cornerofmadness

We fly out tomorrow. So today the sunblock decided to fail and I have patchy burns. Honestly could have been a lot worse so I'm not complaining.

Just another day in the pool and back to the ocean. Now this is a beach that is combed so there are no interesting rocks or shells. However today I wanted to take pictures on this promontory of rock in the ocean and as I wandered out there I found four little shells. I think they're limpets. I'll try to get them home.

Dinner tonight was weird in that it was the 'Mexican' restaurant but instead of traditional mexican food (which I was looking forward to) it was more generic 4 star sort of food except for an aquachiles starter which was octopus (that I didn't want) and some guacamole. I did get beef short ribs which was good. Dessert was a strawberry sorbet/hibiscus gelee tamale which pickled blueberries (it was also good except for the blueberries)

No new drinks (and I think we're all ready to go home)

I went to the poolside show alone, a mariachi band, all female except for the guitarist. It was fun.

And I did something today I haven't done since I fell: I got in a tub for a bath, or in this case, a jet spa tub and it was lovely. Also I was able to get out easily (It had a handicapped rail so I figured I'd be okay) Going to have to try a bath or two at home as I like reading in the tub (also speaking of home what the heck is up with it being 80 in March back there?!?)

well it's time for the obsessive checking of the hotel to be sure I leave nothing behind.

Tonight was the Rock show and they did a very good job with it, mostly 70s and 80s with a song or two from the 60s and 90s. It was a nice way to cap off the night.

Today wasn't bad, wasn't great. Mom and Dad are feeling their age and honestly I'm easily bored with nothing but lying in the sun and swimming which is pretty much our whole day. I did walk into the ocean again, just to the ankles where the risk of getting knocked down is negligible (windy today so it was rough seas).

I finally found one english channel on the tv they said there were some. There were two (if I don't include Fox News) I chose to watch foodnetwork dubbed into Spanish.

today was the French restaurant for beef wellington and a seafood bisque which was weird. They handed us a bowl of clams, mussels head on shrimp and calamari and then poured the bisque over it. Difficult to eat and the bisque didn't taste like much. The beef was good.

drinks of the day: an aperol spritz, aperol being a little less bitter than campari but it had soda which I'm not that fond of but it wasn't bad. What was better was the strawberry coupe which was strawberry puree, rum, ginger syrup and red wine vinegar. That was delicious.

still no pictures because I am tired.

My brother, his wife, mom and dad and I all made it to the Rivera Mayan with min. agita. Sure we had to be at the Pittsburgh airport at 3 AM and they didn't have the handicapped assist as asked. Have to putter thru the boarding because the boarding pass scanner is broken, why not? Second half of the boarding pass going missing mysteriously but hey who cares because they don't want them, just your face scanned in, good luck I guess? Sure, we had to sit on the tarmac for a half hour in charlotte because the airport was that busy. Sure there was plenty of turbulence. Did you say you wanted a HUGE line at customs? Well good because you got it (it IS spring break after all). Want a downpour, provided free of charge. Want a big pileup on the highway adding a half hour to the commute to the all inclusive resort? Sure, we can do that. Want your rooms not to be ready? Bonus.

My brother eyes me and says I've been coming here 21 years, never once had we waited on the tarmac, had turbulence, had a line that long, had the transport not waiting for us, had RAIN like this.

Hey, bro you're welcome. It's all part of the magic of traveling with me. I'm a joy. And so is this place. I'm too damn tired to get many pictures today but oh this is lovely and I already have an idea for the demon of gluttony running one of these joints because I have never seen this much food in one place at one time and that was just lunch!

Dinner was amazing. Here's the thing with all inclusive resorts, since everything is already paid for I can experiment with things I've not had before like a negroni. I wanted to try some campari drinks (which are popular in Italy) but I know it's bitter and an acquired taste and this place does them. It was herbaceous and maybe a little like they made the campari from grapefruit pith but I liked it. And at dinner we went surf and turf and my surf was predictable (lobster) and the turf totally unexpected: bone marrow steak tartar with some kind of herby green sauce (amazing) which was weird since I won't normally touch fat but this was so good. (and I AM a fan of if you're going to eat an animal, use it all!)

( I have a second wind so have some photos including the bone marrow) <a href= )

And look at me pre-doing Music Monday. Hit me up with your best beach songs.

