Part 1 Bahama trip- The pictures.

My brother Gerard had a nickname for me when it comes to traveling; he calls me "the anchor." Whenever we travel you can count on me being searched, the plane being late, the line going thru security being the longest line you have ever seen...there are more scenarios but my guess is you're getting the picture?

So before I give you all the tales of "the anchor" and what happened that almost put the brakes on our trip to The Bahamas I'll show you some of my photos.

And for all of you who know I never loose my cool you will have a treat. There will be tales of me yelling and and I will admit to using some potty mouth in fits of anger!! I kid you not!! When you hear what happened my guess is you will understand my anger.

Before I get to the whole sordid story in Part 2 however I thought I'd treat you to some of the lovely scenes from our vacation in Freeport in Grand Bahama.

This was our resort and we actually stayed in the first section of the blue condo's on the ground floor. It was a studio apartment and very comfortable. As you can see just beyond the palm trees is the beach; very convenient. There was also a lovely private outdoor space with a little private pool and couch for lounging and reading. 

In this nighttime picture located on the left of the patio is the private pool and the couch area is on the right. It was really one of my favorite area's of the resort. We're not all that concerned about the indoor space which in my opinion was a bit dated. Seriously though,who goes to the Bahamas to stay indoors?

This is the view from the resorts restaurant! OMG! We would sit here in the breeze and sip on cold beers eat a light lunch . Seriously how good is that?

Very quaint don't you think? Although I have to be honest I was very shocked at the high costs of food on the island. I've traveled to other islands and I wasn't prepared to pay almost five dollars for a quart of orange juice and all other groceries were out of this world expensive. I guess I thought since Freeport was in close proximity to Florida (about 70 miles) I thought the prices would be more on par with our costs. 

There is nothing better than pulling a chair under one of these palapa's and reading a good book. I actually read two books while I was there. I'll tell you about them in another post since the author was one of my A-Z friends.

We didn't have perfect weather while we were there. There was a storm on one of the close by islands so there were a few stormy days. Although you couldn't tell by this picture! And we spent any cloudy time browsing the shops and in the casino. 

Beyond the jetty there is a waterway that is used by the boats and ferries. If we wanted to visit the local restaurants or markets we had the option to hop a ferry or to drive in our rental car and go around. We actually drove. Or I should say Bill drove! I wasn't that courageous driving on the opposite side of the road.

I'm not quite sure what kind of bird this is but he and his mate would walk around the resort late in the day and during the hot parts of the day they would perch up in the tree tops. 

The beach that our resort was located on Taino beach. As you can see it was a lovely white sand beach with beautiful blue water. Vacationing just a few feet from it was not difficult at all. 

And last but not least.

Here's one of the many beautiful flowers that were blooming around the resort. It seemed to me every bush had blooms. 

Stay tuned for Part 2 Bahama trip-The drama coming soon!

A-Z 2013 the letter "B"

It was pretty much a no brain-er  for me when it came to choosing my "B" word. Those of you who know
me or regularly read this blog know...

I love the beach; so naturally beach is my "B" word.

I thought right off the bat in this blogging challenge I'd mix it up a bit by adding photographs in my posts if appropriate. I have personally visited all of these beaches and taken all of these photographs.

Lets visit some of my favorite beaches together shall we?

This first beach is a lovely beach in St Maarten. 

Hawaii

And what would beach pictures be without at least one beach story?

Halieiwa, Hawaii

Back in the late 1970's my brother lived in a house right beside this very beach in Haleiwa, Hawaii. When I arrived on the island the first thing I did was put on my suit and jump in the water right in this very spot. I dove into the beautiful clear water  being careful of the large rocks that dot the bottom of the oceans floor in this area. 

When I came up for air I remember being surprised at the power of the waves and how quickly the next wave approached. Then all of the sudden with the next wave came a surprise I would never forget. A school of slim green fish about six inches long jumped out of the wave and literally slapped against my body one after the other. I stood there waist deep in a hail of live fish and I was one horrified teenager!

