Out on the Water
My Mom came to visit the first of September.
Since she has some trouble with her feet, I tried to find fun things to do that did not require much walking – which is really hard in our little village.
When she was here last year, we planned to do a lake cruise, but the weather was bad and we ended up not getting to do that, so it was the first thing on the agenda this year.
Instead of the 50-minute cruise on the Judge Ben Wiles, we opted to do a longer evening cocktail cruise on the Barbara, a cool wooden mail boat.
The weather was beautiful – not too cool on the water- and the snacks were tasty. The only downside of the trip was that we had pre-ordered chocolate covered strawberries for Mom, and the server dropped them. There weren’t any more on board, so we had to do without.
After the cruise we made up for the strawberries by stopping in at our favorite local restaurant and picking up some cannolis. They are always delicious and definitely satisfied our sweet tooth.
Last summer Mom mentioned that she had always wanted to see a show on Broadway, so that was our next adventure.
Visiting NYC
She and I headed down to the city for two nights. We stayed in a hotel right in the heart of the theatre district and close to Times Square. There was even a somewhat-reasonably priced parking garage nearby, which came in handy when we were ready to head back home.
Our first night we decided to have dinner at Ellen’s Stardust Diner, which is pretty famous in theatre sets. The whole appeal of Ellen’s is that all the servers are Broadway hopefuls, so they sing and dance while taking orders and serving meals. It is very touristy, but lots of fun! One of the servers was finishing up his last week because he had just been cast as Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors. The food was typical diner fare, but the talent we got to see made up for the menu.
After dinner, we had a glass of wine on the hotel’s rooftop deck and enjoyed the lights of Broadway and the constant parade of people.
The following day we did a bus tour of the city. I cannot stress enough the amazing architecture in the heart of the city! We saw everything from modern to art nouveau. I am a HUGE fan of art deco, and there were plenty of buildings to see in that style as well.
We were in the city during the September heatwave -it was well over 90 degrees downtown with no breeze-, so by 2 pm we were ready to head back to the hotel to rest and clean up before the show.
We opted for sandwiches in our room before heading out to the Gershwin theatre to see Wicked. We had really good seats – not front row center, but not the nose-bleed section either- and we were on an aisle, so bonus!
Off to the Theatre
I have to tell you, I have never seen Wicked! in any form, and I really liked it. It was such an interesting take on the original Oz story. And (confession time) I have never been a huge fan of the original story. I always rooted for the witch. When I was cast in that part when I was about 12, I spent WEEKS perfecting my “melt”. I always thought the witch got a raw deal, so I loved this version with the witch getting her own happily-ever-after. Mom was delighted by the Galinda/Glinda character. Every time the actress did something funny, silly, etc., Mom commented that she was “a mess” (If you are from the south, you get that remark.)
After the show we indulged by taking a rickshaw back to the hotel. Mom was ready to turn in, so I ventured out to the rooftop for a nightcap and a bit more people watching.
Back in Skaneateles on the weekend, my hubby wanted to go for a drive to check our Sacket’s Harbor, so we loaded up and headed north.
Oh, my! Sacket’s Harbor, which is right on Lake Ontario, is an adorable little town! We drove around a bit, then had lunch at the 1812 Brewing Company. The food was good, and they had quite a few good beers on tap, as well as a full bar. We will definitely be visiting there again!
The last day before Mom left, she and I went in search of apple cider donuts. They are a must here in the fall. We wandered out Cherry Valley Turnpike (Route 20) until we found an orchard with a bakery. Pure bliss! Then we wandered around, just seeing where we ended up before heading home.
The next day was busy. Mom and I both had a flight to catch. Her back home to Texas, and me headed to Arizona to surprise a friend.
Stay tuned for more random acts of Kelly!