June 2017 Crossing Day 1

Slept like a log. Woke to pigeons chattering (cooing) on the ledge beneath my bedroom windows. Misty sort of drizzle, scolded me for leaving my umbrella (I believed the weather report of rain for late afternoon!) 

Jean and Letreze texted to note the rain that flayed Middleburg's area as soon as I left Florida! I guess I need to leave more if my absence equal rain!

Bought breakfast at Morton Williams (denied myself a Starbucks) and dined in my suite watching NYC news. Sheila called to say that about 5 minutes after we left the diner and went our separate ways down 57th street, TWO manholes blew. I asked if those could have been the ones belching steam as we walked by them. She concurred. Yikes!

Caught a cab to Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, rode past Chelsea Piers and Battery Park into the tunnel and into Brooklyn. The ride took 26 minutes. A much improved time frame than the nearly 90 minutes from LaGuardia yesterday! 

Boarding was a breeze. I like being diamond status. Helped a couple of beginners who thought Platinum referred to their credit card!!

My cabin 8077 is between two life boats! I can seen the sea a bit, not that I really care, as long as I have sunlight I am good. My two experiences with inside cabins proved to me that living in a cave will never be my voluntary choice. Toasted Miss Liberty when we finally (2 hours late) left NY harbor.

Why the huge delay? The FBI were on board investigating the disappearance of a woman who boarded at Southampton but did not disembark in NYC. Her cabin is next to Sheila's and when Sheila arrived the agents were gloved and going through the packed luggage. Across the hall, the cabin door is closed with Quarantine stickers and tape, that definitely shows the entering and leaving of various persons. (Picture later) The captain announced twice the delayed sailing was due to FBI investigation. Our 5 PM sailing took place at 7:23! The ship is rife with speculations!!!

Sheila arrived about 40 minutes after I did. Texted me at 12:45 to meet her in Britannia ASAP as our dinner table is located in Siberia and she's not happy. 211 is on the third tier away from the windows with no view of the dinging room floor, all you could see when seated were the heads of the waiters on the tier below. Neither of us has any idea what we did to anger the dining room gods!! While waiting to speak to maitre d', we met Frank and Merle, charmingly irascible gent and sprite of a wife. Married 68 years and still blooming! Eric (waiter from 3 years ago) greeted us. 

Grabbed a latte in Sir Samuel's while we talked about the passengers entering - lots of elderly, more dogs than usual and more children than expected. Strolled to Carinthia Lounge and I stopped for a small Greek salad as dinner is hours in the future and breakfast was a while ago. While sitting there, Miranda (Cali woman who was terrified on sailing two years ago until Captain Nick Oprey toured her around the bridge and demonstrated the safety features) walked up and hugged us. Her husband hugged me saying she was more excited about seeing Sheila and me again than the voyage! She and I have emailed a few times over the years. It was delightful to see her and know that she cherished Sheila's and my interventions back in the day!

Back to cabin to unpack. About 6:30, Sheila called to meet her in Kings Court so she could get curry. We sat next to Linda and husband from Ontario. He is a retired CSI and she a retired HR director. Conversation got a tad bloody and gory as she described cases.

Dinner was fraught with anecdoatal tension as the woman seated next to me is louder than I am and knows everyone in theater and the occult arts in New Orleans. Anne, a teacher from Manchester, UK, shared that the recently bombed concert was not 100 feet from where the IRA bomb destroyed most of Manchester center 20 years ago! I was very pleased (later) to find I do not have to return to that table as Sheila and I have been moved to the main floor.

Met Stephen and Donald in Commodore Club and topped off the evening with drinks and conversation. Not sure who was more excited about seeing each other, them or us!!! They still have their scarves from 2 years ago!!!

NYC May 30

Letreze picked me and off went went to JIA. No problems. I am intrigued that not matter how one slices it, the journey from the Burg to JIA takes an hour, although as Letreze pointed out, it IS a much easier hour than before. The Super Bowl coming to Jacksonville did accomplish wonders as far as airport traffic patterns go!!

When I checked in, my bag weighed a pound over the limit (despite the fact that my luggage scale said it as 3 pounds under! Guess what is being trashed as soon as I return?). The counterman said "I'll pull it off the scale and you can remove something that will keep you from spending $100!!!!" When he went to move the bag, the scale dipped a pound. he jiggled it back and forth for a minute, then looked me and grinned, "You're good to go" and slapped a "heavy" sticker on my case, handed me my boarding pass and off I went! 

Flight was short and quick. Read a book (surprise, surprise) and before I knew it was landing at LaGuardia. Flight was short and quick.  Read a book (surprise, surprise) and before I knew it was landing at LaGuardia. cab to the hotel took forever as the traffic was horrible. BUT this hotel is totally worth any wait.

The Salisbury has been in existence since the 1930's and feels solid. It reminds me of The Albermarle as the walls are so thick that you never know you have neighbors.  Checking in continued my run of luck as I was upgraded to a suite! (I only had to pay the extra tax...about $7.)  FIVE windows spread over the two rooms! THREE full closets!  I hated having to leave it to walk around the city. It felt like coming home. Nothing plastic or corporate about it at all. 