Shocked by the fish pelting I ran from the water like gangbusters. My brother was in stitches as he watched this all play out from the safety of the shoreline.  Thirty plus years later he still gets a kick out of my reaction which was and I quote....

"I'm never swimming in here again there are fish in there!"

O.K don't laugh to hard I was a teenager remember!

Waimea Bay, Hawaii

Barbados has great beaches and even better rum, if you like that kind of thing!

Long Beach NY, recently hit very badly by the hurricane. 

This picture is pre Sandy

Sandbridge, Virginia Beach

So tell me folks what's your favorite place?

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assessing the damage

If you've followed along on this blog for a while then you know that my parents had a second home at the beach. We were blessed children to have a whole childhood of summers frolicking in the sun and sand with our family and our summer friends every summer. Purchased back in the sixties by my parents and aunt and uncle it is now owned by my mother and aunt since the passing of my dad and uncle. I have written a few little stories about my experiences growing up there you can read about it  here here and here.

I am sorry to say that our beach town Long Beach NY and it's residents and home owners have been devastated by Hurricane Sandy. Although we The Forbes have moved away our hearts still reside in that town and have never left. Nor have many of my family they are still there.

Here's the news I have so far...

It is grim. I should say that everyone is safe but Long Beach NY and just about every person if not every person is devastated.

dunes and grass before

photo credit: Jen Forbes

dunes and grass after

photo credit Lauren Saccaro

My aunt wrote me, mom and Bill and e-mail to fill us in on the family and on the property damage since her and mom are still partners on the house.

My aunt lives right on the beach in her main residence she has a basement full of water, heater and all contents of basement are lost, no heat, electric or water, house uninhabitable.

Her eldest daughter Gen, has flooded basement plus two feet in her one story house, all is lost, it's the feeling of the family the house will most likely be condemned. My cousin God bless her lost her husband when her twin boys were barely teens (about 12) she has had a difficult life as a single mother and it is just heartbreaking that now all everything is lost to her, even her house. Please pray for her!

photo credit: Frank DiGaudio

This is from what I understand a typical scene in the West end of Long Beach where all of my beach family reside. People are just dumping the contents of their homes on the curb. Do you notice how the sand has filled in the streets swept up from the beach?

One of Gen's twin sons lived with his girlfriend in the downstairs apt. of a house a few blocks west, they lost all of their furniture and possessions. Not only that, they both work for local businesses which have closed due to their own devastation so they are now both unemployed. Prayers for them too please.

The other twin lives in Brooklyn and is ok thank goodness.

My cousin Kate lives in her Dad's (Mickey's) rental property, the basement is flooded and the heater is submerged under water. She has no heat or electric she is unable like the rest to live in her place.

beach after

photo credit:Lauren Saccaro

beach before

photo credit: Jen Forbes

My mom and aunts house is a two story house and my cousin Pat occupies the top floor apt, she was the lucky one all her possessions are untouched by the flooding and sand. The downstairs apartment however was under four feet of water and will eventually have to be gutted and redone. No gas or electric or water the house is unlivable due to those conditions.

Pat's son Dan and his wife and baby  Jax are living in a motel in Connecticut for the time being, they were living in an apt, in the next beach town over and aren't able to move in due to lack of heat or water.

My cousin Mickey and his wife Lorraine's primary residence is quite a distance from the beach so they've taken all of the family-their immediate family into their home. I was chatting with my mom this morning over breakfast and said "even when he was the smallest child he was always a good boy." And I might just add he married a good and decent woman Lorraine has a generous heart.

There is destruction beyond comprehension and the rebuilding will take a very long time. My guess is this will vanish from the news long before even a small part of the work is done. Then there is the healing, the people are experiencing losses beyond our comprehension. Lets not forget them.

 I'll keep you updated as I get news, so for now .....

