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A Trip To Maine and New Brunswick, Canada (And Random Thoughts About Breakfast, Too)

It was nearly 29 years ago when we first traveled from Long Island to Maine and New Brunswick with our then 1-year-old son strapped in a car seat in the smallest car I think Chevrolet ever made (the Sprint). It was actually so small (I’m pretty tall and Lynn is too) that we even nicknamed the Sprint “Sprint Junior” just to make fun of its tiny size.

This time we started out from upstate New York (already saving us probably at least 3 hours) avoiding that awful stretch of I-95 going through Connecticut. Our first stop was in Essex, MA, for amazing lobster rolls at an old school joint called Essex Seafood. I mean look at this handwritten menu tacked onto the wall!

The lobster was sweet, minimally dressed and the side order of onion rings were pretty decent, too. I’d also like to personally thank many of my Instagram foodies who shared that find with me!

Overnight in Portland, Maine

We hadn’t been to Portland in at least 20 years and frankly, we didn’t remember a single thing. We walked around near the harbor area but weren’t that impressed.

There were a couple of restaurants and bars and the usual coffee places but there seemed to be an overwhelming number of tourist places all selling the same trinkets. Actually anything that had a lobster on it seemed to be a guaranteed sale. Lobster key rings? Check. Lobster potholders? Double check.

Dinner that night was at Fore Street – a restaurant that didn’t disappoint in its open kitchen concept as well as the incredible wood-burning smell of everything they were cooking.

The menu was very creative. Squid with eggplant and green beans followed by grilled foie gras on a slice of homemade zucchini bread! Who does that?

Second course up: Fresh blue fin tuna with peppers and grilled corn. A tasty dish but a small portion I thought for the price tag. (Yes, look at it, it was about 2 .5 bites!)

Finally, Lynn and I split a fresh berry cobbler topped with a biscuit-like dough (not my favorite but more on biscuits later) and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Doesn’t that look absolutely delicious though?

On the way out, stopping to say “thanks” to the chefs working the line in the open kitchen, I was told by a not-so-friendly wait staffer that I was “not allowed” to be there or to talk to them! What? Cooking is a thankless job but I made sure the chefs working that night heard me compliment them on their exceptional talent. And at least I got a smile out of a few of them.

Before we left Portland the next morning, we stopped to see the lighthouse. Apparently, we had missed it the first time and the weather was absolutely perfect to get a great photograph!

On To Saint John, New Brunswick

We stopped for lunch outside of Bangor, Maine, and started with a seafood “chowdah” brimming with haddock, clams, shrimp and lobster. I moved on to eat a lobster BLT with avocado and Lynn held out for a traditional lobster roll. It was pretty darn good.

We had never been to Saint John and stayed at a hotel on the rather ugly waterfront. (This apparently is turning out to be a theme on this road trip.) Here, however, at least someone had attempted to create some “artwork” along the way. I particularly liked the random fish sculptures that were scattered around the downtown area.

We walked into a park, King’s Square, and found what appeared to be a Victorian-era band stand. Although when I looked at it, it kind of reminded me of a squat version of the Chinese Tower (Chinesischer Turm) in Munich’s Englischer Garten.

I have to segue just a bit. I really wanted to find a picture of Munich’s Chinese Tower and post it here but I realized that all the pictures I probably took of it were WAY BEFORE THE CLOUD! What? And yeah, I could drag out an old CD, pop it into my laptop and then spend hours looking for that one photograph. Or, I could just walk downstairs and find the one photo album I needed and just take a picture of the darn thing.

So here it is: My own photograph of the Chinesischer Turm in Munich, Germany, shot in the winter of 1979. Pretty cool right? And if you just look at the top two “towers,” you may see the same resemblance I did. And yeah, it took me a mere 3 minutes to walk down the stairs, find the photo album, flip open the page, shoot the picture, walk back upstairs and upload the shot.

Dinner At East Coast Bistro

When I tell you we had some of the best mussels EVER for dinner that night at East Coast Bistro, I’m not exaggerating. First of all, these mussels were from the Bay of Fundy which is the closest body of water to the town of Saint John and hence the restaurant. Spiced up with an intensely flavored coconut hot sauce with leeks on top, I’m still tasting (and dreaming) about this dish today. Second course I had was a fresh halibut with asparagus, pickled onions and arugula on top.

Yummy! Finally, since I had mentioned it was my birthday week – look what they brought out for me! Lovely homemade vanilla ice cream with a lemon tart topped with meringue. Also, I got to meet Chef Kim Steele and crew which was a nice treat.

Breakfast? What Breakfast?

One of my pet peeves of traveling these days is not being able to find a decent breakfast in the morning without A) driving out of our way and B) paying way too much money. I’m also not a fan of hotel buffets (unless it’s a really decent hotel). Or standing in line to scoop lukewarm scrambled eggs out of a chafing dish and then stand in another line to toast store-bought muffins.

I also like my breakfasts to be pretty simple. Eggs are a must but I don’t particularly like sausage for breakfast. But I’m okay with bacon but only one slice! And yes, I, too, fell for the avocado on toast thing. But then I stopped eating bread at breakfast for a while and I wasn’t crazy about just eating a “naked” avocado.

Hash browns or any kind of potato actually are also a definite no-no. You’re probably thinking, wow, it seems she doesn’t even like breakfast at all! But I do, I do, it just needs to be really simple and preferably served with a little bit of fresh fruit. (But only certain fruit.) Okay, I know I’m more than a little particular about my breakfasts.

I also won’t go into how I would prefer a croissant over a biscuit any day because my Dad, Larry, is one of my best blog readers and after he reads this he will probably be sending me hourly recipes for biscuits! (Love you Dad!) If you haven’t checked out any of his books, he is a funny writer and his books make great gifts, too. Side note: he LOVES biscuits and pie!

I also won’t go into my love/hate relationship with bagels. Well, okay, if you insist. I only like plain ones (and prefer mini bagels over full-sized ones) and also only buy bagels from certain stores. Recently Lynn and I decided pizza for breakfast would be a good idea but then wimped out at the last minute and got Italian pastries and cappuccino’s instead. (This photograph was from a recent trip to Montreal.)

Consequently, the next morning in our search for a bite to eat – a coffee, a donut, a bagel, a something, we walked around downtown Saint John and came up with zilch. We ended up back at the hotel, walked into the dining room and looked at a room filled with people who were drinking coffee. My breakfast “radar” went up. I realized no one had a plate in front of them which meant they had been waiting for their breakfasts a really, really long time.

I decided to be brave, ordered a simple omelette with toast and coffee and then we proceeded to wait. We got lucky. Apparently, the chefs working the line that morning cook everything at once since everyone’s food came out at the same time. So even though we were the last ones in that morning, our food came out as well. Timing is everything.

