Although we originally thought there may be a reunion for Mark's high school class (and other classes that went to his same school), we discovered before we even left that there would NOT be a reunion. As it turned out, this was ok because we were SO busy doing various things with Mark's family, we likely would not have had sufficient time for a reunion, anyway!
Friday night, we met Mark's brother Mike, his wife, Kym, their two kids (not really kids now at 25 and 23 but I suppose always kids to their parents) Michelle and Chris, Roberta (Mrs. Sr. B) and Chris's friend Kayla at a local pub/restaurant called The Plantation. As it turned out, the daughter of a couple who Mark went to school with and her SO were the evening's entertainment so he was able to hook up with some high school folk after all!
Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures that night; too busy gabbing and catching up!
The next morning (after a breakfast comprised of coffee, juice, fresh fruit, breakfast breads, cereals (although we didn't eat all of this) and an egg souffle), the majority of us from the night before drove to nearby Binghamton to spend the afternoon with Mark's youngest brother, Kevin. I was especially excited about this as I'd YET to meet Kevin (although we do correspond (he sends me lists of DVDs he wants and he ALWAYS sends me a birthday card) and he calls his brother quite frequently and I've talked to him from time to time). Since it was his birthday that following Monday, the visit was even more timely!
After we arrived and greetings were made, pizza was ordered and we waited in the cafeteria for it to be delivered. This took some time, but, we passed it with Kevin opening up his cards and gifts. Finally, the pizza arrived (we were all starved by then) and, after pizza, there was birthday cake.
I suppose we were there about 2 hours; probably just the right amount of time for Kevin to visit (and with so many people at once, he had 7 of us!)
It was a scenic drive back to the B&B (I love the roads there; they remind me so much of where my Father and step-mom used to own a farm). We decided since it was a pretty nice afternoon (some threat of rain but I was told this shouldn't matter) to go out on Cayuga Lake on Mike and Kym's boat. Yey! Boating! I was jazzed because I always read on their Facebook pages that they are going out on the lake, spending time on the boat, etc., plus, I've seen the pictures.
So, we got out there around 5:00 or so (maybe a bit later) and went up and down the lake, waving to Mark's Aunt Judy as we sailed by their house (is sailing the right term when in a non-sail boat? I don't know!) At one point we were headed into some rain; Mike turned around and we cruised at a fairly rapid speed back up the lake and out ran the rain . That was cool!
Being that we were partaking of adult beverages, yours truly had to use the boat's facilities. I'm pretty sure that this was the smallest bathroom I've ever been in in my life but it was more than functional and the toilet was at a normal height (unlike the pit potties I used from time to time in Italy).
After returning to the dock, we were all hungry again. We went for dinner at a place called The Rose (an interesting set up of a pub like place located in an indoor strip mall (indoor strip mall's are new to me; but, then again, with the winters they must have up there, I'm sure they are this was for practical reasons). The food at The Rose was pretty decent; they certainly had an extensive menu with everything from family favorites like meatloaf to salads to burgers to Mexican food.
By 10 or so, we were winding down. What a full day! And, we were very much looking forward to the BBQ and Mike and Kym's the following afternoon!
Mrs. B
2 comments:
Sounds wonderful, Amy!
Have a lot of friends who went/taught at Cornel in Ithaca & they moaned often about the steep icy sidewalks in winter.
The indoor strip mall use to be just a strip mall. It was built in the late sixties and featured Jamesway as the anchor store.
Can't remember exactly when, but the walls were put up some time in the late seventies, I think.
It was in that parking lot that my father taught me how to drive on ice and recover from a spin on a cold snowy and icy day when I had my learners permit. Those lessons came in real handy when trying to navigate the snowy and icy streets going down into and out of Ithaca every winter.
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