Snowmobiling in NY

We are finally getting some cool weather in South Carolina.  This past summer was a doosie.  It has me wishing for snow.  My area of SC usually gets one snowfall a year, sometimes two.

I grew up in upstate New York and spent many months under several feet of snow.

My front yard:

My back yard:

Notice the field behind the pool house - this is where we would snowmobile in the winter and dirt bike in the summer....

Phillip's Restaurant, Washington DC

So we went to Washington DC in the Spring around the popular Cherry Blossom time.  I think we were a pinch too early for the blossoms, but they were still beautiful!

We dilly dallied around the capital and the Smithsonian for the day, attended a NASA Tweet-Up at the NASA HQ and found ourselves starving, ready to eat at 6pm and all the local restaurants closed.  Closed!  At 6 pm.  How odd!

So I asked the NASA HQ security guards where we could find a place to eat......

DC Cupcakes: Cupcake Review, Washington DC

The Place:  Georgetown Cupcakes a/k/a DC Cupcake (TLC Network)
The Testers:  VSliker, Steve @ClassTax, Sandra & Michael Shealey, Bryson Shealey
The Flavors:  PB&J Swirl, Mint Cookies & Creme, Chocolate 2, Chocolate 3, Pumpkin Spice, Key Lime, Irish Creme, Red Velvet, Chocolate & Vanilla
The Faves:  Key Lime, PB&J, Red Velvet, (spoiler alert) Chocolate 2
The Drawback:  40 minute wait in line, horrible traffic, hard-to-find parking
Conclusion:  Well worth doing ONCE in your life.

I was asked to stop by & review DC Cupcakes recently when a meeting at NASA Headquarters required I travel to DC......

Washington DC Finale

Washington, DC: Georgetown Cupcakes

Oh my hungry little readers do I have a treat in store for you.  Well, for me actually, but I'll share with you, it'll be a virtual treat for you.

As a part of my on-going quest to find the World's Greatest Cupcakes (WGC)  (kind of like WCW & WWF), I will soon visit.... drum roll please.... Georgetown Cupcake.... home of the famous (but I had never heard of it before) DC Cupcake TV show, which, rumor has it, consists of two annoyingly giggly sisters, a rumor I'll be happy to explore.

This is a cupcake shop so exquisite, answering a question like this is necessary: .....

New York: Before & After

-

So. The other week we went to New York City for a little while. I've been there a few times, it's always a lot of fun, although I much prefer Chicago or San Francisco or mmmmm, Boston. Sadly, on this trip, we did not get to take a Pedicab.

-

This was my first time to go close to Ground Zero and it was still shocking. It's basically an empty hole surrounded by tall buildings and you wonder how just one small portion could totally disappear and leave everything else standing like normal? How can so many lives be so totally destroyed while so many other lives remain unscathed? And as we stood at the top of the Empire State Building, I realized the Twin Towers were in view the last time we went up there and looked out. See? Above Tommy's knee. Isn't that the Twin Towers?

--

-
And see now, what 15 years later?, in Eva's photo below, no Twin Towers.
-

-
And then, of course, the other shocking thing is how fast time has flown and how much the kids have grown. You gotta enjoy every single minute. Love life! Live everyday like it's a Friday! blah, blah and all that.
-

Philadelphia Cheesesteaks

-We were near Philadelphia recently and decided we had to have cheesesteak for lunch of course. My last cheesesteak was in 1989, in Philadelphia, when the kids were just wee little ones. The sandwich must not have been too great because I didn't find myself craving another until 20 years later.
-

So we grabbed Kath and Kel and headed into the city.
-
Look at the photo. Right above Kath's head is the blue "Pat's" sign and behind/above Kel's head is the Geno's building two blocks away. These are by far the Kings of Philadelphia cheesesteak, although the locals stay away, calling them tourist traps. The locals eat at Tony Luke's, Delasanndro's, Pagano's or Jim's. -


-
--

We opted for Geno's and determinedly walked towards it. I was at that time quite sure I would have a sandwich from both Pat's and Geno's.
-

-

-

Pat's is the quiet, shy, mousy sister while Geno's is the brassy, saucy, flashy come-hither sister. Both had tourists lined up 20-30 people deep. Pat's is older, opened in the '30's and Geno's didn't open til the '60's.
-
-
-
--

There's nothing shy about the flashy sister, she had her secret ingredient right out there for the world to see.

