I got an odd email today. Someone from a new fashion magazine asked if I knew of any old house near New York City that would be suitable for a photo shoot.

LOL.

I wish I could offer detailed advice. Upstate NY is almost ALL old houses, lol.

Oh I wish my living room or dining room looked like that. Oh, the housewarming gift ideas I’d have!

That’s the Clinton Dining Room at the Fraunces Tavern. I like the architecture, the simple decor, the incredible elegance.

*sigh*

I wrote about our summer visit to the Fraunces Tavern at my travel blog. I finally got around to it, five months later!! I am so bad, I know.

Anyway, from time to time I like to find photos of old houses. They are just so lovely. I was recently perusing a real estate site where they listed dozens of houses from 1890 to 1980. My, what a difference, what a horrid difference. I don’t know exactly what makes newer houses so horribly ugly and old homes so exquisitely beautiful. I don’t care if the modern home has insulation and new argon gas-filled windows and a thermal door. They are UGLY. Why can’t they make energy-efficient, beautiful houses today?

I guess I made up my mind that I will probably never own a new home– not an ugly new home, anyway. I’d rather endure drafts and be surrounded by such beauty.

I took this photo in July when we visited the city. It’s Ground Zero which is rapidly become Ground One or Ground Two. LOTS of construction in the area. Boy, the place was buzzing. People and construction workers and heavy equipment were everywhere. Typical New York!

I really haven’t researched this at all. I have no idea when the project is slated for completion or even what it will entail when it’s done. What are they going to do with it? Make it into more office buildings? Housing for seniors? I wonder…..

I plan on going back down to the city a few times next year, Lord willing. I’ll post an updated photo and we’ll see how progress has been.

I love this photo. It was taken at Fort Ticonderoga, now a distant memory since our visit in September…. It was a terribly hot day, humid and lush with the surrounding Adirondack greenery. It seems a million years away right now, as we are in the grips of mid-November with its dry cool wind and scraggly dried-leaf landscape.

The museum was very good. I had no idea that the place was owned by a non-profit group. I assumed it was run by the state, but I was wrong. My favorite part was wandering the grassy knolls and exploring the stone walls, and viewing the very old artifacts. The artifacts were astonishing, I thought. The gun of Ethan Allen?! The powder horn of Philip Schuyler?! The sword of Alexander Hamilton, the lace of Martha Washington’s wedding dress?! The place had little pieces of so many interesting things: personalized coins, an old 1750 French armor breastplate, George Washington’s watch key… all very cool!

Still, it’s hard to believe that we visited only two months ago. It seems like an eternity.

I am SUCH a slacker. Ugh. We visited Virginia for two weeks in May, and I still haven’t written about it very much at ALL! I haven’t even processed the zillions of photos or send them off to the photo printers yet. I keep saying “I’ve been so busy,” but HOW busy can ya still be after half a year?! :-p I’m disappointed in myself. I haven’t even fully blogged about our trip to New York City over the summer… and I still have things to write from my visit there last summer!

When I didn’t work, ohh I had all sorts of time to devote to blogging. Now….