It was my birthday and we were on Ocracoke Island, on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.  There’s no place I’d rather be on my birthday!  What I didn’t know was that the ocean was to provide a most unique present to me.  No, not a shell or anything aquatic.  It offered a most unusual surprise.

We walked down the long boardwalk to the beach.  The beach was totally deserted – not unusual on March 29th!  The Ocracoke beach always takes my breath away.  One can see literally miles of pure, uncommercial beach in either direction.  The wind was blustery and the ocean choppy with plenty of white-capping.  I love the unbridled wildness of the ocean when it’s like this.  It’s beautiful and a bit scary at the same time.  Not one boat was in view and for good reason.  The tide was receding, cleaning the sand of any footsteps and depositing some shells.

As always, I scan for any unusual deposits left by the ocean.  I noticed 2 small objects in the distance.  They were right at the point where the water was receding, so I was unsure what I was seeing.  The waves would wash over them, move them and they’d bob in the water.  As I got closer, I was pretty sure it was trash that had been washed ashore from a boat sometime earlier.  I typically pick up beach trash just as many people do – I then throw it in the appropriate trash containers at beach entry.

But this wasn’t tyical beach trash.  I couldn’t believe my eyes.  These were women’s shoes.  They were clog style with  wooden soles and leather tops.  The wood was water logged and cracks were appearing, so they’d been in the water for a long time.  The shoes were not sitting side-by-side as if left there by accident.  No, the water had moved them and they were several yards from each other.  Also, I’d seen the action of the water on the shoes – the shoes were too light to resist the stormy, crashing waves and also the wood kept them afloat and bobbing in the water.  They were about 3 yards apart when I spotted then.  It looked like they’d followed the same current or wave paths ashore if that’s possible. 

There was no telling where these came from or, how long they’d been in the water.  It’s a mystery that I relish.  It was a gift from the sea.OK, Poseidon got it a bit wrong; They’re too big for me, though I really like the style (unwearable as they are, being cracked from the water).  Nevertheless, I love this gift.  I brought them home and have them hanging on my deck as a form of “found art”.  Though not as beautiful as the spectacular shells I’ve found on Ocracoke, they do make for a most interesting story and they’re a fond reminder of my birthday in Ocracoke.

I fell in love with Gainesville, FL.  I spoke there last Friday at the annual meeting of the Central Florida District Dental Association.  Oh my, but Gainesville is really beautiful.  The doctor who was the program chair for the meeting, Dr. Gary Altschuler, is a periodontist.  He picked me up at the airport and drove me through the  University of Florida’s campus prior to arrival at the meeting location/hotel.  I had no idea how really beautiful this area is.  It’s SO, SO  different from other areas I’ve seen in Florida.  The campus is spectacular with huge live oaks (who knows how old some of these trees are) and sphagnum moss dripping from the trees.  I really love trees (after all, I’m a New Englander, I live in North Carolina now and I was “tree-deprived” when living in Dallas so long) and these live oaks were in abundance and spectacular … the moss only added to the impact.

On arrival at the hotel and once in my room on the 4th floor, I looked out the window.  The room overlooked an idyllic lake that was still and mirror-like.  Reflected in the lake were magnificent trees and vegetation all-around.  I asked if people swam in the lake.  My host responded, “oh no, there could be alligators … actually there’s one right there.”  I thought he was kidding, but I looked down and there was an alligator basking on a log right below my window! There was also a turtle on a log.  Later in the evening I saw the sun set with a brilliant rose shade on the horizon and with moss draping across my view like a Cezanne painting. 

The best part of Gainesville (and Central Florida for that matter) were the people.  They were warm, friendly, smart and down-to-earth.  Lovely.

Ahhhh, Gainesville.  It was a special pleasure being there.

Yesterday I hit a new high (or perhaps low) in tech phone calls.  From start to finish on ONE CALL, I spent almost 5 hrs talking to two techs in Bangalore, India.    Much as I love things Indian, especially the  Bollywood movies, I was in a complete state of brain drain by the end of the call.  And after all of that the problem was STILL not fixed.  (Computer was sent back for repair this morning.)

I felt like a vegetable after sitting for that long … on one call.  After hanging up I immediately went outside.  It was literally and figuratively a breath of fresh air.  North Carolina is SO, SO beautiful this time of year.  My azaleas, tulips and lily-of-the-valley are all in bloom, the hydrangea is getting bushy, the dozens of lilies are rising proudly over the garden  and the weather is perfect.  How awful to sit inside for so long when it’s so gorgeous outside.  In any case, I found 45 minutes to transplant some hosta and I could feel my spirit rising in the process.