Since I didn’t take a picture of the omelette or my lousy coffee, I will leave you with some photos of some truly great breakfasts! (Regardless of my rantings above, I really do love breakfast!)

The best omelette you will ever eat. Courtesy of Les Deux Magots in Paris.

The best scones you will ever eat. Courtesy of The Langham Hotel in London. (Note: we did NOT stay there because it was outrageously expensive but went once for Easter brunch.)

The best farmer’s market to enjoy some pastries (and breakfast). Courtesy of the Byward Market in Ottawa.

I mean, even riding the Eurostar between London and Paris we had a decent croissant!

Finally, my new commuting life allows me not only to photograph my sucky”breakfast” at my desk but also share it with my husband, Lynn and my readers. If you’re wondering what it is – here’s more than a clue: Pepperidge Farm white bread, a slice of Munster cheese (or if I’m feeling really adventurous Havarti), a smear of butter laced with olive oil and either green or red grapes. Followed by weak office coffee. Awesome, right?

Until our next “Let’s Go” adventure.

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A Trip to Bethlehem

Note to readers: This is a trip we did late last spring while we were still living on Long Island and before we moved permanently up to the Mohawk Valley.

Since Lynn and I lived on Long Island for nearly 30 years (we moved from Greenpoint, Brooklyn, when our son Nicholas was a year old), we have successfully navigated many roads and bridges to get to where we want to go. Usually the Whitestone and the Tappan Zee* bridges when driving north and the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge followed by the NJ Turnpike when going south. I am proud to say that we have never, ever, had to take the George Washington Bridge anywhere and luckily for this trip to Bethlehem, we managed not to be on that dreaded bridge as well.

*Disclaimer here: I, as do many “real” (and older) New Yorkers, call most of the buildings (and bridges) by their “original” names. For example, it’s not the MetLife building but the Pan Am Building. And, it’s not the RFK Bridge but the Triboro Bridge. And please do not make me say the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge – it’s the Tappan Zee!

Name issues out of the way, after leaving Long Island two and a half hours later we wound up in the town of Bethlehem, a town we had actually never visited.

Time For Lunch – Social Still

Set in an industrial area near the famous Bethlehem SteelStacks, this fun distillery located in an old bank building makes a great burger! While I was eager to try some of what they were distilling that day (vodka, gin, whiskey), I was driving so settled for a beer.

A quick segue here. I’m not a fan of craft beers. Having lived in Munich for 10 years and being allowed legally to drink at the age of 16(!), I’m a snob of what good beer should taste like. That said, I will try craft beers that are Pilsner or lager-like but stay far away from anything that has “floral” or “fruit” overtones. I also like the fact that many craft beers these days list their percentage of alcohol.

From our bar seats at Social Still we had a nice view of the old bank vault where they seemed to store what they had brewed in barrels. I think this shot of the old bank vault door is really cool, too.

Bethlehem SteelStacks

After lunch, a quick drive down the block landed us in the middle of Bethlehem SteelStacks. I’m impressed they chose to retain the space, making some of it into a concert venue, but also giving us the ability to walk around outside of what’s left of the old steel factory. We read about all the people (mostly men) who worked there – often generation after generation. I learned a lot. Particularly that in the early 1900’s the factory actively recruited for workers abroad (wow, things have certainly changed since then) by placing ads in many German, Irish and Hungarian newspapers.

I also liked the fact we could get up really close to all the old furnaces and machines that used to make steel as we walked along the Hoover-Mason Trestle. (The walkway reminded me a bit of the High Line in NYC without all the tourists. )

My maternal grandfather worked for Standard Oil in Whiting, Indiana, most of his life and I took a moment to think of him and all the other men who worked in not-so-good conditions to make a living.

After the SteelStacks, we went into the town of Bethlehem proper, walking around and visiting the “Colonial Industrial Quarter” and also speaking to a costumed guide working at the blacksmith shop. He was a retired steel worker who spent his days talking to a few school groups, the odd tourist (namely us) and anyone else who wanted to learn about colonial PA.

Dinner at Bolete

One of the main reasons we were in Bethlehem was to have dinner at Bolete. On my “bucket list” for many years, this trip was the perfect opportunity to pay them a visit. Chef Lee Chizmar and crew didn’t disappoint. On the menu that night for starters: asparagus salad with a soft runny duck egg and braised beef dumplings. Seconds: soft shell crab with some greens (and more asparagus). For dessert? We split a carrot cake parfait!

And if you are wondering what the word “Bolete” means…here’s a clue:

Until our next “Let’s Go” adventure.

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Lunch, Dinner and Waterfalls, Too (Back to Canada)

We did a spur of the moment trip earlier this summer to the Niagara-on-the-Lake area with trips to Hamilton and St. Catherine thrown in. We had been to the area a few times before but now there are even more places to eat (and drink) so we like to go back as frequently as possible. The fact that many of the Niagara escarpment wineries remind me a little bit of the California wineries we used to visit in the early 1990’s also helps. I also love to drive around the area to see not only what the farmers are growing but what dishes the chefs are creating with all this bounty before them.

We made it over the border crossing in about 40 minutes (yeah!) and found ourselves at the amazing winery/restaurant of Two Sisters Vineyard. The problem with eating “across the border” is that it is difficult to make a lunch reservation because you never know how long the wait will be to get across! Luckily, even though the restaurant was packed, they managed to find a table for us.

We didn’t waste any time when ordering. Glasses of wine. A wood-burning stove that spit out pizzas (ours was covered with arugula and prosciutto) followed by a pasta Bolognese dish even though it was hotter than hell that day. For those who missed my last story mentioning the “Beef Strogonoff” that Lynn consumed (again on a really hot day), well, all I can say is “Bon Appetit!”

Dare I mention they brought us out the largest bowl of grated cheese I’ve ever seen? I mean it was the size of a casserole dish! Look, our server is even showing off by holding it in one hand! (Actually I asked her to hold it that way so I could take the photograph.)

After lunch we drove around the area and to kill some time before our next meal, we went to a winery, Tawse, in Vineland, Ontario, we had missed the last time around. But first, we drove down a street called Cherry Avenue. What did we find on Cherry Avenue? You betcha!

To say I was excited about seeing cherries for the first time in person, in all their cherry goodness, is beyond words.

Dinner at Quatrefoil

This had been on my list of restaurants to go to for quite some time. Housed in a lovely house in the town of Dundas, Ontario, on Thursday nights they do a 3 course prix fixe “Farmer’s Supper.” So it being Thursday, that’s what we had. For starters, I had the white asparagus vinaigrette. Now this may not seem like a special dish, after all it’s just asparagus, right? But since I grew up in Munich, we waited anxiously every year for the asparagus season to start (usually the end of April/beginning of May). White asparagus was always preferred to the green kind and once the asparagus came out it was sold in farmer’s markets and was a featured dish in nearly every restaurant. To say it was a big deal is an understatement. Now, however, when I see white asparagus in the market, it just doesn’t taste the way I remember. This asparagus with a perfect vinaigrette absolutely hit the spot though.

