Today dawned grey and drizzly with little promise of sunshine so it was quite fortuitous that our plans were not completely weather dependent. I managed a quick 4 miles before the rain – not near the lake this time but it didn’t matter since I couldn’t see the sun anyway.
Breakfast was slightly less disappointing than yesterday. I did get Vans GF waffles done in the oven so there would be no cross contamination from the toaster but they were not very well done – unfortunately, neither was Gillian’s French Toast. But I had freshly picked blueberries to go with the yogurt and granola so we made do and hit the road for Syracuse. Why Syracuse you ask? Because that’s where the Syracuse Nationals were, of course! And how could we be a measly 20 miles from one of the biggest hot rod shows in the country and not visit! (If you’d been married to a car guy for more than 20 years, you would think that made sense too!)
So we joined thousands of other car enthusiasts and their family members at the state fair grounds for acres and acres and acres of assorted automobiles and accessories. Gillian and I couldn’t decide whether to count mullets or tattoos and then gave up on both because it was too hard to do either. I have to say that I was impressed by some of the care and detail, not to mention the work, that went into some of the cars. Frank got lots of ideas about what he wants to do with the 54 Chevy he has at school and we covered 4 miles looking at chassis, paint jobs, junkers for sale, vendor stalls and celebrity signings. (We opted not to wait in line for Catherine Bach’s autograph – time has not been kind to Daisy Duke or she has a bad plastic surgeon!) I can honestly say I did not expect to see a stand selling Vera Bradley bags across from one selling car parts but I was told that the wives need to be kept entertained as well. (Grrr….)
Three hours of gleaming chrome, exhaust fumes, traffic cone orange paintwork and idiotic conversations overheard was all we could take. (Best one: “Do you know if you feed chocolate to a duck it will explode?” WTF!) So we headed back west through more small towns and stumbled on a gold mine in the guise of Marcellus, NY. What does this town have that was so precious? A fluff and fold laundromat! We were able to drop off half a trips worth of dirt laundry and have lunch while someone else washed and folded our underwear! Love the service sector!
We had a great lunch at Daniel’s Grill in Marcellus – Gillian and Frank had various sandwiches on foccacia or ciabatta breads. One was chicken with pesto mayo and the other may have been Cajun grouper. I had a lovely grilled flat iron steak salad with caramelized onions and blue cheese. It didn’t even need any dressing. While we were waiting for the laundry to be finished, we wandered over to Elbridge which turned out to be a very cute little town with a hardware store where Frank could get waterproofing spray for the convertible top. And I got to visit the local yarn store where I picked up several skeins of gorgeous natural brown three ply from their own sheep that really wants to be a vest. I can even picture which one in my Folk Vests book.
Then the rain that had been threatening all day actually erupted and we headed back to Marcellus to pick up the laundry. But first, we happened on the find of the century: The Chocolate Pizza Company! Holy diabetic coma Batman, what a place! They sell chocolate pizzas and lots of other things. We bought “slices” of dark chocolate with M&Ms and mini Reeses, dark chocolate with cashews and candy coated sunflower seeds, and white chocolate with cranberries and almonds! AND “Wings” which are ruffled potato chips spread with peanut butter and dipped in chocolate. I can feel my waistline spreading as I type!
Clean clothes and candy securely tucked into the trunk, we headed back to Skaneateles to visit the townwide sidewalk sale and watch the skies. Gillian and I got some running gear at the local triathalon shop – Endurance Monster – and we tried very hard to patronize the other shops but nothing was calling to us in the rain.
And we continued to nervously watch the skies for the one part of today’s plans that were weather dependent: a movie at the local drive in! Yes, they have drive ins here and we were so hoping to see “The Dark Knight” tonight by sitting in the convertible eating some of the yummy junk food we have been acquiring. The radar looked like things *might* go our way so off we went to Auburn, NY and the Finger Lakes Drive In. I wasn’t sure how I was going to make it through a 2.5 hour movie that started at 9pm but I couldn’t let either Frank or Gillian go through life without having been to a drive in. I remembered all those nights at the Pinehurst Drive In when I was growing up. But that’s a story for another day and a lot more wine!
And so we go to bed in the wee hours after having enjoyed the movie and the drive in experience. The rain held off and we watched with the top down, Gillian sitting on the back, looking over the windscreen. We could have stayed for the second feature (The Amazing Spider Man) which would start at around 12:10 AM and really gotten our $6 worth but we are just too tired! I owe an apology to the town of Auburn which is apparently a perfectly fine town (with a drive in!) that just happens to have some scary parts that we found on our first foray. Lo siento!
Total steps today, including the traipse around the fairgrounds were 14,209 or 6.12 miles. Most unusual food item: Frank got sushi take out to enjoy at the drive in and the salmon in the Alaska roll was smoked – very odd!
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