We had all but given up on finding a Cape Cod vacation rental for the summer, but Marty managed to find a great, little place right on Saints Landing Beach in Brewster at the very last minute, so we booked it. We did the usual: played and swam at several of the beaches, visited the Natural History Museum and hiked out to the ocean, checked out a few sunsets and explored the tidal flats, and ate lots of yummy food.
This July we made the trek to Rochester for Uncle Greg’s wedding to Melanie, and made a week out of it to visit all of the Swans. We made our usual outings to the Seneca Park Zoo and the Rochester Museum and Science Center, and of course Pontillo’s Pizza and Abbott’s Frozen Custard. New this year we discovered the spray park and playground at Manhattan Square Park, a hipster coffee spot called Spot, and some yummy places to eat on Park Avenue. Rehearsal dinner and wedding photos coming soon …
Charley beating the heat with a run through the sprinkler.
Flora in the Australia section of the Zoo.
Charley (with Amma) picking a tulip for Mother’s Day.
The kids posing in a tree at Burr Oak Woods.
Flora chalking it up at Science City.
Charley being charming at Pizza Bella.
Flora discovers cake pops.
It was a scorcher of a trip to Kansas City this spring with temperatures in the nineties the first half of the vacation, so we had several indoor, air conditioned adventures like a shopping trip to Bass Pro Shop (lots of taxidermied animals and an aquarium), Paradise Park (children’s museum plus play space — the kids even got to make and bake a bug cookie), and Science City (tons to explore including looking for fossils in the Dino Lab). We did brave the heat for a hike through Burr Oak Woods on Mother’s Day, a visit to the Zoo (worth the trip just to see the Polar Bear Exhibit!), and a run through the sprinkler in Papa and Amma’s back yard. Flora scored a mani and pedi with her Gram Kaye while Charley, Marty and I shopped on The Plaza. And we ended our vacation with a BBQ and the Hergert side of the family where the kids and I met some of the aunts, uncles, and cousins for the first time.
We spent a wonderful week with Chicago friends Julia, Ethan, Asa and Sid in Brewster on Cape Cod this summer. Despite several initial days of monsoon-like weather, we made up for it the last half of the week with daily trips to our private beach near Breakwater, kayaking on Flax Pond, a seal cruise around Monomoy Island in Chatham, walks to the General Store for toys and ice cream, exploring the tidal flats for sea creatures, biking around the neighborhood, and watching sunsets over Paine’s Creek Beach. That’s not to mention all of the eating, shopping, and all around playing we did the rest of the time. But both Flora and Charley loved the beach most of all.
Some of my favorite pictures from Marty and Flora’s Hergert Reunion trip: Flora in head dress, Midwest fixin’s, Marty and David at abandoned Hergert Farm, Flora and David at Ellinwood Elementery school, Hergert Farm ruins.
ABOVE 1957: David (Marty’s Dad), Sue (Marty’s Aunt), Eleanor (Marty’s Paternal Grandmother), and Stephan Hergert (Marty’s Uncle)
ABOVE 1985: Andrew (Marty’s brother), David (Marty’s Dad), and Marty
ABOVE 2010: Marty, Flora, and David (Marty’s Dad)
Marty and Flora headed back to Kansas City for a long weekend and a Hergert family reunion in Ellinwood, Kansas. He’ll have to write about their adventures here, but I wanted to post these pictures over the years in front of their once-upon-a-time dry cleaning shop.
Some of my favorite pictures of family from our Rochester trip: Uncle Chuck, Cousin Gregory, Aunt Tracy, Cousin Josh, Nana, and Uncle Greg. Not pictured are Melanie and Jen.
Some of my favorite pics of the kids from our Rochester trip: Flora holding Aunt Tracy’s giant zucchini, Flora posing with polar bear posse at Seneca Park Zoo, Charley entering slave door at Rochester Museum and Science Center, Flora invoking Bo Derek, Flora near shed at Cousin Gregory’s baseball game, Charley dipping toes at Seneca Park Zoo.
