One tactic we Northerners use to pass the time until Spring is to travel- south, preferably. We are very fortunate to have our daughter Erika and son-in-law Mike living in Arlington, VA., where we recently spent an enjoyable weekend. We were quite pleased to be able to walk outside without a coat- and to see green grass and note that the spring flowers are already poking through the ground. It has been a very mild winter for most of the Northeast-even for us here at home. However, the sun was shining in VA, which it hasn't done here in months.
We ate heartily of Mike's culinary creations, enjoyed meeting their good friends Alison & Paul, and helped IMMENSELY with the kitchen renovations by changing the hinges of the refrigerator door from one side to the other. I am happy to report that their new kitchen is well, splendiferous, although it is still not fully finished. THAT saga deserves a blog all its own!
Of course our route to & from VA takes us by many bodies of water, where we always check out the boats! Washington, D.C. has a liveaboard community in the Potomac that consists not only of houseboats and cruisers, but floating condos that have become quite elaborate.
On our way home, we also enjoyed the waters (and crabs) of the Chesapeake Bay area as we headed west from DC through Annapolis into eastern Maryland & Delaware.
We were only home a few days when we jumped back into the car, this time to head to what we NYer's call "the City". Once again, we encountered sunshine and temperatures close to 60 - allowing us to spend hours walking the city streets and Central Park, including a tour of the zoo. We have discovered a nifty little hotel (nifty little INEXPENSIVE hotel) on the upper west side. Tom knew this hotel was meant for us because it is three blocks from -yes, you guessed it- the 79th St. Boat Basin, where once again we discovered a liveaboard community. (Sorry, no pictures of this one.) We attended a black tie dinner dance (courtesy of Cyndy's company) at the Metropolitan Club, which the famed financier J.P. Morgan built because he had been denied entrance to one of NYC's most exclusive clubs in his day. We thank him for getting his revenge, and truly appreciated the beauty and opulence of his club.
Now we are home once more, where we are experiencing unseasonably warm temperatures in the 40s. Dare we hope for an early spring and boat launch?
We are eagerly awaiting a visit from our son Chris, daughter-in-law Laura, and grandson Owen who are taking a break from their life in Prague, and are coming back to the States to visit family and friends.
O's and a wooden spoon! Life doesn't get any better than this!
