Bicentennial baby Heather achieved her semicentennial birthday a few weeks before our nation's semiquincentennial
As requested I prepared our roasted chicken and mushrooms recipe originally conceived by a Top Chef winner and introduced to us by Blue Apron
On a different night, we ate out at our favorite restaurant Mooncusser
Over Juneteenth we visited one of the East Coast's hidden gems - Virginia Beach. With a wide expanse of sand, a long non-seedy boardwalk, great waves, no jelly fish, and easy public access, Virginia Beach is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as having the longest "Pleasure Beach"
While we were down there, a parade of tall ships arrived for an event in Norfolk. This looks like a painting, but it's actually a photo of ships on the horizon as we entered the tunnel that connects Norfolk to the Williamsburg peninsula
One purpose of the trip was for Erin to see William and Mary
Sabrina was on campus doing summer research and gave us the insider's tour
Another reason to travel was to take Erin's mind off of track. Until her stress fracture, she was hoping to run the 4 x mile relay at Outdoor Nationals. Her friends ran an amazing 20:21, finishing #4 in the country, achieving All-American honors, and setting a new Massachusetts state record.
We couldn't visit Williamsburg without stopping by Yorktown, where the world turned upside down. And we acquired a Junior Ranger badge.
Another destination was Cape Charles, Virginia, just across the 17-mile Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel that connects Hampton Roads with the lovely geographic portmanteau, Delmarva peninsula. In Cape Charles my cousin Steve and his wife Mary retired and then un-retired to run a French bakery
The bakery was buzzing when we visited and the items that we bought were amazing
but as they say, bakers can't be chatterers, and Steve could only briefly say hi before heading back to make the baguettes
Tessie's Father's Day card, with the correct 11 pieces of hair on my officially sanctioned NIL
Since 1983 I've received GAMES Magazine, in which every issue offers a contest or two to solve and enter a prize-winning draw. Over the last 43 years I have entered countless contests and sent in hundreds of entries and finally, in July 2026 I won a coveted T-shirt
Like the Ford Model T, you can get whatever color you want so long as it is black
For our 4th of July family gathering, I drove my parents from NY to Virginia
The colonial craft of the month for Claire was beeswax candle making
I convinced Claire and co to accompany me and Tessie to tour the Great American State Fair on the National Mall
It was not your typical state fair. In the main tents was a mash-up of booths dedicated to corporate American sponsors,
branches of the government that inspire patriotism,
and conservative causes linked to the current administration
Due to poor planning, some of the exhibits seemed underbuilt
and then there were supposed to be 56 booths representing the states and territories of the US. Yep for this one Washington DC got its representation
But the sad part was that the partisan organizers didn't have the talent or desire to convince all the states to come to the party
and so some states had completely empty booths
and others had fun and informative displays, like Nebraska
Wyoming
New Jersey
Utah
New York
Maryland
Massachusetts was one of the no-shows, but in its place somebody set up a tally of attendees who visited all 50 states (in real life).
All-in-all the Great American State Fair was a good idea and could have been a great experience but to me was ultimately sad. The US used to do great things as the United States, but now as the Divided States we do things and tell everyone they're great, just don't look too closely. Next up in the cavalcade of things that are going to be great is The Patriot Games, where after careful selection by the organizers, a boy and a girl from each of the 50 states will compete in athletic competitions for $250,000. Wanna take a bet that the white kids win?
We celebrated the 4th at Katy's
Katy and Claire wanted us to dress in bicentennial garb, and my rendition borrowed from Caroline's Elvis costume
Happy 250th Birthday America!
By far the most elaborate State Fair booth was West Virginia, who have adopted New Mexico-born John Denver's "Country Roads" as their anthem. They had a driving simulator that was synced to karaoke of Country Roads. Not offered was the misty taste of moonshine Check it out!
