Travel Rewind: Ferry Ride Part II

After getting through the Adirondacks (which were fucking beautiful, by

the way) we decided to cross on the ferry from New York to Vermont.

Further evidence that my kid loves boat rides.

Travel Rewind: Black River Drive In

After Canada we crossed back into New York and made our way towards

the Adirondacks. Along route, we passed an operating Drive-In theatre.

We were both cursing it being the middle of the day and our dumb

unfortunate luck that we wouldn't be around to stop and see a movie

that evening. They were playing Final Destination 5 and Fright Night.

Neither would have been my first picks, but fuck that...IT'S A DRIVE

IN. But it didn't matter, because we couldn't go.

We started driving and it was getting later and later. We found a

campsite and it turned out we were only about 30 minutes down the road

from the Drive-In. You may be confused at this point. How could we

whining about seeing the Drive In and not going early in the afternoon

and then be camped out 30 minutes down the road? All I can tell you

is, there was a LOT of around your elbow to get to your ass driving

that day. I'm only glad we stopped when we did.

I went online and found out showtimes for the Drive In and it was

settled that after dinner we would go. I don't remember what we did

for dinner that night. I do remember that we put on our PJs and made

sure Ozzy stayed awake so he would be good and tired and sleep on the

drive there (so hopefully he would sleep through the movie).

We decided to miss the first feature, Final Destination 5. I haven't

seen any of those movies and I don't understand how you can have a

title that has the word "Final" and is number 5 in the series. I

wasn't over the moon about seeing a re-make of my beloved Fright Night

either, but it's the lesser of two evils. Either way, I thought it was

fucking cool to see a horror movie at the drive in. That just felt

right.

We pulled up within minute of the film starting. The girl at the booth

was about to shut for the night, so we barely made it. Unfortunately

we missed the concessions. BOO. We were really excited about popcorn,

nachos and soda. We had a tiny dinner to make room for all the junk

food we would now not be having. It didn't kill the mood tho. WE WERE

AT THE MOTHERFUCKING DRIVE IN.

We found a place to park, adjusted the seats and started the movie.

You didn't have to open your window and adjust a speaker into the car.

They told you what station to tune your radio to and you were able to

listen to the film that way. It was awesome. Ozzy slept through the

first half of the film and woke up around the second half. What's

great is that we were able to enjoy a film and not "disturb" those

around us. I was able to put Oz in the front seat with me and nurse

him back to sleep, where he stayed until the credits rolled.

And my film nerd self can't help but take a minute to reflect on the

film itself so here goes:

Of course it was no where near as good as the original. Re-makes

rarely, if ever, are. A really great cast did the best they could with

some pretty crap material. Colin Farrell was gorgeous, but had zero

charisma. I'm going to put this down to him using a bad American

accent and not being all sexy-brooding in his natural Irish accent. An

Irish vampire would have been sexy (something that I always felt was

lacking in the original. Chris Sarandon is a great villain, but he is

never sexy. Or maybe it's an 80's thing I don't get. Because I don't

think Michael Douglas is sexy either and his ass was always naked

during the 80's.). David Tenant was sorely underused, but hilarious.

It wasn't until I was listening to BBC Radio 4's Mayo/Kermode podcast

when it was pointed out that Tenant is doing a Russell Brand

impression, that the light bulb went off. Fucking brilliant and

hilarious.

The film is pretty clunky and uninspired. I was disappointed with

Sarandon's cameo as a motorist who gets bit. I think it would have

been cooler if he and Farrell had passed a knowing look in the dance

club scene. The 3-D sequences were pointless.

So while it sounds like I didn't like the movie, I had an awesome

time. Being at a Drive In made a bad movie completely worth it, and I

enjoyed it 1000x more than if I had seen it in a cinema or on dvd.

It was so refreshing for us to be seeing a movie. In our pre-baby

days we went to the movies almost every single week without fail. We

had thought about trying to take turns seeing movies while on the

road. Or going to an early showing during the week, when the cinema

would be all but empty. We haven't had a chance to do that yet. But

our eyes are always peeled for another Drive In.

Travel Rewind: Boldt Castly & Ferry

One of my favorite things about our trip is that I've been able to
meet some of my Imaginary Friends (aka Friends from the Net, for those
of you not in the know). On our trip to Boldt Castle I met imaginary
friend Christie and her husband Phil. If we hadn't met up with them I
wouldn't have any idea about Boldt Castle and it was a lovely day out.