I'll leave you with the words of my 84 year old aunt Genevieve and I'm just going to paraphrase what she said at the end of her e-mail.

I thank God for my family. I couldn't be luckier of more 

 blessed that we are all safe and  together.They the best people in the world.     

                                                                                         

Views from the Cape...

Oh my goodness! 

We had the best time on our vacation in Cape Charles. And I have to tell you the weather was sunny and breezy every single day. We take a family vacation most every summer and we've been very lucky every single year with the weather!

1920's bungalow.

This is the house we rented. I don't think my Mom left this porch much the whole time we were there. She sat there doing her word puzzles and enjoyed the breeze. You can see her head just slightly poking over the left rail by the window and my godson Gerard at the door.

view looking up the block

The people of Cape Charles very friendly. Many of residents would walk past the house saying hello while either taking their daily walks or walking their dogs. Like most beach towns many people walk or ride bikes but in this town you can also rent golf carts to get back a forth to the beach with all your stuff. We actually just piled in Gerard and Denise's van with all our chairs, umbrella's, coolers, floats, towels and other junk.

this way to the beach

This shot is the view looking down from the front of our house the two blocks to the beach (zoomed). This gazebo is the beach entrance. We chose to hang out on a beach a couple of blocks over where we could spread out a bit more. 

The beach tended to be narrow in some places although the sand is wonderfully white and soft. The water is also quite shallow and you could walk FOREVER to just reach waist high water.  The water was pretty warm too; I would guess due to the unseasonably warm weather. It"s quite possible it could be warm every summer. I really can't say since this was my first visit.

sushi anyone?

This gull just swooped down and scooped up this fish and snacked on it right in front of where we were sitting. 

live crabs

If you are at all familiar with the Chesapeake it has a reputation as a source for wonderful fresh seafood, specifically blue claw crabs. Bill went out one day and purchased this bushel of crabs (approx 6-7 dozen) straight off the fishing boat. They are lively little suckers trying to run away and dashing all over the front deck of the house trying to latch on to toes.

My brother Gerard, bless his heart worked his rear off cooking them in a variety of ways. One night; crabs with pasta in a fresh marinara sauce and the next day for lunch tossed cold in a lemon-herb and olive oil vinaigrette YUM!  ( pictures in another post)

Sorry but! Doesn't this cloud kinda look like the shape of Virginia? 

Well it did to me... but then again it might have been the beer :)

I sat on my chair on the beach under the umbrella and took a lot of pictures.  Most every picture that I'm publishing today are ones I took of strangers and scenery of the beach. There might be an exception or two. In a later post I'll get to showing you some pictures of the family.

I really thought this shot was kinda nice and I love how the sun glistens off the water towards the end of the day. This is just a couple of strangers on the beach walking the forever walk. Like I said the water is very shallow in the Chesapeake but it's good for the legs. I can't say we didn't get exercise.

That is my niece Sydney walking out with her sisters float to cool off. Some of the days although breezy were quite sunny and hot. Umbrella's were necessary as was plenty of sunscreen!

Boats would come in towards the shore frequently and people would walk out to them visiting with their friends.  Every once and a while all the people gathered round would have to push the boat so that it could get to deeper water so it could put its motor down leave the shallow areas.

This is what its all about isn't it? Just relaxing in the water with your gal pals...This group of ladies were at the beach every day with a larger family group and usually sat next to us under some big tents with their husbands and kids.

I probably took 150 or more pictures while on vacation. Don't worry I won't show you all of them, I promise just a few favorites.  The town of Cape Charles is a nice lazy beach town with quaint shops, churches, seafood restaurants, pubs and all streets lead to this beach. No stress here!

wordless wednesday

Till next week, Jen

Destination vacation...

I am counting the days until we leave for our yearly summer family vacation.  Bill, Mom, me and Matthew, my brother Gerard his wife Denise and their three kids, Sydney, Alex and little Gerard are the usual attendees. This year we'll be celebrating Matthew's 30th birthday, and it will be just shy of Sydney's Sweet 16th so there is much to celebrate. And then there's the relaxing!

