Ken's Maine Trip -- The Greenest Supermarket

August, 2009

In Augusta, Maine on the site that was Cony High School (yes, my high school is gone), there's a new Hannaford Supermarket. The name, Cony High School, still exists but it's on a new campus a few miles out of town.

Actually the wreckers left the 1930s part of Cony High standing (pictured here), something about it being included on the National Register of Historic Places. It doesn't appear to be in use right now, but it is still there.

To make room for the supermarket they leveled a structure built in 1965. It replaced the 1880s classroom building in use when I attended Cony in the 1950's. The new Hannaford market is right behind the historic building that's still there. By the way, the school itself was founded in 1815 as an academy for orphan girls.

On the bright side the new supermarket is LEED-rated Platinum, the highest level of greeness according to the U.S. Green Building Council. It's all about LEED -- the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design's green building rating system, click here and learn all about it.

Now, you should take this interactive tour of Hannaford's Platinum LEED Certified Store in Augusta, Maine.

Shopping for a new car

The new 2009 Hyundai Sonata


In 2006 Jack decided to trade in his ten year old Nissan 200SX and get a new car.

However, just like me, he would rather have a root canal than spend a few hours with a car salesman.

Last Friday we decided it was time to start looking at least. The Nissan 200SX was now 13 years old and the chance of a decent trade-in offer was getting less every year. Also, with the economy where it is right now car sales are down and there are reports that one can get a good deal on a new car. Internet sources say that on a Friday, late in the month, sales goals are looming and a dealer is highly motivated to sell a car.

Needless to say -- a mere five hours after we entered the showroom we drove home in the new car. And a car that was assembled at the Hyundai factory north of Pensacola in Montgomery, Alabama.

The color is Camel Pearl although it looks a lot like tan to me. It has great leg room and has a wonderful sound system with XM satellite radio. It drives beautifully and it's a little bit heavier than the old Nissan or my 2001 Honda Civic. It will be a lot more comfortable on long drives.

By the way, Jack got a good trade-in offer. Even though the Nissan was 13 years old it had very low mileage -- less than 38,000 miles.

The photo above was taken on Saturday at an Alabama rest area on Interstate 10. We tested the new car with a drive to Mobile and had lunch at Felix's Fish Camp.

It's time to start thinking about . . .

. . . buying a new car.

And thinking about shopping for a new car is not a happy thought. Oh sure, it would be nice to have a new car, but on the pleasure scale, dealing with car sales persons is barely one step above having root canal work done.

Our current cars are in fine shape but getting along in years -- 19 years combined. With an average age of 9.5 years we are sure to have some costly problems before long.

To get us started here's a list of links to automobile companies and another to some sites that compare new car featutres and prices. These should help us avoid entering a showroom for a while.

Car Companies
Acura
Buick
Chevrolet
Chrysler
Dodge
Ford
Honda
Hyundai
Kia
Lincoln
Mercury
MINI
Mitsubishi
Nissan
Saturn
Scion
Toyota
Volkswagen

New Car Comparison Sites
Automotive.com Comparisons
CarPrice.com
Edmunds New Car Comparisons

Fuel Economy Data
The EPA's Fuel Ecomomy Stats
2008 Fuel Economy Leaders

May 2008 Cruise -- Day 4, Carnival Glory

Tuesday
St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands

We could feel the sea a little through the night. Nothing serious but we were going through some choppy water.

As we approached the island of St. Thomas and the dock in Charlotte Amalie, capital of the U.S. Virgin Islands we saw two other Carnival ships already there.

At the north end of the dock was Carnival Triumph. At the south end leaving just enough room for our ship to squeeze in between was Carnival Miracle. Captain Rassello cleverly used the ship's side thrusters and we managed to slip in between the other ships with very little room to spare. In the photo above you can just make out the forward ship and the space our ship will occupy (look for Carnival's trademark whale's tail smokestack in the distance).

Because we docked in Nassau before we got to St.Thomas and because the U.S. Virgin Islands are an "organized, unincorporated United States territory" -- we have to go through U.S. customs here. Even if we are not getting off the ship! The ship's computer is so good that after an hour or so of long lines of passengers getting checked by customs there was an announcement that about 60 people still had not passed the check point. A few minutes late they started reading names.

After lunch we got off the ship and walked to the Havensite Mall to get duty-free goodies. The temperature was quite mild. We expected humid, tropical heat. The port and the hillside homes are very beautiful. And you can use your U.S. cellphone, if you stand in the right spot.

The cruise so far:
Port Canaveral to Nassau
279 Nautical miles, 321 land miles, 516 kilometers

Nassau to St. Thomas
870 Nautical miles, 1001 land miles, 1610 kilometers

Total so far from Port Canaveral to St. Thomas
1149 Nautical miles, 1321 land miles, 2126 kilometers

Note: 1 nautical mile = 1.15 land miles = 1.85 kilometers

This frog was sitting on the bed tonight.

