Follansbee Inn 2023

 We had our "Last Hurrah" this weekend, with a little getaway in our own home state.  We'd been to the Follansbee Inn before and found it so delightful we decided to go back.

But first, we spent the day at Mount Sunapee State Park.

The Park is only about an hour from the house.  Despite that fact, I hadn't been there since I was a child.

My Aunt Izy and Uncle Lucien would occasionally take me and my siblings out for the day, and Mount Sunapee was one of those places.  I remembered taking a gondola up the mountain and hiking around the top.   

They don't have that kind of gondola anymore, just chair lifts. The chair lift kind of scared Hubby a little, but he bravely tried it and loved it!

The view from the top was stunning!

We had a little lunch at the top before making our way back down.  The views coming down were even more amazing!

We had also booked a boat ride around Lake Sunapee.  The weather wasn't ideal, but we managed to avoid any heavy rain and stayed up on the top deck most of the time.

One of three very small lighthouses.  Lake Sunapee is the only lake in NH that still has working lighthouses.

A view of Mt. Sunapee from the Lake.  We ate our lunch right near that tower at the top.

A most idyllic cottage on the lake.

The biggest most beautiful house on the Lake.  They own the entire point.

Steven Tyler's House

We finally made our way over to the Follansbee Inn.

It's a beautiful old inn.

It has beautiful grounds and landscaping and some amazing hanging flowers on the porch.  Our innkeeper, Dennis, told me he puts the plants in the basement with grow lights in the winter.  He has a hanging Spider Plant with dozens of babies that he's had since the 80's!

We had a nice dinner at Reed North where, surprisingly, they had a young man playing guitar.

And then back to the inn for the most relaxing part of our stay.  The Inn is on Lake Kezar, a small but very pretty lake.  They have a small beachfront with lots of chairs to sit and watch the sunset.

The next morning, we were served a wonderful breakfast. (The food there is outstanding!)  They let us borrow bicycles which we used to ride around the lake.  On the other side of the lake is Wadleigh State Park.    Then back to the inn to read and relax on the beach.  We took out one of their canoes in the afternoon and paddled over to Blueberry Island.   The blueberries were in short supply, but we managed to find a small handful.   When we came back, we tried to swim but the water was very chilly and choppy due to the high winds.

Hubby had the chance to play a little bit of piano.

We spent some time sitting on the porch playing Yahtzee and Scrabble before we headed out for dinner at The Flying Goose.

Then back for another sunset and a game of Trivial Pursuit (we played 2 games and broke even).

The next morning, we had another outstanding breakfast and this time, we sat at a big table and chatted with some of the other guests before packing up to come home.   We left just in time, as it was raining from the minute we got up!

A wonderful, romantic time to spend with my sweet and lovely Hubby.  

Woodstock 2023

 Oh boy! What an Adventure!

We decided it would be great fun to take our good friends, Rick and Kate, out to Bethel, NY to see the Bethel Woods Museum and Performing Arts Center.   Hubby and I had been there in 2015 and seen the Museum but the Performing Arts Center hadn't been built.

We left with great anticipation on Saturday morning with plans to stop at Hubby's favorite place, Rein's Deli.  Huge kudos to Kate, our driver for this leg of the trip, who navigated some pretty fierce traffic on the way.  We got to Rein's about an hour after our anticipated time, and were on our way again after feasting on Chopped Liver sandwich, Pastrami on Rye, and an Everything Bagel with Cream Cheese and Lox.

We made it the rest of the way to our Air B and B in Lake Huntington, NY.  The house was out in no-man's-land, (on Devil's Road - very appropriate!!) but still only 10 minutes from the performance venue.  When we got there, we hit the first and biggest snag of the trip.  There was no water!!  I contacted the owner and got no response.

Since we were already late for the start time of the concert, we figured we'd get going and figure out the house and water situation when I heard back from the owner.

As we were leaving, the rain started.  But, being the good boy/girl scouts that we are, we had anticipated the rain and had come prepared with raincoats and umbrellas.

We parked out in the boondocks somewhere (we were in section F) and hiked into the venue.  Then hiked another quarter mile to our seats!!  It was pouring out the whole time, and we thought we'd be so grateful that Kate had had the good sense to purchase tickets under the roof rather than getting the cheap lawn seats.  However!!  Our seats were along the edge, and the rain was blowing in, so our rain gear came in pretty useful!!

Thankfully, we all have the attitude of "make the best of any situation", and we managed to have a great time.  Eventually the weather cleared up and the sun almost came out.

The tickets we bought were for the "Outlaw Music Festival".  There were four bands, one of which was Willie Nelson and Family!!

In between acts, we went for something to eat.  There were dozens of vendors all lined up along the pathway  (I suspect that's why you had to walk so far - to make sure you see all the vendors!) and Hubby had spied a Calzone vendor so we went there.  Hubby, however, had a bit of a problem eating his!  I had to clean him up like one of my preschoolers!!

The other musical acts were very good, but we were really there to see Willie!  And he did not disappoint!  He came out, greeted the crowd, and got right down to business.  He was accompanied by his son, who was an excellent singer, guitarist and songwriter.  He also had several other musicians, including a harmonica player who was outstanding!

He played a lot of great songs, his son played some very good and funny songs that he wrote, and then Willie played all his old favorites.  It was a great way to end the evening!

Long hike back to our car, (after a stop at the porta-potties) and Kate navigated us out the back way like a pro!  

