August Vacation = Golf and Horse Racing!

We began our late-summer vacation last Friday, bidding Josie adieu and heading out for Vermont at 4:30. It was a lovely evening ride north through the woods of New York state and into Vermont. We arrived in Londonderry at Katy's house, "Pine Springs," at dusk. Katy and Peter (they've been friends since high school) have owned the home since the 80's. Lots of peace, quiet, pine trees and stars - a great place to relax. (no, there wasn't snow in August - just the only photo I had handy!)

On Saturday we drove to Manchester for lunch and visited the Manchester Woodcrafts store which has been owned by Jess Scofield's (Jon's wife) family for years - small world! Peter and Tricia arrived mid-day and we all enjoyed a great dinner at Johnny Seesaw's. Once back at Pine Springs, Mike & Peter enjoyed cigars on the deck and Katy & Tricia played Gin Rummy by the fire.


Sunday morning Mike and I played 9-holes of golf at Tater Hill which is just down the road a piece. It's a very pretty country golf course and very well maintained.





Monday morning Peter cooked us his famous 'fried mush and egg' breakfast and we headed off to Saratoga Springs and our first day at the races. As you can see, we were well fortified for the trip!

Monday was a beautiful day at the track. Katy hit a $1.00 Exacta so it was a lucrative last race for her. Mike decided to work on a new strategy for picking winners. We strolled back to the hotel a little poorer but having spent a wonderful day.

Congress Park is in the center of town and has many sculptures, ponds, old buildings, antique carousel and fountains. Strolling through the beautiful park takes away all cares and woe, it's that peaceful!

Tuesdays the racetrack is closed so we played golf at McGregor Links which we tried last year and really enjoyed. It was another spectacular summer day - perfect for golf. The course record remains the same.

Wednesday morning Mike bought us both new 'lucky' hats. Many Saratoga race-goers still honor the tradition of wearing hats and 'dressing' for the races. It's great fun and, indeed, our hats did bring us luck: we both hit a Trifecta! That means we correctly picked the first 3 horses to cross the finish line - a major achievement!

Friday brought torrential rains after the 2nd race. There was rain, thunder, lightening, hail and I think a few cats & dogs fell as well! After a half-hour of the deluge the sun came out but the track was closed for the day because the rain had washed part of the track away on the far turn which would have made it unsafe for racing. Track closures do not happen often.
Saturday the sun was shining and it was dry and breezy. We donned our bonnets and went back to the track to try once again to pick a winner. Mike had a new betting strategy (very tip-top secret!) and managed to end up a WINNER for the week! What a fun vacation! We can't wait to go back next year.

Coming up: baseball, baseball and MORE horse races! It'll be the Mets, the Yankees and a trip to Monmouth Raceway. All over the next two weeks ... stay tuned!