Cheez Whiz.

-

You heard me.

-

I hesitated. Did I really want cheez whiz? Like when I was in Hawaii and the delicacy there is Spam. Screech. No Mahalo. Or Peru - the delicacy there is guinea pig. No gracias.

-

-

--

--

But the chef lured me closer. He looks like he knows cheesesteaks, doesn't he? And he was concentrating so hard, making each one the best ever, I just knew it!

-

And thus Genos stole my heart.

-

There is no inside seating and very limited outdoors seating, right on the street, in the gutter and car fumes. Another drawback: the line is rough. It moves fast. You have to know what you want and be bold about it. I sent Tom; I knew I couldn't handle that soup-nazi line. I'd have been sniveling "whatever! whatever you want to give me!" You need a TypeA, outspoken yankee to handle the line for you. -

--

-

-

-

I secured our fine seating and left them to handle the fierce line.

-

-

As you can tell, Geno's was awesome. Incredible. Way better than my last cheesesteak 20 years ago up by Independence Hall. It's well worth the drive (10 minutes?) to south Philly to get one of these babies. -

-

-

-

Patti, what do you think??

-

-

I never made it to Pat's. From what I've heard, it's just like Geno's. Go for the samich, but the fries are nothing to write home about. I'm still afraid of the ordering line though. Sometimes I have nightmares about it.
-

NYC: Doggy Playground

So we're in New York City sitting at an outside cafe' overlooking the Hudson, enjoying an unusual warm afternoon when I realized it was exceptionally noisy. The dogs, good grief, dogs barking over & over & over, I was going to lose my mind.

I had to check it out.

What is up with all the dogs in NYC??
-

Right there in the middle of the city. . .

in a nice little fenced in area . . .

. . . was a little doggie playground.

After a hard day's work, NY parents take little Spot down to the playground.

Parents sit around and chat while Spot meets up with his friends, plays a few games, has some fun & fresh air.

So I wondered... how do you think my fellow rural South Carolinians would react to this use of their tax paying dollars if we were to build one around here?

I think Daisy needs a little socialization.

I think Daisy is suffering social anxiety.

New York City: Pedicabs, Bicycle Taxis & Bears, Oh My!

So we're down on the banks of the Hudson River and we need to get to Penn Station in 15 minutes to catch a train to Newark & a plane to Charlotte & a car to Columbia & a horse to our country town. OK, I'm pushing it. But if you've been to my town, you know the horse is a possibility.

Traffic is in gridlock on this warm Sunday afternoon as everyone and their mother's goin' home after a day in the city.

Taxis can't move, no way we're getting in one.

Then this dude pedals up to us.

Tom says, "Can you get us to Penn Station in 15 minutes?"

"Try me."

Y'see, this little bicycle cart isn't bound by traditional traffic laws.

Silly, silly little traffic laws.

Traffic, Schmaffic, I spit in your face.

We zigged & we zagged through bumper to bumper traffic.

Bicycle taxis, or rickshaws, are a growing business in NYC, despite the accident in 2005 in which one was crushed by a bus and the passengers sued for 12 million, received only one million, and the bicyclist filed chapter 13.

But we didn't know about that then.

So we rode.

Straight across 4 lanes of traffic.

& straight through a red light.


& straight up the wrong side of the street, passing everyone else who is staying on the correct side of the double yellow lines, (so old school!).

Shoot, we even went up the sidewalk.

And the driver?

He thinks it's all good 'cause he held out his hand, like that was gonna stop a car or a bus, and he said "thank you ... thank you ... excuse me ... pardon me .. bless you" as he skinned a car or popped in front of a truck.

-

Bicycle taxis (pedicabs) have been running for ten years or more and as far as I can tell, they remain unregulated. Our driver was extremely friendly & knew the city well. He is a 46 year old runner who finds pedaling people around a great way to stay in shape and make $40 an hour or more with little expense. He also claimed to be a personal fitness trainer during his day job.

