May 29, 2019 - Wednesday
Traverse City, MI to Kalamazoo, MI

Oops!!! Got up this morning to see how long our drive would be to Kalamazoo.  Well, we miss judged our golf and travel day today.  We have a 3 hour drive, which means we can only play 9 holes of golf at the A-Ga-Ming Torch course today.  This is the most challenging course of all four courses.  Starting on the back 9, the course is a challenging shot-makers course that favors accuracy over length.  The green are FAST.  It was a beautiful day and we wish we could have played the other 9, but with a 3 hour travel it was not feasible.  Our selfie picture is of hole #7 Par 3 view of Torch Lake, which we were told is the most scenic hole.

OK..now for our 3 hour drive to Kalamazoo, MI. No Scenic pictures.

May 28, 2019 - Tuesday
Traverse City, MI

This morning we drove to  Kewadin, MI which is 30 minutes North of Traverse City to play one of the four golf courses at A-Ga-Ming Golf Resort.  The golf resort was another recommendation from Bobbi and Rick.  Our plan was to play The Torch Lakes course, then the next day play Sundance Course.  Due to the Michigan State Golf Championship going on, we had to reverse the courses.  The teams were practicing today on the Sundance which is the course they are playing for the Championship tomorrow and will be closed to public.   The weather was a bit chilly but, no rain.  With all the rain, the course was very wet but, they still let us drive in the fairways.  The fairways were wide open and played like carpet.  They were so heavily woven there would be small mounds of water contained underneath them.  There were strategically placed Heather Clad mounds for the errant shots.  These are one of the best greens we have played on our trip.  The picture on the scorecard is their signature hole# 18.  It was a daunting as it looks. 

After golf it was dinner and back to the hotel to get ready for another golfing day.

May 27, 2019
Bay City, MI to Gaylord, MI to Traverse City, MI

We took up Bobbi and Ricks suggestions to play golf in Gaylord, MI at The Loon Golf Club a Butch Harmon Signature GC. What a fantastic place and beautiful course.  We teed off at 10:40am and were finished at 1:50pm, yes 3hrs 10mins. and guess what, as soon as we finished, the rain started. We are now in the part of our travels where we have to watch the weather closely.

There has been terrible weather across the US and our prayers go out to those who have suffered these storms.  We did not have much rain to Traverse City, MI which is where we are residing for the night.  We charged Tessie completely here and while waiting, we looked up restaurants.  John was hungry for a Poke Bowl, (no John, you are not in Hawaii), well I found a Sushi restaurant, called them to see if they had Poke Bowls.  They sidy no, but they would custom make one for us.  OMG!!! Here is the picture of the restaurants FIRST poke bowl and we ate it.  It was almost to pretty to eat.  The Sushi Chef came out and asked  how we liked it, we told him he needed to add as an item on the menu, cause it was delicious and worth the price of $16.00.

Poke Bowl

It may not look like a lot in the picture but, there is a lot of Tuna in that bowl.  We both enjoyed this dish with John having Saki and me my Japanese Beer.  It was plenty for both.  

May 26, 2019 - Sunday
Bay City, MI (day 2)

We stayed two night in Bay City since this seemed to be the only area in Michigan that wasn't stormy.  Woke up to a beautiful morning and headed out to the Maple Leaf Golf Course.  They offer three 9 hole courses.  We opted to play the signature North Course which is challenged with narrow fairways, share of bunkers and lots of water.  Oh but their 8th hole is a Par 3 island green.  And the West course which is wide open and very little trouble areas.  The courses were all very busy...hence Memorial weekend and the only sunny place in Michigan right now..ha.  When I checked in, I asked if we were paired up with another twosome.  He told me, "You booked as a twosome, you stay as a twosome", well that doesn't seem very economical. Oh OK...Well, we teed off and there was a foursome ahead of us, as about the 2nd hole another twosome was behind us and we asked if they would like to pair up...sure.  We had a great time with Bobbi and Rick who are members and play regularly at the course. Bobbi still works and Rick is retired...sound familiar?  Very nice couple.  After golf we sat in the clubhouse and they shared some great golf courses along our route. 

After golf we had to charge Tessie which in this state seems to be at all the Meijer Stores (These stores are like our OSH, Kohls & Safeway combined).  Not feeling like another Restaurant outing we went in replenished our liquor, bought a Rotisserie Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy & Bagged Ceasar Salad. Went back to our hotel and enjoyed our Saginaw River view and ate our meal.   I have been so hungry for a Rotisserie Chicken and let me tell ya...we ate ALL of it.  It was so good.  Oh yes, and the Salad and Potatoes were good. 