Oh did I mention where we're going? Our destination is Cape Charles Virginia, a small historic town on the Chesapeake.This is our first time in this town so we're very excited!

credit

From what I understand it is a nice little historic area with some beautiful homes, shops and some very good little restaurants. There's a dock for fishing and we all know (as least it's know here in Virginia) that The Chesapeake has wonderful  source for  fresh seafood. You can also be sure there will be crabbing and fishing included in our activities; followed closely by cooking and eating. Oh did I mention the Clam Festival! I love clams!!

I have amassed a large pile of stuff that to bring so that our vacation will be as comfortable as possible in our rental home. Playing cards, puzzles, Pictionary for a few giggles. A new I-Pod player for the beach so that we can all fight over whose I-Pod has the best music on it! There will be singing and dancing of course. Don't you just want to pull up a beach blanket next to us? Oh darn you won't believe it! I forgot to pack the beach blanket. Then there's the beach chairs, umbrella and cooler for the adult beverages, beach towels, spray suntan lotions and bug-spray galore, even those dumb ear drops since someone always gets an earache when swimming. The beach looks very nice for a bay beach don't ya think?

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Did I mention my list is endless? Lots of soaps-hand -dish-clothes-shower, cleaners,garbage bags and foil, paper products, condiments, and the basic things like coffee-tea and the like. Fresh clean blankets for everyone's beds. Am I the only one who just think it's a bit gross to sleep with a blank that might have been slept on by some stranger? That's why I hate hotels. We get linen/towel service with the house which is great, but the blankets or comforters that come with the house will get folded up and put in a drawer. Are they clean? Kinda gives me the creeps just thinking about it.  

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So we're off on Saturday in the late morning since it only takes about three hours for us to get there. It will be considerably longer for my brother and family (probably twice as long) to get there from NY. But it's worth it; we always have such a good time on our vacations. We'll probably meet up and grab a late lunch at a local Pub since the check in is at 4pm. After that a quick stop at the Realtor office to pick up the key and packet for the house then we'll get to see actually see what the house looks like since all we've seen is pictures.Usually once we get all our stuff in the house and everyone know's where they're sleeping and the beds are made, everyone will head to the beach and Denise and I will go to the store for the groceries. 


I will be taking my  new camera and using it as much as possible. And from what I understand there is internet in the house however I don't know if I'll be posting on the blog or not. What it really comes down to is how much free time I have to myself. Seriously with eight other people in the house it's not likely with all that distraction. It might just have to wait until I come home to fill you in on how our vacay was. We'll see! 

summer

"S" is for Summer.

Don't you like the sound of that word summer? We have in the past gone to Sandbridge,Virginia for vacation with my brother and his family. Last summer was a wash out times because I was sick, I spent the entire summer healing that wound on my leg. I wasn't allowed to swim or to go near the sand; it was a long hot summer. The year before we were in Hawaii for my nephew's wedding, two weeks of bliss and family fun.

And since this is not the area of the beach near the hotels it's really quite relaxing. We've never been disappointed in the cleanliness of the beach or the quality of the water. There are an abundance of dolphins swimming up and down the beach. The rental houses are top notch as well.

There's nothing like kicking back with the hubby and enjoying some time with each other and all our other peeps. Beach, cooking, games and puzzles, quality family time.That is after all what summer vacation is about don't you agree?

There are so many songs that I associate with summers past. This Sly & The Family Stone song is just one of many that bring back great memories. Do you have a favorite summer song? 

This summer we've decided to try someplace new and although Sandbridge is a wonderful location for summer vacation we've decided to try somewhere new this year. Stay tuned I will reveal it in a later post after we've gone.

Now don't let the sun set without sharing some of you favorite  summer vacation memories. Don't forget to tell us your favorite summer song! Or if you'd rather, tell us where you're going this summer if you don't mind spilling the beans.