PORT ISABEL PART DEUX

Just a few more photos from Port Isabel.  These were taken from a pier at Pirate's Cove.  Pirate's Cove was just an area with restaurants, gift shops, fishing pier, a dock for a dolphin watch tour, fishing charters and a special "Pirates Cruise" geared towards the kiddies.  We of course, acted like kids and John posed as the pirate and I posed next to the Pirate!

PORT ISABEL and GLADYS PORTER ZOO

The top 2 photos were taken in Port Isabel Texas.  Port Isabel is the last town you hit before you cross the bridge onto South Padre Island.  There, we ate at Manuel's Tacos, a tidy little hole in the wall that has great Mexican food for breakfast and lunch.  A receptionist at The Skin Institute in South County turned me on to this place and she was absolutely right it was great.  They had homemade tortillas bigger than your head that they filled with anything you wanted for breakfast.  John had one with some sort of Mexican beef that was a cross between a lean stew meat and beef jerky, kind of carmelized beef.  I tasted it and it was very good.  I went more traditional with my tortilla stuffing, mine was stuffed with scrambled eggs, bacon and potatoes.   There was a red salsa that was very good served with it.  I only made it half way through mine before I was stuffed myself.  After breakfast we visited the lighthouse and went up it and then went through a couple museums and a few little shops.

The bottom photo was taken at the Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville.  We have lots of photos from there but this was probably my favorite and not something I've seen, at least in that way, at the St. Louis Zoo.  While the St. Louis Zoo is bigger and I'm sure  considered better, we really enjoyed this little zoo.  The setting was beautiful again, of course, much more tropical than St. Louis could be.  There were a lot of birds that were not tenants but seemed to have squatting rights and added to our enjoyment.  There was a resaca running through the zoo with a lot of aquatic life and more birds (a resaca is a canal or channel).  And it just seemed like you got to see the animals more "up close" and personal there.  There was a wide variety too.  We really had our doubts about it because we've been spoiled by St. Louis' but we were not disappointed in the least. 

GONE WILD ON THE ISLAND

No, nothing more happened here.  After a day of dolphin cruise and beach time we were hungry and thirsty so we headed to the bay side of the island to a restaurant and bar that I had a gift certificate for (remember Restaurant.com and their  $25 certificates that you could purchase for $2?).  We had a couple "dressed" Coronas (they salt the necks and put a lime in the top) and did a shot of tequila along with a dinner of calamari, chips and salsa, guac, grilled chicken on a stick with grilled pineapple and blackened mahi mahi tacos.  The top photo is taken from the bar's upper patio.  Ok, so after a couple beers and the shot I was feeling a little "happy".  As we were leaving we noticed, parked across the street in a nightclub's parking lot, you got it, the "Girls Gone Wild" RV/Bus.  It was too good of a photo op.  So I ran over and John took my picture.  About the same time another car load of old people (quite a bit older than us) drove up and were giggling at the sight of the bus (and then us).  The driver got out and told John to get in the picture and the rest is now history.  It made for a great laugh!

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND

These photos are both from the day we spent on and off Padre Island.  We drove over to the island Sunday morning and went straight to the marina at the south end of the island.  There we signed up for and went on a dolphin cruise.  It was about an hour and a half long and we went out into the gulf.  The top photo is a photo of a boat similar to the one we took out on the cruise.  The bottom photo was taken off the tip of the island going out into the gulf on the gulf side of the island (versus the bay side which is called the Laguna Madre).  We saw a lot of dolphins but they're out and back in the water so fast we decided not to aggravate John with trying to get a good photo and just lived in the moment instead.  And the moments were many and fantastic.  I can't even count how many dolphins we saw.  Some of them close enough that we were splashed by their tail fin when they went back in the water.  A few even swam along the side of the boat for quite a distance.  I loved the boat ride, the dolphins and the scenery.  The experience definitely is in my top ten of vacation activities.  Next on my list might just have to be swimming with them! 

FORT BROWN CONDOS

Back from vacation and attempting to share some photos from our vacation. We stayed at the Fort Brown Condo Shares in Brownsville, TX. The condos themselves were just ordinary, a 2 story building from the 60's/70's. But these grounds were beautiful. Set on a resaca on the grounds of Fort Brown, next door to The University of Texas - Brownsville. This photo was taken with the condos behind us and the resaca in the photo, the building in the distance is part of the university.

GET OUT

The rummaging season has begun! St. Paul Lutheran is holding a rummage sale this Sat. 3/21 from 8 a.m. to noon.

Asselmeier and May is holding an Antique Estate Auction on Sat. 3/21 at 9:30 a.m. at the VFW Hall in Millstadt located right on Rt. 158.

