I'm always annoyed to hear about more protests on the news. Then begins the slew of angry, argumentative conversations and pictures on Facebook. Jon and I saw the beginnings of the Wall St. protest and really half of the people there had no idea what was going on, that was obvious.
I'm not the most informed person when it comes to politics, I'll admit that. What becomes frustrating is people's entitlement and need to complain without action. Protests are a form of action but if you're upset about how banks handle things, take your money out, keep your money in a jar buried in your backyard. When did people start continually supporting mediocrity or anything less? Words mean nothing, action means everything. By the way, where do all those protesters get their poster boards, markers, and blue tarps for sleeping in a park to protest with?
There's me on my soapbox. To my point....
After my initial reactions of frustration I start to sadly realize people are dying to belong to a cause. On the surface we can say we're protesting greed, which might be true, but in reality we want to belong to something that makes a difference. We don't like how things are going and we want to help make a change for the better so we jump on the first bandwagon idea.
I know God created us to have a longing for him and when we refuse to be in a relationship with him we search to belong to something. It starts with easy things like groups at school or work, then it moves into larger scale gatherings such as the political protests, but no real action or change happens because I believe people are focused on the wrong things. They are chasing after futile outcomes. Now I know it can be argued the civil rights movement has had a lasting effect and to a point I agree. Things are still very imperfect among races but what if instead of spending time on protests we spent time seeking after God? Seeking to love each other as God loves us? Would there be any need for protests against how people are treated? If instead of spending hours on a street corner protesting greed we all took a look at how we are spending the resources God has entrusted us with and start using those to serve each other.
The world is imperfect and even if we spent our time seeking after God there would still be problems. That's just life as it is. I really do believe more change, more transformation can take place if we spent our time radically living a life Jesus has called us to live and less time protesting the evil things in this world.
*Side note: I'm not looking to argue with people on specific topics of protests. I am willing to read respectful comments and/or disagreements on the idea of wanting to belong to something.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
New York City, continued
Tuesday we were up bright and early, just because we're early risers. Our first stop on the list was Central park so we decided to head in that direction and look for a place to eat breakfast. We couldn't find one right away so we walked through Central Park for a bit, saw Bow Bridge, which is apparently the most romantic bridge around, then headed back in to the city for breakfast. After walking around the area for a good 20 minutes without much luck we just decided to head to our next stop which was Battery Park. We'd look for food over there.
As soon as we emerged from the subway we saw a cafe on the corner called George's. We ate breakfast there which was just your typical egg, toast, hashbrown, and bacon kind of place. It was good enough since we were starving by this point. We walked over to Battery Park and found a good viewing spot for the Statue of Liberty. I was really bummed we couldn't go see it (we didn't have the time and I think it's closed for a while) but at least I saw it in the distance. It's quite large.
After Battery Park we went to Wall St. When we got there we were a little confused because there were so many streets fenced off and it wasn't obvious where any of the famous landmarks were. We walked around for a bit and finally found the New York Stock Exchange building which was pretty. We also found the Trump Building (we have some funny pictures to show once we do a little photoshop) and a building with a George Washington Statue outside. There were a lot of people walking around in their business suits with places to go, stocks to buy and sell. Here the buildings were really close together it was crazy. We also saw the start of the Wall St. Protest. The funny thing was all those sleeping in the park nearby had bright blue tarps, all looked brand new and Jon and I joked they probably picked them up at Wal-Mart or some other large corporate store.
We had planned to eat lunch at a hot dog stand on the sidewalk but it was a little early for lunch and we were so tired of walking we wanted to find a place to sit down. We decided we'd wait for lunch and head over to the 9/11 memorial early. You have to reserve your tickets ahead of time or if you're lucky buy some just prior to entering. We had a 45 minute wait before we could get in the memorial so we found a place to sit and waited it out.
