Jessica here:
Since we last wrote, our travels have taken a decidedly westward bent and we've covered some serious ground in our little Subaru including a 14 hour trek from Ithaca, NY to Chicago...oy vey! A funny realization is now sinking in...we really are "homeless." No house, just a mobile concept of "home"....familiar music, food & scents create a comfort in each new spot. Of course, we chose this, and it feels quite liberating. Some things I miss...our kitty Zooey greeting us at the front door, a kitchen of our own, bed linens of our own. But...no house repairs, no mortgage, no daily routine...sweet freedom! The funny thing is, when asked where we're visiting from, the only logical answer is "that blue Subaru Outback". I get strange and annoyed looks, but, hey, makes me chuckle. Streamlined down to a small carload of stuff and a road atlas...I could get used to this, at least for a while.
At the moment, we're sipping coffee and munching the last of our NY bagels in Angie Head's cozy Chicago living room. Angie is a friend from way back in Fayetteville and we've appreciated her generosity despite a busy work schedule. She served up tasty red wine upon our arrival, much welcomed after navigating the hellacious nighttime highway thru Gary, IN. Next day we skipped the roads and travelled downtown on the awesome "EL". Chi-town has delighted us with sunny, warm weather and great lounging and strolling along the lakeshore. This is one of the few cities that neither Liam nor I have visited....it's pretty darn beautiful this time of year, though I'm thinking it'd be a different story come December.
So, backing up about three weeks, in an effort to represent all the great stops on our journey, we had an action-packed two weeks in NYC and Boston. Especially fun was leaving the car in NJ and travelling north by train. Dining car, reading, relaxing as the scenery whizzes past...I LOVE trains. Arriving in Brooklyn we were excited to catch up with Liam's cuz Sara who welcomed us into her lovely Carroll Gardens apartment. We dove right in to good NY chow at a nearby Thai restaurant....Tom Yum soup, yummm. Well nourished, we set off to walk across the magnificent Brooklyn Bridge...what an experience! Our gastronomical adventures continued with local microbrews at a Brooklyn pub and of course, a huge Coney Island hot dog, devoured with gusto by one very happy Liam. A highlight for me was rollerskating on the crazy little rink at Dreamland, right on the boardwalk at Coney Island. Despite the painful wound inflicted by their awful rental skates, I loved getting back on my wheels! Tried not to take out too many innocent children on my loops around the track...hehe. More highlights from NY include gin & tonics and jazz at the Carlyle for my birthday, walking through Chelsea and the West Village on the impressive Highline trail, hanging out with cousins Colene & Jeff on their midtown rooftop terrace, working the lanes at Brooklyn Bowl with cousins Chad and Sara, dancing to a blow-out show by Toots & the Maytals, and of course, chowing on ever-satisfyingly-cheesy-crusty NY pizza. Yummmmm.
After a week of thrills and spills in NYC, we hopped a train up to Boston and arrived at the comfy home of Liam's aunt Carol. We can't express enough thanks for Carol's generosity...gourmet lunches at Gloucester beach, BBQ picnic on labor day, tickets to see the Red Sox at Fenway Park!...such fun. Another beantown highlight: the extreme sport called "Bob Nesson's walking tour of Cambidge and Boston." Seriously, this was such a cool experience for us. History, geography, urban planning, film studies, landscape design...it was all inclusive and Uncle Bob knew we'd be up for the hike. I've always found Boston to be a confusing city to navigate, but the walking tour really established a great sense of the city's layout for me. Also got to see Aunt Kathe, albeit too briefly, for tasty Chinese fare and a fun discussion of Hawaiian Hula...next time I'm hoping for an extended dance lesson! So, the adventures continued with a train ride up to Beverly, Mass, about an hour north of Boston. We visited Uncle John and stayed up late talking about old times in the Conway family...so many cousins, stories, characters...somebody needs to write a book about this amazing family.
After a quick visit back to NJ and more great times with the Bowers family, we were on the road again...headed for upstate NY and a visit back to my alma mater, Cornell. Memories came flooding back from undergrad years...what a treat to share them with Liam. We rented bikes and tore all around town & campus, stopping to swim in waterfalls, hike the ravines, devour some Cornell Dairy ice cream, and hit up my old haunts in Collegetown. I was stunned all over again by the beauty of the area, enhanced by sunny weather and leaves just starting to turn yellow, red, orange....my goodness, the old cliche is true. Ithaca IS gorges. Got me thinking about settling down there, maybe having a home base?...but no, westward ho!!
next post: Chicago tales and Colorado stories...Pacific ocean, here we come!!!
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