( Here's some of mine )

I did it, everyone. I did it! I walked the Old Man's Cave trail Before anyone gets too excited no I didn't do the full 6 miles. I did the northern loop which is about a mile. I didn't need help except on two of the natural stairs areas where a step was just SO far down (my brother and his friend TT helped as needed) I did learn there is an early out for the trail (that my SiL had to take as she wasn't entirely well today) which is before those two areas and honestly that's fine because you'd get the gorgeous waterfall area and the devil's bathtub before that spot.

The cave is actually a shelter cave and the area was named for an old hermit living there in the early 1800s. But I made that walk and was mostly asymptomatic. Occasionally I had to stop but that was more the asthma than anything (SiL scolded me when I got to the top, where's your inhaler. Back at the cabin because I make good choices)

We also went to lunch and picked up dinner (so we didn't have to go out in the middle of the night again) We tried Rock House (I had suggested Conkle's Hollow lower trail because I've never done it and I've heard it's easy peasy and Rock House isn't). We didn't manage it. Got about a half mile in and then the thing went steep. Now on the way back to the car the leg became very symptomatic.

We were back at the cabin by two and stayed since we're paying buku bucks for this place and it's lovely (maybe pictures tomorrow or thursday) Also there's not much else to do but hike around here. I'm proud of myself by the way for getting through all this.

Now I'm less proud of not figuring out the roku tv. To be fair they have five remotes lined up and the label said use only the Roku one (then why have out the others) I got it on but I couldn't make it go to any apps but did manage to get it onto Crunchyroll by accident. Want to start your 14 day free trial? NO! Can't get back out of it. Turned it off and back on...and watched 1 episode of Chainsaw Man on Crunchyroll because it wouldn't let me out. Eyeroll.

They had a Star Wars pinball machine. I was super excited for it only...it's one with Rey and it's digital. No real ball. It just doesn't feel right. It wasn't nearly as fun as using a real ball (I still did good with it. I'm good with pinball usually).

Couldn't check in until 4 but our asses have to be out by 10...tip box for your cleaners. Dudes you're charging us 300$ to clean this place, I think you can afford to pay your cleaners. Still, super gorgeous place. I never get to do this since well...I live 55 miles away and you have to rent these cabins for 2-3 days min usually and they're like 300/night and up. Can hardly justify that when I live an hour away. However I always wanted to come out and write in a cabin and this week I'm getting to do it.

Also found the Coffee Emporium which had better selections AND better coffee than anything in my area and now I'm jealous.

bbl with tidbit and word count. Yay I finished the last big fight scene. Now I have to figure out how to deal with the mastermind behind all of this but now I'm worried about how without it being anticlimatic. guh.

The last day of the conference was good, great even. There were two really fantastic work shops I can't wait to incorporate into my classes. I already sent Dad to Lowes for the dowel rods I'll need. Those who saw me hobbling around yesterday checked in with me today. Sometimes I forget what it's like to have supportive colleagues.

Everything is packed. I had planned to do something tomorrow but a) I'm tired b) everything in St Louis seems to close at 4 pm....and the two things I want to do aren't open until 10 or 11 so that's way later than I'd want to get started as it's 7 hours 15 minutes without stops or construction so yeah, I'll just get on the road. My reward for giving up on tourism is sleeping in a bit tomorrow.

I know a lot of HAPSters left today and the poor hotel staff were still on my floor cleaning rooms when I got in at 530. I said look I'm leaving tomorrow, just skip me after you hand me over a face towel and we'll call it even. They were very happy with that.

Still no book report for wednesday. I haven't finished squat and I don't think I reviewed anything I did read this month. Should be fun in June playing catch up.

Hopefully I'll have a quiet trip home.

Ah open bars. It was a LONG day. So long. Good but long. The seminar speakers were very interesting, especially the bioarchaeology one and the migraine ones. The seminar part of this is now over. I didn't win a door prize, oh well.

Tomorrow (way too early) starts the workshop part of this. They are very much the more important part of this to me. It'll give me things I'll be excited to try in my classes (and I might actually do it though I tend to get all charged up and then by august have forgotten it all)

I did get a couple chances to talk to the professor who guided me around on my first year at my current uni (my second year of teaching) It was very nice getting to talk to her again.

After all that bad weather yesterday today was gorgeous. I took a small walk and that calzone place I doordashed was literally TWO doors down from here. Geez. fees well spent I guess. Had them again for lunch.

