Winter Highlights May 3, 2016
Posted by freda in Birmingham, Michigan.2 comments
When you live in the east, it’s always a good idea to plan a few get-aways during the cold winter months. This year turned out to be a pretty mild winter, but we took those get-aways, anyway. 🙂
First up was 6 days in Mesa, Arizona at the end of January. We stayed 3 nights in a hotel while we visited with Don’s mother and her husband, who winter every year in Mesa, and then 3 nights with friends who have a winter home there. A few highlights of our week included a hike in the desert..
Don, Bill, Elsie at the trail head
beautiful desert flora (Don)
interesting growth
love the saguaro (Don)
weird growth (Don)
somebirdie’s home
flowers were just beginning to show
..as well as a visit to the wonderful Heard Museum in Phoenix, highly recommended. Our docent was very informative during a one-hour tour.
Heard Museum
one of these women is not like the others..
This ‘art fence’ installation, entitled “Indigenous Evolution,” just inside the entrance of the museum, was most stunning:
a beautiful combination of glass and clay
detail
explanation
another angle
I was really taken with this installation
Man in a Maze, a common motif
this bronze sculpture by Allan Houser was very powerful
sculpture information
sculpture detail
We enjoyed great pizza and fun entertainment at Organ Stop Pizza, home of the Mighty Wurlitzer Pipe Organ: http://www.organstoppizza.com/
the Mighty Wurlitzer
playing the Alley Cat song….
Don and I also toured Frank Lloyd Wright’s summer home and School of Architecture, Taliesin West. Like everything Wright built, it was fascinating, but I always feel too tall in his houses! 😉
Taliesin West buildings
every surface and angle is always meticulously planned
one of several Asian decorating details inserted into the exterior of the house
part of the grounds
love how the building blends right into the landscape
lego model of Taliesin West
All in all, a lovely little get-away.
In February I went to Vancouver for two weeks, mostly to help my mother during a little elective surgery for a drooping eye lid. All is well with mom, and I had the added bonus of spending time with our boys, visiting a few friends, and walking in my favourite city, where spring was already springing!
beautiful day
Jericho Beach
snow drops
crocuses
and cherry blossoms starting!
From March 22nd to 29th, calendar-spring though not yet feeling like spring, we had an amazing week in Antigua. Good friends, Richard and Audrey, have been sailing for well over two years now, starting from California, heading down the west coast to Mexico, Central America, then through the Panama Canal, and into the Caribbean. You can check out their amazing adventures on their blog: https://travelodyssea.wordpress.com/
As it was Audrey’s 50th birthday, we decided it was the perfect time to connect with them on their journey for a surprise birthday celebration. Joining us were more good friends, Diane and Julio. The six of us had all met in Florida, when Don, Diane and Richard all worked for GM in the (now-defunct) LAAM division. With Richard in on the planning, and Audrey completely in the dark, we rented a 3-bedroom villa for the week. Don and I flew in from Detroit, and Diane and Julio flew in from Spain, meeting up within an hour of each other. We picked up a rental car, groceries and “libations,” unloaded at the villa, and then we were off to Jolly Harbour, where Richard and Audrey’s boat was anchored, for the BIG SURPRISE. And it was!! A great surprise and very happy reunion. 😀
The week was lovely, spending time with friends, enjoying the villa with infinity pool and beautiful views, and checking out a few sights. We did most of our own cooking, only going out twice. Good thing Julio, Audrey and I all love to cook. 🙂
first morning at the Villa, view from the patio table, over-looking pool and bay
the Villa
Audrey, me, Diane: enjoying pool-time book club!
Audrey and I doing a little food prep
Chef Julio
Richard, Julio and Don on clean-up
One excursion we made was to Devil’s Bridge, a “natural arch, carved by the sea, out of the limestone, over hundreds of years, and with several blowholes.” It was windy and we got sprayed, but it was a lovely view point.
at Devil’s Bridge
yes, that’s Don getting sprayed
Don again (!), but you can see the ‘bridge’ that the waves have carved out
Audrey, Don, Freda, Richard
Don went back to the point the next day as there was a kite festival happening. The rest of us were too tired and/or lazy, which is too bad, because he got some great photos, only a fraction of which I’m placing here:
overview of the kite festival
beautiful and colourful kites
intriguing kites
young (unhappy) flier
sunset view from the house
Sunday was Audrey’s 50th birthday – a day of celebrating, starting with sparkling wine in the morning!
Happy 50th to Audrey!
birthday morning cheers!
After a relaxing day at the pool, out we went, first tour a little of Nelson’s Dockyard at English Harbour, a cultural heritage site and marina, named for Admiral Horatio Nelson, who lived at the dockyard between 1784 & 1787..
Nelson’s Dockyard
original pillars – all that is left of the boathouse, where they fixed the British ships
Audrey among the pillars
Diane and Captain Julio
dockyard building
English Harbour view
From the Dockyards, we drove up to Shirley Heights, overlooking English Harbour, for their regular Sunday-night sunset PARTY. With a bar and a barbeque, and a steel drum band playing, we watched the sun go down and celebrated Audrey.
the gang
the crowd
the band
the band
a player in the band
…here’s a snippet of “The World is a Ghetto”…
sunset cheers!
more sunset cheers 🙂
Last, but not least, the view..
