How are your summers coming along?

Question

I know that it’s not until June 21, but here it is cool one day and warm the next.  Today will be in the 80s, pretty warm. 

   What are your summer plans? Anything special? 

Answer 1

I'm working for majority of it lol. 

I am going to Chicago for my birthday in August with my family and friends. I am looking forward to it. Other than that, no special plans.

Comments

Are you working in a courthouse, BeautifulMind? I know you have that degree in Criminial Justice. 

   Chicago--I've never been, but I hear it's a nice city to viist. Maybe a little like NY? 

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I do have a degree in Criminal Justice, but I currently work in a different field. I work for an accounting firm. I did get hired to work as a customs and border patrol officer, but I didn't take the job.

Chicago is a beautiful city and it is similar to NY. I'd say Chicago is a little cleaner than NYC. The food is the best part, hands down. My mouth is watering just thinking about it lol.

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I see!  you never know where life will lead you.  Chicago--that's what I hear. Many Korean places to eat, like here, I've been told. Cleaner--it must be in comparison to NY.   I havce not been to NY in ages--in about 5 yrs I would say, when my yongest had to go to a museum for a course she was taking. I love museums so it was fun for me (the MOMA ). 

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Lou Malnotti's pizza.  Italian beef sandwiches.  Have some for me!

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Amy, you are right about that. Never know where it will bring you! 

Yes, the Asian food is amazing there! I always go to China town. I love Korean BBQ. 

I absolutely love museums as well! I used to go all the time as a kid. Both NY and Chicago have great ones! The last time I went to a museum was a few years ago when I was in DC. That's another city with a lot of culture.

Media, I always go to Lou Malnotti's! My dad doesn't like it because they use wine in their pizza dough, but I actually like the way it tastes lol. Italian beef and the hot dogs is what I'm going to be eating every day! 

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Beautiful, take me with you! I'll buy the pizza and the Italian beef sandwiches! :-)  LOL

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I’ve had a little taste of Korean BBQ here, the kind where you put pork belly and some other goodies on lettuce and dip it into a sauce. Loved it. You know, as large as Columbus is, it doesn’t have a Chinatown. I wish it did— NY has a huge one and my high school was near it. 

   I am planning  to visit a museum this week called Cosi, supposedly a science interactive one. But my fav are the art ones. 

   Beef sandwiches? Are they like the pastrami ones? Give me Katz’s Delicatessen!!  Or Harold’s Deli in NJ!! I must go to Chicago, not far from me. That pizza sounds good. 

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Media, I wanna go too !! Lol

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Media, sounds like a deal! Let's go! Lol

Amy, Italian beef sandwiches are from Chicago and it is thin slices of seasoned roast beef that's hot and juicy inside of some crunchy bread. If you prefer, you can ask to have the sandwich dipped in the juices of the beef, or you can skip having it dipped and eat it with the french bread remaining crunchy. The sandwich is topped with Chicago giardiniera (which are hot peppers and diced up veggies like carrots and celery which have been jarred in spicy oil) or you can have sautéed Italian sweet peppers. You could also ask for your sandwich to be topped with both (which is my favorite way). You also have the option to add provolone cheese inside (which I do as well) and it melts inside of the sandwich. It is amazing.

I do love pastrami sandwiches as well, but Italian beef is on another level!

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Beautifulmind, and Media, do you mean Lou Malnati's? I've been to the one in Lincolnwood, Illinois many times. The original. It's actually a chain bought by someone else now. Regardless, I agree very very good! My wife is related to Lou's wife Jean, third cousins or something like that.  

I live in NYC, Beautifulmind as you and I talked about before.  Also, Italian. NY is a big state, like Illinois, Chicago is just a small corner, a great city. I have many Italian family and friends in both cities. To be fair NYC like Chicago has not so clean areas in it. I think every city is like that. I've traveled the entire state of NY. NY State as a whole is the spice of life, just beautiful, same with New Jersey. Such a variety of scenes. Food is phenomenal with NYC, and Buffalo, NY and surrounding areas being tops with me especially regarding food. Chicago being a very close second, but tops. Fun stuff, Beautifulmind. Now I'm feeling it for Italian beef sandwiches, lol!