The 9/11 memorial was perhaps my favorite place we visited. After waiting in line we were directed through security (which was exactly like airport security but without complaining...it was kind of weird.) There was a lot of construction still going on where the towers were so after walking through a line of fences we walked into the open area of the memorial. It was very simple. We walked first over to the South Pool. These pools were so enormous and breathtaking. The noise of the water falling seemed to drown out most other noises. There were flowers and flags placed at specific names. There were a few tears as I thought of all the people who rushed in to the danger, all the family members who left behind small children and spouses, and ultimately the names followed by, "and her unborn child." A couple asked Jon to take their picture in front of one of the pools and we talked later about how it was a little weird to be smiling in a picture in a place where such death and destruction had taken place. There was a small museum in a gift shop as you exited the memorial. The real museum has not yet been finished.
From the memorial we headed to China Town and Little Italy for lunch before the leaving the Big Apple. As soon as we got off the subway there was Chinese writing on every single building. It really felt like we were in a different country. Then we simply turned left on to one street and all of a sudden it was Little Italy. We looked up a restaurant on Urban Spoon and had a delicious plate of Chicken Parm. We then hit up a quaint Italian Bakery on our way out and had some DELICIOUS dessert. Jon got a slice of Tiramisu and I got a chocolate mousse dessert. Yum! I could have stayed there and had a few more desserts.
We headed back to Penn Station, or so we thought. We caught the wrong subway and went in the opposite direction but we had plenty of time to find the right one and head back. We got to Penn Station in time to catch an early train so we paid a little extra and headed back to Albany early.
We got back to the house at about 8:30. Ate some pizza and went to bed. We left for home the next morning.
Jon and I enjoyed our time in New York. It was kind of like a novelty seeing all the famous places. There are so many in one spot. Everything is so expensive though and there are so many people I really couldn't imagine living there of my own free will. We also talked about not really wanting to go back. For what? I told Jon the only reason I'd like to go back is to actually visit the Statue of Liberty, see the wall of names at Ellis Island because I have family members listed there, and perhaps go to a Broadway show. I'm glad we got to visit.
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| A view from Central Park |
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| Statue of Liberty from Battery Park |
After Battery Park we went to Wall St. When we got there we were a little confused because there were so many streets fenced off and it wasn't obvious where any of the famous landmarks were. We walked around for a bit and finally found the New York Stock Exchange building which was pretty. We also found the Trump Building (we have some funny pictures to show once we do a little photoshop) and a building with a George Washington Statue outside. There were a lot of people walking around in their business suits with places to go, stocks to buy and sell. Here the buildings were really close together it was crazy. We also saw the start of the Wall St. Protest. The funny thing was all those sleeping in the park nearby had bright blue tarps, all looked brand new and Jon and I joked they probably picked them up at Wal-Mart or some other large corporate store.
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| New York Stock Exchange |
The 9/11 memorial was perhaps my favorite place we visited. After waiting in line we were directed through security (which was exactly like airport security but without complaining...it was kind of weird.) There was a lot of construction still going on where the towers were so after walking through a line of fences we walked into the open area of the memorial. It was very simple. We walked first over to the South Pool. These pools were so enormous and breathtaking. The noise of the water falling seemed to drown out most other noises. There were flowers and flags placed at specific names. There were a few tears as I thought of all the people who rushed in to the danger, all the family members who left behind small children and spouses, and ultimately the names followed by, "and her unborn child." A couple asked Jon to take their picture in front of one of the pools and we talked later about how it was a little weird to be smiling in a picture in a place where such death and destruction had taken place. There was a small museum in a gift shop as you exited the memorial. The real museum has not yet been finished.
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| The South Pool |
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| The North Pool |
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| Freedom Tower |
From the memorial we headed to China Town and Little Italy for lunch before the leaving the Big Apple. As soon as we got off the subway there was Chinese writing on every single building. It really felt like we were in a different country. Then we simply turned left on to one street and all of a sudden it was Little Italy. We looked up a restaurant on Urban Spoon and had a delicious plate of Chicken Parm. We then hit up a quaint Italian Bakery on our way out and had some DELICIOUS dessert. Jon got a slice of Tiramisu and I got a chocolate mousse dessert. Yum! I could have stayed there and had a few more desserts.
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| Little Italy |
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| China Town |
We got back to the house at about 8:30. Ate some pizza and went to bed. We left for home the next morning.