It’s been so long since we went to Kansas City that I have forgotten most of what we did! So here’s our ten day trip in short form: Papa took kids for ride in Amma’s new convertible. Spied turtle on dirt road in Kansas. Flora blew dandelions at family cemetery. Charley blew dandelions at family cemetery. Cows. Barn. Sign. Train. Ate Great Uncle Phil’s brisket. Explored green space. Climbed caterpillar. Rode bird. Hugged Great Grandma Eleanor. Looked for caterpillars with Kousin Kloey. Lunched with Gram Kaye at Winstead’s. Shared banana split. Dipped toes in horse fountain. Hugged Plaza penguin statue. Flew with Plaza penguin statue. Ate at Neighbor’s Cafe. Visited dinosaurs at Union Station. Played with Uncle Andrew at Loose Park. Traveled to Africa via the zoo. Visited Cooper and Elliot. Airplane rides. Hugged a tree. Painted at Kaleidescope. Mini golfed. Brunched on Mother’s Day. Ate Fruit Loops. And took a jacuzzi bath.
This May was our first trip to Kansas City with Charley in tow. We had 10 fun-filled days with lots of activities and even more eating. Blog posts to come, but those who can’t wait to read about our adventures, our entire trip’s worth of photos are below. Yah, its gonna take me a while to blog all of these!
On Friday Marty took Charley to some nearby Marshlands where fishermen were bringing in their clam harvest for the day. Typical boy, he loved the boats. In fact, he loves water, too. Even toilet water. Sigh.
On Thursday we went to Storybook Land — a kitschy New Jersey theme park with small rides and animated displays of classic children stories. Both of the kids had so much fun walking around and looking at everything, and Flora really liked the rides. But she liked the displays the best, and kept saying, “I want to go on another story.”
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The fam headed to Smithville, New Jersey, for an extra long weekend to celebrate Tracy and Chuck’s nuptials. The shindigs were held on the grounds of the historic village — home to more than sixty shoppes, five restaurants, two gazebos, two arcades, paddle boats, ducks and roosters, an antique carousel, a train, and more — all overlooking Lake Meone. On the way down we stopped at The Brown Stone House for lunch — a retro diner in Hamden, Connecticut.
On the Fourth of July we went to Ellison Park to celebrate Josh’s graduation from King’s College … and no summer celebration would be complete without Zweigle’s hotdogs, watermelon, and s’mores. It was the only day that it didn’t rain. Festive outfits courtesy of Gram Kaye, of course!
There are three places I absolutely must go when I visit Rochester: Wegmans for their deli subs, Chester Cab or Guida’s for their pizza, and Abbott’s for their frozen custard. I think Marty is going to have to add Sticky Lips to the list — a BBQ joint on par with the best in Kansas City he says. He liked it so much that we had to get takeout the night after we first went with Greg and Melanie. And I didn’t even mind because they have an extensive vegetarian section on the menu! And on the way to Abbott’s, we passed by the biggest tree I have ever seen.
We headed to Rochester on Sunday to visit family and friends for a week. We stayed with Aunt Chris and Uncle Jack in Webster, and of course the real Rusty, too. It rained the whole week, but there were brief periods of sun, which we took full advantage of by hanging outside, walking along the beach, and playing on the playground. My best friend Michelle and her family were also in town, and we all got together several times to play. The kids had a blast at the Strong Museum of Play, and the most fun “shopping” at Wegmans. The Dads had even more fun playing vintage arcade games in the Videotopia Exhibit.
View Flora and Charley’s “Hanging Out” photos
View Flora and Charley’s “Webster Park and Playground” photos
We started off our week-long, rain-soaked vacation in Poughkeepsie, New York, where we attended the wedding of a Colby friend, Robin, and her main man, Anders. I have to admit that I get no more pleasure than when I get to dress the kids in cute clothes. Unfortunately they were promptly soiled in the wet and muddy lawn. Thank God for Oxiclean. But the kids had fun socializing, eating out, and swimming in the hotel hot tub.
