Retirement Looms

Hahahahahahahahaha

So I was looking forward to retirement until I saw this photo! I will have to work very hard NOT to reach this stage of life.

Early Birds

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Greenwich Village

Today is our last full day in NYC. We started early with a cruise on the Hudson. Our tour guide pointed out where Robert DeNiro and Nicole Kidman have apartments. He showed us where the Titanic would have docked, if it had made it to New York all those years ago. He pointed out the search crew that was still looking for debris from last Saturday's helicopter/Piper mid air collision. They've recovered all of the bodies, so they must be looking for the black box. We cruised right over the Lincoln Tunnel, and the Holland Tunnel. We cruised by Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.

After the cruise, we rode the subway to Greenwich Village and had some lunch.
There are some really beautiful parks in New York.

We bought some good things to eat at the Magnolia Bakery before Laura had to leave to go to her rehearsal. Garold and I found a park to sit while we enjoyed our sweet treats.

We strolled around trying to find some landmarks that were described in his AAA Guide Book. We managed to find the neighborhood where ee cummings lived for the last 40 years of his life. Many of the buildings in the Village are now owned by New York University.

We finally got tired and abandoned the walking tour. We found a subway station where we could use our very last Metro pass, but not before a crazy person approached us to apologize and tell us that he just got a haircut.

Museum of Natural History

We spent the entire day Monday at New York's Museum of Natural History. And still did not see it all. Really. We got there when they opened at 10:00 and stayed until they closed. The dinosaur exhibit is the best I've ever seen, with real bones, not plaster casts. The origin of the human species exhibit is also very good, including fragments of an early human named "Lucy." We ate in the museum's cafeteria (no choice, since they do not allow you to bring food in). It was OK but rather expensive. This museum could easily monopolize a couple of days. The admission is "suggested," and you can barter with them over how much you want to pay. But the special exhibits are an additional fee. We paid to see the Space Show, which wasn't much more than a video clip with Whoppie Goldberg narrating. After the museum we ate at Katz' Deli (the famous scene in When Harry Met Sally was shot here) and then over to a dessert place recommended by our tour bus guide. I got strawberry shortcake Laura got an individual cheescake, and Garold of course got Tirimisu.

Brooklyn

A tree really does grow in Brooklyn!

Sunday we finished up the bus tour we bought yesterday. We took the subway down to the south end of the island and caught the bus to Brooklyn! It looks a lot like Manhattan, only quieter, not so many people. They offered no stops so we did not get off.

I got some pretty good photos of the Brooklyn Bridge and Lady Liberty.

Our tour guide for this part of the trip was a douch. He actually told us he was making stuff up, and he did! We were the only Americans on the bus, so who knows how many people understood what he was saying anyway. When we got back to Manhattan, we finished up the "downtown" bus tour and luckily we got a really great tour guide. She was a retired teacher who had a wealth of knowledge about NY to share. I got a really funky photo of the Chrysler building that shows what looks like gargoyles, but really are enlarged hood ornaments from automobiles!

After our bus tour we met Laura and took a loooong walk through Central Park before finally deciding to eat at Edgar's near where she lives. It was a charming and quiet little place that is on the very spot where Edgar Allan Poe lived from 1844 - 1845 and where he wrote "The Raven." We walked Laura back to her residence and then caught the 1 back to 50th Street. See how I'm picking up the lingo? The subway here is really the best way to travel. You have to ignore the rats, though. We saw two today, plus a mouse in the park. Oh I almost forgot! We went to 5:00 PM services at the Church of the Redeemer with Laura. The congregation is the youngest I've ever seen. After the service they had free coffee and cookies. Yummy.

L'Ecole

Saturday night we rode a tour bus for an overview of the city. That's the Flat Iron Building above, and below is what Wall Street looks like from a tour bus.

The ticket allowed us to ride for 2 days, so we hopped off to take a ride on the Statin Island Ferry. This is a FREE ride that takes about 30 minutes each way. The timing of the ferry is such that you will spend around 30 minutes on the other side before you can catch the return ride.

Laura met us at the station when we finally returned, and we dined that evening at l'Ecole, a culinary institute here in NYC. We had a 5 course dinner. It started with one stuffed cherry tomato that was wonderful, then progressed on to an appetizer.