Mary and I do a lot of traveling, we are leaving for Brazil soon, Rio de Janerio, then on our way back St. Lucia. Leaving the Monday after father's day. Then to Grand Island, NY for the rest of summer, we stay with our daughter at her home every summer, a lot of beautiful rivers and lakes where we dock our cruiser. Grand Island, NY is another beautiful area in NY.

Enjoy your summer and  trip home, Beautifulmind.

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Sam, yes we are talking about the same restaurant. I spelled it wrong lol. And that's very cool that your wife is related to the original family. 

Yes, New York does have amazing food. I love NY as well. There's three things I like better in Chicago food-wise...Chicago thin crust pizza, Vienna beef Chicago hot dogs, and we have Italian Beef sandwiches. But I do enjoy NY pizza as well, I just don't like that it flaps around and gets soggy with all that cheese on it. Chicago thin crust is crispy, which I personally prefer. And it has more flavor, especially when adding giardiniera to it (I like spice).

BUT if you're talking about true Italian pizza, it is much much different than the americanized Chicago and NY pizzas. In Italy, they don't load pizzas with all that cheese and it's coal fired/brick oven.

I've never been to Buffalo, but I want to go! I learned that hot chicken wings were invented by an Italian mother in Buffalo, NY...hence why they are called Buffalo wings.

NY is absolutely beautiful, I hope you enjoy your time on your cruiser and with your daughter! Safe travels.

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Thank you, Beautifulmind. OK, I agree on the NYC pizza. Not a big fan of the  thin NY City crust either, lol.  Buffalo, NY pizza, now that is truly the best. Imo. Pizza in Italy is different and as you state, delicious.  You have to know where to go in each area to be fair it's not equal. With some being a hit and miss type think. Buffalo wings too are the best, and I've tried them everywhere. Yes, agree Italian beef. Need to get to Chicago for that!

Thank you for sharing your opinion. I'm hungry now, lol. 

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Lol I can talk about food all day. I'm hungry now too! When I went to the suburbs in NY, the pizza was way better than in the city. I think the city is more for tourists, but if you want the good stuff you have to know where to go like you said. Sounds like I need to go to Buffalo! 

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Lol! 

I first enjoyed Buffalo, NY with my daughter and her husband about 6 years ago. . They live on Grand Island, NY a suburb of Buffalo. Though I heard about it I never personally toured Buffalo until then. SandyGirl owns a ranch in the rural area (suburb) of Buffalo too, known as Orchard Park, NY, the home of the famous Buffalo Bills! I knew her for years due to our Thoroughbred race horse collaboration and ownership plus seeing her at certain tracks we frequent that she polices. Long story short it was coincidence of shorts not knowing much about the two areas and their connection to Buffalo, NY. Crazy! Plan a must go. Put it on your Bucket list. However, you mentioned suburbs. Thinking you've been there?

Are you Chicago sports fan?

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Beautifulmind, those Italian beef sandwiches sound delicious. I saw you like pizza. I always thought NY had great pizza, so I’ll have to try it In Chicago, too. I’m not too far from it at all. 

   Back in Nj there was a place called Harold’s Deli that sold these humongous sandwiches, and I always got the roast beef ones. They had a pickle bar too. And, they also had these layer cakes that were about  a foot high. Of course this food was meant to share, because I do t think anyone could ever finish those sandwiches or cakes. Yum. Now I’m craving them. I think Katz in NY is very similar. 

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Yes, it's Lou Malnati's (my fault for misspelling it in my earlier post and misleading BeautifulMind).

