James, Matt, and I went to the state park by our house this weekend. The weather was fabulous – 80 degrees and sunny! I wanted to get out on my paddleboard one last time before it got too cold so I convinced Matt to come on the board with me (James wanted to go fishing and I didn’t want to go out on the lake alone).
Earlier this summer, Matt and I took my board the ENTIRE LENGTH of Squantz Pond and back – we knew we didn’t want to do that again but OOPS almost did because of the current. We very lazily paddled north and were surprised when we looked at the houses on shore and realized we were in Sherman. I started paddling back the other way and it was HARD. The current was blowing directly north…no wonder we made it so far so fast. James called to ask where we were and in the maybe ONE MINUTE I took a break from paddling to answer the phone, we had drifted back three or four houses. Also, there were some surprisingly large waves hitting us even when there were no boats nearby. I was like THIS IS IT, THIS IS HOW WE GO. (Maybe I should start a new hashtag for this blog… #waysialmostdied)
This one boat kept driving by us repeatedly and we just thought they were being assholes because they were coming REALLY close. After their third pass, they asked us if we wanted to be towed back to shore and we were like OMG YES. Matt stayed on the board and I got into the boat. It was a family with a mom, dad, and two kids around Matt’s age. I mentioned something about my husband waiting at the boat launch for us and they were like “…if your husband’s at the boat launch, who’s on the board??” I was like “Oh…that’s just my little brother!” (Matt later got mad that I didn’t state *gay* little brother because he thought the son was cute.) We got back to the launch in minutes and thank god because it probably would have taken an hour to paddle. Woof.
Anyway…that’s how paddleboarding season 2K19 ended. Being towed to shore by strangers. Stay tuned for paddleboarding season 2K20 which will include fun highlights such as “Will Any of My Friends Get Their Own Board?” and “Let’s Finally Bring This Baby On Candlewood” and “Paddleboarding On Candlewood Is A Terrible Idea #waysialmostdied”.
We have such a busy month ahead of us! I’m so excited for all our adventures!
We’re starting the month with a family dinner with Ashley and her husband and kids. It’s a new tradition we’ve decided to start.
This weekend, we’re celebrating Grace’s birthday by taking a party bus down to White Plains.
The next day, we’re attending a very unique fundraiser in our town…Cow Chip Bingo!
On the 8th, I’m going to the official Community Service Club open house.
On the 11th, Ariel is coming down to stay the night. Unfortunately I won’t get to spend too much time with her because…
On the 12th James is in his friend’s wedding! (We have the rehearsal dinner the night before.)
The following weekend we’re heading to Rochester for RIT’s Brick City Weekend. I haven’t been able to make it to Brick City in a few years so I’m super excited to go back! We made a stop in Rochester during our roadtrip last fall, but it was just for one night. We will definitely be going to the hockey game and hopefully James will get to meet more of my Rochester friends!
The weekend after that, we’re hosting a pumpkin carving contest at our house!
Once we finish carving pumpkins, we’re going to have to clean up quick because our friends are having a Halloween party that night! I try to do a different costume for each Halloween event that we have and need to come up with a few more ideas.
We have a little Halloween treat planned for our neighbors but haven’t come up with a date yet.
Nobody would ever trick-or-treat on our road so we’ll be going to the Bethel Pumpkin House again on Halloween. This guy decorates his yard with THOUSANDS of hand carved pumpkins and Halloween music playing and gives out treats. One of our friends helps set up decorations every year, so for the past few years, we’ve been joining them and bringing pizza and cider.
I guess Halloween technically ends the month of October but we’re going to continue celebrating into November! There are plenty of other fall things that I want to do (like apple picking) but we just haven’t planned them yet. I can’t wait to write about all the fun things we do!
For the third year in a row, I helped organize my school’s annual Day of Service event. We had 900 participants this year! (To put it in perspective, last year there were 200…) It was a super awesome event and James, Matt, and Maranda got to volunteer at a church located near campus.
I’m still in shock at the sheer number of people that registered. We changed the sign up process this year so I was keeping an eye on the website in case there were any issues. As I saw the number getting larger and larger, I started to panic. I reached out to a bunch of community Facebook groups to find more places to send volunteers. We wound up sending them to 70+ places in the surrounding towns.
The morning of the event was absolutely chaos. James was incredibly helpful and came to school early with me to help set up. He wound up helping at the group leader table while I was inundated with unregistered volunteers at the waitlist table. Once the volunteers left campus for their sites, I had a moment to breathe and reflect on the day. I’ve already decided on some big changes that we’re making for 2020! I spent the rest of the morning walking around to the various sites in downtown Danbury (include the church where James and everyone was working!).
