Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Capturing Memories

Capturing memories - that's some of what I do here on this blog. This year, we didn't have an official family reunion but my long winding vacation served as one. 

On July 16 I left Los Angeles, and headed to NY. My husband was leaving Jamaica and meeting me in NY. Funnily enough we both missed our connecting flights to NY and got in later than we anticipated. I spent the first four days of my vacation on Long Island where I had lived before relocating. I was able to spend a good bit of time reconnecting and reminiscing with girlfriends.
Our old house
Partying with a good friend

The following week we spent in Brooklyn. Brooklyn has changed and is now the place to be. Can you say gentrification? I took the subway, walked, even jogged in Prospect Park a couple of times. We took in Motown on Broadway and it was worth every penny we spent. When I heard my husband whooping after the first song, I knew we had made the right choice. It's a good show from beginning to end. We walked around Times Square before taking the subway back to Brooklyn. In addition we really got to reconnect with family and friends. I got to see how my parents were doing, and catch up on all the family happenings. On the weekend of 7/26 in particular, it seems like everyone was there, though it was not planned.

Grand Army Plaza
Playbill from Motown


Sightseeing with my sister on the Circle Line


The following week we drove to Toronto for a cousin's wedding taking place on August 1st. This was yet another good time with family. The dress code was black tie and the women were asked to indulge the bride by wearing fascinators. Boy, did the women oblige - it was nice to see everyone elegantly attired. On Saturday, we went to Caribana. I've heard of this festival for years and wanted to see how Toronto puts on a party - they did a good job though I might be getting a bit old for it. On Sunday, my Bajan cousins had a picnic and we spent part of the day with them. Then in the afternoon we spent the remainder of the day with my husband's Jamaican family and friends. 

On this trip I used AirBnB for the first time and my experience was overwhelmingly positive. Our host Liz shared her home with us and made us feel like family. Not every BnB experience is this way, but Liz is used to opening her home and letting others in. In addition she lives in a beautiful neighborhood, so on Monday we jogged together and explored. Before leaving Toronto, we drove to Niagara Falls. We didn't do a tour but we saw the Falls and all of the tourist traps.




Me and the girls from Ghana at Caribana

Once we left Toronto, we stopped in NY for a day and then we were off to Maryland to spend a couple of days with my brother. While I love the inside of his house, my favorite part is the outside which I have dubbed "The Meadow", it's that big. I generally don't like dogs, but he has a dog named Lyric which liked me and I, her. I even let her jump on me. In the evenings I played with my niece and nephew. While here, I caught up with my best friend from college - good times.
my new best friend

bff from college


One last hurrah on the last leg of the vacation.

We left Maryland early Saturday morning and came back to Brooklyn. We took my parents out to a lovely Indian restaurant called Baluchis (it sounds Italian but it's Indian). I'm not a fan of Indian food, but after eating here I am. The portions were the right sized and everything was seasoned perfectly. I think this meal made my parents very happy because we started to talk about things that we had never talked about before - particularly their histories.

Now we had to return the rental - so we drove in to Manhattan for the return and met one of our favorite couples from the Bronx. We caught up while driving, stopped by their house, then went to the Cheesecake Factory in the new Ridge Hill Shopping center. It didn't matter what was ordered as the conversation was great. Finally we made it back to Brooklyn.

Our flight was at 6:00 am August 10th, so we didn't get much sleep. My parents wanted to continue talking and then we prayed.
We made it to the airport in time and arrived safely. I fell asleep around 3:00 pm Sunday afternoon and and finally woke up at 6:00 the next morning.

I had initial misgivings about the length of this vacation, but I'm glad we did it.



2 comments:

  1. It sounds like a great time!

    I am so with you, Brooklyn has changed so much and is the place to be!

    Glad that you had a great Indian dining experience. I love eating Indian food but haven't found a good one here yet. Still searching.

    You look absolutely stunning in your blue gown!

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  2. I agree with Faith; this trip sounds like you had a blast and then some. I am so glad that you went to see Motown. Great show, huh? It still reverberates with me . . . from music (woop! woop!) to story line. Fabulous. Toronto is one of my favorite cities so yay that you have family there. I would live there in a heartbeat. But my favorite photos are of you in the blue gown. You look so beautiful!!! Picture of you and your husband might be the very best captured memory. So lovely!

    Thank you for sharing for vacation with us.

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