Clambake Saturday: A Friday Morning Hike at Panama Rocks

The Boys

Evie and The Good Mac

Evie and DC

Another morning of wonder, that we are living on this lake, enjoying the early morning sunrise, as our day begins, a full day, a drive to Euclid, to the traditional Holzheimer clambake, my sister's home on the shore of Lake Eire, with family.  Our families have been having clambakes since the 1950's, perhaps earlier but that's as far back as I can remember.  Cleveland is the clambake capital of the US other than, I assume, parts of the East Coast.  Cannot wait  for that clam broth, followed by bags of clams, sweet potatoes, chicken and corn.  Wow.

Yesterday we started with coffee, as we enjoyed the early morning with our friends from the East.  We could not decide on our morning, wondering whether to go out for breakfast.  But we decided to go for a hike around  Panama Rocks, an amazing natural formation of cliffs, rocks, crevices and gorges, about a half hour from our house.  And Evie thought it would be more fun to eat at home, which it was.  She made us a Turkish menemen, or omelet, and some of her homemade pumpkin bread, both just what we all wanted wanted.

We drove to Panama, arriving around 10:30, talked with the owners, whom we had met at the Blue Heron Music Festival back in July.  I bought year passes for 2015 for Evie and me because it's a fun hike.  We got a map, followed its course, with the various outcroppings numbered and named, which makes it interesting.  Mac and Dale loved the hike, fairly easy except for some hidden rocks and tree roots on the leaf covered paths.  We did not do as much scrambling on the rocks as I did earlier in the summer with my grandchildren, as they are a bit more agile then us golden agers.  Still, it was a fine way to spend a Friday morning, perfect weather, leaves almost at their peak, and cool temperatures.  We then drove home and I took them for a quick tour of the Chautauqua Institution since we would not have time to walk it.  We stopped at the bookstore, and Mac bought a  cap, Dale a book, and Evie some earrings.  We were home by 12:30, just in time for lunch.  Evie had made up some Italian minestrone soup Thursday morning, so we had that along with toasted cheese.  The guys left for Hudson around 1:30, vowing to come back next year for two nights.  It was a fun twenty four hours with our good friends from Reserve.

Panama Rocks

Following The  Trail Map

Amazing Tree Roots

Our Good Friend, Eighty Year Old Dale

Friends, Teachers, Coaches

The rest of the day was a loss, as we just hung out, did some reading, watched TV, and cleaned up the breakfast and lunch dishes.  Evie has decided to start using our dishwasher instead of me, so we have been soaking some of the parts in vinegar, trying to clean it, and working with the gaskets which are brittle.  It seems to be working well, so that's a good thing.  Late afternoon, Evie went back to the Chautauqua Bookstore, to buy some items for the treasure chest that were on sale.

We then relaxed in our living room, with cheese, crackers and wine, enjoying a relaxing evening at home after three busy nights.  We had the left over shrimp pasta for dinner, just as good as the night before, watched some TV and went to bed earlier than usual.

We drive to Euclid around 2:00,  for a family clam bake, and will spend the night at my sister's house on Lake Erie.  It looks like a good day for a bake, perhaps a bit cool but better than last years heavy winds and rain, forcing everyone in the house.

7:22 a.m.