This year's Thanksgiving celebration was somewhat non-traditional. We decided to celebrate on Monday night with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, rolls, pumpkin pie, etc. We had the full spread and about 12 guests. Seeing as we only have four full sized plates and four (now 8 thanks to Lisa) small plates, we had to use paper plates and plastic cutlery for some people, but it all worked out.
I made the turkey and Kate made the stuffing, mashed potatoes, and rolls. Since we have a small kitchen and limited prep time, we asked everyone to bring a dish to pass. Nothing against the Brits and their choice of dishes, but I think it's fair to say that Thanksgiving is a decidedly American holiday. Chicken nuggets and cocktail weenies did not fit in as well as green bean casserole, but they were good none the less.
On Thanksgiving Day, Kate and I flew to Malaga, Spain, for a weekend in the region of Andalusia known as Costa del Sol. It did live up to it's namesake when it came to sunshine on the first few days, but it was much colder than we were expecting. It was in the 60s the entire time (the week before when we booked the trip it was in the 80s) and the last day brought heavy down pours. All the same, we had a good time. After 3 1/2 years in Hawaii, I am a bit spoiled when it comes to beaches. The town we stayed in, Torremolinos, had a beach that was like Waikiki in that it was surrounded by hotels, restaurants, and shops, but at this time of year it was without all of the people or warm water. We were really surprised at how cheap our trip was (we got roundtrip airfare and a one-bedroom apartment with a kitchen for about $200 per person), but once we arrived we figured out that the town had more or less closed down for the winter. We never saw more than 5 people on the streets at any one time and the beach was deserted. It was a ghost town.
In the end, it worked out well. I have never been able to sit on a beach for more than 20 minutes without feeling like there was something else I should be doing, so even if the weather was nice, I doubt we would have been hanging out in the brown sand. We took advantage of the convenient public transportation and spent one day in Malaga and another in Granada (not pronounced at all like Canada, but fun to pronounce it that way anyway).
Both towns were similar in that there was a lot of semi-modern sections of town with a center that looked as if it hadn't changed in a thousand years. We spent our time meandering through the narrow streets, looking at old buildings and forts, and eating our loaves of bread with Vaca Risa cheese triangles and smoked salmon. All in all, it was a really good time. Granada was a bit better than Malaga. In part because it was older, and in part because we were wearing pants and jackets vice slippahs with bare legs. Like I said, we expected it to be warmer than it was.
This week has been very busy with work, but next Thursday I will be flying back to the US for almost three weeks of vacation. Kate and I have already booked a trip to Las Vegas (but we will probably spend most of our time at the Grand Canyon) and are planning on skiing/snowboarding as well. Other than that, I will be attending my sister's college graduation and just catching up with old friends. I'm looking forward to it.
The first thing I will be doing when I get back; however, is heading up to the UP for a trip to the cabin. Most of the guys will be there and it should be a great time, despite the cold. We may make a side trip to the
Paulding Light, but we will see. Rumor has it that it can be difficult to find the place to go, so our trip may end up more like
this one.
