You know, I posted an additional thank you yesterday and the darn post has disappeared! I wanted to thank KitchenDetective for recommending the bisque soup at Gaido's. At first I couldn't find it on the menu, but then realized that it's listed as Watkins Bisque Soup. I can't thank you enough for that as it's, hands-down, the most delicious soup I've ever eaten! We all LOVED it! If I can't find the recipe at one of the internet recipe sites, I'm going to have to break down and buy their cookbook for it. THANK YOU!!! Natal: we loved our lunch at Fisherman's Wharf, too! It was lovely to sit out on their dock patio and just soak in the atmosphere as we ate. I had their Shrimp Salad and a nice glass of chilled chardonnay. Yummm . . . I miss the place already! Imsoconfused: no, we never made it to Moody Gardens. I'd read on some travel review website that not everything was open yet. Next trip we're going to head there, though. Stinky Gardener: you're welcome . . . I'm glad you enjoyed them :~) Texanjana: We drove by Bishop's Palace several times and, yes, it is gorgeous! Unfortunately, DH only had the patience for one house tour and so we let our 17 y/o DD decide which one and she picked Moody Mansion. BTW, this coming weekend is their BIG multiple home tour event. Wish we could have made it to that! As for hurricane damage, yes we were surprised that there still was some evident. Even along Seawall Blvd. we saw a few places that had never been repaired. They were repairing two of the jetties/piers west(?) of 61st Street and Seawall while we were there. A local said that it was about time! At Moody Mansion, they have markers to show how high the water came up there and it looked to be about 4 feet. The grounds and mansion looked good, but we were told that one car was badly damaged during the hurricane and was out being repaired . . . still, after all this time. The lowest level of the mansion, which housed the kitchen and servants quarters, is still almost completely empty. They took us through area, but there wasn't anything to see really. Looking at the new, high-end, gorgeous homes going up at the east end of the island, I just had to shake my head at it all. IMO, they are so exposed out there and, unless they're all being made out of steel with bullet/hurricane-proof glass, it's hard to imagine them making it through another major hurricane. Lynn

I would also not ship animals by cargo. If you can take them on board and stow them under the seat, that is one thing, but in the cargo hold is just too traumatic for animals IMO. My mom took a cat cross country by plane, years back. She made him an on-board reservation, and bought the under seat kennel from the airline. He was sedated and it was still pretty rough for him. Her first flight was on a puddle-jumper from a small town airport to a big INT airport; on that short flight he had to go in the cargo hold because there is no door on the crew compartment and they can't risk having an animal get loose somehow and distract the pilot. The small airline crew were so good with him, loading him last, and since it was a small plane he was unloaded on the tarmac when she got off the plane and immediately handed to her. The crew was very cautious with him and verified that he did belong to her as well. Even so, mom said he was so very cold from his very short time in that cargo hold, and she felt so badly for him. I would opt for taking them on the drive. Get a big crate and stuff it with familiar blankets and such; they will be comfortable and hopefully settle in for the long haul after a short time. Good luck.

I just wanted to comment on Scherr's - we got custom doors for an older IKEA sink cabinet about 4 years ago from them for a rental until. They were wonderful to work with! We sent out the old doors - IKEA no longer makes that cabinet - and they made a copy and sent them to us. I was first going to paint them, but my husband decided to have them paint the doors. We were so pleased! The shipment was packed beautifully and made it to us in great condition. The spaces for the hinges were on the replacement cabinets and the paint was Fabulous. It has held up for 2 tenants in our condo - and still looks great. This was a wonderful family-owned company that delivers and is easy to work with - to create a great purchase experience. I am now considering to have them do custom cabinets for our kitchen. They are the best!

Ok, back with an update. Turns out my conference was cut short due to the unexpected death of my grandmother, so this project went on long term hiatus to deal with that. Around the beginning of this year the door actually started to close with some force, though it was rubbing on the hinge side. So it must have needed to dry out. Called in my Mom for back up to finish this once and for all! Checked the hinges. Checked the frame. Checked everything we could think of, could not figure out why the door wasn't fitting right anymore. So I learned how to use a hand plane to plane a door. While it relly wasn't that much that came off, I was surprised at how much had to come off to close right. More than the depth if the paint. And on both sides of the door from the bottom hinge down. Puzzling! But now it closes! And the hinges match. New knob assembly is in too. I was so excited, I popped the assembly in and pushed the door closed to make sure it would still close and latch properly before I had the doorknobs on! We both realized almost instantly that I had just locked us in! It only took about 3 seconds for me to stick the knob in and open the door, but boy we busted a gut laughing! Now I just have to paint the newly exposed wood...