We Saw a Bear

It is nice to have a place to go that is different from home. Where we live in the lowcountry it is flat. Hot. Marshy. So sometimes we head to a little cabin in the mountains...

where the air is dryer and cooler, there are ridges in the land, and best of all...

Mimi!

and the Captain

 and this time MeMaw too.

What do we do there? Read a lot. Eat a lot. Dig ditches and plant things and ride the train and go to town. We build towers, too, and stay up late to play games.

And we spend lots of time on the back porch rocking and swinging and waiting for something to happen. Sometimes there are deer, or wild turkey. At night there is just the sound of tree frogs and mysterious rustlings in the leaves. This time we saw a real bear, but I was not fast enough with my camera. We've seen bears at the cabin before, but this one was really big! He looked something like this:

I have always heard that bears love salmon, so I blame my mom's salmon spread for attracting him. It really is delicious. When I'm coming to visit she makes a big batch of it, and I can't ever get enough.

Salmon Spread

Ingredients

• 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• lemon zest
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh dill
• 1 teaspoon prepared horseradish, drained
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 pound (4 ounces) smoked salmon, minced

First

Cream the cheese in an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until just smooth. Add the sour cream, lemon juice, zest, dill, horseradish, salt, and pepper, and mix until just combined.
Next
Add the smoked salmon and mix with a spoon only, being careful to leave larger pieces of salmon. Chill and serve with celery, cucumber, or crackers.

Recipe adapted from Ina Garten and the Food Network.

Blue Heaven

I had hoped to post pictures from our trip to Harbor Island to meet friends this past weekend, but since we were only there for twelve hours before we had to flee in darkness because our children wouldn't settle in and sleep, there weren't many photo opportunities. At 5:30 in the morning, after a night of little sleep, Andy and I looked at each other and made the mutual decision to cry uncle. If you have small children you may have a similar story.

Now that we are home and back to our routine (which I've realized is the only thing holding us together right now) my children are having a sleep fest. Apparently all they needed was their own beds. And I am traveling in my mind, remembering what vacation used to mean before it meant constant worrying about dangerous stairs, unfamiliar beds, the perils of room sharing and searching for diapers and feeding utensils when they are scattered amongst multiple suitcases.

One of our favorite spots on earth is Blue Heaven in Key West, an ecclectic restaurant with bright table cloths, a dirt floor, and chickens running around at your feet. They serve delicious bloody marys and one of the best breakfasts I've ever had: pancakes, benedicts, homemade banana bread, shrimp and grits, and fresh-squeezed orange juice. It may be a while before we travel again, but today I am at Blue Heaven in my mind, enjoying breakfast with Andy and deciding how we'd like to spend our day.

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How do you manage travel with small children? If you have any ideas or things that have worked, I would love to hear them.