Jon and I enjoyed our time in New York. It was kind of like a novelty seeing all the famous places. There are so many in one spot. Everything is so expensive though and there are so many people I really couldn't imagine living there of my own free will. We also talked about not really wanting to go back. For what? I told Jon the only reason I'd like to go back is to actually visit the Statue of Liberty, see the wall of names at Ellis Island because I have family members listed there, and perhaps go to a Broadway show. I'm glad we got to visit.
Saturday, October 8, 2011
New York City
Monday morning Jon and I headed to back to Albany to catch a train to the city. We had a rental car and were going to return it at the airport and then catch a cab to the train station.....until we realized it would cost us $40 to do that. So Jon's dad kindly let us take his truck to park at the train station so we could then drive ourselves back to their house after our trip to the City. We left Hadley at the house, much to her chagrin. She kept saying, "I wanna go!" like she was being left out. It was kind of sad.
I drove the truck and Jon drove the rental car in front of me with the GPS system. Well we were in Albany, on toll roads which are totally foreign to me, when the GPS decided to take forever to update. As soon as it did Jon saw we needed to be exiting right that second. So in the little rental car he zipped over to the exit and I kept driving on since the truck can't really just zip over two lanes to an exit. Thus I became lost in Albany with about an hour and half to get to the train. After several frustrating attempts to get myself to the airport I was starting to give up and to stop and ask for directions. I didn't have any cash on my for toll roads and so I was nervous about getting on the highway only to find out I had to pay. Finally I saw a sign for the highway and decided I'd just get on and see where it took me. Luckily, it took me to the airport without having to pay any tolls. I picked up Jon and we made it to the train station with time to spare.
It was our first time on a commuter train and we had no idea what we were doing. They wait until 10 minutes before the train departs to announce which gate to go to. We were nervous we would miss it but we made it. The seats had so much space it made airplanes look like miniature toys. The train followed the Hudson river south to New York city and we got to see a lot of the country. We even saw a Bald Eagle with a fish in its talons about 20 yards from the train, it was pretty cool. Two and a half hours later we arrived in Penn Station.
From Penn Station we started our adventure. We stopped at Eataly for lunch because we were STARVING. We had no idea what the place was like so when we sat down at the first table we could find it happened to be a menu of only seafood and vegetarian plates. Ummm what? We then figured out this place was a farmer's market with several little restaurants in it. We got up from the table and headed over to the Pizza and Panini's restaurant which had a 30 minute wait. Go figure. We were going to walk around while we waited and discovered a fancy restaurant that had immediate seating so we just went with that. Probably not the best decision either as we couldn't really decipher the menu and I ended up ordering raw beef. It didn't taste bad, it was sliced thin like prosciutto, but not filling at all and not what I wanted. Jon traded with me and we ended up mostly sharing his dish which was some sort of Gnocchi. It was good but not great.
From Eataly we went to the Subway and purchased our Metro Card and headed over to 5th Ave to FAO Schwarz. The subway took some getting used to. We quickly learned to check we were going in the right direction before swiping our metro card. The weather was cold and dark but not raining yet. As we headed in to FAO Schwarz we saw two guys not trying to hide they were dressed and acting like women. Only in New York. We enjoyed walking around looking at all the toys, giant candy, lego statues, and of course the big piano. We decided to get Hadley a souvenir from there and ended up buying her a sequin covered coin purse in the shape of an M&M (her favorite candy) and an FAO Schwarz shirt.
We headed from there down to Rockefeller Plaza, seeing all the famous 5th Ave shops on the way. Once in Rockefeller Plaza we visited the Lego Store and took a lot of pictures of the area. We then walked to our hotel to check in. On the way we saw a store strictly devoted to M&M's right down the street from our hotel. We stopped in but saw nothing of worth to buy.
We checked in to the Belvedere Hotel near Times Square and rested for about an hour before heading back out. On our way to dinner it started to rain so we had to stop for an umbrella. We had quite the ride and walk to dinner down in Brooklyn but the dinner at Grimaldi's Pizza was FANTASTIC! It was a small hole in the wall that didn't accept checks or credit cards and made their own mozzarella cheese. It rained the whole time we ate dinner and then stopped as we were about to walk to the Brooklyn Bridge.