Next up a perfectly cooked moist piece of salmon. Now, I realize I shouldn’t be that excited about salmon, right? Trust me this was exquisite. Do I dare mention that Lynn had beef (a steak) again? And no, I’m not posting a picture of his steak. Absolutely not.

A few days prior, I had seen on Instagram that the chef de cuisine of Quatrefoil, James Bourdeau, had “acquired” lots of different fresh berries from a local farm. “Where were the berries?” I asked our server. He wasn’t sure but he would find out. Imagine my surprise (and laughter) when a plate of berries was brought out for me to try.

And then Chef Bourdeau came out to talk to us! How cool is that? Thank you Chef!

Dessert included a deconstructed chocolate cake and mousse combo with fresh mint leaves and a lovely rhubarb creme brulee (not shown here since the shot came out blurry – probably from all the excitement.) I mean fresh picked berries and white asparagus in the same meal? I thought the food was amazing, the plating stellar and the service was outstanding.

Craving Indian…Still Craving Indian

Lunch that day was a choice of Thai or Indian in St. Catherines. We chose the Indian since 1. We love Indian. 2. We can’t find decent Indian near us. 3. We hadn’t had naan or curry in a long time.

It’s always disappointing to crave ethnic food and then not have them deliver what you’re craving. While the chicken tikka masala was okay, the naan and poori breads were just not as light and fluffy as they could have been. We sucked it up and decided Thai might have been a better choice that afternoon.

Creekside Estate Winery for Dinner

We had been to Creekside Estate Winery the year before and liked their varietals very much. They pour a strong Sauvignon Blanc and Syrah, too. A chef I had been following on Instagram, Ross Midgley, was cooking that summer on the deck at this winery so of course we wanted to visit.

Friday nights at the Creekside they have a limited menu but live music. Dare I mention it was really hot that Friday night – so hot we were sweltering and of course there wasn’t even a gust of wind in sight. We sat and drank lots of cold white wine to cool off. And then ordered some pretty outstanding food.

We started with a plate of oysters! Yeah, I love oysters! Then moved on to the Mediterranean platter (grilled halloumi, pita, olives and red peppers). Look at those cute little French jam jars – one filled with hummus and the other with Greek yogurt. And finally, the lobster roll was pretty decent, too. Thank you Chef!

We also got a chance to talk to Chef Midgley which was a special treat since he only had one other person helping him in the minimalist deck “kitchen” (fridge/work counter/grill) that evening.

Waterfalls, Waterfalls

Before we left to drive home, we decided to visit a couple of waterfalls in the area. Now since we have a waterfall in our backyard (albeit one you have to hike to), we shouldn’t have been as excited about seeing these. But they were pretty and we basically had the place to ourselves. I’ll leave you with two photographs…

Until our next “Let’s Go” adventure.

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A Trip To See Lucy, A First Time Visit to Chautauqua Plus A Dose Of Frank Lloyd Wright

While I wasn’t a big “I Love Lucy” fan, I did understand the appeal of the show and her character. Therefore, when I found out earlier this summer that there was a museum devoted entirely to her career in her hometown of Jamestown, NY, I thought it might be worth a visit.

The Lucille Ball Desi Arnaz Museum is actually housed in two store-front buildings in downtown Jamestown, NY. I think the museum does a pretty good job showcasing not only her career but the relationship she had with Desi in producing the show. It was also fun to see some of the (recreated) stage sets they used during the filming.

Looking at the old issues of TV guide, I got a sense of how very popular she was during the 1950’s not to mention the countless movies (over 80!) she did even before the show!

I was particularly thrilled to learn she also was the first woman to run a major television production studio (Desilu Productions) that she retained even after she and Desi divorced.

On the way out of town we also paid a visit to the cemetery where she is buried. I have to assume the cemetery staff got tired of having to explain to countless visitors where her plot was located since they thought of a clever way to lead one to her. (Hint: follow the red hearts!)

Next Stop: Chautauqua Institution

While I had read about Chautauqua and all the programs they offer during the summer, until we moved full-time to the Mohawk Valley driving there from Long Island just wasn’t going to work for us.

Earlier in the summer I came across a play “One Man, Two Guvnors” that was being performed by the Chautauqua Theater Company and it sounded really fun so we got tickets for a Sunday matinee. (It’s a British play that premiered in London in 2011 based on a 1743 Italian comedy.)

Never having visited Chautauqua, I wasn’t sure what to expect. 1. I knew there was a religious component to the organization but I also knew there were lots of educational things (lectures, art classes, plus theatre and music events that one could attend. 2. I didn’t realize how big the place was (kind of like a small town) and that you could actually live there for the summer.

I did enjoy walking around and seeing the Victorian-style houses and we even walked into the Athenaeum Hotel to get a glimpse at the inside. (It’s less posh inside than it looks on the outside.

I also enjoyed looking at the flowers (lots and lots of flowers) that lined many of the walkways and in the gardens of many of the houses.

So bottom line, we enjoyed our visit and the play very much. And if next summer the theatre company puts on a play that we might like to see, I would definitely make the now not-so-distant journey. (It’s about a 4.5 hour drive as opposed to a 7 hour drive!)

Dinner on Lake Erie

I’m allowed to be a snob when it comes to Italian-American restaurants. My husband, Lynn, is first generation Italian-American (his mother was a WWII bride from Naples, Italy) and the true Italian food she cooked tasted nothing like what is being served in “Italian” restaurants even 40 years after I first met her.

So when I found a restaurant on Lake Erie that kind of had the feel of an Italian-American “red sauce” joint but the menu proved to be so very different, I was cautiously optimistic.

It was a Sunday night in the summer and there in the town of Hamburg, New York, with a view of Lake Erie is Lucia’s on the Lake. We had luckily made a dinner reservation that happened to coincide perfectly with the sunset that evening. Plus we were seated at a high table in the bar where the (noisy) party people were hanging out but at least we had a view.

Here’s our view that night:

And really, if you ignore the power lines, it was really very pretty. The food I have to say was amazing but pricey. So if you can skip ordering the high ticket items, go for some great cooking, a decent wine list and a view overlooking Lake Erie that can’t be beat.

I had the halibut, shrimp and clam special over linguine and Lynn, well, Lynn insisted he was ordering the beef “Stroganoff.” Last time I saw that on the menu was probably in the 1980’s at the original Russian Tea Room in New York City. That dish practically screams “winter” in my mind but sometimes the guy just has to eat meat. (I tasted it and the dish was really delicious but too heavy for me.)

