Where Did Wendy And Seafarer Eat?

Sheila Scarborough, a "Where's Wendy?" contest winner, joined me for dinner in Chicago on Saturday night.

by Wendy Perrin

Remember how there were 5 "Where's Wendy?" contest winners and the prize was a meal with me at the restaurant of the victor's choice?  Well, on Saturday night it was winner #2's turn: Sheila Scarborough -- better known to Perrin Post readers as Seafarer -- and I had dinner in Chicago. 

CAN YOU GUESS WHERE WE ATE?  Hint: I'm afraid we disappointed all you Chicago foodies who thoughtfully furnished restaurant suggestions. We decided we needed sleep more than culinary adventure.

Sheila's Australian baby lamb chops with cous-cous and Bearnaise sauce

The trick to winning a Where's Wendy? or Where's Brook? contest, I'm learning, is to be both an impassioned traveler and an impassioned Googler.  Sheila, a former Commander in the U.S. Navy -- that's the equivalent of a Lieutenant Colonel -- fits the bill. 

She's lived everywhere from Bahrain to Pearl Harbor to Japan to the Netherlands. Now she lives in Round Rock, Texas, and writes or co-writes several travel blogs, among them the BootsnAll Travel Network's blog on Family Travel (that's where Sheila posts her "more international and quirky" advice);  Kid Trippin' (where she provides "more bread-and-butter, entry-level, domestic-road-trip" tips); the Perceptive Travel Blog (which "focuses on the cultural aspects of travel"); and FastMachines (about drag racing and NASCAR events).

The Top Four Things I Find Most Intriguing About Sheila:

Where In The World Did Wendy Lunch?

Where did I take WHERE IN THE WORLD IS WENDY? contest winner CoralsO (above, center) to lunch two days ago?

by Wendy Perrin

Remember how the WHERE IN THE WORLD IS WENDY? prize was lunch with me at the restaurant of the winner's choice?  Well, can you guess from the photos which restaurant CoralsO, the first of the three winners, chose?

What's amazing about CoralsO is that she managed to guess my WHERE'S WENDY? locations not because she's been to them but because she is unbelievably Web-savvy and knew which magic cybertools to use to pinpoint where I was. A student in Chicago, she was able to respond to the clues so quickly because she is on her computer in class all day.  Because her classes are such a yawn, she sits there behind her laptop, listening to the professor with half her (substantial) brain and exploring cyberspace with the other half.

"Elevages Perigord" Foie Gras: Terrine with Four Story Hill Squab and Spring Vegetables -- the first course of our five-course tasting menu.

The aperitif served with the foie gras was a Pineau des Charentes (J. Normandin-Mercier, Reserve Privee).

My Newest Pen Pals

House next to Oxford University Gardens in Oxford, England, submitted to our Dream Trip Contest by Tracker1312. She snapped the photo with a camera she bought for $5.

By Wendy Perrin

Funny thing about that WHERE IN THE WORLD IS WENDY? game we played last month. It's given birth to a new community of friends I've never met. 

First there's Seafarer, one of the WHERE'S WENDY? runners-up and the voice behind Family Travel: See The World With Your Kids. A fellow working mom and blogger, she's turned into an unexpected source of moral support as I struggle to juggle the frazzling combo of work, travel, kids, husband, and blog.

Then there's LoriB, who managed to guess, only 3 days into the contest, that I was on a cruise ship!  She too seems to have taken pity on me, as she's helping out by answering readers' questions herself.

Remember KiwiWriter, another WHERE'S WENDY runner-up?  Turns out she's an aspiring travel writer. I gave her an interview the other day that's now up on her blog -- in case you're just itching to meet more of the skeletons in my increasingly exposed closet. (Should you also want to know what it's like to work down the hall from me, check out The Materialist's hilarious post "What Would Wendy Do?")

And The Winner Is

Where in the world has Wendy been since Feb. 9th? The final answer: Cabin 2065 of Celebrity Cruises' Constellation.

By Wendy Perrin

Well, my cruise is over and I'm now happily ensconced at a friend's canal front home in Fort Lauderdale--a house that, unlike my cruise accommodations of the past ten nights, has free wireless, five bedrooms, and a private pool. (Now that's my idea of vacation!)

Deck 10 on the Constellation, Feb. 17, 2007

Since I'm no longer paying an arm and a leg for Internet use, I've spent the past few hours reviewing everyone's guesses of the past week, trying to figure out who won the WHERE IN THE WORLD IS WENDY? contest. It's not easy.

WHERE'S WENDY? Days 6 & 7

Rising Sun, the famous superyacht owned by Larry Ellison of Oracle, off of Cruz Bay on St. John, Feb. 16, 2007

By Wendy Perrin

Who won the last round of the WHERE IN THE WORLD IS WENDY? game?  Good question.

After motoring from St. Thomas (in the U.S. Virgin Islands) to Jost Van Dyke (in the British Virgins), I had to go through U.S. Customs in order to get back to St. Thomas. Before you can enter U.S. territory down here, you must physically go to a U.S. Customs office and show your face to the authorities (this has been the case since 9/11). The quickest place to do so is the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol office on St. John, at Cruz Bay . . . especially if you're returning to Red Hook (the best spot on St. Thomas for catching a small private powerboat either to St. John or the British Virgins.)  Thus the pier where Ingvar Hagstrom was standing (see my last post) was at the American Yacht Harbor Marina in Red Hook.

