Sharing photos, videos, vintage images I've discovered, and -- occasionally -- commentary and thoughts from retired life and travels.

food and beverage

Fine day at the market

January 21, 2010

people_at_the_Madison_Wisconsin_farmers_market

Farmers’ Market in Madison at Wisconsin State Capitol, September 20, 2008

Gallery: Dane County Farmers’ Market on the Square – Madison, Wisconsin, September 13 and 20, 2008, on the streets around the state capitol building

See more of our Image Galleries at Haw Creek.

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Estes Park — September 5, 2009

Estes Park has long been a tourist destination.  The Stanley Hotel opened in 1909 and was built at at a cost of half a million dollars.  The publicity from the hotel’s construction resulted in a boom for the fledgling resort industry.

My first visit to Estes Park was in 1957, on an camping trip with my grandparents and uncle.  I was 5 years old and don’t really remember much of the trip.  The next time I visited was in the early 90s with my wife and two daughters.

While the town doesn’t seem to have changed much since that visit, it underwent a major reconstruction after it was heavily damaged from flood waters caused by the 1982 collapse of a man-made dam in Rocky Mountain National Park.

We spent most of Saturday morning of Labor Day weekend exploring the arts and craft fair and the shops in town.  Besides ice cream, we each bought a hat and Karen got a new purse as an early birthday present.

(click on any of the following photos to view a larger image.)

Holiday weekend crowds

We were surprised at the number of people who had dogs with them.

Another interesting sculpture

Stanley Hotel lobby.

Labor Day weekend arts and crafts fair

Our Estes Park tradition - ice cream!

One of several bronze sculptures we saw in town

The Stanley Hotel

__________________________________

Commentary and images from the road

image and information from September 5, 2009

This post is being simultaneously published on Exit78 and Haw Creek Out ‘n About.

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

$1.20 a cup!

March 3, 2007

That’s a little extreme, I think, especially in a small place like Rosebud, Arkansas.

We were taking a bit of a drive on my first official day of retirement and after Karen’s doctor appointment in Little Rock. We had never been in the Heber Springs, Greers Ferry, Fairfield Bay part of the state and I thought we could drive back home with a little bit of a side trip through some of that area.

We had gotten gas just before we ventured off into new territory and I had wanted to get a cup of coffee. Karen had gone in to use the restroom and get my coffee. She came back out without the coffee and without any good words about the state of the restroom and the thick dregs of what was left in the coffee pot.

I figured there would be a place that had coffee in Rosebud.

A while later, as we were getting into Rosebud, I recalled that it had been pretty well flattened by a tornado back in the 80′s. The only reason I particularly remember that is because one of the shift supervisors at work was from Rosebud.

The convenience store/cafe/gas station that I stopped at for gas had certainly been built since the tornado.

One of the things that I’ve noticed since I’ve been off from work is that change tends to accumulate in my pocket, where before it didn’t. I guess I tend to use bills to pay for things in stores, rather than use the change. Now that I’m not around vending machines any more, the change doesn’t get spent so quickly.

After I had filled my coffee cup, I remembered the change and figured that I’d use it for the coffee.

Now, for a long time, I paid 10¢ or so for coffee at the store I usually stop at. Then it went up to 25¢ and I paid that for a long time. Recently, it’s gone up to 46¢. I’ve paid more that that, but hardly ever over a dollar, so I was sure that I had enough change for a cup of coffee.

I was very surprised when she said the coffee was $1.20! However, I dug a little deeper and – since I’m not around the vending machines much any more – I had more than enough change to cover it.

But, a dollar and twenty cents for a cup of coffee in Rosebud, Arkansas?!

If I lived near there, I would make sure not to stop at that store again.

And the coffee wasn’t even that good!

{ Comments on this entry are closed }