Boat Drinks

What's better than sailing for two weeks? Boat drinks!

You know what I'm saying:
Umbrella, check.
Rum, check.
Fruit garnish, check.

Here is our salt & pepper shaker of a boat drink.

The umbrella gracefully sits atop the drink. Fortunately none of our guests at The Craftsman B&B have picked this up and had the umbrella fall off. This is the most dangerous S&P we have, not only is it balanced, but enough boat drinks in real life can strike without much warning. We know you've been there.

The ship we are sailing on has a drink of the day every afternoon, of course last year we had to try them all. I was fond of Planters Punch and the classic, Pina Colada, the more coconut, the better.

If Jimmy Buffett sings about boat drinks, you know it's an essential part of any warm location vacation.

I gotta go where it's warm!

Even Innkeepers need a vacation!

It's one of those funny things us humans do to ourselves. We like to travel and we are innkeepers. So that really limits us to being able to travel. As most of you know, Laura has her own business and with that, she travels a lot in support of that business. Sales calls all over the United States and she is in Hong Kong a couple of times a year. So while she is able to keep the travel urge under control, I'm here at The Craftsman B&B helping my guests with their travel plans.

So when do I get a vacation? Well, the last 2 seasons, May - September, each year I had only 2 days where I didn't have someone checking in. That doesn't give me a full day off as I do breakfast and clean the rooms, but it can be a nice break. I'm happy to be busy because I know the winter will slow down a bit. The first 2 years we were in business, we had no guests in January, so we decided to take the time for ourselves. Here is a Salt & Pepper to give you a hint of what we did.

That's right, sailing. I have always like to sail. I'm no expert, but pretty good a following directions. Show me what to do and tell me when to do it and I'm the best crew member there is.

Here are the S&P's apart. Each sail is a shaker and the boat is the holder.

Last year our vacation was spent sailing the windward islands of the Caribbean. We started off in Barbados, sailed north for 4 days, then back south for 3, a week on the water.

Here is a shot of Laura in the rigging.

We were on the 439 foot, 5 masted Royal Clipper. It was an awesome experience, so much so, we are headed back next week for a 2 week sail. Now if I can only find my pirate costume.

Which came first?

You all know the classic debate: Which came first, the chicken or egg? Well here at The Craftsman B&B, we think beyond those common ideas. We ask the question: Which came first, the chicken or egg racer?

The egg, an ovoid shape is one of the strongest. Ever try to break in egg in you hand by crushing it in your fist? Not even "The Governator" could do it. Race cars need to be strong too. Not only to survive a crash, but to hold up to the power and cornering loads. A famous work of architecture, the Pantheon in Rome, Italy is in common with the egg. This monument has survived for nearly 2,000 years because it's shaped like a three-dimensional arch, a domed, egg-like shape that's one of the strongest architectural designs in the world. When an object is placed on top of it, no single point in the dome supports the entire weight; instead, the object's heaviness is carried down along the curved walls to the dome's wide base.

So here is the driver, outside of the cockpit. The ratio isn't perfect for a Salt & Pepper Shaker, but this is built for speed, too many feathers would slow it down.

Not only is the egg strong, it's also very aerodynamic. The shape of the egg is very stable in the wind. It will want to point itself into the wind. Living in Pacific City, Oregon, the wind has taught us a few things. Like only open one car door at a time, otherwise all the contents of your car will blow out and be replaced with sand.

So come to The Craftsman B&B and over breakfast, you can debate the egg, chicken, racer issue.

Art, or is it?

We have all heard "beauty in in the eye of the beholder." That expression is used for a lot of things, including art. I have a friend that doesn't think any art he could create is art. For example a painting that looks like a bunch of paint splatters or paint that was whipped and smeared onto a canvas with a rag is not art. I have learned that the subject matter isn't the most important thing in fine art, I like great technique. We have a few oil paintings here at The Craftsman B&B that from a distance looks like a picture of a forest in the Spring. When you look close, it's just a bunch of tiny dabs of paint. I've seen the Dutch Masters in museum shows and the portraits, clouds, trees are photo-realistic from 10 feet away, up close they are paint splatters or paint that was whipped and smeared onto a canvas, sound familiar?

That leads us to today's Salt & Peppers. Is it art? Well I think these are the creation of someone who took an art class at the local community center. Where they learned to make jewelry.

First off we have the typical diner S&P's you can buy at the dollar store. Then we have the wire and "jewels." Hot glue the jewels and wrap wire around them. I think these are ugly, just like I look for. But wait, there is some fine technique. The twisting of the wire to hold the dangling jewels is very well done.

Is this the work of a master or just an average person using the skills learned in one class?

It's art, you be the judge.