Upstate NY is Always a Good Idea

For us city folk, our two long weekends in spring and fall around the Cooperstown area are truly relaxing.  Stumbling upon the Meadowlark Inn in East Springfield, New York was serendipity.  What began five years ago as a three day stay in order to visit the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown has now become a bi-annual trip to relax, unwind and visit with friends. Since our first trip, we always stop at this abandoned property along the way and joke about buying this 'fixer-upper' and making it our compound.

Since food allergies are an issue, we originally chose the Meadowlark because of their suite with kitchen facilities.  We left Thursday afternoon, packing light with a grocery list for Friday morning.  Since we were the only ones at the inn Thursday night, I snuck out early in the morning without disturbing George and Tina, the innkeepers (our friends).  

I googled Dunkin Donuts on my phone and found one about 40 minutes away.  Since Price Chopper was in the same direction, I thought I'd go for a little ride and get an iced coffee.  Not my greatest idea.  Along the nice scenic ride, a deer jumped in front of the car less than 50 feet in front of me.  Once my heart stopped pounding, I found myself descending a mountain complete with runaway truck ramps every few hundred feet.  When I got to the vicinity of Dunkin Donuts, my GPS said 'you have reached your destination'.  It was Walmart.  (I learned later there actually was a Dunkin Donuts inside.  As I turned around, I caught sight of the DD sign across the street!  Thank goodness!

We all went to nearby Sharon Springs to have dinner at the 204 Main Bistro and visited with the owners Jim and Norm, our servers, Nick and Eva and met up for martinis on Saturday afternoon with Josh and Brent, the Fabulous Beekman Boys!  Tina and I spent a little time in Sharon Springs lunching at The Black Cat and walking on Main Street, perusing the small shops there.

Have lemon drops, will travel!  Glad to have met up with Josh and Brent, The Fabulous Beekman Boys at the  Beekman 1802 mercantile before they hit the road for some book signings, promoting their new cookbook!

David and Mikey always enjoy speaking with Josh about school.

The Heirloom Vegatable Cookbook is the third Beekman Boys cookbook.  Their cookbooks are wonderful, easy to follow with gorgeous photos.  They have the Heirloom Cookbook and an Heirloom Dessert Cookbook as well.  Pick one (or three) up, you'll be glad you did!

Lunch at the Black Cat is always delicious.  Their Tuscan Chicken on Ciabatta is my favorite while Tina gets the Thanksgiving dinner sandwich.  

We met a new friend Wendy who is opening up a shop on Main Street in Sharon Springs.  She is a very talented artist and has some wonderful designs.  I bought a couple of beautiful trivets and a small makeup bag.

Another new friend Melissa makes some really nice soaps and other skin care items.  She can be found at Pixie Pants Designs online.  Her pine tar soap is amazing.  My son has been frustrated with acne and this soap has been working wonders in less than a week!  He (and I) are thrilled!







The weekend weather was gorgeous.  We hung around the inn and the boys played a lot of baseball with their dad on the Meadowlark's Little League field.  George let them drive the tractor while he worked on the new outdoor room he's building.  Tina and I chatted.  I told her about wheatgrass which is supposed to have wonderful health benefits and she introduced me to bulletproof coffee.  We had a Sunday barbecue.

And there was chess of course in the lobby.  

And in what seemed like a blink of an eye, the five day weekend was over.  Back home, with police sirens screaming in the background, home and car alarms going off and people honking their horns to pick up their passengers at 7 am in the morning.  

So if you happen to find yourself looking for some R & R in the Cooperstown area, check out the Meadowlark Inn in East Springfield.  George and Tina will provide immaculate accommodations, belgian waffles for breakfast and beautiful grounds to play chess, baseball, or just chill and relax.  Maybe you'll even run into us there!

The C Word...

I haven't worked on a new post for a month.  I've been preoccupied with helping my sons with some last minute school projects.  But mainly, I have been preoccupied with the dreaded, feared and hated C word.  
C - A - N - C - E - R.