I’ve been volunteering on a regular basis since I was a kid and involved with Girl Scouts. After high school, I was able to do community service with my sorority and after college, I joined the Junior League in Pennsylvania. Now that I’m back in Connecticut, I’m about to join my town’s Community Service Club. North Face’s motto may be “Never Stop Exploring” but mine is more like “Never Stop Volunteering”!
I’ve mentioned our favorite Candlewood Lake waterfront bar, Down the Hatch (aka The Hatch, aka The Harch) before. It’s only open seasonally and it’s closing for this season was planned for mid-September so we obviously had to plan one last Hatch trip! It’s so great to sit by the lake and on nights with nice weather it seems like everybody is there.
Of course with our luck, it was not a night with nice weather – it absolutely poured. That did not stop us from going. We dashed from tent to tent and first claimed a long table in the restaurant section. Almost our entire table ordered my personal favorite appetizer, the buffalo popcorn shrimp. We sat around our table until the food service ended and then ran through the rain to the bar tent. Literally every other table was available and we chose to cram around a high top for a few more drinks. Even though I was bummed about the weather, it was great to have the bar to ourselves! We took over the music via TouchTunes and could be as loud and annoying as we wanted.
The Hatch will reopen next May at some point and of course we will be back!
Everybody says Friday the 13th is an unlucky day…which means it’s totally a day I celebrate. We surprisingly didn’t make any plans as a house but wound up together in the end.
Maranda and I planned to go to a local Mexican restaurant with our moms – margaritas, yay! We went all out and got chips with both guac AND queso. It was a great time.
While we were out at the restaurant, my dad went to our house to have dinner with James. Ashley and Matt came home from work while we were still at dinner and they all decided to get ready for a bonfire. By the time we got we got home, the boys were DYING to light the fire so we went out to the fire pit and the parents all hung out inside. We were actually going to go to the bar when our parents left, but our neighbors had friends over and when they saw the fire, they all wandered on over so we just hung out at our house all night which was completely fine by me…I’d much rather stay in than go out.
(Oh and yes, I know we hosted a going away party for Maranda last month so you might be wondering why she’s still here…her visa still hasn’t been processed. Her employer in China is really understanding so they’re just waiting for her visa to process and then she will leave. Meanwhile I’ve gotten used to her being here again and am going to be even MORE devastated when she finally leaves.)
I made sure to do some traveling of my own while James was in Lake George for a bachelor party…still trying to get him to “write” his own post about that…all I know is “car show, party bus, phone got stolen”. Oh well. Back to the things I do know about – my weekend adventures!
After the Milford Oyster Festival didn’t pan out, I was super excited to go to the Norwalk Oyster Festival. I went with my parents every year when I was a kid and I remember listening to live music next to the water, riding a school bus to get to the fairgrounds, making (and then promptly dropping) sand art, and of course THE FOOD!
I was really excited to go back and eat all the things and even more excited that I was able to find three friends to go with – Lexy, Lauren, and Caitlin. I met Lexy when she was living in Danbury but she has since moved to Norwalk. I’ve known Lauren since middle school – she lived in NF and we did theater together and then we both wound up going to RIT AND joining the same sorority! Caitlin actually lives on Long Island but Lauren and I know her from RIT/our sorority as well and she came to visit for the day. There were a few different bus routes to get to the festival – Lexy and I met in one lot and left from there and Lauren and Caitlin took a different bus in.
The festival was set up a lot different that I remembered – the biggest thing is that there were less trees than I remember. I mean, the festival takes place at a park but I remember sitting under the trees to eat my food when I was younger and now there were no trees. And it was really hot! Also there used to be a one or two big tents that would house craft exhibits and vendors and this year the vendors were set up in a row but all in separate little (like pop up) tents. But! There was still sand art and music and carnival rides and games.
The four of us ate and drank our way around the festival. There were TONS of food and drink tents so we obviously couldn’t visit them all but here were some of our favorites:
I had a lobster roll the moment I walked in the gate.
We had oysters! There was one big tent that had all sorts of great seafood and they literally had to have a separate line for oysters because they were so popular.
The girls got these GIANT soft pretzels. I’m not a big fan so I didn’t get one but I was impressed by the size.
Pierogies! I wish we had gone by this stand earlier in the day because they ran out of most of their flavors by the end but we got sweet potato pierogies with caramelized onions. They were SO GOOD. I seriously need to try making my own pierogies.
Doughnuts…there was this little doughnut tent near the gate and Lexy was super psyched to end the day by getting doughnuts…and they weren’t good. She got frosted ones and they had like a drizzle of frosting. Sad.
