G-Pa to Two!

Baby Dos on the way!  I took this picture with Joe's camera when I was visiting a couple of weeks ago.  When I was taking the picture I didn't even notice the signs!  Boy was I surprised when I lowered the camera!

My Journey North - Final Leg: NYC with Ruby

I left Albany on Amtrak and headed down to NYC to spend a week with Ruby and Joe and Joy.  When I arrived at their apartment, Ruby was sitting at the table having lunch.  I didn't want to rush up to her and scare her off for the week, so I kept my distance at first.  I wanted to hug and squeeze and kiss her, but I controlled myself!  Fortunately, she took right to me!  It had been four months since we had seen each other.

We had a fun week!  Playtime, snack time, playground time, walking time.  I was trying very hard to get Ruby to say "G-Pa".  Towards the end of my stay she was saying something like Paa Paa, but she came up with this sign, of pointing and taking her pointer finger and tapping her lower teeth and tongue.  It is hysterical!  Joy and Joe have been teaching her sign for 'eat', 'drink', 'more' and 'all done'. There are two playgrounds within two blocks, in opposite directions, one being right on the East River front.  I love the area and could even see myself living there, oh, except for the financial part!  Several days when Ruby was down for a nap, I would walk around the park and pier areas and relax on the wooden chaise lounges.  All with a spectacular view of Manhattan.

One afternoon we took the subway to the Upper West Side to check out a playground and to meet Joy and then go to the Shake Shack for early afternoon dinner.  The pictures of Ruby and me and of Ruby and The Daddy were taken in Central Park.  We couldn't get into the playground because the elementary school next door was still in session, so we headed over to Central Park where Ruby could drag us around by the finger.

 

On Saturday we took a ferry to Williamsburg for the Smorgasburg.  The weather had been threatening all morning and my cell phone started with this warning signal, informing us that the area was under a tornado warning.  (One did hit down.)  But the weather did clear, and luckily for us, it keep the crowd down at the Smorgasburg.  There were so many different vendors and types of food, it was hard to decide!  I did manage to get some macaroons to take back with us, and Joe and Joy bought some of these fancy donuts.  We ate them before I could snap a photo.  In the photo above, in the lower left hand corner, ruby had just poured a bottle of water over herself!

 

On Sunday we walked over to Testaccio Ristorante, a couple of blocks away.  Joe and Joy had a brunch dish, and I had a panini.  Ruby went to town on the bread and the rice balls (we all did!).  Before walking back to the apartment, we stopped at Manducatis Rustica to pick up some desserts.

It was so much fun hanging out with Ruby.  What a busy little lady!  What with singing, dancing, reading, walking, running, playing on the playground, G-Pa was exhausted!  And up before 6:30 every morning playing!  I wouldn't trade a minute of it!

On my last day there, Joy had to run out to meet some friends, so I got to walk Ruby to sleep for her morning nap.  I got to do that the night before too.  I love it!!!  That's one huge thing I miss by living so far away.  And I got to go to music class with Ruby.  She and I had a ball!

 

I went for some night walks too.  Such spectacular views, and I had to snap a few pictures.  On the night of September 11, the two light beams were lit at the WTC site and the Empire State Building was ablaze in red, white and blue.  (No yellow fringe.  See who gets this reference.)

I must plan a trip back real soon!  My return flight presented some amazing views of NYC.  I could even pick out the Js and R condo building!

My Journey North - Leg 2: The Twinkies

The drive from Wellesley to Albany was fairly uneventful.  Coming thru the Berkshires, I witnessed a beautiful sunset as I was driving between the mountains.  I even thought of fiddling with my cell phone to capture the scene, but figured I'd better not risk injury to myself or others

On Sunday, Ray and Iz had a cookout in their backyard.  What fun!  The last time I saw the Twinkies was last October when they were a week old!  Gabriella and Lucas have grown so much since then!  It's fun to see their different personalities.  Lucas was out there, walking, entertaining us all.  Gabby is more reserved and cautious.  Lucas came right to me when I went to pick him up.  Not so with Gabby. I spent some time trying to maneuver myself near and between them for the photo op.

On Tuesday night, Louie and Linda had us all over for dinner.  I loved it!  It was like Christmas Eve dinner, only without the fish.  That dinner is one of the things I miss most about Christmas.

I also visited some of my aunts and uncles while I was in town.  They all are looking pretty good for upper 80s and 90!  I love seeing family and reliving some of our fun memories!