Sunday there is a combined school music concert at the High School from 3 to 4:30 p.m. The free concert is sponsored by the city's Celebration 2009 committee.

JFire's Bistro in Waterloo is celebrating their grand opening on Saturday 3/21. For more info see the review I wrote in a previous section.

SHOP WISE ON GRAVOIS

I've mentioned these places before but they're worth mentioning again. Especially now, when one of these shops is holding a Grand Re-Opening this Saturday 3/21.

The Women's Closet Exchange is still in the same plaza on Gravois (just east of Sappington) but they're in a much nicer well laid out space. And they'll be celebrating on Saturday with special discounts, lots of merchandise and in store modeling. I've bought a couple things here and have been very happy with them. But for an even better bargain head another block east on Gravois to the next plaza and you'll find another shop run by the same gal, called Sweet Cherity. This is their non-profit store. Merchandise here either didn't sell at the Closet Exchange and the consignor donated it or it never made it in to the Closet Exchange because the donor wanted it to go straight to charity. I have gotten some great buys here on clothes, shoes and jewelry. I know, you're probably saying "ooh, not shoes" but a lot of the shoes here, and all of the ones I've bought, were either not worn or barely worn. Believe me, you can tell.

Also in this plaza is a resale home decor and furnishings shop. Now, while I'm partial to Elements obviously, if you're in the plaza, you may as well stop in. I did, and got a cute little vintage basket to put on my porch or deck for this spring and summer.

And while you're over that way, back in the first plaza with The Closet Exchange, is the Purple Cow Kids resale shop. So if you got kids to clothe, take a peek in there!

NAILED

We're getting ready to go on vacation to a more tropical local. I wanted to get a pedicure for the trip but I didn't want to spend major money on it. I didn't need a fancy spa experience I just wanted my toenails painted nicely.

A reader tipped me off that she goes to The Nail Nook on Main Street in Waterloo. A pedicure with Andrea Dill costs $25, a manicure $15. She does a great job. And while the setting is more regular hair salon versus spa the pedicure was as good as any one you'd get at a spa. It started with a little foot jacuzzi, followed by a scrub, filing (of feet and nails), a massage and then the paint job. Very nice!

They also sell a little jewelry in the store. Trendy silver and some glass pendants, all reasonably priced. I suppressed the urge though and walked out without any . . . this time. If you visit, let her know I sent you!

SURFIN FOR SAVINGS

Thought I'd take a few minutes and share a couple websites that help with the money saving. I haven't had the time to spend much time on these sites yet but a reader suggested one and I saw the other one on tv, somewhere like the Today Show. I'm hoping to get the time to peruse them both a little more, they look interesting.

The one a reader shared with me is www.myfreegenie.com. "Down load the free genie and check out the great savings. It will find the least expensive place on-line to buy anything you could imagine."

The other one is www.consumerqueen.com. This site has all kinds of usefull information on the Sunday Circulars in newspapers, coupons and how to maximize all of these to translate into savings for you. Their motto is cheap is good, free is better!

And don't forget restaurant.com too for savings when eating out. We used a coupon from the site last weekend when we ate out at Del Pietro's. We also bought 3 certificates when they were on sale for $2 each to use when we are in vacation down in southern Texas.

So, if any of you get the time to surf out to these websites and check them out and use them, please let me know how your experience is so I can share with everyone! And if you have any other good sites to share let me know that too!

A BOTTLE OF RED

I always think of that Billy Joel song when I eat out at a traditional Italian Restaurant. As we did last night with friends. We headed not far across the river to Del Pietro's on Hampton in south St. Louis. And we used one of the $25 dining certificates from restaurant.com.

Our meal started with calimari and brushetta appetizers. I'm not a calamari eater but the guys said it was served differently than they had ever seen it but it was good. It was larger pieces that did not exactly look like the squid they had eaten. It was in a light breading and was softer not a crunchy batter. It was very tender though and not at all chewy, as calamari can sometimes be. It was served with a marinara and lemon. The brushetta were grilled and topped with fresh tomatoes, slivers of basil and fresh slices of parm. It was also tasty.

Soups and salads followed. I forgot to ask how the other couples' soup was but I do know they ate it all. I believe it was a minestrone. John and I both had house salads. They were what I'd call typical St. Louis style with greens, pimentos, cheese and a good coating of Italian dressing but I enjoyed it as much or more than others I've had around town. It was every bit as good as The Pasta House's.