I was on a flight last week form Chicago to Kansas City.  I had an aisle seat on the “D-E-F” side of the plane.  The flight was full.  A man who was in the healthcare profession sat in the middle seat of my row and a grandmotherly type was in the window seat.  Immediately in front of me was a teenage girl, in the middle seat was her teenage brother and their mother sat in the window seat.  The short flight began as all others, but quickly turned into a very disturbing trip.

The mother began what was to become an ongoing tirade against her son.  It started slowly and softly. I thought it was just a typical scolding.  I was wrong.  I couldn’t hear their words initially because I was using ear plugs for air pressure  AND I had on a headset for music.  It didn’t require hearing the words, however, to understand that “mom” was very irritated with her son.  The look on her face and the accusatory finger point said it all.  It soon escalated.

I knew she was getting louder when I could start to hear her words through all my ear paraphernalia.  She berated her son terribly, ” … you STUPID BRAT, I TOLD you I was using the arm rest.  DON’T touch me again …”  The man next to me and I exchanged worried glances.  The boy leaned closer and closer to his sister to avoid any touch to his mother.  I never heard him say one word to his mother.  Clearly he’d been beaten down so many times by her that he just took it very passively.  What else could he do in these circumstances?

She slept for a while and her son stayed huddled toward his sister.  When she awoke she would turn to him and stare with the most hateful glare one could imagine.  Because she was on the far right and I was on the far left, I could see her face quite clearly in-between the seats.  I was riveted by her expression. Her face had a hateful grimace and her eyes revealed much deeper problems …  it was those eyes like Charles Manson or Rasputin!  I could feel her tension and it was transferring to me in the form of anxiety.  The grandmother in my row started talking nervously to the man in the center seat.  The three of use could grasp the situation better than anyone else in the area.  The mother and her children were seated in the bulkhead, so there was no one in front of them.

Then the most disturbing moment occurred.  After a string of humiliating and berating words to her son she raised her right arm over her head and her hand was in a fist.   That fist came down toward the top of his head and she came 6″ from hitting him.  He cowered, but didn’t seem surprised. My heart broke for these teens.  At the same time, I knew that this was not something new to them.  

I’d reached the breaking point. I couldn’t stand any more.  With the support of my seat mates, I approached the lead flight attendant and relayed to her the disturbing interactions in the preceding row.  She listened.  I felt only a bit better and I sat down.  Moments later the attendant went into the crew cabin and I presume spoke with the captain.  My hunch was that this was protocol for incident when a passenger acts out.  Not long after she came back to me and whispered that she’d noticed odd behavior of this woman during boarding.  She said she’d keep an eye on the woman.

When we landed in KC, I walked behind them on the way down the concourse.  She seemed calmer at this point and the teenagers continued to be subdued in behavior.  I’d made the decision that if she had done anything else physically aggressive to either of her children I’d find some authority in the airport.  I didn’t know what else to do. 

This was a woman with a significant problem.  As the man beside me said, she needs serious therapy and the kids probably do too.  This was abuse and I can only imagine what goes on at home.

I felt helpless.  I wanted to put my arms around these kids and whisk them away.  Yet at the same time, I knew they probably loved their mother and that they had to have some understanding of her problems.

What should we do in circumstances like this?  I’ve not faced anything like this on a flight before.  What responsibility do we have in such a situation?  I wish someone from social services had been there to see this and determine the appropriate action, if there is any.  Any action mid-flight could be incendiary for someone like this. 

I couldn’t help but think that this kind of verbal and physical abuse could lead this poor boy to significant problems of his own and would probably affect future relationships with women.  I’ve thought about these kids every day since this flight and I’d really like to know the answer to this quandary.  What are we supposed to do? 

A couple of days later when I was on my way back home, I saw a woman in the airport with a T-shirt that read, “Report abuse”.  That one hit home with me and it hit hard.

Seldom do I write about a recipe, though I love to cook.  I’m writing this post only because I’m SO amazed with the results of the recipe I found yesterday … I must share the word!!

Beef eye of round roast … I was leaning toward marinating it for 24 hours then cooking it covered and on low moist heat for several hours.  I found some recipes on Epicurious (www.epicurious.com) that sounded good.  I typically go to that site because the recipes are rated by “real people” who also provide alternate ingredients and methods. 

