Picked up a very nice BMW 520 Diesel at Victoria Station at 9:30 am. GPS is a must as there is always a learning curve driving on the left side of the road.
Drove to Windsor Castle and arrived at about 11. Very light crowds as it was threatening rain, but the tour did not disappoint. Beautiful collections of gold and silver work, paintings by Hans Holbein the Younger (who painted Henry VIII and Thomas Cromwell in the 16th Century), and amazing tapestries.
We then continued west and drove to the village of Lacock in the county of Wiltshire.
After a quick pint of a Wadworth Swordfish Rum Infused Ale, we finished the drive at our Hotel, The Bird, in Bath.
We went into town and visited the Jane Austen Center, well worth it for the animated presentation, and costumes to be tried on.
We walked through Bath and were amazed at the shops, restaurants and social scene.
We finished up with Fish and Chips and two Gin and Tonics at The Saracens Head, the oldest pub in Bath.
The light is different, higher contrast. Real-life chiaroscuro. And sound is muted, still, almost absent. Except when the wind is kicking up a tremendous, otherworldly, howl. And the city looks so small, innocent, like a child’s train set, the Statue of Liberty a tchotchke in a tourist shop. Sixty-mile views that reach the Hudson Highlands up north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, and, much closer, planes landing and taking off at three major airports.
Chef de cuisine Julio-Cesar Florez, a native of Lima, served as chef de cuisine of the now-defunct Peruvian-themed Isla and has been the sous chef at Lucky Robot since mid-2017, where he began adding subtle Peruvian touches to Huang’s playful Japanese cuisine. Seeing the success of these special menu items, the two decided to take the 6-year old restaurant in this new direction.
Immediately upon checking into one of the Sound View’s cedar-paneled rooms, all clean white sheets and sailcloth pillows and views straight out onto the beach (ALL of the rooms at the Sound View look straight out onto the beach), I felt my blood pressure slow. For lunch, we jammed lobster rolls the size of our faces into our faces by the pool. Come late afternoon, we sat on our sandswept porch drinking canned rosé and watched the sky turn gold.
For dinner at 
Despite the overwhelming presence of boutique inns along the Atlantic, they’re not a strictly East Coast commodity. Case in point: Sonoma’s Farmhouse Inn. 
Beyond its aesthetically-pleasing interiors, the inn also knows a thing or two about food—starting with a nightly turndown service that includes homemade cookies and milk, and ending with the 
What makes this brasserie so popular? “A culture of hospitality comes from the top down,” explains Absinthe General Manager Brian Gavin. “Bill (our owner) is very gracious and the tone he sets makes everyone feel welcome.”
“Under,” which opened in March, is 
Enjoy the fruits of their labor during dinner at Farmstead, the James Beard Award-winning restaurant, known for its hyper-seasonal dishes like thyme-basted golden beets and hen of the woods mushrooms drizzled with pine syrup.
Boomers Daily 