A visit to the Flax Barn Sale

 

The only thing on the docket for today was a long drive to Wampsville, NY for the Flax Barn Sale.  Two years ago, I scored several dresses, tops and bottoms for a dirt cheap price.  This year, Vicki and I decided to do it again while RQS was in Philadelphia with her cousin.  Yet, neither of us expected the drive to be as long as it was.  But then, Vicki was following speed limits to the letter.  (I wonder if she got a ticket recently - I'm not going to ask her....)

I woke up around 8 am, with only 4 hours of sleep.  Yet, I was ready for Vicki on time - 10 am.  There was no way that Vicki wanted to stop to eat until lunch time, so she offered me a protein bar to stave off any hunger pains until we sat down for lunch.  About 1 1/2 hours later, we stopped at a Thruway rest area and paid almost $20 for a Burger King meal - something that off the Thruway would cost $12-$13.  Ouch.  Neither of us finished our meal, and continued onward  for another 2 hours for another bio-break.  This time, Vicki picked up some Dunkin' Doughnut Holes, small 1 bite doughnut pieces that could temporarily stave off hunger pains until we got something serious to eat.

Eventually, we made it to the barn sale, and we started going through boxes of garments, looking for things that would fit us.  On my side of the tent, some women were stripping down to their undies to try on clothes.  (The only male in the tent was on the far other side, manning the cash register.)  Even if I had a cisgender female's body, I doubt I'd want to show myself in my underwear to other women.  This is not a gym locker room, nor is it the Syms (a defunct store) women's dressing area.  Vicki bought 4 garments for herself, and several for her friends.  I bought 1 outfit for myself, and a light linen dress I could wear this summer. 

We started home around 4-4:30 pm, and I changed into something comfortable at the first thruway rest area.  (I was wearing a unitard, so that I could try on clothes without stripping down to my underwear.)  Once in a more comfortable dress, we traveled for the next 2-3 hours until we reached Hudson, NY for dinner.  I looked for an affordable place, and found Savona's.    It's a good, stick to your ribs Italian joint, but not one you'd call a "Red Sauce" joint - even though it serves many of the red sauce joint specialties.  While waiting for our food, Vicki and a man at a neighboring bar seat got into a long winded chat.  (She wanted to end the chat earlier, but he couldn't stop once started.)   occupied myself by playing a game on my phone.  When the food came, we realized that after we finished, that we would go home with leftovers enough for a small meal.  (Both of us would go there again tomorrow if it weren't 2 hours away.)

Having left the restaurant, it took us another 2 hours to get home.  Vicki was getting tired, and I could see that in the way she was reacting to idiots on the road.  So, I was glad when she dropped me off at 11, knowing that she'd be in her own bed by midnight....

Bermuda Triangle Cruise 2026 - Bermuda Day #1 (04/18/26)

 

Bermuda, at last!  We'll only have 24 hours at this port, but it is a 24 hour period where we can enjoy ourselves on land, as well as pick up a few items we could use at the local store.

But first....

Neither of us wanted to get up this morning, so we slept in until 11 am again.  By the time we were ready to go out of the room, it was lunch time.  So, it was off to the Galley and wait for our food to be delivered.

The Galley was crowded for lunch, so we ended up finding a seat at the rear of the ship.  From the moment we sat down, we could see Bermuda coming up in the distance.  By the time we were done with lunch, we were passing by the parish of St. George (Do I say town? county? What to Bermudians call this subsection of the archipelago?) on our way to the Dockyard area.

We arrived in port at 2:45, and were able to get off the ship at 3:00 pm.  (One catch, we had to stay on "ship time" and not "island time", as Bermuda is in the Atlantic time zone, and the ship remained on Eastern.  Staying in the Dockyard area, we browsed a few shops before returning to the ship.

Once back on the ship, we killed time before making it to the ship's Italian eatery.  We ate way too much food, and all of it was tasty.  (It was not as good as some of our favorite NYC Italian joints.  But then, we live in NYC and have a plethora of great Italian eateries.  So it would be an unfair comparison to consider ranking this place against our favorite eateries.)

It was a good day.  And I'm hoping that the rest of our remaining time in Bermuda will be just as good. 

 

 

 

Lasagna - a dish Garfield and I both love.

 

Today, it was lunch with CCS in Ossining.  Given that I hadn't seen her in a month, I was hoping for a quiet time at a "Red Sauce Joint" in Ossining.  That was not to be, given the loud table behind me making it hard for us to have a nice conversation.

But first...

I had some new clothes to wear today.  So after shaving, showering, and applying makeup, I decided to wear them.  First was the sports bra from Rainbeau Curves.  That fit well.  But the leggings were one size too small.  (I'll save them for when I shrink a size - they were cheap enough to gamble on.)  Over this was another tunic dress from J.C.Penney.  I looked good when I drove to the restaurant.

CCS and I arrived at the same time.  It was crowded for a change, and we ended up sitting too close to the group of friends/office workers (?) who were talking loudly.  I couldn't hear CCS, and I had to ask her to repeat herself many a time.  We talked about politics, health issues, family, and other things of note.  At least, the Lasagna was as good as usual, and I had enough for leftovers.  Yet, I could barely keep track of the chat due to the noise behind me.  But the crowd left before we finished our meal, and we had a few quiet minutes before we, ourselves, had to leave.

After dinner, I went home to relax.  I made a couple of appointments with friends - one for coffee with a co-op board member, and the other with a friend from Dover Plains that I haven't seen in ages.  This will keep me busy for a while.