bobmacliberty

Riverbend is a great place for a concert, although I'm a little too old to sit on the lawn now for a few hours. Seats under the roof would be a must. Looks like you had fantastic seats. In the 90s, Buffett would spend a week there and do 7 concerts in a row, selling out every one. There would be a flotilla of boats listening from/partying on the Ohio river. Not sure why Cincinnati was such a Parrot Head place.

One of Micheline's favorite cocktails is called an English Martini. Gin 1.5 oz St. Germain .25 oz Lemon juice .5 oz Simple syrup .5 oz Cucumber juice .25 oz Cucumber slice 1 Shake all liquid ingredients in a cocktail tin with ice until blended and chilled, then pour, straining out ice, into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with cucumber slice. The hardest part of this recipe is making fresh cucumber juice. It's not really that hard...just peel, chop, blend, strain (cheese cloth if you want to strain really well)...but takes some effort. If you've got the cucumbers and you have the time, it's worth it. Many bars don't have cucumber juice so this drink is hard to find. Search for other cucumber juice cocktails. This one sounds pretty good also if you're more of a rum fan than a gin fan.

I figured that out pretty quickly based on a couple of things. One...the prices listed on their website. 😲 Two...my friend said that they give you a free hotel night at either the beginning or end of their tour if you've built enough status points with them. He has a UK tour coming up that ends in London, and they're staying an extra night for free in The Savoy Hotel. That's worth quite a bit more than some free drinks.

I don't know OB's real name, but I think Ocean Boy is only his made up English name. I think his real name is Ragazzo dell'Oceano. 😁

Were you in York Graham?

I don't remember the price but I think it was around $150. I see it online for around $300 but I'm sure that's inflated because it's not easy to get. It's only 86 proof, which turns off a lot of bourbon lovers.

I'm intrigued. Who is the lead singer that gives free concerts?

We've also been intrigued by a European river cruise but not sure that we'll ever do it. We like to explore on our own and while that's acceptable, I don't think it's the norm. I'm not really a get on the bus and follow the woman with the umbrella kind of guy. We've heard good things about Viking and also have a few friends who swear by Tauck, both land tours and cruises. Tauck looks interesting.

I picked up a bottle of Wild Turkey Father & Son 13 year the last time I was in Gulmohar's Whiskey Paradise on St. Maarten. The owner talked me into it, since it wasn't available in the US. It's really good but I don't think it's worth the price.

This begs the question...why did the turkey cross the road?

I've said it before...you have the best pictures of steak on Cruise Critic (and your sunsets are pretty good also). If they taste half as good as they look, they must be delicious.

Yes! I should have known. I follow a Canadian photographer/videographer on YouTube named Peter McKinnon. He did a great 23-minute short video on getting his "bucket shot"...a picture of Moraine Lake with snow in the mountains but the lake itself not yet frozen. There's only a couple of week window in the fall when that can be done. It's a nice video because it talks about the journey to get a great photo, not just the photo itself. It's also a good reminder that we should act when given an opportunity. I'm trying to do more of that...say yes when someone asks me to do something with them rather than find a reason to say no. Experiences rather than possessions. Here's the Morain Lake Bucket Shot. One of Peter's Moraine Lake pictures also got put on a $30 Canadian silver coin. Quite an honor.

NBC broadcast The Open golf tournament, and some of the Thu/Fri coverage was on Peacock. I signed up for a trial membership but when I went to watch golf, it told me that I needed some sort of premium membership. I could simply scan a QR code and pay for the premium content. Nope. NBC coverage of golf is bad enough as it is. I'm not paying them extra money to see a bunch of players that I don't know and who mostly won't make the cut. Stupid.

Beautiful. Is that Lake Louis? I did a ski trip in that area many years ago but everything was covered in snow. Chateau Lake Louis was spectacular in the winter.

I think you are technically correct. In Buffalo, I've seen it spelled both Kimmel and Kummel. Always weck though, never wick.

I left the house right after posting my message asking you about cocktails and am only now seeing your reply. If I'd seen it right away, I would have booked a last minute flight to KC and would be knocking on your door right about now. It all sounds fantastic!

Anything special planned for cocktails? Believe it or not, I had my first Mint Julep the other day (using fresh mint from Micheline's garden). I can see that becoming a go to sipping cocktail for hot days.

I'm also a Buffalo native. The Royal sandwiches are not even close to the original...typically one thick slab of chewy beef on a plain roll. Still, they're usually my boarding day lunch on a ship with a Park Cafe. Tradition. Here's what a real beef on weck looks like with thin sliced rare roast beef piled high, a true kummelweck bun dipped in au jus, and horseradish (courtesy of the Glen Park Tavern in Williamsville, a Buffalo suburb). Delicious.

You can use the Royal app to see when at least one of the "dress your best" nights will be...assuming that they serve lobster tails that night. Look under restaurants, MDR, menus and then look at the dinner menus for different nights. Lobster tail is an entree on day 6 for our sailing, so that's almost certainly one of the formal nights. That's a sea day. Welcome to Cruise Critic and Go Bills!

I might have asked this before but...which TP? We're on the Sept 30 Ovation from Vancouver.

Make that 3 of us. 54 and 61. 😉

My view outside right now. The weather report says light rain in the next hour. rain.mp4 I think our down spout might need some attention. spout.mp4

The ocean views??? 😏

This might sound strange but see if you can find some duct tape. I went to a 3 day golf school about 15 years ago. We hit so many golf balls that our hands would form blisters. The instructors had us wrap them with duct tape. It kept the blisters from rubbing and is flexible enough to behave a little like skin. Not very fashionable though.