AN OVERCAST "ONLY A GAME" MORNING

Hiking the Lake Erie Shore

Mouth of Chautauqua Creek

Ice Mounds Along Lake Erie

Chautauqua Creek 

7:00

Awoke around 5:40, way to early, but stayed in bed till 6:00, just in time to listen to 'Click and Clack.'  I was able to see lights along Lake Side Drive, which is unusual, most likely because I am up so early.  It's 21º, won't  get much warmer, with a chance of snow, a light dusting on our car last night.  I just noticed a solitary fisherman out in the middle of the lake, just to the south of our house.

Yesterday was a different day, as we went to Westfield, as Evie had her mammogram. I dropped her off and went into town, stopping at a small coffee shop restaurant called Beth's.  Nothing much to speak of, no charm, but Beth was very friendly, seemed to be starting out in the business.  She told me about the luncheon menu, home made manicotti and she also had a pork roast in the oven, for Cuban sandwiches.  I had a cup of coffee, read for a while, then went to the Patterson Library, to browse the new books section, finding little which interested me.  Evie texted me, so I went to pick her up and we drove down to Barcelona, the harbor on Lake Erie.  To our surprise, Jake's Drive In was not only open for lunch, but the parking lot was full.  We parked down the street, and walked across the parking lot to the Lake Erie coast.  The shoreline was all ice, like ten foot mountains, then frozen lake, and open water about 100 yards from the shoreline.  It was as I remember as a boy growing up in Euclid.  I used to love to climb along this banks of ice, pretending to be a pioneer, braving the winter.  Despite the wind, we decided to walk the beach, as it was energizing, and beautiful in its own way, so different from the shore line of Lake Chautauqua.  We walked past various empty cottages and homes, some quite nice, till we reached the open water of the mouth of Chautauqua Creek, emptying into the lake.  It's the same creek we swim in when we hike Chautauqua Gorge.  We found a path that led along the creek, obviously for anyone who wanted to fish, and we followed it south to Rt. 5.  We then cut down a road, back to the lake, and went back to our parked car, faces red and cold from the wind, happy to get back in our car.

Lunch at Beth's

We could not make up our minds where to eat, whether at Jake's, where I have eaten a couple of times, or try Beth's.  The Cuban sandwich at Beth's won out, was really good, and Evie had a chicken salad on a  croissant.  We could not leave Westfield without stopping at Portage Pie, talking to the owner, and buying a raspberry pie for dinner, even taking a picture.  We drove home, stopping at Mayville Hardware to pick up another sled, our fourth, stopped at Topp's for vanilla ice cream for the pie, and some other groceries for dinner.  A good morning, as it always seems like adventure when we hike some place different.

At Portage Pie

We relaxed in the afternoon, gearing up for dinner.  Evie is really getting into home made pasta, so she put together the dough around 5:30, then she put together my daughter Beth's vodka pasta sauce, a rich sauce with cream, spices, onions, and of course, some vodka.  I peeled about a pound of shrimp; next Evie sauteed the shrimp briefly in butter and garlic, then added them to the sauce.  Meanwhile, the dough had rested for about thirty minutes, so she then put it through the pasta machine till it was thin enough (5), then through the spaghetti  disk.  We dropped it in boiling water for about two and a half minutes, added it to the sauce, and voila, we had a great vodka and shrimp pasta. No salad, no bread, just lots of shrimp and fresh pasta.

Home Made Pasta

We watched a movie, THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL,  a light comedy, set in India with a great cast, Judy Dench, Maggie Smith, and Tom Wilkerson. It follows the lives of six elderly Brits, all  retired and almost penniless, who decide  their lives need change, so they go to live in Jaipur, India, in the Marigold Hotel, a struggling, run down place run by a young Indian, the male star of the movie Slumdog Millionaire.  Conflicts arise, couples pair up, some love it, others hate it, but all's well that ends well.  We liked it and it reminded us of another favorite,  Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont, also about aging women who finds a new life when life  brings change.  The highlight of the evening, however, was the brief interlude when we had our raspberry pie with vanilla ice cream, the best.  I cannot wait till tonight when we have pie again.