Graycliff – a Frank Lloyd Wright Design

We had reserved tickets nearly 1 month in advance to tour Graycliff, a house that Frank Lloyd Wright built in the late 1920’s for Isabelle and Darwin Martin overlooking Lake Erie. We had visited the Martin house in Buffalo last year but never got around to seeing their “modest” lake home. (Mr. Martin worked for the Larkin Company which was a huge soap manufacturer in the late 1800’s.)

The house is now owned by a group called the Graycliff Conservancy. This non-profit was responsible for saving the property in the late 1990’s. It had been sold by the Martin family to a group of Hungarian priests in the 1950’s who established a boarding school on the grounds and the priests, unfortunately, took it upon themselves to make some cosmetic and structural changes to the complex.

Like many other Frank Lloyd Wright houses we’ve seen, there were massive renovations to be done to bring the house back to its original grandeur. While the Conservancy is not quite there yet (funding obviously being a big issue), they have accomplished enough I thought to give visitors like ourselves a glimpse into life on the lake during the “roaring 20’s.”

They’ve just started landscaping some of the front areas of the house and are still trying to furnish the house with authentic period pieces. A tour of the kitchen revealed this incredibly interesting sink. It seems that Isabelle was an avid gardener and loved having fresh flowers everywhere in the house. She had this sink designed so that when she was bringing in cut flowers to make arrangements, she could stand them up and give them a sip of water to boot. I think this is one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen.

So this summer our “bucket” list got a bit shorter by visiting this Frank Lloyd Wright gem. We loved touring the house and hearing all the tales of the family who lived there.

Until our next “Let’s Go” adventure.

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FLX Weekend

While we are technically only 2.5-3 hours away from the Finger Lakes area of upstate New York, sometimes it just seems too long to drive there and back in the same day. There are just so many interesting wineries to visit and good places to eat that it’s a shame to drive there only to have to turn around a few hours later to come back home. The challenge, therefore, is to find a cheap place to stay and use the leftover funds to spend on wine tastings and food.

That said, we started out a few weeks ago by driving to Seneca Lake and stopping for lunch at Ryan Williams Tasting Barn. The view was gorgeous, the menu was decent but the wine was kind of shall we say – boring? And this after tasting 4 different varietals!

We forged ahead. After lunch we had made arrangements to do a tasting at Forge Cellars (no pun intended!). I was initially kind of wary of having to not only make a reservation for a wine tasting (and pay in advance too) but I sucked it up to being “green” to the perhaps new and improved tasting process. Forge Cellars is slightly off the well-traveled “wine route” on Seneca Lake and they apparently like to keep themselves hidden as well since their building was modest with a simple sign on their door. That afternoon we sat down with 12 other people to try a variety of wines – mostly dry Rieslings. It was a fun experience and our tasting “educator” Julia was young and knowledgeable. I also liked the accompanying literature that described the wines we were tasting and the ability to take our own “tasting notes.”

After the tasting we drove to Watkins Glen and walked out onto the pier. It was a pretty day, there were lots of people milling about and lots of boats on the lake.

Bathroom Shower Curtain of the Year?

I’m not even sure how to describe what awaited us in the bathroom at the Microtel in Geneva we checked into that afternoon other than it was definitely the weirdest shower curtain “arrangement” I had ever seen. Right? Has anyone ever seen housekeeping do anything this creative?

Dinner at Kindred Fare

The real reason we even considered staying at the Microtel was that it was right next door to the restaurant we had a reservation at that night with seating at the chef’s counter. A lot of people I know don’t want to see how their food is prepared or what exactly the crew working the line is doing. I’m not one of those people. I LOVE to see how the chefs are making and plating the dishes.

Case in point: Look at Chef Max Spittler (he’s the one on the left) adding some liquid to one of 8 pans on the stove at the same time! Can you do that? (I can’t.)

Dinner that night was a decent duck pate with some pistachios, their version of fried calamari (loved the roasted red peppers and spicy chick peas with red onions that came with it.) And finally, beautifully sauteed scallops that were unfortunately just a tad too salty. (Note to ALL chefs: Please watch the salt!) Plus a decadent side dish of homemade gnocchi (perfectly cooked I might add) in a light cream sauce with Swiss chard.

Sonnenberg Gardens

The next morning before we headed towards Jamestown, we stopped to see Sonnenberg Gardens & Mansion in Canandaigua, New York. Luckily we had a wonderful docent who was more than happy to share all the family history (and gossip) with us about the house and the owners. We spent time looking at the house, but mostly enjoyed walking through the gardens.

This last little guy reminds me of fountains in Italy. Is that water spitting out of the mouth of whatever animal he is riding?

Imagine my dismay therefore when we took a look at the now-crumbling pool with little to no hope that it will ever be renovated. (The entire property is a New York State park.)

I think about what a fun time guests must have had swimming in this pool so many years ago on this lovely estate. There seemed to be many things that needed fixing both inside and outside but we walked around and looked at the “ruins” and simply enjoyed the history and architecture of the place.

Until our next “Let’s Go” adventure.

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The Munich Years

In 1969 I moved to Munich, Germany, with my parents and younger brother for the first time. We lived in two different apartments before we moved to a house in the suburbs. A few years later we moved back to Long Island, New York, where we stayed less than a year (I was in 5th grade at the time) and then moved back to Munich again. In total we were there nearly 10 years.

I attended a U.S. Department of Defense school (elementary, junior high and high school) in an area of Munich known as Perlacher Forst. School was a configuration of buildings set in the middle of the housing complex for those serving in the Armed Forces. It was its own village with a movie theater, a post-exchange (PX) shopping center and a hospital.

Public transportation (notably the S-bahn) was a quick walk from school which enabled me when I was in high school to cut school when necessary or in most cases get to work quickly.

By the time I was 16, I was already working weekends at a Baskin-Robbins across from the Hofbrauhaus in Munich. I remember mainly dealing with drunk Americans who bizarrely wanted something sweet (that would be ice cream I guess) after they had consumed massive amounts of beer. Isn’t that a cute picture of me looking so focused when scooping ice cream? I love the fact that my “blouse” matches the signage!

After that job, I landed a job at McDonald’s right near the Karlstor. After a brief stint on the french fry machine, it was decided for me that I would be better as a cashier. I worked there every single weekend for nearly 2 years. If you look at the tower on the right side of the photograph, McDonald’s was originally on the other side of the “Tor.”

And yes, the rainy gray day pictured here was typical of Munich weather! It was nearly always cloudy with a 99% percent chance of rain and 100% gray skies guaranteed. My fondest memories of Munich though was all the walking I did daily (before counting steps on an app was the thing!). Plus, I loved the fact that I was surrounded by amazing art and architecture.

