Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Weekend in Connecticut

First of all, I have to tell you all that I have finally joined the ranks of people who have cameras on their cell phones. I'm late to the party, I know, but how exciting to be able to take photos anytime without carrying along extra equipment! So, of course, while I was in New Haven this weekend presenting at a conference at Yale, I had to snap some photos.

Saturday's conference was LONG and I had some down time in between presentations, so I escaped outside to get some iced coffee from Dunkin Donuts and catch up on blogs on my iPad (still love it!!!) on a bench in a courtyard. I glanced up at this gaggle of students, and do you see what I see?

Lots of blue Half Square Triangles on that girl's white tank top! (Unfortunately, I don't think my camera has a zoom and I didn't want to get right in her face to take the photo, so you may have to click the photo to make it larger and see the scrappy HSTs.)

The conference went too late on Saturday for me to fly home that night, so I booked my flight home for 6:15 AM on Sunday so I could be with my family for Father's Day. At least, I THOUGHT I did. It turns out, I booked a 6:15 PM flight, and wouldn't get home until after midnight. Yup, I'm an idiot. Not only was I missing all of Father's Day, but I was in New Haven on a Sunday with no car and nothing to do. I asked for late checkout at the hotel, but that only took me until 1 PM. What to do with the next 5 hours?

I decided to WALK to the airport. I noticed on the taxi drive from the airport on Friday that it was in a residential area, and Google Maps told me that it was only about 4.5 miles away, so I strapped my backpack on my back (I travel light!) and set off, looking for adventure.

It started out great. I enjoyed walking through Yale's campus, and through the retail district that surrounds any group of youngsters in possession of their parents' credit cards, and found this shop where I just had to stop and browse.


Check out the neat little sewing machine in a case:

And these feedsacks that I forced myself not to buy.
There was also a TON of beautiful embroidery floss along one wall, but I didn't buy that either since I have more than I will probably ever use already.

Once I'd checked out every cool thing in there, I was on my way again. Things were pretty dull for the next 2 miles or so until I came across a Dunkin Donuts, where I stopped for a frozen lemonade and a Boston Kreme. Yum!

At this point, I was starting to rethink my decision to walk, since I only had flip flops and heels (I opted for the flip flops) and my feet were getting not only tired, but filthy. But I soldiered on, and arrived at the airport a mere 2.5 hours before my flight. If you ever need to go to the New Haven, CT airport, BRING A BOOK! And a snack! It is the smallest airport I have ever seen, which, of course, means no refreshments besides a do-it-yourself coffee dispenser and a Coke machine, and absolutely nothing to do. People watching isn't much fun when you are the only person in sight.

Anyway, I got home safe and sound and now I'm back at work counting the minutes until vacation, which starts at precisely 3:00 PM on Wednesday afternoon, and not a second later!

13 comments:

Susan said...

Walking to the airport = brilliant!

Auntie Em said...

I bet you couldn't help but think of "Gilmore Girls" when you were at Yale!

Love your sense of adventure!

Shay said...

I cant believe you walked to the airport you wild and crazy girl. Look at the adventures you had along the way. That shop looks fantastic!

Im hanging out for vacation time- but that's months away. If you lived in my world you'd only have 10 hours till your holidays started!I hope you have a wonderful time and have lots of resting planned. How long do you have off?

Stray Stitches (Linda G) said...

Sorry you missed Father's Day but it sounds like you had quite the adventure.

Judi said...

I'm sure there is a book app for that iPad. I LOVE my Kindle.

Michelle said...

oh wow!! That sounds really boring in the airport!! I love my ereader. I take it everywhere, it fits so nicely into my purse! I loved the feed sacks and machine. happy quilting!

Kim said...

Happy Vacation!

joe tulips said...

Holy Cow! I was hoping you didn't buy that sewing machine. Would have made your walk that much more strenuous. Even my cheap little cell phone has zoom. That would have killed a few minutes. Hitting buttons on the phone to see if one of them made the picture zoom in.
Happy holiday. Enjoy!

Julie Fukuda said...

Coming home from Scout camp Saturday I had to dump my stuff and take off for a Cub outing to an obstacle course. I completely forgot my camera but my phone does take pictures. Now I have to figure out how to get them out of there. The instructions are all in Japanese.

Nancy said...

How did you, of all people, manage to pass up the feed sacks??? Still hard to believe you could walk to the airport - never heard of an airport being in a residential area but I guess its being small helps.

Em said...

Erin, I giggled when you wrote of your blackened feet, My heels are perpetually black....isn't it funny the things our minds giggle at or find similarities in one another! Wish I could have been with you so we could have had chatting and sewing and sharing for those hours you had on your hands!!! VACATIONS ROCK!

Seams to Sew and Quilt said...

I don't think I have ever heard of anyone walking to the airport but how cool is that...
Love that sewing machine too.

Barb said...

Yes, I have done the flip flop thing before. Glad you made it home. Thanks for showing the machine in the case, brings back alot of memories.