Tiki Culture

When we moved to Pensacola in 2004 there was this wonderful tiki (on the left) in the backyard. It was about 4 1/2 feet tall and carved from the trunk of a palm tree. From the style and quality of the carving it was probably made by a local artist. And not mass produced in some tiki factory far away.

In 2004 Hurricane Ivan damaged it and in 2005 Hurricane Dennis finished it off. We miss it and want to replace it with one in a similar style.

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Here are some Tiki links:
(in no particular order)
Book of Tiki
Easter Island's Home Page
Tiki Kiliki's Hukilau
Kon Tiki Museum 
Tiki Farm
Charlie Knight's Palm Tiki
Wheelock Gallery
Tiki Objects by Bosco
TropicalTikis.com
Paradise Found

Road trip, new shoes, flashing lights

Pensacola is a fairly small city, population 54,000 with a widespread metropolitan area that brings the total up to about 440,000. Despite the small size and the long distance to any big cities (see driving distances), we have some major shopping opportunities within less than an hour's drive.

Fifty miles to the west is the Tanger Outlet Center in Foley, Alabama with, according to their ads "more than 120 brand name manufacturers and designers outlet stores."

About the same distance to the east is the Silver Sands Outlet Stores in Destin, Florida. It claims to be the nation's largest designer outlet center. And it may well be true.

Their brochure says:
"With over 100 designer names and located just minutes from the beautiful white sandy beaches and emerald green waters of Destin, Silver Sands is a shopper's paradise!" It's so scary (I'll just stay in the car).

Jack needed some new Rockport deck shoes to wear around the house. We decided to drive over to Destin and get a new pair at the Rockport store in the outlet mall. It was a beautiful day, lots of little fluffy clouds, blue sky, sunny but not too hot.

On the way along Interstate 10, I was driving, there was no traffic and suddenly I realized, (A) I was going way too fast -- close to 80 miles an hour -- and (B) there was a Florida Highway Patrolperson hiding in the bushes up ahead. Suddenly there were flashing blue lights. A speeding ticket, the second one in 49 years of driving. Oh, well. I don't usually drive that much over the speed limit. The fines and fees came to a total of $80.50.

The Gulf of Mexico was beautiful in Destin, blue sky, white sand and many shades of green water. We had lunch on the beach at a favorite seafood restaurant, The Back Porch Seafood & Oyster House. Then we went shopping for shoes and found them at the Rockport store. We got home easily, we returned along the coast road instead of the Interstate highway. And without any more flashing blue lights.

Grand Princess Ports of Call Planner

Western Caribbean Cruise, December 2007

It is very likely we won't step off the ship at all. But just in case we decide to see the sights ashore, here are some links to information about each port of call the Grand Princess will make.

I will add some more links as I find them so check back often.

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First Port of Call -- Ocho Rios, Jamaica
Here are three links with info about what to do around the port area whilst dodging aggressive street vendors: Frommer's Ocho Rios Guide, OchoRios.com, Ocho Rios Shopping Centres.

Local News -- The island's major daily newspapers are the Jamaica Gleaner and the Jamaica Observer. And there's a weekly tabloid, The Star.

From Kingston, the Gleaner's radio station, Power 106 FM, has news, talk and music of Jamaica.

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Second Port -- Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands
The Cayman Islands have the highest standard of living of all the Caribbean Islands. But there is also Hell. Some links, Cayman Islands Restaurant Guide, Grand Cayman Wiki, Maps of the Cayman Islands.

Local News -- For local and tourist news check out the national daily paper, Caymanian Compass, and Cayman Net News Online.

For online local radio there's Z-99 Radio Grand Cayman and you can listen here.

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Third Port -- Cozumel, Mexico
Guide to Cozumel, Los Cinco Soles, Mexican Arts & Crafts Store.

Local News -- Cozumel Today, The Island Tourist Newspaper

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Fourth Port -- Princess Cays, Eleuthera Island, Bahamas
There's not much to do except enjoy the beach and the BBQ. Shopping is limited to some local handicrafts.

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New link added -- from Hawaii

For several years my friends on the Big Island of Hawaii, Cheryl and Steve, have sold Hawaiian gifts, flowers and food items by mail order and over the Internet. The photo on the left shows the flower arrangement I had them send from Hawaii to my mother in Maine for Mother's Day this year.

Many of the items they sell -- the soaps and candles -- they make by hand at their home in the rain forest near Hilo using natural ingredients and wonderful Hawaiian fragrances. They also make sushi candles and soaps that look real enough to eat, but don't.

Cheryl has now made a blog, Hawaii Vacation Gifts by Doublebrush and from it you can learn a lot about Hawaii -- like, how many Starbucks and McDonald's are in Hawaii? and the secret no one tells you if you are moving to Puna.

By the way, the name Doublebrush comes from the fact that they are both artists.

I added a link to Cheryl's blog in the sidebar to the right under Blogs from Near and Far.

Coral Princess Cruise, April 2007 -- Day 9

Tuesday, at sea

It's the final full day at sea so I went shopping. I had gone down to the shops in the ship's atrium lobby several times to look for a t-shirt. But every time I did we were in port and the shops, as well as the casino, are all closed when the ship is in port.

