Billy Elliot

Kevin and I took a little trip up to San Francisco the other day so we could go and watch Billy Elliot at the Orpheum theater. Jeff Kready, who I grew up with at church and went to high school with, currently plays the part of Tony Elliot and has been touring with the show. He was part of the original cast of the 2009 Tony award winning show and has been traveling around the country performing. Since he was in San Francisco it was the perfect opportunity to see him perform again. Kevin and I both saw him last when we were at Washburn when starred in Footloose. Considering how long ago that was we were really excited to have the chance to see him.

I told Jeff we'd look for him after the show and we met him outside by the stage door entrance. After saying hello he asked if we would like to come backstage. I wasn't really expecting to get to go back there and I was pretty excited! We felt very VIP!

As always, Jeff was so friendly and it was great to see him again. He played a very angry character in the show and I must say he did a fantastic job. I really enjoyed catching up and hearing about Jeff's plans after the show ends next week. The show is closing down for awhile and will reopen at a later date once they make a few changes to the show (I guess this is common in the broadway world). Jeff said he is ready for a new role after having performed it over 1,000 times in the last 3 years! He is going to go watch his wife open a show in Boston and then head back to NYC and start auditioning for his next gig.

On the stage at Orpheum Theater!

Upstate New York

Kevin's parents just celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary and to celebrate they wanted to take a vacation with the entire family. They rented a house in Westfield, NY and we all met up there for the week. It was a fabulous, relaxing week and we had a wonderful time.

Heading to upstate New York was a nice change from the hustle and bustle of the city. We arrived at the rental house that evening and the views took our breath away. The house was situated just off a private beach  on Lake Erie. From the wrap around porch it was incredible watching the sunset. 

If you didn't like that view you only had to look out the window and you got to see beautiful vineyards. Incredible!

We didn't waste much time jumping into the lake. The vastness really made you feel like you were at the ocean...minus the salt water and big waves. 

Being in the water and watching the sunset left you speechless. 

We played a lot of games during our stay and truly enjoyed each other's company. It was nice not having anywhere in particular to be and truly being able to relax.

One afternoon we rented a boat so we could go tubing on the lake. In order to keep the camera dry the only pictures I took were right as we were getting on the boat. 

We'd only been on the lake about 30 minutes when a storm popped up. As we saw the rain moving in on us we tried to make it back to the docks as quickly as possible. Joe pulled us into the dock right as the rain really started coming down. We were a little soaked. After about 30 minutes the rain cleared out and we able to head back out onto the lake.

After about an hour more on the lake our boat died. We had to call the rental place and this lady came and towed us back in with her wave runner. They have us a replacement boat but it was a pontoon boat. Not the best boat work tubing but we still had fun. Just being on the lake was nice and relaxing.

A bonfire on the lake was also beautiful. The sound of the waves, the breeze, and fire...a pretty wonderful combination.

Kevin wanted to take all the boys golfing so Patti, Serena, and I had a girls afternoon/evening while they played around. I thought the men looked rather handsome in their polos. 

We ladies drove a little ways to Jamestown, birthplace of Lucille Ball. We were a little surprised at how desolate the town was. There were these incredible old buildings but many of them were closed and there were very few shops like we had expected. There was the 'I Love Lucy' museum and we took a tour through the playhouse. That was really neat. They had pictures, props, videos, etc. Serena and I had the chance to act out the Vitameatavegamin skit and it displayed us on a black and white television. 

On our way back to the house we saw this sign. Not something you normally see.

Patti, Kevin, James, and I went to check out a local arts fair going on in the city we stayed in. On the way home we stopped at this wonderful place called the Sugar Shack. They had all kind of fruit syrups and butters and we were able to try all kinds of it. It was hard to decide which types not to buy. There were 27 flavors of syrup and I finally went with Wild Currant Raspberry, Wild Blackberry, and Apple Cider Cinnamon. The apple cider on the ice cream tasted like apple pie....yummy.

Although New York is not known for their wine (most of the grapes in New York are Concord and used for jams, jellies, and juices). We'd heard about how much sweeter the wines were compared to California wines and thought it would be fun to try. There were two wineries we went to. The first was like nothing I'd ever experienced before. It was in this old mans house and it was a unique atmosphere (I'm trying to nicely say it was unprofessional in comparison to traditional wineries). A couple of the wines were okay. We ended up buying an Apple Crisp wine that they served us warm. I think it will be great this fall.

The second winery was more like we are used to. The wines overall were definitely sweeter and we did buy a couple bottles to take home. I think I still prefer traditional wines a little better. This is the view from Noble Winery. On a clear day you can usually see Canada.

Patti bought a puzzle early in the trip and we had a lot of fun working of it. I love puzzles but there isn't really a good table in our apartment to leave one on so I rarely work on one. There was a perfect table up in the loft.

Patti and I were the main two working on it but we had a little help from others. We finished it in plenty of time.

Our last sunset of the trip was another picture perfect sunset. 

Sunset from the porch of the house

We had another bonfire our last night but we used different wood and it was much smokier than the previous fire.

It was still beautiful.

Our vacation was much needed and wonderful. Thank you Patti and Kevin for the trip and Happy 30th Anniversary!

Niagara Falls

While going through the pictures I decided to split our trip up into two posts covering our day up in Niagara Falls first. Our day in Canada had so many opportunities for pictures and was incredible so I thought it deserved its own post.

We had to drive a little bit from our house in Westfield before reaching the border. Border security was a little intimidating. They asked so many questions and really seemed to doubt our reason for visiting. We did enjoy comparing the two cars different 20 questions.  They did allow us through and it wasn't much further to reach the falls. Patti and Kevin wanted to take us on the same tour that they did last year when they visited Niagara so we grabbed a little lunch before heading for the tour bus.

