Wandering America
September 2007 - Part II
| Visiting and Chilling For the second half of September we have just been visiting and chilling out. We continued enjoying Mike and Shauna's company and visiting with my relatives while we were still in Belfast. I got to see one of my uncles, several of my aunts, and a some of my cousins while we were chilling in town. Also, I got to spend some time with William and Harvey who were a couple of my closest friends while growing up in Belfast. Then we headed to New Hampshire where we continued to take it easy while visiting with our son's family - Marc, Amie, Briana, and Lola. This was a much needed grand parent fix for us with Briana and Lola. We also did Christmas shopping for them while we were in New Hampshire (which means no sales taxes and shipping costs for the gifts this year). Like all visits, this one ended way to soon. Next we headed back to the Cape to visit with my uncle Clyde and aunt Marge. Clyde has always been my favorite uncle and life has passed by without near enough visits. Judy got a serious sinus infection this summer which she hadn't been able to shake. So Marge took her to the clinic where they took x-rays to make sure it was not turning into anything serious and gave her a strong prescription for antibiotics that will hopefully knock it out of her. Therefore, we didn't even leave the yard. The weather was so great, with temperatures in the high 80's and low humidity, that we just sat still and enjoyed the visit while Judy was relaxing and recuperating. Finally we made a stop in eastern Connecticut to visit with old friends from the past. We had lived in Connecticut for fourteen years and left twenty years ago. I can't believe that we have never returned, so needless to say, we had a lot of catching up to do. First we did a drive by of our old house and then drove around the immediate area. Then we visited Second Baptist Church and Christian Academy in North Stonington. While we were there we bumped into several of our old friends. As much as everything changes it is amazing that the church and school have remained pretty much the same. Later that evening our friends John and Ruth Kuro treated us to a nice dinner at the Steak Loft in Mystic and then we did a "drop in" on John and Joyce Rodolico. It was a great evening and really nice to see them again. We need to visit again when we can stay longer and visit with a lot more of our friends from the past. Note that Katie and Alex have gotten the knack of "chilling out" pretty much down to an art form (ever know a katt who hasn't?).   Go West Young Man, go West! We left Connecticut making our trek to Michigan. The intent was to do some sightseeing in Pennsylvania and Ohio but good ol' Passport America let us down. Both RV Parks that we had chosen to stay in were closed. The one in Pennsylvania (81-80 RV Park) was closed for good and the one in Ohio (Camp Sandusky) was closed as well (for the season or forever - we never did find out). Anyway, we ended up staying in a Flying-J in Pennsylvania and just continued driving from Sandusky, Ohio to Holly, Michigan. We arrived at Judy's sister's place a day early which gave us an extra day to spend with Shirley and Warren. While in Holly we attended the Michigan Renaissance Festival. Warren and Shirley have their own business, "Classic Toys and Wood Design", and have a shop at the festival which translated means free passes for us (just love that word - free). We spent a day there just walking around looking at the wares and taking in some of the shows. The Renaissance Festival at "Hollygrove" which is located in "Michiganshire" is best known for its "full-contact armored jousting tournaments where gallant knights defend their honor until the last man is standing." There are, also, over 195 artisans who become merchants selling their wares in their shops along the village streets. There are several stages for hosting belly dancers, musicians, comedians, sword swallowers, fire eaters, etc. not to mention the musical treats scattered throughtout the village as you make your way along the streets. It would take a few days to see it all but here are some of the highlights from our day at the festival.      While we were there we attended a couple of shows and the jousting match. There was a lot of talent throughout the entire festival. We should have taken some pictures of the costumes being worn in the village as some them were very elaborate. The first show was "Washing Well Wenches" which was absolutely funny with side splitting laughter.   The
Jousting begins with the introduction of the Royal Court followed by
introduction of the knights (four in all), and then it was, "let the fights
begin".
    We
always like to try a new food wherever we travel and this time we
shared a Scottish Egg. It is a hard boiled egg coated with
sausage meat and then rolled in a bread mixture. It is then deep
fried (isn't everything at these kind of events) and then cut in half
to be served. It was good but one was enough for us. We had
Barbarian Burgers for lunch which turned out to be an oversize
hamburger cooked on an open grill and served with tomatoe, lettuce, and cheese on a bakery bun - it was a good burger though.
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