Where the Heck is Tallulah Falls and why do I Care?

October

Tallulah Falls is in Georgia!

I care because Ana is interested in Tallulah Falls School.

Tallulah Falls School
P.O.Box 249
Tallulah Falls, GA 30573
706- 754-0400
www.tallulahfalls.org

After arriving in beautiful Hartsfield International Airport, Atlanta. We had a quick train trip to the Car Rental Terminal to claim our Fiat 500!
This airport has been greatly improved since my last insane visit. It is clean and well marked and EFFICIENT.

Fun Car!

We hit the road with our nativgation system for a quick 1.5 hours to the 'Wine Country of Georgia".

The closest town and highly recommended Inn was in Clayton, Georgia. It wasn't much to look at until we got a bit closer. Located in the North Georgia mountains, we tootled to the Inn.

This area was a popular and posh summer retreat for those in Altanta. While it is not the happening place to go now, there are several large lakes with home on the lake that are very old school up to the millions of dollars. There was or still is alot of money in the Georgia hills!

Beautiful Scenery

 

 

Lodging   

Beechwood Inn
220 Beechwood Dr
P.O. Box 429
Clayton, GA 30525
706-782-5485
info@beechwoodinn.ws

What a nice Inn!
Stayed just overnight in the Nantahala Suite. I took up the queen bed and my daughter the couch. It was a beautiful inn, full of charm. I wish I could have spent a week.

I was dissapointed to miss the acclaimed Saturday night dinner and 3000 bottle wine cellar, but I made due with a fine glass of Georgia wine and snack for the short social hour.

As we were a bit weary of our travels and eager to turn in early we needed to eat, so at the suggestion of the Innkeepers we headed to Main Street Clayton and Zepplins.

Clayton

Zepplins

Zepplins Restaurant
Clayton, GA

This was a fine family owned restaurant, apparently run by a "Roadie" of Led Zepplin. Food was good, reasonable and the walls decorated with album covers from the bands of the 60's and 70's a fun diversion. 

The next day we tooled our way to Tallulah Falls School for tour and lunch. Ana finished up with an interview.

The school itself is "The Light of the Mountains" and is celebrating its 103 year. Founded by the Georgia Womens Club , great plans are underway and Foundation funding by old Altanta's Coca-Cola distributor is a major factor from growth as an Industrial School to a well respected institution. We had a great visit and Ana and I were very impressed.

 

 

 

We had a wonder day in Tallulah Falls and tore up the road in our Fiat back to Atlanta for our flight back to Denver...A great two day adventure!

 

We hope that Ana will be able to attend.

   

September Places and Spaces- planning

September 2012

Another month, another place,but altogether kinda boring...

This month found me attending the International Living  Fast Track conference in Las Vegas!

First and foremost, Las Vegas Airport  (McCarren) is a nightmare. Either that or my travel skills are weak. No one knows where to go, no signage and long lines!

I eventually found where I was suppossed to pick up the hourly courtesy bus, but it was gone. So I took a $60 cab ride to the hotel.

11011 West Charleston Blvd
Las Vegas,NV 89135
702-797-7777
www.redrocklasvegas.com

This is a Preferred Hotel... While I got a $145.00 conference rate, I do not know what makes this a Preferred Hotel. I would say that the line was shorter than MGM Grand for example, and thankfully it is not on the strip, but it was a casino hotel.

My room was FANTASTIC. I only wished I had someone to share it with. The view at night was nice of Las Vegas, but by day the roof of the tremendiously empty parking structure. It was two DD beds with a big screen TV, but could have used a coffee maker and a DVD or something.

The Roman Bathroom was tremendous. The tub took about two hundred gallons of precious Colorado River water to fill. The shower was luxurious.

In a certain way, the hotel is blessed to be sort of offset from the casino reality.

I have never seen so many penny slots. The main buffet restaurant had millions of seats but could not seem to move the line. EVERY meal was 1/2 hour line wait...minimum!  

The pool was very nice but a bit chilly. It was ok for the bikini clad girls and very nice servers.
I only spent about two hours at the pool but the lounge chairs were comfy, but not good for reading.

All of the conference space was very nice and efficiently layed out. Food service breaks for conference were nicely set out and well serviced.

SOO after all of that, why was I in Vegas in the first place?

