New York Loop

That's a lot of driving in a week!

Another summer, another New York road trip, this year without hammocks/tents or the camper and the dogs. We still decided to drive since we were going upstate than down to Long Island. We (honestly more like I, since Steve just goes where I tell him, LOL) didn't want to deal with expensive flights, flying into LaGuardia and renting a car to drive 4 hours north to Queensbury, than 5 hours back south to Shelter Island, than back to the city. This way we could make a few stops along the way.

We left Lexington around 2PM on Saturday. We planned to make one stop in Loveland to deliver some of my Aunt's mementos to one of her dear friends from New York. Yes, it took over 3 years to get these delivered but it wasn't for a lack of trying. We also gave Chrissy one set of Maggi's china as well.  Now we are down to 3 sets of china, ha! Chrissy sent us on our way with a tray of freshly made sourdough cinnamon rolls. We continued driving for another 3 hours & stopped around 8PM outside of Cleveland at a Residence Inn. We are Marriot Bonvoy members so we used our annual free night for this stay. 

Sunday we were up early, surprise. We were showered, ate breakfast, packed and on the road just before 8AM. The night before we decided to drive to Corning, New York, about 4 hours so we could go to the Corning Glass Museum & then stay overnight in Corning.  We got to the museum shortly after noon.  The Glass Museum is an ASTC member. General Admission is $25 per person but since we have the ASTC membership though our local Living Arts & Science museum we were able to get in for free as part of the recriprocol program. The museum is 3 floors with several exhibits, 3 different demos, a gift shop & a cafe. 

We spent about an hour going through the Contemporary Art & Design exhibit then went to the cafe for lunch. I had the southwest chicken salad & Steve got a slice of pizza. The salad was really good but don't think Steve thought the pizza was that good. For a museum cafeteria they had a lot of options for food & not overpriced either. After lunch we went to watch the demos.  The demo schedule had something going on every 30 minutes or so. We saw the Hot Glass demo, the Flameworking demo & the Glass breaking demo. All the demos were really impressive to watch. After the demos we toured the innovation center then went back to the second floor to the 35 Centuries of Glass exhibit.  At this point of the afternoon we started feeling a bit overwhelmed by it all. Although there were so many interesting exhibits from all around the world we were hitting our 3 hour museum limit. After about 3 hours we are both tired of reading & cannot take in any more information. This museum didn't offer an audio tour which usually works better for us. Audio tours let us take in more information without getting so tired.  Overall, the museum was great & we would highly recommend it. 

Meteorite dall' Influenza Veneziana by Einar de la Torre & Jamex de la Torre

Reflections in glass

Hot Glass demo

Flameworking Demo

Flameworking Demo

Flameworking Result - A standing bunny!

Egyptian glass from 1450 - 1150 BC! 

Afterwards we checked into our hotel (another Marriott chain) for the night then went downtown Corning to pick up Thai take-away from Nine Elephants. There were big storms rolling in so we wanted to be back to the hotel before the rains started. Otherwise we would have spent more time exploring the small downtown area. 

Monday morning we were on the road by 8AM and arrived at Glens Falls shortly after noon.  We did have to stop & fill up the truck. Without towing a camper Steve's truck get really good mileage since it is a Ford F150 Powerboost. He is averaging about 24.5 mpg which is about what my car gets on the highway. Since it has a 30'ish gallon tank the range is about 600 miles which is impressive to me for a truck.

We stopped for lunch at the Gourmet Cafe downtown Glens Falls then went to check into our hotel, another Fairfield Inn.  Since I checked in via the Bonvoy app we were able to check in early.  This hotel was built just before Covid & it is the nicest hotel we have stayed in so far. Once we unloaded the car we went to visit Grandma at The Landing in Queensbury, NY.  Grandma is now 102 years old. Crazy to think that. We have been coming to New York to visit her almost annually for decades now. Her memory isn't that great & she never answers her room phone so I didn't bother to tell her I was coming. When we arrived she was in the main room watching a movie with other residents - Father of the Bride, LOL.  She seemed happy to see us & remembered both of us. She probably won't remember that we visited but at least she remembers us, which amazes me. Her vision is still great because almost immediately she saw I was growing my hair color out & commented on all my grey! We hung out with her for about an hour until she was off to play bingo in the activities room. The Landing does a good job having lots of activities for the residents & I was really happy to see that Grandma was engaging in these activities & not just sitting in her room all day.  

Grandma & me

After we left Grandma to play bingo, Steve & I walked along the Warren County trail for a couple of miles then grabbed a scoop of ice cream at Sprinkles Ice Cream shop along the trail. I got a scoop of Coffee Break which was so creamy & yummy! Afterwards we ran a couple of errands & hung out the rest of the evening. Funny how tired you can get when you are just sitting around all day, ha!

Warren County Trail

Queensbury named after the wife of King George III

Tuesday morning I used the gym at the hotel while Steve did some birding. After breakfast we drove down to Overlook Park & walked along the Feeder Canal & Hudson River. Lots of history markers along the trail. We walked about 4 miles along the trail. The weather was perfect - sunny & around 70F. 

Hey look, I'm really grey!

Feeder Canal Trail

Have I mentioned the area has a really long history? Hopefully these aren't King George III soldiers, LOL

After our walk we met up with my cousin Laura who I haven't seen in over 20 years. We have been connected over socials but haven't seen each other since my Uncle Mike's wedding when I was still in college. She drove up for the night to visit Grandma/Aunt Phyllis with us. Before heading to the Landing we stopped at Kelly's Roots Cafe & Marketplace for lunch. Super cute place with lots of outdoor seating with great sandwich, wraps & salad menu. 