May 25, 2019 - Saturday
Toledo, OH - Bay City, MI

Got up this morning with clear skies so far for our 8:30am tee time at Heather Downs GC. in Toledo.
The course was established in 1925, originally as a horse racing track, then a private country club and now a semi-private course.  This was one tough course.  What made it rough is the ROUGH, it was long and hard to find a ball, which makes for a long day.  We started out as a twosome and ended pairing up with a father/son during our round.  The weather held up and no rain till we started driving to our next destination...Bay City, MI.

After golf we headed to our next destination, Bay City, MI. 

Checked into our hotel, rested a bit, then walked to a recommended restaurant. "Old City Hall.  Once originally the City Hall of Bay City which became to small and whole-fully inadequate it was time to build a new City Hall.  Oh boy, what a difference in the two buildings.

Old City Hall

New City Hall

After dinner we walked part of the historic town and captured some old building pictures.  There are so many old buildings in this town beautiful quite town.

Top left: Post Office/Court House/Customs House

Top right: Scottish Rite Masonic Center

Bottom left: State Cinema

Bottom right: Restored Shearer Building (condominiums/office space) 

In it's day, Bay City was know for it's Lumbering.  The city is geographically divided by the Saginaw River, and travel between the east and west sides of the city is made possible by 4 drawbridges, which allow large ships to travel easily down the river.  We are so fortunate to having a view of the river and on of the bridges that is current under repair.  

May 24, 2019 - Friday
Elyria, OH

Valley of the Eagle golf course, 10:30am tee time.  Checked in and they have an indoor simulator as there driving range.  It has all the components of a true simulator.  We didn't want to get all that technicality in our heads before we played so we headed to the first tee and off we went.  With the new renovation, the course is in great shape.  Yes, there is still work to be done, but this is a gem of a course.  The Black River runs through the course to test your skills, it comes into play on plenty of the holes.  The course is narrow and there is no finding your ball if you get into trouble.  We had a great time and played pretty well.

After golf we headed onto Toledo,OH.  During our travels, we drove right into a small storm which cleared as we continued to Toledo.  We arrived around 4:00pm, charged Tessie, then checked into our hotel.  

Time for dinner, we headed to a recommended Mexican restaurant (La Fiesta).  Definitely a busy place and glad we arrived early.  Ordered our Margarita (not good, very weak), the food tho was excellent.  I had the Shrimp Cocktail and John had a combination plate, Enchilada/Homemade beef Tamale with R&B. 

 The weather tomorrow is to be severe thunderstorms in the afternoon.  We booked a tee time for 8:30am at the Heather Downs Golf Course and hopefully we will beat the storm.  

May 23, 2019
Buffalo, NY to Elyria, Oh

Since we had a full day before, Buffalo was just a quick overnight stay.

Today, we traveled to Elyria, OH.  We picked this town because we wanted to play a Troon Golf Course (Valley of the Eagles, Jack Nicklaus designed).  

We went from NY - PA - OH.  The storm caught us in Hamburg, PA.  It was the worst we have driven in.

  

Wanting to check out the golf course before we played the next day, we stopped by the Pro Shop and spoke to the staff about the course.  We met the General Manager (Ray Metz), who took us on a tour of the newly renovated golf course and discussed the improvements made and to come.  We decided to stay and have a drink and late lunch/dinner.  The staff is very friendly, attentive and the food was very good.   All the wood from the course redesign is now been milled and used for all the bar counters, restaurant tables, TV mantels.  Let's just say...there is a lot of wood in this place and it's beautiful.

Time to check in to our hotel and turn in for the night and get rested up for our 10:30am tee time tomorrow.

May 22, 2019
Niagara Falls, CN - Buffalo, NY

We got up very early in the morning to catch the sunrise and start our tourist journey of Niagara Falls.  Since our hotel room is in demand, we could only get a 1:00pm late checkout.  So here we go...RUN!!!  The most popular excursions for a short schedule are the Hornblower Cruise and the Journey Beyond the Falls.  Still having a bit of time left we took the Wego Shuttle on the scenic route through Niagara Falls.  

Hornblower Cruise: First you get on a trolley that rides you to the dock.  We were given poncho cause you get very wet on this cruise.  The boat takes you down the river past the American Falls, Bridal Falls and to the base of the amazing Horseshoe Falls where we got soaked.   

Journey behind the Falls

We took and elevator and descended 150 feet through bedrock to tunnels that lead us to two Portals (Cataract & Great Falls) which is 1/3 of the way behind the massive sheet of water flowing over the brink of the Horseshoe Falls.  

They have 2 observation decks (upper & lower) which we opted to go out onto the lower to the very foot of the Falls.  It was exhilarating, powerful and beautiful, all at once.  That is 100,000 cubic ft per second flowing over the Falls.

During our ride, we spotted the Whirlpool Golf Course, which looked in good condition.  After our shuttle we checked out of our hotel (1:03pm,ha) and headed to the Whirlpool Golf Course.   By 1:45 we were on the course playing.  The course is rolling hills, with water hazards and plenty of bunkers.  The course is run by Niagara Parks.