Next:  Leg 3:  New York City and my week with Ruby

My Journey North - Leg 1: Boston and Wellesley

I planned a three part trip up north.  It was for 15 days.  I think it was the first time in my life that I was away for that long for a vacation / trip.  I left early on a Wednesday morning to fly to Boston where I would meet Gina at the airport.  She flew in from Orlando.  We were getting her moved into her dorm room at Wellesley for her senior year.  Since the dorms were not open until Saturday, we had a few days to hang out.  

On Thursday, we headed over to the Riverside Station to take the 'T' into Boston.  We walked around Quincy Market for a while before heading over to the North End for lunch.  We walked around, checking out all the Italian restaurants.  And we stopped into the Old North Church.

As we were walking by the Dolce Vita restaurant, this older gentleman engaged us in conversation.  He was telling us how good the food was here and how they would make us anything we wanted.  There were so many places to eat, we figured we couldn't go wrong, so we let him lead us in.  And the food was good!  The owner was there, talking to some of the regulars.  There was a group of four people sitting in the front of the dining room near the wide open windowed doors.  Reminded us of the group of oldsters in the 'Return To Me' movie.  After enjoying our meal, we headed over to Mike's to get some cannoli.  We took them over to this open park area to enjoy them in the warm sunny day.

We hung around and did some shopping the rest of the time up to Saturday.  On Saturday morning we headed over to Wellesley to begin the fun job of moving four heavy boxes from the basement storeroom, across the courtyard and into another wing.  Luckily, there was an elevator to take us up to the fourth floor.  Then all the way down to the other end.  As we were carrying the last heavy box down the hallway, a dad who was helping his daughter moved in, asked us if we wanted to use the dolly he had.  Great timing!

All in all, it was fun setting up the room.  Gina's roomie Ellen arrived a couple hours after we did.  She and Gina share a suite.  We headed down to the dining hall for dinner before I started out for Albany for the second leg of my journey.

To be continued . . .

A Visit Up North

First to Boston. Then getting Gina settled in for her senior year at Wellesley. Then to Albany, visiting with the 'Twinks'! Then train down to NYC to spend a week with Ruby and the J's.  I will edit this post after I return home, because software on this iPad sucks big time when it comes to putting together posts.

Does Anyone Really Know What Day It Is?

Fortunately for me, now I do!  My day clock arrived the other day.  Now if I can just remember to give it a glance each day.

Another New Flower

I'm amazed at all the different flowers and plants I come across when I'm on my walks around the neighborhood.  I just can't help myself from snapping a picture!

Evening Walks Along Tampa Bay

It's coming up on 5 years that I moved here to Saint Petersburg.  I find it hard to believe that 5 years have passed.  I still take walks around my neighborhood, Historic Old Northeast.  I frequently walk along Coffee Pot Bayou and along the sea wall which stretches in the parks along Tampa Bay to downtown St. Pete.

And now that I have an 8 megapixel camera in my cell phone, I don't have to carry my bigger camera around with me.  I continue to see beautiful flowers and scenery every where I walk.

I love the lighting in the evenings as the sun gets lower and lower in the sky.

It's fun to catch the dolphins and hear them spout as the glide along.

I've never regretted moving here!

A Universal Day and What I Wouldn't Do To Get Out of Driving

I met Adele and Gina at Universal in Orlando on Friday.  Since I won't be renewing my annual pass, this would be my last visit for the year.  It was my third time visiting on the pass, and I figured it had paid for itself after two visits.  And, I wanted to see the new Minion Mayhem attraction before I cancelled it!

We were determined to make it a leisurely day, and we did.  We met up just before noon, and both got the closest parking spaces we ever had, one row apart, right near the crosswalk bridge to the rotunda. Our first order of business:  lunch!  We went to one of our favorite fast food places at Universal, Richter's.  The food is decent and we like the 100 choices of soda!

We then stopped at the candy / bakery next door for dessert.  The cookies and cream candy apples were buy one, get one free, so Adele and Gina enjoyed them while covering themselves in chocolate cookie crumbs!  I had a chocolate chip cookie that looked like it was just sliced from a giant sausage of cookie dough.  And we got to catch the "Minions" in their dance routine right outside the door!  Adele and Gina got to hang with Margo, Edith and Agnes!

We also did the E.T. ride (I was Raoul again), and the Revenge of the Mummy attraction.  It was hot in the sun, so we decided to head over to the Islands of Adventure for a Butterbeer, posing for a few pictures on the way.

