How to fill time in retirement

I arrived in Middlebury Vermont on August 2.  This was the town I was born in and raised through high school.  I spent 3 summers at the house while at the University of Vermont, staying with brother Tom and his wife Robin and their son Brandon. Eventually, Josh was born. Tom and Josh on the back deck Now in 2015, Tom still lives at the house, and my nephew Josh was there too.  This time I had decided to spend my time in a tent pitched in the back yard, a trial run for future retirement adventures. But I digress from the subject matter of this post.  Tom, Josh and I were sitting on the back deck, drinking cool beverages when I noticed that there were way more cars than usual at the Paquette house across the street. Tom said that Dennis, the oldest of the twelve kids must have died.  I was a little shocked, knowing that one of the guys was sick, but not this serious. Paquette house on Weybridge Street As we were sitting and discussing Dennis, Mike Paq...

What I like to try every once in a while is a beer....of course, most of the time I try ales, lagers, stouts, porters... While in Vermont recently, my brother had told me I should visit the Magic Hat Brewery in South Burlington. I drink Magic Hat #9 often in Florida as most bars have it on tap now.  It always fun to let a person taste it and ask them what the fruit flavor is.  The beer itself never says what the hidden treat is, so unless you know, or are an expert at tasting things, most people admit the flavor is familiar but are unable to correctly identify it.   The answer is apricot... As I turned onto the side street off of Route 7 after a short ride from Middlebury (with a few excursions), the first thing I see is some kind of weird contraption near the guest entrance. I think it is a beer lighthouse!  As I entered the brewery, I was overwhelmed with the darkness and neon lights; I felt like I was in a Halloween Haunted House.  A young lad...

As a retiree, you would think all I had time to do was play golf, and that is a wonderful thought, but then sometimes circumstances get in the way.  I have mentioned in an earlier post that my good friend and golf buddy Fred Arnold passed away earlier this year. The dynamics of our regular foursome forever changed and I am having trouble getting one other member of our group to have the motivation to play. He had known Fred for over 40 years and his heart aches each time we play without Fred. I understand, it is a tough void to fill. But I knew that each August for the last three years, I would head to Vermont and play in the Neshobe Member-Guest Tournament at the beautiful Neshobe Golf Club near Brandon, Vermont. The last two years I have partnered with my brother Tom, who works at the course. But again, circumstances changed when Tom got sick earlier in the year, and did not think he would be well enough to play in the tournament with me. He said he would find me a new partner....

My Bucket List Goal to eat at a new restaurant every week does not stop because I am travelling. Actually, it becomes a little easier since I am away from home and there are more choices. On this particular trip, I was able to add five new restaurants over a two week period.  Again, I am saving excess places for weeks I miss, but so far I have not had to do that. Let us review the new eateries. 1) Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville in Syracuse New York (August 2) Although I was driving to Vermont, I went a little out of my way to visit the Destiny Mall in Syracuse New York.  In this monstrous. multi-storied facility, there are a multitude of stores, restaurants, and entertainment establishments.  My goal was to visit the Margaritaville that just opened there. It should be noted that another Bucket List Goal is to visit every Margaritaville in the world. This allows for two goals being attained with one action, kind of a bucket list double dipping. This particular Ma...

One main reason for retiring early was to allow me to be able to travel more. Travel in the USA and Canada was a large part of family activities as I was growing up, and I always have liked going to new places, as well as visiting the same places again and again. Also, when I was in Junior High School, I took a photography class which started a passion in me to capture the moments of my life, including travel.  As I became an adult, work became more important so travel and photography took a smaller role in my life, although still part of what I did. But now that I have retired, they both have taken a front seat in my activities and they pair together well.  I can go to places I have always wanted to go and at the same time, take pictures to share with family and friends. I have include here a photo I took on my recent trip to St John, in the US Virgin Islands. The island is small with a permanent population of about 4,000 residents. Of course, tourism is very importa...

Even before retiring, I liked to eat out at different restaurants. I have always liked to try new things including food, and I am not afraid to try things that I have never had, within reason.  One of my bucket list items I added at the start of 2015 was to eat out, at least once a week, at a new restaurant that I have never been before. That may seem like an easy item to do, but since I have lived in the Melbourne Florida area for over 35 years, it is not easy finding new places. Therefore, I stretched my rules a little and I am allowed to eat out at a chain, as long as I have not been in the building before. Likewise, if a new restaurant opens up in the same building as one I went before, that counts as new also. As I started to do this, people would always ask me to rate the place. I came up with my own rating system scale which I have included here.  Since these are my rules, I find that I have to tweak the system sometimes. Since it has been 24 weeks already, the scale ...

First off, procrastination is not my middle name although I do have friends that believe that it is.  I keep promising myself that I will make this blog part of my retirement, but I keep having too much fun doing other things.  I had mentioned golf in an earlier post and I said it was one of the more important things I wanted to do after retiring, and I still feel that way but.... Not long after my last post, my friend and golf buddy, Fred Arnold, passed away after a battle with cancer.  Fred was too young to die, only 71, and his passing was a shock to a lot of people, particularly me.  I just assumed that Fred was always going to be there to make the tee times, and he would drive Jim to the course and I would get Gaylen (or vice versa) and we would meet, golf, and then stop for lunch after the round.  Those plans have been changed, and our foursome (now a threesome), are trying to cope with the changes. This past weekend, Jim made reservations at the local...