Then I searched a bit farther and came across a site I’d not visited before.  Somewhat like Epicurious, the recipes were rated.   I found what seemed to be a bizarre recipe for eye of round roast.  It called for EXCEPTIONALLY high heat, no liquid, and the roast uncovered.  I was very leery about this because this type of roast would typically come out very tough roasted at such high heat without any moisture or marinating beforehand.  I’d have passed it by except the ratings were VERY high. With 231 ratings the average was 4.5 out of 5.  So I decided to give it a try.

I rubbed the roast with kosher salt and Montreal steak seasoning and then followed the cooking instructions exactly.  Unbelieveable.  This was absolutely the easiest roast I’d ever cooked and the result was superb!!  I’d made some Bearnaise in advance thinking it might need it.  Though the Bearnaise was nice addition, the roast still would have been perfect without it.  This is a winner and I encourage others to try it!!  Here’s the link: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/High-Temperature-Eye-of-Round-Roast/Detail.aspx

It sliced (cross grain) easily, was tender and beautifully pink inside.  Sliced very thinly it will make great cold roast beef sandwiches.

Bon Apetit!

Hooray, TripAdvisor. 

If you enjoy visiting new places or if you travel for business, then it’s imperative to know about TripAdvisor.  They have, I believe, the very best site for planning trips, comparing hotels and considering options of travel.  What I like so much about it is the straight-forward reviews written by “real people” who have made the trips and stayed at the hotels.  The evaluations are far more realistic that many ratings I’ve read on other sites.  In short, I wouldn’t take a major trip without checking this wonderful resource.

I’m in process of planning a trip to Maine and did some research on this site.  In the process, I found their “travel map” and I ended up playing with it.  You can create a map showing locations you’ve visited.  What was such fun about this is that it brought back so many wonderful memories of terrific places I’ve visited (as well as bringing to mind some places I’d rather forget!!)  The list below the map shows some of my very favorite places I’ve been.  If you let your curser hover over any of the site links, you’ll see web pages on these locations.

If you haven’t made use of TripAdvisor before, be sure to check out the links at the bottom of this post

 

1. Bruges, Belgium
2. Florence, Italy
3. San Gimignano, Italy
4. Ocracoke, NC, USA
5. St. Petersburg, Russia
6. Edinburgh, UK
7. Brussels, Belgium
8. Lahaina, HI, USA
9. Paris, France
10. Seattle, WA, USA
11. Camden, ME, USA
12. Istanbul, Turkey
13. Oxford, UK
14. Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
15. Montreal, Quebec, Canada
16. New York City, NY, USA
17. Marblehead, MA, USA
18. Boston, MA, USA
19. Rockport, MA, USA
20. Machu Picchu, Peru
21. Cusco, Peru

       Create your own travel map or travel blog         Travel Info at TripAdvisor

Apparently in all the current financial woes, the ferry to/from Ocracoke Island (Outer Banks, NC – OBX) has been affected.  It seems that the Ocracoke ferry schedule will now maintain the winter ferry schedule throughout the summer – until the financial crisis has subsided.  There’s an upside and a big downside to this story. 

The upside: my beloved Ocracoke may be less crowded.  With fewer ferries running, it’s likely to cut down on the number of people on the island.

The downside:  The downside is for the people who live year-round on Ocracoke and rely on tourist trade for their living.  Fewer people may well result in a negative impact on so many people like bed-and-breakfast facilities, family-owned hotels, restaurants, shops etc.  This could be a hard hit for these folks and I feel for them.

Those of us who visit Ocracoke regularly will need to be sensitive to this and support the locals with our trade.  This is SUCH a very special place, and access to it by ferry is absolutely vital.  We need to ensure that the people who rely on tourist trade are supported through this difficult time.  A majority of the locals who live year-round on Ocracoke, make the majority of their income during the summer months – this could be a challenge.

I’m terribly excited to learn about the movie, “The Maiden Heist” which premieres tomorrow night in my hometown of Worcester, MA.  The movie sounds terrific and I look forward to its arrival in local theatres.   The movie has a superb cast and  is about 3 museum guards and … well … here’s a blurb about it …

“The Maiden Heist,” stars Christopher Walken, Morgan Freeman, William H. Macy, and Marcia Gay Harden in a comedy of errors following three museum security guards and their attempt to steal artwork after it’s been transferred to another museum.  Proceeds from the movie gala will benefit The Worcester Art Museum. The WAM’s Renaissance Court and art galleries were transformed into the film’s scene of the crime.