I cringe when I hear it. It makes me sad, frustrated and angry.  And it is not me or my family, but 3 very close friends of mine and the sister of another friend.  Two ovarian, one cervical and a possible re-occurrence of breast cancer.  

I haven't been able to work my stress off on the bike path too much, the weather has not cooperated.  Our temperatures tanked back into the 40's, we've had rain, wind and just all around crappy weather for riding.  I've been irritable and tired.   

However, I have had my friends over and we've had drinks and dinner at the Tiki Bar a/k/a my house.  

We've had a lot of laughs this month.  They've done a lot of talking and I've done a lot of listening.  I sometimes feel like I am Lucy in her psychiatric booth, "the doctor is in".  I am glad to be able to provide distractions, a listening ear and some prayers.  I love my friends. But I feel so helpless.  

This week was full of appointments, tests and biopsies.  Results should start filtering in next week.  And I worry for them.  And pray.  

Oh Deer!

Green is scarce on the bike path right now.  There is much greater visibility this early spring than I remember in the past.  Deer are around the river and forest in the area, but I very rarely see them.  Over the past week, I have caught fleeting glances of white tails, but behind all the trees and branches, the deer have been difficult see, let alone photograph.  

A lot of people are amused at my excitement for seeing all this wildlife on the bike path, but as a lifelong city girl, I have not seen deer in the wild before, only occasionally at a zoo!  Last week, there was a day where I was fortunate to see two sets of deer.  Pretty soon when all the brush fills in, the deer will be hard to see, but here's a few shots from the other day.  I am really hoping to see a buck as well as a fawn or two one of these days!

Turkey Vulture Visit

Turkey Vultures are common North American birds.  They scout around searching for fresh roadkill and also can be found hanging around dumpsters.  I have often seen them circling in the air, mostly in small groups but had never seen one up close.  Yesterday while riding on the bike path, a huge bird flew by and landed in a tree just ahead of me.  Once I grabbed my camera and zoomed my lens in, I saw his face and instantly recognized this as a turkey vulture.  

He only sat for a few moments and then flew off to join two more of his friends that were circling a hundred yards or so from the bike path, probably searching for lunch.

A Beautiful Swan

Today's ride on the bike path was rather quiet.  There were slightly more signs of spring on this bright, sunny day.  The red river turtles were sunning themselves, several more varieties of birds were flying around and the tap, tap, tap of the woodpeckers echoed along several miles of the path, although no herons were to be seen.  

I caught a glimpse of a beautiful white swan just sitting in the water, right by the rivers' edge.  I sat at the edge of the path and took several photos.  The swan watched me with neither any interest or fear.  

Soon the trees will budding and allergies will be in full force.  Spring is finally here!

Great Blue Herons Along the Bike Path

Spring has sprung.  I began my third season on the bike path this week.  In spite of the calendar, the trees are bare and there is not much green yet.  Robins abound and there is a stray cardinal, titmouse and blue jay here and there, but still relatively few and far between.  But the Great Blue Herons have been out.

I enjoy watching them stand motionless, then all of a sudden pluck a fish, frog or small rodent out of the shallow water.  In the time I've been frequenting the path, occasionally I see one fly off, but usually under the cover of trees without being able to get a good photo.  That was until yesterday.

There was a young heron, relatively small and very curious on one side of the river.  When I stopped and took out my camera, he intently watched me.  I approached slowly and snapped a few photos.  As I got closer, I saw him preparing to fly.  He slowly took off and I was able to get a couple of good photos.  He only flew a short distance, so I cautiously approached him again.  Hee let me snap a couple of shots, then flew off again.

Today I saw the same heron in the same area.  Again, he watched me, curiously but not overly frightened.I snapped a couple of photos but was unable to get a decent in flight photo.  A few miles down the path, I saw another heron perched in a tree.  He must have been napping and was standing as a flamingo does when it sleeps, with one leg up.

Within the next few weeks the trees will start to bud and the path will be a flurry of activity with rabbits, Canada Geese with their babies, ducks, deer, squirrels, chipmunks and all kinds of species of birds.  But for now, I am enjoying seeing the herons after spending a very long, cold, snowy winter in the city away from the bike path.