thanksgiving pilgrimage

Those pilgrims sure were onto something 377-some-odd years ago when they decided to hold their first Thanksgiving in Massachusetts. At least we think Thanksgiving in Massachusetts is pretty darn nice.

Like millions of other New Yorkers, we high-tailed it out of the city in favor of a holiday in the country. We took a train north to Western Massachusetts to spend a few days with my Uncle Joel and Aunt Colleen in the Berskshires and had a fabulous time. I'm a little short on time to write right now, but I suppose that's okay since we didn't do much more than do a lot of eating and a lot of relaxing... an ideal getaway, really. But here are a few highlights of the trip:

people in attendance: Aside from Blake, Garrett, and myself, we also spent the holiday with Courtney, a friend of Joel and Colleen's from their Minnesota days. She is also a fairly recent transplant to NYC, and is a really fun girl. Garrett loved her. Seriously. He spent all of his spare time flirting with her. I wish I'd gotten a picture because it was most adorable.

food consumed: Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes (both russet and sweet), whole cranberry sauce (soooo good -- and this from a girl who doesn't usually care for cranberries), orange rolls (um, I don't think it's possible to even begin to describe how delicious these were), pie (lemon meringue and pumpkin), more pie, corn, sauteed mushrooms, pineapple and oranges, and celery and olives. There was probably more, but at the moment I can't be sure. But you get the idea...we ate well. Garrett was a little upset he couldn't participate in the feasting, so he cried through most of the dinner. Guess it didn't phase him that I purposefully fed him sweet potatoes (which he loved) in honor of the holiday. (He did, however, thankfully sleep through most of the dinner preparations, which was an enormous help.)

games played: Dominoes and Settlers of Cataan.

games won by Aunt Colleen: Dominoes and Settlers of Cataan.

books read: I finally started plowing through The Epic of New York City, which I've had checked out from the library lo these many weeks but always got put on the backburner. Fascinating read, though. Did you know that the site of Manhattan's Broadway was once an Algonquin-Iroquois warpath?

outings: The Berkshire Museum's Festival of Trees exhibit. The Pittsfield Ward (with Aunt Colleen being one of the star players) decorated a tree, so we went to go see it. Also made a trip to JoAnn Fabrics (because buying fabric here in the City Where You Can Find Anything has proved a little too challenging for my energy supply), and now I'm equipped with the goods to make sashes to tie back our curtains. And on Thanksgiving night, Colleen, Courtney and I took advantage of the crisp but beautiful November New England weather and took a nice walk through the neighborhood.

pictures taken: We didn't take too many pictures, mostly because we were too busy relaxing. But here are few that were snapped:

Waiting for our train in a busy Grand Central Station

Garrett playing with his toys while the rest of us prepared the feast

Aunt Colleen with the Pittsfield Ward tree at the Festival of Trees

Garrett enjoying some dad time