Les Flâneurs: 2021 eastern trip

Showing posts with label 2021 eastern trip. Show all posts

West to Grand Rapids

After a round of goodbyes we left the MacDonalds and Watertown a little before 10am Thursday and headed south on I-81 toward Syracuse. (It should be recalled that in 2019 we traveled at the very opposite end of this highway. Beginnings and endings?)

We stopped for the night at Mentor, Ohio, just short of Cleveland. That evening we thought it fitting to drive to nearby Grand River, Ohio, for dinner at Brennan's Fish House overlooking the, umm, Grand River. (I ask you, How many Grand Rivers are there in the USA?) Very homey and packed with lots of folks, the various varieties of fish offered came fried only. I had Lake Erie Yellow Perch and Susie had the Walleye. Tasty to be sure, but fried was the primary flavor. Coleslaw and french fries (or mashed potatoes) were the accompanying sides.

Back at the hotel we spent the remainder of the evening reading (me) and puzzling (Susie) until lights out.

Friday morning, our last day of the 2021 road trip, came with overcast skies and rain. We pulled out of the hotel a little after 8:30am driving in moderately heavy rain for the next four hours or so. By the time we reached Lansing the weather had eased and the rain stopped. After some 330 miles we pulled into our driveway about 2pm.

We unloaded the car, drove to stock up on groceries and called it a day.

Two thousand three hundred miles in 9 days of remembering and reconnecting with family and old friends. Susie commented to me that seeing her former co-workers from Rutland Regional again after some 16 years it was almost as if she never left; that's the touchstone of genuine friendship.

Safe travels to you.

one of the hallmarks of a good marriage

perch and fries

Present fun and future plans

Another leisurely morning, this time in Watertown, New York. After breakfast and a second round of coffee Susie, Christina and I headed off to Clayton, New York and the Clayton Island Tours.

It was lovely 20-minute drive to the St. Lawrence where we were scheduled to board one of the Clayton Island Tours boats at 11am. We arrived at the dock in plenty of time to pick up our sack lunches and get ready to board.

The river cruise took about 50 minutes to Boldt Castle, the destination for this particular tour. (In fact. they only ran one tour that day and it was just to the castle.) During the cruise the guide pointed out some of the more notable properties along the way: for example, homes of the MacNally family (as in the map people) and the man who once owned the Life Savers company. We also cruised by Wellesley Island, quite the collection of homes and the one island to which you can arrive by car via a bridge.

The Boldt Castle was the dream home of George Boldt, hotelier extraordinare but when his wife Louise died suddenly in 1904 all work on the property was abandoned, left to ruins and vandals. In 1977 it was acquired by the 1000 Islands Bridge Authority and work was begun on reconstructing the home using the original plans. The home is perhaps the most impressive example of conspicuous consumption of the so-called gilded age in the region.

After a stroll around the grounds the three of us enjoyed our lunches near the old power house.

After lunch we turned our attention to the interior which included two floors of renovated spaces while the last two floors were still awaiting attention. (Note the graffiti in many of the rooms not yet updated.)

The return trip took us back along a slightly different route and we were back at the dock around 2:20pm. It was a quick drive back to Flower Street and the MacD home.

That evening we all went out for tapas at Spokes restaurant in downtown Watertown. A big thumbs up for the food and service but try to miss the Wednesday evening live music.

The MacDonalds leave this July for Germany and we hope to catch up with them later this autumn, perhaps in September. Everything hinges on when European travel restrictions might ease. If we don't go then, we will plan to see them in spring of 2022.

boarding in Clayton

on board the large pontoon boat

docking at Heart Island and Boldt Castle

looking over to the Boldt Castle yacht house

the Alster Tower

entrance to the tower

two-lane bowling alley in the tower

tower undergoing renovation

gazebo

strolling to the power house

the power house

lunch by the power house

the main entrance

stained glass dome above the main entrance and central foyer

dining room

servants' dining room

one last view of the castle

returning to the dock for the trip back to Clayton

To Watertown, New York

The morning of our seventh day of the 2021 road trip found us enjoying a warm sunny morning over coffee in Rutland. A little before 10am we were on the road, fully gassed (the car not us) and on Route 4 heading to New York.

Traffic was light, the sun was out in force as we cruised through Whitehall where we turned north to Ticonderoga, made our way to the Northway (I-87) before turning back west on Route 73 to Lake Placid.

Skirting Lake Placid via a detour, and aside from the occasional one-lane road situations, we easily sailed through Saranac Lake and Tupper Lake. After a little over four hours and some 220 miles we pulled into the MacDonald home in Watertown.

After unloading the car we relaxed with the McDs enjoying a lovely afternoon on their porch, and after a delicious supper of baked tortellini, Brussels sprouts and corn, returned to the porch to close out the evening taking in the night air of the North Country.

Reliving days gone by in Vermont

Monday was a good day for taking a break from driving. It began sunny but chilly in Rutland when we woke up but warmed up nicely for our trip down memory lane.

We spent much of the morning just relaxing in the hotel room although I did pop over to the nearby Hannaford grocery store for milk and fruit for breakfast -- the hotels are offering very little these days, which was fine with us.

l-r, front: Lena, Barb and Susie;
rear: Nancy, Judy, Betty, Sandy and Loreen

Our first most important goal for the day, indeed for this trip to Vermont was to meet up with several of Susie's former co-workers for lunch at the Rutland Country Club. (Oh, and for the record I had the ham club on rye toast and it was very good.)

