just wouldn’t fly.
A month ago I was persuaded to upgrade my phone for aforementioned penguins, in part because the camera is so impressive. Purely as demonstration, not necessarily of quality because nothing is great with full on electronic zoom, I offer you this.
The Capitol from six miles distant
A view of the Capitol from six miles distant – notice it’s just a zoom on the photo above, a separte photo. But still, it tells me I can zoom in on an emporer on the ice and have you, dear reader, see an emporer on the ice.
But enough of this. Yoga as great, mostly floor practice, lots of stretching, then I came home and took a nap.
Dinner was at 3pm on Ada’s on the River. They still had their lunch menu up which was fine, it’s great. Ada’s is a better value than going into DC for fancy food and has a more extensive menu than most places in Arlington
Beau Joie Brut NV Champagne
We had a full bottle of champagne rather than cocktails and glasses. The occasion seemed to call for it, and the $89 restaurant price of the Beau Joie seems to be not tooooo far off from the $59 Total Wine price of the Beau Joie (it wouldn’t have surprised me to find that it was $30 in the store, such is the usual markup).
Oysters and Tuna
They had James River oysters which we refer to as being good enough for a half dozen. We like our oysters a bit more saline and tighter and smaller; the Chesapeake and tributary oysters tend to be less saline and larger. But these were fine and Ada’s serves them with excellent accompaniments. We also had tuna tartare and a dark brioche bread.
Mussels were had
Ada’s does a great job with mussels, served with bread of course in a tomato broth with some spice and dill. After oysters, tuna, and mussels, it seemed to order something starchy, so of course there was a side of lobster mac n cheese. Two pots of mussels were the same cost as the lobster mac n cheese.
Time for Tokaji
In honor of Hungary I ordered a glass of Royal Tokaji Aszú 5 Puttonyos. And then the salted caramel chocolate souffle.
Image of man stirring caramel into a souffle
This was actually the only flop of the day, and it honestly wasn’t a serious flop. The server brought the souffle out with a tin of caramel, but the caramel was lacking in quantity and cold. It wouldn’t pour. So, when he cut open our souffle with a spoon and poured it, it wouldn’t pour, so our poor sad souffle was sitting there looking like molten chocolate until he ran to the kitchen and heated up the caramel. It was good and tasty, but the presentation would have been better if it was as intended. Instead, I’ll need to make it at home!
And that’s all for today’s activities outside of the home. Inside the home I’m rolling out puff pastry. More on that tomorrow, maybe. And I’ll talk about yoga.
Binoculars for wildlife and glacier viewing (2 pair)
Notepad and pen
Laundry bag
Small first-aid kit
Snacks for travel days
Personal entertainment (puzzle book, journal, cards)
Carcassonne game
Sewing kit
Shopping bag
Vitamin C drops
Antarctica-Specific Gear
High-quality waterproof gloves
Thermal socks
Waterproof pants
Packable down jacket
Sunglasses with UV protection (glare from ice and snow)
Sunscreen (for unexpected sun exposure)
Dry bag for camera/electronics during zodiac cruises
It’s a bit excessive. But still, gone from home for 25 days with a half a dozen different climates. This should be fun.
So today we ended up upgrading to a Neptune Suite. According to some they’re the smallest “true suite” on Holland America. We were in a Signature Suite. We started with a Signature Suite because we decided if we were going to be on a ship that long we wanted to be as comfortable as possible. Also, we didn’t go on a smaller expedition ship for a similar reason – because we wanted to be as comfortable as possible. I don’t feel as if I’m missing much by not having a more active expedition experience, although who knows I may eventually change my mind on that. Some day I think I’d enjoy expedition cruising around Greenland.
We justified the Neptune upgrade for a few different reasons:
It comes with laundry, dry cleaning, and pressing. Unlimited.
Additional menu items in the main dining room.
Concierge can arrange a lot of things such as full main dining room menu in room.
Aft-facing suite cabin.
Priority tendering, embarking, and disembarking.
Priority seating in the main dining room (better seats – in an elevated area or by windows).
