2018 trip to NY

My nephew David and his wife were planning to head "home" (David's anyway) for a week or two in NY this summer. While there they planned to have a little party for friends and family, etc to meet the newest family member, their son Clarkson. John and I decided we would make a trip up for a long weekend to see everyone.
We also decided that one of these times when we went to upstate NY we needed to make the 3 (or so) hour drive to Niagara Falls. We don't know how long Ellen and Erik will be in New York....and it's not that far to the falls....so we just needed to make a plan

. Now to be clear...John made all the plans...dinners, hotels, car rental, flights....all I had to do was send the RSVP back...hahaha Reservations were made, flights were booked, and the trip was on.
Early June is not a bad time to head north. Kids here are out of school by the end of May and at the library programs were starting. Up north, however, kids were still in school, so our side trip to Niagara Falls was nice. There were people of course...but not the huge crowds I imagine they get in the summertime.
We had a great time with our family and enjoyed meeting Clarkson.

 He is a happy, content little boy. He was also at a good developmental stage...where strangers (like us) really didn't seem to alarm him. The day of the "Sip and See" ,we set up chairs around the perimeter of the  room and he happily crawled around the center of the room and played while we all watched. Many friends of my nephew (and my sister's family) stopped by during the afternoon. Everyone enjoyed a nice relaxed get-together. Having everyone come see them...saved my nephew and his wife from having to drive all around town trying to visit everyone. Much more of a vacation for them!
The day after the party John and I headed up to Canada to see the falls. We figured a Sunday morning would mean light traffic on the roads...and fortunately we were correct. John did the driving so I can't say for sure...but it seemed like a relaxing drive as road trips go.Before we knew it...we could see the mist rising off the falls in the distance.

 Again because there wasn't too much traffic on the roads...getting where we wanted to go was relatively easy. / I think we only made one wrong turn

Niagara Falls was pretty awesome. I can't say it took my breath away....but it's pretty awesome. I can only imagine what the first people who came across it thought....they probably heard it and then when they actually SAW it... they must have thought WHOA!!!! That's a lot of water! hahahah

We had a room overlooking the falls...which was pretty cool. I didn't close the curtains that night...I just kept watching the lights on the water, changing colors.

just in case you were thinking about getting a close-up!

 The crowd of people on the ground, got larger and smaller and larger and smaller again and again as the afternoon/evening went on...but even late into the night there were at least some
. people down there watching the water flowing.It was interesting to watch the people in the crowd. All ages, from all over the world...all there to see this wonder of the world. Cool. Now...would I rush back....probably not. Once was enough I think. Like most tourist sites,( The Keys, for instance) I don't like all the "junk" that comes with it. I know stores, shops, etc are always going end up where people are going to be...but I bet it was even more awesome 50 years ago! I am glad I went though. We opted out of the boat ride down by the falls....I did not feel like getting all wet...so I settled for watching the boats going up to the falls hahahaha.
We were in Niagara Falls for one day and night....then it was back down to NY. Skaneateles to be exact.

John had never been to that town. Martha, Ellen, Anna and I had made a trip there when we were in Cortland for training camp a few years back and it is definitely worth a trip back :).

from August 2014 trip...our Inn we stayed at is in the background

John made us a reservation a an inn right in the middle of the town.

view of the Inn from the park across the street, I loved all the GREEN trees!

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 It was a nice treat! Since I had spent an afternoon in town once before, I had an idea of what was around and within walking distance.

We walked around by the lake, around town, shopped, ate lunch, got coffee etc and just enjoyed the area and the cooler temperatures. (down home things were already heating up...it was nice to be back where you actually needed a sweater or jacket at times!)
We had a reservation at the Inn for dinner. That was nice and very convenient! During the afternoon/evening there had been showers off and on...so it was no surprise that when the sun started to set...there was a rainbow. It was on view right from out street facing window. WOW it was an incredible rainbow! One by one almost everyone in the place ended up outside  trying to get a picture. It was funny and so much fun all at the same time.

one side

and the other...it was FULL and BRIGHT and had a golden glow with the reflection from the setting sun

Right behind the Inn was a Patisserie! They supplied all the breads, granola, some dessert items,  and more to the restaurant. Of course I needed to see what else they had in there! hahaha I tried a mini pie yum yum!

it was worth a visit!!!!!

John enjoyed our day and night in Skaneateles and we both enjoyed our whole trip!
We saw and did a lot in just a few days. I'll go back any time.  :)

Catching up

I mentioned in the last post that it had been so long since I last got on the Blog, that I needed to create a new password. ....and it's easy to put things off when you just don't feel like making the extra effort. So, now I will attempt to "catch up" on various highlights of the first 6 months of 2018. (with a little help from my trusty calendar...I think I can remember 😉 )
My sister and my niece came to WDW for a visit in January..

