#2 Photo Dump/Catch-up from Ohio...

Greetings from McConnellsville, Ohio.  We have a day at home today (Saturday) so I thought I would talk about the last few days and get some photos downloaded.  The wedding is tomorrow and I leave early Monday morning so no time like the present!!

Thursday was our Millersport day (our old hometown).  Some of these were posted to Facebook, but not all of them.  

We had lunch at Hometown Hotdogs.  Every seat was full when we arrived around 12:30, so they seated us at the "bar" (no alcohol).  One table of people left, so we were able to sit there before we ordered.  It is a popular eatery.  

I took this as we were leaving, but I wanted to mention the people sitting on the right.  Cut them off unintentionally.  Peggy and Kirk are sitting with Dean.  Dean was the mayor of Millersport for 14 years and is a couple of years younger than my youngest sister, Tammy.  Got a hug from him when we went in.  Peggy is my BFF Elaine's younger sister and Kirk is her hubby.  They were in town to join us at Weldon's later.  

We all had the same idea, to eat before ice cream!!

This is from the front of the Hometown Hotdogs.  I took it to point out the post office, where my mom worked for many years.  It's the little brick building with the white gable and poles to the left of the big red building.  Back in the day, everyone had to visit the post office to get their mail.  Combination boxes for everyone.  Ours was box #37.  My sister still remembers the combination (I don't).

This is a sweet little shop with lots of "lake" things to buy.  

We both spent some money in there. 

Patti drove us through the Millersport cemetery.  Our parents are there, one set of grandparents are there and my little brother is there.  This is Mom and Dad's marker.

This is the house where we grew up (I was 10 when we moved to Millersport),  The cemetery is in easy walking distance.  The neighborhood has expanded and looks SO different from when we lived there.

We were to meet up with friends at Weldon's Ice Cream at 1:00.  Weldon's is across the street from the Millersport Marina.  They were busy pulling boats out of the water and getting them winterized and ready to store.

This is Weldon's taken from the Marina.

I was expecting three or four of my high school classmates to come.  It was mentioned on Facebook a couple of times, by me and a friend.  There ended up being 14 of us!! It was SO FUN seeing so many and some I haven't seen since we graduated in 1970!!  Here are a few candid shots and then we got everyone to pose on the steps.

Mary, Jenny, DeeDee, Patty, Linda, Debbie, Norma

My sister, Patti, is in the white pants and tan striped top.

Dave was the only guy to show up.  He was one of the class sports legends in football and basketball.  There were bees outside so Norma, Patsy and Dave sat inside.

Lynn and Wanda

Peggy brought Jerri (Peggy and Elaine's mom) and it was so good to see her.  My BFF Elaine and family lived across the street from us and we were all family.  Jerri (I call her my other mom) is 93.  We had such a good time reminiscing about the good old days.  The redhead is my sister, Patti.

I took this selfie of us.  

Linda, Wanda, DeeDee, Patsy

Front row:  Norma, Patsy, Linda

Second row:  Wanda and Debbie, DeeDee

Third row: Patty, Ann, Mary

Fourth row:  Jenny, Dave, Me, Lucretia, and my sister, Patti

When we all left Weldon's (around 3:30!) Patti drove me around Buckeye Lake (info link) to visit some of the places from our childhood.  Buckeye Lake is about 11 miles long and only one mile in width.  The deepest part is only 16 feet. It used to be a bog and there is still a cranberry bog out there.

We went to the Winery for dinner Thursday night.  The bride and groom, the bride's parents and sister, and (us) the groom's family were all there and we also celebrated the groom's mom for her 70th birthday.  It was great to see Mike and Megan and 

to celebrate with Jo Anne.

Mike, Megan, Mike, Sara, Kerri, Matt, Little Guy, Maddie, Jo Anne, Greg,

Patti, Ann, and me.

The sunset over the lake was so pretty!

The bride's folks, Kerri and Mike

Greg and Patti (my sister)

Kirk, Peggy (Elaine's sister) and me

The groom's sister, Sara, her hubby, Matt, and a cousin Ann

Sweet boy was there, too. 

Mike, Maddie (the bride's sister) the bride, Megan, and the groom (my nephew) Mike

Lots of fun!!

I got to hold my great-nephew for a little while.  We aren't allowed to post his picture but he is so adorable.  I don't like to block out his sweet face but wanted 

these reminders for my journal/blog.

We called Friday our "Marietta Day".  Patti's daughter, Kelly, lives and works in Marietta, Ohio, and Greg's sister, Diana, lives there too.  We picked up Diana first, then went to Kelly's house to pick her up!  Kelly works for a bank doing creative graphic design things.  She is very artistic and loves her job. She took half a day off to spend it with us.  Diana took the whole day off from her job, so we had a great girls' day together!

My sweet niece, Kelly, and her momma Patti

Kelly's partner, Avery.  They have been together 11 years.  

They just got Murphy, the St. Bernard.  Murphy is a gentle giant!!

Diana and Kelly (and Murphy's butt)

Me and Murphy

It was very rainy day, so we didn't get to walk around like we hoped, but we stopped

a few times and Diana was a good tour guide while Patti drove.

This photo is of flooding levels in downtown Marietta (info link).

The top one is the 1913 flood.

The bottom one is the 1937 flood.

