Travels With Cassidy

By My Friend, Cassidy

My name is Cassidy and I am a steady follower of this blog. I asked Kandi if she would be receptive if I offered up a summary of my two trips for her blog. I’ll not call them vacations but more along the lines of escapes from the everyday things I’ve never done before and probably will not do in the foreseeable future. Before I discuss the adventures I believe I should start out by outlining how Kandi and I met. I frequent a site, crossdressers.com. I recall seeing a picture post Kandi put up to which I commented via a PM. The PMs morphed into an exchange of e-mail addresses and telephone numbers. We communicate almost daily and chat about nearly everything. Kandi could put in the exact dates if she wishes [if she could remember]. At the end of the day we became fast friends via electronica and we do plan to meet in person one day possibly during one of my annual trip out to Pittsburgh International Raceway.

So on with the show so to speak.

Annually, I would say for the last ten years I’ve been driving down to visit a friend and her life mate at their farm in the Charlotte, North Carolina area. In what seems like a life time ago she and I at one time worked together. We found we had a great deal in common and remained friends long after we both found happier places to earn a living. The farm is quite a departure from my suburban tract house as it is nearly 100 years old and for the most part shows its age especially when it comes to electrical outlets. They are vegetarian and grow most of their food so when I visit there I, by extension become one as well.

In addition to growing fruits and vegetables, my friend’s life mate makes hand crafted wine from any and everything except grapes. It wouldn’t be North Carolina without a still to make moon shine, very good moon shine. I mean very, very good “sippin’ whiskey”. While I was there her life mate and I made plum wine. It is now aging away and ready for me when I return there next year. New this year was brownies made with a different ingredient if you get my drift. (Wink, wink, nod, nod.) More on that a bit later.

There are many reasons I visit there. One of which is my friend seems to always find new things that interest her in a mental, spiritual and physical way and the good thing about the visits is I get to tag along and some of her new interests find a home with me as well. I became a student of Zen and Tao because of her. Another reason is she takes me to, by far and away, the most massive and unique antique malls where I can shop for any number of things.

On one of my trips down she and I had a cathartic moment where she confessed certain things to me and in return I disclosed my passion for cross dressing. She is quite okay with me dressing and has seen many pictures of me dressed from my various makeover/photo shoots. She is a great shopping companion and has a terrific eye for clothing, jewelry, shoes, boots, and accessories including hats and scarves. The one caveat is I don’t dress when her life mate is present. Fair is fair and I am quite okay with that as going to visit there is not an excuse to dress.

One of the days of my visit she and I went to two antique malls. When I go to places like this my main goal is to track down cast iron cook ware. I have an extensive collection and use it regularly when both my wife and I cook. Sure I could go out and buy new modern items however the old stuff is cast differently and the quality of the metal is much, much better. Plus it is heavy in weight. The really good cast iron is cast from iron ore from Australia as it has a higher natural nickel content.

As we passed by numbered stall after numbered stall I found a cast iron 10 inch fry pan with a grill bottom. It was a bit rusty however I learned how to re-season cast iron so it was not an issue. At another stall I found a cast iron roasting pan that featured a double top meaning one side was a flat surface while the other was yet another grill top. Love, love, love it.

At yet another stall I scored two outfits, both vintage. One a turquoise calf length cocktail dress with plunging neck line and the other a red trimmed with gold calf length skirt suit that could be worn with or without a blouse. Both very 1970’s. There aren’t any changing rooms available in this place so to try it on for fit it is an over the clothes ordeal. I have seen women do it all the time and I’ve seen my friend do it so now I too do it. No big deal and who cares really. Oh my friend scored some things too.

Onward we shopped. Once again luck was on my side. I had been searching for an inexpensive tour pack to place on one of my motorcycles. Bottom feeder that I am I don’t want to pay big bucks for a new one and the used ones I’ve found the sellers think they have gold or are in rough shape. In one stall there was in and amongst various other items a tour pack that would fit my needs beautifully. The price was outstandingly cheap. Plus it had all of the mounting hardware with it. (It was a very easy install.)

We made our way to the checkout counter. We separated our purchases with the help of I believe the manager of the premise. As he was emptying the cart he places the dress and the skirt suit in my friend’s pile. I say no this one, my pile the one with the cast iron cook ware and the tour pack. He looks at me and then says the dress would look good on me while I’m cooking a meal with the cast iron cook ware. My response was I sure hope so. He goes on. I also bet you would look great riding your motorcycle with the tour pack on it wearing the red suit. I say yeah the suit matches the color of one of my bikes and I have shoes to go with the suit at home. He then says I’m sorry, you do know I’m joking with you. I say I know and it was fun exchanging remarks with you. Had I raised an issue with his joking I don’t believe it would have stayed light hearted. What I have learned over the years is to just go with the joking. This method has served me well over the years. Be truthful as no one will believe it anyway.  At the end of the day it was a successful few hours shopping at this antique mall. We were not as lucky at the second one.

