As we drove through town Dad pointed out the house where his maternal grandparents used to live. The corner gas station they had owned next to the house isn't there anymore. Dad told stories of visiting that house on Mondays while growing up in the 1930s because that was wash day and out at the farm they didn't have running water or electricity to run a washing machine. In town they did.
The B&B where we stayed is across the side street from where the gas station was. It was a huge place in the day (and even bigger now). Even though it was built and owned by Dad's grandfather's brother, Dad said he hadn't been inside it before now. He remembers stories of various family members searching fields for stones of the proper size for the house's façade. Here is a view of the side of the house.
The current owner collects antiques and has filled the house with the stuff. It is a lovely place. The kitchen and bathrooms are modern and well-appointed. The owner was a gracious and attentive host and a pretty good cook as well. Here is the dining room where we lingered over breakfast.
We all arrived within minutes of each other last Monday afternoon. Aunt and Uncle invited us to their place for a simple supper. The ten adults talked long after the food was eaten. That pattern was repeated at every meal.
On Tuesday Aunt and Uncle joined us at a restaurant for a late lunch (the ancestral town is small and not known for fine dining). Then we all went to their house and Brother stopped at a grocery store for supplies. After supper we played card games and watched the New Year's ball drop on TV.
Wednesday was pretty much the same. Some of us watched (and others slept through) the Rose Parade. Because of New Year's Day it was harder to find a place for lunch. Many of us also visited the nearby historic village -- barns, blacksmith shop, old country store, old hardware store, and a few other buildings we didn't get into that were rescued from town and set up beside an old mansion. The place is closed for the season, but Uncle is on the Board so had keys. It had started snowing earlier in the day so there were a couple inches of snow to freeze our toes as we plodded through. Here is the General Store.
Aunt had hauled out the family journals for us to peruse. The first in the set is dated 1909-1912 and appears to be written by Dad's paternal grandfather. Most entries are terse and pertain to farm business. There are also mentions of births and deaths (sometimes almost as an afterthought for the day's activities) and comings and goings. We figure the writing shifted to Dad's aunt, then to Dad's father. The last couple journals are obviously by Dad's mother and the last one, dated 1973, was filled to the bottom of the last page with no indication this was to be the last entry -- she died 15 years later. So the last journal and a few others along the way are missing. It was sometimes difficult for me to figure out what was being discussed because I didn't know the role of the various people mentioned. Then many in my Dad's generation (including himself) were named after forebears still living and so the younger ones were addressed by middle names.
The snow came a bit more thickly on Thursday. Aunt and Uncle declined to join us -- the roads in the country hadn't been plowed. The first place we called for lunch decided to not open for the day. We had a lovely supper, cooked and served by our B&B host. It was a good day to stay inside.
We had planned to be on the road by 10:00 this morning. Brother and family had several hours of driving. But late awakenings and long breakfast discussions meant we didn't leave until 11:45. The weather was sunny, though quite cold. Dad, Mom, and I had lunch in Toledo, then got to my place by 3:45. The first task on arriving was to shovel 3 inches of snow off the driveway to allow us to get Dad's car out of the garage and mine in.
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