Memorial Weekend

I hope your Memorial Day was enjoyable as we honored those who gave their lives to preserve our freedoms while serving in the United States Armed Forces.   

Yesterday [Sunday] we made our trek back to Wyandotte - the city where I grew up - with our son, Steve, daughter-in-law, Sharon, and granddaughter, Brooke.  We were telling Steve about our recent visit and he said he'd like to go there too.

We began our outing by having lunch at Major Biddle's restaurant.

From there we went by the old Wyandotte General Hospital where he was born and still remembers having his tonsils taken out there [40+ years ago it was a much bigger ordeal than it is now].  The new hospital [not visible in picture] is in front of the old [which is only used for offices now], and is presently part of the Henry Ford Health Care System.  It was a beautiful day for our trip down memory lane.

Next we drove by all the schools I attended in my youth, beginning with Theodore Roosevelt High School.  The school was built in 1921 and is still being used, with improvements and updates through the years.

The sports mascot is the bear [what Teddy Roosevelt is known for].  The bear sculpture that sits on the front corner of the school property was added after I graduated.

Additional front entrance added after I graduated.

We drove by the elementary school I attended [James Madison] and Jr. High School [Abraham Lincoln], before going by the house where I grew up.  The lovely couple who have occupied the house for the last 40 years, invited us inside and took us through the house. Obviously, they've made some changes since my family lived there, but everything was very recognizable.  Steve loved seeing the interior again and the memories it brought back of my parents.

I discovered Diane [the lady of the house pictured below with me], graduated from Melvindale High School with my maternal first cousin.  Small world! 

We treated Dave and Diane to a Frozen Custard at Bob-Jo's which is right behind their house.

Then we were off to see the houses Jerry lived in when he was growing up before his family moved from Wyandotte.  Our last stop before returning home was the church we attended. Since it was a Sunday, there were people there following an evening service, so Steve took Brooke inside to show her his old Sunday school classroom, and the children's chapel where he knelt at an altar as a young boy and committed his heart and life to Jesus.  Who knew way back then that he'd grow up to be a minister!  

Our daughter and son-in-law invited us over for lunch today.  Lori has a charcuterie board just like mine, only mine is still waiting to be used.  I loved her arrangement, and everything was so good.

I made a strawberry/blueberry trifle and pasta salad to take.

John, Tiffany, Evie and Jules [Juliette] came too.  It was so good seeing them again.  The girls were in their cute patriotic outfits.

Evie recently turned four and here's a few pics from her birthday.

Opening the gift I sent her.

I'll close with two pics of our new church building that Steve recently posted.  Everything is moving along nicely now and we're hoping to be in by mid-August.  The interior is all drywalled.

The upper part of the Craftsman pillars will be painted white.

How did you spend your Memorial weekend?

Girlfriend Time

It's been months since my girlfriend, Sandy, and I have gotten together, so she drove to Warren last Thursday for 11:00 a.m. reservations for Afternoon Tea at Royal Treat Tearoom. It was a beautiful day to enjoy an outing.

While there were other guests in the tearoom, it wasn't real busy and before we knew it three hours had lapsed.  We had lots of news to catch up on.

The tea I selected was Lady Grey by Twinings, and Sandy got a Peach tea.

Their assortment of freshly baked Scottish Scones are always a delicious treat.

I ordered their broccoli deep-dish quiche and Sandy got their three-cheese quiche.  Yummy!

It's so good to have things opening back up again after the COVID pandemic shut-downs and limited restrictions.  Sandy and I enjoyed our time together very much.

She came bearing gifts - fresh flowers and a tin of Harney & Son's tea.  I'm enjoying the Chinese Flower green tea very much.  Thanks, Sandy!

Back Home Again!

Sunday afternoon I joined my hubby in Chelsea, MI to stay with our three grandchildren while Jeremy and Samantha went to Florida on a combination business/pleasure trip.  Jerry went on Friday, but because of my work schedule I couldn't go until Sunday.

