Tag Archives: covert actions
A Tale of Two Cities… Uh, Counties… No, States
Check this out: we’re on the border of Tennessee and Georgia. We find a community that is split down the middle with a blue line painted through the town.It gets weirder (YAY!) — the blue line goes straight through buildings. Shops, a church, even a bar.
But wait, it gets weirder yet. The bar is also in two counties. And one of them is dry… CONTINUE READING >>
You Brought Your MOM to Your Job Interview?
Okay, it’s rave time. Just a warning.I sympathize with helicopter parents, I really do. I was one. I reluctantly stopped hovering once my kids left the nest. I knew that the sovereignty of the Spawns was more important than my own desire to continue colonial rule. Trust me, we’ve ALL benefited from my abdication.
Did I hound my offspring to do their homework when they were kids? You Betcha. Did I have meetings with their high school guidance counselors to voice concerns without the Spawn present? Guilty… CONTINUE READING >>
I See Dead People in Buenos Aires
I love cemeteries. I know that sounds strange, but I do. Cemeteries spark my imagination — the lives lived, the history interred.That said, it is not often that we seek out a graveyard. Usually we stumble upon them hidden away.
Not the case with La Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires, it should be considered a must-see by any visitor to the… CONTINUE READING >>
Dreaming in a Tango Hotel in Buenos Aires
Late at night, when I’m in a particularly active R.E.M. cycle you can almost guarantee that you will find me dancing the tango in my soul, behind my eyelids. I must have a connection to the sultry dance from a past life. In these dreams I am as fluid as hot coffee and as alluring as the sweetest chocolate. Tango speaks to me.I’d also never attempted it in real life. David, who calls himself a “circus bear attempting to balance on a ball” when it comes to dancing, was surely not going to indulge me in my fantasy of learning to tango during our stay in Buenos Aires. At least not as my partner.
But my circus bear can be full of surprises. He not only… CONTINUE READING >>
Empty Nest Egg
It seems to me that a good number of folks who have boomerang “kids” may actually want them to return. But are we really doing our offspring any favors by allowing an indefinite extension of childhood?Let’s think about this. Where did you live when you were first starting out? I’ll bet it wasn’t quite the Taj Mahal.
Our first place was a one bedroom former screened-in porch that had all the weather proofing of the average wiffle ball. It was a veritable private zoo of insect vermin — and we were glad to have it… CONTINUE READING >>
Go Ahead Punk…Make My (Father’s) Day
Whenever Father’s Day would roll around when I was a youngster, the inevitable question arose, “Why isn’t there a kid’s day?”Every parent ever to draw a breath gave the same reply, “Everyday is kid’s day.”
Thinking back, there was a lot of truth to that statement. We did celebrate kid’s day nearly everyday, and I certainly don’t remember going out of my way to make my father’s days resplendent on any regular… CONTINUE READING >>
America’s Other West Coast
Who knew America has two West Coasts? Well now we do, after discovering Florida’s hundreds of miles of beautiful coastline facing west onto the Gulf of Mexico.Sometimes called The Sunset Coast, most of it is much less crowded than the… CONTINUE READING >>
Meet Bigfoot’s Florida Cousin!
Skunk Apes are omnivores, with the ability to climb and make beds out of leafy branches, there are an estimated 7 – 9 of them in the Everglades, they like alligator caves, smell like rotten eggs, and they love lima beans. Skunk Apes lead a nomadic, hunter/gatherer existence, have a good memory and exceptional hearing.We had to find one for ourselves, so we headed deep into the Florida Everglades… CONTINUE READING >>
In Search of Skunk Ape
Your GypsyNesters go deep into the Florida Everglades, miles from any signs of civilization, in search of the elusive Skunk Ape and found some … CONTINUE READING >>
Are Travel Agents Worth the Bother?
The nature of our travel style – what we call “traveling low to the ground” – does not conjure up images of luxury hotels, first class airline tickets and limousines. And for good reason. It’s not that we’re opposed to these things, in fact we quite like them, we just can’t see forking out the money for perks that don’t feel so perky when it comes time to pay the bill.We are suckers for every tip and trick that will save us money while traveling. After all, we have embarked on a roadtrip that can only last as long our bodies and our mutually agreed upon funds hold out. Therefore, we have vowed to stay in shape and be as frugal as possible.
Plane tickets are… CONTINUE READING >>
A Little Talked About Sign of Aging
Here’s the thing. My best features come from my Romanian roots. I’ve always enjoyed having dark hair and blue eyes. I am psyched that my “gray” hair is silver, some people pay big bucks for that. Dracula was Romanian, and by most accounts was a particularly handsome man-thing.
That being said, we Romanians are a very hairy people. My beloved Grandpa not only had follicles growing out of his ears, but in his later years his lobes looked like small woodland creatures. My stunningly gorgeous mother had quite the collection of… CONTINUE READING >>
More Grandchildish Behavior
I am drool resistant, attract dirt, love to wallow, don’t mind eating things off of the ground and sometimes need changing. I fit right in with kids. I am a sucker for the little buggers, most likely because a good part of me still is one. I can get down to and play at their level with no effort whatsoever.
So… I guess I want grandkids more than Veronica does… CONTINUE READING >>
Help! There’s No One to Eat the Leftovers!
Pretty much everything about life changes when that last kid walks out the door. Veronica and I think we should make the most of these adjustments, that’s why we started GypsyNester.com, to celebrate life after kids. Most of the changes were easily anticipated but as always, some things are unforeseen.Over the past few years, we have had to relearn how to shop and cook for just the two of us. That fell into the unexpected for me. I don’t know why, but it was not something that I thought of before the clearing out of the nest… CONTINUE READING >>
Barcelona’s Breathtaking (and Seuss-like) Basilica
Barcelona has many treasures, but one stood out to us above all the others, literally and figuratively, Sagrada Família.
