Stopover at Presque Isle/Friday in Painesville, Ohio with Virpi and

Oliver Hazzard Perry Memorial, Presque Isle

Erie, PA, from Presque Isle

Beach at Presque Isle

We spent Friday evening watching Ohio University lose a close one to North Carolina, in overtime, a game we could have won with a little luck.  We drove in to Painesville, Ohio, to watch it with our good friend Vi, a fanatical Bobcat fan.  She really went out of her way to make us feel at home, had a great dinner ready for us when we arrived, a lasagna, baked broccoli casserole, salad, and a fruit crisp for dessert with ice cream.  Since her husband died in November, she does not cook a lot for herself, so, as she said, she slaved away the previous day, to get everything ready for us.  Her hospitality was unmatched and made us feel so welcome.

Vi with her new bar of Cougar Soap, compliments of Evie

We watched the game together and though it looked like a easy win for NC at first, OU caught fire, went ahead with two minutes to go, had a chance to win it with a foul shot, then lost in overtime.  For a while there, Evie and Vi were up out of their seats screaming with excitement as OU almost pulled off the biggest upset of the tournament.  Of course, we caught up on all the gossip, about Vi's life now, her wonderful daughter and two grandchildren, and news about other Bobcats who graduated with us and played basketball.  She sure loves the school, follows them much more avidly than us, has for years with Lloyd, her husband, and keeps in touch with the other players.  We also talked at halftime with one of my teammates, Paul Storey, who lives in Dallas.  He also lost a spouse about two years ago, so he and Vi have developed quite a nice friendship over the phone, as they both really have the need to have someone to talk with.  Both are good talkers and listeners.  Paul was here this summer for a few days, before going off to visit Lloyd and Vi just before he went into the hospital.

Vi and TD

I was up at 6:00, as usual in Painesville,  made coffee in Vi's old fashioned standing Farberware coffee pot, the kind that needs no filter, and she pulled a breakfast casserole of eggs, flour and sugar out, baked it  and we had it for breakfast with maple syrup, quite filling and good.  We sat and talked  till about 10:00 I would say, then we headed into Chagrin, to stop at Trader Joe's and pick up some goodies for the lake, all the things that we have a hard time getting at Wegman's.  We got home about 2:00, to gray skies, drizzle and 65 degrees outside.

I forgot to mention that on our way in yesterday, we drove to Presque Isle State Park, just west of Erie, PA.  We had never been there, though it's only an hour away.  It's about a 10-15 mile long peninsula which curves out over the city of Erie, with a driving loop as well as a bike path that goes around the entire peninsula.  There are lots of parking lots to pull off, to enjoy a picnic, and the western shore of the lake looks much like pictures I have seen of the Outer Banks, with huge bluffs and extensive sandy beaches, about as nice as I have seen on Lake Eire.  It's definitely worth returning, for a hike, to kayak, to ride or rent bikes, or just to swim and picnic in the summer.  Also, there's a huge water and amusement park called Waldemeer just before you enter the park proper, so there's that to enjoy as well.  There were lots of people walking, riding bikes, skating or just picnicking though the temperature had to be twenty degrees cooler than at Chautauqua, with a brisk wind, making us wish we had dressed warmer.  We decided to just drive around rather than walk because of it.
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