Monday, July 23, 2012
LA Livin' and Lovin' Day 1 - Emily
Sorry we are just now blogging, we've been doing so much and having so much fun! We met in West Hollywood on Friday night - I will let mom tell you all about her misadventures with her travel - and I got in after midnight so we just caught up and went to bed. We stayed at the Palomar in West Hollywood Friday and let me just say...wow. We've had amazing accommodations so far.
Well it's safe to say I am in love with LA, specifically the West Hollywood and Beverly Hills areas. It's so very clean and just absolutely gorgeous. We went to The Grove on Saturday Morning which just so happens to be next to the CBS LA Broadcast Center and Studios which was really neat to see. The Grove is also where Extra films from on weekdays, it's this beautiful outside shopping space that's nicer than the Boardwalk for those of you in the Minden area. And as mom said it's not as hot and you can enjoy it.
From there we ventured around Beverly Hills, stopping at the famous Beverly Hills sign and walking Rodeo. I'm not sure if it's because I live in New York and once worked on 5th Ave amongst all the designer stores but it just wasn't as glamorous as I thought it would be from scenes in Pretty Woman! We also went to the Grauman's Chinese Theater and saw the Walk of Fame in Hollywood and saw the Hollywood sign!
All in all a great day in LA on Saturday. Wouldn't be surprised if I try to convince my friends to escape the cold winters of NYC for the beautiful Southern California weather soon. :)
We are running to the Warner Bros Studio Tour right now (can ANYONE believe we are early?) and will post lots more when we are done!
P.S. set your DVRs for Jimmy Kimmel tonight, we are going to the taping today!
Emily
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Saying goodbye and made it to Newport, RI
Tuesday night - 6/29
We just left Maine today and stopped in Andover, MA to have dinner with Em's roommate Liz's parents. Patrice and Steve made us a great Lobster dinner and we very much enjoyed our visit - we headed out of Boston area about 11:30 and have just made it to Newport, Rhode Island, where we will venture out tomorrow before heading back to NYC tomorrow night. We will catch up on our blog travels tomorrow night in NYC while I'm doing the laundry! One of the most incredible things happened today in Maine that we can't wait to tell. But for tonight, I must go to sleep - it is 2:30 am.
More tomorrow.
Jenny
We just left Maine today and stopped in Andover, MA to have dinner with Em's roommate Liz's parents. Patrice and Steve made us a great Lobster dinner and we very much enjoyed our visit - we headed out of Boston area about 11:30 and have just made it to Newport, Rhode Island, where we will venture out tomorrow before heading back to NYC tomorrow night. We will catch up on our blog travels tomorrow night in NYC while I'm doing the laundry! One of the most incredible things happened today in Maine that we can't wait to tell. But for tonight, I must go to sleep - it is 2:30 am.
More tomorrow.
Jenny
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Say No to the Poconos......
We really wanted to try to make it over to Niagara Falls on this trip - I've never been, and neither had Emily, but we just had limited time, and that would have taken us to west New York state, so we decided not to try it, but rather go to the "Niagara Falls of Pennsylvania" instead. On our way up the state up Pennsylvania, after leaving Amish Heaven (sadly, I might add, again) we landed in the Pocono Mountains and stayed over a night there, in Tannersville, PA. Em got her on her phone, looked up places to stay and found the "Chateau", overlooking the Poconos - and they had a great rate for the night! $86 - we were thrilled - we've been paying an average of $139 a night along our route, so that was gonna be our first hotel bargain!
Traveling north through Pennsylvania was beautiful - it is very rural countryside, much like most of New England, with the exception of the big cities that most are familiar with: NYC, Boston, Philadelphia, etc... Seems as though these people in this region of the country should kinda "spread out" a little - most are concentrated in those large cities, making for an abundance of charming, small New England towns. As with most small towns in America, work is hard to find, I guess, and there are few "farmers" left in America, so I guess everyone just flocks to where they live on top of each other and fight for space.