Yes, we made it to Penn Station & made our train.

With time to spare.

If you're going to NYC, take a pedicab.

Make sure your life insurance is up to date.

New York, NY

"These vagabond shoes are longing to stray

Right through the very heart of it -
new york, new york
I wanna wake up in a city, that doesn't sleep..."

It was a Frank Sinatra kind of day.

An unusually warm day for March in NY.

A cloudy, overcast kind of day.
-

We woke up in Trenton on our 24th anniversary and had no place to be until 9:05 pm when our flight would depart from the airport in Newark.

-

A little coffee, warm conversation with much missed family, hearty good-byes, kind of a lazy Sunday up north.

--

-
Catching the 12:05 out of Hamilton, we settled on a fast track to New York City. Tom tossed his arm on the back of my seat & smiled "I like hanging out with you." Not a bad way to start our 25th year hanging out together. Then he donned his noise-cancelling head phones and powered up his laptop for the 90 minute ride.

-

I twittered "90 minutes of kids squealing on train isn't gonna work for me."

-

I was wrong. They only squealed for 70 minutes of the journey.

-

We only had 4-5 hours to spend in the city, so Tom gave me two options. I chose a narrated cruise around Manhattan on the Hudson. We've been to NY several times and have never done this. It was perfect. Our tour guide was excellent, familiar, but not pushy, funny, inviting. I learned a lot & got some great pictures.

-

We started out from Pier 83 going downriver, right over the spot where the airplane landed a few weeks ago. In fact, this cruiseline helped in the rescue efforts.

-

-

We cruised along 100 feet over the Lincoln Tunnel.

NY is tearing down all the cargo piers and putting in 13 new piers, all strictly for recreation. Improving the waterfront will drastically change the city. I really think it will alter the city's character -- it may lose some of it's integrity -- changing it's face from hardworking to recreational.

-
On we motored, Greenwich village to the left, Hoboken & Jersey City to the right. The Colgate Clock with it's 50' diameter stood proudly on Jersey City shoreline. The guide told us the minute hand jumps three feet between minutes.

-
We circled the Statue of Liberty, pondered over Ellis Island, groaned as we peered down Wall Street.
-

We passed where Law & Order is shot.

----
The Brooklyn Bridge began looming before us.
Around this area is a historic district I've never seen -- some buildings over 125 years old, some clipper ships, some historical touring area -- I'd like to check it out sometime.

-
-

-

-
Clearly absent, still, are the twin towers.

--

-

-

-

--

-

I thought this little cage was interesting -- people shooting golf on the river.

--
I'm just going to throw some of the other pictures up here for you to glance through.

Enjoy.

Check out the support structure under these buildings --

they are built entirely upon columns.

Cortland NY: Bucket Boy . . . All Grown Up

Bucket Boy resurfaced in NY after about 8 years of silence. I buzzed up to Cortland to visit The Mark Masler family on Saturday and I found Greg, a/k/a Bucket Boy, all grown up!
-
Many years ago, Mark and Bernice brought their 4 children down south and swung by our house for a quick visit. As soon as they emerged from the car, en route to my front door, Greg threw up. A few times, I think. We never discovered what caused him to do that, but as a precautionary measure, his parents made him carry around my mop bucket so he wouldn't, um, you know, spoil my carpets. Then, as if that wasn't bad enough, his father (or mother?) began calling him "Bucket Boy" and the name stuck.

It pleased me to see Greg, sans bucket. He's in high school now and getting ready for the soccer season, also plays sax in a local band.


They met me at the Homer high school parking lot and swept me off my feet, carrying me off to Bobby's Southern style BarBQ. Wow, this place felt like home. I tried the pulled pork barbecue to see if it compares to ours at Piggie Park, and it is almost as good. What I loved: the salt potatoes. Wish we had them down south.