It was also Oz's first time on a boat and he LOVED it. He loved the
rocking and sway and how it messed up his balance slightly. He loved
being out on the front deck and feeling the breeze (no, let's be
honest, it was wind and it was rough!) on his face. He was just a
squealing ball of excitement.
The trip to the castle takes about an hour and along the way you see
the Thousand Islands. What's so cute are all the houses that are set
up on these teeny tiny islands!
If you didn't follow the link to the castle itself, I'll fill you in a
bit. Mr. Boldt was building it for his beloved wife and when she
unexpectedly died, he ceased all work on their future home and there
it sat. Unfinished. Several years later (after Mr. Boldt) it was
decided to resume work, and the over the years the house has been open
from it being in complete disrepair. It's one of Christie's favorite
days out and I thought it was very cool that she has seen its
progression of renovation with subsequent visits. It makes her a part
of its history by being a frequent visitor. There are so many beautiful
details to find throughout the Castle. Christie pointed out all the
hearts that have been worked into the design, so I spent a good
portion of our visit hunting out all of the hearts. Unfortunately, I
didn't get a good picture of Christie and I together. When Phil was
taking a photo of us, I assumed that Griff was taking one as well. I
assumed wrong.


After the trip to Boldt Castle (and it's a full day!) we decided on an
easy dinner back at the campsite. Ozzy was really fucking tired and
C&P were kind enough to go pick us up a pizza. Griff decided to try
the Canadian dish Poutain, which is fries covered in cheese and gravy.
Not my thing, but Griff devoured it and when we were up in Maine he
found another resteraunt that served it and gobbled that up too.
Pretty much anything covered in gravy and cheese is a good meal to
Griff.


(*I have no idea why that last paragraph is underlined in blue. )

Glass

The Corning Museum of Glass is now one of my favorite places ever. It was amazing for my family as a day out. On a personal level, it turned me on, like only good art can. I was completely enthralled and inspired.

This particular piece was featured in the gift shop. THE GIFT SHOP. So before we even began the experience of going through the different galleries I was in love.

The Museum begins with pieces of modern art. I will admit, I enjoyed this much more than Griff did and he was very patient to entertain Oz while I looked, read and photographed pretty much every piece I saw.
I loved how this piece was a wonderful example of how something completely inorganic, such as glass, can be manipulated into something just as beautiful (and as fragile) as actual plant life. The attention and quality of detail moves me deeply.
Then pieces like this I want desperately to touch. It looks soft and smooth, rough and distorted all at the same time. It's a medium I know I could never attempt to work with because of my intense fear of being burned and I am completely in awe that people are able to create such amazing, beautiful things out of heat.

After Modern Art, there is a very long gallery about the history of glass and the display is long and thorough. Griff was interested in the earlier eras and I was more interested in the later. I could probably dedicate an entire blog just to beautiful glass objects. But anyways, here is a small sample of later displays of glass work that I found inspiring.

As I mentioned in the blog before, the Museum also has several hands on workshops that you can pay to partake in. It also has several demonstrations for watching by experienced glass workers. And while I enjoyed the art aspect, they Museum also has a section about the practical and scientific uses of glass (for example fiber optics) which really appealed to Griff. We could have easily spent many many more hours there, but Oz wasn't happy for an entire day. But without a doubt, our family will certainly be returning in the future.

Blown Away

One year on Channel 4's Kirsty's Homemade Home or Homemade Christmas or whatever, Kirsty went and did a bit of glass blowing. Griff thought it looked really neat and wanted to give it a go. It's one of those things you say you want to do, but it's a lot harder to get around to ACTUALLY doing.

So when my friend Emily told me that the Corning Museum of Glass has different glass workshops I knew immediately I was going to book Griff in for one. I didn't care which one, I just really wanted him to be able to do SOMETHING. And they did have a glass blowing class! SO I signed him right up as soon as we got there.

Of course, he wanted to make an ornament for our tree and we agreed on the rather traditional colors of Green, Red and White. I can not wait to see how it will look (because it takes so long to cool, the ornament was shipped from the museum to my parents house so it's waiting there for us! We haven't actually seen the finished product yet!).

Griff did enjoy the glass blowing. I think he would have enjoyed actually handling the glass, but because it's an all ages class, they do make it very safe. I think I will look into finding him a more instructional, hands-on class where ever we may end up.