International Living's Fast-Track your Retirement Overseas
September 28-30,2012

I have been favorably impressed with IL's information.

They provided a decent seminar.

You do have to wonder the motivations, as I resisted the VIP Membership explanations.

They have International Living

• World Club   
• Publishers Roundtable
• RETA-Real Estate Trends Alert
• IL Lifetime Society

I guess each has its benefits and needs, but the helft price tags seem like a bit much. Albeit the participants involved in some of these programs were wisked off to lunch and special parties but at this moment I do not see the benifit.

The conference itself "make your dream life overseas a reality!" was filled with a busy daily schedule. I attended the full slate. They workshops were kind of brief, but served to inform me of benefits of a wide variety of countries. I did tend to focus on countrees and themes I was interested in. Some of the more interesting for a Financial Advisor were tax, real estate and specific country immigration matters.

The IL Events team and Representatives were an international lot who often presented entertaining information about a variety of international destinations. Some of the information was presented by real estate professionals vetted by International Living.

Take away?
I need more time and more due diligence!
There is a Lifestyle and Opportunity Conference in Quito, Ecuador February 7-9, 2013!        
 

August Places and Spaces

August 2012

August was amongst our busiest lately.

Mckenzie was off to Africa in August to do his time in Rwanda to study Conflict Resolution. His thesis is on the "Role of the Catholic Church and Clergy in Rwandan Genocide". A very weighty subject.

He stopped in Amsterdam for a few days before being off to Rwanda and Uganda. He is in country until December 9th when he departs his semester experience on the way to five days in Rome before returning home.

Our son Spencer was off to Subiaco Academy, his school in beautiful Subiaco Arkansas. I took him back to register and get settled, so I will describe a few places to eat and stay in beautiful Little Rock.

Subiaco Academy
405 North Subiaco Avenue
Subiaco, AR 72865
479-934-1006
www.subiacoacademy.us

Spencers school is about 2.5 hours drive from Little Rock so I got to see the countryside!
I will post pictures after next visit. It is kind of a gem in the middle of nowhere complete with
a nice facility and really huge church. I dont know where everyone comes from,but the church seems to be the hot spot for weddings. I don't know but I was more intrigued about the Subiaco Angus cattle and an apparent winery on site.

Hotel

I have had good experiences at Peabody Hotels over the years, so we books a stay in Little Rock. Overall not a bad stay for $120.00. The hotel is a 300 ish room monster attached to the Convention Center.

It has a lobby the size of a football field, but was very quiet during our stay. I saw no conventions happening but quite a few weddings. In general I found the Front Desk less than helpful. The Valet on the drive was understaffed seemingly pulling the Hotel Assistant Manager into the fray on several occcasions. Despite this the staff on the front drive was very helpful and friendly!

The room was nice, no turndown. Oh well I love the little Duck soaps. Six Peabody Ducks are very happy in the soap dish at home. 

Peabody Hotel
Three Statehoue Plaza
Little Rock, AR 72201
501-906-4000
res 1800 Peabody  

Another Hotel option:

Capital Hotel
111 West Markham
Little Rock, AR 72201
501-374-7474

The reason why?
I always err on the side of historical. This cute hotel dates back to the 1870's and U.S.Grant was one of it's first guests. Now totally beautiful it is right accross the street from the Peabody. The Capital Bar was a busy bar grill operation. Very busy and very friendly bar staff. Ate at the bar and watched a football game. The game was not very good but a few drinks of Leblon Cachaca put me in a great mood.

After breakfast at the Peabody which was both expensive and uninspiring, I was delighted to take my meals at Capital Hotel. While I did not have the opportunity to dine at Ashleys the fine dining room at the Capital for dinner, I did do two breakfasts. Excellent. Fine dining for breakfast, plenty of coffee and several national papers. One breakfast I had buckwheat pancakes, the other corn beef hash and eggs, all we well prepared and while breakfast ran me $20.00 $$$ for myself each day it was worth it!

I was dissapointed to not stay. Upon return home I was delighted to see a two day stay at the Capital Hotel listed on www.luxurylink.com. Available anytime until the end of the year, I bid and won this potential delight, only to have it snatched away by the Luxury Link people, who by email we unfriendly and unhelpful. I only had one Thursda-Friday in November to fly out to see Spencer at Subiaco Academy. The dates available were about ten in a 120 day period. I feel that Luxury Link is a let down. You pay up front and then they have zero flexibility, so I flushed that money, but still hope to stay and review the Capital Hotel.

