Muddy Mudskipper & Friends

This week my adorable parents are visiting BF and I in Port of Spain. We have had some fun already playing golf in the hills, lounging by the pool, amazing meals and taking boat rides through the swamp to see birds and wildlife. Have you ever heard of a Four-Eyed Fish?? B-Zarr.

The four-eyed fish is what you would think of as a Mudskipper, called this because they are the only fish that can actually walk. And yes, they do have four eyes. Super weird looking little bubble eyes that float at the surface of the water while they swim.

We saw these bug-eyed freaks of nature at the Caroni (pronounced Care-un-ee) Natural Bird and Wildlife Preserve, just south of Port of Spain. The preserve takes up 40 square Km and is like no swamp I have ever seen. No bugs, crazy Black, Red and White Mango trees, snakes and some amazing birds. Not just any birds though, the National bird of Trinidad, the Scarlet Ibis.

We hopped on a guided boat at 4:00 p.m. and by 5:30 we were watching an entire colony of Scarlet Ibis come into roost for the evening.

They are electric red and nearly glow they're color is so saturated. They are similar to Flamingos in the fact that they get their color from their diet. Kind of like people who eat a ton of carrots and end up being tinted a faint orange.

No carrot people here.

Ten points to the first person who can tell me what Muddy the Mudskipper comes from.

We got crabs...

To be more specific we had a crab. While sharing a bottle of wine and admiring the setting sun the other evening BF spotted a critter out of the corner of his eye. Having been used to critters in D.C. he figured it was a rat and was calmly watching it move so as not to alert his skittish wife.

As the unwelcome guest moved closer BF began to think that it was some sort of very large and leggy spider. Things were going to get hairy very quickly. At last he was able to really focus on it only to discover that our friend was neither rat nor spider but a giant crab.

We can only assume that he thought that we were furniture as he side saddled closer and closer to our shoes on the floor. We were even able to snap a BlackBerry photo of it. He was blue! His color didn't show up until we were able to see him properly with the flash. Just as he was about to make friends with my sandal BF got up and that thing shot off like a cannon was propelling him off our porch and out of our romantic evening.

He looked a little something like this...

On another Animal Planet-type note, this morning while sitting on the porch I was approached by another Caribbean creature, a lizard. He wasn't a little Geiko gecko either - a bit bigger, say 12 inches long and scary enough for me to make whooping noises and shout at it to "Skat!"

Welcome to the island.

Welcome to the Island

Three days and counting; that is how long I have been in Port of Spain. It has already been so much fun that I can't wait for the next couple of months.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Trinidad and Tobago (most of us, right?) here is a little geography lesson.

You see Florida in the top left? Well we are all the way in the bottom right-hand corner. See us? Above and to the right of Venezuela. We are only 6 miles off the Venezuela coast and if you're vantage point is high enough in Port of Spain you can see it to the south.

Port of Spain is the capital of T&T and sits in the north of island of Trinidad. We are bay side and act as an active port so we don't have the pretty beaches in Port of Spain, but it is just a quick drive to the north for some spectacular beaches. We are also planning a trip to Tobago where there are more great beaches. To reach Tobago you take a ferry across.

During our stay on the island BF and I are living in a furnished 2 bed/2 bath apartment in the Bayside Towers. Zach and Kelly forever! Any Saved by the Bell fans out there? No? Okay we will move along then.

This is the front of our building. The complex is made up of two towers and we are in the one on the left side of the photo. I love it, the lobby is all open-air and has the most wonderful breeze in the afternoon. There is also a tiny bright blue bird that is very quick and lives in one of the chandeliers.

Here is our building from behind. Very Miami beach. We figured out that these kind of places are probably painted to reflect the colors in the sunset - peach, pink and teals - we think that the sunset is the only thing that can pull off such hues.

This is the view that we have from our balcony. Technically we are on the ground floor so I don't know if you can call it a balcony or if it is just a porch...

Here is the view from our porch! Better.

Our pool is pretty crazy as far as layout goes but it is nice that the architects were a bit more creative than the typical rectangular pool.

During my first afternoon on the island I was surprised by my super cute husband with some very special tickets to the Beyonce concert. It was the last stop on her "I am" tour and we were very enthusiastic about attending. We stopped at the Hyatt for drinks and to meet up with new friends before the show. It was beyond surreal to have come from the States where it was snowy and cold to the Caribbean where I was lounging by the rooftop pool in the 90 degree weather. Weird.

Beyonce's concert was amazing. That woman can throw a heck of a show. This was the largest concert that Trinidad had ever seen and the Trini's came out in full force. Beyonce even incorporated a little Trini love when she sang, "Say My Name." Her stage extended deep into the crowd and before she started the song she asked this guy what his name was. He was adorable: a big fella, who was squealing and crying and shouting to her how much he loved her. His name was Dariain (spelling?). Can you guess what she did to make his year? For the first chorus she sang, "Dariain, Dariain..." This guy was flipping out already and then she handed him her sweat towel and I'm pretty sure that he passed out with euphoria.

The country had already been having an insane enough week with Carnival, throw Beyonce into the mix and you have a big and happy week. I will let BF tell you all about Carnival and the festivities that go with it. It is a contender with Rio for the best Carnival celebration.

