2021 The Rest of July and Hometown visits…
Reluctantly, I mean RELUCTANTLY… we had to say goodbye to Caitlin, Bruce and Little Mackenzie and get back on the road with our continuing “Revolutionary Journey”. It was time to leave and let the “new parents” start their own respective journey as a family. We weren’t but a few miles down the road and Joanne & I both started missing that little grandchild… (We did have a plan to return for a 2 day visit in a few weeks, with my sister Pat from Beacon, NY so that was something to look forward too…)
Our plan after leaving the Mass./NH border was to spend a week or so in our hometown of 3o years in Clinton, CT reconnecting with as many friends possible and some of our favorite places.
We arrived for the week at Riverdale Farm Campground on Tuesday July 6th. This campground was where our full-time adventure started over 3 years ago after selling our house in Clinton in April 2018. (Check out that blogpost from 2018 – “Spring 2018 – Times are a Changing…”) There was definitely a moment of full-circle reflection, when we entered the gate. (Can’t believe we have been on the road for over 3 years already.
Riverdale Farms RV Resort – Clinton , CT
Driving through downtown Clinton, on the way to the campground, felt so right to us. Serenditously the first person we saw passing through town was our great friend Mari Lee. Mari is one of those special people that you meet on life’s journey that you know from the moment you meet her she will be a life-time friend. She actually was my “Operations Manager” for my company in it’s early years and then moved to work for a great friend’s Jewelry business in town when my business went in a different direction. Mari had shared her dream, with us many times, about opening a Mexican restaurant in Clinton someday and what made this moment so special was she was outside giving instructions to the sign company that was installing her Restaurant’s sign as we passed. It was a moment I will never forget knowing how big a deal this was for her and how proud and excited we are for her and her family! We waved to Mari, as we passed by, and yelled we would see her in a few days.
Pica Chica’s Tacos… Mari’s Dream!
The plans for our hometown visit was to connect with as many friends as possible, enjoy some of our favorite spots and drives of the area, take as many beach walks as time allowed at Hammonasset State Beach, and just relax in our old hometown…
Most days we started out with walks at Hammonasset State Park. The park is only a few miles from our campsite and has always held a special place in our hearts. Usually we would park at the walking trail lot, just adjacent to the entrance, and then proceed through the campground, boardwalk, Meig’s Point, and finally finishing up at the very last spit of land across from Clinton Harbor and Cedar Island… The 4 mile walk is a favorite of ours and it was actually on this trail in Spring 2018 we made the decision to retire and head out full-time in the RV.
Hammonasset State Beach Walking Trail…
The view to Meig’s Point…
Long Island Sound…
Joanne taking in the peaceful beach grass areas on our walks…
The first friends we visited with in Clinton were our next store neighbors from Carter Hill Road ” The Shiely’s”. Susan and Rob have been great friends for over 30 years and our kids literally grew up together playing in the woods, stream, and trails behind our homes. We spent time catching up on their spectacular back deck looking over the woods we both have enjoyed most of our adult lives. We decided to go to dinner later in the day and agreed Mari’s new place, Pica Chica’s, would be just right. Their first visit there too…
The Shiely’s & Nunan’s having fun at Pica Chica’s… YUM!
Mari just kept bringing us food and we all left stuffed for sure!
The next few days turned into some very exciting and nerve wracking moments. Just after we left Riverdale Farms Campgound back in 2018 they experienced a flooding rain of nearly 8 inches that ended up flooding most of the campground and ultimately damaging many units in the park. We were glad we missed that one though that 500 year flood turned out to be a precursor to rains forecasted now in July 2021. Many campers were asked to evacuate again with only a few moments notice. It was a mad rush to try to save rigs and we decided we would just pack up and try to find our way to higher ground. We ended up cutting through several developments and parking at the High School Joanne had worked at for much of the afternoon. While parked at The Morgan School we met Jim Barnett “The Fencing Coach”, who we have known for years, and he invited us to his home with several other Clinton friends in the next couple of days.
After sitting out the afternoon parked at The Morgan School we thought it was probably safe to head back to Riverdale Farms Campground late afternoon. We had made plans to visit with our Friends the Finnegnan’s late afternoon about an hour north of us. Gretchen Finnegan has been a college friend of ours since 1975 and we have known her husband Dana for over 30 years as well. Unfortunately, with the continuous rising flood waters in the campground, we never felt it was safe to leave our rig unattended. Eventually they decided to come to our campsite for dinner instead. They both were very surprised how much flooding was in the area when they arrived. The water came right up to our tires but we ended up very lucky. Many others in the campground were not as lucky…
Not our rig but right across the street from us…
A lot of sites were under water…
Fortunately they had evacuated all of these campers…
Hanging out with the Finnegan’s in our RV on that rainy night …
The next day we got to visit with Joanne’s teaching colleague Dawn Paridis. Dawn and her husband Don have been friends for many years and Joanne and Dawn had spent many years sharing and collaborating as Family & Consumer Science teachers in town; Dawn, the Middle School teacher, and Joanne, the High School Teacher. They had invited us to dinner at their house and their very fun back deck. Arriving it had appeared the flood waters had impacted their housing development, as well, though they had faired well.
The Paradis’s & Nunan’s on there back deck …
On the next evening we visited the Barnett’s for appetizers and drinks. Jim Barnett is recently retired from Yale University’s Law School as Director and Chef for their Food Service/Catering facility. Jim is an incredible cook like Joanne and very talented and creative with his food preparations. We can’t believe what he prepared for us that evening. He, wife Jane and their daughter Erin (who had worked for my business for several years) were just incredible hosts that evening. Also, Jim had taken the liberty to invite Mike & Diane Mozzochi, some other great friends who we were involved with the Clinton Youth Soccer Program for many years. In fact Mike as Board President, Jim, and I all served on the Soccer board for many years in town.