We took our lunch to a nearby lake for a picnic and talked quite awhile, catching up on our lives. Mark got a new job, assistant to the supreme court judge. The breeze, the lake, the talk -- just perfect. Isn't it great to visit old friends and pick up just like you haven't been apart for years?


We went back to their place to check on the babies. Bernice loves her goats and keeps them squeaky clean. How does she do that? Our goats were filthy. {{{shudder}}}} well, maybe it's just because I had my arm all the way up a nanny who was stuck in a breach birthing process. The FFA advisor on the phone tucked in my shoulder and both hands busily pulling gunk . . . OK, I'll stop there. Oh no, I won't. I have to add this: we named the baby goats Mini and Mary after my mom and great aunt Mary who were there cheering me on, but not getting dirty. Wait. I think Aunt Mary was getting dirty with me. She would, you know.

I digress. Sorry. This isn't about me. Back to Bernice. After visiting her babies, we went to visit Hilary, Obama and McCain. Isn't that great? The pigs are named after our politicians. I love it. Hilary is the black and white one. She left the other two cowering in the corner. No surprise.

Back in the house, we went over an old photo album and I saw photos of my dad and Mark's dad when they were young, we saw some great photos.
-




I almost convinced Bernice to ride home with me and enjoy a few days in the sunny south.

They set me off with a several HUGE heads of garlic. I don't know. I'm thinking it's a Yankee tradition? Maybe a superstition? Head down the highway with garlic in your car to head off evil spirits, to ensure safe travel?


-

-
To continue the tradition, I left one for Heather and her trip to Hawaii. I tried to act all normal, like, Oh, by the way, here's some garlic for your trip. Everybody knows you need that. When I told her I left her garlic on the counter, she acted like it was perfectly normal, "Oh, OK, thanks." She said. - I wondered after I left, did she hold it up to her mom and say, "What the heck??"

So, anyway, keep the tradition going. When you send guests off on their way -- throw some garlic in their car, kiss them left cheek and right, and say something loaded with heritage and tradition like "god speed" or I know, say something in latin and add some hand motions.

NY Hwy: Greetings From . . . ummm.... hmmmm

Guess what. I'm southbound on I-81. Been that way since noon today and it's now 9 pm. So, I'm somewhere in Virginny. Well, of course, I am at a Starbucks, if you want to be exact, but one somewhere in Virginny. I've driven steady and am seriously enjoying this break.
Sometime during the morning worship hour, my GPS started kicking in and telling me to do a U-turn and get the heck out of dodge. The more I thought about it, the more I liked it -- travel on a Sunday/Monday and be to work by Tuesday.
-
So..... I had to present my new plan to Rene'. With fear and trembling, I approached her. I didn't want her to think that I was leaving too early and we hadn't had time to bond yet.
But I have to admit we bonded last night. See photos to the right. We watched her all time favorite movie "The Notebook." Here we are boo hooing. Well, I am boo hooing. She is scarfing down popcorn. (oo, yikes, i need to get my eyebrows waxed)

So we cried thru the movie and then went to bed and went to church which led me to my current position: driving home a day early.

Pennsylvania was all construction, as I expected, and we cruised along at 19 mph which gave me time to examine all the mile markers.

Can you see to the right, the milemarkers are every 1/10 of a mile. For instance, this one is marking 92 1/10 mile. A moment later, I found 92 2/10 marker, then 92 3/10, etc.

Why would one need to mark every tenth of a mile?? I just can't figure this one out. Did they need to create extra government spending to install these signs?

Maybe they knew we'd all be going only 19 mph and might need to mark the tenths of miles to feel like we were actually going somewhere?

-

If so, well, I appreciate their consideration, it gave me something to do and made the miles just fly right on by. (19 mph explains why I am only partway thru Virginny after 9 hours on the road)

But please, look to your right, now honey, these are what I call mile markers. OK, reach mile

marker 92 and I get a Hershey kiss. Mile 93 gets me a Reese's. Then, as you see, Miles 94 and 95 keep at a steady pace with the Reese's. Then, sweet darlin', the crem'dayla crem, if I succeed to reaching Mile 96, I get a Hershey's mini chocolate.

Then, of course, the process starts over.