We actually were feeling a little trepiditious about the main dining room. Holland America has assigned dining times and any time dining times. Honestly, I would prefer assigned dining – you know where you’re going to sit every night and you show up at your assigned time and they seat you. Anytime… can be a crapshoot. Sometimes you wait. Sometimes there’s a kitchen delay. Sometimes you get worse seating. Nonetheless, now we have priority access to avoid a wait.
We’ll see how this goes.
The Antarctic Continent
In general, we’re flying to Santiago, staying a few days, heading south along the Chilean coast and then across to Antarctica, then returning via the Falkland Islands, a stop on the Argentine coast, two in Uruguay, and two days in Buenos Aires. This all begins two weeks from tomorrow.
I’ll blog about the trip of course. I haven’t decided if I want to put it up on Cruise Critic or not. If I do, it will be daily or twice daily, not true live. Maybe I’ll focus on a few things I’ve had to research to help people taking the cruise in the future. Things like:
What to pack
Do HAL cruisers really actually do dressy night?
Weather – day by day report (most reports I’ve seen fizzle out)
Activities on board, especially what “younger” people engage in
Okay, let’s see if I have this right. I attended eight holiday lunches, dinners, and events in nine days.
Tuesday – Italian business dinner, fairly casual
Wednesday – Fancy steakhouse dinner, intense with good wine
Thursday – Industry lunch; wore a suit
Friday – Winter gala; wore a tuxedo
Saturday – piano recital brunch
Sunday – a break in the action
Monday – Nothing, god bless
Tuesday – skipped an industry holiday party at a Spanish restaurant
Wednesday – churrasco team lunch
Scratch that, seven holiday events in nine days. I’ve actually grown weary of steak. I felt for some reason it was important for me to write about this as every year November and December seem to be a huge marathon where eventually I grow weary of indulgence. As a result, we have toned down our celebrations for the rest of the month, especially as we are traveling in January – more on that later.
Not actual Italian restaurant dinner; in fact, it isn’t even my photo
The first dinner in the series actually materialized as part of my own instigation. I’ve been avoiding a social dinner with business partners for a while but I finally succumbed as I needed to meet with them anyway and I felt it was an excuse to avoid the supermarket. I decided it was a good opportunity to also try out a restaurant near my office that looked interesting and promising. The restaurant, North Italia, was interesting and promising, but a bit more casual and mass market than I was expecting. If I lived nearby I could see it becoming part of regular rotation but not necessarily for events. Like everything else in the center where my office is it seemed to be designed to be noisy, though.
Australian Waugh Chateaubriand
The second event was a group dinner at Morton’s Steakhouse. Somehow we ended up with some overpriced wine – that was actually very good. This event began with happy hour cocktails and then appetizers (mostly seafood) and then the steaks themselves. Someone who shall remain nameless was handed the wine list by the host and ended up with a magnum of Caymus on the table. Next year we shall avoid that, but now I know also that Costco carries magnums of Caymus at a more reasonable price and it may be worth it for an event at home. The waitress also reported that they won Virginia’s ABC lottery for rare bourbons and had a few bottles but unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to sample. This is fine of course as it’s a marathon not a sprint.
A random Thursday
So, I occasionally attend lunches where someone from my industry speaks. That’s what last Thursday was. Some of these are at one country club and some are at another. Usually the meal served, regardless of the country club and banquet room, follows a set formula – a roll, salad, basic entree, basic dessert. Often the entree is combined with the salad. That was the case last Thursday and I was thankful even though I had not eaten since the previous dinner’s steak dinner. We had a roll, a salad with various chopped meats (ham, chicken, bacon in small deli bits), and cookies and coffee. It was perfect. Again, I did not have a large meal that evening. As you can see above usually the unspoken dress codes for these events includes “wear a suit” but aside from speakers and some of our higher ranking customers not many people wear ties for daytime events anymore.
Friday I wore a tux
Friday’s event was a classic winter gala in one of Washington’s big historic-ish buildings. Dress code was formal, black tie preferred. My black bow tie needs replacement as it is a bit frayed.
Last year we attended the same event and there was a lot of bourbon – there was a large bourbon tasting bar. This year there were two whiskey bars, smaller, that were placed better, and this year they had more sit-down seating so I could avoid having just heavy appetizers for dinner. We arrived such that the main event was barely beginning and the executive event was ending, so as a result we were able to find a table to join others and enjoy a meal. Then we met a bunch of colleagues and chatted.