I know this is the famous “tourist” shot of Munich’s Rathaus (City Hall) but look it’s sunny and it is in fact a pretty building.

On Saturday mornings, I loved to walk through the center of town, do some shopping, and visit the Viktualienmarkt. I think to this day that’s the reason I love farmer’s markets so much! Look at these gorgeous vegetables and flowers!

Here’s a picture of the last two houses we lived in (we literally moved around the corner) before I left Munich to attend Syracuse University in 1979.

I have been back to Munich a few times since then, the last time for my 35th high school reunion. When I visited the last house we lived in (pictured above), it looked kind of run down. Each time I visit Munich is bittersweet and filled with too many memories.

The tennis courts where I had a few lessons and played with some of my Dad’s co-workers (he worked across the street at Radio Free Europe) are still there.

And the surf boarders are still “surfing” the waves on the the Isar River in the center of Munich. I think this didn’t come about though until after I left Munich since I spent a lot of time at the Haus Der Kunst (right next to where this “surfing” is happening) and I would have remembered that.

When visiting Munich, there’s always the desire to grab a bite to eat at the places we always ate in but the “foodie” in me always wants to try something new. Here’s a surprise: I don’t particularly like German food that much. Yes, schnitzel is okay (ditto for beer and a pretzel) and you could give me a bowl of “Leberknödel suppe” (liver dumpling soup) anytime. I know that probably sounds really disgusting but trust me, it’s really good!

But truthfully, I’d rather have a nice piece of fish with an “apfel strudel” chaser.

Speaking of dessert, specifically pastries, even though I’m not a big sweets person (and my Instagram followers know that while I can bake, I find it tedious), I will always stop and take a picture of a bakery counter in any country. Look at these delicious yummy treats!

A few times growing up my mother Irene and I would go to the ballet or the opera, the Opera House in Munich being an exceptionally grand building in which to see such performances. We would dress up and during intermission walk the mirror-lined hallways that always reminded me of Versailles. When I was younger, my preferred intermission “refreshment” was a bowl of vanilla ice cream that had warm berries spooned on top. Once I got older I would have a glass of champagne AND the same warm berry and cold ice cream treat.

Recently at the cheese festival in Little Falls, NY, I ran into Lynne who runs farmerstreetpantry.com . I met her last year and was intrigued by what she was selling – homemade mincemeat! Since my parents are the only ones I know who would make a traditional mincemeat pie for Thanksgiving in addition to the usual apple and pumpkin, I thought her product would hit the spot. (It did.)

This year in addition to the mincemeat, she had added some salad dressings, apple sauce and spiced cherries to her product line. Spiced cherries! Made with maple syrup and red wine? YUMMY.

I was impressed but I also had to tell her my berries on ice cream opera story. Ironically she said she remembered me from last year because I had told her a similar (unrelated to cherries) food memory. (She probably thinks I’m a nut, but whatever.)

I’m always happy when traveling to see this simple dessert appear on a menu and to this day it remains one of my favorite after dinner treats.

These days my visits to Munich are every five years (if I’m lucky) but more often a decade will go by before I return “home.” Travel has always been the “magic pill” that truly excites me. For that I’m extremely thankful. It’s probably also the reason why I love to write about food and travel so much. So for now that’s a little bit of history about my life in Munich.

Until our next “Let’s Go” adventure.

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A Visit to Washington, D.C.

When we realized that certain trips we took from Long Island (notably to Washington, D.C. and further south) would now take us twice as long when we moved permanently upstate, we decided a trip to our nation’s capital would be in order.

Last time we were in Washington was between Christmas and New Years. The streets were empty and it was bitter cold. This time the streets were filled with tourists and school groups.

Our first stop after checking into the hotel was a walk down to the National Mall where we thought we’d pay Abe Lincoln a visit. This has always been my favorite “monument” in D.C.; there is such a presence in the massive stone structure which always has a humbling effect on me when I see it.

After visiting Abe, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner at Kinship. I always love to stumble upon some interesting architecture along the way – whether it be a hidden courtyard or intriguing passageway.

Kinship

Kinship is a one-star Michelin restaurant near the convention center. What brought me to this restaurant was the inventive menu. I have to say, I loved the restaurant; the service was outstanding and most (but not all of the dishes) were superbly prepared. Here were some of my favorites: lobster “French toast,” celery root salad that looked like it had dollops of goat cheese around it but which were actually tiny meringues and finally potato crusted pike.

The next morning we woke up to pouring rain but determined to sight-see as much as possible. On the agenda that day, a trip to the National Portrait Gallery to see Kehinde Wiley’s portrait of President Obama as well as Amy Sherald’s portrait of Michelle Obama. Neither disappointed and I was pleasantly surprised that we picked the correct time to visit since the gallery was not that crowded.

And even though we had visited the National Portrait Gallery before, we didn’t remember the beautiful building! I also loved reading about the history of the structure – it is one of D.C.’s oldest buildings and housed the U.S. patent office at one point. Here’s a shot of one of the hallways.

Julie’s Kitchen

We also paid a visit to the National Museum of American history to revisit Julia Child’s kitchen from her house in Cambridge, MA. We had seen it once before but it had since been moved to the ground floor of this museum as part of a “Food” exhibit. I spent a lot of time staring at her kitchen and imagining her cooking in the space.

Look at those blue cabinets! And those funky kitchen chairs!

I also loved the fact the exhibit included her much-earned degree from the Le Cordon Bleu cooking school in Paris. Problem is when I looked at the diploma I only saw Meryl Streep (as Julia Child in the film “Julie and Julia”) not Julia herself! I guess that means Meryl did a really good job portraying her.

We stopped to have a bite at Michel Richard’s Central near the mall area since it had been decent on our two previous visits. This time however, we were disappointed. In fairness, I’m not a big fan of brunch menus but usually can find an omelet or a club sandwich. This time around they had neither and I was stuck with eggs benedict with a couple of slices of smoked salmon which although they visually looked OK, they came out cold and not very appetizing.

After lunch, we headed over to visit the Botanical Gardens. So many flowers! So many plants! And mangoes! The visit brightened up the gray and rainy Sunday afternoon.

It’s Always Happy Hour Somewhere

Actually it was nearly 6 p.m. and we had a good two hours to kill before dinner so we headed over to the Old Ebbitt Grill for oyster happy hour. The restaurant was packed with locals and tourists alike. Tourist question of the day: Why are you dragging your luggage through the restaurant? Could you not have left the bag at the hotel or checked it somewhere? Ditto for toddlers. TODDLERS DO NOT BELONG IN BARS. This in my mind is non-negotiable and I’m all for restaurants that ban kids in certain areas.