Back to the Poconos - we ended up at the "Chateau" about 11 pm - it is very dark in these "Poconos" so we were glad to get off the winding road that lead to what we thought was gonna be our dream stop - we were promised a balcony overlooking the mountains. I won't elaborate, cause it is not important, but it was no mountain view and the place was less than a chateau.....ha - our only bad choice in hotels, but we were tired, went to sleep, and woke up and hit the road out of the Poconos - we didn't leave anything there but wet towels from the shower - not even a good memory! LOL
More later........we are doing and seeing so much its getting hard to keep up! We were out of internet service for a day or two, so we are trying to catch up, but the road is calling us......we must get to Bar Harbor, Me and Acadia National Park today.......gotta start the car......hugs!
Nice People of the last few days....
So we're behind on blogging due to bad internet connections, but we wanted to make sure everyone knew of the nice people we have met in the last few days...
Pat Frazer in Boothbay, Maine: This sweet lady helped us at the Boothbay Harbor visitor's center. She was the cutest little lady - 82 years old and she has facebook and uses the internet all the time! She was so kind to us and got us great accommodations in Boothbay! She was our kinda grandma and if you are reading this Mrs. Frazer, add us to your facebook so we can be friends! Thanks for all you did for us in Boothbay.
Heather and Jessamy in Camden, Maine: They work at one of the cute shops in the harbor area of Camden and we just loved talking to them yesterday! Heather is from Maine and Jessamy is from England. Both super cute girls who told us stories of the local artists (one about a man who has only left his home island three times in his life - once to fight in WWII, once to visit a museum in Europe that was featuring his work, and now to stay in a retirement home). Jenny is mad that he had to leave his island home to go to a retirement home off the island - he didn't want to leave and someone in his family should have taken care of him ON the island which is where he wanted to be! Shame on them. He is 90 years old and still making cute buoys that he sells in this shop.
Kirsten, Tricia, and Suzannah in Boothbay, Maine: Kirsten came up to us while we were shopping in Boothbay Harbor, and told us we were really cute so of course we loved her from the start! She and two of her friends (who have 13 children between the 3 of them!) were here celebrating Kirsten's **th birthday and we had a blast talking to them and getting to know them! They loved our story, and we loved theirs, and hope they had a great time while they were here in Boothbay! These girls were soooo sweet, all Christian women, and not afraid to spread the word of God (we really liked that about them) and were from New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Hopefully we'll become facebook friends and meet them along life's way again one day.
Adam Green in Boothbay, Maine: Adam works at both of the inns where we have stayed in Boothbay Harbor, and he has been a tremendous help to us! Not only did he get us into two great rooms when we were looking last minute, he helped carry mom's massive suitcase up stairs and used pliers to get one of those security tags off of one of my new dresses (after we convinced him it was the store's fault for keeping it on and we weren't mom and daughter con-artists!). Adam goes WAYYY beyond the call of duty for a hotel clerk and we just love him. He use to be in the mortgage business, lost his job and moved to the area to begin anew. We think Adam has found what he needs to be doing - he needs to buy his own hotel and stay in the business. He is a very kind man.
We've not met ANY mean people on this trip and we love all the nice people who have crossed our path!
Pat Frazer in Boothbay, Maine: This sweet lady helped us at the Boothbay Harbor visitor's center. She was the cutest little lady - 82 years old and she has facebook and uses the internet all the time! She was so kind to us and got us great accommodations in Boothbay! She was our kinda grandma and if you are reading this Mrs. Frazer, add us to your facebook so we can be friends! Thanks for all you did for us in Boothbay.
Heather and Jessamy in Camden, Maine: They work at one of the cute shops in the harbor area of Camden and we just loved talking to them yesterday! Heather is from Maine and Jessamy is from England. Both super cute girls who told us stories of the local artists (one about a man who has only left his home island three times in his life - once to fight in WWII, once to visit a museum in Europe that was featuring his work, and now to stay in a retirement home). Jenny is mad that he had to leave his island home to go to a retirement home off the island - he didn't want to leave and someone in his family should have taken care of him ON the island which is where he wanted to be! Shame on them. He is 90 years old and still making cute buoys that he sells in this shop.
Kirsten, Tricia, and Suzannah in Boothbay, Maine: Kirsten came up to us while we were shopping in Boothbay Harbor, and told us we were really cute so of course we loved her from the start! She and two of her friends (who have 13 children between the 3 of them!) were here celebrating Kirsten's **th birthday and we had a blast talking to them and getting to know them! They loved our story, and we loved theirs, and hope they had a great time while they were here in Boothbay! These girls were soooo sweet, all Christian women, and not afraid to spread the word of God (we really liked that about them) and were from New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Hopefully we'll become facebook friends and meet them along life's way again one day.
