2017

Montreal - July 3-4

Martha, Patrick and I are in Montreal at the moment.   Marth and I had originally planned on coming up ourselves, but Patrick couldn't do Camp Highlands, so we decided rather than leaving him home alone we'd take him with.  Besides, the Montreal Jazz Festival is coincidently going on while we're here, so he can go off on his own.

Nathan was supposed to be a 'counselor in training' at Camp Highlands, but after two weeks he was caught smoking pot and asked to leave.   So we had him go to Betsy's for the remaining two weeks and he's also gone to Castle Park over the 4th holiday.

We had a drama coming up here.  We'd forgotten to take Martha's checked bag up and go through Customs in Toronto.  So we were asked to get off the plane as it was about to leave for Montreal.  Very scary and disconcerting

We have a modern-ish AirB&B apartment in what is clearly a building devoted to them. 

Yesterday Patrick took off for the jazz festival while Martha and I figured out the 'bix' bike rental system.  We pedaled to Mile End, through some weird neighborhoods, walked around, then biked back to downtown and McGill University; then back to a grocery store and the apartment.   In the evening we joined up with Patrick and went to the Old Montreal area on bikes for dinner.   

Afterwards Patrick went off again and we walked around including at Norte Dame and discovered a very cool visual program projected on buildings around town.

Yesterday Marth and I took bikes down to the riverfront to explore with the intent of riding across a bridge to one of the islands.   That proved harder than we thought, so we wandered into the Old Montreal and went through a museum of Montreal's history - then went down St. Paul and stopped for lunch.

Afterwards took bikes all the way up to the base of Mont Royal and made the climb.  What a 'royal' pain, but worth the view. When we came down, picked up bikes and went back to the apartment, took showers, met  Patrick - who had been at the music festival all day - and went to dinner on Rue Crescent street. 

Tuesday, July 4 - I'm a day behind.  Yesterday we decided to try the Metro and head out to a farmers market in one of the neighborhoods we'd heard about - the Jean-Talon Market - which was beyond the Mile End we visited a couple days ago.   The place was amazing!  Incredible treats and vegetables.   Real strawberries (unlike the tasteless California things we get).  I wish I could have brought them home.   We had crepes and then picked up some bikes and headed down to Mile End and walked around until we got to the western edge of Mont Royal.  Some very contrasting neighborhoods.   Then on bikes again and through the north of downtown -- in search of gelato.  A complicated, desperate search that finally delivered us to the

underground mall system that is another feature of Montreal.    But we got the gelato --- in a mall shop.   (also stopped at places looking to drop our bags the next day if we needed to) We were worn out, so headed back to the apartment by bike.  These bikes were great.   The stands were everywhere.  You just pick one up, go where you want.  Drop it off and walk away.  A very convenient way to get around.    We both took cat naps, showered and got ready for dinner.

We'd decided not to go too far and just do dinner at a place - Holder, on Rue McGill - that we'd stopped into the night before.   First we wandered the Old section, hoping to find a place just to sit and have a 'before dinner' drink.   But when we couldn't, we just went to the restaurant.   Patrick was off at the music festival, but was interested in having dinner with us (he didn't want to spend any of his own money).  So he scooted over to join us, had a beer and an expensive dinner, and then took off again for the festival.   After dinner, Martha and I started some of the Citie Memorie tour we'd seen the night before - this time with the app and headphones.   So ended our last day.

Wednesday, July 5 - We needed to pack up and get ready to go that evening.   After putting our bags together we headed back to the corner diner at McGill & Notre Dame.   Along with Patrick this time, we took the Metro to Sherbrook and went to the Museum of Fine Arts and wandered independently through it for a couple hours.   Then stopped on Crescent for ice cream before deciding just to head back to the apartment, pick up our bags and take a cab to the airport.  

It was a wonderful trip.  And it was nice having Patrick along, though he was only periodically with us.  He'll be leaving permanently soon, so we need to value these times.  If I had it to do all over again, I would have tried to scope out some musical acts/clubs to see after dinner (and have dinner earlier), since the jazz festival was going on.   

Weekend - Oct 1

Martha and I looked around and surprisingly found ourselves without any commitments this weekend.   After a recent weekend when all four boys were home we reveled in the realization that we can increasingly dictate what we want to do at almost any time.   And getting closer to retirement has made us shake our heads at the freedom and what does it mean.

So yesterday we went to Sky Meadow and took a long hike.  It is open fields interspersed with trees, walking along farmer's fields with cows and rows of corn, stone walls and wire fencing.  It's unlike most hiking trails and much more European.   To my astonishment, and hers, I outlasted Martha in stamina.  She was ready to quit and go home when I was building up steam.  I shouldn't get too cocky about this.

Later in the day I went to Best Buy to pick up my laptop which was being worked on and then we went out to dinner with Cindy & Dave at Finn Thai.   They gave me a new perspective on family.  They have no children; nor any nieces or nephews.   No one to fret over, relate to - or not - or be a part of their lives.  No one to carry on or care about you in old age and carry on any kind of legacy.   Really sort of tragic and made me realize how lucky I am with our boys - despite all their problems.

New York - Nov 19

I had to be up in New York for the annual CCCA NY Reception and Board meeting in early November. Since Nathan had never been there, we decided it would be a good time to bring him up and make a weekend of it.

I went up on Thursday for the NY Reception that night and Board meeting on Friday morning. Martha and Nathan came up on Friday afternoon. Because we'd placed separate reservations at the same hotel the consolidation provided a much better suite at a Marriott Residence Inn on East 48th. The New York Marathon was happening that weekend, so the hotel was filled with foreigners - mostly French - that we'd see at breakfast.

After they got settled we walked over to 5th Ave. past Rockefeller Center and up to Central Park. After cutting over to Columbus Circle we took a cab down to Little Italy for dinner at a pizza place and walked over for gelatos in Little Italy.

The next morning - Saturday - we entered the subway where Martha ran into a teacher from Valley who happened to be there with her daughter. After getting tickets we went down to the 9-11 Memorial and the One World building.

From there we split up. Nathan went to meet a friend and spent most of the day walking from southern Manhattan back to midtown. Martha and I went to Chelsea Market - which was a madhouse - ate at a bar, and then walked the High Line.

We then trained up to the West side, checked out the Dakota, walked around the neighborhood and cut through Central Park to the east side. Back at the hotel we met up with Nathan. We were all exhausted from walking, so went to a local pub - Blackwell's - for dinner.

Sunday was a drizzly, dreary day and we split up again. This time Martha went on her own to MoMA while Nate and I planned to visit the One World Observatory. It became pretty clear that it wasn't going to be clear. Clouds covered the top half of the building - but we changed the time of our reservation and planned to come back later. We walked east to Fulton Market where we got lunch at an open-air bar. Then through light drizzle we trudged over to the Brooklyn Bridge. It's a beautiful scene and would have been much better if it had been clear. We went back to One World, but the weather had only gotten worse, so we took a literal 'rain check' to come back within six months.

We met Martha back at the hotel and chilled out. For the evening we walked over to Times Square and had dinner at Rlounge overlooking Times Square. Afterwards we walked the couple blocks to Birdland to see the Afro-Latin Band - which Nathan loved.

On Monday, our last day, we thought we'd check out the United Nations, but after walking over there it became clear from the lines that this was going to be a long, crowded affair. So we took the subway to the Upper East Side to see the Guggenheim Museum. Fascinating museum designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, but some strange interpretations of art.

When we finished there we went back to the hotel, grabbed our bags and suffered through an cab crawl through traffic to Penn Station. We met our old family friend, Laura Smith, outside and went into the station and had a nice lunch with her for a couple hours before boarding our train for home.