There were several BBQ tents INCLUDING Dinosaur BBQ (a favorite restaurant from my time in Rochester that now has a Stamford location). Lexy got some mac and cheese while I shoved the lobster roll down my throat.
There was a TOTS truck and as I sit at my desk typing this right before my lunch break, I’m really regretting not getting those tots.
There was also a waffle truck and I’m kind of okay with not getting waffles because I’m not the biggest sweets person but I think the other girls would probably repeat my previous point but swap out tots for waffles
There was a beer garden tent featuring local craft beers. Bull and Barrel had their blueberry beer available!
Spiked Seltzer is originally from Connecticut so they had a truck to give people samples of their new recipes. Lexy and I have lots of thoughts on the new version of Spiked Seltzer but they have a “plain” flavor and it was actually really good! Of course, since then I haven’t been able to find it anywhere but that sample sure was good!
There’s a whiskey distillery that opened up in Norwalk semi-recently and they had samples of their whiskeys and some mixed drinks that were really good! We want to plan a trip to visit during the winter.
And in between all the eating and drinking, we visited the vendor tents:
I found a very appropriate birthday present for Grace!
Caitlin bought jewelry – while the jewelry maker’s little brother (like an actual child, maybe nine years old) tried to convince Lexy to be his girlfriend.
Lexy and I wanted everything at the 203 tent but…poor (aka I’d rather eat food than buy ANOTHER sweatshirt).
Lauren and Caitlin bought these really fun homemade greeting cards.
There was a tent selling Turkish towels that folded into a backpack that looked cool!
So after spending most of our day EATING, we left the fairgrounds because we were hungry and wanted “real food”. We walked to this little street that had a TON of restaurants and a lot had special Sunday deals. We chose an Italian place called Il Posto where they had dinner specials and half priced bottles of wine. The four of us split a bottle of wine. Lauren and Caitlin split an appetizer and then left when Lauren’s boyfriend (and dog!) came to pick them up. Lexy and I got pasta dishes that were delicious…I wound up with leftovers to bring for lunch the next day.
Some upcoming events – Lexy and I will be visiting the Big E at the end of the month (yay another day of eating!). Lauren and Nick are moving into a different house in Norwalk at the end of the month so they’ll be having a housewarming party later this fall! And for real…we’re going to that distillery!
Our friend Ross moved to Vermont this past weekend. Before he left, he threw a combination birthday and going away party so we could all hang out together one last time. It was a super chill night and a great way to spend time with everybody before Ross left! The boys all grilled and we had some nature show on Netflix going. Brenna brought a cake and candles which surprised Ross. We had a surprise thunderstorm during the party which started right as a bunch of us were about to leave – we wound up staying another hour so we didn’t have to walk to our cars in the rain! James stayed to help Ross clean up the house and pack for his move. Ross’ parents’ house is on a big hill and when I went to pick James up the next day, he decided to walk down the yard instead of the driveway. He slipped and didn’t get hurt but slid down the entire yard on his butt and I’m really mad I didn’t get it on video.
I’ve known Ross since we were kids – we met at summer camp TWENTY YEARS AGO. When I moved back from Pennsylvania, he would always make sure to invite me to things and keep my spirits up during the super rough transition. What I didn’t know was that he was also really good friends with James! They spent loads of time together and had the same interests – they even went to a music festival together. Once James and I got together, any party that we planned, Ross was always one of the first to RSVP. He spent many nights sleeping on our living room couch so that he didn’t have to drive all the way back to his house in New York and he FINALLY got Lilly to stop barking at him when he comes over. Now I guess we just have to bring her to Vermont so she can bark at him some more! We’re really going to miss him and hope to see him soon!
Another Maranda and Amanda adventure! We went to White Silo Winery in Sherman. It’s literally on the same road as my house, just in a different town. There are a bunch of wineries in Connecticut – they actually have a Connecticut Wine Trail passport program where you can get your “passport” stamped at each winery.
White Silo is a working farm, although I suspect it’s much smaller than it used to be. The wine tasting room is in an old dairy barn and the property around it is landscaped so you can sit outside and enjoy a glass (or bottle!) of wine. The area around it is really rural and picturesque.
Maranda and I started with a wine tasting flight in the barn and then each ordered a glass of our favorite wines (hers was the Rose, mine was the Sparking Red Raspberry). We walked around the grounds taking pictures. I gave Maranda a few quick photography lessons that she’ll hopefully use in China. There was a trail leading into the woods that looked pretty clear but once we turned a corner, we saw that it was not so we returned to the yard next to the barn. We picked a double Adirondack chair to sit on. Maranda put her glass of wine down on the armrest with no problem but when I went to do the same, my glass slid right off and the rest of my wine spilled out (and it was still pretty full). I was bummed but Maranda shared the rest of her wine with me.
