Postcard From Paradise



Actually, we're already back from our little vacation. Angel and I went to Wimberley, Texas (in the Hill Country, as you can see in the pic) from Saturday, March 11th through Tuesday, March 14th. We stayed at the Blair House Inn in the San Miguel Cottage. We were spoiled pretty much from the first moment we arrived!

FOOD: Blair House provides a 5-course Saturday evening dinner and it was tops! Fresh sea bass in diablo sauce followed by a rich garlic tortilla soup, then a marinated red pepper salad, a main course of perfectly grilled medium steak with a corn and "Mamas Pappas" and dessert was a baked cinnamon apple chocolate torte in blackberry sauce topped by a pristine single blackberry. That was the first meal. Each morning featured a 3-course gourmet meal starting with fresh fruit followed by a pastry and finished with the main course. Each meal was absolutely wonderful, we were amazed. Even the orange juice was mixed with sherbet and/or yogurt.

Slight sidenote: Being lactose intolerant, I did have to take Lactaid pills with every gourmet meal. Not a perfect solution but it helped.

THE ROOM: We had a southwestern style cottage with a fireplace and plenty of local paintings and crafts in the place. It had a satellite-enabled tv but we didn't use it. We actually had more fun reading (the inn had a mini-library), playing board games (also from the library) and listening to music on the Sony soundsystem. There was also an indoor jacuzzi. The bed itself was massive and plush and comfortable as could be.

THE SURROUNDINGS: Wimberley is a very artsy community. Home-made crafts are everywhere, good food at the local restaurants (not gourmet but good nonetheless) and when we visited the local grocery store, they had the best selection of organic produce I've seen to date. One reason that Wimberley is special to us is because I had Angel's engagement ring and our wedding bands crafted by a local goldsmith.
We also visited a glassworks shop with incredible pieces made right there. There was even a demonstration in the adjoining building where we saw a glass vase made from scratch (very impressive)!

The weather was pretty much perfect the whole time, especially after a cool front came in on Sunday evening and dropped temperatures about 20 degrees. It took about a day and a half to really start relaxing and the rest was essentially pure relaxation. When we came back to Austin, I actually had to seriously readjust to downtown city traffic!

I'll blog more later...

Best Wishes,
Allen

11th Wedding Anniversary Coming Up

On March 18, 2006, Angel and I will have been married for 11 years. I find that the longer we are married, the more people are astounded. And that's not so much astonishment that we're a married interracial couple. People are just amazed that a marriage can last this long and that we're still in love and happy! That's just sad, in my opinion, but such is the way things are...

We are planning a little getaway together next weekend, a bed and breakfast out of town. We have made arrangements for the kids so that they will have a blast with family while we are away for a few days.

We do plan on taking some pictures, so I'll post what I can when the time is right.

It really is very important to have some alone time as a couple, a change of routine for yourself, your spouse and for the kids, too. It keeps everybody from getting burned out by repetitive routines and the run-of-mill feeling that can set in when you don't get vacations in a while. It's also equally important to do things as a family and take family vacations. (One thing at a time, though...you have to make sure you can afford it and have the time to take off from work).

Oh, and we finally got our van repaired! The van still needs a tune-up and a new set of spark plugs but at least her gears shift properly now. We'll be driving her on our little getaway vacation.

Well, that's it for now. See ya!

Best Wishes,
Allen