Well I KNOW why. It was supposed to be a very violent storm today in the afternoon so we went to the zoo in Forest Park. We had wanted to try both the arch and grant farm (Clydesdales) but shockingly both were sold out. (maybe because it's memorial day) so we went to Forest Park which has a zoo and several museums, all free. They get you in the parking 20$ per building basically (which we found out later) It was meant to be okay in the morning and rain all afternoon (in buckets)

We got there early so we got to see them feeding a lot of the animals which was cool. It's a very nice zoo. Saw two things I've not seen in person, grizzly bears playing with their audience (will link up maybe tomorrow) and a newborn orangutang. It did not rain. It got to 90 degrees. I wanted to die.

After a nice long zoo trip we went to Ted Drewes for custard. It's famous here. I had the cardinal sin (because how could I not (hot fudge with sour cherries)

And then we were going to do a museum but that parking thing (and we couldn't find the natural history one) and to be honest it shouldn't have mattered that the parking was charged and museum free because the opposite would have probably cost exactly the same. But still passed on the museums because we weren't feeling it and went looking for this house tour but we couldn't find that either. both gpses just spun in circled around Uni of St Louis (it's probably ON campus but there was no non-student parking)

Came home early only to find out the really bad storms are coming so that might screw up tomorrow and if I don't do that I guess I'll go to the museum after all because I'll be hotel-less until late afternoon. We'll see. Pictures eventually I promise

Did get to try St Louis style pizza which has provel cheese (mix of cheddar provolone and swiss) which was good and then binged Hazbin Hotel.

The midwest is unrelenting flatness in this area and farmland. It is excellent (and important) for the latter reason but my god it's boring to drive. I spent yesterday in IN with Evil Little Dog before we came to St Louis today. Somehow we got here so late (in spite of getting up at 530 in the morning.) that there was nothing really we could do as most things close at 4 pm (that we wanted to do) Even Union Station closes at five except for certain parts of it but the parking is SO expensive there we decided to give it a pass until we can spend more time there.

So since we're both taphophiles we went looking for Bellefontaine Cemetery but we found Calvary cemetery instead (like a stone throw's away) and since we have no time left before closing we swing in there. It's very Catholic and had some of the most unusual (and creepy) headstones.

Tomorrow we're going to try the botanical garden and zoo and a friend is meeting up with us with plans. Lots of plans. We'd need to be here a month to do all that.

( cemetery pics )


That moment when your story about a 69 has 69 kudos and you turn into a 12 year old and take a pic




The story in question Acupressure (Hazbin hotel)

So today was 90% about the museums at Union Terminal It's an art deco train terminal and now houses multiple museums (and if you're a Cincinnati local, a membership is a big saver. All museums for them 7$ for me 30$) I don't have children as you know. That said I LOVE seeing them learning and engaging in science and history. These museums (with one exception) had so many hands on exhibits, lots of buttons to push, a lot of computer interactives and several rooms just for kids. Kudos to CMC for that.

I hit the Cincinnati History museum which had a miniature layout of the city you walk along and learn things. What shocked me was they had multiple displays where you could SMELL the artifact/factoid in questions, like yeast for the brewery and bakery areas, leather for the leather (thankfully nothing for porkopolis as Cinci was a massive hog/sausage place) even wood and catfish for the docks. It had a full size city street at the docks where you could walk on the ship and into several of the buildings. Impressive.

My favorite facts: the life and photos of a formerly enslaved man turned photographer (now I forget his name but I have a pic of it on my dead battery camera), and then this business I never heard of. Fashion Frocks who had women going door to door selling clothing like it was Tupperware or vacuum cleaners. Puts that in my historical stories fact bank

And while I love Rookwood Pottery and covet it, I had no idea it was founded by a woman in the 1800s. I'm impressed.

I had Graeter's ice cream cone for lunch. That's lunch right? RIGHT? It was good (and better than the pizza or kid food which was the only other option)

From there I went into the natural history museum because dinosaurs. Nothing much new here except for one hollow boned femur that grew a geode inside it as it fossilized. Hot damn! They also had a full sized glacier display with Pleistocene critters and a two story 'cave' which why did I go in since I've been in many a cave? Because CAVE. (they even had it turn yourself sideways narrow in places to simulate the real thing) There was a big display of Neil Armstrong too including a 360 movie loop of the moon landing.

New things to me besides the geode bone? They had thin sliced an iron meteor and back lit it. That was pretty. And now I know something about Big Bone Lick KY (besides I snicker like a 12 year old every time I drive past it going somewhere in KY) It was a massive mastodon fossil site and now I want to look it up and see if there are any sites still active in the area.