James isn’t the biggest wine drinker but we have gone wine tasting in Lake George and he liked it…I’ll have to bring him to White Silo one day since it’s right up the road!
You know what the best part of NOT working in ResLife is? I didn’t have to work A SINGLE WEEKEND in August. It was beautiful. I have never known a life like this.
Matt and I took a last minute drive down to Two Roads Brewing Co. down in Stratford. We’ve both been there before but they recently opened up a new tasting room and rooftop garden that we wanted to check out. We didn’t realize how far apart the two areas of the brewery are so we parked in the lot we’re used to and then walked…and walked…and walked some more until we found the new tasting room (we got a ride back on a golf cart!). In between the two there is an open space that had some yard games and looked like there was a little shed that could function as a bar. I definitely would want to go on a nice weather day when I had some more time to hang out in that area!
The new facility and tasting room are GORGEOUS. I was so impressed from the moment I walked in the door. Matt and I got a flight of beers and then headed to the lower portion of the rooftop deck. The weather was weird the day we went – it was really sunny but also windy. The lower roof deck had these awesome hammocks but the wind twisted them up so bad that it was hard to lay flat! Also I was a bit chilly in the shade. We went to check the upper roof deck out. It looks like they sometimes serve beer out there as well. The upper roof deck was in the sun and I was roasting. I was happy to go back to the shady lower deck!
The original facility has a food truck parked outside and a beer garden. Matt and I got shared tots and a pulled pork sandwich. Next to the beer garden, there’s a modified trailer that you can buy beer from. I would have been perfectly content to sit in the beer garden all afternoon BUT we wanted to do another beer flight so we went upstairs to the tasting room. My absolute favorite beer is the Geyser Gose that Two Roads makes and I definitely included a sample of that in my flight!
I’m hoping to squeeze another Two Roads trip in while the weather is still nice but with all our other plans, I don’t think that’s happening. I know I will be there in November – we do a 5K down in Stratford every year and always go out for a bite to eat after. The bar we used to go to closed so we went to Two Roads last year and will definitely be making that trip again!
On Saturday, Maranda and I explored parts of lower Westchester County! I tend to overlook this part of New York because I’m either doing stuff close to home or taking the train directly into Manhattan. But while making plans for the weekend, I really wanted to go to an all-you-can-eat sushi place and the closest place that has it on a Saturday is in Eastchester. Once I knew we were going to be down there for the afternoon, I planned another outing in nearby Valhalla.
Maranda came to my house and then I drove us down to Eastchester. Our destination was a surprise for Maranda so she kept making random guesses but once she saw the sign that said “Sushi Castle”, she knew exactly where we were going. We arrived shortly after they opened and the restaurant filled up quickly. Maranda and I ordered a mix of rolls, sushi, and sashimi. Everything was delicious and we even ordered a second round! There were three foreign men at the table next to us and they ordered a HUGE plate of just sushi and sashimi – it was a beautiful sight. We realized we had missed an opportunity. I definitely want to go back and will NOT be wasting any room in my stomach on rolls. Also – we added up the price of what we actually ordered vs. the all-you-can-eat price and we definitely got our money’s worth!
After we rolled our stuffed selves out of the restaurant, we went to Kensico Dam Plaza in Valhalla. I had been once before for a photoshoot and had always wanted to go back. Walking around after our large meal felt GREAT and we even worked up an appetite to visit the ice cream man! We climbed this huge flight of stairs to get to the top of the damn. It’s a little crazy to see water right below you on one said and then this huge drop into the park on the other side. This made us decide that dams are really cool and we want to plan more hikes to visit dams before Maranda leaves. (Do you know how hard it was for me to keep typing dam instead of damn this whole paragraph??)
So okay, definitely want to go back to those two places. Other places that are close by that I’d like to get to:
Rye Playland (an amusement park)
White Plains (lots of bars and restaurants!)
Parks near the Tappan Zee Bridge (since I didn’t get to go watch the bridge get blown up in person…they moved the date from a Saturday to a Tuesday at the last minute)
Croton Gorge Park (there’s a dam!)
The best part – lower Westchester County is only about an hour from home AND we had a car with us so we were able to get back later in the afternoon and do things locally! I guess I’ll have to stop forgetting that area of New York exists…
The Harkin Chronicles 