Captain Hops

Captain Bogg and Salty have another CD for buccaneers of all ages.

In addition to stories of adventure on the high seas, the crew of the Pollywogg takes us on an adventure in musical styles. All of the songs have pirate and nautical themes (except Nellie the Elephant but it is so fun we can forgive them) but alongside the sea chanteys and pirate rock we have come to expect from these fun-loving pirates, we have songs in the style of beach rock, elvis rock, a tango and more ballads.

The first time I heard this CD I thought it was a bit of a departure, but after listening to it a couple times it is easy to see the continuity and the evolution that led to it. Now I think I like it better than the first CD Bedtime Stories for Pirates

My favorite tracks are:
What It’s Really Like On A Ship
Scallywagg
Sea Monster
Weigh Anchor
Pieces of 8ight
Nellie the Elephant
Sea Kings
Pull Away Home

I recommend that you get this CD for yourself or the little pirates in your life. If you are ever in Portland, Oregon, keep an eye out for a live show.

Captain Bogg and Salty Pegleg Tango

Linganore Winecellars

Wine in Maryland? I will be honest, this place isn’t for wine snobs but it is definitely for people that like to have fun.

Up in beautiful Mt. Airy Maryland, you will find Linganore Winecellars and Berrywine Plantations. They make a large variety of grape, fruit and specialty wines. They have a lot of fine dessert wines and their honey mead is outstanding. They also have real dandelion wine which isn’t for everyone, but should be tried at least once.

Anyway, each month from May to October they hold Music, Wine and Craft festivals. Each festival features a different style of music. Look for blues, jazz, reggae, and zydeco. Admission is 10 dollars which gives you an etched wine glass, unlimited tasting, and a tour of the winery.

These festivals are family friendly, so bring the kids. You may have tasted better wines, but you’ll never have as much fun.

Cabo San Lucas.

We love to travel. One way we have found to stretch the dollar is to use Hotwire.com to book the hotels. We’ve used it to get great rates in Seattle, Vancouver, Victoria and Cabo. I find that we are paying about the same for hotel rooms but we are staying at much better hotels. One of their taglines is, “4 star hotels at 2 star prices.” I concur.

This picture was taken in San Francisco, California. Behind me is the Golden Gate bridge. I should have been looking at that, but I happened to turn around and see this great shot.

This picture was taken with the original Canon EOS 6.3MP Digital Rebel with 18-55mm Lens and a Polarizer filter. The new Canon Rebel XT 8MP Digital SLR Camera is a step up. The new features include instant power-on and it is smaller and lighter than the original.

Looking up from the bottom of Bryce Canyon Utah.

Picture taken with an old but reliable Kodak DC280.