They recently sold their house in the country and moved into a rental house in the city built in 1870.  It's quite a contrast from their other house, but they like being in the city.

Chelsea is a quaint, charming city.  It was platted in 1850 as a village and became a city in 2004.  It is home to Chelsea Milling Company - better known as Jiffy Mixes.  Sam and I toured the factory in 2013 when they first moved to Chelsea.  I took this photo yesterday when Jerry and I were walking around the downtown area.

Historical 8-story landmark Clock Tower on Main Street, across from the Jiffy factory.

There are two antique stores in Chelsea, and we visited both of them.  The first one had nothing that called my name, but the second one had a small green vase I'm collecting [for a total of 6] to use on a St. Patrick's Day tablescape at each place setting.  It was only $6, so was a good find.  I see them on E-bay but shipping is too high.  I'm content to find them one at a time on antique store/mall outings.

 

The kids are all in different schools - Izzy's in high school, Landon's in middle school, and Ellie's in elementary school.  Izzy is on the varsity tennis team and I couldn't resist taking this picture of her when she came home after her tennis match on Monday.  I know I'm prejudiced, but I think she's so pretty, and she's sweet too!

I decided to surprise them with homemade Toll House chocolate chip cookies when they came home from school Monday.  I can't remember the last time I made chocolate chip cookies.

Yesterday Izzy went to a friend's house after school, so after dinner we took Landon and Ellie to Twisters for soft ice cream.

Then it was over to Timber Town for fun, exercise and releasing some energy before picking up Izzy.

Jeremy and Samantha returned home around 5:30 this afternoon, and after a brief visit we made our way back home.

Happenings At My House

I recently ordered two books from Amazon which arrived in the mail.  The first is The Marshall Field's Cookbook.  Target Corporation purchased Dayton-Hudson stores in 2000 and rebranded them as Marshall Field's in 2001, so this cookbook has four J.L. Hudson Department Store recipes in it - one of which is the Shrimp Salad on Cheese Bread which is mentioned often by attendees at my Hudson's presentations.  I was happy to get the recipe.

The other book which gives a nod to J.L. Hudson's is Growing Up in the D [Detroit].  I'm only in chapter 4 so far, but I'm enjoying it.  

I bought helmets for hubby and myself and we went on our first bike ride together this week. It's been 20+ years since I've written my bike and at first I was wobbly, but then my balance and confidence came back.  I mentioned in a previous post that my hubby had the bike refurbished for me at the Schwinn shop for Mother's Day.

Jerry got a new pedal bike too so we could ride together.  Look out world - here we come!

Wednesday was our lunch date with our son, Steve.  This week we went to Buddy's pizzeria in Warren.  Buddy's is an iconic Detroit pizzeria that opened in 1946 and now has several suburban locations.  While we've eaten at the original location in Detroit, the Warren restaurant is much closer.

They display a lot of Detroit memorabilia in the restaurant, which is always fun to look at.  Of course I photographed their painting of downtown Detroit with Hudson's towering over the buildings in the background.  Hudson's, Kern's and Sam's have all been demolished today.

Kresge's dime store was right across the street from Hudson's on Woodward Ave.  It's the reason I never ate in any of Hudson's restaurants or tearoom when I went downtown Detroit shopping with my mother.  She always preferred having lunch at their soda fountain.

The last painting I took a picture of was Briggs Stadium, later renamed Tiger Stadium.  It has been demolished now too and replaced by Comerica Park.  Detroiter's love their baseball and hometown team.

We ordered pizza and a large antipasto salad.  Yum!

[Jerry and Steve]

Another purchase I recently made from Amazon was two pair of tea-themed socks.  It's getting too warm to wear them now, but they'll feel nice and comfy this fall and winter.

Yesterday was another busy day at The Whitney making and serving tea to 105 guests.  32 guests were there for a bridal tea in the receiving and drawing rooms.  I loved the beautiful mirror the mother-of-the bride positioned outside the rooms to indicate where the shower was to take place.

