Back from a Coast to Coast Travel Interlude

I'm going to interrupt my Rocky Mountain National Park posts to tell you why I've been rather quiet the past two weeks, both on this blog and commenting on your blog.  I was traveling! I had a rare break from full-time babysitting of my granddaughter during the week, to take two back to back trips--one to beautiful San Diego, California, and one to upstate New York, where we attended the wedding of our friend's daughter.

California is one of my favorite states to visit--I have written almost 50 posts about this state that you can see under the label: California. When my husband had a business convention to attend in San Diego I was excited to be able to accompany him!  This was my third visit to San Diego--you can see my prior posts about it under this specific label: San Diego.

I think my photo collage tells the story of why I love this city so much. (You can enlarge this photo and all photos on this post by clicking on them once, and then clicking on it again to see it enlarge to full size).  It really is a paradise on earth! It's year-round moderately warm temperature keeps it in bloom, and it's blue skies and Pacific Ocean Bay waters give it an azure glow. It is also a large US Navy base, so there are always carriers and other Navy ships in the bay to see, and I was fortunate enough to see a submarine changing crew out in the bay when I went on a seal boat tour. The city's historic Gaslamp District has some amazing restaurants, and I happily indulged in as much seafood as I could! I also finally heard a free organ concert at Balboa Park that is held every Sunday at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion-- one of the largest outdoor pipe organs in the world!

One of my favorite places to visit in San Diego is Coronado Island, located across the Coronado Bridge, and where the magnificent historic Hotel Del Coronado is located. You can read a prior post I wrote about the hotel at this link. The hotel is celebrating it's 125 anniversary this year! I enjoyed walking along the beach and dipping my feet into the Pacific Ocean again. It is always fun to see the creative sand castle structures that are usually on the beach--there were even some festive sand pumpkins!

I was also able to visit the nearby valley town of Temecula, on a full day wine tasting tour of three different wineries.

After leaving California, my husband and I flew across the country into JFK airport in Queens. We then rented a car and spent the night at my brother and sister-in-law's home on Long Island. The next day we drove upstate New York to Rhinebeck, where we would be attending a wedding weekend.

The further north we drove the more colorful the early autumn foliage became. It was such a  pleasant drive!

We stayed in the historic Delamater Inn in Rhinebeck. The Delamater was erected in 1844 and was designed by one of America's first architects, Alexander Jackson Davis, and is considered one of the finest examples of American Carpenter Gothic.

The Delamater Inn is part of the Beekman Arms Inn-- established in 1766, it is the oldest continuously running inn in America. It once housed Revolutionists George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and Alexander Hamilton. It was here that Aaron Burr and Hamilton exchanged insults that lead to their famous duel and Hamilton's death!  Franklin Delano Roosevelt began every one of his political campaigns from the front porch of the Beekman Arms Inn. You can read more about the history of the inn at this link. Rhinebeck is full of historic buildings, including the Rhinebeck Reformed Church which you can see on the right of the photo collage above. It was established in 1731 by Dutch settlers who formed Dutchess County, New York. They were having an apple pie festival on the weekend we visited, and we bought two pies to bring back to our NYC families.

The town of Rhinebeck is a wonderful destination! It's scenic tree-lined streets and slate sidewalks lead to charming specialty shops on the avenues, and a multitude of Victorian style houses on the surrounding streets

I could not resist taking photos of some of the delightful houses in the town. Each and everyone was well maintained and very appealing!

There were many autumn touches everywhere I looked, and I felt fortunate to be here during one of my favorite seasons.

Of course, the best part of the wedding weekend was the gorgeous wedding my friend's daughter had in nearby Germantown, New York. Her ceremony took place on the banks of the Hudson River on a spectacular autumn afternoon. They had their reception in a large tent on the historic property they rented for the day, with dancing in the refurbished barn space. My friend Rosemary not only made her daughter's dress by hand but all the decorations! Yes, she made these paper chandeliers, the wedding arch and even the linens for the tables.  She is such a marvel!  It was a stunningly gorgeous wedding!

I'm now back home in Colorado, enjoying watching my neighborhood's aspen trees turn their fabulous shades of autumn gold! Unfortunately, I also came home with a bad cold which knocked me out a few days with sinus headaches and a cough. After babysitting all day all I had the energy for was to go to sleep. Thankfully, I'm all better now and will be catching up with you all as much as possible.

I hope you are enjoying this beautiful autumn season, wherever you live!