






























Well, this turned out to be the summer that Richard was ready for cataract surgery - and he now doesn't need glasses, for the first time in 60+ years. Hence this has become the longer-than-planned summer visit, dubbed the













I also had plenty of time for photographing some of the gorgeous houses



The original four towns ringed Bellingham Bay, so the streets were oriented based on the shoreline in the area. As the towns grew and merged, streets were lengthened and


But there are houses that date back to the late





So it was fun to have about six weeks in Washington. I probably enjoyed the time more than Richard did, but his

After Richard received a clean bill of health from his doctor, we took the train to Seattle, schlepping along our luggage (which we left at the train station - and I have to add that the King Street Station is one of the most incredibly beautiful train stations ever. Just look at all that gleaming white carved wood, with pillars and ornamental panels on the walls and ceilings - just gorgeous!). I found some new manhole covers, we both discovered a few new coffeeshops and chocolateirs, and we had a quick day to wander the city, then catch our red-eye flight east.
Our time on the east coast is basically for fun, family, and friends. We're currently staying with Richard's brother and sister-in-law, in south New Jersey.
We spent our first day at the Cape May County Zoo, which is a small but very nice zoo. According to their information, they've been voted the 13th best zoo in the world. (I know, such an odd number!) They also have been certified to have breeding programs for certain endangered animals, so there were some rare animals as well as baby animals here.
And there were some fascinating animals, like the scarlet ibis - what a beautiful flame red bird!!! They were running all around inside their aviary, with a few roseate spoonbills, sacred ibis, cattle egrets, and a blue crested pigeon or two. But the scarlet ibis really stole the show!
The zoo has several white deer - these are the normal white-tailed deer, but they have a recessive albino gene that appears frequently. The stag was white, the mother sort of half white and half brown, and the fawn was a magical white deer, looking like Harry Potter's petronus - doesn't this white fawn look like it has mystical, magical powers?
The baby buffalo was one year old exactly, although he didn't have a birthday cake. He was just hanging out eating his usual straw or prairie grasses.
The African savannah exhibit had wonderful animal cutouts for photo opps, so the zebra and I look like intrepid explorers on safari. The real zebras were more normal-sized, and were more interested in lunch than exploring. We heard that the giraffes were on vacation - no one was sure where, but they weren't on the veld.
The lions and cheetahs, in separate enclosures, were great to watch - the large cats are always my favorites. And as a special treat, the zoo has a pair of snow leopards, who had a pair of cubs (or kittens?) about a year ago. One of the adolescent snow leopards was napping, but woke up in time to clean up and then pose for me - what a gorgeous face!
And of course I had to ride the carousel - it was just a little one, and I was the only rider at that point so I had a private carousel ride - after careful consideration I chose the fierce tiger as my ride, and he promptly knocked one of my Birks off so I had to ride him barefoot. (Which isn't as bad as bareback, until one tries to dismount. Carousel stirrups aren't made for bare feet.)
It was a great day, topped by lunch at the food truck festival! Really, some 20 food trucks were invited for this festival on the barrier island of Sea View. (Or maybe Sea View is the name of the town, I'm not sure.) But food trucks featuring seafood, or sausages, or waffles, or Cajun, or peanut butter. It was fun, and we chatted with both food truck owners as well as eaters as we tried a few items.
Today, Saturday, was the long drive out to Lancaster to visit a niece, a nephew, their spouses, and the assorted great-nieces and nephews, all six kidlets. Great to re-connect with the youthful adults, chat and play with the kidlets who get more verbal and taller every year, and share stories about what everyone has been up to. And of course to have the three-year-old, who is my birthday twin, agree that next year we'll celebrate together. Tomorrow night is the Jewish New Year dinner with the nearby niece, husband, and another three kidlets, including the newest baby whom we haven't met - as I said, this is the Reunion Tour, and we're catching up with family on both coasts.
Special thanks to Sandy, who has been driving us all over, especially considering the horrible rain we schlepped through today!!!!! (I was SO glad to not be the driver!)
That's the summary for the past two weeks or so. We'll be busy, but doing more fun and exciting things that are blog-worthy.
I promise!
No comments:
Post a Comment