YOUNG AMERICA at Bannerman's Island

YOUNG AMERICA at Bannerman's Island

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

August 30, 2011

The Honda motor on our dinghy hasn’t worked for a very long time, and Randy and Barb knew a mechanic just up the Potomac in Washington, DC who could fix it, so off we went to Washington Marina.  Spent 4 days there and we were able to wander about in the City—and ride a tour bus!  Nice.

I’m convinced that all members of Congress should be made to walk through the memorials and read aloud all the inscriptions—at least once a month.  Probably wouldn’t alter their behavior much, but I’d like to hope that they’d be forced to consider why they’ve been sent to Washington.   For instance:

“In these days of difficulty, we Americans everywhere must
and shall choose the path of social justice—the path of  faith,
 the path of hope, and the path of love for our fellow man”.
 Or:
           
“We have faith that future generations will know that, here,
 in the middle of the 20th Century there came a time when men of good will found a way to unite, to produce, and to fight to destroy the forces of ignorance, and intolerance, and slavery and  war.”

Sigh.

With the dinghy running smoothly and re-parked atop YA, our plan was to cruise the Chesapeake, so off we went on a two day run down the Potomac to the Bay, and then up into the Patuxent River—destination, Solomons Island.  By the time of our arrival, Hurricane Irene was becoming a big story, so we chose a marina around a bend in Back Creek, where we felt there would be maximum protection.  First day there, our task was to go back to Aquila Harbor to retrieve the Jeep.  Enterprise is our friend.

On our second day at Solomons, I looked out the window to see the dock jumping up, down and sideways.    When I went outside, I was asked “Did you feel it?”  Lo, the 5.8 earthquake had just jolted the Eastern Seaboard.  The boat didn’t notice, but things on land did move and shake!

Having survived the earthquake, we spent a day removing anything that we thought Irene might want to take away with her and storing it all in the 'basement'.  When we began to look, it was truly amazing how many things there were, large and small, that qualified.

With that job done, we drove home to Newburgh in time for a StonyBrook Board meeting, and on Thursday, the grand opening/ribbon cutting by the Dutchess Co. Chamber of Commerce of Group 82.  Son Alan and his pal Eric have, for two years, operated their marketing business from their homes.  Now they are ‘bona fide’ and have a beautiful office with a Group 82 sign on Washington Street in Poughkeepsie!  We wish them all the best for their business (and personal, of course) future!

After the ribbon was cut and the festivities died down, the family crossed the street to have dinner and celebrate Fred’s 80th birthday.  ‘Twas a nice time, and I must say that my favorite comment about Fred’s octogenarian status came from Katie Rae in Chester, NY.  When her mom, daughter Ada, reminded Katie that ‘Grandpa Fred is 80 today’, Katie paused for a second, said “NO WAY!” and carried on with whatever 8 year old task was at hand. We feel the same way.  No way!

Friday we drove back to Solomons, and continued with Hurricane prep.  By noon on Saturday, with everything we could think of taken care of, we moved into the Holiday Inn connected to the Marina.  No one knew what Irene would do, and the TV folks, with their need to have continuous coverage 24/7, painted a very dire picture.  Our adage was ‘prepare for the worst---hope for the best’.  So we hopefully took with us to the motel all the food in the refrigerator (wasn’t much, by design), the important boat papers, a couple of days change of clothes, the book Kris made about the building of YA---you know, all the really important stuff!

Our 5th floor motel room overlooked the marina, and we could see that the water didn’t rise above the docks, and that the dock lights remained on—a sign of safety! By morning the winds were gone, and the anticipated surge didn’t reach us, although many other areas experienced the power of the water.  We discovered that a tree was blown over along the shore (no damage) and 3 pilings were ripped loose by a really strong gust of wind.  One of the pilings was connected securely to our starboard bow, but more loosely to the port bow of our neighbor—and his starboard piling  snapped also. And the one next to that.  Thankfully, the gusts of wind didn’t hold, and the sustained winds were not strong enough long enough to do serious damage.  NBC TV came to survey the situation, and about an hour after they moved on, Barb and Randy phoned to say that they'd seen YOUNG AMERICA on TV.  Nice.  

On Monday night, boat owners gathered dockside for a “Survivors” potluck dinner.  Words to Goodnight Irene had been re-written to fit the occasion and we all sang along!

We continue to be grateful for our good fortune.  We know that many, many folks did not fare so well with Irene and we send them thoughts and prayers for speedy cleanup and return to the normalcy we are fortunate to be experiencing!

Today Fred made some modifications in the basement to simplify storage, and  we’re looking seriously at what, exactly, to return to that space on the boat.  Seems we might have a fair amount of ‘stuff’ that, if we didn’t need it doing the Loop or during 2 natural disasters, maybe it can go into the Jeep (which sat politely in the huge open parking lot while the winds howled about) and return to New York.  Or EBay. Or Craig’s List.   Hmmmmmm.