Afterwards we headed to the Landing. We found Grandma sitting outside on the patio. It was a beautiful warm, sunny day. She didn't remember us coming yesterday but I think her days are one big blur now. Time is irrelevant at 102. She was surprised that she has been at the Landing for over a year already.  We spent the afternoon with her on the patio with a couple other residents catching up & sharing memories.  While there, the afternoon entertainment arrived & what a sight to see! At dinner time (she calls it supper) we walked her in & said our goodbyes. 

Laura, Grandma & me

 

We were told he is a regular at the Landing

The three of us went to dinner at Downtown City Tavern which has been a staple for Steve & me over the years. We ordered a couple of pizzas & continued to catch each other up on our lives. It was so nice to have this time to reconnect with each other.  After dinner we walked around downtown Glens Falls then headed back to the hotel to call it a night. What a great day!

Downtown Glens Falls

Wednesday morning we had a leisurely start then met my Uncle Mike & his family for breakfast at Ambrosia Cafe.  I hadn't seen Uncle Mike since Grandpa's memorial service & haven't seen his wife Angela since their wedding in 1997. Two of his kids & his grandson were with them as well.  It was the first time meeting them. They live in Texas so our paths rarely cross. Although it was such a short visit I felt very grateful that our schedules aligned so we could have this time together. 

Family!

After breakfast, Steve & I headed for Mystic, CT for our overnight before heading to Shelter Island. We got to the hotel around 3PM & chilled for a bit before heading to downtown Mystic. We took a Lyft there to give us a break from driving the truck. We walked about the area, watched the draw bridge go up & a couple boats go through then did the most tourist thing in Mystic by dining at Mystic Pizza.  I'm a Gen X and couldn't resist. The pizza was decent, not the best but not the worst we have had. We sat upstairs along the open windows. After dinner, we walked around a bit more then walked the 2 miles back to our hotel. After so many days driving walking does my body good!

I love that so many towns have a "Greetings From 'insert town'" painted on one of their buildings

Mystic Drawbridge

Steve & Me along the Mystic River

Mystic Pizza - We sat in the upper left window booth

Steve likes it!

View along our walk back to the hotel

We were up early on Thursday so we could get ready, loaded up & at the Cross Sound Ferry by 7:30AM. I booked passage on the 8AM ferry to Orient Point a few days earlier, good thing too as every ferry was fully booked. Apparently there was some big golf tourney on Long Island. Also, the New York Knicks ticker tape parade was going on in NYC. We were loaded on Cape Henlopen around 7:40AM. We then went to grab a table on the ship to have breakfast. As we were driving onto the ferry, we noticed a plaque that said this ship landed near Omaha Beach for D-day in 1944. We both went, huh? Right before leaving port, the captain gave a brief explanation of the ship history & encouraged everyone to go upstairs to learn more about the ship. It's amazing the life this ship has had. 

U.S.S LST-150

Once a Mighty War Ship now safely carried us across Long Island Sound.

The ferry takes about 90 minutes & cost about $100 for us in our F150 to go from New London, CT to Orient Point, NY....totally worth it to avoid NYC! Once on the island it was another 20 minutes or so to a much shorter ride on the North Ferry to Shelter Island. We made it to the Island around 10:30AM. Our first stop was to the Shelter Island Historical Society to talk to them about donating my Great, Great Grandfathers Sextant. While there, we checked out their 250 Exhibit which was very interesting. In a future visit, I want to spend some time in their archives learning more about my family history on the island. Afterwards, we went to the Presbyterian Cemetery to visit the family plots.

Shelter Island - 1776 Map

I'm a Payne - Is this an ancestor? 

One of the Payne Family Plots. My Grandfather & Grandmother are among those buried in this plot

After the quick cemetery visit we had lunch at The Islander than went to Mashomack Preserve to kill some time before checking into our hotel. The only available place to stay was the Shelter Island House. We had never stayed here but it was a really nice place with a pool, outdoor deck & free bikes for use. After unloading the car yet again, we relaxed for awhile before heading to the main event for the visit. 

We arrived at the Shelter Island School to watch my cousin Mary graduate from High School. This is  my 3rd high school graduation this season & this one is the smallest by far. The 2026 Shelter Island class was 18 students this year. For reference, my Dad's class was 19 back in 1967. Some things haven't changed. Since the class is small they were able to announce each students awards although we later learned they didn't announce all of them. We are so proud of Mary & her achievements to date along with several scholarships. She is an amazing young lady & we cannot wait to see what she achieves next! 

After the ceremony, Butch had a small celebration at the American Legion. Her big party is on Sunday but we will already be home. We were so glad to spend a few hours on the island celebrating her achievement. 

So, so proud of Mary!

On Friday we were up early to start the journey home. Before we left the island we stopped at Stars Cafe to grab some coffees & breakfast sandwiches than headed to the ferry. We left the hotel at 6:30AM and arrived home at 9:30PM. It took us over an hour to get through NYC due to traffic jams & construction. There was so much construction & heavy traffic all the way through New Jersey & Pennsylvania before finally letting up some in Maryland. We made a few stops for food & fuel but most of that time was spent driving. It was a long day but we were happy to sleep in our beds at the end of the day.

Overall, although super fast, it was a fantastic trip. Next year we plan to go with the new camper to do more slow travel through the state. We're already looking forward to the trip!

Sunrise over Shelter Island House

On the ferry - bye bye SI