Thanksgiving in Pictures

The long Thanksgiving weekend was a welcoming change of pace. Even though we didn’t necessarily get much rest we did enjoy it immensely. We got a lot accomplished too, doing Thanksgiving-related things and not so Thanksgiving-related things. Like taking our car for its much needed service and tune-ups. Everyday life necessities do not stop just because there’s a long holiday weekend.

In any case, our Thanksgiving turkey dinner was a great success. The bird came out more than perfect. Eat your heart out, Martha Stewart. And it was absolutely delicious. All the trimmings, side dished, gravy and desserts were superbly delectable. All of our guests just gobbled it up and went for seconds. We haven’t had such a scrumptious turkey meal in a long time.

All in all, it was a wonderful long holiday weekend. We even ended up going to the Las Vegas Strip and checked out some stores at some of the casinos and the Fashion Show Mall. On Black Friday...of all days. But since we didn’t do any shopping we weren’t fazed by all the madness. The clientele at the Fashion Show is usually a bit more sophisticated anyway and so the mall wasn’t all-out crazy.

Are you ready for the next big holiday? I know I am. Not so much for the whole Christmas and New Years hoopla as we really don’t make a big fuzz about that stuff anyway. We don’t even decorate our home or anything. But I will have some vacation time and I’m really looking forward to that part. We are still hoping to get away for a few days. Don’t know where yet. Maybe we’ll find some last-minute travel deal to a nice warm place? Or we’ll spend a few days in California. Who knows? Even a staycation sounds fine to me. As long as I don’t have to come up with some brilliant design idea to make a concrete flood control channel looks pretty.

I will not even waste one single second thinking about work on my upcoming vacation. My European side of me will not allow that. My American side will just have to deal.

I know, what a predicament.

Below are some photos from our Thanksgiving weekend.

Thomas drove in from California to spend a few days with us. That's him and Mary, his and George's mother.


Yeah, yeah, enough with the picture taking already. When can we finally eat that darn bird?

Uh-oh, boys in the kitchen. George, Thomas and my silly self.


Mary and Alice enjoying a delicious turkey dinner.

Thomas and our “chick magnet.” Or so he says. Oh, those heterosexuals.

Inside the atrium of the Wynn Resort on the Las Vegas Strip. They were already heavily into the next holiday spirit.


The pool area at the Mirage, right next to Siegfried and Roy’s Secret Garden. One of the hotel towers of Caesars Palace is peeking out from behind.

Mirage’s tropical atrium, all decked out for the holidays. Are you ready for the next big one?

It's Turkey Day Once Again...

I’m astonished how quickly time passes. Is it already this time of year again? In two days is Thanksgiving. A few more days later we’ll move into the month of December and before you know it the holiday season is upon us. Followed by a brand new year. What ever happened to this year? Weren’t George and I not just in Germany, celebrating a new year? This year just flew by.

Astonishing!

On the other hand, I’m glad this is a short work week and a long weekend is coming up. We don’t have too many of those. George and I are staying home this time. The last few Thanksgiving weekends were celebrated in California, where we stayed with friends and enjoyed a wonderful meal and a great time at their wonderful home. Or having a couple of fun days at Disneyland. This time we decided to make it all traditional, with cooking at home, having family visiting us and the whole nine yards. Without the hoopla of all these football games though.

We got ourselves one big turkey. Over twenty pounds. And we got a great deal on it too. Just by accident did we see that one of the local markets had a one-day special where they sold brand name turkeys at incredible low prices. We literally saved up to 75% compared to all the other places. That may not have made that poor turkey’s day but it sure made ours.

Starting tomorrow, we’ll be cooking nonstop for two days. And we probably will be eating for the following two weeks. But we have family over to help us. George’s brother will drive in from California and stay with us for the weekend too. We all love turkey dinners with all the trimmings but it has been forever since we’ve actually cooked a big meal like that ourselves in our own kitchen. It’ll be a treat. Especially since George has the magical touch to turn everything into the most delicious meals.

It will be a fairly traditional fair. Since we are not your typical all-American family, traditional American foods are not a regular staple at our homes. We are far too adventurous for that...in a culinary sense. So this meal will be a very special treat for all of us. A huge turkey with gravy, corn bread stuffing, cranberries, mashed cream cheese potatoes with sauteed onion bits and leek, corn and mixed vegetables. Some cakes, plus apple and pumpkin pies for dessert. Of course, tons of appetizers and snacks before, during and after the big meal. Is this American enough?

Like I said, we’ll be cooking for two days and eat for two weeks.

