I started to make plans for our Florida trip, but the Marriott Vacation Club locations were all booked for end-of-year reservations. Our initial goal was to take the grand kids to Disney World during their Holiday break but apparently everyone else also had that same idea. I would have made arrangements further ahead but some of my points were in a holding account after I mistakenly forgot to bank them last year. Thankfully, they allowed me to use rather than lose the points, so I was able to utilize them as part of this upcoming trip.

We’ll land in Orlando on Christmas Day, stay the night at a Marriott Autograph Collection hotel near a Roy’s Restaurant where we’ll celebrate the season. It’s a familiar favorite, but not quite the family affair that my wife is used to sharing. This will be our first Christmas together anywhere other than Indiana. With the loss of her mother this past year, we decided to visit my son and his family. Unfortunately, we’ll miss out on being with the kids in December, opting for early January when I can get reservations. 

We’ll go straight from Orlando to Pensacola, our first stop along the Panhandle. It will bring back memories for both of us about our parents. They would all winter in the Orange Beach, Alabama area. Our plan is to eventually retire along the Gulf Coast, so this portion of the trip will an exploratory venture to look at options. We’ll also stay in Destin and Panama City, as we continue to drive south towards Tampa. We’ll overnight there for New Year’s Eve and stay in one of my wife’s favorite convention hotels, another in the Marriott Autograph Collection. Across the street is the famous  Bern’s Steak House where we’ll bring in the new year. We ate there twenty years ago when my son was recovering from auto accident injuries in the nearby hospital. This should be a much more enjoyable experience than the worry that we felt that night. 

New Year’s Day, we’ll drive to Punta Gorda, near my son’s home, where we’ll finally get that Holiday family time. Hopefully, at least some of them will be able to accompany us to Orlando and take advantage of our spare rooms at the Marriott Vacation Club’s Imperial Palms. It’s a short shuttle ride from there to Mickey’s Park. All in all, we’ll spend fourteen Florida nights in seven different hotels. It’s not exactly what we would call relaxing, but we’ll get to take a look at some homes, condos, and properties that we might eventually call our “Panhandle Home.”  

It’s time to get up to date on the 1000 Places to See Before I Die calendar, as we continue to dream about upcoming travel. As each day goes by on the calendar, more often than not they are destinations where we’ve never been or even thought of going. In looking ahead, I’m at least glad to see that tomorrow features the Chateau de Castelnaud-la-Chapelle on the Dordogne River. It’s a fabulous memory of our trip to France when my wife’s daughter was studying over there. Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve turned the pages past Malaysia; Krakow, Poland; Morocco; Bruges, Belgium; Wachau Valley, Austria; Minnesota Lake Company; Burma; Madrid, Spain; British Columbia, Canada; Bohemia, Czech Republic; and Morelia, Mexico. We’ve touched the edges of some of these locations, including the Brussels and Minneapolis airports. We also took a recent adventure into Vancouver, British Columbia. (See Post #992).

We’ve made a lot of plans for next year that will start in Florida. We’ll start looking for a permanent retirement home along the Gulf Coast. In May, we’ll take that long flight to Bali that includes a stop in Sydney, Australia. Last night, we did a tasting at up and coming Portland gourmet restaurant, Berlu. In my opinion, the best part of the experience was my trip to the restroom. The owner/chef had decorated with David Bowie custom wallpaper. It was a sharp contrast from the all white interior of the dining area. As my wife and I began talking about Bowie concerts with our server, I did a quick search on my phone to refresh my memory. I was not a big fan, so I didn’t remember the details of his death a few years ago. I noticed that he had his ashes scattered in Bali in accordance with “Buddhist rituals.” I will make it my mission to find out more about this in the ten days we are there. 

Bali was never on my bucket list, but one of my wife’s top choices right after Tahiti. We spent a night there on the way to Bora Bora just before my retirement, so the details were not recorded on this blog. When I look back on our ten-year travel plan as outlined two years ago (See Post #284), Bali was accurately projected for next year. However, with my wife’s recent early retirement, some of these plans have accelerated while others have derailed. We’ve since added cruises through Russia and from Spain to Norway. Also, a Nile River cruise is scheduled for next October. This is definitely one of my top bucket destinations. I’m looking forward to seeing the Egyptian Museum, the Sphinx, Great Pyramid, and Valley of the Kings. These landmarks have been a personal fascination for many years now. Next, we’ll book China for our twentieth wedding anniversary, fulfilling the Hallmark gift guide suggestion of giving china for that occasion. 