We then moved on to entrees. I had a small order of spaghetti and meatballs (and was very glad that a small order is offered), John had pasta tutto mare and the other couple had veal canneloni and the evening special of beef spedini over ricotta based gnocchi. We all thoroughly enjoyed our meals and I think everyone polished theirs off or came close, there were no doggy bags to go home.

We finished off the meal by splitting desserts of chocolate chip cannoli and tiramasu and again the plates were "licked" clean. With our meal we enjoyed two bottles of chianti, a must drink with pasta in my opinion. Service was good, we were waited on by a young man that has worked there for 6 years and pretty well had it down. They're located not far from Ted Drewe's which could be another option for dessert!

GEORGE SIGHTINGS

For those of you not in the know, George Clooney has been in St. Louis making a movie. He's making a movie about traveling through airports and having the job of laying off people, or something like that. Anyway, that's really besides the point. What's important is that friends of mine in real estate, know people who have spotted him and snapped these photos. And I've got them for you. I've heard he's been spotted a couple places in the Central West End like Sub Zero Vodka bar and another restaurant. So, if you have any sightings for me to mention or photos I can post please get them to me. I'll be on Clooney watch. Somebody's got to do the tough work!

GET FIRED UP

John surprised me by getting in early last night from out of town so we decided to run down to Waterloo and try out the new restaurant hoping they wouldn't be as busy as they would probably be on the weekend. We were right, it wasn't too busy and we had a great experience. The restaurant is JFires' Market Bistro located at 725 N. Market Street where the Waterloo Winery use to be.

The chef is Jennifer Pensoneau. She grew up in Prairie du Rocher and has returned. She recieved her culinary degree and then worked at Brennan Restaurants in New Orleans. After Hurricane Katrina she moved back here and worked at Terrene in St. Louis under Chef David Owens. She then moved back to New Orleans and worked under Chef Gerard Marais. In 2007 she moved back home and decided to start her own business. JFires' opened January 21st of this year. They are holding their grand opening celebration next weekend, Sat., March 21st. They are going to be having a variety of specials in addition to serving their regular menu.

John enjoyed a generous shrimp Po-Boy for $10. It came with Veggie Fries and the JFires' grilled salad. There was an amazing amount of food for $10. I relished a wood fired pizza of Gorgonzola and Fontina served with additional roasted garlic olive oil on the side. Yummy! They also served a good slightly toasted bread and butter before the meal. And we each sipped a $6 large glass of red wine. We both took dessert home to eat later. John had the bread pudding with traditional rum sauce and said it was good, but to be honest we both have tried other bread puddings, too and they have always just been good or ok. I'm thinking they are probably just not our favorite indulgence. I had the flourless chocolate cake with caramel mousse and toffee and it was quite enjoyable and a bit unique, which wins raves with me.

Other items on their dinner menu include Pasta, rib eye steak, chicken, Cheese Fondue, Gumbo and seasonal entrees currently include Boudin, BBQ shrimp and Duck Ragu w/ Corn Cakes. For lunch they have a pick a meal for $6 which includes your choice of a sub or sandwich with a side of veggie fries and a drink or a pasta w/garlic bread and a drink. Breakfast runs the gamut from continental breakfast offerings to Omelets to hearty full on breakfasts of eggs, meat and potatoes. I do have one question though, since she worked in New Orleans and that's "where's the Beignets????"

They have a dinner menu that they serve evenings and all day Saturday. They have a lunch menu that they serve Wed. - Fri. And a Brunch menu for Sunday. Their hours are Tues.-Thurs. from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Fri.-Sat. 11:00 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. with brunch served till 2 p.m. I think their outdoor patio opens in the next couple weeks and I'm looking forward to that. While there are places in Monroe County to eat al fresco there are few with a pretty setting. If you need further info you can call 618-939-7233 or visit their website at www.jfires.com. We plan on going back, maybe we'll see you there!

GET OUT

We're headed into St. Patty's day weekend and here's what's on tap, besides the green beer!

Saturday is the St. Patrick's day parade in Belleville, the march gets under way at 11:00 a.m. and runs through downtown Belleville.

JV's will be serving corned beef and cabbage. And on Sunday they'll be celebrating their 24th Anniversary. Festivities get under way at 4 p.m. Stop by and get in on the fun.

Gallagher's has a Lenten Friday fish special. Their fried fish plate is $8.95 and features beer battered cod with homemade tartar sauce, crinkle cut French Fries and homemade slaw. Regular menu items are also available.

Gibault High School is holding a trivia night in their Gym in Waterloo Friday night. Questions get under way at 7 p.m. and cost is $12/person. There's cash prizes for the top 3 teams, a 50/50 raffle and a Survivor Game. Bring your own food and beverage. To reserve your table call 939-3883.