The bar was crowded but we managed to squeeze in and order a couple of drinks and a dozen oysters. The drinks were fare, ditto for the oysters. It may be described as an “iconic tavern,” but I won’t be back.

Mediocre Sunday Eats

Sunday turned out to be our day of not-so-good eating, since dinner that night at Le Diplomate (again a place we had been to before) served us a too-salty plate of tuna carpaccio and a tough steak frites. (Although the fries were good.)

The day wasn’t a total waste however, since checking our “Pacer” app, we had walked this much! And burned off 800 calories (theoretically) of uninspired cooking!

Until our next “Let’s Go” adventure.

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Adjusting

It’s been nearly seven weeks (but who’s counting!) since we moved permanently to the Red House. It has taken some time to get used to the fact that now, for the first time, we have no “home” to go back to on Long Island. That means we no longer lose half a Sunday (inevitably a beautiful Sunday afternoon) to get to Long Island so one, or both of us, could go to work Monday morning. Yeah!

I will still be working on Long Island and this week was the start of my Monday morning commute (much better than Sunday afternoons!) I will be staying with my parents (Thanks Mom and Dad!) 1-2 nights a week. Since I’ve been doing this “commute” nearly every weekend for 9 years, it’s actually pretty easy. Now it’s just different days of the week!

In the meantime, we are still hanging pictures (we have a lot of pictures). We even have frames that don’t have pictures!

Plus we’ve already started moving pictures around that we hung up a few years ago and decided we wanted something else in their place.

Although I do like the top drawing by my Uncle John, I prefer the drawing our daughter Rachel made of the Eiffel Tower juxtaposed with Edvard Munch’s The Scream. In her rendition, the “screamer” is in miniature form and floating on a cloud. (She was very young when she did that picture, so rule out any extracurricular party drugs, please.)

Closets? What Closets?

Trying to find room for everything (mostly clothes) in a house that has ONE walk-in closet downstairs (for coats originally but now housing all of Lynn’s hammers and drills and screwdrivers and nails, etc., etc.) is nearly impossible. There is also a small closet in the master bathroom but eventually it will be made into a linen closet.

That means, we have clothes stuck on rolling racks that are more suited for fashion shows. Meaning they should only be holding a couple of designer outfits and not the shirts and pants and dresses and coats we’ve hung on them.

We already broke one such rack when it crumbled from the weight of too many sweaters and jeans. Just look at it!

Garden Update

In the midst of all the unpacking and arranging and rearranging, I’ve tried to tend to the garden and am happy to report that for the first time in many years, I have zucchini! They are still little but I have hope they won’t be eaten by birds or insects or a bunny if he or she manages to get inside the fence.

We also have peas growing quite well, broad beans that are doing okay, and tomatoes that are coming along quite nicely.

Then there’s the lettuce. When our son Nicholas came up to visit, he thinks the lettuce we grow is the best he’s ever had. Glad he likes it and the simple salads I make too!

And look at all the flowers.! We have day lily’s in a brilliant orange, and Stella D’Oro ones in a gorgeous yellow. I really love flowers and those growing in the garden right now not only add a welcome splash of color against all the green fields but they just bring the garden to life.

I’ve also put up what Lynn refers to as the “cemetery fence” and since he has a sense of humor, he will start humming an appropriate cemetery “dirge,” usually something along the lines of Elton John’s “Funeral for a Friend.”

This is due to the fact that the last three summers I planted roses, the deer have taken it upon themselves to eat them – thorns at all. I was tired of spending the money (rose bushes are expensive!) and taking the time to plant them, only to have the deer “help themselves” so to speak.

As you can see, the deer love to wander not only on the back 4+ acres, but in the front lot, too close to the street for their own good which makes me very nervous for them and the drivers! We have a lot of big trucks (think milk!) and RV’s and campers that roll up and down the steep street especially since there are a lot of farms further north and a very desirable campground about 15 minutes from us.

A New Neighbor

In the meantime, we’ve finally learned the name of an elderly neighbor (Helen) who I would always wave to coming up from Long Island because she was usually sitting on her porch (at least in the summer). Helen told us she had been a dressmaker in the day when there were not one (!) but at least four dress shops in town. (Now we have zero.) She also said she had lived in her current home for about 20 years since she had taken care of her mother-in-law. She is now by herself but even in the winter I see her with a little shovel pushing the snow off the sidewalk onto the street.

“Do you know how old I am,” she asked us as we were walking into town to partake in the town’s annual cheese festival.” I hesitated thinking she was probably in her 90’s but before I could answer she blurted out, “I’m 89!” Followed by “do you want to see the inside of my house?”

We did not but assured her it was kind of her to invite us in. In the meantime, she pointed out the three garages she had (at least one of which she rented out) and the fact that no one could “do” stucco anymore. “See those cracks on the side of my house?” she asked. “That was from the earthquake.” I looked at Lynn but didn’t say a word.

As it turns out, he later told me that there was in fact an earthquake in upstate New York, sometime in the early 1980’s. He says he remembers “feeling it,” when he was living in Rome, New York. I had already moved from Syracuse and was working in New York City, where the only rumbling I was experiencing was from the subway.

Little Falls Cheese Festival

Although this has been an ongoing event for the last five years, it was only our third time attending the festival. The city shuts down a good chunk of Main Street so vendors can set up booths selling anything and everything cheese-related plus other items, too.

Luckily, the weather cooperated so the turnout was nice. We bought some cheese (how couldn’t we?) and visited with people we knew from nearby farmer’s markets.

This year’s winners included (once again) great goat cheese from Jones Family Farm.

As well as a new guy out of Troy, New York, (R&G Cheese Makers) making some pretty amazing mozzarella. (Little to no salt plus lots of flavors = a very good product.)

And last but not least a goat cheese from Cochran Farm 1790 that is appropriately called “Mohawk Mist” which was pretty darn good.

Best of all, after all this cheese and meeting new neighbors, it’s lovely to be able to walk along the pathway by the Eric Canal (yes, that Erie Canal). It’s very peaceful by the water and being able to spend time outdoors on a beautiful sunny day is a gift.

Until our next “Let’s Go” adventure.

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Travels Through Upstate NY, Keuka Lake and Canada!

Although Lynn and I have lived in the Mohawk Valley part time for nearly 9 years and we lived in Syracuse, NY for nearly 3.5 years, we had never been to either Corning or Rochester, NY. So this past spring break, Lynn and I decided to visit both of these cities.

First stop Corning, NY, with a visit to the Corning Museum of Glass on a damp and rainy afternoon. This image of what I perceived to be a school of fish caught my fancy. When I researched the artist, Lino Tagliapietra, and the title of the work, “Endeavor,” he described it as a fleet of boats. I’m always happy when my understanding of any artistic endeavor is close to what the artist was thinking.