Uber gave us a decent deal on transportation for the evening because I reserved ahead and we had black car transport to and from.
My kid at piano recital
Twice a year our piano school has piano recitals – one for adults and one for kids. My teen plays at the kid recital of course at least for one more year. The adult recital consists of a bunch of adults standing around drinking wine and playing piano at somebody’s home; we have even done it at my house but my current set up is not large enough to accommodate all of the adult students now. The kid’s recital is almost as fun; it’s at a piano bar and includes brunch. At Christmas time it’s a good excuse to go Christmas shopping in Georgetown. Anyway, brunch was good, the piano playing was top notch, and we skipped the mimosas this year as we have all those other holiday events and an upcoming cruise.
By the way, the adult recital was Saturday; Jessica restrained herself from a huge spread and we went home after the “first party.” We could have stayed for the second party which included big steaks, but again it’s a marathon not a sprint.
I have no photo for Tuesday’s event because I did not attend. It was with a company we partner with for services and I did not attend because I had to go home after our afternoon meeting and did not care to drive out to my work neighborhood twice in one day. However, it was at a popular restaurant called Barcelona Wine Bar which operates in many large American cities. They do large spreads of tapas for banquet events. Last year at this event they rented out the whole restaurant for the evening. If I had gone it would have been a long evening.
A random pig roast
Similarly, I do not have a photo of Wednesday’s lunch where we booked a large, long table at a popular churrascaria. For this lunch the meat was served rodizio-style meaning waiters constantly bring a variety of foods until you signal that you have had enough. There was a large salad bar with many options, mostly upscale, plus the meats of course – on lunch offering these included several beef cuts (the best was the flank steak), pork, sausage, bacon wrapped beef and chicken, grilled chicken (white meat, thighs, and drumsticks), and lamb. For my group we have carried on this tradition for the past four years; for this year it was modified somewhat due to a change in budget. We did not include wine officially or unofficially this year.
And that finishes out this year’s holiday-related events. The rest of the year is informal. We will probably go somewhere reasonably casual tomorrow for dinner and then just two of us on Christmas Eve. Dinner with friends and board games on Christmas Day is planned. And then we tentatively have a dinner scheduled at home on New Years Even and are attending a New Years Day open house.
I am still working more than not for the rest of the year unfortunately but have enough downtime for leisure – and for packing for January, of course.
This post is entitled why we go on cruises. It’s about the obvious. I’m the type of person – we’re the type of people – who actually enjoy doing things when we travel. We’re active. We run. We run in port. We walk across the Brooklyn Bridge to Kings County Distillery in the Navy Yard. We go on an architecture boat tour in Chicago. When we visit a city, we stay somewhere comfortable and wander around and try to be like locals. Well, we try. We walked to the top of Cadillac Mountain instead of driving. But we go on cruises. Why?
The view from the top
We go on cruises so we don’t drive each other nuts. We like to do certain things in the morning and we also appreciate a fair amount of downtime. Sometimes one relaxes while the other goes to the casino. We don’t like to haul our luggage back and forth constantly; instead, we want to pretend we’re home. We don’t want to sit in a place for a week or two or three weeks, at least not most of the time. We want to experience a place but also relax.
Feet up in awkward relaxation
So let me start out by telling you how I started cruising.
Walking amongst the fish, Atlantis
In 2016, I took my daughters on a cruise. I drove to the cruise port with them and we sailed south for a week. Planned ports included Port Canaveral in Florida (a success, we visited Disney for the first time ever), Nassau in the Bahamas, and Freeport (fail, due to planned hurricane). Did I mention the hurricane? My worst experience at sea was my first one, the one where the ship was listing sideways as we skirted a Cat 1 hurricane off Cape Hatteras.
In 2017, I took them on a cruise with my mother. Or rather, we went on a transatlantic passage on Queen Mary 2. Again, the main reason I did this is because it allowed a degree of relaxation while also entertaining my family. It was to some degree tiring though – travel with family is often not about relaxation. We did go to Scotland though.
