Connecticut Trip, November 8th-12th
A run down of my latest trip to visit Marc's family in Connecticut
Thursday- We arrived a little after 9am, after taking the red eye. My mother-in-law, Charlotte and her boyfriend, John picked us up. We decided to fly into Providence, Rhode Island...not a good idea. It was about another hour and half from their house. We had breakfast at Cracker Barrel and I had sweet tea! This made me happy. When we finally made it home, Marc and I slept until dinner. We spent the night watching TV and catching up.
Friday- Slept in late. We ate lunch at home and didn't do much, until my Niece, Morgan came home from school. Morgan's father was also in town this past weekend, so he took Morgan out that night. There was a little bit of drama surrounding his visit. We went to the Fish Tale for dinner, where I had a lobster sandwich. The fish tale was one of my favorite local restaurants, from previous visits. Around nine, we took Charlotte's mini van and headed over to Michael and Michelle's house ( Marc's brother and his wife.) On the way, we stopped for coffee and I had my first Dunkin Donuts experience.
Michael and Michelle's house was chaos. We were spending the night, to help set up for Charlotte's surprise 60th birthday party. The biggest project was a scrap book, that Michelle had already lost ten pounds from the stress of putting it together. I had never scrap booked before and I really don't enjoy craft type of projects. I would rather slit my wrists, really. However, I was there to help and I ended up creating five pages of the book. Charlotte loved it, which is what counts.
A quick word about Michael and Michelle's house...it's gorgeous. It has four bedrooms, a bathroom that has a jacuzzi tub that could easily fit four people, a koi pond, et...it looks like something out of a magazine. We found out that it's worth about three-hundred thousand. If I only wanted to move out of California, tempting...
Saturday- Woke up early and went to Morgan's soccer game. We got lost and only made it to the last twenty minutes. It was cold, really cold. Morgan's team won. Go Morgan! After the game, Charlotte, Morgan, Marc and I went to the local mall. We had to kill a couple of hours before the party.
The party turned out great. About thirty-five people showed up and Charlotte was completely surprised. The food was fantastic, catered from an Italian restaurant, including Charlotte's favorite crab cakes. Most of Marc's family was there, so I tried to spend a little time with everyone. The party and scrap book were a present from Michael, Michelle and us. We also gave Charlotte an opal bracelet, which she loved. The party was a huge success.
Around nine, we headed to Mohegan Sun with Ben and Marc's friend, Justin. The casino was packed. Ben left to be with his girlfriend, Allie and we ended up staying to three in the morning. I left winning about three hundred. Marc won about sixty and I think Justin lost.
Sunday- Slept in late and then we headed over to Michael and Michelle's house to pick up Morgan, who had spent the night. We then went to the Mark Twain house, which is something that I had wanted to do every trip. It was worth the wait. We saw a twenty minute video on his life and then had a guided tour of his home, where he wrote most of his famous works. The house was beautiful and I learned a lot, he actually had a relatively sad life. He was also very liberal and outspoken. Next time, we are going to try to see the Harriet Beecher Stowe house, which is next door to the Twain house.
We spent about three hours in the evening, visiting my nephew, Dillon, who is in a facility for troubled kids and orphans. I thought this would be very depressing, but Dillon looked good and I think this is the best place for him. He has had a lot of problems and it seems like he is already improving. He will likely be there for a 12-18 months. He gets a lot of counseling, full school schedule and is taught life skills. He made several comments on how many of the kids there, orphans, have a lot less than he does. I think that he is appreciative for his family and all that he has. We played cards and visited. Michael was also there. We got home late and John had dinner waiting for us.
Monday- Woke up early and picked up Marc's sister, Shelly, for breakfast. Shelly looked better than I have ever seen her and it was actually a nice visit with her. We came home, packed and headed to the airport. We were supposed to take a detour and spend sometime in Newport, but John got lost and time ran out. We had lunch at a Ruby Tuesdays and then got to the airport. The flights were all good and all of my luggage made it back safely!