Just a taste...

The View

From my flight to Atlanta...


That's not the sky, it's an engine.

-- Post From My iPhone

Cool City of the Moment

Can you guess which city it is?? Our lips are sealed but there is a hint in the background of this photo...

Who are we kidding? We can't keep a secret. It's Pittsburgh, USA!

Surprised?

BF and I made a trip to The City of Bridges in the summer of 2008. You can tell that we like to capture our serious personalities through film.

(Random view from a building I was in this week)

All I can say is, what a cool city. Pittsburgh is my home for a week and so far I'm enjoying it very much. The city is clean, has cool architecture, a great cultural arts scene and awesome scenery. It feels like New York but smaller and less overwhelming.

Pittsburgh is also home to the best chocolate, concocted by the Edwards family. Their shop is on the south side of the city and is called The Milk Shake Factory. Can you think of a better factory than that? Put me on the assembly line boss because I'm ready to work! Insert visual of Lucy and Ethel working on the confectionary assembly line. Or just watch it here.

Sweet buidling on the Southeast side.

The coolest part about Pittsburgh is all of the bridges.

Pittsburgh is actually nicknamed, "The City of Bridges." I love bridges, almost as much as I lust over a good barn. Don't ask - or do, it's up to you. The city sits at the intersection of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers to form the Ohio River. Did you know that, children? These rivers are wrapped around the city creating the need for some major bridges every few hundred yards or so, there are 446 to be precise!

She's got Chutzpah: After the steel industry crashed in the early 1980s the city picked herself up by her bootsraps and cleaned up her act. Once black and smokey it is now quite "green." The convention center that is home to the G-20 Summit this week is one of the only LEED "green" centers of its kind. Who knew?

Pittsburgh where have you been hidig all of this time? My guess is under your Terrible Towel.

Photos Courtesy of www.news.steelers.com and www.lovemark.com

Texas Living

Over Labor Dabor BF and ispent some time at the lake with friends and spent the evening at their cabin. This place is the perfect Texas house.

The white stone house is set on 200 acres overlooking a tree-lined bluff.

I took a few pics. Please enjoy the view.












Last, but not least of this uber long photo show are Bonnie and Lucky.


--Post From My iPhone

A Perfect Setting

A glass of wine, a comfy chair and a view of the golf course at dusk.

The only thing missing is BF.


-- Post From My iPhone

Planes, Trains & Automobiles

Who knew that it would take an arsenal of transports just to get from Washington, DC to Tulsa, OK. BF and I headed to "Native America" last week for a family event.

All in one day I managed to take SIX different forms of transportation. Seriously. If transportation styles were a deck of cards I would have had a full house or a straight. I don't play poker but there was something there and I bet if I was playing in Vegas I would be coming home with a Camaro...

Starting Thursday morning I hopped on the public bus to get to work. After work I headed to the D.C. Metro (the Tube or Subway to you non-Washingtonians) en route to Union Station. From Union Station I took a Marc train to Baltimore. Once off the platform I headed to catch a shuttle to BWI Airport.

Time to get off the ground! USAirways provided a delightful flight from Baltimore to Charlotte, NC. USAirways provided a second less pleasant flight (50 kids under 8 and no A/C, come on now) to Dallas/Ft. Worth International Airport. But don't put on your jammies and call it a day just yet, kiddos. At the Terminal E curbside I was snatched up by my future-in-laws in a snazzy SUV.

Tulsa, USA here we come! On the last leg of the journey I could sit and watch the sorry signage of southern Oklahoma business roll by on the four hour drive to our final destination. Apparently at Bob's liquor you can get topless service on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Mark your calendars. Or not. I prefer not.

All of this was followed up by a trip back to Dallas the following day. And if you think the only form of transport that I missed was by sea, I got you there too. Was on a boat on Sunday - Zing!

Pictures to follow.

Photo courtesy of http://www.worldstoriesproject.org/

Spread the Word for Charity

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If you have ever used Kayak to find flights than you will love Hotels combined, it is a similar functioning search engine but for hotels. And now if you post about HotelsCombined on your blog, Twitter about them or become a fan on Facebook they will donate up to $20 to one of three charities of your choice.

Get out there and do it! For more info click on the link on the right of my page. HotelsCombined.com donated $20 to WorldVision because of this post.

Image Courtesy of www.crs.org

Italy is for Lovers

You would have a hard time trying to find a couple more charismatic or cuter than Kate and John. They were recently married in Dallas and honeymooned (is that even a word??) in Italy. More specifically they did a tour of Tuscany, including Florence. Kate took some of the most beautiful photos. I couldn't help but share. After being that region of Italy this past spring during the rainy season it was wonderful to see what it looked like during the sunny months.

Newlyweds!

During Kate's bridal luncheon her aunt gave her a lock to put on this very fence. It has something to do with eternal love, I think. Kate...you'll have to fill us in.

Very photogenic couple. Very photogenic country.

She should model. Loving the dress, earrings, necklace, scenery...the whole package!

I don't know where either of these places are but wouldn't you love to go there?

This should go on a Tour of Italy brochure. These might be my favorites.

Even the puppies are more relaxed in Italy. Ciao!

Photos courtesy of the newlyweds.