Bemus Point at Chautauqua Lake

On the way back to Pittsburgh we stopped off at Chautauqua Lake for lunch.  It was a sunny, Sunday afternoon and the streets were full of tourists while the lake was busy with boaters.  A good Italian Fish place right on the lake at Bemus Point, with a floating stage right next to it ...

 Good music.  We had fish sandwiches on the deck.  Great breeze coming off the water.

 Looks like a good line up of musicians all summer ...

 Lots of knick knack and ice cream stores ...

 ... and stately old hotels ...

Anjelica, Lavender and Taking it Easy

We headed over to Anjelica for the "Lavendar Festival".  If this little corner of Western and rural NY State is any indication of the rest of the USA, I'd say that we have a very aware and "back to the earth" country.  There is much interest in organic foods, gardening and crafts.  They were selling organic rabbit meat here!  Wonder what Jubilee would think of that?

Back in Wellsville, we took it easy and had fish tacos for dinner, with a glass of cilantro in the middle of the table.  Lime and cilantro are the key to fish tacos!

When it was time to go, Jubilee put up a hard resistance.  There is no place on earth that she loves as much as Wellsville.

Goats & Gardening

After picking up lunch at the Kinfolk Grocery in Alfred, we headed over to another stop on the "From the Earth" program.

 The goat was all ready for milking!  Unfortunately, she had to wait until the 2PM demo ...

The lecture was all about the art of flower gardening - composition, color, balance, the ever changing environment.  Some people really have a passion for this art; it looks a lot of work to me.   I lean toward weeds and rocks.

 Some of the flowers that caught my eye ...

 My eye tends toward the more "weed-y" looking ones ...

 The Fiber Arts Folks.  I love that they keep this art alive.   Beautiful fabric hand made from all natural fibers and dyes.

The "Hog"

If you are visiting in Wellsville on a Friday night, the chances are high that you will be eating a beer battered fish dinner at the "Hog": The Mahogany Ridge restaurant and bar - "hog" for short - in nearby Scio.

Since this was "Fiji weather" - hot and humid - we put the top down for the drive over.  Knowing what hot and humid is in Florida, I don't think we were quite at the Fiji level, but it was warm for western NY state.

Friends have been gathering here for years, and we had a table full.

Wellsville Weekend (Fiji bound)

Fiji! was the topic. FA had FIJI water at our bedside and along the mantel piece.

They will be Fiji bound on September 2nd, so this was our last visit to Wellsville for awhile.  Their Peace Corps assignment will be for 27 months.

 

Joe is ending 73 years of Felsen medicine in Wellsville with this departure.

Not sure what the "cairn" signifies, but it seems to point into a new direction. More posts from the weekend will follow, when I'm not so tired.

xmas weekend 2011

 We have decided that this is our LAST trip across the state of Pennsylvania.  It was 34 degrees when we left, colder in the mountains, and spitting snow.

 But by the time we got to the Delaware Water Gap, the sun was out and it was warming up considerably.

Great view of NYC from the GW Bridge.  Traffic seemed light, and we took the "lower level".  We hit some snarled traffic once we got over the bridge, but made it in time for dinner at Posto 22 in New Rochelle.

Wonderful  antipasta and tri-colore salad. 

 We finally met Jeff and loved him!

 From here we readjusted to apartment living - (above) walking in basement garage, and (below) the rickety old elevator.

 Jubilee gets in and faces the back corner until she realizes that everyone else is facing front.

 And we take our walks over to the CNR ...

 On Christmas Eve morning the sunrise created a lovely glow in the windows of the chapel.

 Some of the trees have these HUGE buds on them ...

 And the houses of the neighborhood.  On the right is the one (with the ferris wheel in the window) that I obsess over ...

 Stone walls ...

 Then around the corner and back to the Ramsey ...

 Another door to get through ...

 Jubilee made the best of of life in the apartment.

 Some more of the lovely things that are every where around;  all things that Ooma has found as bargains in tag sales.

 We made it over to Scarsdale to see Minnie, Mia and Mary Lou.  This is Minnie's gingerbread house.

 What are these people doing?  Why, watching the Giants-Jets game, of course.  I saw that run by Victor Cruz and am now a fan!

 Blessed Sacrament Church on Christmas Day ...

 Christopher with the extraordinary Christmas Day antipaste!

 The entire antipasta spread ...

 Chestnuts ...

 All of us ...

 The cannolli and spooyadels.

 and more ...

 The GW Bridge as we crossed back over it (for the last time for awhile).  Traffic was light and it was all easy.  Got much colder as we headed west.  Snow today!