Wow, November went fast! Started it off with running Merrithon with some friends. The Merritt trail starts at Lake Erie and runs along the Welland Canal about 1/2 way through the peninsula before wandering north going west of the canal through Thorold, St. Catherines and Port Dahlousie to end at Lake Ontario. Very similar to the Lake to Lake Running Buddy and I ran last year, with a bit of a detour that adds a couple of kms. We'd run the north 1/2 of it a few weeks ago to make sure we wouldn't miss any turns. Although we ran as part of a hike put on by the Bruce Trail Conservancy in between the 4 aid stations you are on your own following yellow trail blazes. We were glad we'd done it as we were close to missing a few turns. The Merritt trail is a side trail from the Bruce Trail. It was a fun day with no time expectations. The 46km took us about 5.5 hours.
The week after the run ended up being quite busy. Between having minor repair issues with the two cars (every time we are down to one, I'm glad that even though we're "retired" we still have two cars-we have too many activities between ourselves and the kids to make living with one car easy) and Husband's grandmother passed away. We were able to have a funeral for her with capacity limits (the funeral was broadcast over the internet for those who were not able to come). The weather cooperated and it was a beautiful day for the graveside goodbye to her.
This month in Canada Covid vaccines for under 12 kids have finally been approved! V got her first shot and the rest of us got flu shots (Canada won't allow kids to get other vaccinations within 14 days of the Covid vaccine at this point in time).
Husband and I took a little trip. We'd been meaning to take a trip with just the two of us when he returned from working out in WA and we used travel vouchers from the cancelation of the trip where the kids and I were supposed to go see him in March 2020 but ended up canceling the flights to fly him home instead before the border shut down. I was having a hard time getting flights to work out with our budget, dates and destination ideas when Husband suggested a few days in Chicago, a few in NYC, back to Chicago then back home. It worked out great! We spent 2 days in Chicago visiting my cousins and college roommate (I got to meet her two younger children-I'd only met the oldest!) then we flew to NYC where we'd booked a hotel just south of Times Square in the Garment district on credit card points that we were finally able to use. Fortified by a large hotel breakfast each morning we set out exploring.
This month in Canada Covid vaccines for under 12 kids have finally been approved! V got her first shot and the rest of us got flu shots (Canada won't allow kids to get other vaccinations within 14 days of the Covid vaccine at this point in time).
Husband and I took a little trip. We'd been meaning to take a trip with just the two of us when he returned from working out in WA and we used travel vouchers from the cancelation of the trip where the kids and I were supposed to go see him in March 2020 but ended up canceling the flights to fly him home instead before the border shut down. I was having a hard time getting flights to work out with our budget, dates and destination ideas when Husband suggested a few days in Chicago, a few in NYC, back to Chicago then back home. It worked out great! We spent 2 days in Chicago visiting my cousins and college roommate (I got to meet her two younger children-I'd only met the oldest!) then we flew to NYC where we'd booked a hotel just south of Times Square in the Garment district on credit card points that we were finally able to use. Fortified by a large hotel breakfast each morning we set out exploring.
We found the NYC public library and they had a photograph exhibit and one of different treasures, including the original Winnie the Pooh characters that were Christopher Robin's.
We saw Rockafeller Center. The tree was there, but still being decorated. I was very surprised how small the ice skating rink is. It looks so bit on TV!
We ate at a southern BBQ place that was very good.
We ate at a southern BBQ place that was very good.
And stopped by the Cake Boss' shop for a Cannoli for dessert.
We visited the 9/11 Memorial which has two pools where the towers stood and a museum under the plaza. I have to say it was the quietest place in NYC.
We ran across the Brooklyn Bridge and back on the Manhattan Bridge. One thing that surprised me was how close everything was. The map makes NYC look huge, but between walking and the subway it really wasn't. To run over the Brooklyn Bridge and back on Manhattan Bridge was a little under 5km.
We also ran in Central Park- it was nicely sized and I was pleasantly surprised to see boulders and some up and down-I kind of expected just a flat expanse of paths and grass and trees.
We walked the Highline-an old railway between Chelsea/Meatpacking district and Manhattan that has been converted to an elevated walkway and did our sightseeing on the Edge-a platform out of a building.
Below is the Vertex-a new art/attraction that is free-those are stairs you can climb around on.
We also toured the Tenement Museum though photos are not allowed. The museum is in a building from the 1920s/1930s that has not been changed from when tenements/apartments first welcomed immigrants. The museum researches immigrant stories and presents them in 45-90 minute tours.
On our last night we were able to get 1/2 off tickets from the TKTS booth in Times square for Come from Away which I've wanted to see for a very long time. It was amazing! As good as I'd imagined it would be and a very good wrap up for two Canadians in a city where 9/11 had happened.
We also visited some other areas around NYC-St. Patrick's cathedral, etc. but no museums. We had a limited time and didn't want to exhaust ourselves with our first real vacation in awhile!