On the train to Mallaig
I went on one solo cruise on a ship called the Royal Clipper, and then I went on two more – one, another Transatlantic, on Celebrity Silhouette as a “first vacation since COVID,” and one on Queen Victoria at the edge of winter to Spain and Portugal. That last one was in many ways the best – we, meaning we and not my daughters, visited a number of different interesting ports and towns in Spain and Portugal. This is really where we established our cruising habits and learned some lessons.
Always dine in port
Always dine in port, because the food in port is one of the strongest identifiers of a culture.
Always give yourself downtime. Don’t attempt to try every event on the ship. Remember, if you’re on a ship for more than a week, just as you do with work at home you also need a day off to sleep in, rest, and relax. Also, don’t drink heavily before a day where the captain is telling you that you will have rough seas.
Sunset
And move into your cabin. Act as if you own it. Find that one spot on the ship you find relaxing and keep coming back to it. Watch the sunset, watch the waves change day after day. Look for whales and dolphins. And enjoy yourself.
As a run-up to our January expedition I have been trying to track if anything is missing from my needed inventory for packing. End result, I have been asking myself questions such as “I don’t know if I have enough pairs of long johns” or “Do I have enough outer layers that are presentable for lunch in the main dining room on a day where I am layering so as to rush outside to look for penguins and whales?” Anyway, it ended up being laundry day, so as part of the process I spread my long cruise suitcase out on the bed and as I folded clothing I stacked what I needed carefully or not so carefully in my suitcase and did an assessment. Do I have everything? Will everything fit?
The process
The short answer is I do have everything. The longer answer is maybe I do not or should not pack everything. I put too many heavy shirts in there, too many pairs of jeans, the right amount of khakis, a suit, probably the proper amount of underwear, more than enough running shirts and yoga shirts, and an extra swimsuit. As I have unlimited laundry even though I am packing for three climates I don’t need as much.
The suitcase wouldn’t close
It wouldn’t close. It would close when I zipped out the expanders, but even in business class that puts me in penalty zone. It’s still within weight limit (69 pounds, not over 70 pounds) but my winter coat isn’t in there yet. It’s beyond size limit (62 inches total length plus width plus depth including wheels) but not beyond extra size limit (65 inches). It’s clear what I need to do.
Standing suitcase, 69 pounds, three inches too wide
I need to remove a quarter of what I packed and I need to add a duffel for extras on the return trip.
Anyway. I am not a fan of packing early, nor am I a fan of practice packing, but this time was helpful. New strategy – plan to go over if necessary, but try not to on the trip outbound. Old strategy – pack a duffel bag.
Unladen Swallow
About my suitcase – $79 at Macy’s Backstage, bought for a thirteen day cruise two years ago (you can see if you zoom in on the label on the side). It may only last a few cruises, but that’s fine. Eventually I’ll get something better.
I learned to drive on my dad’s old Chevy truck—a hulking relic of steel and grit. It had a three-on-the-tree transmission, no power steering, and no power brakes. Every turn felt like arm-wrestling a giant, every stop a test of leg strength. But once you mastered its stubborn charm, it was magic. Perfect for long, lazy drives down winding country roads, where the horizon stretched wide and the world slowed down. Even in town, once you knew its rhythm, it danced through traffic with surprising grace.
Summer evening drive, windows down
Fast forward to today, and I’m behind the wheel of a Range Rover Sport. Funny thing—it’s about the same size as that old Chevy, and sometimes it feels just as commanding. I sit high above the fray, surveying traffic like a hawk. Parking still gives me that familiar “am I going to scrape the wall?” moment, though I never do. The turning circle? Huge. Sharp corners mean spinning the wheel twice, just like old times. But that’s where nostalgia ends. This Rover is a rocket. The supercharged V8 growls like an old Buick, but without the sway in corners. It glides over pavement like silk, stops on a dime, and those red brake calipers? They whisper speed even when standing still.
Rover
Then there’s my other ride: a ten-year-old Mini Cooper, base model, wearing its city scars—dents and scrapes like badges of honor. Driving it is pure play, like hopping into a go-kart. Quick, nimble, and perfect for darting through tight streets. My kids adore it. Most adults? Not so much—unless they’re car enthusiasts. And honestly, in DC traffic, it feels a little too fragile. Still, for errands and coffee runs, nothing beats its cheeky charm.