Here's the deal on it. It was originally built as a residence hotel by the Calvary Baptist Church next door and, for a while, was the residence for church visitors. In the early 1950's it became a regular hotel, though still owned by the church. The only remaining live-in tenant is the pastor of the church. It seems to be one of those well-kept secrets as even old time NYC visitors I know have never head of it. Sheila recommended it on the off chance I could get a room because it was one subway stop from her home without a long walk to the subway station.  Its location is perfect - right across from Carnegie Hall!!!! Though there is no room service or restaurant, a 24 hour Morton Williams Fresh Food as well as Starbucks are across the street.

The rain quit as soon as Sheila arrived and we set off to explore. She took me to see the fabulous mosaics of the 2nd Avenue subway, a project that was years in the renovating. I was majorly impressed with the 76th Street section, less so with the flying paper and huge single faces of the other two sections.Check out the pictures below. My favorites are the lineman and the worker looking up at the balloon. Enlarge the images to see the incredible detail of this effort. I've included here a link detailing a bit more about the art. The next time you're in NYC, make it a must-see!

We tried to dine at Session 73, one of her old hangouts, but it wasn't yet open, so we went with her alternate choice - The Brooklyn Diner, Superb food, though not at all the diner-food I anticipated. My crab cake burger was superb..a bit of bacon and some tangy sauce, the best French Fries, bar none that I have ever eaten (even Sheila ate all hers!!!) and great light salad with a lemon zest dressing. I nearly licked the plate! 

As we read the menu, Nick Calabrese, maitre d', came to check on us and Sheila asked about the Noodle Kugel Sundae! I asked what a noodle kugel was and Nick gift us with a HUGE piece of warm noodle kugel (sans sundae). We promised Nick postcards from the UK and left with his email and snail mail addresses. I rolled out of the restaurant and strolled down 57th Street to the Salisbury! Sheila headed home.

I flaked as soon as I hit the sheets. It had been a long but fulfilling day! 

Santee - Family Weekend

 It is COLD and I did not bring the correct clothing, nonetheless, it is good. I like being on the pier. The cabin kind of sways as the bass boats go by. Turns out there is a tournament here this weekend. That moment when one of those gorgeous sparkle-paint Ranger boats burbles out of the channel and roars out on full plane into the lake is exhilarating. Of course, the fishermen look like Inuits, they are so wrapped against the cold wind!

FB is making breakfast while Bill, Nancy and I chat. Actually we are telling stories of our childhoods and recalling the 39 Summer Street adventures in the fields, the Island, College Pond, Beaver Brook, Nelly Conant's apple orchard and rhubarb patch and her ghost, how small our house was though we thought it was huge. 

Then the timer went off for FB's blueberry coffee cake and that's when we realized the oven in his cabin didn't work, so over I came to mine. Started the stove here, FB transferred the not-anywhere-nearly-done coffee cake to this stove and now I'm using the baking time to blog a bit.

 That's Bill walking toward me and some kind of pregnant looking heron flying off the roof of the Nixon cabin. 

 I brought my scanner and laptop so we could divvy up and share about a hundred photos from Mom's extensive files. We had a blast, as each picture seemed to spawn more than one memory. Caleb was amazed to discover the oldest picture we have is a 1878 tintype of Fritz and his baby sister in Germany. And here it is!!

Hannah and her fella, Matt, had to leave Saturday afternoon for a previous commitment, but they were around long enough to visit with Cousin Karen. Too bad they missed her awesome chili and FB's traditional Mr. Omelet experience. But perhaps next year.                                                              

The adults talked and talked and talked as we shared pictures and memories. Matt learned quite a lot about our family.

Caleb and his friend, Buddy, went off on a nature hike with Bill and relished a tree climbing experience! 

Saturday night after Karen's chili, Bill brought out the makings for s'mores and the brief discussion of the possibility of microwaving the marshmallows was stridently nixed by Karen who declared The Aunt Ellen Rule controlled ANY s'more creation - a real s'more always requires actual flames heating marshmallows. So, she took Caleb and Buddy down to the lakeside grills to instruct them in fire creation.

By the way, it's been so long since I made a s'more, I had no idea marshmallows were now made the size of the Graham cracker! I had to hunt all over to find a stick strong enough to support mine while I toasted it!

My s'more creation was so successful that Bill borrowed my stick and thoroughly enjoyed his treat! 

A squall off the lake drove us indoors where we tried to watch the classic film The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming but encountered a few snags, not the least of which was Caleb had to set up the TV, the adults couldn't figure it out. About 30 minutes into the movie, we all pooped out and went to bed!

Another winning family weekend at Santee. FB even got in some fishing, though nothing bit on his lure. We were compelled to dine on Bojangles chicken! Nancy quipped that once again she never opened the books she brought to read, but I didn't either!

Weekend recap: The weather cooperated. The pier cabins were delightful. The conversations were stimulating as well as thoughtful. Memories were brought into the light and dissected. Future plans were shared. The Mayer siblings and their families renewed their bonds...and that's what Santee is all about!

PS - Marty REALLY despises doing dishes with a washcloth!!! Next year, scrubbies are a must!!