I was also impressed with not only the size of the museum but the hands-on demonstrations that we, as visitors, were able to partake in. We watched glass being blown into shape, fired and molded. We watched glass being broken (carefully) and how glass heated to a certain temperature mysteriously becomes Pyrex and transformed into casserole dishes.

While I remember the tuna casseroles my mother used to make for dinner fondly now, my preference these days are layered vegetables (notably eggplant, zucchini, roasted tomatoes and mushrooms) in a Pyrex pan topped with some cheese. Anyway, I thought this “tower of Pyrex” was pretty cool. And speaking of vegetables, on the way out of the museum we stopped at the gift shop and picked up this glass cutting board. I think it will fit perfectly in the Red House kitchen especially since we grow garlic on the property (and the Mohawk Valley has both the perfect soil and climate for growing garlic in New York State).

Dinner in Corning that night was a pleasant surprise. We visited “The Cellar,” a downtown wine bar with an interesting menu which they describe as “global fusion.” Since Lynn and I frequently refer to ourselves as “professional eaters,” we usually get 3 or 4 different dishes and share them. That night didn’t disappoint with some oxtail tacos, spicy chicken skewers and pad thai to start. Tasty lamb chops and charred brussels sprouts with walnuts were a delicious finish.

Retiring back to the hotel, we stopped at the bar and had to persuade the bartender that he wouldn’t get in “trouble” if he served us the wine we wanted in the “pretty” glasses that supposedly were just on the counter as props.

What troubled me from a marketing point of view is that we were a mere 45 minutes from a Finger Lake (that would be Keuka) and there was not a SINGLE Finger Lakes wine to be had on their beverage menu! Shame on them.

Keuka Lake Tastings

From Corning we drove to Keuka Lake to visit two wineries in particular – Domaine Leseurre and Weis Vineyards. We started with Domaine Leseurre trying a few of their varietals. I really wanted to like their wines but truthfully was pretty disappointed. I’m always looking for the “wow factor” in a wine and those we tasted fell short. However, literally right next door is Weis Vineyards, a winery founded by German-born winemaker Hans Peter Weis. He’s the guy to watch out for in the next few years because the wines we tried (Dry Riesling, Gewurztraminer and most notably his Schulhaus Red) were absolutely delicious. Had we had a bit more time we would have visited a few other wineries around the lake.

On To Rochester

Here’s a photo of the outside of the George Eastman Museum. Pretty impressive, right? It actually reminded me of some of the big mansions during the “gilded age” in Newport, Rhode Island.

While there were exhibits to see and display cases filled with early camera prototypes (remember the Brownie? – it’s the camera in the middle), I was more interested in the house and the gardens. Unfortunately, the gardens didn’t open until May but we did get to see the rooms and the grandeur in which the family lived.

From the George Eastman Museum, we ventured downtown to see the falls. Kind of cool I thought to have the Genesee River mosey on down through the city to end in an old industrial area (which they have started to revamp) and culminate in the High Falls. The water looked pretty muddy that day (perhaps it’s always like that?) but I did manage to capture the rainbow that just happened to appear when we were walking along the bridge.

Italian For Dinner

If you haven’t been to Rochester and are in search of some really decent Italian (and pizza!) I recommend Veneto. True to form we split a Pizza Margarita, had a green salad and a caesar salad, then split a bowl of Rotini Bolognese. I hate to use the word “delish,” but in this case, that’s the most appropriate word for that meal.

From Rochester we drove to St. Catharines, Ontario, in search of their downtown farmer’s market. We parked the car, went to the ATM to get some Canadian $, found the farmer’s market but were disappointed in that we only found a couple of vendors selling smoked meat-products and/or lunch sandwiches. (We were on the quest for Canadian maple syrup.) Since my forte is planning ahead, I had already found a maple syrup farmer 15 minutes outside of town so that’s where we headed – stocking up on maple syrup that sells for half of what we pay in New York State.

Time For Lunch – The Good Earth Food and Wine Co.

There are some meals Lynn and I have enjoyed more than others over the many years we have traveled together. Lunch that beautiful Friday afternoon at The Good Earth Food and Wine Co. was one of them.

Nestled in what at first seemed like a residential area in the town of Beamsville, we came upon the winery and restaurant.

While it seemed like a gray and chilly day, actually by the time we sat down for lunch in their indoor/outdoor patio, the sun came out and it was quite lovely. Needless to say the food and the wines we had to go with our lunch dishes – pea shoot salad with yellow and red beets with goat cheese, lamb meatballs with cheesy grits, broccoli and roasted tomatoes, and finally the chef’s pasta special of the day -a rigatoni in a vibrant green spinach sauce with red peppers were exceptional. To say I was super impressed with Chef Andrew Thorne’s cooking skills is an understatement. I wanted to move into his kitchen and never leave!

We passed on dessert, taking time outside the winery (after buying a few bottles to go after chatting with the chef and I believe, the gracious owner, Nicolette Novak before leaving) to snap a few more pictures of some flower arrangements and a neat sculpture.

Now that we had not only seen “the fork in the road” but taken the fork too, we had time to kill before dinner so we went to Ikea!

Side Trip – Ikea!

I have to say that Ikea has come to our design “rescue” in every home we have ever owned. We’ve renovated TWO complete kitchens using their cabinets, purchased kid’s bedroom sets, TV stands, bathroom vanities, and even a dining room table and chairs. Really, the list of things we’ve bought from them over the years is endless. This time on our shopping list were temporary clothing racks (we have no closets in the Red House) so we at least have a place to hang up some clothes before we go into the closet-building business. What I particularly liked about this Ikea (actually 3 things):

  1. You can take your shopping cart loaded with all the stuff you bought directly to your car!
  2. There were associates on the floor who were available to help you find a product.
  3. The prices were cheaper than in the U.S.

Overnight and Dinner in Niagara-on-the-Lake

We had been to Niagara-on-the-Lake twice before. What I liked about going off-season was that you could get a hotel room for only half an arm not an arm and a leg, there weren’t hoards of people blocking the sidewalks licking ice cream cones and there was loads of parking.

Dinner that night was at Treadwell’s. We had discovered Chef Jason (Jay) Williams at the Inn on the Twenty the summer prior, and wanted to see what he was up to in his new digs. He and his crew didn’t disappoint.

We were lucky enough to get a seat at the bar which meant we got a bird’s eye view of the chefs cooking and plating. Let me mention that the service at Treadwell’s is top notch with a much-appreciated wine list that is heavy on the local wines and a Sommelier, James, who made some remarkable recommendations.

What did we eat? House-cured smoked salmon with hand-picked fresh herbs.

