Thursday, October 20, 2011

Vacation day 13, October 20th

Yeah, I'm on my way to Disneyworld today. Now my real vacation begins.

Stewart International Airport doesn't seem very international at all and it's actually very quiet at 7AM in the morning. I had no idea what the traffic would be like or how busy the airport would be. I just got up and got ready, packed up my things and got on the road as quick as I could. Stewart Airport is 17 miles from where I was staying in Fishkill. Of course, it was raining almost all the way there. I'm done with the NY rain.

O.K., the drop off for the Hertz rental I've had for he past 13 days is weird at the airport. The way this is set-up is one of the reasons why it feels like it's not an actual international airport but more of a regional one. It's on your honor. Shocking, huh. I know I was. You find a marked space to park your car and then get your stuff out and mark the envelope with the date and time you brought it back and the mileage and the gas tank reading, too. Then you lock the car taking the keys and your rental paperwork with you and walk into the terminal with your stuff to the Hertz counter where there is no one manning the thing at 7AM. All that they have there is an early drop-off box that tells you to put your paper work and your keys in the box. Done.

Since I was able to print out my tickets last night and check in online, I didn't have to do that at the counter. So now I had to go find the TSA line. And typically, I'm looking for this long line of bleary eyed people and grumbly TSA folk barking orders to get you though as fast as possible. But again, at 7AM, no line. I went through by myself with no one before me or after me. I was thinking that maybe I'm in some Twilight Zone or the wrong airport, but nope. I found my gate and sat there until it was time to board.

Seat 12F was a much better choice than 9A which was designed not to recline. So everyone got onto the plane and we waited. And we waited. And then the captain announced that his maps were expired and he was waiting for the new ones and I guess there was a printer problem on top of it. We waited on the tarmac for an hour and a half. So our 3 hour flight which was supposed to land at 11-something AM went to 1-something.

Orlando Airport is huge. On the level where you leave the gate area but before you get on the tram, it looks like a freakin' mall. There was even an ad that said they hold church serves there.  Thrifty rent-a-car held my car reservation for me knowing my flight was delayed. That was nice. They do not have cars with GPS. That was not so nice. And the map that they give you is crap.

So I used the navigation on my cellphone to get to the Dolphin Resort.
This place is huge. They give you a map at the front desk when you check in order to navigate the place. All I know is after I got to my room and settled in a little, my stomach was growling. I had toast this morning for breakfast, and water and some blue terra chips on the plane.

I went down to the first floor and found a small buffet/store called Picabu which has a lot of bird chirps and elephant sounds on a loop to greet you as you walk in.

I ate the chicken dinner, rice and greens. It was about the only thing on their menu that didn't have dairy in it.

I still have 2 and a half hours before the park closes and that's right before the Illusions Fireworks show.
*****************************
O.K., so I was able to pick up my prepaid two day park hopper ticket using my voucher, walk around a bit, find the nearest women's restroom from my entrance gate with a line, and then I walked to the center of the park where the sphere is to go on a ride called "Spaceship Earth". How do I explain this attraction... It's states that through time, communication through the written word and then on computers has been the driving force that is propelling us towards our future. It's depicted through stages, some with animetronics and some not so much. At the end, it inserts a photo of your disembodied head into a future based cartoon based upon a brief questionnaire of your likes and dislikes. And then after the ride was over, I wondered to the pin station and bought an officially licensed Epcot pin.

People start to sit down an hour before the fireworks. Yep, that's DisneyWorld for ya. It occurrs at the California park, too.

I'm falling asleep here at the keyboard. It's time for me to sleep. The park opens at 9AM tomorrow. Woohoo!

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Vacation day 12, October 19th

Wednesday, October 19th at 11AM was the designate day of the memorial.

In attendance:
Aunt Jane Metrando
Aunt Tressa Spoor
Uncle Frank Spoor
Aunt Grace Staub
Cousin Barbara McCann
Cousin Cate Schmidt
Catherine Hall


I planned it months ahead of time, but just hours before I was working on the final draft of the eulogy.