This marker is more recent when Hurricane Ivan went through in 2004.

Sorry you can't see the sidewalk, but it is about five feet from the sidewalk.

Marietta sits where the Muskingum River and the Ohio River converge.

I took this picture because Diana said this building floods up to the roof nearly every year.  It is right on the Ohio River side.

The four of us went to River Town for our early supper.  It was a nice end to a lovely day of shopping, coffee shops, sightseeing and good food.

We took Kelly home, then dropped Diana off before heading 

back to McConnelsville (an hour away).

I posted a picture of fish sculptures in my last photo dump.  We passed this sculpture, by David Griesmeyer, earlier today and I got a photo of the hearts.  

Those are padlocks hanging on them.

It is a symbol of love.  You and your sweetheart put the lock on and it is there forever.

Patti has a pot roast in the crock pot for our dinner.  I am doing laundry and my week here is nearly over.  Tomorrow we will head for Columbus and the wedding venue (and hotel).  I leave on Monday morning to head back to Florida.  The wedding photos will come when I get home. 

I am praying for all those in the path of Helene.  My sister, in Georgia, won't have power for four weeks or so.  Thankfully no damage other than tree limbs in the yard and a possible leak in one room for her.

Peace and hugs to all and thanks for checking in!!  Bless you, if you made it this far!

Missing my boys!!

God is so good!

A Quick Photo Dump from Ohio...

My sister, Patti, is getting her hair done this morning and her hubby, Greg, is out on a work errand (he works from home) so I thought I would post some photos from Monday and Tuesday while I have a little time...

Donna, in my Mas Verde community, helps out with airport runs, car deliveries, and many other needs that she hears about.  She picked me up at 6:15 a.m. on Monday and got me to the Tampa airport in plenty of time to get bags checked and get to the gate for the first leg of my journey north.  This was the animation on my seatback monitor.  Tampa to Detroit.  I only had a 30 minute layover, so was a bit worried when our flight was late taking off...

Finally moving...

Goodby Tampa

Flying over Lake Erie as we descended to the Detroit airport...

The flight attendant told several of us on the plane that we had about 20 minutes to make it from the "A" gates to the "C" gates to make our connection to Columbus, Ohio.  Well, they let us get off first and we took off like a shot from a cannon.  I was soon left behind as those younger got ahead of me.  I walked faster and farther than I have had to walk in years but I MADE IT!!  I was the last person seated just before closing the doors.  Praise God and hallelujah!!  That flight took off on time, and a short 37 minutes later, we landed in Columbus, I got my bags (they made it too!) and Patti and Greg were there to pick me up.

We stopped near my old hometown (Millersport) for some pizza before going to McConnelsville, where Patti and Greg live.  As we were finishing and getting ready to leave, an old schoolmate came in so we had to talk for a bit.  Judy Z. was a year ahead of me but we both played trumpet in the band.

Judy is on the left and I am on the right.  This was Judy's senior year and my junior year.

She told me she played in a community concert band for a while, 

but hasn't played much since then.

We got up Tuesday morning, had a good breakfast, talked, and talked some more.  Patti and I had nail appointments with her nail person, so we left Greg working and took off for downtown McConnelsville...

Polish Me Pretty

I don't do my nails often because I am so hard on them, but got a gel polish so they look nice for the wedding...

Patti got her nails and her toes done.  Patti taught Maddie's oldest daughter in her class.  You might remember that Patti just retired after teaching 3rd grade for 44 years.  Seriously, she has had either the adult and or the kids of nearly everyone in McConnelsville.  Everyone knows Patti.

McConnelsville, Ohio, is in south-central Ohio.  It is on the Muskingum River and at the edge of the Appalachian Mountains.  Beautiful countryside!  The leaves are just changing a bit and they have had a drought this summer so ponds and lakes are below normal levels, but it is still pretty!  The following are from the downtown area of McConnelsville...

This is Patti's side yard, with lots of leaves down.

Patti's front deck/porch.  She has a green thumb (the one that passed me by...)

The view from her porch...

Patti and I went out and about on the way home from the orchard (photos out of order)...

(this picture made me think of blogging friend, Mari...)

The sign says "German Cemetary)

Patti knows how I love orchards and miss them in Florida.  We were the only people there on that Monday afternoon...

The cat knew I was missing my boys.  She let me pet her for a bit and 

rubbed against my legs.

And they had my very favorite apple, the Cortland.  

Now... more out and about while we went home...

A metalsmith artist has a business in  McConnelsville named David Griesmeyer. There are a few sculptures around town but the fish are the only ones I got a picture of.  When you drive by them, they are positioned so that they look like they are swimming.

Patti and I went shopping and then we picked up Greg and went to a pizza buffet for dinner tonight (Tuesday).  Patti knew four of the waiters and the owner because she taught them all.  They all called her Mrs. Mc...  Everyone knows her. LOL

Tomorrow (Thursday) we are going to our old hometown, Millersport, for some fun.  More about that later.

Having a great time but thinking about my home, my pets, and all my friends in the path of Helene.  Fingers crossed that it won't cause too much damage for anyone.

Hope everyone is well.  I will catch up on reading, if not commenting, as soon as I can.  xo

Peace and Hugs!

Praise God from Whom all blessings flow...