I am not much of a "spicy foods" person, so when I get an Italian beef sandwich, I get the cheese smothered all over it and I have the spicy stuff on the side. When I went back to visit the Chicago area, I always went to the store in Schaumburg, which was established in 2001, but I've been to the original in Lincolnwood, too, back in the day.  We also went downtown to Uno's when I was just out of college.  Uno's was the original Chicago deep dish pizza, but because we could get to a Lou Malnati's more readily, we leaned that way.

My "go to" place for Italian beef sandwiches was a place called Feeb's in Downers Grove, which is no longer there; the store was not far from where I taught at Downers Grove South High School at the time, and I go to know the owner pretty well--well enough that he supplied me with 2 Feeb's box seat tickets for Chicago White Sox games that I gave away on my radio show.  For me, no one else had better Italian beef sandwiches, but there are some great restaurants that have terrific Italian beef sandwiches in the Chicago area today. 

Speaking of good Italian beef sandwiches, I have found a place in Hilton Head with a Chicago-based ownership.  It's Hinchey's Chicago Bar & Grill.  My brother-in-law always gets the grouper sandwich there (and it's fantastic, along with their other seafood offerings), but I always have to get the "reminds me of Feeb's" Italian beef sandwich.  (They have a location on the island and one in Bluffton, I think.)

ANYWAY... have a great time and wonderful eats to all of you on this thread who are packing for the trip to Chicago with BeautifulMind!  ;-)

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That grouper sandwich sounds great, Media. It looks like Chicago is pretty famous for its food. Must try and see about those Italian beef sandwiches. There’s gotta be a recipe somewhere. 

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Mrs Media makes a pretty good version of it in our slow cooker.  I'll see if she is willing to share her secret recipe!

P.S. The grouper sandwich is in Hilton Head... :-)

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I was looking at recipes today for them on YouTube! But I’d love to see your wife’s recipe. Do you need a slow cooker to cook the beef in?  I bought some beef today, I was so taken by the talk about beef sandwiches and I decided to make some. But I put my rump roast in a pressure cooker on low heat, got about 2 hours. I’m finishing it tomorrow but I can wait if I need to to see your wife’s recipe.  

   Hilton Head, ok. South Carolina? A friend of mine from school used to vacation a lot there. But I did see you mentioned the cook was from Chicago. :)

Answer 2

Lol.  So far it sucks.  We had hired a guy to do some outside painting, deck and house, and it has been raining too much to get it done.  He works a few hours when it is dry.

Then something in the garage caught fire and the whole thing burned down. Completely.  Everything in the garage burned.  Cars, motor bikes, etc.  Happened the last sunday in may.  Since then my life revolves around insurance companies, fire inspections, locating a car, etc.  I expect it to consume the whole summer.  Mixed in with doctor appointments.

Comments

Oh no! Talk about luck. Fires are pretty scary. I hope you get to recover what you lost with the insurance.  At least looking for a new car is kind of fun, especially if you needed a new one.  I wish you good luck with all that, Wellone. 

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Lol.  I had a new one.  2020.  I bought it jus st the start of the pandemic.  With no where to go, it only had 16,000 miles on it.  Currently, there are no cars available.  New or used.  The good news is that the prices for used cars is high, so we actually got more than we paid for it new.  The bad news is there are no used cars similar and very few new one.  We found a similar car about 100 miles away in the next state that was only a few thousand more than the insurance was paying so we bought that.

There appears to be way that I can replace the vanagon camper van, but might find a jeep wrangler replacement for the price offered.  Lol.

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Well, it's a good thing the insurance paid for most of the cost, even it wasn't the same exact car, but you got something similar. Same thing happend toi my brother when Hurricane Sandy struck and destroyed his garage with all his tools and lawnmowerm and his fence.  But he had his car outside on the steet. My own car is 10 yrs old, and I think it will be time soon to get another, it has about 195 miles on it.  Still it is driving nicely, no problems. I'd like something similar as well, Toyota Highlander. 