Thanks, Rene', for my goodies, they came in handy as you see.

Zoiks. I'm being kicked out of starbucks. Can you imagine?? After all I've spent on this company???? They want to close up and go home.

Guess I'm hitting the road. I'm wired up to go to Charlotte, ETA, 2 a.m. and scare my parents half to death. heeeee heeeee heeee.

Personal Note to my Mom

Dear Mom,

You know I love you -- even more than tennis.

As a kid, I was quite a menace.

Sometimes when I play act, I'm Elaine Bennis

Tonight, without you, I went to Little Venice.

The Bachelorette Party

Now we're talkin'. A bachelorette Party, worth every mile of the trip. This was my first bachelorette party ever and I've been sworn to secrecy. Wonder why they thought that was necessary? Me? Tell people stuff?? I'm a very private person.

Okay, OK, OK, OKAY..... maybe just one tiny little picture.

NC/VA/PA Hwy: Stayin' Alive

Hagerstown, MD- Still going northbound on I-81. I’ve had a good trip so far and I attribute most of that to my new Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack CD. Found myself cruising thru Charlotte to the tune of Stayin’ Alive, which was very appropriate with Charlotte traffic.
-

Breezing past Yadkinville, NC, listening to Christian apologist Ravi Zacarias and desperately wanting to clip my toenails.
-

Crossed the Yadkin River, goin’ thru the Yadkin Pee Dee River Basin.
-

I popped in a Newsboys CD for some worship music as I increased my altitude in the NC/VA mountains. This was my view:

This was my worship: “All my world.All I’ve lost. The wrecks I’ve made here, the lives it cost. Your hand restores, your words make whole. With all my soul, I thank you, I owe you, all my Devotion, all that I have to give……”

Awesome. Gotta love the Newsboys.

Found myself entering the VA Technology Corridor. I know, impressive. Wishing someone would call me so I could say,

“I’m goin’ through the VA Tech. Corridor, babe, there’s a lot goin’ on, I’ll have to call you back later when things let up a little.”

Here are a few photos from the Technology Corridor. Found myself wondering exactly why it was called that and exactly where is the technology?? Looks like abandoned farms to me.

-

-

- Ahhh, finally, some technology.

-

-

-
-

--

-

Yay! Finally at I-81, goodbye 77! Only 541 more miles to go! Check out these "runaway truck ramps." Kind of a scary thought. I was checking them for tire tracks.

I flipped on some Avalon—“Testify”. I saw them perform this song live and they had a woman with them who was handicapped in some way – I think she had Down’s Syndrome. She was doing sign language and dancing to the song, it was absolutely beautiful. I’ve never seen anthing so beautiful.

Couple hours later, I’m in Woodrow Wilson territory, looking for a motel, listening to Rick Steves discussing Prague. Thinking about my upcoming October trip to Europe with a visit in Prague, so I’m taking notes. I usually try to focus on one trip at a time, enjoy it to the fullest, before thinking about more trips, but I have to take advantage of Rick’s show while I can.

Day 2:

Woke up in Harrisonburg. Started driving north with mountains to the left and right. Guessing it’s Shenandoah Mountains to the right, neatly lined up like a fenceline. Am picturing God taking sunset walks “checking out the fenceline,” keeping things neat and orderly. Really, it’s like a wall, it’s so tall and neat and straight across the top.

9:00 I ate my third cold meatloaf sandwich of the trip. Glad they are GONE! Now I can eat me some fast food.

Flying past Charles Town, past Lazy A camping. "A" can’t be lazy. A is the line leader, A sets up the pace and begins the alphabet, gets things moving. A is responsible and ambitious. A place can’t be “The Lazy A.” “Lazy S” OK or “Lazy R”, but whoever heard of a “Lazy A?” These people are crazy.

Crossed the Potomac. It’s kind of narrow up here, but still carries a lot of clout.

Listening to MidDay Connection on my iPod. You should hear this, click on the link to go to it. It's called “Completely His,” featuring Shannon Etherridge. Wow, what a story of grace and mercy!

Pulling over at Starbucks, Hagerstown. Later, tater.