The Brooklyn Bridge was a great place to be at night with all the lights of the city. Part of the bridge was under construction so it obscured our view somewhat but still nice. Jon took a lot of great pictures and got the chance to yell back at a cyclist who called him stupid. A great New York experience. We decided it was time to head to Times Square and on the way we stopped at Grand Central Station.
There wasn't anything exciting at Grand Central Station, it was just a big, beautiful building to look at.
We hit up Times Square with all it's flashing lights. Nothing real special. We bought a few souvenirs and headed back to our hotel. We were beat! Our feet hurt and our legs were tired.
Day 2 in another post.....
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| We made it on the right train! |
It was our first time on a commuter train and we had no idea what we were doing. They wait until 10 minutes before the train departs to announce which gate to go to. We were nervous we would miss it but we made it. The seats had so much space it made airplanes look like miniature toys. The train followed the Hudson river south to New York city and we got to see a lot of the country. We even saw a Bald Eagle with a fish in its talons about 20 yards from the train, it was pretty cool. Two and a half hours later we arrived in Penn Station.
From Penn Station we started our adventure. We stopped at Eataly for lunch because we were STARVING. We had no idea what the place was like so when we sat down at the first table we could find it happened to be a menu of only seafood and vegetarian plates. Ummm what? We then figured out this place was a farmer's market with several little restaurants in it. We got up from the table and headed over to the Pizza and Panini's restaurant which had a 30 minute wait. Go figure. We were going to walk around while we waited and discovered a fancy restaurant that had immediate seating so we just went with that. Probably not the best decision either as we couldn't really decipher the menu and I ended up ordering raw beef. It didn't taste bad, it was sliced thin like prosciutto, but not filling at all and not what I wanted. Jon traded with me and we ended up mostly sharing his dish which was some sort of Gnocchi. It was good but not great.
From Eataly we went to the Subway and purchased our Metro Card and headed over to 5th Ave to FAO Schwarz. The subway took some getting used to. We quickly learned to check we were going in the right direction before swiping our metro card. The weather was cold and dark but not raining yet. As we headed in to FAO Schwarz we saw two guys not trying to hide they were dressed and acting like women. Only in New York. We enjoyed walking around looking at all the toys, giant candy, lego statues, and of course the big piano. We decided to get Hadley a souvenir from there and ended up buying her a sequin covered coin purse in the shape of an M&M (her favorite candy) and an FAO Schwarz shirt.
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| Our first subway ride |
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| Playing on the big piano |
We headed from there down to Rockefeller Plaza, seeing all the famous 5th Ave shops on the way. Once in Rockefeller Plaza we visited the Lego Store and took a lot of pictures of the area. We then walked to our hotel to check in. On the way we saw a store strictly devoted to M&M's right down the street from our hotel. We stopped in but saw nothing of worth to buy.
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| Rockefeller Plaza |
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| Making my own mini-lego man |
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| Delicious Pizza |
The Brooklyn Bridge was a great place to be at night with all the lights of the city. Part of the bridge was under construction so it obscured our view somewhat but still nice. Jon took a lot of great pictures and got the chance to yell back at a cyclist who called him stupid. A great New York experience. We decided it was time to head to Times Square and on the way we stopped at Grand Central Station.
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| Brooklyn Bridge |
There wasn't anything exciting at Grand Central Station, it was just a big, beautiful building to look at.
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| Grand Central Station |
Thursday, October 6, 2011
New York Farm Country
My father-in-law bought a house in upstate New York this past year as a summer house since they are selling their house in Tucson. So we decided to go visit. It was mine and Hadley's first time to New York (I'm not sure if that's proper English) we were excited to see new country. We flew out of Tucson and stopped in Atlanta and then on to Albany. Hadley had her own seat and since we needed to bring her car seat anyway we used it on the plane. She's much more cooperative if she's in her car seat. Both flights went great!
We had an hour and fifteen minute drive after landing in Albany so we rented a car and drove out in the dark. We were bummed to not be able to see much on our drive but we saw it all later on the trip. When we arrived at the house we ate a quick dinner and went to bed. With the 3 hour difference we had a slight issue adjusting but Hadley was so worn out from traveling she fell right to sleep and slept fine the rest of the trip.
