Summer Time!!!! How Sweet it is!!

Here we are Back to Normal Kind of!! Socializing, Going to Concerts, Traveling, Sporting Events Again WOW!!

We are all taking it probably for granted but it feels GOOD!! Lets hope it stays that way. We have all been through enough for sure… I hope you are all enjoying your Summer so far and if you haven’t get out there and find out what is going on in your community or near by normally there is more than you realize. Enjoy this freedom we have right now. Travel, Visit People, Go to things take it in!! Will be posting Pics soon on what I’m doing and where I’m going. Feel free to share what you are doing and where you are going too!! Everyone loves to hear about different places and events going on and tips if you have some. So, Have FUN and I’ll be back soon!!

We are Back!!

It is hard to believe but it is feeling like normal again!! Wow!! Is it possible? It kind of feels like we are crawling out from under a Rock Socializing again seeing family and friends again no MASK!! I do feel we all have a new appreciation for Life now. What we took for granted before we appreciate now and more. I think that is good and better and hopefully we are all kinder to one another and happier now because we realize things can be taken away in a flash.

We visited family at a social gathering and it was Great seeing everyone. It had been so long it seemed. We also saw friends recently which was oh so nice too.

Its time to break out and travel again and see people again and go to restaurants and pubs and shopping again!! How great is that !!! I know I’m very exited and can’t wait to take it all in and have a Wonderful Summer!! I will be posting some of the people and places I see and go to. So come along with me as we Break Out Again!! Feel free to Share where you go and who you see too!! Until next time ENJOY!!

One Year Ago

It is hard to believe it has been one year ago that we started with this Pandemic. What a year it has been too. The heartache, the deaths, the loneliness, the yearning for normalcy that we have all experienced in one form or another. Hopefully we emerge from this with a new appreciation for one another for the things we used to do and take for granted and hopefully with this Vaccine we can get back to normal soon!! There certainly is a Light at the end of the Tunnel now. We just have to hang in a little bit longer and we will be there!! Hurrah!!

Burlington, Vermont

Sept 1, 2020

Hello Everyone,

My Anniversary was August 30Th so my husband and I decided to venture out again for a couple of days. We decided to go to Burlington, Vermont. I have been here before but it was quite a long time ago. The city is bigger than i remember but quite Beautiful. It has Lake Champlain and the Mountain Range surrounding the city what would be more beautiful than that!!! We Stayed at the Hilton Burlington which was much more reasonable than a normal summer and it was very nice. They are renovating the Hotel and our room was one of the new ones. The Hotel was very clean and we had a lake view which was Beautiful.

It feels like going out now is a new norm which is not the same as before. Its as if you are taking a risk in away and you try to stay as safe as possible as you do it. I cleaned surfaces of the Hotel when I got there and put paper towels down on any surfaces things would touch. We were conscious of eating outside and of course wearing mask and trying not to touch things and washing hands and distancing from people as much as possible. This Hotel is in walking distance to town which was nice since we parked the car and walked everywhere. I will say the Hotel is under construction and they start that at 10:00 am just for your information. It did not bother us but it is good to know about.

So, we checked in then ventured uptown to find a nice restaurant outside and had dinner. It was Sweetwaters restaurant which was recommended to us from the hotel. We enjoyed the restaurant which had mostly outdoor seating. We strolled around town after dinner but what may have been a longer night ended earlier with these conditions. The next day we went up town for breakfast and you have to remember everywhere a reservation is necessary now. You can call and make them ahead of time or what we did we found a place then signed into their website and made reservations and within 30 min were called with a seat. This place was called Friendly Toast which has breakfast I believe all day and a lot of unusual dishes to choose from. It was a good spot. We then shopped uptown for awhile in the nice shops they have in town. We then took a walk down by the Lake and ended up in the restaurant there for a drink and a appetizer because it was like 3:00 now. This place over looked the lake and the Mountains Awesome View. We then walked back to room to rest a bit and get ready for dinner we had reservations at Pascolo’s Restaurant which had good reviews. We had a nice table outside which is in the street on Church street. The Dining experience began very nice a beautiful night out as we sipped our wine and was served our meal when Protested began coming up the street in very large numbers and loud stopped by all the tables outside and I have to say was rather nasty there were two speakers and both were swearing with the F word which was a total turn off. I am in support of non-violent protest but this turned negative and actually ruined our dining experience. I would just be aware of this happening and you may want to dine off the main road. After dinner we strolled back to room you can’t have a drink or listen to music anywhere as we might of done in normal times but this is not normal times. We at least were able to leave home stay in a room and eat out and see a different place for a change grateful for that anyway.

