Mary takes a quick trip to Quebec

Mary spent a November weekend visiting Quebec, where she found the Old City already looking very Christmassy.

Photos Mary posted on Facebook include this view inside the Basilique-Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Québec.

Mary also explored the wintry landscape of the Parc national de la Jacques-Cartier, about 40 miles north of the city.

For that excursion, she made sure to dress warmly - and bring along a taste of home! (Lakeside Lounging is a craft IPA brewed in Saratoga Springs.)

Cathy goes on a "mystery tour" in Ontario

Toronto from the observation deck of CN Tower

Cathy spent a late-October week in the Toronto area on a "Behind the Scenes" tour for the Canadian TV show “Murdoch Mysteries.” She writes: "It’s a great show and the trip was wonderful."

The tour focused on locations in Toronto, Kingston and Niagara on the Lake that have featured in episodes of the show, which is set in the 1890s and early 1900s. The group also had opportunities to meet cast members and visit sets used in the production at Shaftesbury Films studios in Toronto.

Cathy with Arlen Humphreys ("Margaret Brackenreid")

Group photo on set, with Yannick Bisson ("Detective William Murdoch), in vest with Cathy behind his left shoulder.

Street set on back lot

At Det. Murdoch's desk

Suspicious character in the street

Tour stops included Casa Loma, a huge and ornate Gothic Revival castle-style mansion and garden in midtown Toronto.

It was built in 1911-14 for financier Sir Henry Pellatt. Lady Mary Pellatt hosted the city's female philanthropists and political activists at teas in the castle's solarium.

In Niagara-on-the-Lake, the group stayed at the elegant, Victorian-style Prince of Wales Hotel, built in 1864.

Tea is served afternoons in the Drawing Room

Naturally, a visit to Niagara Falls was included. There was also a dinner in the barrel room at Peller Estates Winery.

The group tour wrapped up with dinner in the restaurant atop Toronto's CN Tower (see photo at the top of this post). It happened to be the night of Game 7 of the World Series, at the adjacent Rogers Centre.

 

Cathy took this photo of eager fans entering before the game. They would have looked less happy coming out, after the LA Dodgers won 5-4 in 11 innings.

Cathy has posted many more photos from the trip on her Facebook page.

Dan & Julie visit Toronto for a concert and some sight-seeing

It started with browsing concert listings. Julie noticed that Sheryl Crow was on tour and said that was an artist she'd like to see sometime. One of the dates was in Toronto, and Dan said that was a city he'd like to see sometime. Before long they'd booked concert tickets, flights, a hotel - plus baseball tickets - for a quick 60-hour visit to Canada's largest city.

Arriving on a Friday night, they checked into their hotel near the airport, navigated public transit downtown and strolled around the Harborfront area. On their way to the Rogers Centre baseball stadium, they checked out the outdoor Toronto Railway Museum and had dinner at one of the restaurants in the former Canadian Pacific roundhouse.

Despite being fans of the AL East rival Yankees and Orioles, Dan and Julie enjoyed watching the Toronto Blue Jays play the Texas Rangers - and win in exciting, come-from-behind fashion, 6-5.

 

On Saturday, the couple took a ferry across Toronto's Inner Harbor to Ward's Island, one of a group of islands that have a mix of parkland, small residential neighborhoods, an amusement park and a small airport. They strolled through the park, had lunch at a cafe alongside the main harbor, and walked through a neighborhood of quaint old houses before ferrying back downtown.

Making the most of their limited time, D&J then checked out the shops along the cobblestone, pedestrian-only streets of the Distillery District, with music in the background from a bandstand in a central plaza.

Then it was time to call a Lyft to get to the opposite side of the city for dinner and the Sheryl Crow concert at the Great Canadian casino complex. (Side note: The only highway through downtown Toronto, the Gardiner Expressway, seemed perpetually jammed.)

Photo from Great Canadian Entertainment

On Sunday, they continued their tourist-ing by returning downtown and visiting the Royal Ontario Museum. They spent the morning in the First People's gallery with its collection of native artifacts, including canoes and kayaks, and part of the afternoon in the Earth's Treasures, Dawn of Life and Dinosaur exhibits.

After a walk around nearby Queens Park, they said farewell to Toronto, and they and their tired legs headed to the airport.

See many more photos, including trains, canoes and dinosaurs

Doug's summer travels through the Midwest

Rock Maze trail

Doug and his camera took a rambling trip through the Midwestern U.S. this summer, visiting cities and towns, natural wonders and man-made oddities. He took a zillion photos, of which a curated collection can be viewed in a Google album here. Here are a few highlights and Doug's commentary on the trip.

"I started in western MD with a trail I never knew existed, the Rock Maze trail, something I'm surprised we never found in all the time at Arrowhead. It is an interesting rock outcropping which is great for kids to climb on. 

"Went through 13 states; added 4 new state highpoints, 10 peaks and three new National Parks to my been-there list. 

