The Attractions of Gull Lake

Posted on August 15, 2015 by kcbernick

Thursday, August 13

Nothing much going on.  We had a downpour last night, so it was hot and humid during the day today. Of course, for us Minnesotans, that means upper 80’s or lower 90’s. We melt if it gets any hotter than that.

Rain coming off the roof

Rain coming off the roof

Friday, August 14

It was sunny all day, absolutely gorgeous. The lake is getting a little more crowded as the weekenders show up to play. A little girl next door was celebrating her birthday with several friends. Four of them kept trying to get onto the same paddle board, but could never manage to have more than three upright at once. Lots of giggling going on.

Every day, you can see eagles flying overhead looking for an easy meal. There are plenty of gulls, ducks and loons as well. We took a final boat ride on the lake after dinner, and returned just as the sun was setting. With just a few clouds on the horizon, and smoke from distant forest fires, we were treated to a beautiful, red sunset.

 

 

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But Wait! There’s More, Gull Lake

Posted on August 11, 2015 by kcbernick

Monday, August 10

It was another lovely day. Dad wanted to go fishing, so we headed to town to get some bait and lures. After lunch, we took the boat out on the lake, and he cast his line. Although he trolled for about an hour, he had no luck. I expect he’ll try again tomorrow.

There are quite a few loons on this lake. It’s a treat to listen to them calling to each other across the water. We’ve seen a number of young ones born just this year. They are still sticking close to their parents as they learn to fend for themselves. As they mature, their color changes from gray to black with white markings. The loon is a diving bird that sits quite low in the water. They have a more difficult time taking off to fly than do ducks or geese, and need a long takeoff path in order to become and stay airborne.

Tuesday, August 11

We took a ride around the lake to see the damage that occurred in the terrible storm of a month ago. Thousands of trees were uprooted or broken, and many buildings were damaged. Even today, the cleanup continues. We saw several truckloads of brush and logs being hauled away, and lots of people running the equipment for the cleanup. Many local golf courses have new hazards, with uprooted trees all over the place. That doesn’t stop the golfers, though – the game must go on.

It appears that all of the resorts and restaurants are open and ready for business. Summer doesn’t last long in Minnesota, so you have to take full advantage of the tourist trade while you can.

Wednesday, August 12

Another lazy day spent working puzzles, playing cards and reading. Dad tried fishing off the pier tonight, but still no luck. The minnows kept eating the worms. Oh well, to quote Scarlett, “tomorrow is another day.”

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Why I Live in Minnesota, Part II, continued

Posted on August 11, 2015 by kcbernick

Friday, August 7

A few of us headed into Pequot Lakes for some shopping. There are some nice boutiques, gift shops, and clothing and shoe stores in Pequot Lakes. Several articles of clothing and possibly more pairs of shoes were purchased. Those who didn’t want to shop stayed back for reading, sunning, napping, etc.

Centerpieces?

Centerpieces?

We take turns preparing meals, so no one is tasked with kitchen duty for the entire weekend. The food is always delicious. My only complaint is that there’s just too much!

Saturday, August 8

There was quite a storm last night, with twigs down all over the yard. Even the furniture on the screen porch was soaked. However, today was a beautiful day, and several of us went out for a boat ride. After about an hour, the sky started looking threatening, and we felt a few sprinkles, so we headed back.

More talking, reading, napping, and even some paddle boarding by the braver members of the group. Oh, and of course, more eating. Tonight, we selected our books for the coming year. I can’t wait to read them!

More rain again tonight. It just doesn’t seem to stop.

Sunday, August 9

Last day for the book group gathering. After brunch, everyone pitched in to clean up. Generally, any place we stay at will be cleaner after we’ve left than before we came. All had headed out by about 1:00, and I took some time to relax before my husband and father joined me later in the day for dinner.

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Why I Live in Minnesota, Part II

Posted on August 11, 2015 by kcbernick

Monday, August 3

Our extended family has the good fortune of owning a “cabin” on Gull Lake in north central Minnesota. The lake is almost 15 miles long, and is about 15.5 square feed in area. Our place is on North Gull, one of eight connected lakes in the chain. There was a pretty violent storm four weeks ago, and several properties on the middle and southern ends suffered damage to boats, lifts and docks. Thousands of trees were lost, and several resorts were forced to close due to property damage and power outages that lasted up to a week. Cleanup work is still occurring, and there are several sites with large log and brush piles.

One of many brush and log piles following July's storm.

One of many brush and log piles following July’s storm.

Fortunately, there was no damage here, and there has been no letup in use by various family members.

We are conveniently located close to two towns with great shopping opportunities. My husband isn’t coming until tomorrow, so I spent some time in Nisswa, home of some Pretty Good Shopping. It’s always worth a trip to town, at least for me.

Tuesday, August 4

Mark came up today, and we spent the day relaxing and enjoying the beautiful day. At one point in the morning, we saw a doe and three fawns in the yard, feasting on green apples from a tree near the house. They had already eaten all of the hostas to the ground. They’re fun to look at, as long as they aren’t eating my flowers at home.

Difficult to see, photo shot through screen.

