Maine 9/5/2008:
From Connecticut we drove thru Massachusetts and New Hampshire to Maine. We are staying at the Silver Springs Campground. We have enjoyed spending a day at the Old Orchard beach and Pine Point beach. We spent Kathy’s birthday at the Portland Head Light. This lighthouse was built in 1795 and is still in service today. After spending a couple of hours in awe of the view, we moved over to the Two Lights area and had lobster dinner at the Lobster Shack. One great day! On Thursday we went to Camp Ellis and ate lunch at the Wormwood restaurant. We walked out on the Breakwater then took a hike on the trail by the campground...Tomorrow we head for Burlington, VT.
Connecticut:
After spending the week at Gettysburg we spent a non-eventful Labor Day weekend in Thomaston, CT. Bit of a lazy couple of days for us. Sunday morning we walked up to the Goose and Gander restaurant to eat breakfast on the patio. The weather was wonderful!
Gettysburg:
After spending a great summer in Corry, PA we left for a trip to the east coast. Since we didn’t want to just drive interstates we went cross country the first day. It was a bit exciting with 10% grades both up and down for 2-3 miles at a time. Bob was a bit frazzled by the time we arrived. When we arrived in Gettysburg, we stayed at the Artillery Ridge Campground. They have a huge diorama of the battle which was most interesting. We toured the battleground with our tour guide John. He had been working there at Gettysburg as a tour guide for 16 years. We then spent a day going thru the museums. They were most interesting. We had lunch one day at the Dobbins House and another day at the Farnsworth House. Both were Civil War period taverns and both had excellent food.
Corry, Pa
August 15 Today was a sunny day with temperatures in the low 70’s so we drove to Kinzua Dam and Allegheny Reservoir, about 30 miles east of Corry. The dam is on the Allegheny River, was built in the early 1960’s, and was built for flood control, to provide water to be released during dry periods, and to provide hydroelectric power. This area is in the Allegheny National Forest, so we drove to Jakes Rocks Overlook and enjoyed a picnic with a beautiful view of the reservoir. We saw various birds of prey but were never quick enough to catch them with the camera. We hiked a bit in the Rimrock Overlook area and enjoyed a leisurely and very pretty drive back to our campsite.
Bob & Kathy meet Lucy Ricardo & Ethel Mertz in Jamestown,NY
August 1 we drove to Jamestown, NY for the Lucille Ball Birthday Celebration. We enjoyed a Lucytown bus tour where our tour guide, actually named Lucy, shared a wealth of information and knowledge of not only Lucille Ball but the history of Jamestown. Tom Watson, president of “We Love Lucy” fan club was the VIP celebrity on our bus and shared personal stories. Sights along the way included Lucy’s birthplace, her childhood home, cemetery where she is buried with her parents and maternal grandparents, and other non-Lucy places of interest in the area. We met Lucy & Ethel at the noon Birthday Cake Bakeoff and later rode the elevator with them to the Tropicana luncheon where we enjoyed a lunch inspired by the “L.A. At Last” episode. Allan Glaser, author of the official “I Love Lucy” paper dolls offered a salute to one of Lucy’s favorite designers, Elois Jenssen, shared original sketches approved by Lucy, stories about Lucy and Elois’s friendship, and a slideshow of rarely seen photos. Lucy was on hand to provide a mini fashion show. After the show we talked to Allan a bit, he noticed Bob was wearing an Indy 500 shirt and told us about his trip this year to the 500 with his neighbor Andy Granatelli . We visited for several minutes. He was a very nice gentleman. We then toured the Desilu Playhouse and the original Lucy-Desi Museum then stopped in the little village of Sugar Grove, PA for ice cream on the way home.
Kathy has been reading the Jennifer Chiaverini book series Elm Creek Quilts, based in Waterford, PA. After learning Waterford is a short drive from Corry, we went there after church. The town of Waterford is a nice little town although it doesn’t really resemble the town of the book series. However, we had a delicious "Amish cooked” meal at “Sugar and Spice” a quaint little restaurant in the old Eagle Hotel. Besides excellent food, there were antiques and collectibles, crafts and loads of quilts for sale as well as on the walls and ceilings of the restaurant. The atmosphere was as enjoyable as the food! We each left with a doggie bag with enough food for another meal. Definitely a must-stop for visitors to the Erie/Corry area.
July 25 our neighbor Adeline celebrated her 93rd birthday and invited us to join her family for cake, ice cream and a campfire. It was an enjoyable evening listening to family stories and getting more acquainted.
July 15 We spent a beautiful day at Presque Isle State Park on Lake Erie. We enjoyed a picnic lunch on the beach where we watched swimmers, sailboats & jet skiers. We biked 8 of the 13 mile bike trail along both sides of the peninsula where we had lovely views of the Lake. On the way home we had dinner at Torero's Mexican Restaurant, and of course, we had another lovely drive through the Pennsylvania countryside.
Bob has been golfing with other men from the campground and having a great time. We have met such great people here and made several new friends. This weekend is Christmas In July here at the park with a potluck supper Saturday. It’s fun to walk around the campground and see the decorations; ours are sparse by comparison: a wreath and a Father Christmas flag!
