The First of many moves.......................

All was going well working together at the Shoreham Hotel, but it was not exciting and rather mundane.  It seems as if we both must have some gypsy ancestry as we started looking for new jobs somewhere in a more exciting locale. You see, Peter had been traveling before we were married. He worked in Narragansett Rhode Island, Waterville Valley Ski Resort in New Hampshire and Stowe Ski Resort in Vermont before we met. So the traveling bug had already bit him.

On a very cold evening during the winter of 1971 we drove to New London, NH.  We arrived at this adorable country Inn at the end of a dirt road with snow piled up about 6 feet high.  The restaurant was packed! We were greeted by an older gentleman with a German accent. He took our coats and asked us to make ourselves comfortable in the living room by the fireplace.  We watched him warm coats for his departing guests by the fire before he helped them on and bid each and every one of them safe journey home and thanked them for dining with him.  It was hospitality as we had never seen before! He ushered us down to the "Pipe Dream" Pub in the basement of the Inn and got  us a drink. Once business had quieted down, he introduced his wife to us and we all had dinner.

They were Wolf and Lilli Heinberg. We had an instant admiration for these two hard working people.  They put us up for the night and the next day we discussed the positions they had available.  We were sold.  A summer of 7 days a week, living in one room over the kitchen, in a small town  in the middle of nowhere New Hampshire, but we were so excited!!!!

We returned to the Sonesta, gave our notice, packed up our apartment, put most of it in storage in my Mom and Dad's barn, took a quick vacation to Bermuda (seeing how we would be working 7 days a week most weeks we decided to treat  ourselves with a little vacation before starting) and moved to the "Hide Away Lodge".

I made the most of our "one room" home.  Made curtains for the windows, hung our favorite pictures.  It felt like home.

Peter & Mr. Heinberg (we could not bring ourselves to call him by his first name, a manners thing  I guess) did  all the cooking.  Mrs. Heinberg,  who everyone called "Shotzie"  did laundry, a little housework and a LOT of worrying.  She also took all the dinner orders from the guests. I tended the little bar, wrote the guest checks and handled the cash, waited tables at breakfast, helped with laundry and anything else that needed doing.

They loved us as we did them.  It was a fabulous learning experience for us and gave  us a desire to be as good at the restaurant business as they were !!!!!  Sometimes we regret it though, when we would find ourselves trying to accomplish too much too well!

 

 During the summer I ran for Miss Hospital Day Queen. I represented the Hide Away Lodge. It was a fund raising event for the local hospital. I came in second and got to ride in a convertible in the "Hospital Day" parade. Wow, was that something special ?!? Wasn't quite the same as when I ran for Miss Manchester (1969) in the preliminary for Miss America. (More on that later)



We worked there all summer and in the fall they asked us to stay on for the winter season.  Not a bad idea, much less work, more time off, great skiing nearby, but we would have to move into their little house as it was too expensive to heat the upstairs of the Inn  in  the winter.  Well, having been married only 1 year, the thought of sharing a house was a bit much.  So we decided to find something else for the winter.

We decided that before starting  our next job, we should take a little inexpensive vacation. So we bought a little tiny used camper which we were told could be pulled by our Volkswagon bug.  Well, it could be towed if you didn't mind traveling 30 miles a hour and 10 miles an hour uphill!  So this inexpensive trip to Florida,  got a bit more expensive when we had to buy a car.  So if you have to buy a car, why not buy a really nice car.  So we bought a gorgeous brand new Cougar Convertible (that my Dad had to co-sign for us) so we could take our camper "escargot" (named by Wolf Heinberg) on this inexpensive vacation!!!


 


 

Wolf Heinberg

Where has the time  gone???

So the last  time I blogged was January 26. I do not  know where the time has gone.  I thought sure I would be bored to tears with tons  of time on my hands.  But, not is the  case.  I really don't know how we survived when we worked and only had one day off.  I now have 7 days off and can't get everything done that I want to.

When I left off we were getting ready for a cruise.  We arrived at our ship on Sunday, January 27.  The ship was magnificent.  It is the Celebrity Shilouette.  Boarding was easy and having sailed many times before, we knew to head right to the restaurant, have lunch and a glass of wine while we waited for our state room to be ready.  We sailed out at 5 pm on a week's cruise of sheer relaxation.

Our state room was wonderful, our balcony divine. There is nothing nicer than  a balcony at sea.  We had room service breakfast there every morning.  

Our first day was a day at sea.  We love those days.  No getting off, just relaxing by the pool, reading (I read 2 1/2 books on this cruise), eating, drinking a little wine, and just plain relaxing.  The next two days were port days.  The first was Cozumel and the second was Grand Cayman Islands.  As we had been to both before we did not leave the ship. We had visited Mexican ruins, and swam with the sting rays in Grand Caymen.  Now, days at port, on the ship are really wonderful.  All the "tourists" get off, leaving the ship inhabited by those of us too lazy to go ashore, or those of us just wanting more peace and quiet.  We really fit into both those categories !!!!!

One of those in port days we rented a private "alcove" cabana on the Lawn Club Deck. This ship has a real lawn on one of the upper decks where you can play croquette or bocce ball.  They also have little cabana style get aways you can rent for the day.   It was wonderful, butler service, peace and quiet.

On our day in Falmouth Jamaica, we did go on shore and took a Bamboo Raft trip down the Martha Brea River.  It was delightful seeing all the foliage, along the shore. Upon boarding our raft, the lady in the raft in front  of us said "You look very familiar"  Well, I was!! She was the daughter of one of my favorite ladies at the TowerHouse Condominium. What a small world.  We enjoyed lunch together.

Our next port was Coco Cay.  The island owned by the cruise company.  Beautiful beach, many activities if you are so inclined, lunch served and many bars.  We enjoyed our stay there very much.

We were very lucky with our Dinner seating.  Other than the fact that we had the table closest to the kitchen, we had a delightful couple at our table.  They had survived "Hurricane Sandy", but did suffer much damage to their home. We really enjoyed their company.

I think this was our most relaxing cruise to date.  With a little luck it will not be our last.