However, with all this feeding frenzy going on we will not forget to be grateful for everything we have. Isn’t that the point of Thanksgiving? To take some time to reflect and be thankful for what one has and has accomplished? We don’t need some special day to be reminded to be thankful though. We are fully aware of how lucky we are and we recognize this everyday and count our blessings.

But it happens to be Thanksgiving and it will bring us a nice long weekend. So we’re definitely not complaining and we’re trying to make the most of it. We hope you are too.

Happy Thanksgiving, ya’ll.

One Last Look

Here are a few last impressions from our Thanksgiving weekend in Los Angeles.

Pasadena - the view from Rover and Cal’s garden

George inside one of many exhibit rooms at the LACMA

Wood carving in the Great Room of Rover and Cal’s house. It was built by a German immigrant back in the 1940s. Sunlight always floods most of the rooms, which is covered with elaborate carvings on walls, ceiling beams, colums and trims

Detail of the old LACMA West Building, which used to be a department store

The La Brea Tar Pits

Urban Light installation at the main entrance of LACMA

Another side of Goofy

More L.A. Impressions

The following photos show more impressions from our Thanksgiving weekend in Los Angeles.



Mid-Wilshire


Blossom inside a courtyard of the Grand Californian Hotel at the Disneyland Resort


George waiting for his dinner at Jan’s on Beverly Boulevard


Detail of a pine tree at Disney’s Grand California Hotel



Enjoying art inside and out at the LACMA

L.A. Impressions

Here are a few more impressions from our long Thanksgiving weekend in Los Angeles.



LACMA South Piazza, Chris Burden’s Urban Light


Flowers at Rover and Cal’s huge garden


LACMA, Auguste Rodin’s The Shade


Hollywood and La Brea intersection


LACMA, facade of the Ahmanson building



Ain’t that the truth...

Thanksgiving

Another Thanksgiving holiday come and gone. Another amazing long weekend spent in California. Our friends Rover and Cal were once again the most gracious hosts.

Over 20 invited guests brought tons of food to the turkey potluck dinner. Lots of fun was had by everyone. The few that stayed overnight were treated to even more food the next morning. Rover cooked up another delectable breakfast and the good times continued.

The weather in L.A. was absolutely gorgeous. Picture perfect, exactly how one expects Southern California to be. Sunny, clear skies, gently breezes.

Black Friday was not spent in a mall but rather at the LACMA on Wilshire Boulevard. We haven’t seen the newly added Broad Contemporary Art Museum yet and it was a great afternoon to explore their extraordinary exhibition. Afterwards we had a nice meal at Jan’s, an all-American coffee shop and something that has all but vanished from the Las Vegas streetscape.

That evening we also saw the touring Broadway production of “Mary Poppins” at the Ahmanson Theatre at the Music Center in downtown Los Angeles. Even though they were taking some liberties with the story, it was an exciting musical and the performances were just glorious.

Since George and I were still suffering a bit from backaches we opted out on spending the day riding insane roller coasters at Magic Mountain. Instead we headed down to Anaheim and enjoyed the early holiday spirit in Downtown Disney. The place was packed and everybody seemed to be very cheerful. Of course, the day went by far too quickly and after the sun has set it was time drive back home to Las Vegas.

Our next trip is just a few weeks away. This time however, it’ll involve different means of transportation and most likely a winter jacket. We’ll see. Nevertheless...we can’t wait.

Below are first impression from our long Thanksgiving weekend in Los Angeles.

Eventually, we always end up driving on the Hollywood Freeway

Chatting with Cal while Rover “slaved” away in the kitchen

A leaf insect decided to join us while sitting outside in the garden of Rover and Cal’s place

Strolling around the Disneyland Resort, here in front of the California Adventure theme park

Outside the LACMA on Wilshire Boulevard

“Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”

Gobble, Gobble...

Tomorrow is the big turkey day.

George and I will be on our way to a fun-filled long weekend in California. We’ll be visiting good friends, sharing a festive potluck with turkey and all the trimmings, and enjoying some good laughs. We’ll also be going to the theater and we might be paying the LACMA a visit.

We were planning on going to Magic Mountain on Saturday but since our backs are still in recovering mode it may be wise to skip riding crazy rollercoasters this time around. Instead, we may spend some time at Downtown Disney and meet up with George’s brother Thomas and Sharon for lunch or early dinner.

And here’s a little factoid, just in case you were ever wondering...

In any case...Happy Thanksgiving, ya’ll.

