dedtired, Hints for seasickness... 1.) Look off the stern instead of the bow; 2.) Fix your eyes on the horizon instead of looking a few feet ahead of the boat (you'll be out of sight of land); 3.) Sip on cold Diet 7-Up; 4.) Many people do fine underway; but when drifting they start feeling queasy. Whale watch boats stop frequently for whale sightings. While drifting, stand at the gunnel stanchions & hold on to a rail if it's rough rather than sitting down...much better. Actually, more people get seasick in calm water than in rough seas (within limits, of course!) When there's good wave action your body gets into a rhythem. In calm seas, there's just a slight up/down, up/down that gets to some people. Beam seas are the worst! That side-to-side motion can do in even the saltiest of seamen! Since I've been a boater, I can't imagine WHY people stick babies in cradles! Inhumane punishment, IMO! Also, if you're focused on looking for the blow spouts of whales your body won't notice the rolling sensation nearly as much. We need Lori. She's more local to Newport...I'm about an hour away. But here's a place to start...a fun lunch spot in Newport is the Red Parrot. Allow about an hour just to read the menu & make your selection. It's also a great place to people watch. And go hungry! Parking is tricky. Don't be a hero & try to find a parking spot on one of the side streets...it's mostly "Residents Only". Just pay your $15 & chock it up to a good day in Newport. You can also rent the most adorable two-seater scooters in Newport. The shopping is one of two things...either touristy or very expensive boutiques, gallery quality art, designer jewelry, home decor, etc. There are also some great bookstores. History lesson on Newport: Did you know that most of early Newport was built with slave labor? Most people don't realize the extent Newport relied on slaves. The wonderful granite cobblestone roads, the houses, the ships...all slave labor. By 1770, the entire workforce was slaves mostly from Ghana. They came as children & were different than the southern plantation slaves. In Newport, most slaves lived in the same house as their owners often slept in the same bedroom as the owner's kids. They were taught skills & became highly trained. By 1830, most Newporters had freed their slaves. They went on to found businesses, become councilmen, teachers, policeman, fireman, & held high offices. But they came to America as slaves. End of history lesson. Follow the signs for Ocean Drive/Mansions & go to Brenton Park. It's right on Ocean Drive. On weekends, it's a popular place to fly those huge kites in different shapes. The water is right across from the parking (free). Actually, you could just sit in your car & stare at Newport Channel for hours watching the boats. You'll see many huge international & corporate yachts. The rocks at Brenton Park are also a popular dive spot. Look for small boats with a red flag floating in the water near the boat. The red flag means, "Diver Down". When's your trip? /tricia Here is a link that might be useful: The Red Parrot

Yes we always have lots of fun playing it too Glenda. Patti, I wish I could teach you how, I learn better by just playing too. It is fairly easy once you catch on. We have played with up to at least 8 players before. We have a set of double 12's and also a set of double 15's (witch I don't care to use, too many numbers to add). If we do a tournament we were thinking that we would have several tables with a set of dominoes at each table and we would somehow rotate after each round. We just aren't sure how it would work. I thought maybe some one here might have done it before.

I just found online Mexican Train the other day. All I've seen has been Flash games, but if I see a different kind I'll let you know, Sheila. You might even try different websites, because it can be a bit different. I learned to play with a group of people about 4 yrs ago & sometimes we'd even have enough for 2 tables of players. They were a bit "intense", but it was fun. Playing online has let me figure out different strategies when I set up my Train that I didn't realize when I played with "real people". But of course they would never have allowed me to "tinker" the way I do with the online game. They liked to play FAST!

Although fish boils are very popular around the lake here, I have yet to get to one, it's on my bucket list. I have done salmon or tuna on the grill, frozen fish would be the best thing I could get where I live right now, and considering how expensive it is, not any particular incentive to serve it for entertaining, although I have. And I also love enchiladas and baked ziti or any other type of pasta, but in the summer I like to take full advantage of the grill. I did the kebabs two years ago for a porch party and it was easy peasy to prepare ahead of time and marinate, and easy to serve. Also easy for picky eaters to avoid something they didn't like from the selection. I think I did some type of rice pilaf in an insulated serving dish and I think I made it ahead and reheated. Now I have an instapot which I would use as to avoid heating up the kitchen. I can't remember what I did for sides . . . but I made a whole round two layer frosted cake for dessert (chocolate with almond coconut frosting) served up on my crystal cake stand, and almost no one ate a slice . . . I get so frustrated at how all my friends never eat desserts anymore. I mean I get it, I don't either, which is why I always want to make some nice fancy dessert that I never get to eat when I entertain, for special. And then I end up with a ton of it left over . . . A friend brought fruit salad and that was what folks ate, it was good too. I had a friend over a couple of weeks ago and we just loved noshing on guacamole, hummus and spinach dip on the porch with some store bought sangria. So easy as I bought everything at the deli. But it could also be home made in advance too. Pita and corn chips. I always make some type of chopped salad in the summer, marinating the veggies a bit ahead of time and then serving them over fresh chopped lettuce. So many great combinations. One of my favorites is home grown tomatoes, crumbled bacon, diced avocados over lettuce with whatever else seems good. Or just the tomatoes and other veggies with a green goddess dressing. If you want to stick with a bit of a Mexican vibe, yellow rice with peas makes a tasty and colorful entry. In fact, that may have been what I served last time. It's just rice with tumeric added, and whatever seasonings you like . . . peas optional, just for the color constrast. Could use red onions or red peppers too. Here's an unusual potato salad I like to make in summer for my lighter Mexican meals. I tasted it from the deli at Wegman's once and fell in love with it. I also sometimes make sweet potato salad but find a lot of my friends don't like it even though it looks pretty. If you par boil sweet potatoes they are nice on the grill though. Latin Red Potato and Corn Salad - Recipe from Wegman's Edited to add that I forgot to mention another dish that is always well received, a southwestern black bean and corn salad. Here's a link to one recipe. I'm not sure if it is exactly like the one I got from Annie on CF years ago, but very similar if not exactly the same. https://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/all-purpose-southwestern-corn-black-bean-salad