I’m in New York – not that part of New York though. NYC is great, and it’s beautiful in its own way, but ol’ Ms Haps isn’t really city gal anymore, so I’m spending a lot of my time in northern NY. To start, I had some time to kill before I moved to the Buffalo area, so I decided to spend some time in Rochester – more specifically Irondequoit. I found this great AirBnB garage apartment for late July through early September. It was really nice to be in a residential neighborhood again and not in an apartment complex.
I decided not to unpack everything from the car. I had purposefully packed the fall/winter clothes in separate bins from the summer/spring and left those in the back of the car. I tried not to unpack too much either since we were there for about five weeks.
Arthur settled in pretty quickly, but he didn’t have a lot of windows to look out.
He had a good time playing with the fishing pole / feather and looking out the window when he wasn’t hiding under the covers for his daily naps.
One of my first adventures in Rochester was visiting the Susan B Anthony historical home. When I stayed in Syracuse last August, I had visited Seneca Falls and the Women’s Rights National Park, and I guess I missed that Susan B Anthony lived for many decades in Rochester.
The tour was good, and it was interesting to learn more about the Women’s movement, about her arrest, and her questionable stances on some issues, particularly on race and abortion. You can Google it, but in a nutshell, her efforts for white women overshadowed other important debates at the time.
In August, I attended a book club at Laughing Gull Chocolates. They choose books with a food-based theme, and in August, the book was Be Ready When Luck Happens by Ina Garten. I was able to get through about half of the book before the meeting, and it was a lively discussion with a lot of women from different walks of life in the Rochester area. It was good to get out and meet the people and have a chat about a book written by one of my favorite Food Network chefs – the Barefoot Contessa. While she did have some luck in her life, she also had a lot of opportunities. In the end, it was one of those situations where she saw it as “luck”, and the rest of us saw it as privilege with some struggles.
I also was able to plan a last minute trip to Minnesota in August as well. It’s such a great time to visit, and I was able to see my parents, spend time with friends, and go to the Great MN Get Together – the MN State Fair.
(L to R) Traffic in rural MN. One of the five beautiful lakes in my hometown. Hot tomatoes. Not pictured: the blackberry ice cream from the Dairy Freeze.
When I’m home, I always visit my grandparents at their cemeteries. I was so fortunate to have three grandparents for a lot of my life in my hometown. My dad’s mom passed away only 4 years ago at 99, and my mom’s parents were with us until 2010. Visiting them reminds me of their love and our time together and how much they poured into me, my brother, and my cousins. One of the many reasons I love returning to MN.
It’s been over a decade since I’ve been back in MN for the state fair. These are the most iconic parts of the fair for me – the map of all there is to see, the 4-H building that I was fortunate enough to compete in, and the water tower on Snelling that announces the fair all year long.
Everyone has their favorite foods at the fair, and these are mine. (L to R) A root beer float from the 1919 Root Beer stand – a MN favorite. Sweet Martha’s Cookies from the OG stand near the 4-H building (yes, I bought a bucket). The roast corn on the cob, dipped in butter and salted and peppered. I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t do something dumb; I left my wallet at that stand this year. But it also wouldn’t be MN, if someone didn’t turn it in. The gal who grabbed it for me also gave me a hug – so Minnesota. 🍫🍫
(L to R) MN apples! Arts & Crafts! Tractors! When I was growing up, we had a 60, so it was great to see that model on display.
There was an evergreen competition in the Horticulture building, and this is my other favorite landmark on the fairgrounds. I got there around 7AM when the gates opened, and I was done by 11:30. It was the perfect morning.
More from NY next time – Corning, injuries, and back to a familiar routine.
The Adventures of Ms Haps & Arthur 