There is a lot more to do there also a bike rental in town with bike path, cruise ship that goes out throughout the day on Lake Champlain one at sunset which looks like would be a fun thing to do. I am sure hiking trails and other things depending what you are looking for. Overall a Beautiful City with a lot of shopping, dining, and in normal times nightlife.

Maine

Hello everyone,

Hope everyone is OK and staying Safe. Well, I ventured out again to visit my Mom I hadn’t seen her in 6 months since this pandemic. We went to Augusta, Maine where she lives and had a wonderful visit with her. During that time we did go out to eat OUTSIDE to make sure it was safe. We went to the Quarry Tap Room in Hallowell Maine. This place has outside seating and distance tables right in the middle of this quaint vibrant little town. The food was delicious and perfect for eating for all of us at this time. I love Hallowell. I have gotten partial to a couple of Restaurants there. One is the Liberal Cup which is adorable but inside mostly. They do have some outside seating right now but limited. I love eating inside this place. Rustic but so local and vibrant great place and the food is so good!! I also like the Quarry Tab Room as I mentioned above.

We also earlier that day walked around and stopped at a few shops in town. Its a great place to stop and poke and have lunch or dinner. Remember to make reservations both are very crowded and especially during this time of limited seating.

After our visit with my Mother we ventured down to Portland, Maine for two nights. We stayed at the Hampton Inn & Suites Waterfront in the Old Port Area. These rooms were very reasonable in comparison to a regular summer in Portland. That is why I took advantage and stayed there. I had a ocean view room and everything was very safe and clean and a great stay. I would recommend this hotel. It is close to everything walking distance to the whole Old Port Area for shopping, dining, drinks etc. We went to eat at DiMillo’s Boat for dinner on the upper deck overlooking Casco Bay. Beautiful View and safe outside and tables were spaced out nicely. Everyone’s food was good and the staff was very friendly and attentive. I recommend this restaurant and it has a local Maine atmosphere. After dinner we decided to walk around a bit and wanted a drink and landed at the Independent Ice Company outside seating. Everything was great here also except near us were a lot of people walking and as the night went on more and more crowded it seemed. We decided to not stay long because of the crowds only because of this pandemic otherwise a perfect spot to eat or have a drink as there are many spots like this in the Old Port Area. The Old Port has cobblestone stone streets with nooks and crannies to find many restaurants and drink places and shops to venture around in on the edge of the ocean. If you are older at this time I would go to dinner early. Younger people were out later and probably not as safe during this pandemic. Overall a fun night and so nice to get OUT.

The next day we went to the Beach the ones I mentioned in this blog. We started out going to Cresent Beach and the line of cars were long so we went to Higgins beach up the road and no parking and you cant park on the street so we went to Ferry Beach a local spot down from Cresent and a short wait and we were in. It was a Sunday so typical I guess for a nice summer day everyone had the same Idea as we did. We had a great day at the beach then back to out room oh have to mention we did stop at Amatoes for Italian Sandwich’s to bring and had lunch on the beach. Amatoe’s is amazing for a lot of things Lobster Rolls in season right now too. Italian Sandwiches is what I miss from Maine a native local sandwich that is delicious. We did stop at Fort Williams on our drive back I always have to stop there and it was quite crowded but a beautiful stop. Then back to our room to shower and freshen up before Dinner. We decided to go to and Italian restaurant I had never been to and it was inside but had great reviews and reasonable compared to some of the restaurant prices in the center of the Old Port. The restaurant was PACIARINO. The tables were spaced apart nicely and it was a Sunday and not that crowded so no worries on being inside. I have to say we found a gem of a place. Homemade pasta, great service and overall quaint restaurant definitely recommend this place so cute. After dinner back to our room to relax. The next morning before checkout went shopping a bit then the vacation was over but it was so fun and great to be in Maine such a wonderful friendly beautiful area. You should at some point try and visit you wont regret it.