Adam Green in Boothbay, Maine: Adam works at both of the inns where we have stayed in Boothbay Harbor, and he has been a tremendous help to us! Not only did he get us into two great rooms when we were looking last minute, he helped carry mom's massive suitcase up stairs and used pliers to get one of those security tags off of one of my new dresses (after we convinced him it was the store's fault for keeping it on and we weren't mom and daughter con-artists!). Adam goes WAYYY beyond the call of duty for a hotel clerk and we just love him. He use to be in the mortgage business, lost his job and moved to the area to begin anew. We think Adam has found what he needs to be doing - he needs to buy his own hotel and stay in the business. He is a very kind man.
We've not met ANY mean people on this trip and we love all the nice people who have crossed our path!
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Nice People WInners for Wednesday - New York State Troopers Saved our Butts
I'll have to type the story tomorrow night, cause I'm tired, but yesterday Em and I met two sweet NY State Troopers - the story is hilarious, but wanted to mention that we really appreciate Troopers Riley and McKeever for saving our butts last night in No Mans Land, New York.
You are the nicest people we met yesterday - WHoop WHoop - Thanks, Guys! Stay Safe!
The Amish have it going on.......I want to convert, but they won't let me....I asked.
Jenny:
I guess one never really understands a group of people so different than oneself, but I did do my social experimenting in Lancaster, PA yesterday and I was truly amazed at what I saw and heard on the streets of this most beautiful county in America. You would not believe the sheer beauty of this area. I've never seen anything like it in my 49 years, and it made me wonder if I landed on the part of the earth that I was destined for. I'm thinking I might should have been an Amish girl. I'm not quite as religious as this group of people, but I think they have it right - the whole "Live Simple" idea.
This part of the country, Lancaster County, PA, is spectacular to look at. The county is made up of a few towns, and we stayed in Lancaster, but visited Bird-in-Hand and Intercourse, PA - yes, Intercourse, PA - why it's named that? I don't know. But it must be embarrassing, because this area looks nothing like sex, it is filled with the most beautiful rolling hills and the landscape, as far as you can see, is dotted with huge farms and beautiful crops, land and farm animals. The homes of all of the people who live amongst each other in this area: the Amish, Mennonites and English people are huge.....they are well- kept and their barns, many of them huge dairy barns and farms are immaculate and well tended to. You can tell from what you see that these people take great pride in their land and savor the beauty of this area as well.
I know that there are many, many ways that I'm so different than the Amish, but in my lifetime I've wondered and questioned many of the ideals that they live from day to day. I find this group of Americans to be so interesting and I can't wait to read the 13 books I bought about them in every store I went in. LOL They very much live a different lifestyle than the majority, but their lives aren't what most people think.
There are two groups of "these people" in this area of Lancaster, PA: The Amish and the Mennonites. Most people group them all as "Amish", but they are not. There are many differences in these two groups that we learned about yesterday - but the basic differences that we learned about are:
Both groups came over to America by invitation of William Penn to escape religious persecution in the 1700's. They arrived by ship, many of them from the Dutch areas of the world. They have a distinct "Dutch" dialect, even today - none that we talked to had the traditional Pennsylvania accent - it was very Dutch. The Amish are more strict in their lifestyle - they do not have electricity, however, they do heat and light their homes with propane. The Mennonites do have electricity. They look the same - men with beards are married - no makeup for the women, all the males wear straw hats and the women and girls either where a bonnet or a net like thing on their hair that is long, but pulled up in a sort of bun. Many in both groups were barefoot - and we asked why and we were told that they have skin like leather and prefer to go barefoot in the summertime - even walking on the hot concrete, in the fields, in the stores, etc... Both groups are strictly religious - but the Amish children are taught all together in a one room schoolhouse in their communities and only go to school until the 8th grade - the Mennonites go to what we would call "normal" schools - they look like ours, but they, too, only go to the 8th grade. None of these people have an education about 8th grade, and at the completion of 8th grade, go back to work on the farms and help their parents - girls help with girl things, and boys help with the boy things. Both groups use horse and buggy for their transportation, but the Mennonites will and do have cars, and will ride in them. Amish will not. If they do have a car, the Mennonites, they will paint all the bumpers and chrome black. Neither group will willingly have their pictures taken, and will hide their head or turn their head if they see you taking their picture. I did get some darling kids in a buggy to wave at us and we took their picture from the back of the buggy we were following in the car. They were adorable. There is so much more to tell about these people, and I've been told to use Cliff Notes, and I just can't. So, if you wanna know more, ask me what I learned when I get home, or borrow my books.
