Summer 2011

Now that summer is over--at least the days are getting shorter even if the temperatures are not cooling--we can look back on a rather enjoyable period.

We had our lovely trip to Columbus and Pittsburgh, which is written earlier. Since then we have done several small trips. We did a run up to Massachusetts to see our daughter and son-in-law's new home in Arlington, and a stop by in the Taconic Mountains to visit with friends Andy and Dave at their place with its view of many mountain ranges in the Taconics in upstate New York.

Our first trip in June, to the wedding of friends Kathy and Arnie, at the Greenbrier in West Virginia, was also a lovely trip. We stopped in Staunton, Virginia, on the way down for lunch--an old railroad and college town, home of Mary Washington College. We followed the railroad through the valleys to West Virginia, where the wedding was held atop a grand mountain. We found coffee worth drinking at a local coffee shop, the Wild Bean, in Lewisburg, West Virginia, where we stayed...all very necessary to Ben, of course.

The Greenbrier is quite grand, putting it mildly. It was the site of the huge Cold War underground facility built for the Congress and the President in times of attack on Washington. The bunker, if you can describe a facility this large that way, is now used for conferences.

We returned along the Blue Ridge Parkway, built along the ridge of the mountains south of Charlottesville, and stopped for a lunch on the main mall in downtown Charlottesville--Sips Wine Bar. The old mall is fine sitting outside watching the world go by, but unfortunately no wine to go with the lovely German sausage platter and Greek salad we had. This was followed by good coffee at Escafe, also on the Main Street Mall.

In July, we enjoyed our visit to Massachusetts, eating at one particularly good Indian restaurant in Arlington, the Punjab (such an original name) on Massachusetts Avenue in the center of town. John particularly enjoyed his goat chops, and set about finding goat in Washington--a treat he turned into goat osso buco when he found whole goat leg at one of the local markets and had it cut correctly. We also had a good visit in this old railroad suburb of Boston, stopping by a colonial home turned into the local museum, and searching out the best coffees. We did not find one in Arlington, but ventured to Anne's old stomping grounds for coffee in Somerville, not far from the Tufts University campus.

Our first night in Arlington led us to walk down the parkway connecting the town with neighboring Somerville and Davis Square. It was rail line turned to trail. We enjoyed the walk immensely as summer was not hot there, and had dinner at a local Italian restaurant in Davis Square, at Pizzeria Posto, a lovely with Anne and her theater buddy Christine. The restaurant, if loud, is still a place to enjoy good wine and good food.

We then headed West and passing over the Connecticut River into the mountains, taking a two lane road from the river, leaving the Mass Pike, to Great Barrington, that passed through some quaint areas and gorgeous hills. Great Barrington provided a good coffee, though the place was full of tourists. Another 20 miles into New York State to Craryville where our friends live, amid their rural vistas.

Coming home we decided to take the long and scenic route. This took us along Route 209 from the Hudson to the Delaware, following to a certain extent, the route of the old Delaware Hudson canal. Designed in part by the Roebling who also designed the Brooklyn Bridge, this was one of the few canals in the United States to actually make some money. It did this by transporting anthracite coal from the Scranton area of Pennsylvania across the Catskills to the Hudson where it was shipped downriver to New York City--from the 1830s to about 1900. The canal is abandoned now, but several of the old locks are visible and full of water (at least until the floods of Hurricanes Irene and Lee this summer.) Finding out about this canal was another serendipity, much like the discovery of Denison, Ohio on our trip in May.

We had two trips to the beach. The first to Rehoboth to see friend Tom and enjoy time on the sand watching the young hunks...with John completely covered with a huge hat to keep of the sun, and Ben smothered in SPF 100 lotion. Nevertheless the water was lovely, though chilly at first entrance. The undertow was fierce, too.

We had a lovely visit with old friends Kevin and Tim, and a good pre-evening drink at Aqua, on its deck.

Our second trip, the week after Labor Day, was to Asbury Park to see Pat and Michael. The beach was closed but we had a walk along the old boardwalk, which had mostly survived the winds of Hurricane Irene.

Part of our long weekend was to venture into Princeton, a place neither John nor Ben had visited in decades. We loved having coffee at Small World coffee shop on Witherspoon St. and moseying around Princeton campus. Unlike Brown or Harvard, Princeton is more of a piece, with many buildings in similar architecture. Not lacking in space, like urban campuses, the university has been able to position buildings more esthetically. We enjoyed listening to the Princeton Band, which is noted for not being very good but playing with gusto, and playing such instruments as wet-floor signs!

Dinner at Mediterra was early before the theater, but the food was outstanding, Ben had bronzino and a soup, while John had grilled octopus and pork osso buco.

Our visit completed we enjoyed a night of theater, seeing a professional, not student, review of Lorenz Hart's songs, "Ten cents a dance" at the university theater. Nice enough, but not worth going to Broadway.

All in all, a very good summer.



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