Difficult to see, photo shot through screen.

After dinner, we watched an old movie, “Miracle,” about the 1980 Winter Olympics team that beat the Soviet for the first time in 20 years, and went on to win the Gold Medal. Although it was 35 years ago, I still remember the excitement of those games. Even now, I was on the edge of my seat watching the movie. Herb Brooks, the coach, later coached the SCSU hockey team, and I had the good fortune to attend several of their games.

Wednesday, August 5

A gorgeous day on the lake, and we took the boat out for a few hours. We stopped at Bar Harbor, which is a short boat ride away. They have a couple of young people at the docks to help customers tie up their boats, a much appreciated service. We enjoyed drinks and lunch on their patio before heading back. The restaurant offers some delicious entrees for dinner as well.

Thursday, August 6

Mark headed home today to monitor some landscaping projects and protect the homestead from rabbits and deer. They do love our gardens.

Chipmunk waiting for me to go away.

Chipmunk waiting for me to go away.

My book group members came up later in the day for our annual weekend gathering. We spend the time reading, talking, eating, and discussing our books.  And, yes, there is some shopping as well. This group has been meeting for 30 years, and are some of the best friends I could ever hope to have.

Several of us met for lunch at a newly opened brew bub in Nisswa, Bad Axe Brewing Company. The day was rainy, so downtown was very busy, and the restaurant was full. The sandwiches were delicious. Didn’t try the beer, but it’s probably good as well.

By dinnertime, a few more were here, and we went to  Ernie’s on Gull for dinner. Ernie Ritari, a Finnish immigrant, started a camping and fishing resort on this location in 1917. He rented out boats and hosted community pig roasts. It’s no longer owned by the Ritari family, but is still a family-friendly establishment with a full service marina and live music on the weekends. The food is pretty good as well.

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Why I Live in Minnesota

Posted on June 15, 2015 by kcbernick

Thursday, June 11

We hadn’t been “Up North” for over a year, so decided to head to the family cabin near Crane Lake, not more than 10 miles from the Canadian border. On the way, we stopped at a spot near our home to see a clump of lady slipper flowers that’s been blooming there each spring for several years. This is the Showy Lady Slipper, the official Minnesota state flower. We make it a point to check them out each year, hardly believing that they grow so near to our home.

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We arrived at the cabin around dinner time, and were able to witness an amazing sunset. Smoke from Canadian wildfires is causing the sun to look red as it approaches the horizon.

Friday, June 12

The weather up here is truly beautiful, mid-70’s and mostly clear skies. I took a long walk and regretted not bringing my camera along. Wild flowers are blooming everywhere, and trees and shrubs are showing their new spring growth.

After dinner tonight, I did grab my camera to try to capture the sunset, and was rewarded with more than just a gorgeous view. A painted turtle was laying its eggs near the lake shore. There was evidence that other turtles had also laid eggs in the area.

Saturday, June 13

The next morning, I went back to the beach and found another turtle, this time a snapping turtle, also laying eggs. Unfortunately, there was evidence that the other turtle’s eggs had been dug up, probably by some type of weasel. We know that there are pine martens on the property. They love eggs, and have even grabbed loon eggs out of the nests on the lake.

After this turtle was finished, my husband and I tried to disguise the spot, but when we returned later, those eggs had been taken too.

Today, I brought my camera on my walk. Northern Minnesota is so beautiful, especially at this time of year.

Later in the day, I heard a bird hit one of the windows. It was a woodpecker, and it was still alive, although on its back and flapping its wings. I went outside and it was lying still as if dead, but I could see that it was breathing. After giving it a nudge, it flipped over, shook its head a few times and later took off. Poor thing probably had a throbbing headache.

We head back tomorrow. It was a lovely weekend.

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Safe Travels

Posted on March 30, 2015 by kcbernick

Saturday, March 28

Although this really doesn’t qualify as travel, it could improve road trips for anyone who goes through this experience.

Mark and I took an Advanced Driving Skills course near our home. We recognize that our skills can wane as we age, and we don’t want our children to have to tell us that we need to improve. We have already taken the 55 Alive classes, but this is over and above what we learned there. Everyone should try it.

Our training consisted of some classroom and mostly hands-on, driving retired police cars. We were assured that we needn’t worry about hurting these cars, Crown Victorias. In fact, they are like driving bathtubs on wheels. We did get to turn on the sirens and lights as part of our last exercise – woohoo!

We started out with testing our ability to avoid sudden accidents, objects in the road at various speeds. Dismal! Most of us aren’t really aware of how much time it takes to react and then how long it takes to stop at various speeds. Then we were taught some avoidance skills and even the best placement of the steering wheel to minimize airbag injuries. Then more practice at avoidance, and we all did manage to improve, but I admit that this was very stressful for me.

We learned how to steer through skids and went to the skid pad to test those skills. For me, this was the most fun of the entire class. However, it doesn’t take too long to start feeling dizzy.

We also worked on backup skills and driving through a serpentine course, backwards as well as forwards. We practiced braking with and without using ABS.