Now then, about cruising the Chesapeake…will keep you posted!

Sunday, August 14, 2011

August 14, 2011

WE’RE BaaaaaaaCK!

Man o Manashcevitz!!!  We had such a good time in New York---it probably isn’t legal to enjoy ourselves so much, but we did!

The drive to New York was not unpleasant.  To be able to say that when you circumvent Washington, Annapolis, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Newark and New York City is pretty astonishing.  We took the advice of our GPS and apparently missed all the major traffic malfunctions.  YAY!

On Thursday we headed north to Saranac Lake in the Adirondacks where we spent a delightful 2-1/2 days celebrating the 50th anniversary of Fred’s kids’ Aunt Nancy and Uncle Jim.  The event was held at the ‘Swim and Trip’ Camp owned by Uncle Joe and Aunt Lori and operated with the help of cousins Carolyn, Susan and Martha.  The celebration was organized by Nancy and Jim’s daughter D’maris, and nearly 60 relatives came from AZ, CA, CT, ME, NJ, NY, OH, PA and Washington DC.  From the kick-off dinner, through time spent at the waterfront, to the final evening when kids young and old jumped into the creek from the 10’ bridge (with supervision, of course), it was great to  ‘catch up’ with family, to see slides from many years ago, and to be in the woods, at camp, even when the rains came and everyone puzzled, gamed, slept or chatted by the fire in the Lodge.  What a great time!

From there, we meandered to Bridgeport, CT where we joined the D2 Power Squadron Spring Conference.  Had a fun afternoon playing Texas Hold ‘Em (I lost big time!) and then enjoyed a lobster dinner.  It was great to visit with PCC Serge and Jocelyn San Martin from Canada, as well as to hang out with D2 buddies.

Back in NY, we said adieu to Amy and Pete, who by now (with their faithful cat, BC) have flown to Seoul, Korea to join son Geoff for their 2- year tour of duty with the 8th Army.  Say your prayers for peace on earth, please.  Our grandson-in-law Austin remains in Afghanistan until next April.

Fred and I spent a couple of days on R&R, and on Thursday, welcomed Maureen from St. Louis and Freddie from Ventura, CA.   In the 60’s, we were Swedish Hospital nursing school classmates and then San Francisco roommates. Since the early ‘90’s, we’ve planned bi-annual weekend visits, and we take turns hosting.  The ‘August in New York’ weather couldn’t have been more co-operative.  It was neither beastly hot nor suffocatingly humid when we visited Ground Zero in Manhattan on Friday.  We heard a long, informative first person story told by Rita Schwartz, a volunteer at the museum.  The museum, operated by surviving families, is designed to make one feel surrounded by towers, and the faces and voices of those who perished were everywhere.  Powerful.

We took the Metro North train back to Cold Spring, caught a shuttle to beautiful Boscobel in Garrison, NY, where the expansive lawns look down on the gorgeous Hudson Valley.  There we were treated to not only a VERY generous wine tasting, but also to a fabulous, funny and hugely entertaining outdoor performance of Around the World in Eighty Days.   There had to be a lot of ad-libbing going on, as so many members of the cast were surreptitiously cracking up!  How fun is that???

On Saturday, the three of us relaxed on the Pride of the Hudson, with a guided boat tour from Newburgh to West Point and back.  Returned home in time to join Fred and drive the hour to Bethel, NY, where we spent a couple of hours in the Woodstock Museum prior to enjoying a Boston Pops Concert at the (relatively) new Bethel Woods Center for the Performing Arts.  Memory Lane for me, as the Woodstock festival took place on the opposite side of NYS Rt. 17B from Pucky Huddle, the hunting camp where my kids grew up.  From 1970-84, our family drove to Bethel nearly every weekend from April-Dec. Were we nuts, or what?  Somehow it seemed like a good idea at the time.

It also seemed fitting that it rained like mad (Maureen got an awesome Woodstock souvenir umbrella in the gift shop, and our seats were nice and dry under the roof!)  You may recall that it poured on the original festival in 1969!  The Pops brought two singers to do a second act performance of Cole Porter music.  Sigh—it was just too fabulous.

On Sunday, Maureen and Freddie joined me at the UU for a relaxed summer service, and then we spent the afternoon lounging at the Stony Brook Pool with all 5 daughters and their families.  Doesn’t get much better than that!  It was a delicious way to wind down the visit.

Fred and I spent the week doing the things that we can’t seem to stop doing---he had 18 Power Squadron folks show up for a seminar at our home on Tuesday; I managed to finally meet with the By-Laws committee for StonyBrook, and we took the train back to NYC for a matinee performance of Billy Elliott.  Was great…

Today, Saturday, we did a 9 hour drive (how do we turn a 5 hour trip into 9 hours?) back to the Boat.  We were really, really happy to find that all is well with YA, and now we’re off to have dinner with Barb and Randy.    

And so, for now, farewell…………Linda and Fred