Whitefish with a creamy potato “chowder” and chunks of lobster claws.

Arctic char with roasted beets and tiny baby radishes and greens.

And while we also watched them put together an amazing charcuterie board, we only feasted with our eyes. However, we did end the evening with a lovely cheese plate.

Plus, look at all these greens! Truly farm/garden to table.

What I took away from this short get-away is there are many talented chefs who are not working solely in urban areas but all over New York State and Canada. When we first started traveling to Canada (albeit when we were in college 40 years ago), the Canada food scene, unless you were in a major city, was dismal. I remember driving in search of anything that didn’t resemble fast food and more often than not came up “empty-stomached”. Since then, the food scene in Canada has exploded with chefs and restaurants and wineries bringing creative and fresh food to the consumer. I am so happy to see and appreciate this development. Going forward, since we are now within a shorter driving distance to the Niagara wine region of Canada, we will hopefully be making many more trips to that area.

Until our next “Let’s Go” adventure.


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Moving

On June 27, 2019, we moved permanently up to what I affectionately call “The Red House.” I spent nine years writing about the home renovation project and now it’s time for me to write about something else. (You can check out previous posts about The Red House renovation on http://theredhouseproject.eathappy.net/). Hopefully this blog will also capture your attention and be a fun read.

We hired the same movers that we used the last time we moved. Three years prior, three guys showed up, two of whom were from Hungary. I was horrified that the truck they drove had some really ugly graffiti scrawled on it – not even funky graffiti!

This time around, three weeks before we were scheduled to move, I received an early morning phone call from the sales guy. “Could we possibly move the weekend before?” he inquired. I told him “no,” and then asked why? Seems there’s lots and lots of traffic on Thursdays in and out of the city. I reminded him we were not going in or out of the city. We were moving from Long Island to upstate New York and avoiding the city at all costs. I further reminded him I had booked his services 3 months in advance (April to be precise) because they had done a good job in the past and June 27 was the only day I could reasonably move. He said he would talk to his dispatcher and get back to me.

By the time I got into my office, I was seething. Obviously, he had received a more lucrative gig on that particular Thursday than a measly house move with a 4 hour there, 4 hour back commute and he just wanted the bigger sale. I sent him a not-so-kind letter indicating that I knew this was in fact the case and if they were going to cancel on me, I needed to know ASAP so I could hire a different mover.

When all was said and done they didn’t cancel. There was some hemming and hawing about talking to the “dispatcher.” And that was that.

This time one guy showed up around 9:15 a.m. and said the truck was about an hour behind since they had to leave Brooklyn and could only take local streets to get to us. I said I understood and he began taking things apart and carrying them down to the driveway. He was Russian but spoke English with only a slight accent and talked to me about working as a photographer in between moving gigs.

About an hour later, two other guys (one Russian who barely spoke English and the other American) showed up in a rented truck that was bright yellow and surprisingly clean.

We had done quite a good job of packing up plates and glasses, books and pictures and taking them up to the house ourselves so the sole box they had to carry was the TV! We had even managed to put all of our clothes (still on hangers no less) into our luggage! All I can say is I’m really glad we have so many suitcases!

If you’re wondering why we have so many suitcases (eight to be precise), it’s because one year we decided to train travel between London and Paris rather than fly or rent a car. Since I will splurge on restaurants and decent hotels but not on cabs or car service, I knew we would be schlepping luggage up and down subway stairs. I needed a suitcase that could hold enough clothes for a week that I could carry up and down a flight of stairs without asking Lynn for help. Hence, I kept buying suitcases in different sizes until I found the perfect one (hint: it’s the purple one.)

Besides the luggage, we decided to keep only a few pieces of furniture since the Red House was pretty much furnished already (we did keep our living room set and our bedroom furniture.) Therefore, I thought this was surely an easy peasy move. Then there was the piano.

We had debated whether to even take the piano with us but the fact is it was more difficult to try and sell it then to take it with us. Factor in that no one played the piano (except our son Nicholas) and that was usually only on Christmas…it did seem dumb to take it with us.

The movers saved taking the piano down the stairs as their last item. It had made it up the staircase, surely it would make it down, right? Three guys, much grunting and a baseball size hole in one wall when they misjudged the turn and finally the piano was out of the house and onto the truck.

The movers left at 11:30 a.m. We stopped to get gas and a sandwich for the road and followed them about 1/2 an hour later. Of course there was traffic all the way up. 1. It was the start of summer vacation (myself included) and 2. There was no 2. There was just a lot of traffic.

Around 3:45 p.m., we were still on the road with nearly an hour to go when I got a phone call from one of the movers to say they had JUST reached the Thruway in Yonkers and it had taken them nearly 4 hours and 15 minutes just to get to that point! Yikes I thought. He then said Google maps said they would be at our house by 6:10 p.m. but he would call to let me know.

We arrived at the Red House, briefly started putting some stuff away and because I am ALWAYS THINKING ABOUT FOOD, I got back in the car and drove down to the supermarket to pick up some steaks thinking we could always throw a steak on the grill no matter how late it got.

Then we sat and waited.

It’s lovely we have a decent deck with pretty flowers and bamboo to look at when we’re passing the time especially since we obviously didn’t want to start happy hour BEFORE THE MOVERS SHOWED UP. At 6:45 p.m. I called the movers and asked them where they were – 20 minutes I was told.

Let me preface this by saying I showed the movers a picture of the Red House since everyone simply drives by it. There are two reasons for this. 1. We live right next to a community field so you come upon the Red House suddenly. 2. We live halfway up a pretty steep grade so the inclination (for any driver I would think) is to keep on going to make sure your vehicle makes it up the hill.

At 7:10 p.m., we saw the yellow truck whiz on by. Lynn and I stood up from our comfy chairs on the deck and started to wave. We heard the truck stop and slowly back down the slope and finally, pull into the driveway. One of the movers said, “I’m glad you showed me a picture of the Red House!”

An hour later they had unloaded the truck, put all the furniture where we wanted it and were back on the road. They had started before 9 a.m. this morning and were facing easily a 5 or 6 hour drive back to Brooklyn. We tipped the two guys generously (case in point: the lead guy had already advised me when we were still on Long Island what his minimum acceptable tip would be for this long trip so we upped it). I also gave them a couple more bottles of water and a container of bakery brownies I had picked up when I went to get the steaks for dinner. They were appreciative of all the goodies and the tip. We were finally moved and I did not envy their 16 hour day. Did I mention it was the hottest day of the year to date?

As the steaks grilled, we opened a bottle of wine and other than a quiet “cheers,” we were actually speechless.

And that’s the beginning of our “Let’s Go” adventure.

Here we are a week later (July 2019) still smiling!

Photo: Nicholas Parish