Our final exercise demonstrated the effects of distractions on our reaction time. We turned on the lights and sirens and then were asked to recite a list of items, then “threshold” brake (stop without engaging ABS) to avoid the impending accident or object. It was extremely difficult, but a valuable lesson to all of us.

We were surprised, and pleased, to see that most of the participants were middle-aged or older. One 80-year old woman was there with her son who had convinced her to come. This class is also offered to teens who usually don’t learn these kinds of skills during driver training.

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Walking and Sailing in St Pete

Posted on March 26, 2015 by kcbernick

Tuesday, March 24

I took a long walk along the bay, my last opportunity to walk outdoors for a while. It’s possible to walk quite a long way on the North Bay Trail, part of which skirts Vinoy Park.

We went sailing this afternoon, on a Sailing Florida Charter. There were seven passengers, including son Ian and his wife, Jessica. It was easy to move around and enjoy the sun, and we were fortunate enough to see several dolphins playing in the bay.

Tonight’s dinner theme was the Jazz Age. Mark and I were among the few who dressed the part. I do love those styles.

Wednesday, March 25

Today we fly home. Wanting to take advantage of the lovely weather as long as possible, we walked to Cassis American Brasserie on Beach Drive for an outdoor breakfast. The crab cake benedict was absolutely marvelous. Not a bad way to end this trip.

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Breaking Glass, Making Glass

Posted on March 24, 2015 by kcbernick

Monday, March 23

Almost the first thing I did today was break a beautiful glass jellyfish pendant that I had purchased at an art gallery in Destin. I really can’t be trusted around glass, but I love it so much!!

Mark and I had relaxing massages this morning, then after lunch, went to the Chihuly Collection. It was simply amazing! We’ve seen his work in several places, including a traveling exhibit at the Scottsdale Botanical Gardens. This exhibit is in a much more contained space, which is equally impressive. Dale Chihuly studied glassblowing in Murano and was impressed with the way the various glass houses work in teams. As a result, his work is also done by teams. He develops, then sketches or paints the concept, and the team goes to work.

His work is constantly evolving, as he comes up with new concepts. There are baskets, seaforms, chandeliers, floats, and many, many more.

From there we walked to the Morean Glass Hot Shop to watch the process of glass making. On the way, Mark showed me a sign of his love.

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Glass blowing takes several steps to add color and shape the glass. Two artists worked together to create a beautiful lapis blue vase in about 10 minutes total time. Mark is interested in taking lessons to learn how to do this himself.

This evening, we gathered with the bottlers group again for dinner. Entertainment was provided by a musician who played guitar and didgeridoo. Both of these instruments had been modified to allow him to switch between chords. The didgeridoo has two pipes fused together; the guitar has two fretboards.

Double piped digeridoo allows two different chords to be played.

Double piped didgeridoo allows two different chords to be played.

There were also bird puppets (hard to think of a better word) being guided by a master. The puppeteers were on stilts and made up to look like beautiful birds. The master was dressed like a middle eastern nomad. They interacted with the audience throughout the evening.

We ended the evening with cocktails on the roof of The Birchwood Bar.

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St Petersburg, Florida

Posted on March 24, 2015 by kcbernick

Saturday, March 21

We flew from Pensacola to St. Petersburg this afternoon, and arrived at our hotel, The Vinoy Renaissance Hotel mid-afternoon. This hotel was built in the 1920’s and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was recently renovated, but retains its original architectural style. It is situated in the St. Petersburg arts district, and celebrates that identity as well. When you enter the front door, the first thing you see is a stunning Chihuly glass display.

Dale Chihuly display in Vinoy lobby.

Dale Chihuly display in Vinoy lobby.

After settling in, we met other members of Mark’s family at the Park Shore Grill across the beach drive from the hotel. The family is here for an annual bottling meeting.

Sunday, March 22

No scheduled activities until tonight, so we did some exploring. There are several art galleries and restaurants along the beach drive, all within easy walking distance of our hotel. There is a permanent display of Chihuly glass just across from the hotel.

Tonight, we gathered with the other bottlers for a buffet dinner on the hotel grounds on a balmy evening.

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Even a Foggy Day is Beautiful!

Posted on March 22, 2015 by kcbernick

Friday, March 20

When we woke up this morning, it was very foggy here in Miramar Beach. Undaunted, I headed to the beach anyway for my walk. Not too many students out this morning. Maybe they all thought the fog was from whatever they consumed yesterday. There were a few families and quite a few birds. It was still a lovely place to walk.

After lunch at The Whale’s Tail, we packed up and headed to Pensacola to stay with Steve and Joan before flying out in the morning. We had drinks at The Oar House, then met Steve and Joan at V Paul’s Italian Ristorante. Dinner was wonderful. I had the catch of the day, grouper, and Mark had duck (no surprise there.)

Every third Friday is Gallery Night in downtown Pensacola. Galleries and restaurants open their doors, and musicians set up on the streets to entertain the public. Kiosks along the side streets offer beer, wine and other beverages, food, and plenty of art. You can find sculptures, paintings, jewelry, clothing and more during the event.

What a nice way to end our time in the Florida Panhandle.

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