It was another rainy day in the Hudson River Valley. The company in charge of the burial said that if it was raining, they would erect a tent for us, no charge. For the money that I've had to spend on this whole damn thing, that was the least they could do. I paid for out of my pocket the headstone, the urn vault, the urn, the service and the cremation back last December in El Cajon. The remains stayed in the original package on my shelf since I brought them home, but I had to pay for the shipping on those, too. Why you ask I didn't take them with my as carry-on when I flew? Here's why. My friend at work told me about how a mutual friend of ours took the cremated remains of his dear relative with him on a plane and said TSA did an extra special screening picked through the ashes by hand. I didn't want to go through the indignity, so I shipped them with a copy of the cremation certificate.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Vacation day 9, October 16th

On Sunday, October 16th, I was invited to dinner at my cousin Chrissy's house in Pine Island, NY. Actually, I was invited over Facebook chat on Saturday night for Sunday dinner. So I wouldn't feel like a total freeloader, I offered to bring an apple pie. I remembered reading that they baked them fresh at the Overlook Farm and that was on the way. Actually, I went early and bought the pie and some Honeycrisp apples for myself. The lady at the counter was great - friendly and chatty.

On the map, the drive didn't seem all that far, but once I went past the airport, it seemed like it would never end. In actuality, they live quite close to the New Jersey border.

The farm land around them was filled with onions in the gutters left over from the high water hurricane damage that occurred in that area.

I got my meet my cousin Don as an adult for the first time and his wife Alice, who is a self proclaimed Disney nut. I also got to meet Chrissy's husband Brian and their kids Samantha, Ben, and Cora. They made meatloaf, corn, and mash potatoes. The meatloaf was good. Below is a photo of me and my cousin Don. I think he looks a lot like brother Kris.

 I think it's kind of weird that they all work for the school district in one capacity or another.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Vacation day 8, October 15th

I drove to Watertown, CT, for some unfruitful genealogy work. It, again, was raining on and off all day. I took my umbrella with me. I found the Old Watertown Cemetery and the entrance is at the back of the lot. All of the streets that surround the cemetery was painted red, so parking was difficult. There is one spot for guest parking at the apartments next door and I took that up and then went for a walk into and around the grounds.


My thinking was that if this was the oldest cemetery in Watertown and it was written that Gershom Fulford passed in Watertown, then I might be able to find his headstone so that's why I went. The list of names is not available at the cemetery anymore. I wondered about in the rain searching for the oldest stones, but to no avail.

Friday, October 14, 2011

Vacation day 7, October 14th

Friday, October 14th, I had an appointment at 3PM to meet with Bill from Kol-Rocklea at his shop to examine the urn vault and the urn I had purchased online from a company in Colorado and had shipped to him in Red Hook. I also had to pay for the service. To spare myself the pain of having to deal with TSA and having then perform a physical examination of my mother's remains before I could board the plane, I shipped those to Bill, too, the night before I left for Seattle.

It was a rainy day on and off all day just as forecasted. I left my hotel in Fishkill early to do something touristy before my somber appointment.

On the way, traveling north on Interstate 9E, in Hyde Park, there is the FDR Presidential Museum, Library and his former residence/family compound. You can only view the interiors of the home if you participate in a decent lead tour which costs $14. The grounds are beautiful. Full of trees, vast areas of open space and decent parking. In the large green space in front of the reception area of the park, there were Canadian Geese doing what birds do. It was a change for me to see them instead of seagulls, pigeons, mallards or the random crane like in California.  Anyway, there is some major renovations going on and so... I didn't think I got my money's worth out of the visit.

To the right is a photo of the sign on the path that takes you to the Presidential Library. Note the construction. The contents of entire library was moved to the Bush Presidential Library in Texas while the renovation is taking place. Nothing much to see here today. Moving on...
This photo is of three busts on the grounds between the visitor's center and the residence. If you like photography, you might find this angle somewhat odd, but that was because I wanted a natural setting in the background instead of more the signs of construction - heavy equipment, roll away refuse containers, etc.
As it was 11:30AM when I arrived, I was the last to join the tour group. I was dressed nice for my appointment with my leather jacket to try and stay dry and out of the rain. The humidity was up and it finally did me in after standing around inside listening to the decent in the FDR residence. It has no air circulating inside because of it's preservation efforts. I was hyperventilating and had to excuse myself from the tour. And then, while sitting upon a park bench trying to catch my breathe, I took this photo in between the sprinkling rain and other tourists roaming around on the grounds. I think it's gorgeous. I would love to visit again when all of the renovations are complete.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Vacation day 6, October 13th

