Oneonta & Cooperstown

Our plan all along was to end our trip in Cooperstown. So it was a lucky twist that a family reunion was happening in oneonta (about 30 minutes away) at the same time. We left Toronto early and had a long but easy drive and made it in time to hang out some before dinner. 

Boating! 

Chess with a cousin-somehow. 

As always, we had a nice time catching up, and food was delicious. Even the surprise torrential downpour couldn't dampen everyone's spirits. 

Running around the pond after the rain. 

We then drove to our campground in Cooperstown, set up in our little campground, and collapsed into bed. 

Not so "glampy," but very comfortable for one night. 

The next morning we threw everything in the car and drove over to the Baseball Hall of Fame. While not as exciting as the Hockey Hall of Fame, according to Jax, it was a pretty neat experience. 

"We're the members of the All American League..."

Go Sox! 

And that's all she wrote! We got in the car, hit a ton of traffic on the Pike, naturally, and made it home. I will say that it was a bittersweet arrival; we're glad to be back, but it was hard not having Sally to welcome us home. We're definitely feeling that loss more accutely now. But all in all it was a great trip, with a lot of good memories made. 

Upstate New York is very pretty. 

Toronto

We had so much fun with our friends we were so sad to leave. But it was scheduled to be a longish drive to Toronto and our hosts, you know, had to go to work. 

Good thing we left when we did, because Toronto traffic was horrific. The last 10 or so miles ended up adding over an hour to our original drive time. Because we were getting in so late, coupled with the fact that lea wasn't really interested in going, we decided that we would drop pete and jax off at the Hockey Hall of Fame and get situated at the hotel. 

Jax was pretty bummed that we didn't join, but still had a really good time. 

Borque! <3 

This was apparently the "terrifying" portion of the visit. 

With (a replica of) the Stanley Cup! 

Lea and I took a rainy walk to meet them, and then we had dinner at Marche. Kind of like a very fancy cafeteria, it was a little overwhelming at first. But ultimately it was delicious and everyone got dinner that they wanted. 

Chocolate mousse in a chocolate cup was, unsurprisingly, a hit. 

The next morning we got up early so we could make it to the aquarium before the lines got too long. We had heard from multiple people that it was a great aquarium, and they were right. The best part was that there was an amazing moving walkway that brings you under and through an ENORMOUS tank full of tons of different kinds of fish and sharks. 

Blue lobster! 

Just petting a shark, NBD. 

After the aquarium we took a walk over to the waterfront and had lunch outside overlooking the water. We lucked out in that it was a much nicer day than the one before. 

The CN tower, visible from a ton of places in the city. 

Artistic wavy boardwalk. 

Attempt at family selfie with Lake Ontario in the background. 

That afternoon we braved the car again to take a trip to Casa Loma, Toronto's castle. While basically everything pales in comparison to the Biltmore, it was a really neat place, with cool secret passageways and tower lookouts.

Ceiling of the conservatory 

Garage

High time these two took a shower. 

Is my own room so much to ask for? This is literally half of lady pellatt's suite. 

Two of the more riveting books in the library. 

View from the tower. 

A little downtime came next, followed by delicious Chinese food. It's always neat to try "authentic" Chinese food in another city. While we weren't brace enough to try sea cucumber or jellyfish, we had some fantastic green beans and noodles. 

A little swimming in the hotel pool-with-a-waterslide and petting the hotel bunnies (!!) rounded out the evening. 

That's Jax's foot over there. 

I'm not sure how I feel about rabbits being kept as pets in a hotel. They were awfully cute, though. 

View from our room. 

We had to be up and out early for our longest drive of the trip, to oneonta NY. We've been there, and Cooperstown, and are now on our way home. Update on the last stop coming from there! 

Ann Arbor

Here come some of the last posts! We've been on the move and having fun and I can't believe that we head home tomorrow! 

Originally the kids had wanted to take pete to the Henry Ford Museum, which we had done the last time we were in Ann Arbor (A2). However, that would have meant getting up and out of Chicago very early so we'd have time to get there Tuesday afternoon. Long story short, we decided to scrap it. That was a good choice, as we had a kind of lazy morning in Chicago and then got on the road. 

We got in a little before my friend could meet up, so we went to the arboretum for just a bit. 

A pretty woodsy spot right in town. 

We then head right to downtown A2 and met up with the friend we were staying with. Last time we were in town we didn't really explore downtown, so we puttered around a bit before getting dinner (and dessert!) at Zingermans. 

I feel welcome, thank you. 

"On this site in 1897 nothing happened." Oh Ann Arbor, <3

YUM. 

Last time I was here I didn't even know about the A2 fairy doors, so this time we looked for some. So cute! 

"Why can't I fit in here?"

We went home after dinner and just had a good time catching up with a good friend. 

We brought this hat from Boston. The outcome did not disappoint. 

Under fantastic crazy hair tutelage. 

The next morning we were treated to homemade zucchini muffins and lattes (!!) before we set out for the day. Everyone had mentioned how great the Detroit Institute of Art was, and being only 40 minutes away, I thought it a shame to miss seeing a tiny bit of the city. 

It was a small museum, relatively speaking, but the modern art collection (my favorite) was top notch. 

Just like the chapel we have at home. 

Diego Rivera mural. 

Replicas of camel leg bones. 

His good ear. 

Mic. Drop.  

There was an excellent special exhibition of photographs of Detroit's hip hop scene. 

After a couple of hours in the museum (which was enough time to see most of it) we went across the street to meet up with a different friend for lunch. The plan was to go to a deli that served corned beef on latkes. However, when we got there it turned out that it has turned into an Asian fusion restaurant. Bummer. Nevertheless, the food itself was good and it was nice to meet a Mawrter who I have known for a long time but never met in person. 

That was it for Detroit! The day was beautiful, so we decided to go kayaking on the Huron River, which runs right through A2. Jax and I had a great time, and lea and pete, who were a little more tired, did fine as well. 

I didn't get any pictures while actually kayaking, because I was worried my phone would end up in the water, but this is basically the view. It was a really nice way to spend an afternoon. 

Huron River. 

Back to our hosts' where we hung out a bit before another Mawrter friend came to join for dinner. It was low key and fun and just wonderful to catch up. The kids had a good time playing together too. 

Thank you for having us! 

Cool kid. 

The battery was dead. Thank goodness jax was willing to push them around the yard. 

BMC, A2 version. 

This clown...

Can't forget Frodo! 

And that was our time! We got up and out to come to Toronto Thursday morning. It was a fast visit, but a great one. The only downside is that some of our A2 friends were away so we didn't get to catch up. Looks like they'll have to make their way to Boston...