10/20/2014

weekly update 10/20/2014 (back home in Savannah)

Last Monday, after I got back from my visit to the Flynns in Syracuse, I had a few minutes for a quick nap before meeting most of the Schepler family at a local burger joint. Because I wasn't sure how many would be there, this place was great - we could all find something we like to eat, and sit at booths or tables to visit. I saw Vicki, Tom, Rachel & Amber Bordanaro, Dave & Diane Schepler with granddaughter Miranda, and Brian and Sarah Field. It was great to see all these friends and get caught up with what's going on with them. 

Tuesday morning I met two former co-workers from City Hall at a coffee shop on Park Av. The weather was in the 70s (the weather on this trip was generally wonderfully warm and sunny, but it got cool and, well not really rainy but misty, toward the end. I can't complain at all), so we sat outside and had pumpkin lattes and good conversations.  In the afternoon, I drove out to the LW Emporium to meet Donna for a second visit. LW is a craft co-op east of Rochester that I'd been to many times and wanted to see how it had changed - hardly at all. But Donna and I had lunch and shopped, and we each found a couple of things to waste money on. Since I was already out that way, I stopped in at Marcia and Andy's house for one last visit.  

Tony, me & Mabel

Donna & me

Marcia & me

Ishy and I rose early on Wednesday to drive to Albany / Niverville to visit with Allen for a few days. We took a nice detour to Glen Haven on the way. That's where we've rented a cottage in past years, and we stopped to visit with owner, Nancy. The cottage, pool, pond, everything looked just the same - nice. And it was nice to see Nancy. We continued on, arriving at the Blue Spruce motel about 3 pm. We went to Allen's home to visit, and in the evening, he and I went to Grappa's 72, the restaurant where he works. It was his day off, but he and I enjoyed a great dinner created by his co-workers. It really was nice - Chianti wine, Cesar salad, pasta with marinara sauce and sausage & meatballs, homemade bread, hazelnut gelato and espresso coffee. What's not to like?  Of course, then I had to go right to sleep. 

Ishy driving to Allen's

Allen at his restaurant

 Allen had made reservations at Olana, the historic site that was the home of famed landscape painter Frederic Church, for Thursday. We drove down along the Hudson River, and the leaves were spectacular. For my whole visit, I took lots of photos of trees and leaves because each brilliant red or orange or yellow (or combination) vista seemed more lovely than the one before. Olana, the mansion and the grounds surrounding the estate were pretty amazing. From there, we went just a short ways to the Vanderbilt Mansion. As one of the smallest homes built by this generation of Vanderbilts (Biltmore is the home of a brother), we were told this was not such a big mansion. Coulda fooled me. The house, the surrounding land, the furnishings, everything was on scale that make the suburban McMansions of today look like Hoovervilles. We stopped at a DQ for burgers and pumpkin pie flurries before going back to the motel. Thursday night for the three of us means NFL, so we settled in to watch the Pats /Jets, which really wasn't even a game, but the company made it fun. Allen went out for a pizza at half time and with the beer and wine, we tailgated as best we could in the Blue Spruce. Allen spent the night with us, so I had a little more time to visit with him. That was really nice.

on the Rip Van Winkle Bridge...

...and a nicer view from the bridge

Olana

the Biltmore Mansion

 Allen had to be at work Friday afternoon, and Ishy and I had plans for back in Rochester for the evening, so we bid farewell after our great visit, and took the NYS Thruway across the state back to Ishy's. We went out to Genesee Country Village because we had tickets to a "Spirit Tour" at the recreated village museum. After dark, our group was led around by a guide with a lantern, and we went into several of the restored houses to hear actors tell ghost stories. It wasn't really spooky (one told of Hansel and Gretel - I would have made a fabulous witch at that stop!) but we enjoyed it. Plus, following that, we had hot cider. It would have been perfect if we hadn't gotten lost on the way home. A nice ride through Scottsville was not too bad, however, so it was still a fun evening. 