Places 

One might imagine that Little Rock has Clinton fans but wow. The minute you arrive at Bill and Hillary Clinton Little Rock Airport you had better drink the Cool Aid. As far as I can see Little Rock had little to offer that isn't related to the Clintons!

At any rate I screwed on my face and went off to see the Clinton Presidential Library! It was with mixed joy that upon arrival I found a festive atmosphere in celebration of Bill Clinton's birthday. Looked like the dregs were bussed to the festival. At any rate the museum was free for the day! This was the best news. A few exibits were interesting, but I was in and out in an hour!  And no, I was dissapointed that the blue dress was not on display. There is no need for an address as all roads named Clinton seem to intersect at the site.          

 

Mock up of the Oval Office in the Clinton Presidential Library

 



 



Hot Spot

 

The spot was in oldtown Little Rock.

They have done extensive work on this historic and compact area. There seem to be alot of options, but the highlight for me was

 

Flying Fish

Markham Street Old Town

Little Rock, AR

 

I don't know where the people came from but this operation was humming. I always enjoy places that have a line out the door, a la The Pantry in downtown Los Angeles. Simple seafood and catfish sandwiches etc. The ambiance was wharf like simple. Food was great Oysters, Beer and a Yucatan style fish...Wow. I will keep my "Fishing License" punch card for a future visit.  

 

Flying Fish Interior

   

 If you get bored at a restaurant you could stop into the Clinton School of Public Affairs or the Clinton gift shop. The gift shop did have potential, especially the left over campaign trinkets!

Focus on Planning for the Future

Planning for future

In planning for a future move, one cannot be too educated or too informed!

Several annual publications on top retirement destinations peaked out interest. Toward the end of July I became intreged with a qualitative assessment as published at http://dailyreconing.com/best-places-in-the-world-to-retire/ .

This seventeen page go us really thinking about moving oversees. Potentially having all kids in school allows us to think about this option. This report distilled to the top 19 retirement destinations. Our concern is financial and quality of life. Not only did we watch endless House Hunters International, we read in detail the information on on these nineteen. We also reviewed http://www.state.gov, the US Goverment State Department site for country specific profiles, history and security information.

Fairly early on we decided that cultures too alien to our own were not of immense interest, so out end Asia. We also arrived at the conclusion that Europe sounded interesting and romantic but the shape of the Euro and social concerns did not provide the economic growth and opportunity we are potentially seeking.

We have concluded that besides a few areas in the United States that might be closer to our children, we would be happiest seeking opportunity in Mexico, Latin America or South America.

Of these possibilities we have focus on Eduador,Mexico, Nicaragua( my wife may nix that idea as she doesn't like how the name sounds?). Also of potential are Costa Rica and Belize. 

Focus Focus Focus     

Overall, I have tried to be focused on:

• Our own budget. This entails working up a current Income and Expense cash flow. It was a bit of an eye opener that doing nothing in particular we are spending $6500.00 per month.
• Our Assets and Liabilities on a Net Worth Worksheet. This includes current information.
• I also completed a "Retirement Analyzer" for the both of us. This tool I use in my financial business is excellent for planning retirement. Not only does it handle the current situation it plans for practically all eventualities including social security and the what if's of Long Term Care. 

Our  potential budget country by country. One interesting source of city by city comparision is the comparison ability using numbeo.com. http://www.numbeo.com.  This site draws comparision for your base city (ours is Denver, Colorado) to any other city. This data is added to the site by visitors or residents in those cities in set catagories. Restaurant catagory, markets, transportation, utilities, sports and leisure, clothing and shoes, rent per month, buy apartment price, and salaries and financing. Besides these expansive areas in each catagory it will provide Indexed Differences. Here is just once such city comparision:

Consumer Prices in Managua are 40.23% lowerthan in Denver, CO
Consumer Prices Including Rent in managua are 49.75% lower than in Denver, CO
Rent Prices in Managua are 78.87% lower than in Denver, CO
Restaurant Prices in Managua are 54.04% lower than in Denver, CO
Groceries Prices in Managua are 42.67% lower than in Denver, CO
Local Purchasing power in Managuea is 66.65% lower than in Denver, CO

Each line item within a catagory provides data. Be aware of the size of the sample information provided.

