Saybrook Point Golf

After visiting the Florence Griswold Museum, we headed a few miles down the road (Rt. 1) to Old Saybrook, CT to play some mini-golf near Dock & Dine.  Lynn's family spent many of their summers in Old Saybrook and Dock & Dine was a favorite of her parents.

It's right at the Connecticut River where it empties into the Long Island Sound. 

The weather was sunny & extremely hot. Richard is very good at mini-golf and beat me by two strokes (see below).

On the way home, we stopped at the Sonic Drive-in for supper.



Go With the Flo!

On Saturday July 9th, Richard and I drove down to Old Lyme, CT to visit the Florence Griswold Museum. We got a free pass from the library.  I wanted to go because the old Hartford Steam Boiler Fine Arts Collection is housed there. However, when we arrived I was disappointed to learn that the exhibit had closed and was put in storage while a new exhibit was up.

We had a fine time going through the house (see picture above). Lots of impressionist paintings. They had one of those find the item games-Richard is very good and eventually we found everything. Some were tricky.

After touring the house, we had a light lunch outside in the cool shade. We had the most delicious BLT sandwich I can remember. The applewood bacon was thick and tasty; the tomatos were red, ripe, and juicy; and the lettuce was crisp and green.

When we entered the museum, they gave us a little button to wear to show we had "paid." Note the logo and compare to the picture at the top of this post.

After lunch, we toured the grounds. They had neat and beautiful gardens and shady trees.  Also a weird "sculpture" (see picture below- that's me in the middle).  The museum is at the edge of a little river and the view is delightful and relaxing (see picture below-that's Richard).

We finished up by touring the new building (see picture below) and the new exhibit. Of course, we enjoyed the gift shop (but didn't buy anything).

The museum has a wonderful website (click on the link here or above). There is a lot of info and pictures there and you can learn a lot about impressionist painting in the US at the early part of the 20th Century.

Here we are just as we were getting ready to leave. See how happy we are? Richard is thinking mini-golf. We drove a few miles to play at Old Saybrook.

Julie July 4th

My sister Julie (taken late 1970s)

Today (July 4th) is the birthday of my sister Julie Francine. HAPPY BIRTHDAY JULIE! She and her family live in Great Britain. Unfortunately, it has been too many years since I last saw her.

Julie was born in the morning in Cleveland in 1969. All of us were born in the same hospital, St. John's. It turned out to be a tumultous day (here is a detailed story about the weather and its aftermath that day).

For the holiday, we gathered at Uncle Dan and Aunt Dorothy's home in Bedford for a family get together. Lots of cousins, bottles of pop, grilled food, etc. Typically, we would have gone to see fireworks at Cleveland's Edgewater Beach but due to the new baby and threatening weather, we stayed in Bedford.

I remember that the weather seemed to deteriorate quickly and we all pile into our Volkswagon van and headed for home in Broadview Heights. The sky was a weird shade of gray-green and there was lots of crying and praying as we drove. When we arrived home, there was a mad rush out of the car and we all went down into the basement for safety against the potential tornado.

Later, we learned that the massive storm had hit Edgewater and several people were killed by falling tree limbs. My mom recalls that the hospital lost power during the storm. With that kind of day, it's difficult to forget a sibling nicknamed Julie July 4th!