It's Thursday, October 13th and I decided it would be remiss if I didn't do something foodie today. After all, I'm in Hudson Valley. I decided to drive to Red Hook to see how long it would take from the hotel and see if I could find the Feller grounds. The drive into Red Hook is on the 9 East (side of the Hudson River and not a toll road ) going North through Wappinger Falls, Poughkeepsie, Hyde Park, Rhinebeck, and then finally Red Hook. I located the memorial company that's been helping me with arrangements first, not that far away from the church yard where the cemetery is located. I tried to find the Fulford headstone, but the place is huge with rolling hills. The drive takes about an hour one way. Further north outside of the town, I found Kerley's Corners, but after traveling all the way to Trivoli on one end and horse ranches on the other, I gave up. I'm going to need a local historian's help on this. I went to Gigi's Market and bought some fancy chicken sausage with rosemary and sundried tomatoes. I made the entire package of 4 for dinner but only ended up eating 2. They were good. The farm's website where they came from said that the flavor I picked was it's most popular.

Vacation day 5, October 12th

It's Wednesday and I decided it's laundry day. I found the laundry room on the first floor of the Homestead Suites where I'm staying, but with the drier fee of $2 alone, I think I'll take my chances washing elsewhere. As I was getting ready to leave, I opened up the yellow pages I found in the top drawer of my kitchen and located a few in my area. The closest one travel wench couldn't find on Commonwealth. But I remembered from reading, that there were three in Newburgh, so I traveled over the Hudson not exactly knowing where I was going but with the goal of finding a laundrymat. I somehow made my way to Broadway. I found Snow White Laundrymat, but it was rusty, old, and had no vending machines for soap and dryer sheets. After my quick audit, I hopped back into my car and went to the next one. I found Newburgh Laundry World off of he corner of Fullerton and Broadway. *ting* tha will do. It was huge and had everything I needed complete with a Spanish speaking attendant. It was $2.50 to wash in the small commercial front loading machine. They had no top loaders. To dry, it was .25 cents for 8 minutes. I put in 4 quarters and waited. Once all of the folding was done, I decided to drive to the end of Broadway straight into the Hudson. Not really, but as I went towards the river, I found another historic marker and this one was about General George Washington. My son is related to him. Fancy. I have to check that out, but first I have to get back to the hotel for lunch. And then I never sent back. Yet. Here's the link to what I found on my excursion: http://www.nysparks.com/historic-sites/17/details.aspx

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Vacation day 4, October 11th

Tuesday, October 11th. This was a lazy travel day as I had two more hours to get to my destination in Fishkill, NY I checked out of the Marriott in Waterbury and on my way out of town I tried to get lost, but Travel Wench would not allow me to do so. I drove toward the bell, but I think my hearing was off because instead I found a large gothic looking church.I crossed a river and then was on my way again. I realized I did not pack my transfer cable for my camera by this time after taking pictures of and around city hall. There was a traffic jam due to road work in Connecticut on my way into New York. I had to laugh. It was Tuesday afternoon. Is this someone's way of telling me I still have work to do? I don't know. I decided on contacting the city historian to get the details on the headstones in the park. I wasn't expecting a reply with all of the budget cuts, but I got one and she even gave me a clue as to where to look further. After passing the large green "Welcome to New York" sign along Interstate 84W, it was smooth sailing down the road. I pulled over at the first rest stop I could find for a drink and I found this sign:
After I checked into my hotel room a rested for awhile and decided I needed provisions for my stay. I drove myself to the 24/7 Super Walmart on the other side of the highway. I ended up spending about $100. So a little over $10 a day on 2-3 meals a day.
Shopping list:
English breakfast tea (because the hotel only serves coffee)
ginger ale, 2 liter
orange juice, half gallon
silk soy milk, vanilla flavored half gallon
lenders bagels
rye bread
turkey lunch meat
frozen chicken strips
4 bell peppers
one red onion
4 bananas
6 roma tomatos
tub of Best Life spread
morton salt & pepper
tiny bottle of musard
a dozen eggs
two boxes of Oscar Meyer cooked bacon
a steam bag of peas
a steam bag of broccoli
sugar free jello six pack
kettle pop corn bag
pringles original
transfer cable

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Vacation day 3, October 10th

It's Columbus Day! Yeah!

I'm up early again. I decided to partake in the free breakfast that's offered at this hotel. It's served in the breakfast room across the hall from the check-in counter.

It's a meatless breakfast. You can make your own waffles, they have biscuits and gravy, bagels, danish, yogurt and fruit cups, oatmeal, two choices of cold cereal and 2%, coffee, tea and juice. I was able to pull together a meal of a couple pieces of wheat toast with spread and apple jelly, a fruit cup and to drink a cup of coffee with three sugars, no creamer and a half a cup of orange juice.