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Yes.  I think that most of the cost to replace it is a win.  If I could have found a used one that was an exact replacement that cost more, they have an appeal process where I could ask for more money, but finding an exact match might have taken months.  They only cover less than a month in rental car.  I am just moving on.

I told them that I could not replace the van for what they are paying and all I got was quiet.

Lol.

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Whoops, I meant 195,000 miles on my Highlander.

< I told them that I could not replace the van for what they are paying and all I got was quiet. > 

      So it sounds your insurance covered only up to a certain amount? Most insurance companies are not willing to risk paying for those things that can easily be damaged.  If you are paying the premiums they  should, for what you pay them. Then it's a good thing they cover most of what you paid.  Will your premium go up as a result? 

Answer 3

Well it's Scotland so I'm still working on the Ark. The ducks are happy though 

Answer 4

Amy, 

Mary (my wife) and I do a lot of traveling, we are leaving for Brazil soon, Rio de Janerio, then on our way back St. Lucia. We are leaving the Monday after father's day. Then to Grand Island, NY for the rest of summer, we stay with our daughter at her home there every summer, a lot of beautiful rivers and lakes there where we dock our cruiser. Grand Island, NY is a beautiful area in NY. Western area.

I mentioned the above in a comment to Beautifulmind, as I thought she's the one who asked the question. My mistake, Amy. Thank you for asking, pleasant question.

Comments

Oh that’s ok Sam. I did read your comment! 

   How nice that you are traveling to Brazil, St Lucia and seeing your daughter in NY. All very beautiful places. On a cruise about 5 yrs ago, we stopped in St Lucia. Beautiful island. There is a place where you can try the different rums they sell there, and I was there. It’s a small rectangular house-like place in the mountains that we stopped by on a tour. Do you like cruises yourself? So relaxing. 

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Amy, I do enjoy cruises but haven't gone on one in many years due to all the negative hype and, of course, covid. Mary is talking about going one in the fall, an Alaskan cruise. We'll see.

Please know that in my answer to you, Amy, what I mention is our cruiser, meaning mine and my wife's boat which is a cruiser that we own. That's how we travel to our daughter's. We take our boat to Grand Island, NY every year.

I love the rum tip. I'll have to ask the locals to see if that's still around. One of my wife's favorite drinks is the Pina Colada. We both enjoy rum. Thank you.

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Sam, you will be tasting about 20 diffrent rums or so if you see it, which I remmeber were all lined up on this long table. You paid something like $10.00 and it was as much as you liked! Now, I'm not a hard drinker at all, but i did it for the fun of it, much like wine tasting. My brother and cousin both came in in case I got tipsy--but I was fine. I just sampled them and it wasn't a lot--but some were strong. We were on one of those small van tour buses, and it stopped in case you wanted to try it out.  St Lucia is very nice and lush, and to be honest all of those islands begin to look alike a lot once you see one. We were at 5 of them, and the last one was Barbados. 

I see now about your cruiser--and it's nice to own a boat to be able to visit family like that.  I also like the idea of Alaska on a cruise with your wife. My older sister did that some years ago and enjoyed it. She saw the Itidarod race with the huskies, and funny enough she thought that these animals were being abused at first when they first c ame upon them! lol. A fall cruise is what I'd like to take to see Neww England, but I'm already going to Floria soon so maybe some time after that. 

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Thanks Amy. I've been to St Lucia before, we didn't know about about the rum tour. I told Mary, she interested. We've been to many Islands, I never get sick of them. We really enjoyed Jamaica too. Definitely looking forward to the Alaskan cruise as something different, hopefully the timing is there. Mary's looking into it now. 

Answer 5

They are forecasting 100 degrees later this week around Wednesday.

Summer plans? Lose more weight. I turn 40 in December..... would love to celebrate 100 pounds lost & am about 2/3 of the way there. I'm just about healed from the Achilles tendon surgery and should be completing PT in August or September. I'll take a beach at some point as well. 

