Summer roundup and wind down.

Winding down in La Jolla

After the big trip to Portugal in May, for the rest of the summer I only traveled domestically. I also acted domestically, staying in my COVID-improved home, watering the plants in my COVID-improved back yard. I rejoined my local pool and tennis club and put it to good use. Once I complimented one of my father’s friends in Maine on his tan, and he said, “You can either work, or you can work on tan.” Now that I’m not working, I am working on tan. I’ve also heard that it’s very good for you to lie in the sun. 

Binny Clark, Dudley Orr, Tony Orr, Poppy Shirley, Ellen Clark, Jim Shirley

In June I went to a Warren family memorial service in New Boston, New Hampshire. I got to see several relatives I hadn’t seen in years and meet new ones. I represent the last of the Warrens, well the last one with the last name of Warren. But I've known the importance of keeping my "maiden" name since I told my pediatrician of my plans. Cousin Rhoda’s house has 24 rooms, and is filled with Warren history, antiques and artwork. We had endless cousin convos on the front lawn wearing lap blankets. So very New England-y. I stayed at a hotel called The Grand at the Bedford Village Inn which was indeed grand. 

Pretty little New Hampshire

In June Darr and I finally got COVID. I know this is not travel, but it’s travel-related, because it was as a result of travel. One of my best friends flew from England to attend a wedding in New Jersey, then she came to DC and we had hearty hugs since we hadn’t seen each other in two years because of COVID, and then she got COVID, and then we got COVID. Many of the delayed-by-COVID weddings this year have turned into super spreaders. They might as well be passing out COVID in the wedding guest welcome bags. 

The newlyweds Max Cohn and Britt Veres, Lareau Farm Inn 

Our cousins had their [COVID-free] wedding in Waitsfield, Vermont in July and Darr and I were both sort of dazzled by Vermont's beauty and pastoral serenity. We stayed at the Sugarbush Resort which seemed entirely focused on the ski season. As a non-skier it looked like I might be missing out on some exhilarating fun. But I’m also missing out on fractured bones and head injuries. Plus, skiing doesn’t fit into my “never pay to be cold” philosophy. 

A walk in the country (Warren,Vermont) 

Vermont has many charms, including the cool verdant landscape, dotted with hills and ponds and lakes and cows. An outdoor wedding in July in Vermont can usually be planned with a high degree of confidence about nice weather. Not this July. Climate Change had other plans. Unprecedented highs for Vermont in the 90’s. But I was with my closest relatives and there was love, love, love all around. 

Julia Cohn at the wedding

We just had to do this. Ben and Jerry's Factory

Aviva Stein, Nancy Marshall, Betty MacKenzie, and Dee Kricker, Waltham

In August I flew to Boston and drove to Hingham to meet a new cousin, Lexington to stay with old cousins, and then Waltham with three of my Warren cousins to learn more about our ancestor Cornelia Warren. 

New cousin Kathy Peloquin, Hingham

One day by sheer serendipity, I came upon a website about Cornelia Warren who was a major philanthropist and benefactor to the community of Waltham. Local high school student Aviva Stein was puzzled about why she could find so little information on this heroic woman and developed the website. Typically, Cornelia had been overshadowed by her better known brothers. (For more, read The Mt. Vernon Street Warrens.) But Aviva, together with Dee and Betty and Nancy of the Girl Scout Museum of Eastern Massachusetts want to change all that and even erect a statue in Cornelia's honor. They invited us to lunch and a tour of the estate and showed how much Cornelia had done for their community. 

Nancy Marshall and cousins Lisa Hoag, Heather Powers, and Poppy Shirley in the Girl Scout Museum

Franky at Golden Gate Park

In August I went to see Franky in Berkeley. I stayed at the bougie-est of bougie hotels, the Claremont Club and Spa. It reminded me slightly of the hotel in The Shining, and the many black and white photos of its old banquets and galas only added to this feeling. But the renovation and modernization of this hotel has covered every square inch.  I envisioned us lying by the pool with drink and snack service, getting spa treatments, renting movies, and ordering room service. Then I remembered I don’t have a girl! I have a boy, and a nature boy at that. 

Claremont lobby

Franky wanted to show me the great outdoors. And he took me out and walked me like a dog, 11 miles in Redwood Regional Park, the first day, 8 miles in the city the next, and then 9 miles on our last day in Marin. And it was all beautiful, and my nature boy explained how to listen to the trees, how to smell the flowers, how to look up into the sky and see a changing kaleidoscope of leaves, how to find a secluded spot for writing or meditating. 

Franky at San Francisco Botanical Garden

I enjoyed feeding my child, one of a mother’s primary responsibilities. We had a delicious breakfast at Rick and Ann’s. We had dinner at the high end vegan restaurant Millenium. It was good, but call me old fashioned, I’d just like the sausage in my pasta to be sausage instead of a plant posing as a sausage. The wax beans were outstanding, though.  Saturday we went into Haight Ashbury and, after a climb, found ourselves in the oldest park in San Francisco, Buena Vista Park, established in 1867. I swore I could still smell patchouli oil from the sixties. 

From there we went to Golden Gate Park for the free tour of the San Francisco Botanical Garden. But sadly, it did not materialize despite being promoted on the website. People have told me that you can’t believe everything you read on the internet, but until now I wasn’t convinced. 

We had a late lunch, yummy fish tacos at Cholita Linda in Oakland, and then got ice cream at the Curbside Creamery located in the hip and happening Temescal Alley which had cool stores and cool people. On our last day we had lunch at Gregoire, a French café in Berkeley which features potato puffs, say no more. Then we went to the Tennessee Valley in Marin where we took the Fox Trail which was a solidly uphill climb. Even Franky found it steep. I told him he had finally found a way to silence his mother. 

We finished the trip with a delicious breakfast at East Bay Provisions at the hotel and got to see a daughter of a dear friend.

With Jane Easton and Franky at Provisions

La Jolla Coast Walk Trail

I finished the week in La Jolla which I’ve described many times in this blog but I don’t think I have ever described it as hot. Normal San Diego weather is mid-70s in February and mid-70s in June, but not this year. When the San Diego weather app reports a high of 82 degrees it’s accompanied by an “extreme heat warning.”  Really.  The Beiser pool was a solar powered 105 degrees when we arrived. I spent many hours watching The US Open. I love watching The US Open. But just like the ticking of the 60 Minutes clock reminding us the next day is Monday, if the US Open is underway, it always means one thing. Summer is over.  Bye-bye summer, see you next year.

La Jolla