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
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