We will never come close to seeing all the sights on my desk calendar, but have made extensive plans to add to our worldly experiences while we’re still relatively young. Before I know it, I’ll be seventy years old when standing on the Great Wall. Who knows how much life I have left in me, and how many places I’ll see before I die?

Yesterday was a complete change of pace with a drive out to the Oregon coast. There wasn’t even time to write in order to get to the meeting place on time. A friend drove the hour-and-a-half winding route over the Coastal Range that follows the Wilson River. It’s an asphalt roller coaster that rolls to the Coast in the midst of a lush forest with splashes of autumn color. Then, there’s the majestic beauty of the Pacific Ocean when the road ends. We were fortunate to choose a sunny day for our drive to see the third member of the Elkhart High School (now retirement) amigos. (See Post #970).

It turned out to be a long-distance Leadership Meeting, with beers at the Pelican Brewing Company in Pacific City. I should have had a Rolling Rock in honor of the excursion we were on but they only served their own brands. Plans for the upcoming Phil Knight basketball double-header, Olympic trials in Eugene, and even Spring Training were discussed. Next door they built a “posh” resort and spa called The Headlands Lodge. Somehow, “Posh” jokingly became the word of the day. It’s a pricey beach retreat with views of Haystack Rock II. This monolith is apparently larger than the one at Cannon Beach that sits much closer to shore.  A third Oregon Haystack Rock is further south along the coast in Bandon. According to the reference source Wikipedia, there are three other geographic features in the state with the same name and more throughout the United States. I was not aware that there was such little creativity in Oregon when it comes to naming rocks. 

After paying homage to “The Rock” we took the “Roller-coaster” back home. Rock and Roll or Rolling Rock? I was chauffeured around all day in my friends’ posh automobiles (Porsche and Tesla) before returning to my aging Toyota. This was after a pit-stop in Tillamook (known for its cheese) for a farewell beer with our high school buddy that was the reason for our visit to the coast. He’s in nearby Netarts – home of world-famous oysters and Jacobsen Salt. We enjoyed an Outstanding In The Field event there several years ago, (See Post #178), after they had converted the once oyster processing facility into a gourmet salt factory. I’ve also kayaked in Netart’s Bay, after somehow being talked into a rare encounter with nature. There were no outdoor adventures on this trip, just beer and a brief walk near the Pacific City beach. There’s a monument honoring the Dory Fleet, a 300-vessel flotilla of commercial fisherman. In the 1970’s, the city was the second largest salmon fishing port on the Oregon coast. All dory fish are caught with line and hook. It’s easy to get hooked on the scenic views and wildlife you see along the coast. It was a great day for Rock and Roll!

Our travel agent made our flight arrangements to Bali yesterday, saving a lot of money with the sacrifice of time and comfort. We’ll fly from Portland to Los Angeles to Sydney to Denpasar, Indonesia. After crossing the International Date Line, it will actually take two days to get there. We come back through Seoul, Korea, as we did on our trip to Thailand. We should have enough layover time to take a city tour, if we’re not too exhausted. It took several weeks to get over the jet lag associated with that adventure, so it will be an equally challenging journey across the world. 

My wife is particularly excited because of childhood memories of the musical South Pacific. It was her dad’s favorite, and she knows every word of every song. In the Wikipedia summary, the story is based on James A. Michener’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 1947 book Tales of the South Pacific and combines elements of several of those stories. Rodgers and Hammerstein believed they could write a musical based on Michener’s work that would be financially successful and, at the same time, send a strong progressive message on racism. The plot centers on an American nurse stationed on a South Pacific island during World War II, who falls in love with a middle-aged expatriate French plantation owner but struggles to accept his mixed-race children. A secondary romance, between a U.S. lieutenant and a young Tonkinese woman, explores his fears of the social consequences should he marry his Asian sweetheart. The issue of racial prejudice is candidly explored throughout the musical, most controversially in the lieutenant’s song, “You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught”. Supporting characters, including a comic petty officer and the Tonkinese girl’s mother, help to tie the stories together. Because he lacked military knowledge, Hammerstein had difficulty writing that part of the script; the director of the original production, Logan, assisted him and received credit as co-writer of the book.

