Sunset Shots

Antigua

Negril Jamaica

     One of the things I love to watch is the sunset at the end of the day. It’s not something I get  to do every day as life keeps you busy doing other things.  But when traveling it’s something I definitely take time to do. Watching the sunset is a relaxing way to reflect on the day and take in the beauty that is happening around me.

Sunsets over the water can be spectacular, all the colors dancing over the water.  We have a tradition among our family and friends that started way back while vacationing in the outer banks and continue still today. We toast the end of the day by with a shot or two as the sun does its final goodbye.This is known among us as Sunset Shots

               

Cabo San Lucas

   When I first was starting out as a Travel Agent I remember looking through a travel magazine and seeing a picture of a couple sleeping on a balcony under the stars with the ocean right in front of them.  I thought this place is for me. The picture was taken in Cabo San Lucas but no resort was listed. I did some homework and found Cabo was a little fishing village located on the tip of the Baja Peninsula in Mexico.  It didn’t take me long to sell the idea of going to my husband who loves to fish. That first trip was back in 1992 and started our love for Cabo. Not knowing much about the area and way before the internet as we know it today, I booked us at the Presidente InterContinental. It was a beautiful resort but when we arrived I found we were actually in San Jose del Cabo than downtown Cabo where I had wanted to be. We had a wonderful dinner at the resort after which I worked on moving us closer to town. Not an easy task back in the day but I was able to move us to hotel Solamar. The next morning as we pulled up to the reception area at Solamar we were amazed at the view. It was all open with the pool right there looking out over the white sand beach and the ocean. We know we were in the right spot for us. We got to our rooms which were on the smaller size but when we stepped out on the balcony I realized this was the picture from the magazine I saw years before. I had found the place.

Ancient Ales Luncheon Monk's Cafe

Over the years I have been too many events paring both food and wine together but yesterday was the first time I have been to a Beer and food paring. It was an Ancient Ales Luncheon at Monk’s Café in Philadelphia featuring the beers from Dogfish head.  Not only were we getting to taste these wonderful beers but we got to hear the stories behind each one from Dogfish head’s founder Sam Calagione and Professor Patrick McGovern with the University of Pennsylvania Museum.   

Ancient Ales Lunch Monk's Cafe

Today we are heading to Monk’s Café in Philadelphia for an Ancient Ales Lunch hosted by Dogfish founder Sam Calagione. We first heard of some of these beers from the show Brew Masters on the Discovery channel where we watched how they went about creating these Ancient Ales. We are very excited for a chance to not only to taste these limited beers but to meet both Sam and Dr. Patrick McGovern and hear the stories behind them.
The beers we will taste today are:

Vintage Thebroma – translated into “foods of the gods” This is a chocolate beer brewed with Aztec cocoa powder, cocoa nibs, honey, chilies, and annatto (fragrant tree seeds).

Vintage Chateau Jiahu- this beer was re-created from an ancient beverage 9000 years ago.

Midas Touch – This recipe is the actual oldest-known fermented beverage in the world! It is an ancient Turkish recipe using the original ingredients from the 2700 year old drinking vessels discovered in the tomb of King Midas.

Ta Hanket- - fermented with yeast gathered "from the night air of Cairo"

Noble Rot

Reviews and stories will be coming soon.

Philly Bike Race

We had a great time today at the TD Bank Philadelphia International Cycling Championship. We spent the day at the top of the Wall in Manayunk. It's a great place to watch not only the race but all the people who come to watch. Here are some pictures of both the cyclists and the spectators.

Start of the Race

The TD Bank Philadelphia International Cycling Championship

Looking for something fun to do this weekend in Philadelphia? 

You are in luck because Sunday June 5, 2011 is the Philly Bike Race (The TD Bank Philadelphia International Cycling Championship), or what some call the Manayunk Wall Race. For the last 27 years Philadelphia has been host to this International Cycling Championship Race. The race starts at 9:00am in front of the Art Museum along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. It continues along Kelly Drive and thru the streets of Manayunk, with its legendary Manayunk Wall, and then to Lemon Hill. The race is a 14.4 mile circuit that the cyclist do 10 laps for a total of 156 miles.