With that data, and using a fairly easy to construct Excel spreadsheet comparisions can be drawn for budgeting.  

Here is my first comparison for several cities Place	Current	US	Mexico	Nicaragua	Ecuador
City	Littleton		Merida	Granada	Quito
Comparison Questions scale:
Government Stability
Rate of inflation
Quality of Life Index
Quality of Health Care
Hazards Weather natural
Qualify for Visa
Quality of Banking System
Adult activities
Access to Travel
Budget
To Rent 2br2ba	1650
To Buy			$150,000	$150,000	$150,000
Median Mthly Sal after tax	$3,580		$2,000	$600	$321.38
Expenses:
Mort/rent	1650		495	363	478.5
Utilities	185		100	72.15	32.5
Phones	300		300	300	300
Auto	185		0	0	0
Transportation-public	0		40	12	40
Fuel	150		0	0	0
Insurance-health	1184		500	500	500
Insurance-Auto	222		0	0	0
Groceries$200 for two	300		100	116	136
Personal Care
Ent/dining 3 per wk	250		462	177	135
Cable and internet	143		20	50	57.5
Gifts
Charity
Clothing	100		50	50	50
Travel Expense-kids			$300	$291	$417
Total Proposed	4669		2367	1931.15	2146.5
CWP Horses	1000		0	0	0
CWP Shiffrin	280
* based on numbeo
**based on 5 r/t 1st year			$800 rt	$700 rt	$1000 rt
*** Ins required/catistrophic

Education-International Living

In July I began to be involved in sites providing information.

One of the most interesting is www.internationalliving.com

They allow for sign up to a variety of intersting newsletters,"postcard" information and paid events.upon sign up I got the report, "How to Prepare for a Move Overseas- A Checklist", which I found very interesting.
While International Living provides for "Memberships" at fairly steap prices they do offer alot of information and contact. Enough country specific information to get me to sign up for a conference:

International Living's Fast Track Your Retirement Overseas to be held in Las Vegas at the end of September 2012. It was $695.00 for the two day conference please travel and lodging but it was an opportunity to look into overseas options more in detail.  

Arm yourself with all sorts of information

Becoming further educated involves a ton of reading. Arm yourself with all of the travel related books for countries you are interested in. We have taken to a few minutes morning reading on these countries. Be sure they have good maps!

Think Ahead     

For this I remind you to think and plan ahead! Our time frame for action is anywhere from June -December 2013. Sounds like a long way off, but a year to a year and a half is not much time.

While contemplating our next moves, we are planning visits to each area for a look see.

While doing this I found opportunity in my favorite cruise site. www.vacationstogo.com.

Many people move and settle, others can easily plan cruises, in particular "repositioning". In this catagory you may have 120 day cruises to much of the world "on the cheap". I am cheaper than these prices even at heavily discounted rates, but do have flexibility and time.

Our Trip Plan

Wow, was I excited to find a cruise that would visit many of the areas we wanted to go!
Again, using my planning abilities I have found a deal..a seventeen night cruise. San Francisco to Valparaiso, Chile. This cruise stops in Cabo San Lucas Mexico, Puerto Quetzal Guatamala, San Juan Del Sur Nicaragua, Puntrenas Costa Rica, Manta Ecuador, Lima Peru, La Serena Chile and Finally Valparaiso Chile.

What was the cost for this adventure?. Seventeen days at $82 per person per night! Of course that doesnt include airfare to San Francisco and air back from Chile and of course all of the fun excursions, but it was a pretty good deal at 42% off the normal rate. Enough of a deal that we planned for our three kids to join us on the beach in Chile and then off to Santaigo before flying home. I will keep you posted on the trip!        
  

June to July Places and Spaces

Since selling our equestrian business and moving to start Mayflower Wealth Management, we have made a concerted effort to arrange our lives and plan for the future.  This planning has reached a frenzied pace.

As part of this blog, it is my intention to discuss not only the planning involved but also provide description and resourses and yes even travel related reviews.

Here is a outline of activity since June 2012.

- Planning for a future life first entails planning for a financial future! I will discuss the dollars and cents related to such a plan in later posts.

