Please get me out of here!!!!!!!!

This is my gate at the Washington DC airport where I spent most of yesterday trying to get home from my Indiana visit.  Here's how it went down:

1.  Original flight leaving Indy at 9:34 AM - canceled at 7:30 AM
2.  Rebooked flight through Washington DC leaving Indy at 11:10 AM
3.  Flight out of DC to leave for Albany at 3:05 PM, then 3:30 PM, then 4:00 PM, then 4:30 PM and finally pulled away from the gate about 4:45.
4.  Plane taxis to the runway then stops.  Pilot says we can't go because of weather in our flight path.  We sit on the airplane for 2 hours 30 minutes.
5.  Plane taxies back to gate as they can't keep us on any longer than 3 hours or have to pay a fine of $75,000 per person.  On the way back to the gate, flight is canceled.
6.  Rebook another flight to Albany leaving at 10:00 PM.
7.  Eat dinner at the same restaurant where I had lunch.  Drank a BIG glass of wine.
8.  At 9:40 we board plane for Albany.  Plane leaves gate at 10:20 and taxies what seems like miles.  I'm thinking now we are just going to drive to Albany.
9.  Pilot stops plane and says we have to wait - weather again.  So we taxi back towards terminal.  I look out the window and see gate 38 go by - that's where we started.
10.  Finally get clearance to go and take off at 10:50 PM.
11.  Arrive in Albany at midnight.  Luggage has made it - eureka!
12.  Take shuttle bus to economy parking lot, get in my car, drive 1 hour 45 minutes to Sharon.
13.  Arrive Sharon at 2 AM.
14.  Lesson:  I should have driven home.  I would have gotten here faster and with lower blood pressure.

Summer Fun and Sun Unity Challenge

Summer Fun and Sun Unity Challenge

Summer Sun and Fun Unity Challenge

Sense of wonder and whimsy

When does it happen?  Where does it go?  Why do we lose our imagination, our sense of adventure and play, our ability to "pretend" and "make believe"?

I love to watch Emmett play.  He has no inhibitions and no fear to express himself however he wants.  When we went to visit Casey and Baby Elliott a couple of weeks ago, I gave him a twenty dollar bill to go in the toy store and pick something out.  He came out with this knight's set - helmet, sword and scabbard, and breastplate armor.  He could not wait to put it on, and when he had it on, and his visor was lowered on his helmet (of course he couldn't see!), he WAS a knight.

And before we left to drive over to the Boston area, he got out of the car at our house with his rubber boots, his owl backpack, and his magnifying glass.  He came inside and told me he needed a map. Then with his map in hand, he was off "exploring".

It's sad that we can't get this back, but maybe that is why we love to be with our grandchildren so much - we can relive those feelings and moments through them.

Stonington and Lobster Dinner

Stonington Harbor

The Inn at Stonington

Abbott's Lobster Restaurant

Line up to order your lobster dinner

The menu

View from the beach where you eat your lobster on picnic tables

Foggy Stonington Harbor this morning

Last month we took a road trip for a few days to the southeast corner of Connecticut where we discovered a small coastal town we fell in love with - Stonington.

So last weekend, we decided we would revisit and spend the night.  I made a reservation for Tuesday night at the Inn and Stonington, and we set off Tuesday morning for the 2+ hour drive down to Stonington.  We checked into the Inn and got upgraded to a 2nd floor room, which was a nice surprise.  The innkeepers were friendly and most helpful and our room was perfect.  We had lunch on the pier - lobster roll for David and fish sandwich for me.  Then a walk around town.

At dinner time we asked where a good place to eat might be, and they suggested Abbott's Lobster in the Rough in Noank, CT.  That is pronounced - "no - anc".  Had never heard of it and it won't come up on your GPS either.  But we found it.  This place is only open Memorial Day to Labor Day and has quite the reputation far and wide for their lobster.  We stood in line for 45 minutes just to order - a hot lobster sandwich for me and full lobster dinner for David.  Getting our food took another 30 minutes.  Once you pick up your food, you find a place at a picnic table on the beach, put on your lobster bib, and dig in.  Fun place and David loved his lobster dinner.  I'm not the big lobster fan that he is, but mine was good as well.  They serve your meal with slaw and a bag of potato chips - nothing fancy.  They don't serve liquor but encourage you to BYOB.

We left early this morning to drive back to Sharon, and there was a light fog over the water which was really beautiful and very quiet.  We are already talking about when we might go back again next month and maybe stay for 2 nights - golf and casino for David and just walking and relaxing for me!

Happy July 4th

On July 2nd, at the Lime Rock Racetrack, which is about 8 miles from us, they had scheduled a fireworks display sponsored by the local Rotary Club.  We had talked about going, but when the day came, I had just driven home in heavy holiday traffic from visiting Casey, Dave and Elliott, so it seemed like the easiest thing to just forget it.  We got cleaned up to go out to eat, and then decided we would go see the fireworks after all.  So we packed up our cooler:  peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, watermelon, grapes, yoghurt, diet cokes and some red wine and headed out to the race track about 7 PM.  It was a beautiful evening - cool but not too cool - and clear.  We spread my yoga mat (forgot to bring a blanket to sit on) and sat on it and munched on our picnic and enjoyed watching the people around us.  Fireworks started about 9:15 and were worth the wait.  A glorious display we ooh'ed and ahh'ed over like the rest of the spectators, then back home to Great Elm.

Next year, all we need are Emmett and Elliott along with us!