Not to be a pessimist, because, well, my blog is about optimism, but I don’t know how you East-Coasters do it! We just got back from our vacation and I don’t believe I really knew what humidity was until this trip! Oh sure, we had experienced humidity. The night of our rehearsal dinner was the stickiest I’d ever felt in Oregon back in 2021. But this trip… Incredible. I felt like I was never dry. It was sticky, muggy, hot, etc. Feel free to add some more adjectives describing humidity!
We began our trip on Long Island, NY. We stayed in a beach house in a small town and it was amazing. The house was lovely and the view was incredible. Our accommodations were comfortable — so much so that the first night I fell asleep and woke up wondering where I was. We were walking-distance to the water, which is the South Shore of Long Island. I don’t know what I expected, but my expectations were exceeded!
Every day looked like this! It was just beautiful. The day we left, it was overcast and humid. It was probably 80 degrees. Crazy.
There was nothing about Long Island I didn’t like! We went wine tasting one day and visited some pretty little wineries loaded with character and great wines. We also took a ferry, which was fun. The only downside to this part of our vacation was I left my partially-read book in the seat pocket on the airplane, so was “bookless” the entire trip.
We planned a trip into Manhattan for a musical one night and saw The Who’s Tommy. It was excellent. We just loved it. We’d been to musical in Manhattan before, so no surprise there, but we decided to navigate it on our own (as opposed to taking the subway into Times Square from a hotel in Brooklyn). The drive there and back was CRAZY! I’ll just say, I’m glad I wasn’t driving! Thank you Mike! He did an excellent job, but our nerves were on edge! We had great pizza a block or so from The Nederlander. The whole evening was date-night fun.
After New York, we flew to Norfolk, Virginia. Our son is in the Navy and we spent a few days touring around. We visited Washington DC, which I had been to before, but Mike had not. We arrived about 10:00 in the morning and it was raining (and 80 degrees). We went into the Smithsonian American History Museum and we were soaked and then freezing! We warmed up quickly and toured around the museum seeing interesting exhibits. My favorites were Julia Child’s kitchen and the First Ladies’ Gowns. A couple notables were Dr. Jill Biden’s dress and coat that had state birds embroidered on the hem and bodice. It was stunning and beautiful. It was also interesting to see outfits worn by Jackie Kennedy and Michelle Obama. I didn’t know First Lady Kennedy was so petite. Of course, Michelle Obama exuded class. I enjoyed the styles from the 1920’s and 1930’s. I was in Washington DC in 1999 and remember the exhibit being rather dark due. They obviously updated it and it is much brighter and the history behind the dresses is noted.
As a history buff, I love Washington DC. We could’ve spent a few days there, and unfortunately, were not able to visit everything DC has to offer. Next time. We will go back.
Then on our last full day in Virginia, we drove to Yorktown, which is also loaded with history. Yorktown is a nicely preserved little town with a couple of museums. Having seen Hamilton, the Musical (on Disney+ more times than I can count and twice on Broadway in Portland), I loved Yorktown. The American Revolution Museum is very well done. Mike and I aren’t really big on museums, but this one does not disappoint. There are many different history angles and most are addressed. It is hard to imagine just how encompassing the fight for our country was in the 1700’s. I don’t mean to be melodramatic, but in today’s world, we do not seem to be so absorbed in the fight for democracy, and yet, looking at the players, you cannot help but think of how difficult this battle actually was. Thank you!
After a long day of flying, we are home. It was good to sleep in our own bed. This week we will celebrate Mike’s birthday and I am celebrating summer! I will explore some options moving forward. I was called about a job today and it might just be a good gig! Not counting my chickens before they hatch (and whatever other analogy I can come up with). I have noticed that some of our searches for homes in Italy are no longer on the market. I’ll have to build up that inventory again! Even though it is hypothetical.
Hope your summer (and vacays) are going well. I will say my husband is an amazing traveling companion. He never gets mad at me for complaining about a miles-long walk in the pouring rain. He generally does what I want to do — in other words, I have a say in what we do and where we go. Even when I suggest going to a restaurant two days in a row because I liked it so much the first time!
Until next time…
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