Liz and Frank: 4TH JULY Weekend

Yesterday started off overcast and a bit damp, so because of this we had decided not to go to the Independence Day Barbeque at Cavill Gardens (organised by the Australian American Association). It had been booked for 3rd July, a day early - as this weekend the "Gold Coast Marathon" is in full swing and it is near impossible to get access to a lot of places along the Coast on the 4th. Anyway after a great phone conversation with friend Peggy, who is taking a break from San Diego, and spending time at their cabin on Great Moose Lake, Maine with family for 4th July holidays - the sun began to shine.!!! So, with the sun, came a quick decision to make the Potato Salad, get dressed and head off to the Independence Day Barbeque at the Gardens.

We thoroughly enjoyed the hot dogs and burgers, with the menagerie of american sauces, dressings, salads, and of course those Boston baked beans were delicious.

The time went so quickly, we sat down at a table with a group of people, but basically spent the majority of our time talking and laughing with Elaine - an 80 year old who has recently returned from the USA to retire, as this is where her family are. We found out that during the mid 1960's when she was working for a private enterprise (a well known bank) she realised that in Australia, women were not given an equal run in business compared to men - (and that was very true), so she packed up and caught a ship to the USA, took on some pretty basic work, and then eventually opened her own business - which in the end benefited both the Australian and New Zealand Tourism business. Elaine started some Aussie type associations over there as well - by coincidence we had joined one of these in Boston. We talked and talked, and talked, and she made it very clear that the major thing she had always admired about the USA (even in the 1960's) was they only cared about what you could do, not who you were or where you came from - and of course this is exactly what we found in the 70's and 80's. A delightful lady who still loves her Stars and Stripes, and we enjoyed every minute with her.

After we said our goodbyes to all, we decided to take a walk around the gardens , to see how it looked in mid winter and to walk off some our food indulgences - last time we were here was on Australia Day at the end of January.