Thursday morning was cool and it had rained most of the night. We headed in to Cooperstown, about a 10 minute drive, and saw the town. The country-side was absolutely beautiful! I originally thought it would just be closed in with all trees, but because it is a farming area there were a lot of open pastures around. Of course it was all very green and the trees were starting to turn colors. Some were yellow and others were already red. After stopping at Ace Hardware to get Hadley some rain boots so her feet would stay dry we headed off to a small area called Fly Creek.
Here they had an Apple Cider Mill that was more of a gift shop and small amusement park. They had ducks, geese, and chickens you could feed. Hadley cared only about that. There was a country gift store with a lot of apple-based foods that were made at the mill or from surrounding areas. The best part was they had little sampler dishes out for you try stuff and it was all pretty good. Except we did see one guy double-dipping...tsk tsk.
From there we decided to go have lunch at a restaurant that sat right on the shore of a nearby lake. The service wasn't great but the food was good and the scenery even better.
Naps, rain, and walking around the property filled up the rest of the day.
Friday morning proved to be another, fall, cold rainy day but when it wasn't raining we tried to make the most of it. We headed to a nearby you-pick farm that had lots of apples, raspberries, and a "pumpkin patch." They actually called it a pumpkin hunt. Apparently they cut the pumpkins and then just randomly place them in an old wheat field. You trudge through the swampy mud and tall grass to find your pumpkin. Not as exciting as Apple Annies where you get to cut your own pumpkin but it was still neat. We drove around town again for a little bit, made a few quick necessity stops and then went a little further out to a family run restaurant for lunch and homemade ice cream. The lunch was average but the ice cream was delicious!
After our naps we walked out to a few apple trees on the in-laws property. Did I mention apple trees are everywhere out there? They also had some blueberry bushes, gooseberry, and a few other fruit bushes randomly around the property. We picked apples while Hadley ate the apples. We're not really sure what kind they are but a few trees may be Granny Smith.
Saturday morning Jon's sister and her boyfriend drove in from Pittsburgh for the weekend. We decided to head out for lunch at a nearby local brewery called Ommegang (Om-uh-gang). Of course it was cold and rainy so when we showed up we notice a lot of people heading to a white tent for some sort of special event. Come to find out it was the brewery's 14th birthday and they were having waffles, music, and a puppet show. We all headed out to the tent to participate but realized it was too cold for a toddler and her grandparents to hang out so the three of them left, leaving Jon, his sister, her boyfriend and I to fend for ourselves. We decided to hang out, they all had beers (I was the DD), and we listened to some live folk music. After we'd had enough of being out in the rain and cold we decided to take the brief brewery tour. Let me tell you it was brief. They only took us in two rooms, the rooms where they make the beer and the room where they bottle the beer. The brew room was very basic, nothing too fancy, just all huge pieces of equipment but the bottling room was very high tech. It ended with a chaotic tasting as our group was quite large. Needless to say we ended our tasting early, got some souvenirs and left. It rained most of the day but when it wasn't we tried to get outside for a few minutes. We ended the night at a local Italian restaurant with good food but the service, again, wasn't great. It took a long time for us to get our food and Hadley was about done waiting.
Sunday was a day at home. Jon's aunt lives about an hour away from where we were so she came over for a late afternoon lunch. It was kind of like a Thanksgiving dinner but with pulled pork! All the food was delicious and we all just wanted to sleep afterward.
I swear the moment the calendar struck October 1 all houses were beautifully decorated with fall decorations. Pumpkins, corn stalks, beatuiful dark red and gold mums. It was very different from what you see here in the desert.
Monday and Tuesday Jon and I went to New York City by ourselves. All that in another post.
We had an hour and fifteen minute drive after landing in Albany so we rented a car and drove out in the dark. We were bummed to not be able to see much on our drive but we saw it all later on the trip. When we arrived at the house we ate a quick dinner and went to bed. With the 3 hour difference we had a slight issue adjusting but Hadley was so worn out from traveling she fell right to sleep and slept fine the rest of the trip.