The Mozzochi’s, Nunan’s, Barnetts, and Erin…
Jim Barnett’s appetizers…
Jim Barnett’s appetizers…
We were all stuffed and Jim just kept bringing out more incredible dishes…
On Monday July 12th Joanne and I would be celebrating our 41st wedding anniversary. Yes we have been married for 41 years. Yea I do know I look older than Joanne… and it’s hard to believe she has put up with me for that long… I am a lucky guy!!! We are not really fancy people, so going for dinner at one of our favorite Connecticut Seafood places, on the water and Route 1, is a perfect way to celebrate for this couple. We decided to head over to Bill’s Seafood in Westbrook, CT. We have come here many times over the years and always reminisce about bringing the kids here for years where they would feed the ducks, from the deck/dock overlooking the water. It’s probably not the healthiest fare but it sure is good and it was our anniversary…
Bill’s Seafood Westbrook, CT
Toasting 41 years of marriage. I know it’s a plastic cup but that’s us…
The famous Westbrook Singing Bridge which adds to the ambiance at Bill’s…
Our last few nights we had a very busy social schedule visiting more local friends. We visited our good friend Pat Healey at his new home in Clinton which we loved! Pat and I were also on the Soccer board for years and coached soccer & basketball in town for many years. Pat is the ultimate UCONN fan and we have been to many games with him as guests over the years. Next we visited our Carter Hill Road, across the street neighbor, Elaine Gadowsky. Elaine is the Chairman of the George Flynn Classic Concerts Series in Clinton and has been a great friend for many years. She also is an accomplished sculptor. Finally we spent one of our last evening with the Iaquessa’s . Todd Iaguessa is one of the best people I know. When we sold our house and I had to set up my BEAR Sports office somewhere he graciously offered me space at his Jewelry Store in downtown Clinton. I will be forever grateful to Todd for his generosity and help during that transition time. Also his wife Cherise served with me on the Soccer board, for years, in charge of the younger kids in our program and then his daughter Allie worked for my company for several years too. Allie was a great team player at BEAR Sports for the last few years before I sold my company. Also, we were surprised to see their son Todd Junior who was home for a visit from South Korea the last few years serving in the Air Force. Thanks for your service Todd!
Pat Healy at his beautiful new home…
The Gadowsky’s in her specatular gardens surrounding her house…
The Iaquessa’s…
Joanne & I remind ourselves everyday how fortunate we are for all these special people in our lives from Clinton, CT. We spent 30 years in that little New England town and always believe that we were very lucky to find this special community to raise our family in! As you can see we saw a lot of people over that 10 days and feel very bad for not being able to connect with so many others that are also so important in our lives. Wish we could have connected with even more!
So with our Clinton Hometown visit coming to an end we headed out to my childhood hometown in Beacon, NY. to make a quick stop to see my sister Pat.
Arriving on Friday July 16th in Beacon, NY we were able to mooch-dock in Pat’s driveway again. It’s always great seeing Pat though this time she really wanted to know about her new niece “Mackenzie”. First things first, we confirmed with Cait that we could come up for an overnight visit with Aunt Pat to see the baby. (Joanne & I were also selfishly wanting to see her again before heading South for the next few months. Pat had quite a care package of gifts put together for “Mac” including, clothes, books and odds and ends you give newborns.
We headed up to Boston a few days after our arrival for an overnight. It was a quick visit but we had some quality time with Cait, Bruce, and Mac with a terrific dinner and then breakfast the following day in Charlestown.
Mac still breaking hearts…
Pat meeting her niece “Mackenzie”…
Gram & Pop getting another “Mac” fix…
While visiting at Pat’s we also got to connect with several friends in the Beacon area including Jessie Lewis and her terrific sons and then Joanne’s sister’s life-long friends Mike & Adalia D’Antuono. Jessie is a brilliant woman who has made a career as a Director at IBM and has raised several incredible sons! Michael D’Antuono is an accomplished professional artist who has a controversial and insightful style centered around American/Pop culture with a political twist. His website is www.artandresponse.com…
The Knight’s, Nunan’s, and Lewis’s…
The Nunan’s and D’antuono’s…
One of the final days of our visit in Beacon at Pat’s we happened to see an expose on Good Morning America about the recently opened “Little Island” at Pier 55 in New York City. The profile and pictures looked so interesting we decided to head to the city for a visit/tour.
About: Little Island Pier (from the website)
– In 2013, Barry Diller of the Diller-von Furstenberg Family Foundation, in partnership with Hudson River Park Trust leadership, embarked on the unique opportunity to envision a solution for the repair and reactivation of Pier 54, which had been recently damaged by Hurricane Sandy. Diller chose to reimagine an entirely new type of public space for New York, one that would create an immersive experience with nature and art.
The history, architecture, gardens, views, and access to this uniquely developed New York City attraction is really something special. Whether you just want to take a walk through the gardens, enjoy the skyline city/river views, attend a show in the amphitheater, or just find a quiet place in the city for reflection, this special new addition to the waterfront is worth the trip to explore…
Visiting Little Island…
Skyline views from the highest point on Little Island…
Joanne & Pat at Little Island entrance…
So with the month of July coming to an end and visits to our adult hometown of Clinton, CT and my childhood hometown of Beacon, NY completed it was time to start heading South for our next stop on this 2021 “Revolutionary Journey”…