From there I went to the one museum not designed for kids: the holocaust museum. Cincinnati (and Columbus) have very high German populations, Jewish and otherwise. I was hesitant going in because pain but how could I not. The one thing the museum didn't do was share a lot of pictures of the camps (in fact none) What it wanted to do in a short movie and throughout the small museum was talk to Cincinnati locals who survived the camps (or were sent away as children never to see their family again) In the video, those people showed their foraged papers to get out of Europe and other items while talking about it.

Going into the movie theater (as you wait to be let in) is a large mural with various statements from the locals. That continued into the museum. Things that made you think, a) the full uniform one of those from the camps had kept and took out when life was hard and reminded himself he was lucky to be alive (perhaps not how I would do things)

B) the quote that said this didn't start with bullets. it started with words and I think about politicians liks MGT and DeSantis with their backing the Proud Boys or whose priest is running around talking about killing all gay people, how some of these people in power still blame women, Jews, anyone of color, as they silence their voices, challenge their history, their books, it looks like this could so very easily happen again

C) the ending of the movie with them asking the questions a lot of us ask, what would I have done back then, would I have stood up and helped, would I have caved out of fear? and those survivors saying don't ask those questions. Ask what can I do NOW? Which is also where the exhibits ended, walking you through civil rights issues right now, showing where you could help.

Once I left there, I'd been in the museums 4 hours. It was time to go. I had to go to Jungle Jim's again. Apparently so did everyone. It was SO crowded. I got some more neat stuff but some stuff was insanely overpriced. 12$ for Tim Tams? keep them. I did find fun stuff though and they had Brunost cheese again (they didn't in June). I'm poorer now. ha.

Got home without issue. Rocket is very glad to see me.

Unfortunately I opened my email to see my Elevators to Hell story was rejected. I am sad about this one. I thought it was a fun anthology and I liked my story. I thought it was fun, different and fit the anthology. Pouts. Maybe it wasn't scary enough (I will say most of my 'horror' is more urban fantasy). I need to find more UF markets. Oh well, I'll send it elsewhere.

I am on my last day here and I did decide to pass on the botanical gardens in Santa Fe because I was plotting the timing out in my head and I didn't want to miss those two museums in Albuquerque. Also on my last trip down the stairs with luggage I must have aggravating my bad knee because when I walked up to get my water bottles and do my last walk through I could hardly walk (It calmed down on the drive)

I very much enjoyed the Albuquerque Museum which was FREE on Sundays. Who knew? It's more of an art museum than history (which I didn't realize). One thing I did like was they had a whole gallery called Focus on Youth and featured digital and non-digital manipulated photos from several local high schools grade 10-12. How nice was that? (and seriously some of their art appealed to me more than the professional stuff). They had a large gallery with Danny Lyon (photographer) and they did have some history displays too including a small one on Route 66

So now on this trip I've been on Route 66, Pre-1937 Route 66 and part of the Old Santa Fe trail.

I went back to that bougie food court Sawmill Market (only opened 2020 poor thing) for a churro love waffle from XO waffles which was too sweet and really I guess I should have gone to The Indian Pueblo Cultural center and ate there.

I did go to the center afterwards. It was different than the one in Santa Fe, less objects but more language interactions. You could listen to various stories in various Pueblo languages. Also it has a Native foods kitchen. They also had acoma pueblo dancers. I did watch about half of it (it was getting too hot, how anyone dances in this I don't know)

I went back to Sawmill for a lamb gyro and one last Takiyaki ube soft serve before turning in the car. That was easy. This is a very small hotel room but it has that free shuttle (at least the mildewy smell from the a/c dims when you're in here...breathing in legionella probably)

My worry for tomorrow is real and it's not just the storms heading through the SW. Just to be a total dick the QR reader stopped working on my phone and every one I try to download wants a credit card (but won't take mine and if I don't cancel it they'll charge me for some ridiculous other add ons. Seriously? Why can't I find an actually free one) and by the time I finally found one that would work, the airline site for my boarding pass had timed out.

Hear me screaming? I had emailed the confirmation to myself by them and I was able to scan something but it was just the download for the american airlines app which isn't going to be under my name anyhow as Mom gave me her points for this ticket. head desk. Tried printing it and the ancient (and I do mean ancient) computer couldn't maintain a browser. 15 minutes later the front desk person said just email it to me and I'll pr int it...but it's not a boarding pass (and I'm now very uneasy someone else has access to MY flight info. should have said no but I was tired and not thinking clearly though why she would mess with it I couldn't guess) However weirdly enough I can no longer get into the site.

So yeah I'll have to hit the self serve kiosk tomorrow and hope to hell everything goes okay. Might need that pocket saint from yesterday.

( just a couple more pics )