For more than two hours I sat at the end of the table enjoying not just the wonderful stories but also the genuine warmth and care they all have for each other: Lena, Judy, Barb, Sandy, Nancy, Loreen, and Betty -- may you all have safe travels through life!

After a round of hugs and goodbyes we piled back into the car and drove to the Subaru dealer. I stopped there in the morning to ask if they could repair a burned out headlight and they said sure if we could come back about three. The dealership was close to the hotel so Susie just walked back to the room while I waited for the car. Twenty minutes later I was driving out with a brand-new bulb.

Later in the afternoon we had a different sort of rendezvous.

When we were at the Facey's Sunday evening we learned that Dan Foley had died suddenly at his home in South Carolina in 2017 and was buried next to his first wife Lorilee in Evergreen Cemetery in Rutland. Dan and Lorilee had been part of the old wine group and were very special people. Unfortunately, no one seemed to know the exact location of the grave.

After a couple of phone calls I reached a woman who worked at the cemetery office and Susie and I drove to meet her just as she getting ready to go home for the day. She had a map of the cemetery but unfortunately none of the sections were marked so we had to wait for the sexton to drop by to actually help locate the grave on the map.

We paid our respects then left the cemetery and drove back into town and headed east on Route 4.

A brief stop at Stratton Cemetery where I first discovered my obsession with funeral sculpture and then on to Red Clover Inn in Mendon. From there we turned back towards town but turned off onto Meadow Lake Drive past the old homestead in Chittenden and then on up the mountain to Mountain Top Inn. Back down the mountain we made our way back to the hotel and relaxed a bit before dinner.

Since this was a Monday many places were closed but we found a wonderful place to sit outside and enjoy a glass of Fess Parker chardonnay while we had a scrumptious dinner at the Southside Steakhouse.

coming down from Mountain Top Inn

On to The Clark and then Vermont

Susie and I lounged around D & D's until about 9am when we packed the car, said our goodbyes -- briefly, since we'll be seeing them again in Michigan later next month -- and hit the road. We headed back to the Mass Pike (I-90) west and, with the exception of one brief stop at a service plaza, reached our exit about 80 miles later. Traffic was surprisingly light for this part of I-90. We then turned north up Route 20 to the connection with Route 7 that would take us first to Williamstown and then on into Vermont, ending this leg of the trip in Rutland.

Our only stop en route was at The Clark art museum in Williamstown. We had been here twice before and were determined to revisit one of the cultural gems of Massachusetts. Given the pandemic restrictions they are seriously limiting the number of people in the museum at any one time so we purchased our timed tickets a week before leaving Michigan. That said, one consequence of restricting the number of people is one can spend more time and get closer to the artwork. Indeed, they limit the number of people in each gallery (based on the size of the gallery) which allowed a greater sense of freedom to explore and examine, no jockeying around large groups, that sort of thing.

I had been informed before we left on the trip that some of the galleries might well be closed for remodeling but we found all of them open.

As expected we enjoyed ourselves immensely, revisiting Winslow Homer, Edgar Degas, James Tissot, Edouard Manet, Berthe Morisot, John Singer Sargent and many others we had forgotten were here. The Clark also has a very large selection of Renoirs as well. On an earlier trip we discovered the incredible work of Giovanni Boldini and this time we were surprised to come across several pieces by the portraitist Raimondo di Madrazo y Garreta.

Woman in White, c. 1880 by
Raimondo di Madrazo y Garreta

If you're interested in seeing some of what we were fortunate to experience, I've posted a large selection of photos from the inside of the museum, consisting mostly of individual works of art right here.

Leaving Williamstown a little after 1pm we headed north into Vermont and recalled at once the truly spectacular scenery: Vermont is indeed a very green mountain state.

We passed through Manchester with an eye for a stop at Northshire Bookstore, one of our favorite haunts so many years ago. Again, we were not disappointed to find them alive and seemingly thriving.

After browsing we each found something special to take away and returned to the car just as we got hit with our first burst of rain. It wouldn't be the last one of the day either.

Returning to Route 7 we continued our drive north to the land of old but oh so pleasant memories. We found our hotel just south of Rutland and checked in, taking a break before heading off to the home of Jack and Pat Facey, part of the old Rutland Wine Group.

A little before 5pm Susie and I drove into town, past our old home on West Ridge Terrace and then north to Mr. Twitter's to make sure they were still there (they are). We then drove back into town and made our way to the Facey home.

Jack and Pat had arranged a pizza party with a wine tasting (of course). We began by sitting out on their patio around a toasty fire-pit sipping Orvieto white before moving to a warming red and sharing stories, catching up on all the news since we left here so many years ago. The saddest news was to learn that Dan Foley had passed away. A reminder that time was slipping away from us all.

With the faltering light we moved indoors to dinner and tasting three reds: a Barolo, a Montepulciano d'Abruzzo and a red from the Maremma area that the Faceys had brought back several years ago. Delicious wines to be sure but for me the Maremma red, a simple IGT produced in the vicinity of Scansano, stole the show.

Good food, lots of banter and stories of times gone by but fondly remembered, all had to come to an end. We said adieu to Jack and Pat and made our way back to our hotel.