We could not have timed our day better.  As soon as we were done playing the sky opened up and rain the whole time we traveled from Niagara Falls to Buffalo, NY.  We have been trying to avoid these storms that keep coming and it is becoming more difficult.  

Good Bye Canada...Thank you for a wonderful stay!!!

We  headed to Buffalo, NY around 5:30pm for the night, which is a short trip from Niagara Falls.    Checked in to hotel, got Sushi for dinner and turned in for the night.  

May 21, 2019
Syracuse, NY - Niagara Falls, CN

This morning we drove to Niagara Falls, CN.  When we reached the Border Patrol, there were 3 patrol officers who stopped us just before the Border Toll Gate.  They ask the generic questions but, they were also interested in the Tesla.  They were very surprised we drove the car from California and asked us about charging, how many mile we get on a charge, where do we charge, etc...

We checked into our hotel in the late afternoon.  Asked the information desk for something to do before dark.  She suggested we drive out to Niagara on the Lakes.  The drive was through wineries and ultimately we ended up at the oldest existing golf course in North America. The Niagara-on-the-Lake Golf Club built in 1875.  We did have time to play golf and wanted to but, the bugs were so bad we decided to go check out the restaurant instead.  Glad we did cause it was excellent.   I ordered a glass of wine (local vineyard) and loved it so much we stopped by to the winery and bought a bottle. 

 We are now ready to check into our hotel.  Thank you Marriott for the gorgeous view of Niagara Falls (American Falls & Horseshoe Falls).  I took so may pictures I thought I would share a Daytime, Nighttime and morning Sunrise views from our room.  If you have not visited Niagara Falls, put it on your bucket list to come in the month of May before Memorial weekend.  This is the slow time and it was still busy.  

A little bit of history about Niagara Falls.  Niagara Falls is 3 falls that straddle the international border between USA (New York) and Canada.  The 3 falls from largest to smallest are: Horseshoe Falls (Canada Side) American Falls and Bridal Falls (USA Side).  The water that makes up Niagara Falls, the basin of the Niagara gorge and the whirlpool rapids, all comes from the great lakes. The water flows, from streams and rivers that empty into the great lakes, from there the water flows through Lake Superior onward to Niagara Falls.  Once it passes the falls, the water flows out toward Lake Ontario in the St. Lawrence River and finally out in to the Atlantic Ocean.  

We had dinner at the Morton's Grille (not restaurant..which is more expensive we found out).  It was very good and our view was of the Falls at night. 

Time to turn in for the night for an early Sunrise in the morning, which I have already posted the video above.

May 20, 2019
Day 2 Syracuse, NY

We woke up this morning to bright sunshine.  As the morning went on it became cloudy but NO rain.  I read up on Green Lakes State Park Golf Course which is one of Robert Trent Jones first designed courses.  After reading about the course and checking the rates, we made a tee time and played.  The temperature was a very pleasant 72 degrees, partly cloudy and windy.   We both said we need to warm up on the driving range before we play.  Well, we showed up and no driving range.  Guess we just putt and hope for the best.  The course is beautifully tree lined with evergreens, which tests your game.  The greens were perfect, the rough was tall and if you got in it, good luck, the fairways are where you wanted to be.  We both didn't play badly, but I think a warm up would have helped.  We would play this course again.

It's supposed to be early to bed tonight but, the Warriors are playing at 9:00pm EST...YIKES!!!  Guess we need to watch them take the series against the Portland Trail Blazers and move onto playing the Bucks OR Raptors for the Championship.  GO WARRIORS!!!!!

May 19, 2019 - Sunday

Albany, NY - Syracuse, NY

We headed out of Albany early because of a bad storm that is projected to hitting Syracuse in the afternoon.  We called the hotel to see if we could get any early check-in because of the storm.  They told us they would do there best.  We arrived and our room was ready and included our request of top floor.  When we arrived the storm had not come in yet.  We unloaded our luggage and headed out to the local brewery "Empire Brewery" down the street, underground.  Love these NY people, they are so friendly and helpful.  We had a brew and shared a Margarita Flat Bread as we chatted with the Bartenders. They have a Jazz musician that plays there on Sunday's who was very good.  As we were leaving, we stopped and talked with him, during our conversation he recommended a great locals place to listen to Jazz (Funk N Waffle).  He also recommended a locals place to eat (Dinosaur Bar-B-Q).

We walked to Funk N Waffle, which we found out is a Karaoke Jazz Fest.  We listened for awhile and I must say, they were all very pretty good Jazz Musicians.

We then walked over to Dinosaur Bar-B-Que to get our dinner to-go.  Whoa...this place is PACKED!!!  We ordered Ribs, Chicken, Mashed Tater w/Gravy, and Salad.

