Circumnavigation

On Wednesday, Skip, Scooter and I headed out for the first day of our adventure which ultimately involved our circumnavigating Lake Ontario. Our first stop was Williamsville, NY where we often go to do some cross-border shopping at some of our favourite stores - Lockport Outdoor Store, Target, Rick Zurak's Golf Warehouse, Barnes and Noble, etc. and had a great Mexican dinner at La Tolteca Authentic Mexican Restaurant.

Thursday morning we picked up Skip's new driver he was having custom made and drove eastward to Henrietta, NY to attend the Wegman's LPGA Championship. This was be the third or fourth time we've attended this event. For Scooter especially, it really marks the beginning of the summer as his last exam just finished on Monday. It poured rain for about 20 minutes while we were at Hole 10 but fortunately we were just steps away from a concession booth with a big overhang so we were able to seek shelter until the worst of the rain came down. Once that was over, the skies cleared and the rest of the afternoon was breezy and warm and we had a very enjoyable time. The highlight of our evening was dinner at Romano's Macaroni Grill - a favourite Italian restaurant of ours.

Friday morning, we again got up early and made our way to Baldwinsville, NY to meet up with our friends, MaryAnne, Aidan and James.

I first met MaryAnne in the early 90s when we were sailing on the SV Polynesia for a week in the Caribbean. 

My travelling companions, Leslie and Marsha (RIP), and I had purchased about a dozen 250 mL cans of beer on the pier in St. Maarten at 2 for $1 and designated ourselves to be the official welcoming committee while waiting to embark for our Windjammer Barefoot cruise. I met MaryAnne when I slapped a 'beerlet' into her hand when I learned she was waiting to sail on the same ship I was. And the rest, as they say, is history. 

After our hellos in Baldwinsville, Skip and Scooter went golfing for the day and my hosts and I made our way up to Oswego for the Festival of Sail where we saw three tall ships.

We got to see the Lynx leaving the dock for a sail out into the lake.

Aidan and I went on a treasure hunt where we had to find the answers to 8 questions pertaining to the tall ships and the little maritime museum on the pier. After Aidan collected his prizes, we posed with this very friendly pirate.

When we left there, we took a drive up to a higher vantage point and were able to get some better shots of the ships, even though we were quite far away.

Here is the Lynx under full sail beyond the Port of Oswego breakwater.

The Pride of Baltimore II is a reproduction of an 1812-era Baltimore Clipper privateer.

The Tallship Unicorn is the only all-female crewed tall ship in the world with proven on-board leadership programs for teenage girls and women.

It was great being able to spend a day with my friends and have an opportunity to have a good visit with Aidan, now 8 years old, again since he was only 4 the last time Skip and I visited them when they lived in Georgia.

MaryAnne is also a knitter so we got to talk a little about knitting but know our next meet-up will be in Rhinebeck at the New York Sheep and Wool Festival next October.

MaryAnne also writes a blog, "She Who Is Queen". You can imagine how excited I was when I found this cross-stitch project last year.  I got it stitched up in no time then delayed finishing it.

It was this project that impelled me to learn how to stretch and frame my own cross-stitch projects a couple of weeks ago.. I had bought the frame a while back so all I needed to do was get going and finish the project so I could give it to MaryAnne this week.

Last night, all went out for a nice dinner and a walk along the Seneca river near the locks. Scooter got all nostalgic playing with the Yu-Gi-Oh! cards with Aidan and enjoyed playing games with him after dinner. It was so nice to get together with our long-time friends and just picking up where we left off the last time we were together four years ago.

Our drive home today was uneventful and we were very glad to not have to drive any where near Toronto where the G20 Summit is taking place with all that has gone on with it.