Christmas Eve 2024

I decided to stay in Helen tonight since that was always Christmas for us. I splurged and got a room over looking the river. It's a beautiful day, sunny and almost warm!

I had dinner at the Hofbrau Haus....Jager schnitzel and beer!

I sure do miss you,  and I miss our Christmas in the cabin 😢 

 

 

Girls Week in Myrtle Beach

 Paige and I just had a wonderful week in Myrtle Beach - a week that we both definitely needed!!

We laughed, and talked, and shopped, and ate, watched movies, and played games.  It was cathartic for both of us as we remembered Dave and Mike.

We always knew each other through Kim, and now we've forged a friendship - another sister!!!💖

Just arrived at the condo, let the fun begin!

All set for Wine Scrabble (it's a thing, look it up!)

Beautiful sunrises

Playing Hit and Giggle

Snacks on the veranda

We met Paige's college roommate Kathy for lunch

Exploring Georgetown

Wine Scrabble and Poker

Whoo hoo! We're back to our weekly wine Scrabble games!🥰❤️

And, our Friday night poker games!

10/18/1944

 

Charleston, SC 10/18/2021

Happy 80th birthday Mike!!

We all miss you and love you so much!   I still can't believe that you're really gone.

Today I went to Gibbs Gardens to walk and remember you.  It's a beautiful, peaceful place.

We celebrated you at NoFo on Saturday. 

I miss you so much.😢

Home to Georgia

I left Annapolis on Sunday 😞 after a fun visit with Richard and Kim.  I stopped at Debbie Rogers Helgeson's house to see Mark and Debbie.  They have a beautiful place just outside of Anderson,  SC. It was so nice to spend time with them, and I'm so grateful that Debbie was so tenacious trying to find me last year!

Annapolis

Fun few days with Kim and Richard,  and their newest addition,  Jack! Last night Scott, Krisi, and kids came over, and so did Eric, but I forgot to get a picture with him. We had lunch at Cantlers,  and today was the boat show. Fun, quick visit!

West Springfield, MA - Celeste's House!!

 Such a fun - but short - visit with Celeste.  I loved seeing her new house, and she gave me a tour of the area where she grew up - even stopped by the house she grew up in!  I forgot to take a picture of her in front of her new house!😒

She took me to the Dr Seuss museum - he grew up in Springfield.  What a great place.  There were lots of personal cards and letters that he had sent to his step-daughters.  He must have been a wonderful person to know!

We started in the sculpture garden.  His step-daughter is an artist and did all of the sculptures.

Horton!

"Oh the Places You'll Go!" - it seems he wrote this for his step daughter when she graduated

I love this one - him at his desk with the Cat in the Hat

On our walk in the neighborhood

View from the mountain just out of town - Mt. Holyoke?

Sightseeing in the UP

 

 

God how I missed you today Mike! I wish you could have seen all of this, you'd have really enjoyed watching the ship in the Soo Locks. I haven't felt this sad in a while.

Other than missing you so much today, probably because I know you would have enjoyed it, it turned out to be an ok day.

It started out rainy and gray when I left St Ignace. I drove up to Sault Ste. Marie to see the Soo Locks. It's really interesting. The Soo Locks, located on the St. Marys River, allow freighters to navigate between Lake Superior and the lower Great Lakes, and the St. Lawrence Seaway.

They have an observation deck, and I got to watch a ship go through into Lake Superior.

 

This was the level of the ship when I got to the observation deck:

 

This is it when they were ready to open the gates:

 

And this is it leaving 

 

Then a beautiful drive to Whitefish Point to see the lighthouse on Lake Superior. 

 

 

The lighthouse and shipwreck museum is very interesting,  with a moving memorial to the Edmund Fitzgerald. 

 

 

And a view of the lake.

My phone was actually roaming in Canada when I was there!

I came back to St Ignace,  and now it's beautiful and sunny, and I'm having an early supper with a view of Lake Huron.

Crossing the Mackinac Bridge 😐

The UP of Michigan

 I left Minneapolis on Monday the 23rd.  I had an enjoyable drive through beautiful country to Marinette, WI.  (Google Maps shows a Cheesehead when you cross into Wisconson! 😅)

I stayed at a lovely B&B called the Laureman House.  It was charming the the Innkeeper is a very interesting woman who also has a B&B in France (she goes back and forth) and a Victorian Inn in Marinette (which was her childhood home).

I had the Blue Room

Coffee on the Veranda

The breakfast room

Did you know that people who live in the UP call themselves "Yoopers"?  I cracked up - but I saw a big billboard, so it must be true!!

From Marinette I had a nice drive along Lake Michigan to St. Ignace, MI.  The colors are starting to get really pretty.  I had lunch at a grill overlooking Lake Huron, where the Ferries depart for Mackinac Island.  The weather is rainy and chilly, so I'll have to come back another time to take the ferry over.  It's not very appealing today.

Lake Michigan

Tomorrow I'm heading north to see the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum, the Whitefish Point Light Station which has been in use since Abraham Lincoln's time, and the Soo Locks that allow freighters to navigate between Lake Superior and Lake Huron.  There is also a maritime museum there, so it should be interesting!  And, if I have time, I want to see Tahquamenon Falls.  Lots to do tomorrow!!!

Cousin's Weekend

I left Hart Ranch on the 18th, and went as far as Brookings. I got to Maple Grove on the 19th, and Kim and Richard flew in. Richard is sicker than a dog, so they're going to fly home after the lunch on the 21st.  He's staying in the hotel.

Friday morning,  we had VIP tour tickets to Paisley Park. What a great tour!! Kim and I had so much fun and it was so interesting! We even got to sit on the Purple Rain motorcycle!. When I get to Annapolis we're going to watch it, Richard has never seen it. 

Friday evening Bill and Jan flew in and we met the Stalboerger girls at a nice little restaurant.  Judy wasn't there, she and hubby are sick, and Amy didn't come down from Melrose. But Mary and Bill haven't changed,  Jean hasn't changed,  and Anne looks just the same!

Today we're all meeting for lunch (those of us who aren't sick!), and then Bill, Jan, and I are heading to the lake to stay tonight.  Jean said Butch and Al are grilling burgers, and we're having brunch tomorrow.   

Lunch at Bello Cucina was so fun. It was the perfect venue,  we had the whole place to ourselves.  Jean and Anne planned everything,  and it was perfect.  It was so good to see everyone,  and be back together as if we were still kids. 

It especially made my heart happy to see Aunts Lorraine, Joan and Al. Butch has been sick, so he didn't come, but we got to see him for dinner at their house Saturday evening. 

On the way out to the lake, Bill, Jan and I drove around Melrose to find Grandma's house. We were having trouble because there were so many 2nd Streets and Second Avenues. We stopped at one that looked sort of familiar but.... A man was walking his dog and we asked him if he knew if this was Dina Gerding's house. He said he didn't know, but his parents who lived next door might.  So we spoke to this wonderful couple - sharp as tacks in their 80s - and he had been Grandma's mailman!  He immediately said "126 W 2nd Street "  Of Course!!  I remembered as soon as he said it.  We were on East 2nd. So after a nice chat we drove right to it.  What wonderful memories 💕💕

Sunday morning brunch at the Stalboerger house, and a pontoon boat ride around the lake 💕💕

 

 

And then, on the way back to Minneapolis,  look what I passed!

Such great memories!