Sunday, October 21st, 2007
Wow, what a day.
Laura and I had to get new sneakers, so we headed up to the “Prime Outlets at Lee.” I will tell you, I thought the place was much bigger. It was refreshing to visit something so cozy and nice. People were just walking around enjoying the day. There didn’t seem to be any attitude that usually comes alond with these places…well, the ones in New York anyway. Yeah, you know what I’m talking about.
We found a good shoe store. Laura bought two pairs of sneakers and I bought one. It has taken such a long time to do this, it feels good to have it done. After that chore was finished, it was time to have some fun. We took Pleasant Street, or Rt. 102 West into Stockbridge. I think everyone else had the same idea for today. After all, the leaves are almost in full effect and the weather was perfect. Stockbridge was a little crowded, but not too bad. We parked our car on the side of the road and headed down towards the Red Lion Inn for some lunch. Right across the street from the car, there was a little park that I never noticed. It’s pretty cool, so I grabbed a photo.
We made it down the road…almost to the Inn, when I remembered that I left the gift certificate Laura got me for my birthday in the car. We had to walk all the way back to get it. Upon our return to the place we were standing ten minutes earlier, I decided to take another photo.
This is the ally that leads to the back of the Red Lion Inn. I wanted to eat lunch in the courtyard. Well, I guess they aren’t serving lunch there anymore, because there were no tables set up. Instead, we went downstairs to “The Lion’s Den.” It’s more of a tavern type deal.
We had a great lunch. We did get a little tipsy because we decided to have a little drink before we sat down.
That was fun too.
After we finished eating, which seemed like a really long time, we headed upstairs to make our Thanksgiving dinner reservations. We have been trying to get in here for a few years, but they are always booked up. This year, they had one table for two open. Yeah!!! We made it. I made the reservation and we are in. That is so cool. After that, we left.
We have been planning to go apple picking for a couple of months now, but have yet to get the chance. Today seemed like a perfect day to head down Rt. 7, a little South of Stockbridge and a little North of Great Barrington, to a place called Windy Hill Farm. We have been here a few times and really love it. They have pumpkins and apples and everything else.
I tell ya, it makes me sooooo happy.
Unfortunately, we showed up at 4:35 and they stop the “you-pick” at 4:30. Good thing our friend Eric let us up to pick a few apples on our own. I climbed a nice sized tree to get two shiny apples way up on top. I handed them off to Laura and we headed back down to the store.
We bought a big bag of mixed apples for $8 and a pumpkin for $8 too. Oh, yeah, we are all set up. Remember last time we got a pumpkin up at this place? Man, I love the Berkshires.
Oh yeah, before I forget, take a look at the picture I took while crossing the Castleton Bridge over the Hudson River.
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Posted in Autumn, Travels | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, September 18th, 2007
Hey, guess what I got in the mail yesterday? If you guessed a T-Fal Elegance 10 Piece Stainless Steel Cookware Set, you’de be right.
The set only cost me $12,100…or 12,100 points on my credit card. It’s pretty cool…I got the points, went on the website and placed the order. I think I did it last week and the pots came yesterday. They are nice stainless steel. I gave up on those teflon things because, if you look at our old pot set, you will notice that there is no teflon on them anymore. Plastic or no plastic, the stuff wears off.
Here is a pic…
Here is the description…
Two-tone brushed/polished stainless finish with engraved measuring marks on saucepan interiors. Offers aluminum core, cool-touch handles, and glass lids. Oven safe to 500° and dishwasher safe.
I must say, for a free pot set, they are pretty damn nice.
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Posted in Home Improvement | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, September 18th, 2007
Back in the day, Laura and I lived in Naples, NY. It was an interesting adventure, I would say. If you have never lived in Western NY, I would recommend it. Even when we talk about that year today, I always mention the peace and quiet of it all.
At times, usually around the holidays, we would travel back to Southern NY to visit family and friends. We were always kind of disturbed by the buzz that was in the air. I mean, we had fun, but were getting way too used to the quiet of upstate. We would drive back to Naples and (I always say this) right at the entrance of town, I swear the buzz would slide right off me. It was a really nice little town.
One of the best things about that town was the wine. Naples is a wine town. The biggest winery in town is called, “Widmer Winery.” There were vineyards all over the place. In the Autumn, you could smell the grapes in the air. After the winery would scrape the barrels, they would dump the pulp in the fields. That pulp filled the air with scent.
The other night, Laura and I went down to the local Chinese restuarant in town to grab some veggie Chinese food. I didn’t order over the phone because I wanted to spend some time outside the house, even if that meant sitting in a parking lot waiting for the food to be prepared. She sat in the car reading while I walked down and placed the order. During the wait, I decided to walk up to the liquor store to restock some of what we have been craving. I walked in a picked up a bottle of Manischewitz Wine. I like the rasberry one. I also got some Brotherhood Winery spicy holiday wine. It’s a great dessert wine. I like sweet wines. After I had those two wines in my arm, I walked to the back and picked up a gallon of Carlo Rossi Sangria. That’s my favorite cheap red wine. It should be on the counter all the time.
What’s the point of this post? Well, it really has to do with Naples and Manischewitz Wine. Widmer Winery makes the Manischewitz Wine. When we went on the wine tour, they showed us that brand of wine. It’s fun because you can mix it with a bunch of other stuff on hot summer days. After the tour was over, we sampled some of it and bought a few bottles. They do a good job of “getting you loose” to purchase more.
I drank a glass of Manischewitz Wine the other night. It tasted delicious, of course. The only issue is that I think this wine has something in it that gives me a headache. I really like it, so I think I will have to drink it in smaller doses.
Wow, that was an abrupt ending.
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Posted in Autumn, Food & Drink | No Comments »