Mom, Dad, and I flew to Kansas City, Missouri, for Christmas this year. Our first flight out on Saturday was canceled, and our second flight out on Sunday was delayed by two and a half hours. We didn’t leave Boston until 9:30PM, and I stayed awake until midnight before falling asleep during descent! OK, so I wasn’t exactly a happy traveler, but Mom and Dad already knew that from our last trip. Plus, it turned out that I had pink eye (which I later gifted to Mom), and we all still have miserable colds, so can you blame me for being punky?
We managed to squeeze in a few activities between regular trips to the beach, biking, and eating. One morning, we went to The Cape Cod Museum of Natural History to see all kinds of taxidermied animals, a real-live bee hive, and lots of sea life in the aquariums. Afterwards, we took a walk on the John Wing Trail along the grounds, but I was so pooped I fell asleep on Dad’s shoulder! One afternoon, we visited the Stonybrook Grist Mill, the site of America’s first water powered mill. There was lots of herring swimming in the river. One evening, we went to Drummer Boy Park for an outdoor concert, conveniently situated next to a big playground. We also went shopping (my favorite stores were the Village Toy Store and the Brewster Book Store), and on our only rainy day, we visited the Brewster Ladies’ Library. Phew, no wonder I’ve been sleeping so well!
And the third best thing about Cape Cod was the food. Dad averaged about two pounds of fresh seafood a day, for a grand vacation tally of fourteen pounds (yes, he kept track!). I’m not big enough to try seafood, but I had my share of roadside fare from Kate’s, Cobie’s, The Brewster Coffee Shop, and the Brewster Store (you know, healthy stuff like hot dogs, french fries with “ee-yup” (catsup), donuts, and ice cream). We toasted Mom and Dad’s fourth wedding anniversary at The Lobster Claw in Orleans — we wanted to go to Land Ho but apparently so did everyone else on the Cape.
The second best thing about Cape Cod? Riding bikes along the Cape Cod Rail Trail and in Nickerson State Park. I wasn’t sold on the helmet at first (ergo, the binky), but once we got going, I was having so much fun I forgot all about it. In fact, one time when we went for a bike ride, I slumped forward and fell asleep — the cool breeze and smooth motion was just too relaxing!
Want to know the best part about Cape Cod? The “Beatsh!” Brewster has eight public beaches and more than fifty ponds, and we managed to visit a bunch of them (Point of Rocks, Paine’s Creek, Linnell Landing, Long Pond, and Breakwater) — sometimes more than one in a single day! Playing in the sand and bay-side surf was super fun, and sometimes we dug a big hole and filled it up with “di-dah” (water) to make my very own beach tub. When the tide rolled out, we could walk out on the flats for miles — splashing in puddles and spying hermit crabs, fishies, and shells.
This year Mom, Dad, and I spent our vacation week on the Cape in a town called Brewster — a lovely little mid-Cape town along Route 6A known as the “Sea Captain’s Town.” Here I am doing my best Jackie O impression at Paine’s Creek Beach. We’ll be posting about all our adventures over the next few days, so stay tuned. If you can’t wait, view all our vacation photos below.
Aside from a visit to the Seneca Park Zoo with Michelle and Emerson (where I fell out of my stroller and bonked my nose rushing to see the elephant bath and later saw lounging tigers, big polar bears, and swimming penguins!), the rest of my Rochester days were spent chillin’ and grillin’ on the deck (mmmm, Zweigles hot dogs), swimming in the pool (“Cohd!”), and visiting friends and family. I also got to taste Mom’s favorite pizza from Chester Cab on Park Avenue, Dad got to sample a garbage plate like this from Empire Hots in Webster, and Mom and Dad made two trips to Abbott’s Frozen Custard. Hey, how did I miss out on that?
View Flora’s “Seneca Park Zoo” photos
Mom, Dad, and I spent the morning at Strong Museum. They had fun looking at the vintage toy collections and I had fun visiting Sesame Street, shopping at Wegmans, eating lunch with cousin Gregory at the retro Bill Gray’s, and riding the carousel! When I knocked on the door at 123 Sesame Street no one answered, so I went across the street to Wegmans where I filled up two shopping carts — mostly with birthday party supplies and carrots.