PA & OH May 2009

The waiter is about to serve the cake.

Near him, Mary Ann’s friend David is at the near head of the table. To his left are cousins Rose and Marilyn, then Aunt Mary, cousins Mary Ann and Ronald. On David’s right are Bob and Valerie, Mischel, chairs for me and Theresa, with Randy at the foot of the table.

Friday, May 8

We flew American from San Jose to Dallas to Pittsburgh, rented a car, and drove to the new Sheraton in Erie, getting in about midnight.

Erie Sheraton

Saturday, May 9

We drove to the Erie WWII memorial at 26^th and State.

Mischel at the Erie WWII memorial

Once again I got pictures of the names of my father (Louis John) and his brother (John St. John):

WWII memorial: Postas names

This time I also got their brother-in-law, Walter Rounds, Aunt Margaret’s first husband:

WWII memorial: Walter Rounds

Behind the WWII memorial is a newer and smaller Korean War memorial. I guess Viet Nam is next.

Then we checked out Peninsula Downs, the new casino and race track at I-90 & Perry Highway. It’s slots-only, no table games, and the 2000 slot machines subsidize the horse racing. We helped.

Back to the Sheraton. We were walking from the garage to the hotel, watching the white caps on the bay (it was cold and windy)…

Erie bay; new State St. pier tower

… when Mischel looked down, and on the breakwater, of the thousands of bricks with names of donors, she spotted “Raupers”:

Paul Raupers brick

It’s Uncle Chuck’s brother Paul, aka Fuzzy. Chuck said it was probably donated by Fuzzy’s wife Donna.

Just before 5 pm we went down to the restaurant for the birthday/Mother’s Day dinner.

Relationships: Aunts Mary, Margaret and Florence are my father’s sisters. Mary Ann and Theresa are Aunt Mary’s daughters. Ronald, Marilyn and Valerie are Aunt Florence’s kids. Couples: Mary Ann & David, Ron & Rose, Theresa & Randy, Valerie & Bob.

Etc.

Aunt Mary

Randy

Mary, Theresa and Randy live in Girard, just west of Erie. Randy was a duplicate bridge director; now he teaches.

The cake, from Pittsburgh

The cake had that really rich marshmallow frosting. I ate too much.

After dinner we retired to the bar:

Valerie

Theresa

Bob

David and Mary Ann

David and Mary Ann drove up from Pittsburgh and also stayed at the Sheraton.

Everyone else is from Erie.

Ronald

Rose

Marilyn

Sunday, May 10

We drove to Marion, Ohio to see Chuck and Ellen. We had dinner at their house because restaurants get crazy on Mother’s Day.

Aunt Ellen

Houses there have lots of lawn, without fences separating the yards.

The neighbor’s backyard eagle

In the countryside, some houses have an acre or two of lawn.

Aunt Ellen is my mother’s sister.

Uncle Chuck

We stayed at a Holiday Inn Express.

Monday, May 11

We treated them to lunch at Steve’s Dakota Grill, a local steak house.

Me, Aunt Ellen & Uncle Chuck

Then we headed for Cleveland by way of Berlin (pronounced BER-lin), in the Ohio Amish country, about a two-hour drive from Marion.

We stopped in Millersburg, but there wasn’t much Amish stuff yet, so we just got some water at a convenience store.

A store with every convenience

In Berlin, we walked around, hitting a couple stores. In one, there was a young Amish couple, with the father holding a baby. Mischel overheard the mother negotiating with the store owner to sell her hand-made goods, but needed approval for the price, not from her husband, but from her father.

Some people take days exploring the Amish country. We had an hour or so.

Passing an Amish horse & buggy

That evening we had a nice dinner at the 100^th Bomb Group restaurant, near the Cleveland airport. We stayed at the airport Sheraton.

Tuesday, May 12

We flew American from Cleveland to Dallas to San Jose, getting in about midnight.