As we climbed the flight of stairs, to the second level of the mansion at Mount Vernon, we ran our hands over the centuries old wooden railing; the same railing George and Martha Washington ran their hands over as they climbed the stairs of their home.

With the election now less than one week away, I find myself holding my breath. This, I promise, is not a political post, but it has crossed my mind in recent weeks to crawl into bed, pull the comforter up over my head and not come out again until November 9.  Is it just me?

The Classic Catalog

If you’re of a certain age there’s a pretty good chance you grew up with a copy of The Vermont Country Store catalog in the house, or maybe you discovered it as an adult.  Either way, the catalog is filled with pages of wondrous treasures that find one happily reminiscing and thinking, “Oh, I remember those!”

The best testimonial I can offer about visiting Vermont, in the autumn, is that I’m already planning our next visit. That’s how much we enjoyed ourselves. Heck, I’m betting Vermont is beautiful pretty much year round, but there is just something amazing special about autumn.  Maybe because it’s my absolute favorite time of the year, or maybe because it’s the glorious colors of the fall foliage, or maybe because it’s just Vermont.

I went to the doctor, a podiatrist.  It was my first visit to the clinic and I spent maybe a grand total of 6 minutes actually speaking with the doctor while she performed a very quick procedure.  The cost for 6 minutes of her time? $193.07.  Yes, I know, she has to pay rent, her staff, etc., but seriously, $193.07?! And, at the end of the procedure there was a sales pitch to buy a miracle cream for just $30; $40 if I bought the box set.

Our fourth and final stay with the Library Hotel Collection was at the lovely Hotel Giraffe; a sleek, tall, and beautiful hotel, just like a Giraffe!

The Hotel Elysee. It’s a tricky business to write a hotel review. I mean, think about it.  How much can one say?  There is a room, a bed, bath and hopefully, it’s clean and comfortable with a sense of style. That about wraps it up, don’t you think? But every now and then we come across a hotel(s) with a little something extra that makes us sit up and take notice.  And that’s the case when it comes to the 4 boutique hotels in the Library Hotel Collection in New York City; each offering the finest in accommodations. 

Meandering through the One World Trade Center, 9/11 Memorial Museum, I had a moment of realization that there is now a generation of children who were not alive on 9/11, and as such had no real concept of what they were looking at in the museum, other than was was told to them by their parents.  Amazingly, it has been 15 years.