My overall general impression of these people is that they are very sweet, humble, hard-working, religious, "of the earth", traditional, simple-life seeking people. They are weird - but weird is really just another word for "different". They seem very happy and content in their world and I was very impressed at how they all live in harmony with each other and the other "non-Amish or non-Mennonite" people in the county. We witnessed a car accident on the highway and the Amish people had stopped in their buggy and off their scooters and were parked alongside the firetrucks and policemen helping assist with the accident. It was a strange picture - but a nice one - yes, I took a picture of the scene and Emily thought it was nutty for me to do that - but, hey, I'm nutty. Bwahahaha.
I interviewed an Amish man on the street named "John" and was 30 years old and on his way home from work. He seemed very uneducated to me and Emily, and it was strange to be talking to a 30 year old with the social skills of an 8th grader, but that is their culture. He was very nice and answered all our questions, and went on his merry way. We asked to take his picture, and he said he couldn't let us, so I asked him if he had any family pictures at his house, and he said very few - I asked him how he would remember his grandparents, or other family and friends or how he keeps his memory bank without pictures, and he said it was all stored in his head and his heart. I asked him if I could convert to Amish for a couple of weeks, or if anyone ever converted, and he said no - you had to be born into it. Damn, it would have been fun for a week or two. LOL
We stopped at an Amish farm that was advertising that they were selling fresh apricots, and we stopped because 4 of the 7 Amish kids from this farm family were selling them and I wanted an Amish kid interview - the kids were so sweet - 2 girls, age 14 and 8, and two darling boys, age 2 and 4 - so dang cute running around in their straw hats, black pants and simple shirts and barefoot -Their dad was in the barn keeping an eye on us all - lol - he, too, was barefoot and working in the barn. The girls talked to us for a long time and the boys just smiled and giggled and kept waving at us - so cute - the 14 year old informed us that she just completed school for the rest of her life, and I was so sad thinking of all the experiences that Emily and Jared have had since 8th grade, and went to bed that night thinking of all the things that little girl will miss out on in life - but she seemed fine with her destiny and told us that she would be home with her mom and dad from now on helping on the farm and with the other 6 of her siblings. She was so sweet, and described the seed inside the apricot as a "stone", which we thought was interesting, as if her vocabulary was as limited as we expected. Her sister looked like a female Josh Starkey - I swear it had to be his kinfolk. The apricots were delicious, we bought a pint for $2.00 but gave them $5.00 and waved goodbye to them. I could have stayed all afternoon. Their farm was beautiful, and they all seemed very content with their simple life.
I could go on and on, but have to close, cause Em wants to make fun of me, I'm sure. LOL She said I give her material on an hourly basis. LOL
We left Lancaster (I didn't want to leave) and headed up to the Pocono Mountains in upstate NY. That was a mistake..........
More later.
Amish Sister in my heart,
Jenny
AKA Social Scientist
I guess one never really understands a group of people so different than oneself, but I did do my social experimenting in Lancaster, PA yesterday and I was truly amazed at what I saw and heard on the streets of this most beautiful county in America. You would not believe the sheer beauty of this area. I've never seen anything like it in my 49 years, and it made me wonder if I landed on the part of the earth that I was destined for. I'm thinking I might should have been an Amish girl. I'm not quite as religious as this group of people, but I think they have it right - the whole "Live Simple" idea.
