Hanging out with Mom, Tim & Shawn at Red Hook Brewery
New York, New York....
As a bit of a diversion from the the conservative Islamic culture of Northern Africa and the Middle East, I jetted off to the US for Al's wedding (a good friend from SUNY Buffalo). I didn't want to abandon Kyle for too long, so I planned to be off for only about 5 days or so to do a quick sweep of the Northeast.
As with every time I am back in the States, it becomes a bit of a crazy rat race with hours spent in transportation as there are too many people to see. This one was no different. Exhausting, but fun.
Kyle managed to get me a flight on points into JFK in NYC. But the journey getting there was a little trying at times...
- 11 June 23:45 - Departed hotel in Sharm El-Sheik for the airport
- 12 June 01:00 - Flight from Sharm El-Sheik to Cairo
- 12 June 02:15 - Arrival to Cairo's crappy airport
- 12 June 02:15-08:10 - Slept on the benches in the entrance to the airport with my head on my day-pack and my big pack wrapped through my legs, hoping not to get mugged. The crappiest part of this airport is that you must clear the first security checkpoint before you can get to the check-in counters and then to a more safe part of the airport. Since my flight wasn't for 6 hours, they wouldn't let me in. The dodgy security guards probably just wanted to see the American get robbed by some even dodgier taxi driver.
- 12 June 08:30 - Finally boarded the 5 hour flight to NY
- 12 June 19:30 EST - Arrived to JFK
- 12 June 22:00 EST - After picking up my luggage, I took 3 trains & a cab to find Kath & her friends in Brooklyn. I was glad to finally have made it!
Then the whole lot of us ended up back at Kath's apartment for a fun game of Cranium until about 2am. That was fine for everyone else that had the next day off, but Kath actually had a call in for a 9am meeting, meaning a 7:30 wakeup for us. Ah well, I hadn't slept properly in a couple days, why start now?
After a bit of scrambling around Manhattan to do some last minute shoe and wedding gift shopping, I literally ran to the Port Authority to meet Kath for our bus to Saratoga. I was a mess by the time I got there, and my back was killing me from carrying way too much weight for a long time, but at least we hadn't missed the bus.
Saratoga Springs, NY
After a relatively short bus ride, by my standards, we arrived into Saratoga Springs. Saratoga Springs is a quaint town in upstate NY near Lake George and the Adirondacks. It is known for getting quite crowded in the summer months as people flock to town for the horse racing.
Once Bill & Matt arrived from Rochester, the four of us went into town to "The Wine Bar" and Al & Kelly's pre-wedding celebration. We had a great time chatting with Al's siblings, who I hadn't seen since college.
Of course, it turned into a late night of catching up at Al & Kelly's house. Not wanting to leave the groom hungover for his wedding, and having had perhaps one too many, we went back to our hotel for the night.
The next day we spent wandering around town, taking in the buzz of Flag Day - a minor public holiday, livened up in Small-town America. They had a nice parade with a ridiculous amount of American flags around town and even had a military plane flying way too low over the main street. We ended up with a bit of last minute pre-wedding hustle and bustle, but it was still fun.
Before long, we had gotten ourselves primped up and headed over to Victoria Pool where the ceremony and reception were taking place. The weather was threatening, but so far so good.
Beard Bash 2008 (the name for our college get-togethers - minus Al, who was getting sweaty palms with his nuptials approaching) - me, Nancy, Bill, Kath, Matt (who didn't actually live at Beard Ave, but is part of our Beard Ave family now) & Emily (Aaron was also missing as he was sick and in bed)
The ceremony was lovely and short (my favorite kind of ceremony). Kelly looked stunning, and they both looked so happy.
The first kiss as husband & wife
The happy couple... Dr. & Mrs. Alfred Hollis
The beautiful location of the wedding. Luckily, the rain held off until after the ceremony, but the skies opened up during the reception. They had a huge tent to prepare for such weather so it didn't matter much what the weather did.
Cutting the cake
The reception was great... Great food, great music & lots of fun. We don't often have much dancing at our annual Beard Bashes, so it's a nice change. We are always up for a reason to celebrate, and we definitely celebrated until the early hours of the morning.
Dancing with my eyes shut makes me feel more graceful!
Getting our grooves on - Madonna's got nothing on me!
Another Beard Bash shot at the end of the reception
Portsmouth, NH
The next stop on the US whirlwind tour was Portsmouth, NH to visit my baby brother, Tim, and my baby brother-in-law, Shawn. Mom & Foofie picked me up in Saratoga for a 4 1/2 hour drive to Portsmouth. I was so keen to get there and just relax a bit with Mom, my little brothers and our children (the Bailey pets).