My eleventh grader behind the wheel
The past few months have meant countless miles—commuting for my kid’s treatment. In those long drives, I’ve found comfort in the Rover’s quiet strength and joy in the Mini’s spirited zip. But now, life is shifting. The urgency is gone, and for the first time in a while, I can leave both cars resting in the garage. Sometimes, the sweetest drive is the one you don’t have to take.
NOTES on writing this Post – I experimented using Microsoft Copilot to write this. Usually I take about twenty minutes to write these posts. As I have upcoming travel coming I want to practice jotting down and summarizing thoughts quickly and then simply adding photos. To write this, I instructed Copilot to write me a blog entry, provided three subject areas and summarized six or eight bullet points I wanted to cover for each. It’s the same method I may have used to write it myself but saved half the time and, let’s face it, Copilot’s writing is a little zippier. Honestly, I may have written more and droned on with pointlessness, but as it came out it was fine.
It’s Sunday afternoon and I’m relaxing in a comfortable chair while watching football and reading. Meanwhile, a huge stockpot is on the stove in the next room and I’m making turkey stock. Don’t worry the turkey carcass was frozen immediately after dinner Thursday so all is good. This weekend has been a trifecta of Thanksgiving activity.
Turkey dinner after dinner – there was so much more before dinner
First, there was dinner on Thanksgiving. Lots of cooking. Most years I roast a turkey at home with full fixings – stuffing, mashed potatoes, and gravy. Every year as I am doing this year I use the turkey to make more stock and can it to use through the year always retaining one or two jars for the following Thanksgiving. As not everyone in the household eats land-based animals, I have to find creative ways to use the stock. In the fall and winter there are roasts with potatoes and gravy for those of us who enjoy the stock. And for Thanksgiving I always add a few chunks of roast salmon. This year personally I made the turkey with stuffing and potatoes and gravy, the sweet potato casserole, the salmon, vegetarian stuffing, and home baked bread. I found the four bottle bottle of Cabernet shown above at Costco. As always, I’m thankful for my friends and family, the continued health and prosperity of all of the above, and the good food. However, next year I kind of want to take a year off and head to New York City, maybe see the Macy’s Day Parade, and go to Bourbon Steak for dinner.
Black Friday shopping
As an exception to the usual I went shopping Friday. My sister always heads to the Black Friday sales and has been for the past four decades but I usually avoid the crowds. This year I went because one of the teens needed to be somewhere at 8:30 in the morning and I had four and a half hours to kill in suburbia so I showed up at my favorite mall a little before 9am, found parking fairly easily, and watched as the mall became more and more crowded. I could have just as happily found a comfortable chair and sat with a book while watching people in the mall but instead I went shopping – some for me and some for family. Eventually I left the mall and went to other stores where I was promptly ignored so ordered online instead.
Meraz in front of the tree
Finally, Saturday, and mainly because there was time and the kids were here, the tree went up and the house was decorated for the holiday. This is the end of the trifecta – decorating, and if you’ve done it you’ve completed your Thanksgiving holiday in my opinion. So we headed to the Optimist’s club where every year they have a Christmas tree sale and fundraiser. A couple of high school athlete volunteers helped us select a tree and fasten it to the car (I say “fasten” loosely as the tree had a very loose relationship with the car and I’m convinced that if we went on the beltway it would have become airborne and past tense). We brought it home and wrestled it into the tree stand and exercised one of the “great pains of Christmas” which is “stringing up the lights” and a couple hours later the tree was decorated and lit. The whole exercise from leaving the house to returning actually only took three hours.
Alamo Drafthouse
Last night was the cap to the weekend. Wicked For Good is in the theaters and the kids wanted to see it so we went. I chose the Alamo Drafthouse so I could have an excuse to not cater dinner. The challenge is the expense…. Tickets are $25 each and a personal pizza, drink (or cocktail in my case), and box of candy total up to about $40 each person there. I think I could go see a musical at the Kennedy Center for that price.
In Retrospect 