Photo Gallery
2024
The year Bruce retired.
Bruce got the new car itch late lastyear. Even though he loved his 2016 Hyndai Santa Fe Sport, it just didn't have the right tech to satisfy him. Sure it was gorgeous, ran perfectly and was fun to drive, as well as quite comfortable. And he really loved that panoramic sunroof. But it was also 8 years old and so was its technology. He'd been eyeing the Toyota Venza for a while and had just learned that 2024 would be its last production year. So, he went to test drive it and found the right one.
In early November, Eileen and Bruce took another trip to Napa, CA, both to visit their eldest child and to hit the wineries yet again. They spent some time looking at houses and really fell in love with the quaint town of Yountville, where they both imagined living one day (sorry, no pics from there). They independently toured Bouchaine, Hall, and Jarvis wineries and also a chauffered day trip with Platypus Tours, something they had first done in 2015.
In early October, Eileen and Bruce took a trip to Wilmington, DE, to visit one of her high school friends, Wendy Elkis Girnis and her husband, Phil. Bruce had been working with Wendy and other Hicksville NY friends on their hometown website, hixnews.com for almost 2 years, so she's really now their friend. They took us on a historic tour of the area on a beautiful early October day. Later that evening, we all celebrated (for like the 10th time) Eileen's 65th birthday with wine tasting and dinner out. The next day, Eileen and Bruce visited the somewhat nearby Longwood Gardens, where they hadn't been since the early 90s.
Why deal with all the headaches of boat ownership when you can charter one for an afternoon and then go home and relax? Better yet, why not just go with your friends who like to do that when they invite you? We had the privilege to do just that on a sunny Saturday in November with our awesome friends and neighbors, the Kellmans. The water has such a calming effect, doesn't it? We happened to hit a weekend when there was a regatta.
Once in a while, someone has to be a little spoiled (not saying who). So on a really nice September weekend we decided that for our visit with Rachel, we'd get a hotel on the beach. After all, it beach season was pretty much over and hotel prices had come down. We enjoyed a relaxing couple days in a room with a view.
It wouldn't be right to exclude photos of Rachel from this year's gallery. After the whole hospitalization ordeal early this year, it's been a pretty good year for her.
When Eileen retired from AFPM, they gave her a truly impressive going away present: a gift certificate for dinner at The Inn at Little Washington. This is a Michelin 3-star restaurant, only one of a handful in the entire country. It's located about an hour west of our home in Vienna VA. Washington, VA, is a teensie-tinesee town that's all of 3 blocks square. Base price for dinner there is around $400 per person, and that doesn't include wine pairings or gratuities.
We decided to go there during peak foliage season, which made staying at The Inn unaffordable (for us). Instead, we stayed at Foster Harris House at the other end of town.
You can walk the entire town in under an hour unless you visit some of the historic museums or have brunch at one of the few restaurants there (all of them are superb). We highly recommend Patty O's for brunch and would travel there just to have brunch on the patio on a weather-permitting day, when they have live bluegrass musicians playing.
Dining at The Inn was truly an experience I wish everyone could have once in their lives. And we got an unexpected surprise when Martha Stewart and a few of her friends were seated at the table just across the aisle from ours. It was a very memorable weekend.
Eileen absolutely loved her 2019 Ford Fusion Hybrid Titianium. But they'd had it since August 2019 and it was starting to have electrical issues, draining the battery overnight. The dealer couldn't figure out the issue, and they'd taken it in for the problem 4 times. Enough was enough. So Bruce insisted a new car was in order. Choices were narrowed-down to Toyota Camry and Lexus ES. Guess which one Eileen liked better.
Not even one week after getting the Lexus, Eileen was in CA visiting her sister, Sue, when Bruce took the car out to run an errand and forgot the loaner (a 2023 Bronco) from the Ford dealer was parked in the driveway. He backed the Lexus right into the Bronco, inflicting minor damage to both cars. It's Christmas Eve as I write this, and the Lexus is still in the body shop.