Day trips

A rare virtual sighting of my son Nicky, who belongs to a new generation of young people who are very careful posting information online. (My daughter Ana, who lives in Los Angeles, is more inclined to post photos and enjoy looking at other people's photos, like I am.)

In the spirit of Mothers Day, Nicky said I could post this pic of us at People's Pint, my choice for a Mothers Day dinner.

Earlier in the day, my brother Billy headed back to Washington D.C. on the to-be-discontinued Amtrak train that stops in Amherst, after a week-long visit. Among other destinations, we went back to Pittsfield, our hometown.

My mom's and dad's grave in St. Joseph's Cemetery in Pittsfield, with one of my dad's favorite Latin expressions on it, "Ad astra" (to the stars). We were surprised to see this smaller marker near it, apparently placed by a veterans organization -- or maybe the United States government?
We visited the grave with our Russian friend Ella and then had lunch at JAE'S Spice, a new incarnation of the former Spice restaurant on North Street, in Pittsfield. JAE'S Spice is jointly run, I learned, by the former Spice owners and Korean restaurateur Jae Chung and features Japanese/Korean/Thai/American fusion cuisine. Ella and I got the teriyaki lunchbox, which included some delicious beet salad, a green papaya slaw (I think that's what it was), miso soup, an eggroll and potato salad, among other things. The dessert, a lemon mousse cake, was also delicious. Thumbs up!
On Thursday, we spent the day with our sister Maureen and her adorable family in New York State.
Evangeline is one of the smiliest seven-month-olds around.
Then, it was on to South Kent, Connecticut, where we had lunch at the very good Fife'n Drum with our Uncle Al and Aunt Barbara.

In Kent, we visited the grave of our late beloved aunt, also named Barbara, in Sacred Heart Cemetery. I love this giant chicken marking someone's grave there.
All aboard!