Grand Rapids Update

[Scenes from everyday moments of our lives. . .]

The best neighbors you can have are a family of Sand Hill Cranes: Bob, Carol and little Teddie.

the Cranes

The Grilled Cheese Fest, held at Fuller Park in Grand Rapids and sponsored by the Cheese Lady of Grand Rapids, was packed with hungry folks enjoying a gorgeous autumn afternoon.

Grilled Cheese Fest 2022

Celebrating nephew's Ben's 42nd birthday at the Rainbow Grill in Hudsonville, with his dad and gram, where I had a thoroughly scrumptious  chicken salad.

a true chicken salad

Ben's birthday

However, usually it's home cooking for us: here is my marinated pork sirloin steaks ready for the gill and baby potatoes ready for roasting.

home cooking

Back out for dinner with the Galloways where I polished off a tasty Cubano sandwich (sans pane) at Third Nature Brewery in Rockford.

Third Nature Brewery

An arboreal neighbor who has seen better days.

survivor

Susie and I took her mom to a CRC church in Byron Center one afternoon for a Lucas family reunion luncheon and sing-a-long.

songfest at the Lucas reunion

On a gorgeous September afternoon I came across these three veterans buried in Winchester Cemetery, Byron Center, Michigan. Thought you'd like to meet them.

George Otto, 126th Infantry, died in France

Levi Higby, 6th Michigan Heavy Artillery, died in New Orleans, LA

James A. Burwell, 126th Infantry, killed in the Argonne Forest, France, buried in France

Visiting family

The rain continued throughout Thursday night and on into Friday morning making our commute into Quincy, MA, even more interesting than normal. The plan was to bring coffee and Dick's homemade apple muffins to Uncle Frank and spend a little quality time catching up with my mother-in-law's sole remaining sibling. 

We left 52 Linden a little before 9:00 am and headed off north. The rain persisted but it didn't stop us, although it had caused at least two accidents along the way, one of which appeared quite serious.

Nevertheless, Dick knew the way and before long we pulled into the Atria assisted living part of Marina Bay in North Quincy. Frank was waiting for us and after grabbing our picnic breakfast from the back of the car, he led us to the 3rd floor cafe sitting area where we spent the short hour chatting and catching up.

the usual suspects: Steve, Susie, Dor, Dick and Uncle Frank

After we said our goodbyes the four of us returned to the car and headed back to Douglas. where we relaxed until our next family meetup later that evening.

Dor, Mallory, Dick and Susie

About 4:30pm niece Mallory returned to D & D's and the five us piled into our car and headed off on the backroads to Connecticut. Our objective was the new Macdonald home in Glastonbury to be followed by all of us going to dinner at Max Fish near the new MacD homestead.

Traffic was slow going through the countryside but the drive through rural Connecticut was lovely. Once onto I-84, we moved a lot faster and traffic picked up, too. But drive along this stretch bought back memories of the many times we came down this way when we lived in Vermont to visit the Bergman family. 

Anyway, with Dick's assistance -- and that of the woman inside his phone -- we found the Macdonald house with little difficulty. Hugs all around was the first order of the day followed by a grand tour of the new space. Just a couple of days before they had received the last delivery of their personal  belongings and the house looked ready for the next phase of their life: Glen's retirement from the army and his new job adding to the large stock of changes awaiting them all.

After a tour and a glass of wine we followed Glen and Christina to the restaurant (the kids were relieved that they could stay home and not be bothered by the adults). We settled in for the evening, enjoying wonderful service, very tasty food (Glen and I each had the local fish, Tautog), and lots of warm conversation.

Glen, Dor, Dick, Mallory and Susie

Dor and Dick

Christina and Glen

Tautog with Hoisin sauce and Jasmine rice

Exiting the restaurant into the cool night air there was one more time for plenty of hugs to go around before we said au revoir. 

The day had been a good one to be sure: We got to see not one, not two but three parts of the extended family: Uncle Frank, Mallory and the MacDonald clan. Pretty good indeed.

Tomorrow we begin the return trip home stopping in the Berkshires to meet up with another old friend and slipping across the state line into Vermont to find a very special grave.

Oh, and in case you wondered, the Tautog:

Color in Massachusetts and old friends

Thursday we relaxed in Douglas, which was just as well since it rained off and on for much of the day. Of course, relaxing for some meant working in the garden at 52 Linden preparing it for a nice long winter sleep. Susie was up for that challenge and pitched in with gusto. 

I, of course, remained indoors. . . But the colors around the home eventually pulled me outside.

Susie and Dor cleaning pots

Brother and sister taking a break

Gracie the family cat

That evening we braved the rain and headed south to Providence and dinner with some old friends at Persimmon Restaurant. Back in our Providence days we had eaten at Persimmon, chef-owned and operated by Champe Speidel, when they were located in Bristol, RI. Sometime after we departed for Michigan in 2015 they moved to a location on Hope Street not too far from Brown University. The food, unsurprisingly, is still excellent and the service superb.

We arrived at the restaurant a bit early but, not long after we were seated, we welcomed friend Lee Forbes and soon after Andrea Feldman and her mother Barbara. Lee and Susie worked together at Susie's shop at Hope Artiste Village in Pawtucket; Andrea and I were colleagues at Johnson & Wales university and many a dinner she and her mom shared with us over the years we lived in Rhode Island.

it was a wonderful evening of swapping stories, catching up on each others' lives and enjoying a wonderful meal together all washed down by some delicious wines. 

The evening, as all must, came to an end and after a round of hugs we went our separate ways. Until the next time. . . 

Back on the road again

[Warning: besides some nice color photos this may not appear to be a very exciting trip to some of you who are not familiar with the cast of characters involved. We beg to differ.]