Comments

Hope you stay cool, King. That's a lot of heat for this time of the year. The Achilles heal tendon injury must have been very painful, but glad to hear it's healing nicely. 

   You diefinitely need to celebrate your birthday this Dec.  :)

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Amy, it was excruciatingly painful at first. I'll say from the accident through surgery and maybe until February or March with the regular pain. Now it comes and goes as it pleases like a freeloading SOB. I'll be clear to resume gym activity sometime in the fall and then will train for my first marathon.

Believe me, I'm celebrating HARD this year. I earned every damn minute.

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I can't imagine what that must have felt like, me being a coward for pain. I almost fainted once from a sharp back pain I once got in the lower back.  It was so bad I straightened right up (I had bent and turned my back to get the dryer clothes) when it happened, then wobbled up the basement steps.  

Yes, you do deserve it King!  You have done a lot this year to celebrate and I hope you gey to do all you want to in December. :)

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Lol! Everyone's tolerance level varies, so I understand. I don't like it at all but have been able to better manage it. This year began trying to learn how to walk again and it hurt like hell putting weight on my foot again but the lion's share of it decreased a bit around that time. Once I got off crutches and switched to a cane, I was determined to walk without it. I haven't used it in months but take it with me just in case. 

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Good luck, King. You’re much braver than I am, lol. When I tore my meniscus by the left  and had surgery, I was in a cast for awhile. I thought I would never walk again, but here I am. 

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How bad did it hurt Amy? I imagine it took a while before you could walk again. 

Answer 6

Well, it’s SW Ohio so what can I say?

It simply can’t make up it’s mind weather wise. Two or three days of beautiful 75-80*F days followed by a cold front and two days of intense thunderstorms. The storms have left me sidelined with Arthritis pain!

Rain all weekend to be followed by two 96*F days then forecasted more rain! It will be humid as ____ ! Mosquito paradise! My lilies love this weather but so does poison ivy!

I miss the dry beautiful summers we had in Utah! True it got over 100 in July but there was always a breeze so at least you didn’t feel like you were living in a terrarium! Lol!

Comments

<The storms have left me sidelined with Arthritis pain!>.  Goodness--I thought it was just me. Have you noticed it rained this week about 3 or 4 times? My knees are a mess and one particular night I was in a lot of pain. Two Ibuprofen did the trick. 

Utah must be very nice--beautidful mountains for sure. 

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No, it’s not just you! I joined a blog for Psoriatic Arthritis. They have had polls where people tell what their “triggers” are.

Many listed thunderstorms, barometric changes and cold weather.

My 102 y/o grandfather used to predict an oncoming storm on a beautiful sunny warm spring day. My parents tried to convince him otherwise, but I believed him! Within three hours the storm rolled in from the west bringing heavy rain, high wind and sent everyone running to quickly pull down the inside windows! 

It was his left knee that would swell nearly twice it’s normal size.

Yes, I noticed north of us got the brunt of the rain and storms. Tipp City had a tornado that ripped off the roof of the Meijer distribution center, terrifying it’s workers that evening. Fortunately no one was injured and took shelter in a secure part of the building.

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How was life in Utah?

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I agree with your grandfather. A clasrroom mate used to tell me her mother would say, "Ramona, take your umbrella with you. It's going to rain."  (not a common name these days, lol)  And it would rain.  Any kind of humidty will cause your arthritis to flare up. Arizona would do us both good. 

    Yes, I want to know about Utah too, like King.  I remember Wellone also mentioned once he lived there at one time. 

Answer 7

The climate's gonna change.

Comments

It  unfortuantely already has, Blue. :(

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I'm guessing it's not done.

Answer 8

Pretty well, we are laying low this summer and staying close to home, we've gone to the beach a few times but summer brings storms so half the time we've not been able to go into the water due to the swells. We try to do something most weekends whether it is heading to the aquarium, a local museum, taking a tour around down town and getting ice cream or going to the park. We went to an arcade this weekend but left early after someone threw a bowling ball instead of rolling it and it hit me in the face. I was lucky they managed not to break my nose or glasses but I have a cut under my eye and residual swelling and pain. 