English Harbour
as the sun starts to set
great sky
glorious!
and the lights come on
For our last evening, we went back to Jolly Harbour to have dinner at a fantastic Italian restaurant, with live music by amazing vocalist Asher Otto, and her band.
ready to head out
Jolly Harbour
the sun goes down on our last evening
at the harbour bar – I was sorry to miss being served from this truck
tiny Asher Otto with a big voice
the end of a wonderful evening
Richard and Audrey slept on their boat that night because the four of us needed to pack up and head to the airport the next morning.
good-bye beautiful pool and view
good-bye Pelican House
good-bye Birthday Girl
Last, but definitely NOT least, Don and I went to Las Vegas for a long weekend, because Don surprised me at Christmas with tickets to see Elton John in concert during his 2-week April stint!!!!! This was ‘bucket-list’ for me!! 😀
We stayed at the Cosmopolitan, which is a very lovely Marriott, arriving late Thursday evening, with enough time to unpack and then have a snack and drink at one of the many hotel bars.
The Cosmopolitan (view from the Bellagio)
morning view from our balcony
We have friends who have a part-time home in Vegas, and we spent Friday with them. Don and Brian golfed, while Rose showed me some of the sights of Vegas away from The Strip. First up, a tour of Wayne Newton’s Casa de Shenandoah. Mr. Las Vegas’ estate has only been open to the public for less than 2 years. The tour experience starts with a 15-minute video at the visitor center, all about Mr. Newton, and then you board a shuttle to cross the street and enter the compound through opulent gates. On the compound you tour his private jet, a large museum full of memorabilia of his times entertaining the troops abroad, meetings with presidents, a large car collection, several of his costumes – so many details from a very full life (still being lived) – plus his stables of 50 Arabian horses, which he breeds, and then, lastly, what was his home. (He now lives elsewhere.)
welcome to Casa de Shenandoah
private jet and view of grounds
some of the large car collection
I took this picture of a picture because it reminded me of Don and his brother playing dress-up.
Wayne (left) and his brother Jerry, as the Rascals in Rhythm
some of the many costumes, inspired by his Native American roots
one of the many Arabian horses
the home
the living room
We stopped for lunch after the tour, and then drove to Red Rock Canyon Conservation Area. It’s just 17 miles west from The Strip and you’re in a completely different – and beautiful – world. We followed the 13-mile scenic drive, making a few stops along the way.
beautiful red rock
rock climbers! This is a prime rock-climbing area
beautiful landscape
interesting flora
amazingly green for the desert, after recent rain
so many colours
the rock really is red, and varied
Back at Brian and Rose’s home, we met up with the golfers, had drinks and appetizer, and then went out for a lovely dinner.
The next day Don and I took a tour of the Mob Museum, officially The National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, “dedicated to the history of organized crime in the United States and the actions and initiatives by law enforcement to prevent such crimes.” It’s a fascinating museum, where you could spend hours. We had an excellent docent to give us the highlights in a little over 2 hours. http://themobmuseum.org/
Mob Museum
From the museum it was just a few blocks to Fremont Street, the first paved street in Las Vegas in 1925, and the historic center of Las Vegas.
classic Downtown casino/hotel, The Golden Nugget
We wandered to Container Park, an open-air center of shops and restaurants, literally built from containers, where we had lunch.
approaching Container Park
the praying mantis guards the entrance
sculpture detail
great graffiti in the area
striking image
We went back to the hotel to enjoy a few hours by the pool, (very hard to find a chair in the middle of the afternoon!) and then grabbed a light supper and drink before walking down the Strip to the Venetian to see a performance by Human Nature, an excellent quartet from Australia. http://www.humannaturelive.com/
We walked back to the hotel and stopped in at the Cosmopolitan’s Chandelier Bar, a great spot.
somewhere in the long hallways of the Cosmopolitan
Chandelier Bar, from the outside
Chandelier Bar from the inside
a cosmopolitan at the Chandelier Bar in the Cosmopolitan (of course! 🙂 )
On Sunday, after breakfast, we went right to the pool. Turns out 10:30 is the time to get there if you want a prime location lounge chair. 😉
perfect timing
the scene a little later..
Sunday was the BIG event. First we enjoyed an excellent meal at the Cosmopolitan Tapas restaurant, Jaleo.. https://www.cosmopolitanlasvegas.com/restaurants/jaleo
we ate under the bull (!)
..and then we walked down to the Colosseum at Caesar’s Palace to see Elton John. We had great seats, he put on an amazing show, it was a perfect night!
the stage set-up
The visuals were great: the side edge of the piano reflected what was on the back screen…
great visuals
I loved the video during Philadelphia Freedom, and this time the piano remained an American Flag…
Philadelphia Freedom
Philadelphia Freedom
Philadelphia Freedom
Philadelphia Freedom
I have one 5 second snippet of a video.. didn’t realize (in the dark) I’d pressed record. Mostly I just enjoyed the show!
dramatic lighting
Near the end of the show, the first few rows of the audience were invited up on stage, with confetti raining down..
Elton John is in the bottom left corner…
He played for a full two hours, no break – though his band got a break part way through, as he played solo. And while he doesn’t quite have the vocal range anymore, I think his voice is richer. No matter the voice, he is a consummate performer, and it was definitely a night to remember.
On the way back to the hotel, we enjoyed the fountain play at the Bellagio, always a crowd-pleaser.
Bellagio fountain plays to music
Bellagio fountain
full force
And then a night cap at our favourite sparkling bar… We left the next morning, after an excellent weekend!
another cosmo, of course
And that’s that for our “winter highlights,” some of which was actually during the spring. 😉 Next up, Budapest! Stay tuned….
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