Sitting here in Dick and Dorothy's kitchen in Douglas I have time to catch up on our 2022 Eastern US road trip to visit family and friends. 

This past Tuesday was a gorgeous autumn day in West Michigan as we pulled out of our driveway and headed for Port Huron and the Canadian border. Before our departure we had just learned that Canada had lifted all restrictions which included having to use the ArriveCan app within 72 hours before crossing. Another travel hassle avoided.

We made good time through Michigan passing some nice color along the way, a harbinger of color yet to come.

There was hardly any traffic at the border which was a plus and we passed through quickly; the border guard was smiling as he welcomed us into Canada, a nice touch.

Traffic was light as we zipped through Ontario, until we reached the 401 when, of course, vehicular volume really picked up. One stop for lunch at the Onroute Service Area near Woodstock and we were back on the highway soon switching to the 403. 

We skirted Hamilton via the Lincoln-Alexander Parkway and before long found ourselves parked at the US border at Lewiston. Cooling our heels for about 25 minutes along with hundreds of other folks, all the while spewing more carbon emissions into the environment than necessary, we passed through into the greater Buffalo area in the search of I-90 and the New York Thruway. The state of New York is in the process of redoing the service plazas on the Thruway, a serious nuisance to be sure, and quite a few are open for gas only. This will undoubtedly affect our planning for the return trip this Sunday.

As we neared Rochester we turned south onto I-390 and headed for Corning, New York, our first stop of the trip. 

We had never driven down I-390 before and found the road in good shape but it was the stunning autumn color along the route that we couldn't stop talking about: Mile after mile of huge swatches of golds, reds, and various shades in between. This visual chorus would be pretty much the story for most of the rest of the trip but we would never tire of it.

quick bathroom stop off the QEW

After about nine hours we arrived at our hotel in Corning. It was fourth time we stayed in this lovely town and the third time at the Hilton Garden Inn, a great location right next to Corning's headquarters and a short walk across the river to the main part of town. 

After checking in we opted to just hang out at the hotel and sitting outside with a glass of wine. For dinner we grabbed a couple of salads at the hotel before turning in for the night.

relaxing in Corning

Leaving Corning Wednesday morning a little after 9:00 am we traveled up I-86 and switched to I-88 at Binghamton, New York. Upon arriving at Oneonta we got off the interstate onto Rte 23 and the casual driving of back country roads. After a total trip of about 3 hours we pulled into the Archer driveway in the hills over looking Prattsville.

Gloria had prepared a tasty lunch for us - egg salad, Tabouli, Salmon salad, slaw and focaccia. The four of us sat and caught up on all the news, sharing stories and trials from the past year. (We last saw them  on our 2021 driving trip out east.)

outside at the Archer's

brunch with the Archers

Eventually we said adieu to the Archers and returned to the highway. Making our way out of the Catskills and onto I-87 north for just a few miles before we switched to I-90 east just south of Albany. We continued to revel in lovely fall color until reaching the Connecticut River Valley when the trees turned drab with little character. Leaving the I-90 at I-395 we headed south towards Connecticut getting off on Rte 16 at Webster wending our way on backroads until we reached D & D's home in Douglas, MA.

Rte 23 heading down out of the Catskills

view looking down in to the Hudson Valley from Rte 23

After unloading and unpacking we were greeted with hugs and glasses of Prosecco awaiting one final guest for dinner, our niece Mallory.

The remainder of the evening was spent swapping stories, trying to keep all discussion of health issues to a minimum and enjoying a delicious meal of stuffed shells, a specialty for which sister-in-law Dorothy is widely known.

Regensburg

1 May 2022.

May Day is Labor Day in Europe. It began overcast but didn't prevent the group from heading into Regensburg for a day trip. The short drive (about 40 minutes) took us on the German autobahn for the first time and Glen sped us along at about 105 mph. He deftly maneuvered us through the winding narrow streets of the old town until he found his objective: an indoor parking garage.

Once outside the garage (which BTW had very nice WCs) we meandered through the back streets in an occasional light drizzle until we came to our first stop: the cathedral of Saint Peter. (The church was closed for mass but we returned a bit later when it was open to the public.)

Unfortunately it was very dark inside so taking photos of the wonderful funeral sculpture, stained glass or even of the crypt was next to impossible. Visit Wikipedia for more details.

parking garage inside the old town

From the church our next objective was to find the house of Oscar Schindler. Yes, that Schindler. We wandered around the narrow streets and after getting turned around a couple of times, we at last found what we were looking for.

finding Schindler's house

From the Schindler house we made our way to the Danube River along which we found the Wurstkuchl, the oldest brat house in the world (so they claim).

Directly across from the brat haus is the old medieval bridge spanning the Danube (or Donau).

along the Danube

views of the old bridge from the clock tower room

clock tower living spaces

view of the clock tower from the bridge

From the bridge tower we returned to Schindler's house and ate lunch at a lovely little Vietnamese restaurant right next door - Cafe Dang.

lunch at Cafe Dang, next to Schindler's house

During lunch we decided it would be a grand idea to take one of the city boat cruises on the Danube so Glen went online and ordered the tickets; it was that easy. Once we had polished off our delicious lunch we returned to the river where we found our boat. 

off to get our boat for a cruise on the Danube

nothing like a river cruise to bring out the smiles

a major stop for Viking river cruises

Leaving the boat and the Danube we made our way back toward the parking garage. One the way we passed a rock concert going on that included a playground for the kids. Thoughtful.

music concert with a playground festival for the kids

For our last evening in Hohenfels Christina fixed scrumptious Korean tacos with an Asian slaw salad. After supper we chatted for a while over digestifs before heading off to bed. 

Monday would bring a somewhat leisurely morning since we didn't have to be at the Parsberg station until a little before 10:00am to catch our train to Regensburg where we would connect for Prague.