I spent a LOT of time in this museum as a kid.  I can still see the neo-classical style building, the Renaissance Court, the galleries.  From junior high school through high school I used to go to the museum as a place of peace, inspiration and learning.  My high school was immediately across the street from the museum and I often tripped over there before walking home.  I knew some of the guards and a few of them would show me special “secrets” about the museum, like pulling back the drapes in some galleries, looking out the windows and learning about the gargoyles that were part of the architecture on the sides of the building.  I loved it all.

The museum offered wonderful art courses for young people and I took drawing (from life) and painting (again, from life) there. I had truly exceptional courses and experiences there and it enriched my life.  Worcester is very fortunate to have a truly world-class art museum – for a city of its size it’s quite remarkable!

So I eagerly look forward to this movie and spotting the beautiful architecture and galleries that I loved so much.

To see the Worcester Art Museum website:  http://www.worcesterart.org/

Well I finally got to see the movie referenced in earlier posts.  Rodanthe is on Hattaras Island, north of Ocracoke (ahhhhhh … my favorite place.)   The movie with Richard Gere and Diane Lane was wonderful for me only because of its location – Outer banks, NC. 

The first 2/3 of the movie I enjoyed, especially the ocean/beach scenes  The last 1/3 was far too schmaltzy for me except for the Banker Ponies segment, which was wonderful.  How I loved the photo shoots that included the beach … soooo beautiful, free of commercial businesses, such as the very best part of the Outer Banks, like Ocracoke.  The beach could well have been Ocracoke (and Ocracoke was credited at the close of the movie).  Just seeing the beautiful beach is like a breath of fresh air to me.  Even the storm scenes were terrific – nothing is quite so dramatic and frighteningly fabulous as the ocean during a storm.

The real star(s) in this movie are the locales.  It only reminded me again how glad I am to be able to experience the NC coast.  And it only served to whet my palate for the upcoming week we’ll spend in Ocracoke at the end of this month!

Oh my.  How you ‘gonna keep her down on the farm after she’s seen Paree?

Considering all the years I’ve been speaking to groups and traveling I figure I’ve made at least 800  presentations throughout US, Canada and in Europe.  I’ve stayed at some really fabulous places (and a few dives!) so I’ve seen a LOT and as a result I’ve set the bar pretty high for what constitutes a top-notch meeting hotel.  However this past week, I had the ultimate meeting location experience.  It can be summed up in 3 words:  Sarasota Ritz Carlton. 

I conducted a full day meeting there for a group of about 120 dental professionals.  On arrival at the hotel, I was given a comp upgrade to their concierge level – apparently someone in the catering/meetings department made that arrangement.  When the elevator doors opened to the penthouse concierge floor, I was amazed.  It far exceeded any concierge hospitality room I’d ever seen.  First of all it was huge and one entire long wall had french doors opening to verandahs overlooking the bay.  Throughout my stay there was food nonstop in the room … fabulous, beautifully prepared displays of elegant dishes and finger foods.  Wine selections and champagne were chilled and available along with all manner of soft and hard drinks.  The 3 rooms were beautifully furnished and very comfortable.  But if that’s not enough, the graciousness of the staff there was incomparable.  They learned my name on arrival and I was greeted by name each time I saw any of them.

The night before the meeting I went downstairs to view the meeting room, talk with the setup crew about the room arrangements, talk with the A/V tech.  Doing all this ahead of time is  an ENORMOUS help in ensuring that things will go well in the morning.  When I’m staying at a different facility than where the meeting will take place, this step is not possible.  I definitely feel more confident in the morning when I enter a meeting room that’s already familiar to me!

The meeting room was spectacular and the catering department was superb.  A/V department was in the room early on the morning of the meeting and was attentive to every detail.  Needless to say, the mechanics of the meeting were flawless.

It struck me how all these little things come together to influence the speaker and the audience.  No glitches.  Everything ran smoothly.  I felt confident and the evaluations at day’s end were excellent, I’m pleased to say.  Does the facility make a difference in the meeting outcomes? Absolutely no doubt in my mind.  I only wish that I could recreate this same experience everywhere I speak.  No I don’t have to be on the concierge level!  But being in a facility that pays this much attention to detail and backs up their promises is bound to give a meeting a great jump-start.