This time I found a Princess logo Panama Canal shirt, bright yellow, and bought it. Jack's purchase for this trip was an orange Ocho Rios shirt he bought last Saturday when Maroon brought us back to the ship after our visit to Firefly.

There are many items from inexpensive to luxury class for sale on the ship and much more variety of items on shore from merchants "approved" by Princess. The TV on board constantly urges us to shop from these stores when we get to a port. We assume Princess shares in the profits. Art works, jewelry, cosmetics and watches seem to be the most popular.

We are pretty much immune to the shopping urge and ignore all the flyers stuffed in our mailbox every day with "special offers." A shopaholic would be in serious trouble.

Other end-of-cruise chores include packing, taking books back to the ship's library, using up the Internet Cafe minutes (100 minutes for US$55.00!) and fixing tip envelopes for our favorites on the staff.

The Coral Princess staff was from all over the world but there seemed to be fewer people from the Philippines than usual. And lots more from Eastern Europe -- many from Romania and Slovenia. Our room steward, Ionel, and our favorite waitress, Irina, were both Romanian and efficient and engaging.

We chose "anytime dining" so we took most of our evening meals in the Bordeaux dining room on Plaza Deck 5. We arranged to have the same table and Irina was our server along with her attentive assistant waiter, Gilberto, from Mexico city. Irina was an excellent, professional server with seven year's experience with Princess Cruises. There are not a lot of women serving and she will go far.

Irina and Gilberto were a great team and we were in good hands. If you didn't order what Irina recommended she would bring you your order and then bring what she wanted you to have. Usually she was right.

Tips on Princess are added to your bill automatically ($10 US per day) but for extra special service a little extra tip is appropriate. Portions of the $10-a-day tip go to staff members you never see and would never be able to give tips to anyway. We always tipped our room service waiters a dollar or two whenever they brought us anything -- water, ice, extra glasses, a bowl of fruit, etc., as they are the lowest paid and generally most cheerful workers on the ship.

Packing was no problem as we didn't buy anything large. When we went to dinner we left our luggage -- except for our hand carry items -- in the hall and when we came back it was gone.

Links to Favorite Food & Cooking Suppliers

The list below is my growing collection of food and cookery links. Most of these sites include excellent, often historic, recipes.

By the way, the item above is not some kind of weird science fair experiment. The Romanesco Cauliflower was first mentioned in Italy in the sixteenth century. When eaten raw it is said to be crunchier than cauliflower and not as bland. It can also be eaten cooked. Just don't stare at it too long.

For an excellent mathematical analysis of this fractal vegetable and more photos, all by AutoCAD's John Walker, click here.

THE KITCHEN BASICS
Best Foods/Hellmann's
Cabot Cheese, Montpelier, Vermont
Crystal Hot Sauce
Huy Fong Foods
Lakeside Mills -- Corn Meal & Grits since 1736
Lea & Perrins
Nueske's Bacon and Smoked Meats
O Olive Oil
Tabasco
BEVERAGES
Community Coffee
Twinings Tea
CAJUN & CREOLE
Cajun Grocer.com
Cajun Power Sauce
NUTS
J.W. Renfroe Pecan Company, Pensacola
PASTA
American Italian Pasta Company
Barilla
Classico Pasta Sauces
DeCecco
Pennsylvania Macaroni Company
Prince Pasta Company
PRODUCE
Melissa's/World Variety Produce
SEAFOOD
Joe Patti's Seafood, Pensacola
SPICES
Penzeys Spices
SWEETS
Aunt Sally's Pralines, New Orleans, Lousiana
Blue Bell Ice Cream, Brenham, Texas
Bob's Sugar House, Dover-Foxcroft, Maine
Ruby et Violette
Savannah Candy Kitchen
Scharffen Berger Chocolate
Yoku Moku America
TOFU
House Foods America Corporation
UTENSILS
The Iron Skillet
Lodge Cast Iron
Vic Firth Gourmet Products
Weber Grills

SPECIAL SUPPLIERS
Apple Market Grocery, Pensacola
Burpee's Seeds
Fortnum & Mason
Zapp's Potato Chips

Wal*Mart, Love it and/or Hate It

I dislike so much about the way Wal-Mart manages their corporation and treats its people -- its "associates." But still I shop there, several times a week.

Why? First, it's the closest full service supermarket. Yes, there's a Winn-Dixie a quarter of a mile closer but it is a mess. And it rarely has everything on my shopping list.

Second, the other supermarkets are generally, if not always, much more expensive. For instance, the coffee we like (Community Brand New Orleans Style Coffee and Chicory) is at least $6.89 a package when you can find it elsewhere. Wal-Mart always has it in stock and the price is $4.79.

Third, every now and then Wal-Mart does something nice. Like this cookbook with recipes from their associates with big colorful photos of each recipe. It seems all the contributors are from the South. Maybe they printed regional editions? I will check on that possibility. I would love one from the New England states. And the Southwest.

As you can see the price of the book is low, less than six cents per recipe, and they are all down-home wonderful eats. Below is a sample from the table of contents.