Wednesday, August 31, 2011

American Adventure Part 1... The Places that I visited (^^,)

Gosh, thanx for being so patient with me. At last I have some memories to share with you!

I flew over on SAA , into JFK New York. I LOVE New York, and was so excited to see the city skyline as I was walking to catch my connecting flight


Hip hip hooray I landed safe and sound and Momma was there to greet me with a great big balloon!!


Our first stop was of course lunch!!
Off to Panera Bread...


Chicken Caesar salad for me


And a Fuji apple chicken salad for Mom

What a treat to be sharing lunch together, and being able to touch hearts at the same time.

I love good food! And sharing a meal with someone else just puts the cherry on the top for me.

Here are some of my favourite meals, shared this holiday


A little piece of new York in Virginia, where I had a fabulous Blue Cheese Burger


Don't you love the steak knife?!

Oh! We do love Cracker Barrel!!



This is my Southern Styled breakie!



Oh my word, it is the very best breakie that I have ever had!

Thankfully after we had finished, I had a shopping date with my friend Heather. She picked me up at 9h30 and dropped me back off at 18h30!! All I can say is I walked off my breakie and then some!! hehe We shopped up a storm, we had a blast together...sigh

We met Sean and Julie Lubbe at Eggspectation for a breakie as well on one of the mornings,



Oh yum, thought I'd order something light! LOL

OK so there is fruit and yogurt in there some where, the cinnamon roll was delish!!

Barry and Joan treated us out to dinner at the Iron Bridge,

What a fabulous dinner, and a great vibe! I had She Crab soup and lamb chops...
After dinner we talk a walk down Main Street Warrenton



How cute is this dog! The big one... he was too funny, he picked up his leash and stood in the window like a statue! He was there for ages. He made me smile.

OK, clearly I ate out a lot! Let's move onto the places I visited.

Our first trip was to Baltimore. Our main objective was to visit the Broadway Diner in Baltimore. When Mom was back in SA, we used to watch Diners, Drive In's and Dives, all the time together. This diner was featured on the show. Mom and I both said that we would love to visit it! And so we did (*^,)

First off we visited the Baltimore Inner Harbour...





Take a look at the local art work..


This was a chalk drawing, quite a large one, and where I stood to take the pic, was a telescope type thing, that when you looked through, it minimised the image and brought it out in 3D. So I put my camera to the eye piece so that I could show you too


Cool hey!!

Before we took on the diner we decided on a spot of shopping...

And to my absolute delight there was a Christmas shop. apart from shoes, I collect Christmas decorations. I don't make a habit of collecting stuff, but I do have a soft spot for decorations.


Look what came home with me


On our way out, this caught my attention, we all had a good giggle :)


Alrighty then off to lunch!!


What a cool place, an old school diner, with the most fabulous food!!


Mom and Joan shared the Broadway Festival, a super delish seafood dish.



Me, I had the Reuben


Oh my word!! There is no ways I can even make a dent here!!

Oh wait a minute....


So it took a little longer than a minute to eat it. I has to be the very best Reuben I have ever eaten!! and yes there have been a few :)

Could I possibly find place for a desert?


Can a duck swim?

What a wonderful experience! I totally recommend a stop at the Broadway Diner!

Well after grabbing a coffee to go, we headed home!


What a great adventure :)

Our next adventure was to go to Middleburg in Virginia

This for me was an absolute highlight. I loved driving through the countryside. The town was quaint, and had a special charm!

We stated out with a hearty breakie at Cafe Torino in Warrenton


The only meal on the breakfast menu is scrambled eggs and bacon. Good thing too, because it was done to perfection. The breakfast was spectacular!


And we're off...


What a perfect sunny day!



What a sweet little pooch, soaking up the rays.


For my Jan



Perfect on a super hot day, ice-cream sandwiched between two cookies!


Just taking in the moment, so happy :)
Middleburg stole my heart. It is such a charming little town, with such friendly folk. We parked the car, and just wondered up and down the main road. We stopped in at loads of little shops, selling all sorts of things. It was as is time had slowed down a little. There was no need to rush.


These treasures came home with me :)

Well that's it for part 1!

 

Chat soon sweet friends

Niqui xx

Thursday, August 25, 2011

And so the American Adventure Begins...

Hello sweet friends

I'm home (^^,), well almost, we're away at Sun City for the week! What a fabulous way to re-coupe after a mammoth 22 hour flight home!!

I have had every great intention to update my blog, as soon as I touched town, but alas the jet lag has gotten the best of me! So then I thought that I would be able to update while we are away, and then I realised that I have left half of my photos at home!! And you know that I cannot tell a story with out pictures! LOL

So these are the pic's that I have with me.....




This I can say, I had the most fabulous time away. This was a God ordained holiday. Not only did I get a wonderful break where I was able to spend such wonderful quality time with my precious Momma. I also touched hearts with my very special American family and friends. And the cherry on top, was the my Precious Daddy healed my heart, and set me free.

I have come home, a whole, relaxed and peaceful woman, with a wonderful new outlook on life!



AND I came home loaded to the hilt!!

I can say this with confidence that I at least helped a little in lifting the American economy!! LOL

I can't wait to share with you, all the precious encounters that I have had, and show you all the treasures that I found on my shopping adventures.




Chat soon, sweet friends

Niqui xx