Thursday, May 29 – Memory lane day on vacation. But first, hitting the gym at 6:00, but this time I was not alone waiting for the clock to turn and the door to unlock–there was another person at the door. We both laughed that maybe we were a little weird on vacation, but we both also entered exactly at 6!

Got my resistance workout in, then joined Dom and Erin for a Holy day Mass — you didn’t think you would get through an entire Chris vacation without one church picture, did you??

Today’s agenda was focused on accomodating Chris’s wish to take a trip to see Syracuse Untiversity. Since we are in Central New York, I really wanted to visit and wander around the old alma mater.

The rest of the crew was willing to go along, so we headed north. Erin had scoped out a breakfast place in Geneva to break up the trip. Classic old line diner vibes with mostly great selections. Dom (clearly, the man is a risk taker, he did marry Erin) opted for the ‘garbage plate’, a local tradition. A bold move, one I was glad I avoided as I stuck with eggs and fruit, but, I guess, when in Rome….

We arrived on campus and I was pleased to discover I had no problem recognizing the campus, unlike our Schenectady stop a couple of days ago. I took the crew through the quad, past the Dome and up the 128 stairs to my freshman and sophomore dorms and the dining hall where I ate, worked and sealed some long term friendships.

Erin was especially interested in seeing where I jumped out a window and broke both my ankles. Long story, but I want to stress, there was absolutely NO inebriation involved…perhaps some poor judgement (easy to Monday morning quarterback—DAN) but it seemed a good idea at the time.

We also went down to Marshall Street, source of most of the social life for those of us sans cars back in college. Found a sports bar that had a different name (but, aparently, the same rest rooms) back in the 80s — fun to visit, but we all agreed, we have had enough fried, greasy pub food for a while.

After the servings of fat and cholesterol, we headed back to Watkins Glen. Erin had again thought to break up the ride, this time with a stop at the Montezuma Natural Wildlife Reserve, home to a variety of bird species. We first took the wildlife drive through the wetlands and got to observe a number of birds and, much to my delight, a turtle (as we know, I was disappointed to have not spotted one yesterday). We then stopped by the visitor’s center, but, unfortunately, the walking trail was closed to protect nesting raptors–I guess good for them, but sad for us.

On the plus side, this got us back to Watkins Glen in time for an hour of relax time before we headed for dinner. Following our ‘no more fried foods’ mantra, we found a place in Corning which was about a half hour’s drive away, but it turns out it was well worth it. Excellent drinks, relaxed service, good food and nothing breaded in sight. You know what that means–food pics! We had a delightful three hour dinner with great conversation and lots of laughter–nothing beats a great family meal!

Dan got us all back safely and we are looking forward to a good night’s rest and relaxed start to tomorrow as we have planned a self directed winery tour — eg, we decide when it starts!

For me, in particular, this was a wonderful day. Getting to relive and share my college memories with my family, then share a long and laugh filled dinner is what vacation is all about

14,656 steps

6.6 miles