This past weekend, Janice and I drove to western Massachusetts for the “Big E,” the Eastern States Exposition, which is the equivalent of a state fair for New England. We left work early on Friday, 25 September 2009, and visited the Holyoke Mall at Ingleside before checking into the nearby Holiday Inn. We had dinner at the upscale shopping mall, and among other things, I found another superhero costume for Halloween.
We then met Janice’s parents, her youngest sister Melinda, and Melinda’s family. After
Josh went for a swim with Janice and Melinda’s father Marvin, we played pool and
foosball, two of my favorite table games, with them and Gary and Amanda. After breakfast at Friendly’s the next morning, we went to the festival, which was crowded because of the nice early autumn weather.
We browsed through the craft square and numerous vendors’ booths, visited the state pavilions and historic buildings, petted some livestock, and of course, enjoyed fair food and refreshing birch beer. There was an impressive butter sculpture of a dairy farm. Although Janice and I didn’t get to this past weekend’s Phantom Gourmet food festival or the King Richard’s Faire Renaissance festival, we like going to such seasonal celebrations.
Our return to the Boston area went smoothly, but Janice’s folks weren’t so lucky — they got into a fender-bender on the way back to Upstate New York. Fortunately, nobody was seriously hurt. Given how infrequently our families come to Massachusetts, I hope that the incident doesn’t discourage them. Speaking of visitors, Damon F.P. and Dexter V.H. hope to visit in the next few weekends.
Work has continued to be demanding, but it should be easier this week with the return of my direct supervisor from her Italian vacation. My evenings have been filled with the usual games and the return of genre television, which I’m sure I’ll blog about more in the coming weeks. In the meantime, let me know what you think and if there’s anything you’d like to see here!
Gene's Worlds 