Fortunately nobody hit my car this week in the employee's lot!

If you're friends with me on Facebook, you know my account was hacked last Friday night. Facebook notified me of unusual activity on my account occurring in Toronto.  Someone sent a YouTube video link supposedly from me to all of my contacts.  I felt bad for the problems this caused my Facebook friends who tried to open the link.  It seems some people live to create problems for others.

Today is great-granddaughter, Evelyn Rose's 4th birthday.  Hopefully there'll be pictures of her special day in an upcoming post.

Have a great weekend!

New Hudson's Memorabilia

Ever since my recent Hudson's presentation at Independence Village, my interest in the great department store has been rekindled, and I've begun research again.  

In 2014 I purchased four Syracuse china platters from E-bay.  Syracuse china, Dorsett pattern,  was used in Hudson's dining rooms.  Syracuse China featured the china in their 1946 catalog with the tables set in Hudson's 13th floor Early American Dining Room.  I was thrilled when I acquired these pieces.

[Page from 1946 Syracuse Catalog]

Recently while looking on Etsy, I came across two butter pat dishes in the same pattern.  

On the back of one was an aged note that had been glued to the back indicating it was from J.L. Hudson's in 1953.  Since these dishes were used for restaurant service and not retail, the only conclusion is that the diner tucked them in a pocket or purse as a keepsake/souvenir.  I purchased them from the Etsy seller and happily added them to my Hudson's dining collection.

In July 2017 I attended an exhibit at the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center in Dearborn titled, "Hudson's Historic Windows to the Past."  Mike Hauser [former Hudson's employee and Detroit's foremost Hudson's historian] and Paul Balog [a window dresser at the flagship store from 1957 until it closed in 1983] put the exhibit together with fabulous photos and memorabilia.  One photo in particular caught my eye - a photo of the 13th floor Georgian dining room.

It was for sale for $50 but because the exhibit was ongoing I couldn't purchase it that night.  I contacted Paul about buying it, but circumstances weren't convenient for us to meet and time slipped away until I forgot about the photograph.

I recently wrote a post to the J.L. Hudson Department Store Facebook page and Paul responded.  It jogged my memory and I contacted him to ask if he still had the photo. Amazingly he did, and he lives in Wyandotte - my hometown!  My hubby and I drove down to meet him this past Tuesday, and I now have the treasured photograph in my possession. He kindly reduced the price to $30.

[Paul and Me]

The Georgian Dining Room is the only photograph Paul had of Hudson's eateries, so a photo of the Mezzanine Tearoom is still elusive.

Paul handed me a notebook of his photos to look through and when I finished he told me to pick one photograph I'd like to have because he was giving it to me.  The photo I chose was from a 1941 window display of two mannequins donning clothing most likely from The Woodward Shop. Because one of them was wearing a mink boa/wrap like the one I was recently given, that's the photo I chose.

Paul was most generous because he also gave me two Hudsonian magazines from March and April 1953 for my collection.   They're fun reads.

I posted my visit to Wyandotte and my meet-up with Paul and his photographs on the 'All Things Wyandotte' Facebook page, and I never cease to be amazed at the draw Hudson's still has.  My post which was just published 10 hours ago has received 296 likes/loves, 76 comments and 10 shares. The store evokes such pleasant, nostalgic memories from a time that is now history.  I'm enjoying reading the comments made by people and thinking a Hudson's presentation at Wyandotte's Bacon Memorial Public Library might be in order.

While my hubby and I were in Wyandotte we went to lunch at Major Biddle's, drove by the home I grew up in [which we periodically do when we're there] and stopped for a frozen custard at Bob-Jo's which was right behind my house.  Such a temptation for a kid growing up!  ;-)

Jerry and I both ordered their Traverse City Chicken Wrap.  It was yummy!  The building behind the above sign is an apartment building not the restaurant.  

My 1,030 sq. ft. childhood home with only one bathroom and we managed just fine! ;-)

Then we got on the expressway and headed north for home.  It was a very enjoyable day!