My stay included a Sunday so it was off to church. I’m not a church person however my friend converted to Orthodox Russian. Having never been to a Russian Orthodox service I was quite receptive of going. Well anyway the service lasted three hours. From what I understand the usual Sunday service consumes about 90 minutes however it was the first Sunday of Pentecost so tack on an additional 90 minutes. Lots of incense burning, singing, and chanting going on entirely in Russian. I imagine it is in the manner of Old Russian and not the modern day language. What really surprised me was the altar wine. Okay I know they are not going to use a fine Merlot or Chianti but Manishevitz? Nothing against said wine however it did take me by surprise. Much to my disappointment we didn’t stay for the pig roast to commemorate the arrival of the Pentecostal season. Remember my friend is vegetarian. Man oh man did that whole roasted pig look good.

That Sunday evening was the night of the full moon so my friend organized a drum circle to celebrate the moon. She invited a number of friends that included a Native American couple. Part of the ceremony was burning of spices to cleanse the body mind and soul. I am now cleansed.

Another new interest my friend took on, in addition to spinning and naturally dying wool and cotton and experimenting with tie dying a half dozen t-shirts with and for me as well  as a long sleeve maxi and a caftan was learning to dance the Argentine Tango. All the years I know her she has been involved in some form of dance be it Middle Eastern, hoops, both flaming and non, and dancing with a live snake. At the drum circle she danced with a flaming hoop under the light of the full moon. No participation on my part.

Monday evening was Tango lessons and practice dancing, so it was off to a dance club. After a little over an hour lesson I am now able to make it through a Tango without crippling my partner. The fun part was I got to dance the male and female parts. My next goal with this Tango dancing is to dance the woman’s parts with a long stemmed rose in my mouth to the tune ‘Hernando’s Hideaway.’

We stopped at a Good Will as my friend was in search of some cool things to wear while dancing the tango. I learned that there are certain items to wear that accent the movements of the dance. One such item my friend favors is a below the knee pencil skirt. My preference would be to wear something a bit more flowing. (Check You Tube). She found items that suited her need as did I. As mentioned I don’t dress in front of her life mate however I did want to buy something I could wear while making the 600 mile drive back home. It has become a bit of a tradition for me to buy something to wear for the trip home. I found a beautiful floral print maxi that would suit my needs perfectly. I travel with a separate bag containing my under garments, forms, pads, wig, jewelry and sandals as one never knows when there will be an opportunity to dress. Oh yes, lip stick. When all else fails, thank god for lip stick.

As I was combing the racks I found an absolutely gorgeous, again floral strapless corset back evening gown complete with a bit of a train, made in France by the way. The label read size 14 US which would ordinarily fit me. I never leave home without a tape measure. As I was measuring the dress at the bust line a woman comes up to me and says the dress is gorgeous and said she loved the colors. I suggest she try it on and if it fits she is welcome to it. She takes it after thanking me profusely and then after a bit goes into one of the changing rooms. I was looking at something else when she comes to me and says it didn’t fit and I could have it back. She then goes onto explain why the dress didn’t fit her as her hips were too big for the dress. I smile and then say I really don’t have that issue so it should fit me perfectly. Since the dress features a corset back it really did fit me perfectly. We again chatted when I exited the changing room. She said ‘well.’ I smiled and then nodded my head in the affirmative. She returned a smile. A very easy going interaction I must say.

Earlier I mentioned brownies with a certain ingredient added. Okay it has been a long, long time since I partook in the enjoyment of such an ingredient. My friend’s life mate suggested I eat one whole one inch square one. I instead ate half of one. When it worked its way through my system it hit me really hard. I haven’t been that stoned since my college years and they are well back in my rear view mirror. I spent the remainder of the day stretched out across the bed totally useless.

Before heading home I got my ‘travel outfit’ ready. After leaving the farm and before entering the four lane high way I stopped to fuel up at a gas station/convenience store featuring detached rest rooms. I entered one, changed and then walked back to my vehicle to drive home.

It is always a good trip for me when I go to the farm. Yes ‘trip’ has a bit of a double meaning to it this time around. Word of caution, beware of medical grade ingredients. My encounter with the store manager and the lady at the Good Will added to the enjoyment. Sure I would have loved to have worn the maxi during the drum circle and the Tango lesson and dancing but it wasn’t to be. Kandi has her three keys to going out. With her permission I would like to add, ‘be respectful of others’ [amen].

There is a part two. Hopefully Kandi will want to add it to her blog as well [she will]. Perhaps Kandi’s other followers would like to see the part two and maybe more [bring it on!].

Be well everyone,

Cassidy

Cass help normalize all of this for me early on and I’ll never forget that.

You may have noticed an increase in posts by someone other than yours truly. That pleases me greatly and I hope to continue the trend. The truth of the matter is that generally posts by others out draw my posts in terms of interest. Ladies, the forum is all yours! If you want to make a point, tell a story or share an experience, please feel free to use this platform. No need for pictures if that’s what you prefer. You can even do so anonymously. We all know my blathering is boring and only with a diversity of view points and opinions does this place really work. Thanks all!! Tina checks in tomorrow……

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