What I Did on My Summer Vacation!

I'm reminded by all the back-to-school ads, that typically the first English assignment upon the return to school, was to write an essay about what had transpired over the summer. Well, Ted and I just returned last night from a wonderful two weeks of fun, so here's my essay (maybe students just blog or tweet vs. essay now?). First, I went with my college roomies on our annual retreat (no husbands permitted). We always go to Munch's house and after a trip to the store, typically don our swimsuits and never venture out again until we all must face reality and drive home! Here is a picture of those of us who could make it this year...it truly is a treasure to have friends who have known you through every phase of life and love you anyway!


On the way back, it turned out that Kyle was filming at Notre Dame, so I picked him up and we had a surprise great night with Kyle and his friends at our place amidst unpacking, laundry and repacking to leave again!

We dropped Kyle at the airport on Monday and headed for Gettysburg for quite a memorable tour. If you haven't been, you must go as the National Park Service has built a new Visitor Center where you see an introductory film, then get a guided tour of the entire three day battle, then return to a wonderfully well done museum. We dined at the famous Farnsworth House, which at one time, housed Confederate soldiers. Being the Yankees we are, we enjoyed never-before-tasted spoon pudding and the Southern version of duck/chicken/pheasant pot pie.

Next, we headed for Baltimore Wed-Fri morning, where I gave a speech at a nursing informatics conference. Ted had not seen Baltimore, so we did the typical harbor and crabcakes thing.

We left Friday and did a quick drive-by visit with some favorite colleagues of mine, who kindly met us near I-95 for a delightful lunch. We learned what "going to the shore" means in terms of Friday afternoon traffic near Philly and then rush hour in Brooklyn, but we landed safely at Kyle's place, just in time to have a great dinner at the much-acclaimed restaurant called "The Grocery". Small, local foodies and a quaint outdoor patio with a perfect summer night and of course KYLE, made it a memorable meal. Saturday, we took in brunch, West Side Story on Broadway and a wonderful meal again! You know that 5 pounds I lost...gotta lose it again!



But the capper was Sunday morning, when Kyle used his contacts to get us on the set of CBS Sunday Morning...our very favorite show! ALL the staff were so gracious...even the host for the day, Jeff Glor, who couldn't have been nicer to us! We were literally the only non-staffers on the set, then up in the control room...so it was quite an experience. We topped off the day with a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and great Italian dining in Brooklyn...you can't beat that!

So now home catching up with all that naturally continues even when we're away. It was a summer vacation to remember indeed!