- June 2012- Began research on locations to move to. At this point we have:

•  Upstate New York, Albany Troy area June 7-10,2012: This relates to our daughters prospects for boarding school at Emma Willard, an all girls school founded in 1814.

We started here with a trip to visit the school during the alumni weekend for the class of 1977. I attended The Thacher School in Ojai California, but had the opportunity to spend a semester as a student at Emma Willard in 1975. To say the least it was a unique opportunity, and allowed me a unique perspective having my daughter apply.

Noteworthy stops:

- Albany.
Early June is the perfect time for a visit. Not too hot and not too cold. We overnighted in Albany, and the only thing of note in the downtown area is the State House and a few odds and ends. I am sure Albany has more to offer, but maybe next visit. We stayed at the Radisson Hotel. A so so hotel undergoing some level of restoration.

-Emma Willard School
Wow what a fantastic campus and historic buildings. It is actually worth a walk through.












Emma Willard School Campus






















Ana in a dress!






 Troy, NY

The home of the original "Uncle Sam" has a cute downtown area one wouldnt expect minutes from Albany. It has quite a few restaurants and galleries.
   

Ana in Downtown Troy

 



July 2012

We made a quick trip over the Fourth of July weekend to visit McKenzie. He was involved in an internship program with the Center for hemispheric Defense Studies at Ft McNair. As a student at George Washington University he had never had the pleasure to summer in Washington D.C. Anyone who has traveled to D.C. in the summer knows that I am being sarcastic. Our visit was one of the hottest periods on record.

As humidity is already the norm in D.C. the 104 degree mark adds a particular hot and sweaty attitude to the city. We also suffered through a recovery from a freak wind event that had knocked power out all over the city.
   
Over the years we have had many trips to D.C. All have been a fantastic educational and touristic experience! I will highlight just a few for this trip and remember to add more about future trips.

Noteworthy Hotels:

We have been very loyal visitors to Kimpton Hotels. They have nine hotels in D.C. proper, and several others in Alexandria Va. If you are not familiar with Kimpton, it is a unique collection. They have several different level of hotels: Palomar, Monaco, Four Star Collection and a Three Star Collection.

We have stayed at Kimptons in Denver(Monaco), Minneapolis( The Grand), Philadelphia (Palomar). In D.C. we have stayed at Helix, Palomar, Rouge, and Topaz.

Why Kimpton?. Well each hotel is unique, and the location is terrific. We have stayed at so many in D.C. as they are located conveniently to George Washington University and all in interesting neighbourhoods. They are all smaller, boutique hotels. They have a good frequent visitor program, free happy social hour and while small, at least one decent food operation. My kids appreciate hot coco in the winter and the cucumber water in summer. They are dog super friendly and while we havent taken our dog, we always get a gold fish!. It was particularly cute that some properties email you in advance of your visit requesting a picture of your pet and then framing it for your room on arrival. P.S. -No I don't work for Kimpton!

This visit we stayed at
Topaz
1733 N Street NW
Washington D.C. 20036
202-393-3000
Res 800-424-2950

The staff was helpful and friendly as well as apologetic for the a elevator that blew a fuze in the storm. Some of these smaller properties are rennovated older hotels or apartment houses.

Tabard Inn
1739 N Street NW
Washington, D.C. 20036
202-331-8528

Wow what a find! I have stayed at Topaz several times and always wanted to stay at Tabard which is right next door. This time I looked around and dined with Christine, McKenzie, and Spencer at the restaurant.

The lounge is very clubby and comfy, and while we looked at the delighful outdoor patio, it was so smoking hot that they didn't have it open.

The restaurant was excellent but $$$$ as any place in D.C. Christine eats like a bird and the four of us ran $210.00 total. Still it is a treasure.

Shake Shack
1216 18th Street NW
Washington D.C. 20036

A, D.C. mainstay has great burgers, fries, and wow the Purple Cow Float was great on a hot evening. Made to order and great...but it takes time.
A bunch of food for three: $$ $29.00

Founding Farmers Restaurant
1924 Pennsylvannia Avenue NW
Washington D.C.

