Before returning the rental vehicle, I photographed the old Dutch Windmill and Bubali Bird Sanctuary.

Our return to the US was uneventful.

My favorite find was Zeerover (Sea Pirate) Bar in the small community of Savaneta where we had fried snapper and enjoyed the view of the fishing boats with Venezuela in the distance.

Supper was at Screaming Eagle where we had fine food in a canopy bed.

Supper was at Amazonia, a Brazilian Steakhouse with great food and the best service which we received during the entire honeymoon trip.

SNUBA is a mixture of SNorkeling + scUBA. We had air hoses leading down from two small rafts which had our air supply. We could go down about 20 feet. The De Palm tours catamaran Palm Pleasure also made tow snorkeling spots where we saw many beautiful fish and corals.

We saw many goats and a few donkeys wandering Arikok.

In the evening we attended the weekly Bon Bini Festival at Fort Zoutman, which included local crafts, music and dancers. After losing our way a couple of times walking the unmarked streets, we had a great supper at Gaucho Argentine Grill.

Bon Bini Festival

We concluded the day with a sunset cruise and diner at Smokey Joes.

Our first real meal together was at at Passions. Our table was set in the sand about 25 feet from the ocean. We arrived at the restaurant just as the sun was setting. I had a seafood chowder and Dutch style mussels. Linda had the Seven Seas Paradise which included lobster, shrimp, grouper and Mahi-Mahi. We weren't going to have dessert, but in honor of our honeymoon they brought is a slice of extremely light cheesecake with a sparkler on top. 

Passions Restaurant

We spent that evening at the Airport Marriott in Kansas City, Missouri. They have a nice package which included a suite, a week's parking, champaign and chocolate covered strawberries.

Over all, the food at this new offering was good but not great. The fried chicken had good flavor, but the skin on the pieces was limp and soggy. The sausage, biscuit and cornbread were good, but the beans and jambalaya left a lot to be desired. 

The baby back ribs did not look very appealing and had no flavor from the cooking. Char House seems to rely on the flavor coming from the sauce rather than from the cooking. Their were 3 BBQ sauces and 4 types of Tobasco Sauce on the table.

The last time I had the wings, they were moist and so tender that they would fall apart when I picked them up. Today they were slightly dry and very tough.

Before leaving Topeka, we stopped to photograph the Powell Family Halloween display on Leo Avenue near Lake Shawnee. The Powells have repeatedly won prizes for their Christmas displays and are one of the featured displays on my Topeka Christmas Light Display Tour.

On the drive back to Kansas City, we detoured through the tiny community of Stull, whose cemetery has been called one of the Seven Gates to Hell. The stories about the Stull Cemetery supposedly go back 140 years, but it is possible that they began at the nearby University of Kansas in the 1970s.

In any case, the local residents do not appreciate the notoriety and occasional vandalism which the cemetery has experienced. The cemetery is surrounded by a chain link fence with prominent "No Trespassing" signs. I respected the signs and parked across the street and only took photos from the road, but I was still yelled at by someone in a pickup pulling out of the cemetery.

Although this is the cemetery which has received all of the attention, the cemetery of legend is actually a mile or two away.

Powell Family Halloween display

Stull Cemetery

Returning to Topeka, I had lunch at Tuptim Thai Restaurant. I last dined there in 2007. Today I started with Caliari and went on to the Tuptim Passion, which is described as a combination of shrimp, scallop, squid, mussel, chicken, pork, beef, asparagus, bean, egg plant and kaffir leaf in unique fiery red curry spice. Much as I like all of those ingredients this dish wasn't as flavorful as I would have liked.

Overall, Tuptim Thai has fairly solid Thai food.

In the afternoon, I visited the Museum of the Kansas National Guard which was celebrating the opening of new addition which features an exhibit on the 35th Infantry Division, a new education center and a research library. The new exhibit honors the 93 year history of the 35th Division which is based at Fort Leavenworth and earned three battle streamers during World War I and five more during World War II. The division recently had duty in Bosnia and Kosovo.

This was also Civil War Living History Weekend at the museum and the grounds had reenactors from the civil war period displaying their uniforms, equipment, weapons and encampment sites.

Tuptim Thai Restaurant

Museum of the Kansas National Guard

I had the  deluxe dinner which includes ribs, two meats and two sides for $10.95. I thought the side dishes (onion rings & coleslaw) were the best part of the meal. The slaw may be be too sweet for some people, it was almost a dessert.  The ribs looked wonderful but didn't have much flavor from the smoking. The brisket also lacked smoke taste but was very good roast beef. The sausage was ground fairly course and tasted mostly of the spice used in making it.