Part 2 of Our Holiday Newsletter

Next we drove back to San Diego from where Bart flew back to Dallas. So we were apart for a few weeks: each working on decluttering. Bart was working on his Dallas office preparing to retire. Kitty was getting her condo in shape so we could both live there part of the time. Then Bart drove back to San Diego to be there for Kitty's cataract surgery. He came the day before the hurricane, which was very bad where he would have been driving but not much on the coast.

Then we drove back to Dallas for the regional over Labor Day. Some success for us both.

The day after Bart retired on September 15, we left for our foliage tour of New England via car with Rockie. In addition to friends on the way (Kimi and Phil, Bronia and Billy), we saw the Annie Leibowitz show in Arkansas and the Sun studio in Memphis, TN, as well as the ACBL headquarters on our way North.

Then a beautiful drive through Tennessee, stopping in Gatlinburg to have dinner with friends Jon and Kathy Sorkin. Drove the Blue Ridge Parkway to Deep Gap (near Boone), North Carolina to visit old friend Kenny Lebensold. Next in Virginia we looked at the train photos in the  O. Winston Link Museum in Roanoke, then visited with Kitty's Pasquet/Mahoney cousins. 

So many friends and family in the Washington area (Alan and Robin, Peter and Ellen, Mary, Dick and Celia ...)! We stayed with Bart's cousin Laurie and husband Jack. Her mother, Aunt Ruth, came to dinner; she is 103 and still doing Spelling Bee! Then we headed North and dropped in on Bart's second cousin Nick Greer who has an amazing furniture restoration business in Purcellville, VA. They had not seen each other in 60 some years!

Continuing North, we stopped off to see cousin Marthe Bramley and her husband Bob in Cherry Hill, NJ. We took a walk with them along the Cooper River and saw a lovely Holocaust Memorial. Then onward to Westchester, we stayed with Jeff and Kate Aker and also caught up with Josh Parker there. Forgot to take photos on that visit! Then we drove further North to stay with Steve and Betty Bloom and visit nearby with Bart's cousins Bruce and Cherie Bramley.

Kitty finally met Bart's brother and his wife Patty. We stayed several days with them in Cornwall Bridge.  Rockie really loved that visit as she could roam the property with several other fun dogs. Now the foliage was really starting to turn! .

We also found a nice realtor in the West Hartford area and saw many suitable houses. We are confident that there will be one when we are ready. We visted with Bart's good friends Annie and Dave in Farmington, near where we expect to be living.

Next we took the Bridgeport ferry to Long Island where we stayed with Kitty's son Paul and wife Lindsay and grandchildren Jack and Julie. We took a day trip to East Hampton to see friend Peter and Devon Yacht Club, the Maidstone, and Kitty's parents' grave at St. Luke's.

Then we stayed a night with Kitty's old friend Amy Treitel who moved to Sag Harbor during the pandemic. She has a lovely home in the woods, a short walk from the water. As usual, when it was time to go, Rockie wanted to stay!

Always fun taking the ferries to and from Shelter Island to get to the North fork. From there we took the Orient Point ferry over to New London, CT. We discovered that La Quinta motels are way nicer than Motel 6 or Red Roof Inns (all places dogs are allowed). Thanks to a suggestion from old friend Connie Kilgore and husband Robert, who fed us a lovely dinner.

We enjoyed a Dead cover band in Westerly , RI with Bart's childhood friend Keith. Then visited with Tom and Hollie Courage in Tiverton, R.I. Saw a show, "Marie Antoinette," at the URI campus, with backstage work by Emmie Nutting (Sally Woolsey's granddaughter) and enjoyed the company of her dad and brother as well. Loved Phil's electric Mustang!

Next we visited the Boston area, which brought back many remembrances. We stopped by the former Boston Chess Club building; where we met. Drove by Kitty's grandparents house in Brookline. We stayed with Choate friend Doug and Sue Myers; Sue is a docent for the glass flowers and gave us a private tour! As we both went to college in Cambridge, we had many places and memories to share with each other

We also stopped in Maynard where Digital Equipment once was and found that the Parker Street building where we used to work was gone and replaced by a shopping mall! This was confirmed by former coworkers, Luke and Debby Gillespie, who we visited in Acton.

After Boston, it was off to the Wallingford area where Bart grew up. Distances are so short in New England! We stopped by his childhood home, his grandparents' place in Danbury, and his old school. This included meals with various friends (Gerry, Fay and Mike, Marc and Dianne and Rick) and a visit to his parents' graves.