Today is really the first day of “back-to-normal” for me after about three weeks of fun summer activities. I had hubby home for about ten days; we did a bit of tootling about the County, enjoying our little island. We’ve also had some rare and precious visits from friends from the South during which we took a truly splendid trip to upstate New York.
When I lived in New Orleans, I shared a big, antique, French Colonial house in the Faubourg Marigny with some really wonderful people, most notably my dear Bubba. Though we all had our own apartments, it was a little like a frat house for grown-ups. We shared a charming courtyard, ate together a few times a week and had a fabulous series of rotating cocktail parties. Most of us have gone our separate ways by now, so it was a real treat to have Bubba come for a visit to the North. With Miss Laura ensconced in the forest as usual at the Sterling Renaissance Faire, it seemed like a great idea to meet up in Niagara Falls, drive along the south shore of Lake Ontario along the Seaway Trail and spend a few days in Fair Haven.
I started by dropping Teddy off at Doggie-Camp and continuing to Toronto. I left a little early in order to allow some time for a visit to Passionknit. Oh my goodness, what an incredible selection of Koigu! I escaped with two precious skeins of Lotus Mink/Silk Blend and an interesting Ella Rae product I’d been previously unaware of. I didn’t know Ella made this lovely 100% merino 3-ply fingering weight! I got it in a subtle oyster-y shade.
That evening, we enjoyed a rare-these-days evening with the Robinsons. We ate ourselves silly at Bar Italia (where I was courted years ago by a certain gentleman 😉 and shared a beautiful bottle of wine. Early next morning, we set off for the Falls! Bubba had never been to the Falls before and we’d never seen it from the U.S. side. Spectacular!
On Laura’s recommendation, we checked in at the Pleasant Beach Hotel in Fair Haven. What a great little inn…charming, quaint and restful and stuffed with little details like this jar of old thread I found on our vanity. The view of Little Sodus Bay was enchanting and very calm, the bar was fun and friendly and the food was rustic and yummy. I can see myself going there again and again!
Miss Laura has been a participant at Sterling for almost 30 years and, though the “Renaissance Faire Thing” is not something I’d normally do, I try to get over to see her there a least once during the summer since it’s nice having her so close. This year, with Bubba’s visit, we decided to do the whole nine yards. We all got dressed as Renaissance characters and spent the day at the Faire watching the jousting, listening to Renaissance music and, for the boys a least, eating gigantic smoked turkey legs 😀
We rounded out the weekend with a visit to the Fly-By-Night Cookie Company which is owned by Laura’s Mom. It is really magical…like walking into another world. And the cookies really are fantastic!
And, the summer is still young! We may well squeeze in more fun before all is said and done.