Visit Maine page for more info on Maine

Lake George

Hello Everyone,

I did it I ventured out!! Wow a big step!! My husband and I drove to Lake George NY. I have never been there and thought it would be a nice ride from Vermont where I live and check it out. The Hotels are open there along with outdoor seating and some indoor seating. The outlets are open and some novelty shops too. There is also a site seeing cruise line they have for one hour you can take which you have to schedule. We didn’t do that but would like to sometime. The lake is Beautiful very Big!! and the town lines the lake mostly. The area is a strip along the lake with shops, restaurants, mini golf, amusement areas, RV parks and a lot of things. You could tell it must be packed normally because it was quite busy now. It looks like it would be good place to take kids.

We booked a room at Hampton Inn be careful there are two so be sure you know the directions if you stay at one. I usually stay at Hilton’s or Marriott’s that way I know what I’m getting. There is a beautiful Marriott in town that looks really nice too. We checked in with masked on and they had six feet apart check in and the front desk clerk was wearing a mask also. Check-in went well. We venture up to our room and I brought cleaning supplies and paper towels. I had gloves on for check in and opening hotel door. I cleaned sink faucet and bathroom area with cleaner while I had gloves on and the remote although I probably didn’t need to everything was clean even the remote had a sticker around it and the door had a strip on it saying the room was clean. I was being cautious. I then took paper towels and put them along the bathroom sink area and on the desk area and the bed stand. This way my bathroom stuff was on a paper towel the faucet I cleaned and anything I set down on desk area was on a paper towel and the night stand like our phones on paper towel. That all took 10 minutes but it helped us to feel safer. Then off we went to explore the area. The first place we went was the OUTLETS I have been starving to shop I mean really shop see things and touch things you know. The shops were very cautious with masks six feet apart and Sanitizer everywhere. I used Sanitizer after every checkout. Most places will not let you try things on but oh well at least you can see and feel things. Well we shopped for two hours and we both bought things me more of course but hey its been awhile I felt I like I needed some new things and the deals were great!! You can’t imagine what I got for the money. Some winter stuff was on sale because they were not able to sell it during those months. OK after that we went down near town parked and walked in front of the lake and took some Photo’s and admired the Beautiful lake!! Popped into maybe one more shop then time to find a place to eat. We were looking for outside but didn’t know where to go and the ones I called were booked. Make sure even now to book ahead. We had asked the front desk where they suggest as I always do. The locals know the best spots. She had recommended Log Jam Restaurant which we called and remind you is a little out of town and they were full and recommended the Caldwell House which both are like log cabins. I thought one recommendation to another and I knew were local so called and we were able to get a high top in the bar fine. Inside though first time we have been out to eat in months. We went and the place was being very cautious with all staff wearing masks and tables spread apart. I have to say it was very warm anyway and it was nice to have air conditioning. The restaurant was cute and the staff was awesome and the Food was Great!! It wasn’t like normal its weird wearing mask and everything but it was nice to be out and we did enjoy it. You have to take baby steps with caution. That was all we did back to the room. It was a beginning and It was nice to venture out. I would just say wear your mask be cautious wash hands sanitize and at least you can go do something.

If you have any questions on this area let me know comment me. I would love to answer any questions you have if I can. Even if its on this crazy pandemic and trying times we are in I’m here to listen and chat.

Hello Everyone,

Well we have made it through these last trying months and things are starting to open up!! Hurrah!! It feels good that there is some normal things happening with caution but at least some things. I don't know about you but I am so appreciative of all the things I took for granted mostly seeing family and friends going places and doing things, being able to hug people etc. It is not easy but we are getting there lets not be crazy still be cautious but begin to venture out with mask, gloves, sanitizer, wash hands you know go but be safe!!!