"Walked on the race track at Indy and saw Airstream trailers be built. 

"Had over a dozen really good local IPAs. Dipped my own bottle of Maker's Mark Whiskey. Ate in the oldest bars in WV and KY. Crossed the Ohio five times and the Mississippi 9 times (in central Minnesota near the headwaters it meanders so, yes, I'm still on the east side of the river.) 5,892.5 miles specifically, and the Toyota Highlander has now been in 46 states and has over 200,000 miles on it, still going strong.

US 35 crosses the Ohio River

"Drove on State Line Road south of Union City, IN/OH where folks on the left side of the road had Indiana plates on the cars in the driveway and folks on the right side had Ohio plates. There are lotsa places in the country where your neighbor is in another state, but this was obvious. If your mail box is across the road, you have to walk to another state just to get your mail.

"Went through some towns with interesting names including Coolville, OH; Twentysix, KY (they spell it out); Coon Valley, WI and Gnaw Bone, IN. Then the whole set of those named after something else: Cuba, MO; Lisbon. ND;  Athens, WI; Sparta, WI; Atlanta, IL; Virginia, MN; Boston, OH, El Paso, WI; Nashville, IN; Richmond, IN; Delaware, OH; Fargo, OH; Indiana, PA. Then there was Farmersville and Farmer City IL.; Murphytown, WV; New Douglas, IL; Webster, IN and Andrew, IA. Also traversed Winnebago, MN, Winnebago, IL and Winnebago, WI. FYI, Winnebago Campers are made in none of these places, they are made in Forest City, IA.

"During the trip I spent a lot of time not on interstate highways, although I did travel on quite a few. North Dakota has some stellar unpaved roads, straight, well graded and 60 mph is not out of the question. Some states have paved roads which aren't this good. On the little roads, you see more of the country, what people decorate their house and yard with, what they drive, and what "toys" they have too. Lotsa white Ford pickup trucks in Minnesota. Wisconsin allows ATVs on public roads. Michigan reinforces the roadway at snowmobile crossings (the trail is snow covered, the road is not.)"

Here are a few more photo highlights. The full album is definitely worth seeing! You may need to be signed into a Google (Gmail) account in order to view it.

Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Ohio

Sunset at Grand Marais, MN

A multi-occasion celebration in Maryland

Dolores and Hugh hosted a family dinner last weekend to celebrate multiple birthdays, anniversaries and other occasions in the middle months of the year.

It was Dolores' idea to have a July get-together to mark the month's significant dates - her birthday (7/11), Lisa's birthday (7/9), Dan and Julie's anniversary (7/8) - plus events from:

• May - Stephanie's master's degree, Lisa and Doug's anniversary, Wren's birthday
• June - Hugh and Dolores' anniversary, Christine and Jamie's move east
• August - Andy's upcoming birthday

The result was a very enjoyable dinner-for-twelve at The Fireside restaurant in H&D's senior-living community.

Grandchildren fill Kathy's summer home

All six of Kathy's grandchildren were on Eastern Long Island in July, making for some lively times in her summer home.

Liam carefully constructs, then	deconstructs, a block tower.

The gathering happened as Kathy's daughter Vivien, son-in-law CJ, and their three boys - Charlie, Austin and Oliver - were just back in the USA after more than three years in London. They would soon be settling into their new home in White Plains.

Dan and Julie visited for a few days, staying at Ye Olde Fair Play Cottage, and joined the crowd at Kathy's Place for a Friday evening pizza party. Above: D&J with Kathy, Robert, Genevieve and Vivien. (Both John and CJ were at work in NYC that day.) Photo by Beatrice. 

Below: D&J with (back row) Charlie, Liam, Genevieve, (front L to R) Bea, Kathy, Jack, Austin, Vivien. (Oliver was asleep at this point in the evening.) Photo by Robert.

All this against the backdrop of another glorious sunset over the water behind the house.

Christine & Jamie complete move from LA to new home in NYS

Christine and Jamie have moved back across the country and into a lovely house in Schenectady, N.Y. They closed the sale and got the keys on June 25. 

Parents were on hand to congratulate the new homeowners and help with their move-in. Here next to Jamie and Christine are Jamie's dad, Paul; Christine's parents, Dan and Julie; Jamie's mom, Bonnie, and her husband, Jay. 

The house is a 1960-vintage split-level that's been very well maintained and updated through the years. Its large back yard has a swimming pool and plenty of room for entertaining.

And there's a finished basement that is destined to host many board- and video-game gatherings.

By the time they had been in the house for a couple of hours, the couple's two Bengal cats seemed to be adjusting well to their latest move. They were certainly enjoying their new surroundings more than they did the cross-country plane trip.

C&J spent a couple of nights on an air mattress before their furniture and belongings from their Los Angeles apartment arrived on Friday. By Saturday they were making good progress on unpacking.

More photos coming soon

Previous coverage: Christine and Jamie prepare to move back east