Friends and Family Along the Way 2
This was our last friends and family visit 🥹. I’m sad for it to be over, but what an incredible experience it has been to reconnect with so many good friends and wonderful family members. This stop was in the Windy City to see my last friend in the Hickory, Pennsylvania friend group, Linda, and her husband, Bill. (Please see Steve’s post on the Windy City for details on the incredible Chicago architecture and history tour they gave us!). It’s been especially nice to see my friends in their hometowns and to hear what they love about where they live. In Chicago, Linda and Bill have figured out a balance of big city enjoyment with close-by neighborhood nature and are wonderfully tied to their community, working on causes like saving the Ash trees in their neighborhood from the invading Emerald Ash Borer, which is killing these critical trees all over Chicago. I can’t wait to get together again with all four of my Hickory friends together, hopefully sometime next year 🤞.
Jono, leading us to Apteka, a delicious and beautiful vegan Polish restaurant in Pittsburgh.
My nephew, Jono, led us to so many great spots in Pittsburgh. It’s always a great treat to spend time with him and he has his hand on the pulse of all the interesting things about this intriguing city. See our post on Pittsburgh to read more details.
Dinah and Ladi on the Bucknell campus.
Ladi and Lewisburg have been on our list of visits since we first developed the plan for the trip. Ladi recently started a very fancy job as Executive Director, Office of Global Education & Senior International Officer at Bucknell University and she was excited to show us her new hometown and the Bucknell Campus. Lewisburg is small, but very cute, with interesting details like three-globe lamp posts that lend it a historic charm. Ladi also introduced us to the Old Mill Creamery where Mennonites served us the most delicious waffle cone ice creams in an aesthetic farm setting.
Sue and Marty in Winchester, VA.
Dinah’s third high school girlfriend! Sue and her boyfriend, Marty, showed us all of the charms of Winchester, VA. They love this town and it is easy to see why. From nice restaurants, artful museum, and lovely library to the promise of a grand-scale apple festival happening this weekend, it offers a lot for its small scale. But the main event, is that it is such a treat to see these special women from my much earlier life.
Melinda and her boyfriend, Barry, in beautiful Solomons.
Next visit was with Dinah’s sister, Melinda, in Lusby, Maryland, where we ate lots of crab and played pickleball. Melinda and her boyfriend, Barry, are pickleball nuts and play nearly every day, sometimes twice. I (Dinah) felt nostalgic being on Solomon’s Island, where I visited my Mom near Melinda for many years before she passed away. Melinda enabled a wonderful life for her there, and I’m very grateful for that.
Alison and Murat in his Turkish cafe kitchen in Glen Allen, VA.
Then, we were off to see Dinah’s sister, Alison, in Glen Allen, near Richmond, VA. Richmond is a charming small city, and we had fun touring the small streets with historic homes and the Edgar Alan Poe museum with Alison. A super nice treat was to both work out and enjoy a Turkish breakfast at Alison’s boyfriend, Murat’s, cafe and training gym, where exercise and baklava go hand in hand.
Steve, Belinda and Keith at the Creative Cup in Zebulon, NC.
On to the second visit of Dinah’s Hickory High School pod, we visited Belinda and her husband, Keith, outside of Raleigh, NC. Belinda is our friend who always shares sage wisdom about life, and we had conversations about education, politics, racial relations, and the next generations that will stay with me a long time. She and Keith are incredible community leaders and parents, and we loved catching up on all of the facets of their lives. They also shared with us this coffee shop gem, The Creative Cup, where you can decorate coffee cup sleeves for future coffee drinkers, as well as a sample of the wonderful cuisine of Raleigh at Brewery Bhavana. Then, very much putting it over the top, before we woke up, Belinda drove out of town to secure the best biscuists in NC for us all to enjoy the morning of our departure 🙂
Jared, Bentley, and Lauren at their home in the lovely green mountains in Pearisburg, VA.
Traveling to Pearisburg, VA, we visited my niece, Lauren, her husband, Jared, and their cheery son, Bentley. Knowing we are not generally meat eaters, they thoughtfully prepared rainbow trout caught from a local river that was tucked away in their well-stocked freezer of protein 🙂 along with a vegetarian tortilla soup. (All was delicious-thanks Lauren and Jared!) At almost one and a half years old, Bentley is in full absorption mode, curious and wanting to learn everything, already kind-hearted and very entertaining.
Uncle Michael and Aunt Marsha (parents of Meghan and Linna above) along the boat dock on Shem Creek.
In Charleston, South Carolina, we got to see my uncle Michael and his wife, Marsha, where they treated us to a fun meal on Shem Creek (really an inlet, they inform us). What you can’t see here is that at one point, there were 10 beautiful pelicans on the opposite dock.
Moriah, Rosalyn, Grace, Max, Steve, and Dinah.
Monday, April 6, was a very big day of friends and family–we saw 3 sets of folks throughout the day in Atlanta. First, above were Max, his wife, Moriah, and their daughters, Grace and Rosalyn. Max is Steve’s godchild, and they rarely get to see each other, so this was very special.
Catching up with Dinah’s cousins, Meghan and Linna, with her daughter, Ginny at Cypress Street Pint and Plate.
Next, by extreme luck and not clever planning, we got to see Dinah’s cousins, Meghan, who lives in Atlanta, and Linna (short for Zerlinna, a cool family name for us) as well as her daughter Ginny (short for Virginia) who happened to be visiting! This was such a unexpected pleasure.
Steve, Jere, George, and Dinah at Holman and Finch.
Then, we got to spend time with our wonderful 90 Day Finn friend George on his home turf, along with his uber-accomplished wife, Jere.