This part of the country, Lancaster County, PA, is spectacular to look at. The county is made up of a few towns, and we stayed in Lancaster, but visited Bird-in-Hand and Intercourse, PA - yes, Intercourse, PA - why it's named that? I don't know. But it must be embarrassing, because this area looks nothing like sex, it is filled with the most beautiful rolling hills and the landscape, as far as you can see, is dotted with huge farms and beautiful crops, land and farm animals. The homes of all of the people who live amongst each other in this area: the Amish, Mennonites and English people are huge.....they are well- kept and their barns, many of them huge dairy barns and farms are immaculate and well tended to. You can tell from what you see that these people take great pride in their land and savor the beauty of this area as well.
I know that there are many, many ways that I'm so different than the Amish, but in my lifetime I've wondered and questioned many of the ideals that they live from day to day. I find this group of Americans to be so interesting and I can't wait to read the 13 books I bought about them in every store I went in. LOL They very much live a different lifestyle than the majority, but their lives aren't what most people think.
There are two groups of "these people" in this area of Lancaster, PA: The Amish and the Mennonites. Most people group them all as "Amish", but they are not. There are many differences in these two groups that we learned about yesterday - but the basic differences that we learned about are:
Both groups came over to America by invitation of William Penn to escape religious persecution in the 1700's. They arrived by ship, many of them from the Dutch areas of the world. They have a distinct "Dutch" dialect, even today - none that we talked to had the traditional Pennsylvania accent - it was very Dutch. The Amish are more strict in their lifestyle - they do not have electricity, however, they do heat and light their homes with propane. The Mennonites do have electricity. They look the same - men with beards are married - no makeup for the women, all the males wear straw hats and the women and girls either where a bonnet or a net like thing on their hair that is long, but pulled up in a sort of bun. Many in both groups were barefoot - and we asked why and we were told that they have skin like leather and prefer to go barefoot in the summertime - even walking on the hot concrete, in the fields, in the stores, etc... Both groups are strictly religious - but the Amish children are taught all together in a one room schoolhouse in their communities and only go to school until the 8th grade - the Mennonites go to what we would call "normal" schools - they look like ours, but they, too, only go to the 8th grade. None of these people have an education about 8th grade, and at the completion of 8th grade, go back to work on the farms and help their parents - girls help with girl things, and boys help with the boy things. Both groups use horse and buggy for their transportation, but the Mennonites will and do have cars, and will ride in them. Amish will not. If they do have a car, the Mennonites, they will paint all the bumpers and chrome black. Neither group will willingly have their pictures taken, and will hide their head or turn their head if they see you taking their picture. I did get some darling kids in a buggy to wave at us and we took their picture from the back of the buggy we were following in the car. They were adorable. There is so much more to tell about these people, and I've been told to use Cliff Notes, and I just can't. So, if you wanna know more, ask me what I learned when I get home, or borrow my books.
My overall general impression of these people is that they are very sweet, humble, hard-working, religious, "of the earth", traditional, simple-life seeking people. They are weird - but weird is really just another word for "different". They seem very happy and content in their world and I was very impressed at how they all live in harmony with each other and the other "non-Amish or non-Mennonite" people in the county. We witnessed a car accident on the highway and the Amish people had stopped in their buggy and off their scooters and were parked alongside the firetrucks and policemen helping assist with the accident. It was a strange picture - but a nice one - yes, I took a picture of the scene and Emily thought it was nutty for me to do that - but, hey, I'm nutty. Bwahahaha.
I interviewed an Amish man on the street named "John" and was 30 years old and on his way home from work. He seemed very uneducated to me and Emily, and it was strange to be talking to a 30 year old with the social skills of an 8th grader, but that is their culture. He was very nice and answered all our questions, and went on his merry way. We asked to take his picture, and he said he couldn't let us, so I asked him if he had any family pictures at his house, and he said very few - I asked him how he would remember his grandparents, or other family and friends or how he keeps his memory bank without pictures, and he said it was all stored in his head and his heart. I asked him if I could convert to Amish for a couple of weeks, or if anyone ever converted, and he said no - you had to be born into it. Damn, it would have been fun for a week or two. LOL
We stopped at an Amish farm that was advertising that they were selling fresh apricots, and we stopped because 4 of the 7 Amish kids from this farm family were selling them and I wanted an Amish kid interview - the kids were so sweet - 2 girls, age 14 and 8, and two darling boys, age 2 and 4 - so dang cute running around in their straw hats, black pants and simple shirts and barefoot -Their dad was in the barn keeping an eye on us all - lol - he, too, was barefoot and working in the barn. The girls talked to us for a long time and the boys just smiled and giggled and kept waving at us - so cute - the 14 year old informed us that she just completed school for the rest of her life, and I was so sad thinking of all the experiences that Emily and Jared have had since 8th grade, and went to bed that night thinking of all the things that little girl will miss out on in life - but she seemed fine with her destiny and told us that she would be home with her mom and dad from now on helping on the farm and with the other 6 of her siblings. She was so sweet, and described the seed inside the apricot as a "stone", which we thought was interesting, as if her vocabulary was as limited as we expected. Her sister looked like a female Josh Starkey - I swear it had to be his kinfolk. The apricots were delicious, we bought a pint for $2.00 but gave them $5.00 and waved goodbye to them. I could have stayed all afternoon. Their farm was beautiful, and they all seemed very content with their simple life.
