Visit with Mary Bea and Kurt in Poughkeepsie, NY

Since Poughkeepsie, NY is only a day's drive from Cleveland, we decided to make the trip to visit my good friend, Mary Bea, and her husband, Kurt.  Mary Bea recently had her leg amputated and is now getting used to her prosthesis.  She got lots of practice while we were there.  Our first outing was to a farm where she and Kurt used to live.  The owners sold the property to some nuns with the promise that they would keep it as a working farm which they have done.  They make cheese and have a nice little shop.

When we got back to the house we had a really nice visit.  I got the job of throwing out the spoiled alcohol drink that had curdled.  Yuch.  But I was happy to help out.

We did enjoy drinking some Sambuca  and making up silly rhymes to go with it.  We laughed pretty hard.

They live near a walking bridge that goes across the Hudson River so we did that.  It was a couple of miles.  Mary Bea wisely decided to use her wheel chair for this little jaunt which made it much more enjoyable for her.

We didn't realize the culinary pleasure of eating at diners.  We  ate at three different ones, and we enjoyed the meals at each one.  Here are some pictures of one of them.

Each diner greeted you with this enticing display of desserts.  It was hard to resist them although we usually did, except for once.

Nearby is Hyde Park which is where FDR was born and spent a lot of his years.  We visited his house and his library.  We didn't see all of it, but most of it.

FDR and his wife, Eleanor, are buried on the grounds.  They are surrounded by a beautiful garden.

This is a display on the grounds with materials from the Berlin Wall with a great message about freedoms.

This is FDR's library.

Nearby is the Vanderbilt Mansion.  It wasn't open, but we took this picture of the view of the Hudson River from the estate grounds.

We drove to a nearby town, Rhinebeck, but since it rained we didn't get to see much.  It was a nice quaint town.  We ate some delicious pizza and ice cream at the Village Pizza Restaurant.

We had a nice visit too.  Picture time.

It was hard to say good-bye.  It was so nice to be able to spend some quality time with a long lost friend with whom I have reconnected.  Hopefully there will be other visits in the future.  Thanks, Mary Bea and Kurt, for a wonderful time.  Until next time.

Visit Nancy and Eric and Their New House

Another great thing about visiting Ohio is that I also get to visit my sister, Nancy, and her husband,  Eric, in Cleveland.  They are not able to join us for our sibling get together in Flagstaff so I was happy to have the opportunity to visit on this trip.

The first night we went to a place for drinks and a bite to eat, the Flat Iron.  They also had some live entertainment, and Nancy got into the swing of things and danced to the music.

While we were there this big ship floated down the Cayahoga (sp.) It was huge and it's amazing it can maneuver the turns, but they did.

We decided to take a little cruise to enjoy the area.  It was a great day for it.

When we got up the river a ways, we had to turn back because of this ship.  I guess ships have the right of way.  Then we just headed to Lake Erie to enjoy the views from there.

First we had to wait for this train.  When it was gone, the bridge went up for us to pass.  Cleveland has a lot of bridges and they have to go up and down as needed.

If  you know about Nancy's newest endeavor as an actress, you have probably seen her performance in "Top Side."  It was filmed on location in the submarine in the background of this picture and in the next picture.

We walked by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but it was closing time.  They hadn't taken in this piano though.  They invite you to play so Nancy and I did.  We played "Chopsticks" and "Heart and Soul."  Just like the olden days at home.

I took a bunch of pictures of Nancy's and Eric's new house.  They have a lot of boxes unpacked, but things have not been put in their places yet.  It was a very nice house with a lot of nice little touches that the previous owner had added to make life easier.  Some examples are a laundry chute, build in cupboards, a switch inside to open and close the door of the detached garage, and a system for exhaust for the radon.  We need that system in our house.  Anyway, I think they'll love living in this great house.

Upstairs there are two bedrooms.  We stayed in this one which is Eric's office.  We slept in the futon on the right.

 Second bedroom.  Off to the right is the attic.  You just open the door and it's right there.  It has a huge attic fan that really cools down the house.  The white metal shelving on the right is put in front of the door to the attic to keep the cats out of the attic.  The attic will be a great place for storage.

 Stairway.

The master bedroom in downstairs.  I can't tell if this is Melbec or Sasafrass.  The cats seem to have adjusted pretty well.

Here's the living area looking into the dining area and way in the back is the door to the kitchen.

This is a little side area in the living room.  Nancy says it used to be a bedroom, but the previous owner knocked down the wall to make more living area.

The kitchen is really nice and came with the very nice stainless steel appliances, a real plus.

This back porch area is a great place for their bicycles and for storage.

 It's best not to back out of their drive way.

Eric especially likes their new gas range.  Notice there are extra burners, and there is a small oven on the left side.  

They have a really nice pantry.

 The back chimney shows how the radon is vented out of the house.

Nancy and Eric are ready to go to the Brown's game.  They got up early to have breakfast with us.  They may have gone back to bed after we said good-bye.  Too bad the Brown's lost.

We walked around the corner to have breakfast here.  It was a great place.

It was so much fun to visit Nancy and Eric.  Thanks for your hospitality.