Tim & Shawn already have a 1 year old daughter called Jasmine (aka Jazz hands Eileen). Thinking that maybe Jazzie looked bored and needed someone to torture, they found her a very cute little brother called Toby Maguire Bailey-Dockham (or is it Dockham-Bailey?).
My new nephew Toby
Toby has been watching his daddies primping in the mirror a bit too much already...
Jazz-hands teaching Toby a little lesson about who is boss in this house
But he hasn't quite learned yet and is still keen for a little more
I know that I'm going to get in trouble in a minute for pulling her tail, but until then, it's very fun.
Foof & Tobes checking each other out.
"Hmm, maybe this little yellow one isn't too bad..."
"But Jazz-hands has been replaced by this much bigger grey kitty than I remember, and she kind of scares the bejesus out of me. Maybe if I just look the other way, she won't be able to see me..."
Maybe if I start digging in the yard and making a big mess, everyone will forget about those little furballs and pay attention to me...
Of course mama still loves her little Foofie, even when his face is covered in dirt.
And when we'd had enough of kitties and puppies for a little while, we took the Pet Rescue Show on the road. Here is Mom rescuing a snapping turtle from a certain death as he very slowly walked across a country road.
Red Hook Brewery Tour
Since I am not in town very often, Tim & Shawn planned a day full of activities for us on Monday since both boys took the day off (People in the US only get 2 weeks annual leave - so this was a HUGE sacrifice!). Unfortunately, the weather wasn't cooperating with us on that day either. So we took a literal raincheck on our day of touring the cliffs of Ogunquit and shifted to plan B.
Luckily, we had no trouble coming up with other plans. Tim & Shawn failed to mention that they have a really cool brewery up the road that does cheap tours. Hmm, better not tell Kyle that they've been holding out...
With limited rainy-day options, we decided to head out to a brewery tour and then to the movies.
Luckily, we had no trouble coming up with other plans. Tim & Shawn failed to mention that they have a really cool brewery up the road that does cheap tours. Hmm, better not tell Kyle that they've been holding out...
With limited rainy-day options, we decided to head out to a brewery tour and then to the movies.
Inside the very modern Red Hook brewhouse pub
One of the boards explaining the brewing process
A peek inside the bottling center
The best part of the tour... the tastings!
The 6 different tupes of beer that Red Hook produce
Posing with Mom in the tasting room.
As she isn't into beer, Tim, Shawn and I had to make a joint effort and help her out with her tastings... ;) No worries, we've got this under control.
After a very short hangout in the pub, we realized that we were going to be late for our movie so we bolted to the cinemas, bought our popcorn and settled into the (o)estrogen-filled cinema to watch Sex and the City. I had been looking forward to seeing it, and since Kyle wasn't all that keen to go along, it was a good opportunity for us all to go and have a fun afternoon.
A scene from the most girly-girly movie ever made. (Courtesy of New Line Cinema)
A cooling New Hampshire summer's evening was the perfect opportunity to get outside and make a bonfire. It was also a perfect opportunity to just hang out for a bit and make some s'mores!! Tasty!
The Baileys love their sweets!! And s'mores (hot marshmallows, melted chocolate squares & graham crackers) have always been a favorite from warm, summer nights up at the pond!!
Tim & Shawn enjoying their fire in their newly fenced, private backyard
As always, the days at home went by very fast. Truth be told, I didn't actually go home (to Binghamton), but I only had 5 days (including travel time), and there just wasn't enough time. But hanging out with Mom & the boys and Shawn's family in NH was really fun!
A last minute scary realization that there was no way all this crap was going to fit in my backpack!
Pork spiedies... my last homecooked meal for leaving for Jordan
Foofie's 8th Birthday
While we never managed to have a proper party while I was there, I had bought Foof a birthday cake from a gourmet pet shop in Saratoga. Even pups deserve a proper celebration!
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to be there, but Uncle Timmy and Grandma put on a nice little party for him, complete with party hats and his 2 little cousins in attendance.
While it doesn't look like Foof is enjoying the party hat that Tim made for him, he definitely looks like he enjoyed his cake!!
While Foof and the kitties were partying it up with peanut butter cake, I was taking the scenic route back to Jordan to meet up with Kyle. From Boston Logan, I had a quick 5 hour flight to London Heathrow which, unfortunately, was followed by a 12 hour layover. Ugh. Now, I love London, but when I've only slept for 2-3 hours, it can be a little tiring! I finally was able to find a movie theatre in Leicester Square to hole up in for a few hours before dashing back to Heathrow for my flight to Amman.
It was a great side trip and a good break in the travels to re-charge batteries and spend time with family and old friends! On to Jordan and the second half of our year long honeymoon!
It was a great side trip and a good break in the travels to re-charge batteries and spend time with family and old friends! On to Jordan and the second half of our year long honeymoon!