I could go on and on, but have to close, cause Em wants to make fun of me, I'm sure. LOL She said I give her material on an hourly basis. LOL
We left Lancaster (I didn't want to leave) and headed up to the Pocono Mountains in upstate NY. That was a mistake..........
More later.
Amish Sister in my heart,
Jenny
AKA Social Scientist
Annoyances: Emily
Paper Maps: When I walk into your visitor’s center to ask you where I should go in your city for lunch, please don’t give me a paper map of your entire state or region that is longer than me. I cannot read them while sitting in my small Nissan Versa because my car is smaller than your map. What I hate the most is how many folds there are. Really? I am an educated individual and I cannot figure out how to get that map back to it’s original size. How do you expect some folks from Pennsylvanian to be able to? Just don’t. Don’t even unfold them in my presence because I do not want it. They just get thrown in my lap when we get in the car and then I’m expected to get out the map of New York to show where everything is then I can’t unfold it and fold it back to normal size. I HATE PAPER MAPS.
People who try to be nice but screw you over: If I ask if the hotel is smelly, don’t say no if it actually is. When I get there and find out it is smelly and you lied, I will hate you and resent you for your “niceness.” If you’re sending me to a place for lunch and describe it as a sandwich and soup joint, please make descriptions that indicate it is not like a McAlisters or Olive Garden. Please state that the restaurants bathrooms will be outside and no one with more than 10 teeth will be eating in our presence. If you have a “mountain view” room, please do not show fake pictures on the internet that look like your “resort” is in Aspen, Colorado. We will believe you and book a night there only to find out the “mountain view” is a hill with trees and a dumpster. Thank you for your niceness but if you’re not telling me the truth, just don’t be nice.
Smoking Hotel Rooms: I do not want to sleep in an astray. Sleeping in an astray is like sleeping on the USS Arizona in Pearl Harbor in 1941. You have about the same chance of coming out alive. You know when you fall asleep in your “smoking” hotel room that there’s a chance you might wake up but there’s more of a chance you will not. If you do wake up, everything you own will smell like said ashtray, also your mom will not have to go down the elevator to step outside to smoke. At least you’re risking your life for love.
Smoking in the car: I like my lungs. I don’t take great care of my liver, so I need the lungs to function as best as possible. Therefore, when there is not even 2 feet separating us in a very small rent car, please blow your smoke out of the window. Please make sure you are damaging mother nature’s lungs and not mine.
Smoking breaks: If you must take a smoking break every 20 minutes, please don’t spend 10 minutes preparing for your smoke break. Have your cancer sticks ready. Place them in a specific pocket in your purse where you know they will always be and you can reach your hand in there and in 5 seconds have your cigarettes. Also, keep your lighter with your cigs. It only makes sense. This way, instead of having to stop, bend down, put the purse down in a steady location, unzip the purse, take everything out of your purse, find the cigs, and then find the lighter, put everything back in the purse, take 5 minutes to get off the ground while you breath with your inhaler, grab your phone to check your facebook, then light up, have me give you the diet coke I’ve been holding for you all day, and now you’re balancing a diet coke, cigs, and a cell phone in 2 hands, and finally, after 20 minutes of preparing to cut 1 year off of your life with each cig you smoke, “we can walk now.” I HATE SMOKING BREAKS.
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