Keeping our priorities straight, and to hydrate, we headed over to the Hog's Head pub for some Butterbeer.  Always good!  We were going to ride the Dragon Challenge roller coaster, but dark clouds were coming in quickly, so we opted to head to Hogwart's and the Forbidden Journey attraction.  It was my longest wait of the three times I've been there (I think just under an hour and a half maybe?) But, we did manage to avoid the downpour, being under cover for the outside portion of the waiting line.  Before we left Hogsmeade, Adele picked up some pumpkin juice from one of the shops.  It tasted like pumpkin pie!

On our way out of the park, we stopped at Confisco Grille for dinner.  We wanted some lighter fare, and it fit the bill!  Exhausted from the sun, but content, we began the trek back to the parking garage (Spiderman section).  As we were crossing the bridge, I reached into my pocket for my car key.  It wasn't there!  Keeping a cool head, (yeah!  right!)  I tried to figure out what to do. I usually wear shorts with cargo pockets, a safe place to keep the key.  I thought the pockets in the shorts I wore would be deep enough.  Apparently, they weren't!  I felt the key all during the day when I reached into the pocket to place or retrieve my sunglasses or pass.  I'm not sure when it vanished, but I'll wager it was on the Harry Potter ride.

Fortunately, I'm a member of AAA Plus, so towing up to 100 miles is covered.  I have a spare key and a valet key back in my apartment.  I figured towing would be the most efficient way for me to get home.  And, I thought it would be nice to have a chauffeur!  Shortly after calling AAA, I received a call from Riccardo, the driver of the tow truck.  The upside: he was he was already on his way to the parking garage.  The downside:  to pick up another car for towing.  He estimated it would be an hour to an hour and a half before he would get to me.  Although we were all so tired, Adele and Gina kept me company.  They played hangman while I plugged my cell into an electrical outlet we found near our cars.

I had one other dilemma.  My apartment key was in the glove compartment and to get into my apartment building requires the key.  So, I called Ralph, my landlord to see if he could meet me to let me in when I reached home.  But I didn't know what time it would be (it was about 10 or 10:30 by now, I think).  He said he would keep his cell on the night stand.  My wheels were still spinning, so I thought I would check to see if I had locked the glove compartment.  Using the flashlight on my cell (love it!), through the window I saw that it was unlocked!  I figured I would ask Riccardo if he could get into the car so I could get the apartment key and call Ralph to let him know he was off the hook!  When Riccardo arrived, he broke in and voila!  Ralph got to sleep.

We left the parking garage just before 11:30 pm.  Adele and Gina enjoyed watching the tow truck pick up the front of my Rabbit.  All was good!  Now for all of us to head home to get some rest!

Did I learn anything?  (That's why you always leave a note!)  I'm going to leave my valet key in the glove compartment (is that good or not?) and I am always going to make sure I keep my key in a locked pocket!  Amen!

ADDENDUM:  Just off the phone with lost and found at Universal.  They found the key!  Going to ship it to me!  YAY!!!

And it's back in my hand today, August 21!

Summer Flowers

Despite the hotter and more humid summer weather, I have been able to take my morning walks.  I usually stay out about two to three hours, walking, sitting in the park, sitting in a coffee shop.  Very relaxed.  And since I got my new cell phone with a much better camera, I find it hard to pass some of the unusual flowers I see without snapping a photo.  So, enjoy!

TNFLAOF* There's No Fool Like An Old Fool

I remember my grandfather (Pop Pop) saying, "There's no fool like an old fool."  And I have been finding that saying to be appropriate more and more as I grow older.  (Or as I prefer to say, grow up.)  My latest example occurred on one of my morning walks earlier this week.

So, I've been downloading tunes to my new cell phone.  I've started listening to a shuffle mix on my walks again.  After walking around for a while, I ended up at the local Panera.  As I approached the order counter, I paused the music player, shut the phone and placed it in my pocket.  I removed the ear buds from my ears and placed them in my other pocket.  I ordered, sat down, enjoyed my breakfast power sandwich and coffee.  On my way out, I added a little more coffee to my cup and headed over to Crescent Lake Park, one block away.

I sat on a park bench for a short while, then decided to listen to some more tunes.  I resumed the music player.  I could see the song playing, but could hear no audio.  I tried several things: stopping, pausing, skipping to the next song. All to no avail.  Then I heard a chiming.  It was a text message from Adele.  We texted back and forth for a while, no problem hearing the chime.  Being a computer, I figured maybe I needed to re-boot the phone and maybe the problem would take care of itself.  I shut it down.  Waited a couple of seconds, then fired it back up again.  As it was cycling on, I noticed something.  Although the ear plug wire was plugged into the phone, the ear buds were still in my pocket.  DUH!

TNFLAOF!!!