I selected a yummy shrimp and pasta dish. Laura and Garold both got a tomato and olive dish. Then we moved on to the fish course. I chose black bass, they both got the scallops. Both were delish! After that we had the main course. All three of us got the steak, the other choices were lamb, veal and duck. It was only so-so. I think we should have gone for the more unusual choices. Then they served a digestive salad, which was one tiny sprig of white lettuce along with a tiny little round piece of cheese and a dot of balsamic. So we ate that and waited impatiently for the dessert menu. Garold and I got the chocolate tart with caramel ice cream, and Laura chose the marscapone with strawberries. They were both very good. We did not get back to our room until at least 10:00 (maybe later, I was too tired to see the clock). We fell asleep almost instantly and slept ... yes, for 12 straight hours! We figure we walked another 8 miles yesterday. And that doesn't count the time we spent riding the tour bus. Our tour guide was a wannabe stand up comedian who was born and raised in NY. We heard about the air crash over the Hudson River (a phone call from Greg) and are very grateful that not only were we not involved, we did not even witness it. Although we did notice some NY Police boats speeding by at Battery Park, and wondered at the time what was going on.
PS: In the middle of the 3rd course Greg called to tell us that our first grandson (Lucas) will be born in December! We were too refined to dance on the table, but WOW! What an awesome surprise!

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Cezanne painted this picture of men playing cards sometime between 1890 and 1892.

I think that Van Gogh painted this vase of irises.

And these sunflowers and chrysanthemums too.

Renoir immortalized himself here.

All of these masterpieces, and many many more, are on display every day in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. I am continually amazed at how much we have in America.

Our second day in NYC we spent the entire day at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It is a bit overwhelming, even in comparison to the huge museums (Vatican, Uffizi, Accademia) that we saw in Italy! There are so many rooms full of world masterpieces you can scarcely see them in one day, much less the 3 hours that the guidebooks recommend. We ate lunch in the museum cafeteria, where the prices were a bit high ($9.00 for a big salad with turkey and tuna) but it was good, and convenient. I took a million photos, which I will post later. I just hope I can remember what they are!!! Laura went out with her classmates to celebrate their last day of classes, and for dinner we went to John's Pizza just down the street from our hotel. Walking around a museum all day can really wear you out, although I must commend the museums here for great organization and amenities. We walked about 8 miles!

New York City

We left home at 5:30 AM yesterday and drove to Orlando to catch a flight to NYC. The Homeland Security officer at the security gate used Garold as an example for all the other passengers waiting in line, because he had all of his liquids (3 oz. or less) together in a zip lock bag! He was everyone's hero. The flight left on time and we had just enough time in Atlanta to catch the connecting flight. But then thatf light was delayed for nearly an hour while maintenance inspected the right wing of the plane. They served everyone a glass of ice water while we waited. After we took off we got 3 packages of pretzels and 2 cokes. This was our lunch. I was feeling pretty sorry for myself until I heard about the passengers on a Continental flight who were held captive for 5-6 hours with no food and an out of order toilet!!!
We finally arrived in Newark and took a bus to Manhattan. You haven't seen NY until you've driven through the Lincoln Tunnel at rush hour in a bus! At last we arrived at the Hampton on 8th Avenue right in the heart of the theater district. Laura met us there and we all went to eat at Tom's Restaurant (where they filmed the exterior shots for Seinfeld). The food was pretty good and reasonable. After dinner we took a walk through Riverside Park on the Hudson. (It was the next day that a helicopter/Piper aircraft crash killed 9 people.) They have a jogging/biking trail that is paved. But watch out for the bikes. We almost got nailed when a group of bikers came whizzing around the corner. The view across the Hudson is of Newark, which, at night anyway, is pretty. Laura said it doesn't look too good in the daylight. We walked Laura back to her residence, in a very quiet clean part of the upper westside, and then came on back to the hotel for a great night's sleep.

RT Reunion 2009

We had our 2nd annual family reunion last Saturday, at George Smith State Park in Southeast Georgia. It was so much fun to get (almost) everyone together and spend some time with the family!

Aunt Shirley was the guest of honor.

Gary was there with part of his family. Christy and her Mom stayed home this year to await the arrival of little Julia Noelle, who had her first birthday Monday July 20.