July 6 We traveled to Watkins Glen, NY for the Camping World Grand Prix IRL Race at Watkins Glen International Speedway. It was a great race where we saw Ryan Hunter-Reay take the checkered flag for his first IndyCar win. We have become Vito Meira fans and had hopes of his first IRL victory but that was not to be. Hunter-Reay was our third choice for winner, so we were still pretty happy. We met Tim and his nephew in the parking lot, it was their first IndyCar race, they said it was a great experience and they are looking forward to seeing more IndyCar races. After the race, we spent the night in Corning, NY and visited the Corning Museum of Glass on Monday, where we met a family from Greenfield, IN! We took the free shuttle downtown where we had lunch at The London Underground and did some window-shopping. It was a lovely drive through the Allegheny Mts. and across the Allegheny River.
Corning Museum of Glass and trip home.
July 4 We enjoyed karaoke at the campground and watched fireworks shot off from the local Wal-Mart. July 5 we attended our first campground potluck, a Hawaiian-themed affair with delicious food. Later was the weekly bingo event where Kathy won $2.00.
June 30 Our campground neighbors, Al & Doris took us to breakfast at the Dutch Village Restaurant & Gift Shop in nearby Clymer, NY. It is very much a local eatery, with a large “eat-at” bar in the center of the dining room where many locals seemed to know each other and the wait staff knew what these folks usually ordered. There was a white board on the wall that listed local birthdays and anniversaries on that day. It was a very homey atmosphere and the breakfast was delicious. The adjoining gift shop was huge with several rooms upstairs. They carried many Amish-made gift items and Kathy and Doris enjoyed browsing. Next we walked across the street to the local general store which carried everything from boots to groceries to fresh meats to gift items. A very enjoyable morning.
June 28 The campground had a halloween party for the park tonight. The kids dressed up and trick-or-treated, played games and generally had a good time.
June 21 We visited Titusville, about 30 miles south of Corry where we toured the Drake Well Museum, rode the Oil City & Titusville Railroad and learned about the area in Pennsylvania where the modern petroleum industry was launched on August 27, 1859. We boarded the train at the Museum and rode to Petroleum Centre, about a 30-minute train ride south. At Petroleum Centre, we toured the small museum and walked along the boardwalk on a self-guided tour of the area. An excellent model of what the city looked like in the late 1800’s was on display with areas identified on the walking tour although most of the buildings were no longer standing. We re-boarded the train on its return, where we enjoyed the scenery and mailed a postcard from the only mail train still running in the United States. It was an enjoyable day which ended with a delicious meal at The Porters’ House restaurant in Titusville.
June 12 Bob’s former business associate Dean and his wife Carol invited us to dinner at a lovely Victorian restaurant in the country, The Gingerbread House. The meal was delicious and we had our own private dining room. We enjoyed getting acquainted with Carol, sharing stories about our children and grandchildren, and learning of more places to visit in the area. We look forward to spending more time with Dean and Carol during our stay in Corry.
June 14 - We went down to Spartanburg today. Very small town with some interesting things. First we went to an Amish general store. It sold many bulk supplies that the Amish farmers would need for their homes. Cloth for making clothes, oil lamps, basic food preparation, etc. Very interesting. While walking thru the town, we stopped at the Ford dealer. It had one car....A Ford Cobra, Supercharged, 500hp, Red and White Ford Cobra. Last year they sold a Ford GT. These are cars you can seldom find in a large, big city dealer. We had to stop and check it out. It's been peaceful here, we did manage to win a bit at BINGO on Saturday nite. On Wednesday I'm going to take the bus to a casino in New York. Should be interesting. I should have some more pics soon. Check out the pictures on the Racing Pictures page.
Indiana
June 3 We arrive at Harecreek Campground, our summer home in Corry. We’ve already met great, friendly people, had an unusual visitor to our campsite, attended karaoke and bingo. Can’t wait to bike and explore the area!
June 2 We head to Corry, Pennsylvania. We stopped over night at Camp Sandusky campground near Sandusky, Ohio. A nice campground with an abundance of rental cabins.
June 1 Great weather for the Milwaukee Mile race!
May 31 Enjoying qualifications at the Milwaukee Mile
May 30 We traveled to West Allis, Wisconsin for the Milwaukee Mile IRL race
May Spending Time with our kids and their families
May 28 Shelby and Grandma enjoy Ft. Harrison State Park
May 27 Abby and Grandma play at Club Libby Lou
May 25 We attended the 92nd running of the Indianapolis 500 with cousins David, Diane, Bridgette and Cassandra, long-time friends Steve and Jan, and 400,000 of our closest friends.
May 22 Grandma enjoys the Weston Elementary School Talent Show
May 21 Enjoying a delicious meal with Eric and Kat at Rick’s Boatyard Café on Eagle Creek Reservoir
May 13 Grace and Grandma do the Indianapolis Zoo and White River Gardens
May 11 Abby’s 7th birthday
May 2 Patrick and Grandpa explore Wright Patterson Air Force Museum with other Weston Elementary 5th graders
April 23 Kathy and sister Mariann walked the Susan B. Koemen Walk for the Cure in beautiful downtown Indianapolis. A bit rainy but enjoyable and for a good cause.
Memphis
April 14 We arrived in Memphis, TN staying within walking distance of Graceland, Elvis Presley’s home. We enjoyed touring Graceland and the Elvis Presley Museum and having lunch at the Chrome Grille. On Wednesday we took the free shuttle downtown to Sun Studios and the Peabody Hotel. The history behind the Peabody Ducks was interesting as well as seeing their “penthouse suite” and a view of the very swollen Mississippi River. Wednesday afternoon we drove to Sikeston, MO for the night, so we could have dinner at Lambert’s Café, the “Only Home of Throwed Rolls.” It is well worth the visit if you are ever in the area. The food was wonderful, huge portions, many pass-arounds and delicious rolls thrown to your table by the servers.