 Anna got there first, and I went over for a day/evening when Ellen arrived a few days later. We enjoyed sitting by the pool and chatting, then going out for dinner before I headed home to Melbourne. It was a lovely day in January, not too hot, not too cold...and even though we didn't go into any parks that day...it was still nice to be there. When I left after dinner...I set out for home. I am notorious for making at least one wrong turn getting to or from Disney...and I did just that. Thank goodness directions are fairly easy from here to Orlando (and back) ...as in as long as I saw signs directing me towards OIA...I knew I could get home...but I managed to make it a scenic drive. (tooo bad it was dark! hahaha) I have NO idea where the heck I wound up...somewhere in Kissimmee/St. Cloud. BUT....there was a sign saying I was on the way to the airport   ✈....so I was good. My phone was about to die....so no GPS, it was a dark, moonless night and I think I added about 35 minutes to my trip...before I did indeed end up passing the airport and heading EAST to the beach.( If I lived in a big city....I think it would be bad news ....I would be lost at all times!!!!!!) It was ridiculous...and yet so typical...I just had to laugh at myself.
In February we had more visitors. John's sister Sandy (and Ken), and his brother Bill (and Kathie) had made plans to come for a visit us and Lucy and Mac and gang in Grant.It just so happened we were planning to have an Engagement Party

*I've been told that that dress was "Bright" hahahahah
I should wear it whenever people need to spot me in a crowd  😊

for Brenna and Josh and we were able to have it the same weekend everyone was in town; which was nice. February in Florida is always pretty nice...and we had great weather that weekend as well.We had a fun afternoon with family and friends. Music, laughs, beer and wine and got to meet some of Brenna and Josh's friends we hadn't met and see some of their old friends too. Good time.
We had dinner out with the family  at Meg O'Malley's and again another night at the Old Fish House...so it was a nice visit with everyone.

In March we attended our friend's crayfish party. They had done this party for many years, but it was on hold for a while after our friend Pat died (about 5 years ago). We were excited to hear that the party was BACK! I don't eat most of the crayfish, potatoes, etc...it's way too spicy for my palate...

the "race" was pretty pitiful...but one finally made a break for it

and the winners are....(not us !)

but there's always plenty of other good things to eat, and most importantly great to see all of their friends back together again.
In April, we celebrated Easter with old friends. Maureen and family decided to go on with the party....even though her husband and our dear friend Brian passed away earlier in the year. His passing was not unexpected...but death really never comes at a good time for anyone that you love and care about.It was nice to see the "gang".... those that made it anyway. No one is getting any younger...and each year the group gets a little smaller..☹
 Later in April, of course was David's surgery...which kept us all busy.
In May we celebrated John's sister's birthday. we had a nice time down at his niece's house celebrating 80! years!!!!

had to check out the newest addition to the family...Isabella

Happy Birthday Dear Lucy!

THe first weekend in May we decided to

drop by Founder's Day festivities in MB. Had a fun afternoon with one of the girls I work with. For about an hour she and I, and her friend sat on the porch of the Community Center and watched the crowd while we cooled off and had a bite to eat. and bitched about work. We all left and made plans to meet up again later for the annual Street Party. I went home to "freshen up" and then John and I went to a Kentucky Derby "party" at LongDogger's with a group of friends. (we did not Win hahahah) . We headed back to Melbourne Beach for a few hours. We saw lots of friends and had a good time...but as far as the music goes.....it wasn't my favorite group they've ever had. We wrapped up May at a friend's Memorial Day Party.

khaki pants seemed to be "uniform" of the day...hahaha

Good time with fun people and good music. (and since the party was on Sunday...it was nice to enjoy the Monday holiday!!!!) Tropical Storm Alberto was wreaking havoc on out weather for a week or two...but as luck would have it....it wasn't too bad the day of the party. Some rain off and on....but mostly it stayed away.
John and Josh made a trip to Michael's Men's Store the same weekend...to get outfitted for the big day. They both enjoyed meeting with Michael and his son and we were all very happy with their selections!! Josh got a great suit and tie....he's going to look very smart. John got a beautiful blue jacket. some light khaki slacks and the shirt and tie to finish the look. (Brenna may disagree...hahah but I think he's going to be the best looking one there. ) All the plans are coming along!
Next time I'll recap our June trip to New York and Niagara Falls.