So it looks like Tracker1312 won the last round of WHERE IN THE WORLD IS WENDY? . . . unless I was on B and C Docks or the Loredon L. Boynes Sr. Dock -- I actually haven't the vaguest idea! -- in which case I guess LoriB won. I'll have to figure it out later . . . once I'm off this cruise ship and no longer paying 65 cents per minute for excruciatingly slow Internet access. (You can't imagine the bill I'm racking up!)

To find out what I'm doing, read on.

WHERE'S WENDY? Day 5 (Part 3)

After Jost Van Dyke, where did I go?

By Wendy Perrin



Kudos to all of you (especially glued-to-her-computer CoralsO) who figured out I was at Foxy's on Jost Van Dyke in the B.V.I. yesterday morning. When I hopped back into the private powerboat that took me there, where do you think I headed?  (Hint: I had to go through U.S. Customs twice yesterday.)  Can you name both the island and the harbor?

WHERE'S WENDY? Day 5 (Part 2)

This hammock hangs outside a popular bar on which Caribbean island?

By Wendy Perrin

Okay, either (1) you all actually have lives or (2) you're at your computer 24/7 but the last clue was just too tough.  So here are a few more: The man pictured in my last post presides over the most popular watering hole on this island.

WHERE'S WENDY? Day 5 (Part 1)

The ruins of a sugar mill sit at Hole 2 of the golf course at the Four Seasons Nevis. In the background is Nevis Peak.

By Wendy Perrin

Congrats to Seafarer, who was the first to guess I ate lunch at Mango at the Four Seasons Nevis, and to CoralsO, who figured out I was also on the resort's golf course.  LoriB, you're awfully prescient about where this game is going.  First, though, we need to do Day 5. 

WHERE'S WENDY? Day 4 (Part 2)

The "mangojito" I drank yesterday is this restaurant's signature drink.

By Wendy Perrin

I don't believe it!  I've finally managed to stump you seasoned travelers.  Since nobody's guessed the island or restaurant where I ate lunch yesterday, let me give you a couple more clues for Day 4 of WHERE IN THE WORLD IS WENDY?  before we proceed to Day 5. 

WHERE'S WENDY? Day 4 (Part 1)

What I drank at lunch today, Feb. 15, 2007

By Wendy Perrin

Okay, you guys are too smart.  I'm gonna have to get even tougher. If this doesn't stump you, I don't know what will. Where am I?

My lunch

Attention, foodies: For extra points, name that cocktail!  You could also take a stab at the veggies/fruit that those chips are made from.

Your Guesses Are Awesome

Barbados's northernmost point, shot from inside the Animal Flower Cave, Feb. 14, 2007.

By Wendy Perrin

Never in a million years did I think I'd say this to anyone, but  . . . CoralsO and Tracker1312, you guys are TOO well-traveled!  Looks like you're the current frontrunners in the WHERE IN THE WORLD IS WENDY? game. I must warn you, however, that pretty soon anyone trying to guess my whereabouts will need a different set of travel knowledge.

WHERE'S WENDY? Day 3

There I am, overlooking Soufriere, St. Lucia, and the twin peaks called the Pitons, Feb. 13, 2007

By Wendy Perrin

Wow. You guys are smart. Yes, I was indeed on St. Lucia yesterday -- in Marigot Bay, at Plas Kassav (the cassava bread factory), and at Ladera Resort. Some of you are figuring out my whereabouts so quickly that clearly my clues are gonna have to get tougher.  Here they are for Round 3 of WHERE IN THE WORLD IS WENDY?

WHERE'S WENDY? Day 2

I stood here this morning before the buses from the cruise ship arrived.

The same view, shot about ten steps back, after the cruise-ship crowds descended.

The same view, shot about ten more steps back (and to the right), after the buses had left.

By Wendy Perrin

Congrats to all of you who guessed that I was on the Caribbean island of St. Martin--first in Marigot, then at La Samanna resort--yesterday. The frontrunners in the WHERE IN THE WORLD IS WENDY? game seem to be CoralsO and Tracker1312 at the moment -- since they guessed both Marigot and La Samanna -- but KiwiWriter and Albany007 are close on their tails.

Okay, now for Round 2. In addition to taking in some pretty views today, I swung by a factory that makes a type of local bread:

WHERE'S WENDY? Day 1 (Part 2)

By Wendy Perrin

Clearly the clues in round 1 of WHERE IN THE WORLD IS WENDY? were way too easy. (I'd figured I should make my clues easier, since it had taken people three days to guess the Pushkin Museum in Moscow. Apparently I overcompensated. From now on, no more Mr. Nice Guy.)

A few of you did correctly guess that I was in Marigot, St. Martin, earlier today. But the last 3 photos are not of Marigot. Who can guess where the beach, cabana, and "great place to stay" are? Where else was I?  To hazard a guess, click on "Post a Comment" below.

WHERE'S WENDY? Day 1

By Wendy Perrin

I've made it to a cybercafe and can finally post the first photos in the WHERE IN THE WORLD IS WENDY? game.

I'll be hitting several different countries during this trip.  The winner of the game will be the person who comes closest to guessing my exact location on the greatest number of days of the trip. The prize: Lunch with me at the restaurant of your choice, either in New York or wherever you live.

I snapped these pics in a town nearby this morning.