HEAD'S UP

We've experienced some spring-like weather and now its back into the deep freeze. But that taste of spring got me thinking of the upcoming shopping season. The season of flea markets, festivals, rummage and yard sales. So I thought I'd provide with a list of a few that I know are coming up.

Kicking off the season is St. Paul Lutheran's annual rummage sale in Columbia on Sat. 3/21. The sale usually gets under way around 7 a.m. Sometimes they have an "early bird" entry at 6:00 a.m. for a $5 charge. I've contacted a friend of mine that goes there for details but I haven't heard back from her yet. Maybe this will be her reminder since she's a reader too. I'll try to remember to make a mention of it next week too (and have more details by then).

In May, Bloomington, IL starts their monthly flea markets back up for the season and they run through November. They are held the 3rd Sunday of the month. Parking is free but admission is $5.00 and while I don't usually like admission charges to go buy things from people this is one place where I say "go ahead and pay", it's well worth the price of admission. The sale runs from 8:00 to 4:00. I believe they have an early bird but its like $20 or $25 and I have never felt it was worth that amount of money. Some vendors are still trying to get set up at the regular start time.

Also in May is Maeystown's annual Fruhlingfest. It is the 1st Sunday of the month. It's a garden and antique festival and one of my favorite "close to home" shows to attend. Great food, great shopping in a great setting.

At the end of the May is one of the greater St. Louis area markets, The Gypsy Caravan. It is held on Memorial Day. I'm not sure of this year's location but I'll be getting back to you with that and other details. Its moved around over the years and the last time we went it was on the campus of UMSL.

The last one I have on my radar for spring/early summer is The Lafayette House Tour and Antique Fair to be held Sat. 6/6 and Sun. 6/7. This makes a great outing for the day to the Lafayette Square area in St. Louis. I have been numerous times. For $15 to $20 a person you can take in the house (and garden) tour of about 8 homes. You can catch brunch, lunch or dinner at one of the many restaurants in the neighborhood. Then stroll around the park and check out the antique offerings. There's also sometimes carriage rides and an old time baseball game to watch in the park. Again, I'll have more details closer to the date.

Let me know if you know of any happenings, festivals and shopping events coming up this spring and summer and I'll pass them along.

Mark your calendars and start planning your outings.

MY HUSBAND'S EDGY!

Yes, that's right, I've been told that my husband is edgy.  And do you know what makes him edgy?  His cologne.  Who knew?  I had no idea that a person became "edgy" by the cologne they choose to wear.  All we did was stop at the men's cosmetics counter at Dillard's at Galleria to pick him up a new travel size cologne.  A couple months back we had picked him up some Hugo Boss XY cologne at Dillard's at St. Clair Square when it was take an additional 40% off the already marked down 75% off price. With it they gave him a sample of Dirty English cologne.  He liked it and decided he wanted to get some of it.  So that is what we asked for at Galleria Saturday.  The sales clerk, who was very nice, asked if we knew that was by Juicy Couture.  Who knew?  But we said yes, what did it matter?  She seemed surprised, she had sized us up and I don't think we looked "the type" to her.  Who knew, we just liked how it smelled!  So she then informed him that he was "edgy" because of that choice.  And since he was game she said she had a couple new fragrances that were even "edgier".  What makes them edgy?  I couldn't let on that I didn't know, so we played along.  Well, something by Quicksilver and The Beat by Burberry we were told were "edgier".  We just thought the Burberry one smelled nicer and they were all about the same price so we chose "The Beat".  She was impressed with my husband's "edginess".  Heck, by now, I WAS impressed with my husband's "edginess" and I never even knew he had it!  Good thing she was there to enlighten me.  By the way, for the rest of you that are of my age, we were informed that "edgy" is today's version of yesterday's "cool".  So beware, the next time you are in the company of my husband, you are in the presence of "edginess".  I guess I'm going to have to go in search of my "edginess".

NU THRIFT SHOP

There's a new thrift shop in the area.  Nu To You located at 102 S. Main in Smithton recently opened. They are selling Men's, Women's and Children's Clothing, small furnishings and household items.  A portion of proceeds go to local charities and donations are accepted.  Their hours are Mon., Tues., and Fri. 9 to 5, Thurs. 10 to 7 and Sat. 9 to 2.  Closed Sunday.  For more info call 618.222.7370.

DID YOU KNOW

A reader shared these with me. I knew about some of them, others I did not, so thought I should pass them along and see if you learn anything new.

Peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating.
Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for cooking.

Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef. It will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking.

Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitoes away.

Pin a small safety pin to seam of your slip and you will not have cling on your slip or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing them. Place pin in seam of slacks and . . . ta day! Static is gone!