Thursday morning was cool and it had rained most of the night. We headed in to Cooperstown, about a 10 minute drive, and saw the town. The country-side was absolutely beautiful! I originally thought it would just be closed in with all trees, but because it is a farming area there were a lot of open pastures around. Of course it was all very green and the trees were starting to turn colors. Some were yellow and others were already red. After stopping at Ace Hardware to get Hadley some rain boots so her feet would stay dry we headed off to a small area called Fly Creek.
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| Our first morning on a walk |
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| Pretty fall colors |
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| Fall morning, countryside covered in fog |
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| Hadley sporting her new rain boots |
Here they had an Apple Cider Mill that was more of a gift shop and small amusement park. They had ducks, geese, and chickens you could feed. Hadley cared only about that. There was a country gift store with a lot of apple-based foods that were made at the mill or from surrounding areas. The best part was they had little sampler dishes out for you try stuff and it was all pretty good. Except we did see one guy double-dipping...tsk tsk.
From there we decided to go have lunch at a restaurant that sat right on the shore of a nearby lake. The service wasn't great but the food was good and the scenery even better.
Naps, rain, and walking around the property filled up the rest of the day.
Friday morning proved to be another, fall, cold rainy day but when it wasn't raining we tried to make the most of it. We headed to a nearby you-pick farm that had lots of apples, raspberries, and a "pumpkin patch." They actually called it a pumpkin hunt. Apparently they cut the pumpkins and then just randomly place them in an old wheat field. You trudge through the swampy mud and tall grass to find your pumpkin. Not as exciting as Apple Annies where you get to cut your own pumpkin but it was still neat. We drove around town again for a little bit, made a few quick necessity stops and then went a little further out to a family run restaurant for lunch and homemade ice cream. The lunch was average but the ice cream was delicious!
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| Hadley with the Hay Man at the you-pick farm |
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| Hadley found her pumpkin |
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| A view down the row of apple trees at the farm |
After our naps we walked out to a few apple trees on the in-laws property. Did I mention apple trees are everywhere out there? They also had some blueberry bushes, gooseberry, and a few other fruit bushes randomly around the property. We picked apples while Hadley ate the apples. We're not really sure what kind they are but a few trees may be Granny Smith.
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| Hadley enjoying her apple at Grammie and Grampy's apple orchard |
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| Jon showing our bounty. These went in to some fresh baked apple pies! Yum! |
Saturday morning Jon's sister and her boyfriend drove in from Pittsburgh for the weekend. We decided to head out for lunch at a nearby local brewery called Ommegang (Om-uh-gang). Of course it was cold and rainy so when we showed up we notice a lot of people heading to a white tent for some sort of special event. Come to find out it was the brewery's 14th birthday and they were having waffles, music, and a puppet show. We all headed out to the tent to participate but realized it was too cold for a toddler and her grandparents to hang out so the three of them left, leaving Jon, his sister, her boyfriend and I to fend for ourselves. We decided to hang out, they all had beers (I was the DD), and we listened to some live folk music. After we'd had enough of being out in the rain and cold we decided to take the brief brewery tour. Let me tell you it was brief. They only took us in two rooms, the rooms where they make the beer and the room where they bottle the beer. The brew room was very basic, nothing too fancy, just all huge pieces of equipment but the bottling room was very high tech. It ended with a chaotic tasting as our group was quite large. Needless to say we ended our tasting early, got some souvenirs and left. It rained most of the day but when it wasn't we tried to get outside for a few minutes. We ended the night at a local Italian restaurant with good food but the service, again, wasn't great. It took a long time for us to get our food and Hadley was about done waiting.
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| The entrance to the brewery |
Sunday was a day at home. Jon's aunt lives about an hour away from where we were so she came over for a late afternoon lunch. It was kind of like a Thanksgiving dinner but with pulled pork! All the food was delicious and we all just wanted to sleep afterward.
I swear the moment the calendar struck October 1 all houses were beautifully decorated with fall decorations. Pumpkins, corn stalks, beatuiful dark red and gold mums. It was very different from what you see here in the desert.
Monday and Tuesday Jon and I went to New York City by ourselves. All that in another post.
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