This Memorial Day weekend was just fabulous. Humid, but fabulous! The photo above is our Brooklyn Borough Hall all decorated for the day!
The weekend got off to a great start on Saturday morning by Collingwood winning against Adelaide. This is how we listened to the end of the game –
We picked up our Zipcar (a gorgeous BMW that was just beautiful!) and hit the road.
The traffic was not bad at all and we made it Upstate in great time. It seems traffic to or from Albany works in two ways – super fast or super slow.
We went to vigil Mass at Holy Spirit in the afternoon and then later that night, Bill was going out to dinner with the guys and to check out The Avengers at the Cinemaplex at Colonie. This was his third time seeing it in three weeks. Locations of viewing – London, Brooklyn and Albany!
I caught up with Colette for dinner at the Cracker Barrell and then she introduced me to the yummiest soft serve at one of East Greenbush’s most happening places on a Saturday night – Lickity Split!
I had never seen so many varieties of ice-cream in one place – Froyo, Soft Serve (in stacks of flavours), sundaes, little cups, super cones – it was ice-cream heaven and a really nice place to hang out on a warm night.
I had an amazing sleep in until sometime after 9 and before we knew it Sunday morning was in full swing. This was the view from our room at the Fairfield Inn. We never get sick of this place. We stay there so much and it is always dependable.
We spent all day at the Family Homestead spending quality time with Bill’s mom and dad. Bill made us French Toast for breakfast and then I got a head start on going through my recent findings with the genealogy research I have been doing. Bill was busy preparing lunch for us all. Everyone gets together EVERY Sunday for lunch without fail and over the past couple of years we have been doing cooking throwdown challenges. This time the choice was pizza and Bill was going against niece Rebecca. Bill decided to make a deep dish Chicago style pie while Rebecca did a whole wheat crust with chicken and bacon. Bill won and he was SO happy about it! Here is a photo Rebecca posted to Twitter with her face being all sad and Bill’s jubliation. Yes, we have a champion cup and everything.
We then went off to do some shopping before it was time to head over to the Johnson’s for a bonfire. I have never been to a bonfire and had never had S’mores before so this was very exciting for me!
Check out the sunset from their backyard. It is like this every night!
Here was the bonfire just getting started –
It started to take hold –
Then it got so huge none of us could stand the heat by sitting so close to the flame!
Then it started to settle down and feel less like an inferno –
This was Bill’s first attempt at getting my mashmallows toasted… the fire was still too active!
Here we are assembling our S’mores – they are awesome! The gooey marshmallow, solid chocolate and almost savoury graham crackers mesh so well together. Oh they were SO yummy!
My mouth is watering just looking at this picture!
A funny thing happened during the bonfire – we managed to get a good wifi signal so we were able to FaceTime mum and dad back in Melbourne while we were sitting outside. It was such a treat!!
We didn’t get back to the Fairfield Inn until way after midnight and we had to be up super early on Monday to check out and get back to the Johnson’s for the Memorial Day parade in Castleton.
This was how the bonfire looked 14 hours after it was ablaze –
We got a great postion out the front of the Elementary school and near where the judging panel sits so we got a great view of each of the groups participating. Getting there early was the key!
The parade is a big deal. Here is one of the local policeman directing traffic –
View from our spot –
The early birds –
This miniature collie was TOO CUTE. I need one now!
Here I am… one more Memorial Day to go and then I’ll be Citizen Jenelle Blevins. I cannot wait!
Everything is so green.. and how cute is the Castleton Elementary school? LOVE!
Rebecca and Emily were on awesome niece duty and bought everyone iced coffees and muffins!
The patriotic couple with Bill wearing his Aussie bush hat that we happened to get at the Royal Windsor Horse Show. We finally found one that fits!
The parade started and here are the veterans!
Kids decorate their bikes –
The girl guides were adorable!
The volunteer fire brigade –
The preschoolers –
The local Republicans –
The local Democrats –
The Friends of the Library didn’t let anyone down – check out their amazing float!
The school band –
Float from one of the locals –
The boy scouts being awesome –
Here is an original, fully restored ambulance –
This one said it all – SOME GAVE ALL –
I have a lot more photos over on my Flickr account. It was a wonderful morning and it was a beautiful display of community spirit.
Pauline and Rob then had another big BBQ lunch at their place so we managed to get to spend more time with everyone. We decided to leave Albany at 8pm to try and avoid the usual traffic and this worked a treat as we were back in Brooklyn by 11.30!
Even though we left late, it did not dampen my enthusiasm for visiting the New Baltimore Thruway plaza for some drinks… here is a beautifully retro looking Roy Rogers –
The New York State tourist information booth was closed –
This was one Memorial Day weekend that was so jam packed but it was full of great memories and catching up with everyone… I wish every weekend could be like that one!
Sadly, our other tradition of watching he PBS Memorial Day Concert from Washington didn’t eventuate as it was cancelled not long after it started due to bad weather. So we watched what we could. That is one Memorial Day event I would love to go to… but then it would mean missing out on everything I have just posted about!
Looking back –
Memorial Day 2011
Memorial Day 2010