Mike came with Amy and Darrell. Darrell smoked some Boston Butts and a turkey breast. They were yummy!

I had a grand time hanging out with my granddaughters.

Grace enjoyed my chocolate cake. In fact, Grace enjoys eating, period.

In the afternoon, we had squirt gun wars, went on a walk and took a paddle boat ride. Around 6:00 PM we reassembled in the group shelter and ate again. At the end of the day, everyone needed a bath.

Universal Studios (Take 2)

Yes, we returned to Universal Studios in June. We were just there in May, but luckily, our tickets are good through the end of the year. Laura was visiting us in Florida before her trip to the Big Apple, so we got a chance to take her to Universal.

It was intellectually very stimulating. We went to some of our favorite attractions again (Terminator, Mummy Ride and The Simpsons) and then saw a few others (Beetle Juice and the new Transformers movie).

Laura and her Dad thought maybe they could catch a cab to the next attraction, but, alas, we had to walk everywhere!

We stayed with Greg, who was in Orlando working that week. He had a nice large suite in a brand new place that provided both breakfast and dinner to residents and their guests. What a deal! And the food was awesome. Bacon and eggs for breakfast -- lasagna for dinner. We treated Greg to dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe one night, and then attended the premier of Transformers Revenge of the Fallen.

OK, everything wasn't perfect all the time. We did have rain one day, so we were forced to go to the mall. They have some really nice outlets malls in Orlando! Most of the time, the weather was great (hot, but great). Our last day there was a beautiful day, the sun was shining, the skies were blue with just a few little white fluffy clouds, so we spent a few hours at the pool.

Ahhhhh! It's a rough life, but someone has to do it!

Laura was reading The Time Traveler's Wife while working on a tan. I am #16 in line to get this at my public library--it must be good!

Georgia on my mind...

This May we took a week off to go to Georgia and see our family. We stayed with Greg and Gloria for the first several days, and they fed us very well. Greg grilled some awesome burgers, and Gloria made quacamole from fresh avocadoes that was out of this world.







It was nice to have time to spend with Claudia. She's 2 now and she has quite an active imagination. Here she is on an excursion with one of her dolls, possibly an imaginary picnic.









We took a day trip to Brass Town Bald. It was so cold there -- 60 degrees!

Claudia hiked most of the way all by herself. She was pretty proud of herself for climbing up on this rock.

On Tuesday we went over to Cumming to see Andrea at work. She read books, sang songs, and gave a puppet show, all about the color red.

After she got off work we went to the park to play a while. Isabella likes to clown around on the jungle gym.

And she likes to swing, too.

On Friday we dropped by the pool to see Elena swimming with her goggles on.

Her mom was relaxing with a book.


We went up to Canton to see Garold's old friend Joe. They have a brand new home, and were nice enough to let us spend the night. We went out for dinner at an Italian restaurant and then to the movies to see Angels and Demons.

Friday night we attended the Roswell premier of "The Producers," to see Laura perform. She had several parts in the play, but my favorite was the little blind lady. Laura has a flair for comedy that she used to advantage in this role. Here's one of her "head shots," showing a little attitude. You should avoid provoking this look from Laura if at all possible!

On Saturday we went to Grace's birthday party, at Magnolia Springs State Park. She is already one year old! Aunt Laura brought her a stuffed animal called "Bolt." She heard that Grace loved the movie!

Claudia offered Grace some advice about opening birthday presents.

Grace's Mom and Dad were on hand to show her how it's done. She was very appreciative of all her gifts.

Grace was a gracious party hostess. She stopped to chat with this cute little boy, to make sure he was having fun.

Meanwhile, Isabella and Claudia put their heads together to try out some new markers.

The next day we all got together at Fordham's for lunch before heading home. Look what happens when three mommies have three cameras!

Later, Grace got some quiet time with her Daddy to read a book.

She even got to go swimming at the Trellis Garden Inn pool. After the swim, she ate a strawberry, and laid out with her Mom.

Alas, our trip was over and it was time to say goodbye to the Kozee family.

Garold said goodbye to Kody, who was very happy to see him, as usual.

We were a little tired, but very happy that we got to see all of our children and all of theirs.

Here we are just before leaving to go back home, with Julie and Grace.