Who knew?

WORLD'S LONGEST YARD SALE

Mark your calendars now, I have. The Highway 127 Sale, the Sale Across the South, The World's Longest Yard Sale is scheduled for Thurs., Aug. 6th through Sun., Aug. 9th. And I'll be there on opening day! The sale is over 400 miles long and starts around the Ohio/Kentucky state line and heads south along Highway 127 through Tennessee and Alabama. I've been a couple times and done a stretch in Kentuck just north and south of Lexington right off Interstate 64. Oh, the treasures I have found. You'll find people selling from their own front yards, farmers, churches and others with property renting out spaces and flea markets that have sprouted up on their grounds, businesses participating, just the most sales you've ever seen.

If you want to go you're best to plan early. I'm going with a friend and we got together last week to plot our course. This year we're moving south down the highway. We plan to leave on Wed. and drive down to Cookeville, Tennessee to spend the night at Hampton Inn about 40 miles off the route. This is key to saving some green so you have it to spend at the sale. The rate at the Cookeville Hampton is $89/night. If you were to drive on to Crossville, TN, which is just off the route you would pay $181/night. There just isn't a lot of lodging along the route because it's not along an interstate, its on a secondary road. So there's a premium on lodging and it books early for the most part. But if you're willing to drive 30 to 60 minutes off the route you should be able to find lodging even at the last minute and for less dough. We'll drive on in to the Crossville area on Thursday morning and head north and start shopping. The sale is "headquartered" out of Jamestown, TN. We'll spend most of our day in this area we imagine and then head a little further north into Kentucky and spend the night, an expensive one (just over $150 but split between 2 of us), at The Best Western in Dunlap, KY. The next day, we'll head further north and do some of the area we've hit in past years, then connect up to I-64 and head for home. We have informed our husbands that if the shopping was just so good we couldn't stop then we might stop at another hotel (cheap this time) on our way back if it gets too late and finish the drive home on Sat. morning. If you want more info on the sale let me know or click on the title above and it will link you to their official website. You can also google any of the names it goes by and find lots of info and opinions. Oh, and one last thing, if you go, it will be HOT! Take your shades, suntan lotion. squirt bottle, fan, hat and wear as little as possible. And realize the worse you look the better deal you'll get, so don't carry that Prada handbag!

GET OUT

The Home and Garden Show is over in St. Louis this weekend, Fri., Sat. and Sun. at the Dome (who's got those naming rights now, Edward D. Jones?) and Convention Center. There's also an RV show at the Belle Clair Fairgrounds this weekend both inside and outside. Cost is $5 per person for that one but if you cut out their ad in the Belleville News Democrat you get $2 off.

The Dorothy Weinel Eppinger Foundation is sponsoring a concert Friday night at the Columbia Middle School Cafetorium. The concert by Cadence starts at 7 p.m. The group is a percussion rock group from Springfield, Mo who almost hit it big by making it in to the top 20 of America's Got Talent on tv. We were watching the show and rooting for them, they're very entertaining.

There's all kinds of fish fries Friday night. You can head to the VFW in Waterloo, Turner Hall in Columbia, the VFW in Millstadt, Our Lady of Good Counsel in Renault, St. John United Church of Christ in Valmeyer, The Sportsman Club in Millstadt and Waterloo and a number of restaurants and bars (think JV's, Gallagher's, TUB's in Waterloo and Gruchala's and Tiny's in Columbia).

Saturday night there's a benefit trivia night for Backstoppers at the Hecker Commercial Club starting at 7 p.m. For reservations call Jim 939-7015 or Joe at 939-8966.

CRAFTY

Invigorate Arts Center located in the old Riverview Ford Building in Columbia is holding their first annual craft fair on Sat., March 14th.  They are looking for exhibitors, so if you're crafty and wanting to earn a little extra dough, give them a call at 281-8287.  Rental of table space at the event cost $25.  I believe the Arts Center is part of a church, also named Invigorate, that has rented space there for their church.

WALK ON

A reader is interested in doing the Susan G. Komen 3 day walk and was wanting to know if I had any readers that had done it before or if any of us knew of any local teams participating.  Please let me know if you have any information I can share with her.

CLEAR OUT IN COLUMBIA

Columbia has announced that large item pick up day will be this Tuesday, March 3rd.  Have your items out for pick up by 6 a.m.  For details or if you have any questions, call the city clerk's office at 281-7144 ext. 201.  Of course, I know of folks who have driven around late the night before or early that morning and found some real treasures to keep for themselves or clean up and sell.  Believe it or not, I have not done that . . . yet!