I grabbed an apple for the road.I also picked up a hotel directory and a brochure for the Mohegan Sun Indian Casino in the lobby on the way up to my room.

So the goal today was get to Waterbury, CT, because, hey, I screwed up the hotel reservations in Fishkill, NY and shorted myself one day because I honestly did not know how long it would take to get from Brockton, MA. Guess, what? It takes four hours. So, I somehow found the nearest hotel, Courtyard by Marriott, to this place called Library Park that, so I was told, had headstones in it. Possibly a Fulford headstone in the park of this guy:

Name       Lt. Gershom Fulford, F416, M
Birth Date      1701
Birth Place     of Waterbury, New Haven Co., Connecticut
Death Date      7 Jan 1790 Age: 89
Death Place     Watertown, New Haven Co., Connecticut
Occupation      Blacksmith
Flags           Military
Father          Abraham Fulford , M (~1675-)
Mother          Phebe Clark , F (1675-1717)

Yep, that's one of my ancestors, my 6th great grandfather. He was a Lieutenant and fought in the French and Indian War from 1754 to 1763. But since it's a federal holiday, everything in the downtown area is closed. I took a walk to the park where the headstones are supposed to be, but I honestly think they are not there anymore. there were some knuckleheads along the wall I was supposed to look at, but I'm thinking the stones were move or removed due to their deterioration.

I located a German Fine dining restaurant at Dreschers but I was devastated to learn they are not open for dinner on Mondays.

I thought I was going to go on the hunt for my 6th great grandfather in the biggest library I can find in Waterbury while I'm here before driving the last two hours to Fishkill, but decided on doing more online research instead. On the city's website, it named someone from the Silas Bronson Library as he city historian. I've decided to contact her.

My Aunt Tressa called last night to tell me that my cousin Debbie just had a baby and that I should visit her in LaGrange since she's off work. More family time. Yeah!

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Vacation day 2, Oct 9th

Vacation day 2, Oct 9th:

I took my time getting up and getting acclimated to the time change before driving down to New Bedford to meet my cousin Debra, her boyfriend Ed and her kids Chelsea and Brittany. Debra is a ministry assistant and I'm not churchy, so I didn't want to impede on her Sunday too much. The kids, who are actually college age, were working at iparty.com at the South Dartmouth Mall. iparty happens to be the east coast competition/equivalent to Party City. We sat and talked and watched football. We have so much in common as people but not so much in life experiences.


I can't say that it's an interesting fact that many of the men on the Stutz side of the family are estranged, but it is noteworthy. More and more I'm thinking that is has to do with a strong sense of French heritage. C'est La Vie. But that'a just my theory.

Debbie took me to St Mary's Cemetery in New Bedford where my grandmother was buried, but we couldn't locate the headstone. I'm not surprised. She hasn't been back in two years since the funeral. We then drove to 270 Shaw Street, the childhood home of Bernie. It's a two unit property. All of them on that street are. Then Debbie took me to see Dorothy Aguiar at 330 Query Sreet. She's 76 years old and still lives in her family home, though her parents has long sense pasted away. She's pretty deaf, but still talks. Everyone says she's a little off. Her front door was plastered with bumper stickers. Ed lives in the area so he sees her frequently walking around the neighborhood.

We came back to Debbie's house, said our good-byes to Ed and then took off to pick-up her daughters from work. After, Debbie took all of us to dinner at Friendlys. Debbie is on a high protein diet and mine is non-dairy so I struggled but found a dish I could eat Teriyaki chicken stir fry.