Thanksgiving with Rover and Cal

George and I spent this long Thanksgiving holiday weekend in Los Angeles. Our friends Rover and Cal invited us to their annual Thanksgiving potluck at their amazing home. We also stayed with them for the rest of the weekend. Please feel free to click on the following photos to see them enlarged.



We stopped in Victorville on our way to L.A. to gas up the car and enjoyed a little ice cream.


It was raining in Los Angeles just before we arrived. These are the leftover storm clouds over El Cajon Pass.

Invited guests brought an array of different foods, desserts and drinks for the Thanksgiving potluck. About 20 people sat around a beautiful appointed banquet table and feasted on delicious pumpkin soups, salads, turkey, dressing, casseroles and other delectable dishes. The list of a variety of foods went on and on. There was lots of laughter, singing and lively conversations. Rover and Cal’s friends are a very eclectic group of people, living a bohemian way of life. Since almost everyone is either an artist, performer or musician, this wonderfully intellectual group is full of live and knows how to celebrate.


Rover and little Connor provided the right beat and joined James on the piano for some sing-along.


James is giving little Connor some advice how to make some noise.


The kitchen always provides some conversation fodder.


Cal and Thomas are relaxing after an amazing Thanksgiving feast.


The following day started with a scrumptious breakfast, cooked by our most gracious host Rover. Around noon George and I were heading towards the Pacific to spend the afternoon in Santa Monica. The partly clouded sky casted a spectacular scenery over the ocean. What a dramatic background. Every once in a while the sun would peek through the clouds and dip the Palisades into this amazing light.



George always enjoys our walks along the Pacific Palisades in Santa Monica.


Along the Pacific Palisades.


And there was actually some sun as well. This is L.A. after all. Quick, get the camera. Smile and say Cheese!


After a nice and simple dinner at Coogies on Santa Monica Boulevard, we took our time driving through Beverly Hills and West Hollywood toward our final destination in downtown L.A., the Ahmanson Theatre at the Music Center to see this:



The Tony Award winning musical made a stop in L.A. on its national tour.


The Music Center in downtown Los Angeles with the Walt Disney Concert Hall, George with the Ahmanson Theatre in the background and the Dance Door bronze sculpture.


George and I at the Music Center Plaza.

We bought tickets a while ago to see the award-winning musical “Spring Awakening.” We always loved the songs, but to see the whole play unfold and perform live on stage was amazing. What a great cast. George and I are so glad we were able to see it.

Saturday turned out to be the most perfect day. Sunny, no clouds and with spring-like temperatures. We invited Rover and Cal to come with us and George’s brother Thomas to Six Flag’s Magic Mountain. Before we were all ready to head on over to ride some of the greatest and craziest roller coasters on this planet, Rover had to make a stop at the Pasadena High School Theater where he was preparing the sets for the upcoming performance of “The Crucible.” Since Rover comes from a theater background, he’s lending his expertise to build the stage props and will help the kids learn how to set up the stage and the lighting.


On stage with Rover and Cal, inspecting the progress of the set for the play at the high school theater.


Some of the old and newer rollercoasters at Six Flag's Magic Mountain.


Impressions of the "X-2" rollercoaster, the world's first 4th dimension thrill ride.


Cal, Thomas, Rover and George impatiently waiting in line to finally get on the "X-2" ride.


The "Viper" with multiple drops, twists, loops and corkscrews.


After hours of being twirled, swung and looped around on these crazy coasters at Magic Mountain, we decided to have a dinner at one of those last remaining old-fashioned hamburger stands in Pasadena, called “The Hat.” Junk food at its finest. The best Pastrami Burgers, grilled Cheeseburgers and Tuna Salad Sandwiches one can think of. With a mountain of Chili Cheese Fries, Onion Rings and Jalapeños. And of course buckets of sodas. We don’t eat like this very often, but when we do we really enjoy this. And boy...did it taste good.

Then we were off to Hollywood to see this:






The marquees of the historic El Capitan movie palace and the relatively new Disney's Soda Fountain & Studio Store.

We purchased tickets early on to see the newest Disney flick “Bolt” at one of our most favorite movie palaces of a by-gone era, the El Capitan. Before the movie, Disney had a little Broadway-esque Christmas show which was performed live on stage. As expected from Disney, it was corny and cheesy but very cute. The computer-animated feature “Bolt” was presented in digital 3-D, which made the film that more special. We all loved the film. It was very well executed, really funny and the Hamster character Rhino was just downright hilarious. We can highly recommend this film.

As all good things eventually come to an end, so did our little Thanksgiving excursion. Late Sunday morning we were on our way again back home to Las Vegas. What a great time we had. Even more so thanks to Rover and Cal.

We always do with these two.