The massive church is without a doubt the pinnacle of architect and designer Antoni Gaudí’s incredible career. And we do mean pinnacle. Huge spires rise into the sky over fifty stories high – and it’s not even finished yet… CONTINUE READING >>
Our Quaint Bohemian Village
Klatovy, Czech Republic, a quaint Bohemian village, was just what we were looking for after the hustle and bustle of Prague. We found a rare Baroque Pharmacy (with leeches!), ate fried pork neck, saw a weirdly adult looking “baby Jesus” and were introduced to Sgraffiti, an amazing way of decorating buildings… CONTINUE READING >>
Free Money!
We started walking a few years ago while we were still living on St. Croix and the last chick was still in the nest. A lot of our planning for the post child raising years was done while ambulating along the roads and shores of that beautiful island.It was good for us and good for our relationship. We also inadvertently stumbled upon something else.
One day while we were walking to the grocery store, Veronica looked down on the side of the road and, lo and behold, a five was laying there. A few more steps and there was a… CONTINUE READING >>
Do You Believe in Magic?
As usual, we never know what we will find or how we might stumble upon it. Overhearing her hair stylist planning her weekend, Veronica learned about the big Magic Week Festival in Colon, Michigan.
Seemed strange to us that this little burg of 1,200 people would host a world renowned magic festival, but as we pulled into town a welcoming sign informed us that Colon is “The Magic Capitol of The World.” Oh. Still we couldn’t help but wonder why.
Well, there are reasons.
Back in 1926, the famous magician… CONTINUE READING >>
Magic Fest, Colon Michigan
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I spotted Beuscherl and without the slightest idea what it might be, I ordered it. Our waitress asked, “You do understand that this is heart and lungs of baby… CONTINUE READING >>
Fear Conquering & Self Defense
I must confess I have anxiety concerning this GypsyNesting stuff. I have strong ideas about the way I want to live my life, but by nature I’m not exactly the bravest person around. I’m a bit of a worrier. Okay, a lot of a worrier. It doesn’t help that half of our family and friends think that this whole GypsyNesting thing is quite mad.In order to alleviate my fears, I decided to take a self defense course to fight the urge to cop out and just “grow old gracefully.” I wanted to be able to protect myself in that dark alley that was… CONTINUE READING >>
Facebook and Memory Lane
About a month ago, a thought popped into my head. What ever happened to Tamera? Where did that gangly, sweet and truly unique little girl with the pig tails and big glasses that I went to Junior High with end up? What did she become?We were the original Valley Girls. We hung out with boys who skateboarded, went to the beach every weekend and said “Like” and “You know” like, way too much, you know? I wonder if Tamera finds it ironic, as I do, when she hears today’s college girls speaking like this, while most of us old school Valley Girls don’t anymore? Actually, I’ve managed to completely kill off the “likes,” but the “you knows” keep sneaking in… CONTINUE READING >>
Southern Comfort Zone
Traveling up the Mississippi River from New Orleans on the Great River Road, we encountered the epitome of the Old South. All along the river north to Baton Rouge, Plantation Country lives on in well preserved splendor. Cotton was not king down here, unlike the plantations throughout the rest of The South, these gave us some… CONTINUE READING >>Of Tulips & Fat Balls
Eight decades of tulips and fatballs. EIGHTY years. This is no amateur operation. This is serious stuff. It’s Tulip Time in Holland (Michigan), and when it comes to festivals, these people don’t mess around.
It would seem that the six million tulips alone would be more than enough for any small Midwestern town, but not so for Holland. They take it to the limit — right up to the edge of crazy– creating a veritable Tulipalooza. That’s why Tulip Time was named Best… CONTINUE READING >>
The Great Frog Fraud of Creek County
The journey to the “Creek County Frog” is an adventure unto itself. Was it that we in the area and thought we’d drop by? Could it be that we simply ADORE frogs and just had to see a really big one in rock form? Or maybe it’s that David has a more than unreasonable affinity for crazy quirky crap. We’re pretty sure that’s it. Yeah, that’s definitely it.
The sizeable limestone amphibian lives smack dab in the heart of nowhere. The nearest settlement is Mannford, Oklahoma, home to a bit more than two thousand souls, numerous Yeti and a number of genuinely spooky characters.
According to Wikipedia, the source of all… CONTINUE READING >>
Mr. Nemechek’s Opus
Mr. Nemechek has used his freedom of speech in a most unusual way. He has erected dozens of eye-catching signs protesting what he sees as a racial attack against his family of Czech descent “like done to the Jews – Czechs in WWII.” These signs accuse Noble County, the entire county mind you, of “ethnical cleansing,” “law discrimination” and the killing… CONTINUE READING >>
Sign Language – I Love NY
This sign was found outside a posh shop in Manhattan. Not exactly something you would see in say, Sheboygan.
The best part?… CONTINUE READING >>
Digging Up History in Porto Torres, Sardinia
Can you imagine? You are building a new train station, and every time you put a shovel to the ground you dig up an ancient statue, vase or Roman coin. This is the case in Porto Torres–a working dock city on the island of Sardinia.
Like a great many cities in Italy, Porto Torres was built and rebuilt, each civilization one on top of the next. Geography played a huge part in the development of this colony, as ships came to the harbor directly from Rome. Prior to the Romans, the Phoenicians and Carthaginians used the harbor as a seaport. The harbor now is serviced by ferry boats shuttling people and goods back and forth from Genoa, Italy and Marseille, France, as well as the island of Corsica.
Invading hoards and malaria have both plagued the… CONTINUE READING >>