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Vacation day 1, Oct 8th

Day one of my vacation started at 4AM to wake up and get ready to meet up with the shuttle service, Primetime. I packed the night before and it took so long, I really had only a nap instead of a full night's sleep which for me would be a whopping 6 hours. It's nice that not long after my alarm went off, then my cell phone was ringing and it was the automated wake-up call from the shuttle telling me they will be there to pick me up in 75 minutes. I took a shower. I was anxious. Knowing that there was rain in the forecast, but the weather would be mostly OK, I wanted to take an umbrella but not my raincoat because I thought that would be just too hot for the trip and hard to store if I didn't end up using it. My umbrella was toast - the end cap was missing, so I took my son's and my leather jacket. Before I stepped out of the house, I fixed the hole I made 3 years ago at work in the jacket on the lower right side, finally, with crazy glue. I went through my purse again to make sure there was nothing in it that wouldn't go through the TSA security checkpoint easily and had to put my lipstick and Vaseline in the quart baggie for inspection. OK, I'm ready and waiting on my side street to go. It's 5AM. My neighborhood is a mass of humanity with all of the apartments and if I stand outside your front door, I'll see the ebb and flow of the neighborhood. There were two men standing on the overpass before the bus stop waiting for a ride, but I don't remember the bus coming or maybe their ride never showed up, but I was still waiting for the shuttle service when they were walking home chatting in Spanish. I wanted to ask, "No trabajo al dia?", but did not want to shout it from across the street in the dead of morning. I shuttle called my cell home again this time to tell me that they are on my corner and I instructed him to turn right - I can see the van. I rode with other travelers to the airport to begin an adventure. There was one other bleary eyed woman from Foothill Ranch, a city further south than mine, on the trip to Long Beach Airport (LBA) with me. There was no traffic so we got there on time. I know it's early and you'd expect that there is no traffic, but frequently there has been many overnight freeway closures for road repair and it jams up because of this fact. No such thing on he 405 north traveling to the airport though. It's nice that the drop-off point was at the front of the terminal. I executed an electronic check-in with Jet Blue online the night before so I was able to walk right past the counter and straight to the security checkpoint for TSA screening, which was in a portable trailer. This airport is old and under construction. They way it's set-up now reminds me of how Ontario was in the early 90's... full of portables disguised as gates that lead you right out onto the tarmac. I went though security without a hitch. I wore my favorite pull on city pants from New York and Company, black silk knitted polo and my DKNY flip flops with the 'shape-ups' sole. Thinking about all of the walking I'd be doing, I thought they would be good for the trip, but especially at Disneyworld, because those shoes are nice and cushy. TSA informed me that the laptop must be placed into a tray on it's own, everything else you strip off of your person can go in a second tray... jacket, keys, purse, shoes, yes they are still x-raying those, and your quart baggie with any liquids your traveling with. There was a buzz at the Jet Blue gate about going to Utah for a football game. Others were going to Reno via Utah. I was flying to Boston via Seattle. Our gate assignment was changed. They, Jet Blue staff, walked us outside to the other gate where we waited until it was time to board. The ramps are ghetto, but ramps none the less. They are old and kind of rickety and kind of steep. They are lined with grit, but I felt like I was sliding backward in my flip flops getting up to the plane. About my seat assignment... row 9 is between other rows people pay an extra $35 to get for extra legroom. Now I'm 5'1", so I don't take up much space, but if I knew in advance that the seat wouldn't recline, I wouldn't have sat there on such a long flight. I was in 9A so at least I could stare out of the window. The snacks are cool on Jet Blue. They make you feel like a grown-up. I'd like some corm poppers - kettle flavor and a ginger ale. The bottled water is Danasi mineral water, which I don't like. It leaves you with a fine grit in your mouth. That can't be good. I pooed on the plane for the first time in my life. When I've got to go, I've got to go NOW. I timed leaving my seat just as someone was leaving the john. The flight attendant said to be quick because they were starting to descent into Seattle soon. I don't think I ever went so fast in my life. I hate the ascent and descent part of flying just like I do roller coasters. My stomach feels weird. We landed early at Sea-Tac. I had a lay over which was OK because it was almost lunch time and I hadn't eaten any breakfast except for the chips and soda on the plane. The trip from Seattle to Boston was long and had a bit of turbulence. Throughout the flight, I would change the DirecTv to channel to 14 which was a google map with an ever moving icon of where the plane was located over the US and Canada. I drank only one can of ginger ale and no snack on this trip. I had to use the john again. I found the men were peeing in the sink on this flight. Don't they know the difference between the sink and a toilet? A sink had no urinal cake in it. Eew. Logan International Airport. It's big and old and being remodeled, too. On the approach for landing, we had to fly over the Atlantic and past Nantucket. I bet those high dollar residents love that. The buoys out in the harbor have blue lights on them. At this point, you should read my Yelp.com review of Hertz dated 10/08. It took about 30 minutes to drove from the airport to the hotel in Brockton. And then you should read my Yelp.com review of Country Inn & Suites. I finally went to sleep at 1AM..

Saturday, October 1, 2011


This was posted on my friend Suki's Facebook page and I thought it was cute, so I borrowed it.