As a result of this musical, both Tahiti and Bali have always topped her travel bucket list. We had a great trip to Tahiti and Bora Bora three years ago. It was before I started writing this blog, so I couldn’t find a reference to that trip. I remember we stayed in a thatched hut over the water with a glass coffee table that opened so you could feed the fish below. I had my wife’s birthday breakfast delivered by kayak. Our week-long stay was a romantic experience of a lifetime. Hopefully, Bali will be a similar fulfillment of bucket list dreams. She’s already singing this song:

Most people live on a lonely island
Lost in the middle of a foggy sea
Most people long for another island
One where they know they would like to be
Bali Ha’i may call you
Any night, any day
In your heart you’ll hear it call you
Come away, come away
Bali Ha’i will whisper on the wind of the sea
Here am I, your special island
Come to me, come to me
Your own special hopes,
Your own special dreams
Loom on the hillside and shine in the Streams
If you try, you will find me
Where the sky meets the sea
Here am I your special island
Come to me, come to me
Bali Ha’i, Bali Ha’i, Bali Ha’i
Some day you’ll see me
Floating in the sunshine
My head sticking out from a low flying Cloud
You’ll hear me call you
Singing through the sunshine
Sweet and near as can be
Come to me, here am I
Come to me
Try, you’ll find me
Where the sky meets the sea
Hear am I, your special island
Come to me, come to me
Bali Ha’i, Bali Ha’i, Bali Ha’i

Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: O HAMMERSTEIN / R RODGERS
Bali Ha’i lyrics © Irving Berlin Music Company, Emi Music Publishing France, Williamson Music CO.-A Div. Of Rodgers And Hammerstein

Every day I have to remove hundreds of spam messages from the comments section of this blog. I keep searching for genuine comments, hoping that there are readers who enjoy my writing. However, most of them are just links to sites where you can buy Viagra, sports jerseys, or porn. Some go to great links to make you think they are loyal readers like “Great Stuff” or “Nice Work” – now check out my site where you can get Canadian pharmaceuticals for cheap. Fortunately, I write most of this “great stuff” as a form of personal therapy, so it really doesn’t matter if anyone ever reads it. It also keeps me busy for an hour every day. 

I think we’re headed to a museum today, as we continue to explore the new neighborhood. Yesterday, both my wife and I were amazed how we could shop for groceries, go to Goodwill, and see a movie without ever getting in the car. It’s a good thing because my car is still full of items that have yet to find a place in our apartment. From a historical standpoint, right down the street is The Pharmacy Sports Bar & Grill where the opening scenes of the movie Drugstore Cowboy were shot. We’re easily in walking distance of both the Portland Art Museum and Portland Historical Society, as we make our plans for “Museum Tuesday.” It’s my turn to cook tonight, as I begin my lessons on how to prepare my brined-pork chop recipe on an electric range rather than gas. Every day is a learning experience. 

I thought I was getting a matinee bargain yesterday with $5 admission to see Joker. Instead, we got there early and I was tempted by a $10 martini, making it one of the most expensive afternoon movies I’ve ever seen. I think there were only six people in attendance that started with a unique live introduction of the show while velvet curtains were being drawn behind us for privacy. It was an amazing, yet creepy, performance by Joaquin Phoenix, even though the film and sound quality was not comparable to Cinemark and there were no Luxury Loungers. Because of the convenience, I’m sure we’ll be regulars, even though we’re also within a little further walking distance of the Fox Theater downtown. 

Yesterday was a good balance of exploring the neighborhood and the world. On the travel front, I booked a Marriott Vacation Club hotel in Bali for eleven nights in May. It was a nice distraction from the recent hassles of organizing shelves and hanging pictures. With my wife’s recent retirement, we decided to accelerate our major excursions to two a year while the money lasts. This fills the gap between now and next October when we do the Nile River cruise. We got a surprise refund check from our mortgage company in the mail yesterday and it was burning a hole in our passport pockets. Bali is on my wife’s bucket list, our second journey together south of the Equator. It will be interesting to see how our travel agent sets up the flights, perhaps an overnight stay or two in some yet unexplored cities along the way? I should have most of my pictures hung by then!