LWS at the Genesee Country Museum tour

some actors during a story telling

Saturday I had not one but 2 guided tours scheduled for Mt Hope Cemetery. Ishy went with me on the first one. It wasn't much history, but was a fall foliage tour, guided by a horticultural expert. Though probably too technical for my pea brain, it was interesting, and I got a lot of photos of the trees and plants he was talking about (plus lots of pix of fabulous monuments and symbolism).  After that, we wanted to eat someplace nice, but neither could remember any good places nearby - until we thought of the Highland Park Diner. Originally build in 1948 as a diner, it became an OTB parlour for a while when the popularity of diners died, and was then vacant for a few years. It was restored in 1986, and has been a local hot spot since, enjoyed by college students, young families, older city residents, and the LWS.  I wasn't sure if the rain would hold off for the evening tour, but I purchased a ticket anyway. Ishy isn't a fan of going out at night, so I went back by myself for the Torch Light Tour. This was interesting, too, but again, not much well-known Rochester history. Instead, the guide told interesting stories of some people buried in the cemetery who had met tragic or unusual deaths. There were costumed people walking around, but none spoke to us; the tour guides were the ones who told the stories. I liked it.

I saw many wonderful colors, but this was the best - at Mt Hope Cemetery

lunch at the diner

SBA tombstone at Mt Hope

There were a couple of friends of ours with whom Ishy and I had traveled on many of our past trips to Europe.  I had hoped to meet up with some, but unfortunately, two were in China while I was in Rochester. Marcia and Pat returned late Friday and were kind enough to meet us and Teri (another one of our traveling group) for breakfast on Sunday. That was wonderful, and it was so good to see these "girls".  Since traveling is what they like to do, I'm hoping a visit to Savannah is in the future. After that, Ishy and I stopped at an Italian take out place for pasta and pizza, since cooking wasn't an option. The Flynns and Jimmy had been invited for dinner before the plumbing problems arose, so we had to make adjustments. We bought paper plates and utensils, and ordered take out food to minimize prep and clean up since we didn't have use of the kitchen sink. It was all fine though, and we had another great visit with Robin, Wayne, Rachel, Hannah, and Jimmy (Uncle Jimmy even took Rachel to the Record Archive, and Rachel drove!)  Brian, Sharon, Sarah & Emily stopped later after Sarah's piano recital, and that was nice. Not to mention a nail-biter victory for the Bills :-)  After all the company left, we cleaned up what we could and then settled in for my last evening of the trip. We visited and watched the football. 

the Travelers, out to breakfast

Emily, Rachel, Hannah, Sarah

Monday was a long day. I knew it would be, but it was made even worse when I had a 2 hour delay in NYC. Generally, when I fly someplace, I leave my car at the Savannah airport so if there's a delay, it doesn't matter. But this time I would be gone for such a long time, and I haven't had a delay in many travels recently, so I made plans to have my neighbor, Mike, pick me up. I don't know why I continue to fly Delta, when almost all experiences are bad ones. (Actually, I do know why - less $).  That was one of several mess ups on the trip, beginning before I even left Savannah. As soon as I was on the plane to begin my journey, I realized I didn't have my red travel pillow; I guess it never made it out of the SAV airport. I need that, so I bought another in JFK. I left my phone charger at the B&B in Penn Yan, but the owner found it and mailed it back to me in Savannah. I'd bought another in the Verizon store near Ishy, so I was good to go while on vacation. I bought a thumb ring at the Windmill on the third day of my trip, and have already misplaced it 3 times - better not to wear it, I guess. During the second week, Ishy's plumbing backed up at the front of her house where her kitchen sink and laundry are (lucky the bathroom plumbing worked fine: that would have been a disaster indeed if I'd broken that, too!).  And then her heat wouldn't work!  When all the guys were over on Sunday, none could find out what the problem was. I, of course, didn't think it was a problem as I prefer to sleep in a cold room and during the day it's easy to add a sweater.  She had everything back in working order before I even landed in Savannah again on Monday evening, so she's back to her routine.  

I'm back to mine, too.  The visits were all wonderful, but THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME!