Cleveland Rocks!

I've been pretty scarce for the last week because my family & I were on vacation in  Cleveland. 

I've heard so many people ask, "Cleveland?  What's in Cleveland?"   

Let me start by saying, I will not fly.  I haven't flown since 1996.  My husband, poor man, accepts my refusal to fly and will drive anywhere within reason. 

My daughter & I are big music fans.  When we were deciding on a summer vacation, she mentioned wanting to go to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.  I liked the idea.  Cleveland also has a Major League Baseball team, the Indians, so my husband & son liked that idea.  It is also just under a 6 hour drive from us and my husband liked that idea very much. 

So Cleveland it was!!

The diehard Yankee fans...one wearing

an Indians hat and one wearing a Twins hat. 

Go figure! 

We loved seeing these guitar works of art,

scattered all over the downtown area. 

The Rock and Roll Hall  of Fame was amazing! 
7 floors of amazing to be exact!

Sorry, no photography was allowed inside, but seeing things like

the actual notebook page where John Lennon & Paul McCartney wrote
the lyrics to the song,  "In My Life" complete with words crossed out & doodling
 around the (very yellowed with age) page was so cool! 

We saw everything from Elvis's jumpsuit to Janis Joplin's porche to
Michael Jackson's red leather jacket

that he wore in The Thriller video. 
What a fantastic place for music lovers of all ages.

We were able to take this one photo inside the lobby of the Hall. 

Beautiful Lake Erie. 

I have to say, we really did enjoy our visit to Cleveland.   The city is clean, the food is excellent (Little Italy, anyone?),  and the people are very friendly.  So now when someone asks, "Cleveland?  What's in Cleveland?"  I can give them a full and glowing report.

I'll be trying to catch up with all of you and all that I missed throughout this weekend. See you soon!

A trip to Vermont

We've been away for a couple of days. We took a small trip to Vermont. What's in Vermont you say?

Well, Ben & Jerry's, of course!



The factory tour was fun & interesting. No photography was allowed in case we were all Haagen Dazs spies! :D



Oh what I had to do to get the teenaged daughter to pose for that. She's really ready to scream behind that smile.



The cow mobile.



It's the flavor graveyard. Where all good flavors go to rest in peace.



The tombstones are funny & cute.

We have never been to Vermont and it is quite a beautiful place. I can only imagine how beautiful it must be in the fall when all the green turns into glorious fall color.

I'm going to try to catch up on all of my blog reading if I can. (eek!) Not to mention my housework and we have a wedding to attend tonight.

A happy weekend to each of you...

Linking up at The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sundays.

In just a few short hours...

...I will be here. It's my daughter's first time & I can't wait to see her reaction--that first impression. Something tells me it'll be just like mine was over 25 years ago...love, pure love.



See ya soon!

Thousand Islands

Last week, we took a day trip to Thousand Islands. I hadn't visited since I was a kid and didn't remember anything about the place, so I forced asked my husband to take us.

We took a boat tour of what they called Millionaire's Row. Oh my goodness, the homes were beautiful!
Here are just a few beauties:
(Please ignore that gentleman's head "gracing" my photos)





We also took a tour of Boldt Castle on Heart Island. Everything about this place was amazing, from the castle to the gardens. Wanna see? Come along with me, but first, let me give you some background.

George C. Boldt had this castle built in the late 1800s as a testimony of love to his wife, Louise.

The castle has 6 stories & I believe 127 rooms.

The castle was 95% completed when tragedy struck. Mrs. Boldt died. As a result, work on the castle stopped immediately and was never completed.

The castle was never occupied.

The Thousand Islands Bridge Authority assumed ownership of the castle in 1977 and began restoration.

Mr. Boldt gave 3 conditions when he relinquished ownership to the Bridge Authority--

--Since his darling wife never got to see the finshed castle, no one would. It could be restored only up to 95%, he never wanted it completed.

--Since his wife never got to live in the castle, no one was to ever spend the night in the castle.

--Every cent made by opening the castle to visitors was to be put back into the restoration project. (I believe its been over 2 million dollars so far.)

Come take a look:







I was so awe struck by some of these rooms, I nearly lost my breath.



Look at the work on the walls.




This would have been Mrs. Boldt's bedroom.



The grand staircase.




Apparently, the island was originally named Hart Island, but because this castle was a testimony of love for his wife, he had the spelling changed to Heart Island. I couldn't believe the amount of heart details that were found from the flowers to the architecture. Even the bedside lamp in Mr. Boldt's bedroom had heart-shaped crystals hanging from it.




The stained glass ceiling was incredible!


(notice the heart shapes)

This was built to house the power to the island (can you believe it?)



So I thank you for coming along with me on my day trip to the Thousand Islands and Boldt Castle. Hope you enjoyed it!

Cooperstown, New York -- Part II

So on Tuesday, I announced that I would show you my most favorite home in all of Cooperstown.

Everytime we visit the village, I have my husband drive by this house just so I can get a glimpse of the beauty of it. This time it was especially gratifying because I was on my little walking tour, so I got to see it a little better than just from the car.

I can imagine myself living here. The house is old and charming and quite large...the grounds are spectacular...the back of the house faces the lake. In my little world, it's absolute perfection.

Wanna see it?



Sigh.

I think I would spend all of summer & maybe even fall on that porch. Can you just see it when the leaves change in the fall? Something I found amazing was that the front door give a clear view straight through to the back door. As a result, you can literally see the lake behind the house through the view of the front door. Breathtaking! I would love to see the inside. I have a feeling it's been tastefully preserved.

Because I was walking, I was able to see this plaque and therefore get information that I would have never known.



The home is named Lakelands, it's on the National Register of Historic Places and was built circa 1802! I never imagined it was that old (which only makes me love it more.) It was built for John M. Bowers who studied law at Columbia University and later settled in Cooperstown.

So, what do you think? Is she a beauty? Do you see why I call it my most favorite house in all of Cooperstown? Could you see yourself living here?

Cooperstown...baseball & beautiful homes

**This post is photo intensive & make take a bit to load**



My family & I took a day trip to Cooperstown on Wednesday of last week. (In case you didn't know, Cooperstown, New York is the birthplace of baseball. This is where the Baseball Hall of Fame is located.)

My husband & children love all things baseball, so we visit Cooperstown often.

While I enjoy baseball and seeing all the awesome memorabilia, like this Lou Gehrig & Joe DiMaggio photo seen in the Hall of Fame,



and this Hall of Fame induction plaque for Reggie Jackson,



and modern-day Yankee memorabilia (such as Derek Jeter's helmet & batting gloves, CC Sabathia's cleats & hats worn by Mariano Rivera & Joe Torre),



what I really love is the quaintness of the village and the beautiful old homes.



Oh I can just walk the streets of the village looking at houses all day long.

So this time, I left the pack for a bit and did just that!

I felt kind of weird taking pictures of people's homes and hoped I didn't encounter anyone wondering exactly what I was doing. (Thankfully, I didn't.)

Here is some of the beauty of Cooperstown, New York...






















I wish I had more time, walking around the village, taking photos, but maybe next visit.

In my next post, I will highlight my most favorite Cooperstown home of all...stay tuned for that one, it's a beauty!

Strong Museum

We took a little trip to Rochester Monday & Tuesday. We brought the kids to the Strong Museum. What a completely wonderful museum! We hadn't been there in a few years and we thought it was fantastic at that time. Who would have thought they could improve it? But they did. It just has so much to offer. Johnny who is a notorious "toucher" was thrilled. He went through & touched everything, leaving no stone unturned. Even Olivia (who at 10 is maybe getting a little old for a children's museum) enjoyed it. On Tuesday's trip home we stopped at the outlets in Waterloo for some back to school shopping. (still not finished on that front though...it's a neverending, grueling process!)