Our biggest planned trip is heading to my mum's beach house over the 4th of July weekend to take a family photo. I'm the eldest out of six kids and the youngest was born after I'd moved out so she's never gotten a nice picture with all of us in it. 

I'm working on getting my passport renewed and my son a new passport as we are planning a trip to Japan for next summer assuming my husband finds a job this year and we can save for it.

Comments

 <We went to an arcade this weekend but left early after someone threw a bowling ball instead of rolling it and it hit me in the face. >.   OMG- how does someone throw a heavy bowling ball? I'm so sorry that happened to you, Borninthemeadow. I'm glad you survived with a cut and not more, (still near the eye is critical)  such as a foot injury had it landed on you or your foot. That's a pretty crazy mishap. <shakes head> 

   Lucky you to go to Japan! I would absolutely love to go there. I WAS going to go sometime next year (as you) but I am not sure about going there when I was planning on seeing my niece and a good friend in California.  Maybe I can go later in the year next year. My pssport needs renewing too. Let us know when you go. 

  

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Thankfully it was a small one-kiddie sized maybe 5 inches across but it hurt like hell. 

We've got a list of places we'd like to see in Japan-my son wants to go to Nintendo World in Osaka and their aquarium because it has whale sharks. My husband enjoys WWII history specifically in the Pacific theater so he wants to go to the Yamato museum outside of Hiroshima and he'd like to climb Fuji so we are looking at a July or August time frame. Next August is our 10th anniversary so it would be a good reason for the trip. I've got my eye on spending a day at one of the onsen towns to unwind.  Do you have any spots in particular you'd like to see?

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Well, it's a good thing that it was smaller, but sorry it still hurt. Any trajectory going to the face is going to hurt, I know. 

   Your husband sounds very ambitious, to want to climb Mt Fuji. That takes a lot of guts, especially for me being afraid of heights. Its nice that you're going to celebrate your anniverary in a special place.  I would like to see Tokyo and all the sights they have there, including the stores, markets, and restaurants.  I used to watch a show on Netflix called Midnight Diner, which I really liked, and I wonder if they have the small diner there where it was filmed.  There is also a city where people live very long, I think it's Okinawa and I'm surprised I remember that name.  I might like to go there as well. All in all, it's a totally different culture and that's what I'd like to experience. 

Answer 9

There's a lot going on as always. We are planning, and looking forward to going  to our annual family summer home/estate in/on Lake George, New York, the third week of July. I love the summers, and early fall season there, it's so beautiful and welcoming. Our  waterfront property  overlooks Lake George. It's quiet and beautiful. It's one of my favorite places to be outside of my other home. 

Our Lake George estate has been in my family for many years. We've had 3 renovations and many updates to keep it state of the art. I remember first  going as a very young girl. Fall is a beautiful time there too. My favorite time there is July-October. 

Unfortunately, we will be taking breaks in our stay this year due to my love's need for immunotherapy treatments every 3 weeks, plus all the related testing. He's had treatments already but there's talks of him going into a trial with new and current drugs, a wait and see for now. If that's the case, we'll be traveling to and from in our Americana Coach RV for his comfort. However, if he's up to flying, we'll preferably take a plane to save time, then have one or two over night stays at the hotel we booked near Roswell Cancer Institute.

Lake George will be comforting/ comfortable for him with plenty of family around to aid in his care and smiles. I will be busy with my equine, and related law work near Lake George at the 2022 Saratoga meet as well, but only for the 40-days of the meet, the rest of the time will be vacation time. I have other reliable people taking over my business during that time. I pray everything works out as planned as we go forward. 

Due to unforeseen circumstances, my plans to visit a good friend is on hold again.  He lives with his wife, and three sons on Tanegashima, which is a small beautiful island located off the coast of Kyushu and mainland Japan. Looking forward to that when the time is right. I love Japan.