I’ve always been fascinated with gangsters, and it’s surprising that I waited until retirement to finally watch the Sopranos. The HBO series finished its sixth and final season over twelve years ago. Of course, Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather was the mafia standard, released in 1972. I’ll have to go back and watch it again. I also enjoyed Boardwalk Empire, one of my first cable binge-watching encounters, starring Steve Buscerni. This show got me hooked on premium cable channels that are the centerpiece of my retirement entertainment. 

When I’m in Chicago, I can feel the influence of Al Capone and have often toured the sites of his Gangsta’ empire, including the Frank Nitti safe in the basement of Harry Carey’s. (See Post #907). Today, I’m in New York City, another famous hub of Gangsta’ activity. I’m having lunch with a friend’s son Spark’s Steak House, a restaurant I selected because of it’s mob history. It was called to my attention in another retirement binge-watching moment through the Showtime series Billions. They also featured Peter Luger’s in Brooklyn, NYC’s third oldest steakhouse, after Old Homestead and Keen’s, as I’ve somehow drifted off-course from mafia to steak. You can probably tell I’m hungry!

Spark’s Steakhouse is also known for their wines, an East Coast champion of Robert Mondavi and other California Napa Valley wines. It was the lure of these wines and a good steak that probably made New York mob boss Paul “Big Paulie” Castellano a restaurant regular. Unfortunately, his habit became his downfall, gunned down by John Gotti’s hit-man just outside the door. A scene from the show Billions showed two of its key characters laying on the ground staring up at would of been Castellano’s final view of the sky above. I immediately marked Sparks down as a place to eat in New York City and treated my friend’s son to a little “love” – a pricey steak lunch – Gangsta’ Style. 

It was my Steamboat friends that gave me the 1,000 Places To See Before You Die Calendar. She just recently retired as my financial adviser, after presenting me with the calendar late last year as a client gift. It’s been a fixture on my desk, but also a constant reminder of how many destinations I’ve yet to visit. There’s usually only about one location a week that I’ve already been to see, with aspirations of going to them all. That will simply not happen considering longevity and budget. Recent pages featured pictures of Cook Islands; Edinburgh, Scotland; Kyoto, Japan; Bavaria, Germany; New Brunswick, Canada; Apulia, Italy; and Prague, Czechoslovakia, that have not been on my radar. However, surprisingly there are six locations that I have explored, including Santorini, Greece; Grand Teton National Park; Bora-Bora; Bangkok, Thailand; Provence, France; and the Indiana Dunes, not too far from my hometown. As each day passes, a new destination awaits. Soon, I will have gone through the entire year, and will probably have to buy my own 2020 version of the calendar, By then, I’ll be at a new desk in a new writing environment.

We have several appointments this weekend to look at apartments, with only a few weeks until we close on our house. It will then be a mad scramble to get re-situated in a new “home” between business and personal travel commitments. We’ve found a location in a desirable downtown vicinity, within walking distance of restaurants and businesses. It will make our lifestyle very cosmopolitan, similar to when we moved to Portland five years ago. In this case, however, we’ll have half the space we’re used to inhabiting. Most likely we’ll have only one bedroom with little room to entertain overnight guests. We’ve maintained extra bedrooms these past few years with few takers. I would expect that there will now be more demand since we will no longer be able to comfortably accommodate them.

Despite the beauty of the photos on the “Places To See” calendar and the dreams they represent, the words “Before You Die” remains the biggest challenge. With the TV on in the background, Spartacus just pointed out, “Death comes to us all.” I’ve certainly been fortunate to get more time to see the world than many. It was disturbing on Facebook this morning to see the list of my high school classmates that have passed. Over 100 are no longer left to explore this earth, including ten that I considered good friends. Spartacus believed that he would be reunited with his murdered wife in the afterlife. I can only hope that there will be more time to travel and that these lost acquaintances will be part of it, even after I no longer exist to write this blog.