Sunday Substitute

We were "in town" this weekend due to the weather.  Richard had roller hockey game this morning. Although his team lost their 3rd game (of 3), Richard is tied for the leading scorer on his team (2 points).

Richard and I spent the afternoon at the Plainville Wings and Wheels Fly-In and Car Show (see above). Despite the extreme heat (upper 90s), it was great fun. There was a tremendous number of vehicles in the car show-I wish I had thought to take pictures. We spent most of our time in the car show area. There were hot rods, antiques, muscle cars, and military vehicles. There were so many, we just didn't have time.

For lunch, I had a pulled pork sandwich and Richard had a grilled kielbasa sandwich (because he enjoyed some during our Ohio visit last summer).

There were 2 helicopters and an old pipe cub airplane giving rides (for a fee). We were able to get up close to see an old biplane (see picture above). We were there when several of the (small) planes took off to return home. Overall, despite the heat, it was a pretty fun show.

Norman Rockwell

Due to bad weather, we had a change in plans for this weekend. I took advantage of the opportunity and accomplished another item on my things to do list: visit the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, MA.

I was fortunate to get a free pass from our local library. It took about 1.5-2 hours for Richard and me to drive there. We took the back roads rather than highways in order to have a more scenic drive. My dad would've been proud.

The weather was sunny and oppressively hot. So it felt good to be in air conditioning. The museum is divided into 2 buildings. We spent most of the time in the main building (see above) looking at the paintings and magazine covers. The web site for the museum has an immense amount of material (but it is not the same as actually being there) if you want to learn more about Norman Rockwell.

The other building is Rockwell's studio (see above). We caught up with a docent/guide there. At the time of our visit, the inside was set up to resemble when he was creating his famous painting, Golden Rule (see the cover of the brochure above). This is is a favorite of mine, in part because I have had a reproduction mounted in my place for years. My sister Susan gave it to me years ago; I believe her husband Mark "made" it.

Richard's favorite painting in the museum was Stockbridge Main Street at Christmas.

We had a delightful ham & cheese sandwich afterwards on the patio (under a tent) to tide us over.

Before driving home, we drove north because I hoped to see the famous round Shaker barn at Hancock Shaker Village. We got to see it but the place had just closed for the day.

While driving around looking for a good place to eat, we got stuck in a traffic jam at Tanglewood.

We ended up having supper at Barrington Brewery & Restaurant. Richard had the after 5 special: "Steak & Cake" (7 oz. N.Y. strip steak and 2 crab cakes, onion rings, and salad). I had a "Brewer's Pocket" (spinach, smoked turkey, bacon, sprouts, onion, blue cheese dressing, melted Swiss on pita bread). No beer since I was driving.

On the way home we stopped at a Dairy Queen in Winsted, CT. We walked around while eating our ice cream and found a sports complex where we watched a girl in a batting cage, and go-karts. We also visited the local Civil War monument.

 

Baltimore Bust

For  a while I have been wanting to go to Baltimore to visit my sister, Amy, and visit Fort McHenry. I thought we had an opportunity to do so this weekend. An extra special added bonus and incentive was that our favorite Cleveland Indians were scheduled to play in Baltimore. Richard and I were going to drive there Saturday morning, stay with Amy, and catch the Saturday and Sunday ball games; we would squeeze in a couple hours at Fort McHenry either Saturday or Sunday morning. Alas, it was not to be.

Amy called me early Saturday morning (actually, she left a voice message around midnight but I was asleep), ~ 6:30 a.m. to report that a freak storm had blown through Baltimore Friday evening and her apartment had not power - could be days before it was restored. And the forecast for the weekend was temperatures close to (or exceeding) 100F(!) with a 30% chance of severe thunderstorms in the afternoon.

Being a prudent sort, I decided it was probably not a good idea to drive 6 hours and encounter problems. At this point, I was not even sure if the ball games would be played. My mind was thinking of the problems we faced this past fall when an early freak snow storm knocked down trees throughout the town, triggering a power outage that lasted over a week.

As it was, power was not restored to Amy's apartment until Sunday evening. The Divine Power allowed the Indians to win both games that we had planned to see.

So we stayed home and made the best of it. The weather was almost equally hot (i.e., upper 90s).