Stopped in for Saturday breakfast. It is a wait to get into this huge restaurant at 1924 Pennsylvannia Ave NW Crab eggs benedict were fantastic.
Brunch for two: $$$$ $43.00

We also visited Alexandria:

It was a lunch visit, but Alexandria is a great place to stroll. We almost dropped dead from the heat and had to stop at the nearest Kimpton: Monaco in Alexandria for cucumber water before hitting the Metro!
  
Fish Market Restaurant
Alexandria, VA
703-836-5676

In a quandry as to where to eat with all the choices we settled on the Fish Market. We had a fantastic lunch with lots of great fresh seafood. Oysters were fresh and delicious...
Lunch for four $$$$ $160.00

 

Hidden Spot           

Jessie Taylor Seafood
1100 Maine Ave SW
Washington, D.C. 20024
Lo
As our student seems to get by and get around in D.C. he took us for a stop under the bridge by the estuary to pig out! It was kinda gross and hot out but I couldn't resist fresh crab legs, shellfish and corn on the cob!
The three of us had a great brown bag of seafood from one of the vendors Jessie Taylors. Wow it was great!


 Looking for fresh seafood!

Walk around the estuary

Heading out from of seadfood feast we took around the estuary. We worked up a sweat but took in the monument I had never seen after all these years.

The Jefferson Memorial was just a short walk. Very impressive but my son says its better at night!
I bet with girl friends!  

Resting before the walk

 

FDR Memorial is a bit further along. Very impressive!
Here is Spencer posing..."The only thing we have to fear is fear itself"

Further along around the park and estuary is the new MLK  monument. Another must see but for some reason my picture didn't work out !

 

Be sure to see my next posting for the August - September period

A different way to experience life!

This blog was started on November 7th.

It is a natural break point for us.

Today we have a new/same President of the United States. Today we have the same difficulties in our Country that we had yesterday. Today we have less in the way of hope that our fiscal responsibilites as a Country will be met. Today we have a guarenteed four more years of the same gridlock we have seen in the past four years. Today marks six months since we sold our business Normandy Farms in Littleton, Colorado to live in an apartment. Today is my wifes 52 birthday!

As a backgrounder, we moved from Los Angeles in 1995 with our son McKenzie to begin a new life and business in Colorado. We spend 17 years growing a business and family. Along the way we adopted two children from Russia, Analessa and Spencer.

We have had many challenges and yes rewards over the years, building our business, completing massive construction of the farm and then starting several years ago things began to change. I cannot say that they were immediate and they were certainly a build up from about 2006 -2012.

First and foremost, my wife began having health concerns.

Secondly the economy began to erode for us in several different ways. We started being literally taxed to death. We fought Jefferson County, but they were unreasonable, with a few minor concessions over these years, our property taxes reached about $39,000 per year, fully 10% of our gross revenue. We also fought an excelleration of operating expenses. With government decisions so went our farm. Feed prices doubled, primarily due to drought and movement of acreage to corn for ethanol. Expenses for bedding doubled as well. Water doubled, and at times was higher due to drought. We were under restrictions to water use, but how do you restrict how much an animal drinks?

Third, our kids started growing up! McKenzie was off to boarding school at Fountain Valley in Colorado Springs. McKenzie is now a Junior at George Washington University. Spencer was the next one off, now a student at Subiaco Academy in Arkansas. Ana is now plotting her escape as she finishes requirements to apply to two boarding schools. Whether Ana attends boarding school or not is of no consequence, we are excited for her to continue High School with us. 

Forth, I have spent most of my lifetime in the hospitality industry and operating Normandy Farms. When the economy collapsed I was the first casualty being laid off December 31, 2008. I was successful working at Normandy, but I was seeking new career challenges. Accepting a opportunity to join a long time friend and partner at Flagship Finanacial Partners in Littleton. Acquiring much training as well as my Series 65 and Life and Health Licence, I looked forward to continuing in this career for many years to come. As it turned out, after much effort, I escaped this "partnership". I was realistic and smart in some respects but trusting and niave in others. This partnership resulted in not only breach of trust, loss of friendship , but also what could be identified as theft. Putting money into a partnership to have to walk away was a sad experience. I did walk away with my self respect and my ethics. I am able to continue with my own work as a Financial Advisors with my own firm Mayflower Wearth Management, LLC.      

So, you see with all of this change, we have no life left in Littleton and only Christine's brother Bill and his family living in the area. We are ready for new challenges and new opportunity.

This is where this blog begins.