Did you get the title of the post? "Fall"s away because it's now the season of Fall? Thanks, folks, I'll be here all night.
First off, this summer was hooottttttt! I don't think I can remember a hotter summer in my life.
That's a ridiculous statement, I know, but I think New York feels so much hotter than Cincinnati mainly due to the copious amount of black asphalt and long, painful waits on a subway platform. I wouldn't be surprised if temperatures reached 110 on the platform normal days in the summer. But, unfortunately, we neither made it to a pool nor a beach this summer, and ended up just suffering through it. Yes, it really is the saddest story ever told.
A staple of any summer, and especially of New York, is a trusty Beer Garden. More than a couple times this summer, we found ourselves surrounded my hundreds of our fellow New Yorkers clinking beer steins and dancing to a live band, all the while enjoying the wonderful summer fresh air. Maybe it's my German heritage, but I can't think of anything better in the summer than beer and a sausage. I just can't. I mean, look at it!
Our other big trip of the summer (see Europe Trip) was a very lovely long weekend trip to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. "Amish Country" to those unfamiliar to the area. We stayed at a great Bed and Breakfast where we were awoken every morning by a pretty incredible breakfast with our hosts. We drove throughout the beautiful countryside much of the days we were there (I can't do justice to trying to describe the landscape - just look at the pics!) and sampled the local food, hung out with the Amish, and of course shopped at the outlet malls.
Life's completely different in Lancaster than in New York, and it was really refreshing and relaxing to hang out and experience country living. It's one thing I miss occasionally when living in the craziest city in the world.
On the Saturday we were on our trip, we made the hour drive to Gettysburg. Being a big history dork, this was one of the highlights of the trip for me. It's crazy to think that this amazing countryside was used for one of the bloodiest and largest battles of all time on US soil. Really well done park, and we really enjoyed our time. It was a good, relaxing weekend - much needed with how crazy it's been lately (my word of the post - crazy. It's insane, right?).
Oktoberfest! Celebrating the end of summer, our church decided to have a Theology on Tap event talking about the history of beer in the Catholic Church, the importance it's had on our Catholic tradition, and of course the history of Oktoberfest. I took this occasion to borrow Charlie's Lederhosen and "go all out" as they say in the biz, which is what they call "show business" in the biz. I know, I look pretty good and I should probably start wearing it more often.
To close the summer in a way, we had some more visitors this summer - Michael Mayhaus and his lovely girlfriend Dana from Germany! I hadn't seen Michael since our trip a few years ago to Germany, so it was great to catch up and talk with some family from over the pond. Dana currently works as a Fashion Buyer for a company in Germany, so you can imagine how well Christine and her got along. It was a pretty short trip, but we had fun and enjoyed them while they were here.
Sorry about the lack of posts (I feel like this has become my staple closing line to all of my blogs), and I'm trying to update it more frequently. I'll do my best, but until next time...stay classy.