At 11:30pm I finally heard from the owner of the house, and ..........sorry........can't get a plumber out there until Monday!  It was way too late for us to find somewhere else to stay.  So, like the troopers we are, we went back to the house and made the best of the situation.

In the morning we thankfully had some bottled water so we were able to make coffee and tea.  I had brought muffins and Kate made toast and we were on our way.  Humongous kudos to Rick (my hero!) who found a bucket in the shed and went and knocked on a neighbor's door to get enough water to flush the toilets.  (The neighbor said the owner was a bit strange...hmmm...ya think?)

We made it to the Museum at Bethel Woods right when it opened (and used the toilets that flushed!). The place is just amazing with hundreds of photos of the sixties, and lots of very nostalgic videos.

The Magic Bus!

When you sat inside the bus there was a video playing.  Between videos Tag decided to drive the bus.

There was so much information about the sixties and the musical influences of that time, and about the Woodstock Festival of 1969, by the time we left we all agreed our brains were full!!!

One more thing before we were on our way.  We drove around to the other side of the site, to see the Monument that was put up on the actual site of the Festival.

On the way, we found Tag's road!!

I don't think he knows which way he's going!!

Imagine 450,000 concert-goers descending on this field!!  And they invaded the tiny town of Bethel with a population of 2700.  They said when the Woodstock concert was in full swing, it was the third largest "town" in New York state for that weekend.

Having decided, of course, not to stay the second night, we headed back.  But not before stopping at Rick and Kate's favorite, the Blue Colony Diner, where we got the biggest salads I'd ever seen in my life, and some truly delicious Challah bread.

Rick was our driver on the way home, and he did a great job with only two angry horn blasts!

Despite the obstacles of traffic, rain and no water, we had a great time with great friends.  Rick and Kate are easy traveling companions, always amenable to any plans and easy-going when things don't go as planned.   We got to see what we came out for, and had some great conversations, some laughs, and some great food as well!

Berkshires July 2023

 Hubby and I got to spend a whirlwind weekend in the Berkshires and despite the crummy weather that's been the hallmark of this spring, we had a wonderful time!  We've learned over the years not to let no stinkin' rain get in the way of our fun!

We were headed out to the Berkshires but since we weren't going to be able to check in to our B and B until 3pm, I suggested we stop along the way in Amherst, MA to see the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art.   We had been there once before, a long time ago, but it was time for another exhibit and I'm very glad we went.  

Their main gallery was dedicated to Eric Carle and his association with Japan. I never knew he actually had his first and most famous book, "The Very Hungry Caterpillar", published first in Japan because there wasn't a publisher in America who wanted to figure out the odd layout and page sizes of the book.

He loved the country and continued his association with his publisher there.  He also made friends with Kazuo Iwamura with whom he collaborated on a book called, "Where Are You Going? To See My Friend".   The book was written in English from left to right, and then in Japanese from right to left, meeting in the middle.  They each illustrated their own half of the book.  All the artwork was displayed on the walls in the gallery.

It was a very interesting and informative visit.  I've always loved Eric Carle and often use his books in my teaching, so learning these facts about him was very cool.

And now we were on our way out to Great Barrington, MA.  We stayed at the Thornewood Inn.  It was a very nice place and very cozy.  That first day we were there was nice and hot and sunny, so we swam in the beautiful pool and met some of our fellow travelers.  

On our itinerary for Saturday night, and the main reason for our visit to Western MA, was a concert at the famous Guthrie Center.   This iconic venue was originated in the song, "Alice's Restaurant" by Arlo Guthrie, and the site of the famous garbage incident in the song.   Arlo's family took the venue, which was an old church, and turned it into an entertainment center. It's been on Hubby's bucket list for a long time.

I thought it was pretty cool that we were greeted by Arlo's grandson, Mo.  He was so personable and gracious and very happy to be working at the venue his Grandfather's family created.

The opening set was by a young man named Owen.  The Guthrie Center likes to spotlight new and emerging talent.

The Main Event was Vance Gilbert, a singer/songwriter who has been producing music for over 30 years.   He had some beautiful songs, both sad and funny, as well as some very interesting arrangements of a couple of cover songs.  He was very personable with the audience.  He spent his entire intermission break greeting and talking to people in the crowd.

On Sunday we visited my favorite museum, The Norman Rockwell.  We go there every time we visit the Berkshires.

His beautiful 26" x 95" painting of "downtown" Stockbridge.  We visited one December so we could visit the real Stockbridge, where they recreate this scene every year.

Norman Rockwell was very interested in Human Rights and painted some of his most iconic paintings during the 60's and 70's.   He has a stunning painting of Ruby Bridges entering school escorted by Federal Marshalls.  They ran a video of an interview with the present-day Ruby Bridges, talking about her memories of those school days and how she wondered why no one would play with her.

One of my favorite paintings, part of his 4-painting series on American Freedoms.  This one is called, "Freedom from Want".

Just one of my favorites.

The room downstairs depicting all 321 of Norman Rockwell's Post covers.  They take up three walls!

In the afternoon we visited downtown Stockbridge and guess what Hubby found!!

And guess what Karen found!

Sunday night we drove a half hour to Chatham, NY to the Mac-Haydn Theater to see a stage production of "Footloose".  It's a theater-in-the-round, holding only about 350 people.  We were practically right on stage with the actors!!  We weren't allowed to take pictures during the performance, but the singing and dancing were sensational!  Too bad the theater is so far from home, because next week they're doing "The Sound of Music"!

We packed a lot into a short weekend, but what a trip!!