Have a happy safe summer, Amy, in all your travels. Same to all AR friends!  : )

Comments

Thanks SandyGirl, same to you. Good luck with everything, Honey!

I hope to see you at Saratoga. Mary wants to go in August. Also, we hope to get you over to see our daughter's new stables during our stay in Grand Island this summer. I remember you wanting to see it. She's thrilled to show you! Well be staying with her until our grandchildren go back to school in September. Traveling by boat. If the weather is permitting we may stay longer like last year. Shoot me an email or text as time permits. Thanks!

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Thank you, SAM. Same to you and Mary. Your vacation plans sound wonderful! Also, please understand that I'd prefer if you would email me on unrelated AR question and answer stuff, my friend. We can chat that way instead of here, anytime.  Use my business email address that you have. Or private message me here, as I'll get the notifications in my email too. Please, and thank you! : ).

P.S. I sent you an email last week, but now thinking you didn't get it? So, I'm mentioning this here, ironically. Lol!

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That all sounds very nice, Sandygirl. I bet it's very pretty up there in upstate NY. I used to visit family relatives in Cobleskill, a small community there. It was very much country when we would visit, so different from the city.  Have property by the water is nice. My cousin and his wife have a property in Isabela, Puerto Rico which is beautiful.  I visit him when I can while I am out there. Beaches there are beautiful as you can imagine with little pollution as they do here. I'm also sorry about your love's condition. That's sad to hear but I wish him the best of luck.  You have a safe summer as well. 

   

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Thank you very much, Amy. What you said means a lot to me.  Also, Isabela, Puerto Rico sound absolutely beautiful. My mother loves Puerto Rico too. We've vacation there often as a family when my parents were younger. Flamenco Beach was one of her favorite beaches. 

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Yes, that beach is on the island of Culebra which is part of the main island. Another one, Vieques, also exists. I like the beaches there, very different from what we’re used to here. 

Answer 10

A little late to the conversation here, but my summer is looking up! I have found a good balance with my new work, socially I feel good about the relationships in my life, and I am able to prioritize my health and some other passion projects as well.

Hearing about the storms going around in other parts of the country sounds a little scary though - I hope everyone is able to stay safe.

Comments

   Glad you are prioritizing your life and getting things done as well as pursuing your projects. yes, we are having many rainstorms where I am, and in other parts here, and my relatives in NJ are saying the heat was pretty bad some weeks ago. Now we're getting heat waves here. 

   Sapph, being in California, I would consider it a vacation day everyday!  The weather IMO is absolutely perfect.  Some people dislike the cooler weather of San Francisco but that is perfect for me. You can go to the beach, the redwood mountains, and go skiing up north, etc. So much to do there. 

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Thanks Amy. The heat has certainly come through here too, but it's not unusual for this time of year or this location.

It's funny, when I was on the east coast for school my friends would say "let's take advantage of the good weather!" and I would usually just think that's a silly thing to say, because I liked the changing seasons and all the different kinds of weather, since we don't get a lot of that here in most of California. But then I realized, they do really take advantage of the good weather because they never experienced living in a place where they could, as you say, "consider it a vacation day everyday". I do love Northern California, but I miss living somewhere with more seasonality in the weather.

Answer 11

Nothing major planned. Splurged a bit in the last year on a new house, new puppy.....so financially a bit confined this year. Will just be hanging around close to home and spending time with my kids. Some trips to the park, zoo, baseball games. Lots of time in the pool. 

Comments

Somewhat like Borninthe Meadow with different things to do each day. I would do the same with my girls with the exception of maybe an overnight trip to Cape May in NJ. Everyday we'd decide what to do and there was plenty to do, from a small amusement park, to the shore, the bays with the dog, lighthouses, berry picking, and rides in the country. Have a safe summer, and enjoy,  PS.