We had a peek of the falls during lunch ....sort of a teaser.

At first it seemed like we might have the tour bus to ourselves but then more people got on. (Including one family that just couldn't figure out how to make it back to the bus on time)

Group shot on the bus!

The first stop of the tour was to the portals taking you very close to the falls. From the tunnels we were able to stand on an observation deck right at the foot of the falls. The rush of the water was insane and I was grateful for the poncho provided. Knowing how much water is coming down the falls per second is very different from seeing how much water is coming down per second.

We kept getting sprayed with water while going for a group shot. This was my favorite of all of them.

After the portals we only had a little time before we had to get back to the bus for our next stop but it was enough time to get a few pictures of the falls from the top. This picture shows the American Falls to the left and just a peek of the Horseshoe Falls.

Top of Horseshoe Falls.

We had a few short stops on the way to the Butterfly Conservatory.

Brothers!

The Niagara Parks Butterfly Conservatory was really cool. It is a mock rainforest and all the butterflies were free to fly all over. There were many different species from all over the world and were beautiful. It was neat having them land on you (although a few little kids chasing after them like crazies made me nervous for the butterflies)

It was hard to pick a favorite and not always easy to get a good picture if they were really active. Here are just a few that I was able to get photos of. 

There was a sign outside listing the types of butterflies and some information but I wish they had small signs throughout the conservatory itself so you could learn about them as you went along. Other than that I thought it was fantastic. I'd never seen butterflies like that before in person and it was incredible.

After the conservatory our bus took us back to the falls so we could ride on the Maid of the Mist that takes you past the American Falls and to the basin of the Horseshoe Falls. It was later in the day and therefore not very crowded so we had the front of the boat almost all to ourselves.

Approaching the Horseshoe Falls.

Getting closer. I didn't want my camera to get wet so I put it away before we got too close. You get at a point when a picture wouldn't do the falls justice though. Being in the basin was insane. There aren't the right words to describe how cool it was.

Once again we were happy for the rain ponchos. We would have been pretty wet without them.

The final stop on the tour was the Skylon Tower. The sun was beginning to set while we were up there and it only added to the beauty.

American Falls and Goat Island

Horseshoe Falls

I really loved all the different perspectives of Niagara Falls that the tour provided. Standing near the top of the falls, next to it via the tunnels, in the basin by boat, and an aerial view. Definitely amazing!

NYC continues

Our second full day in NYC was yet another scorcher. There were record highs set during our stay and you could definitely feel it. Considering we have become spoiled with milder temperatures and almost no humidity it was tough to take. [We overheard people talking about how the subway got up to 120 degrees...at least the cars have A/C!]

We grabbed brunch at a neat place called Cafe Mogador.  It came highly recommended from a former lab mate of Kevin's who lives only a couple hours from the city. Once again we were very pleased with our food choice.

It was tough to leave and head back outside but we wanted to make our way towards the Empire State Building and check out some other buildings along the way. We were looking forward to seeing Theodore Roosevelt's birthplace but unfortunately we had to settle for the plaque outside the building since it was temporarily closed :(

Our first good view of the Empire State Building during our walk around town.

The Met Life Tower near Madison Square Park

The famous Flatiron Building. It was fun seeing buildings we'd seen numerous pictures of or seen from movies.

A random giant head in Madison Square Park.Officially titled 'Echo' by Spanish artist Jauma Plensa. It was a pretty cool sculpture to find in the middle of a tiny park.

Getting closer to our destination. The cool building in the foreground in Marble Collegiate Church. I didn't recognize it from anything right away... I just thought it was a cool building.

We bought our tickets ahead of time to go up the Empire State Building but there was still a little bit of a wait to get into the elevators to take us to the 86th floor. The view, however, was fantastic and we enjoyed using our map to point out various famous buildings.

Can you find the Chrysler Building?

Facing South. If it had been slightly less cloudy/smoggy you would be able to make out the Statue of Liberty from here.

Kevin trying to find a few landmarks from our map.

We skipped going up to the 102nd floor. I mean, is the view any better 16 floors up?

We'd been outside walking most of the afternoon and wanted to get out of the heat for a little more. We stopped at a really cool brewery called The Ginger Man. They actually had a ginger beer which was interesting. We ordered a flight so we could try several different beers without committing to an entire pint.

After our break we wandered into Times Square. Our hotel was nearby but we hadn't gone into it yet. It really was incredible. The signs are so big and there are so many lights...even during the day. We did get to see the naked cowboy.

Almost to the red steps near where they they drop the ball at New Years. This photo is often seen in pictures and movies too!

Once we reached the red steps we were able to purchase our discount Broadway tickets. We both enjoyed the Phantom of the Opera movie and Kevin in particular really loves the music so we figured this was our chance to see it live. The 40% off tickets were still expensive but we were happy we went.

Phantom was so different in comparison to Jersey Boys but it was wonderful still.

I'm glad we decided to go. Bonus was that it got us out of the heat for a little longer!

The sign was blocked from construction but I still wanted a picture

After grabbing pizza at John's Pizzeria which was recommended to us and just happened to be right across the street from Majestic Theater (Was also fantastic by the way) we had to call it an early night. We had an early train to catch in the morning.

Penn Station wasn't far from us by subway. We had a 7 hour train ride up to Buffalo where we were meeting up with Kevin's brothers before heading to Westfield, NY where Kevin's parents had a rental house off of Lake Eire. The train ride was interesting. It was much more comfortable than an airplane and the view was incredible at times. I did get a bit restless towards the end and the bathrooms were pretty disgusting by the end of the trip.

Check out the Amish family in the picture...that was strange to see in person!

New York City was fun and I would like to go back (in fall or spring perhaps) but we were ready for the more laid back portion of our trip.