We no sooner get back to our hotel and it starts to storm, high winds, rain coming down sideways and black sky.  There are tornado watch tickers across our TV screen, which definitely got our attention.  It blew through quickly but, the storms kept coming through the night.  I was taking video from our window to get the lightening and thunder (NOT SMART).

May 18, 2019 Saturday
Newport, RI - Albany, NY

This morning we headed out to the Newport Mansion Tour.  The Preservation Society of Newport County is a private non-profit institution dedicated to historic preservation.  They offer guided and self-guided tours through 11 Mansions.  Well, not having time to tour all the mansions, we toured the most popular "The Breakers".  I have WAY to many pictures for this blog so I will hopefully post enough for you to feel the rich architect.  You could spend 1/2 day at this one Mansion.  It was built as a summer house for Cornelius Vanderbilt. Cornelius built his wealth in Railroad and Shipping.  He began a passenger ferry business in New York harbor with on boat, then started his own Steamship company, eventually controlling Hudson River traffic.  He was also  the owner of the New York Central Railroad.  His net worth equaled $185 Billion at the time of his death in 1877.

There is the "Cliff Walk" which we took to view the back side of Mansions from the ocean and capture a few Mansion pictures.  You can tour these Mansions via Bellevue St, which is lined with all of them.

Now it's time to head out to our next destination .  We are back tracking a little bit and are now back in Albany, NY.  Checked into the Hilton for the night.  If you remember back on May 5th in the Blog we were here on Cinco de Mayo and found a great Mexican restaurant.  Well, we had to go back tonight.  Trying to decide whether to Uber or walk (1.5 miles).  Since we stuffed ourselves last time we decided to walk both ways just in case we do it again.  This time the place was not as crowd but still busy.  We each had a Margarita, Johnny ordered the Shrimp Cabana and I had the Shrimp Cocktail.  They were both delicious and we were comfortably full and had a very nice walk back to our hotel.  

May 17, 2019 - Friday
Centre Island, NY - Newport, RI

John and I thank Sydney and Bob for being GREAT hostesses during our stay at their Casa.  We really enjoyed our visit and all the adventures of New York.

We are now taking a Ferry from Orient Point, NY to New London, CT with our final destination today being Newport, RI.  

Once we arrived in Newport, RI, since our room was not ready, we headed out to the Castle Hill Inn (Historic Rhode Island Inn ) that Sydney suggested we go have a drink. The Inn dates back to 1874 and at the time was one of many "multi room mansions" called Cottages.  Today the Inn is a year round resort and maintains it's original architecture and retains it's old world charm.  

Time to check in to the Newport Marriott Hotel.  We really liked the design and decor of this hotel.  They really pulled through the Newport seaside theme all throughout the hotel.  It also carried into the room.  There are rooms that have a balcony that looks into an interior courtyard area and the balcony's are separated by canvas sheeting. The video is from the elevator of the interior courtyard.  

The weather has been rainy all day so we decided to stay in for dinner.  Hearing about Lobster Mac n Cheese, we decided to try as an appetizer.  It was absolutely delicious.  Johnny had there Fish n Chips and I went with Clam Chowder/Salad.  

After dinner we took a stroll through Newport Beach.  Very charming and beachy.

May 16, 2019 - Thursday
PGA Championship - Bethpage Black

As we were planning our trip in New York, Johnny mentioned he would like to play BethPage Black course.  After talking with our friends (Bob and Sydney), they told us there is the PGA Championship going on.  Well, not really following golf since our trip, I looked it up and sure enough it happens to be the week we are there.  I felt bad cause this was a bucket list item for John to play this course but, he didn't qualify for the event, ha.  So, we bought tickets, went to the event today and had a great time.  The course was very wet and is difficult to walk around.  We were fortunate to sit in the front row seats in the Grandstands on 18 and waited till Tiger came through and then moved over to the front row seats in the Grandstands on 1 till Mickelson teed off.  It was a fun filled day of golf.

This video is the sea of people coming up to the 18th hole with Tiger...UNREAL

After we returned to the house, Sydney was home from spending the previous day and night in Manhattan.  She's been hoping we would be able to get a walk around Oyster Bay at low tide.  Well, it was time, we took a walk and she showed us her neighbor (Billy Joel's) place.  Across the bay is where Tiger Woods has moored his yacht "Privacy" at the Oyster Bay Harbor.  As we continued our walk on the rocky shore, there were several Mansion's around the bay.  Sydney did tell us who owned some of them but, I couldn't tell you now who they were.  It was a much longer stroll then I think any of us thought it would be.  We were running late for our dinner reservations and there was no turning back because of the tide....time to hustle.

This is our last evening at the "Casa Broussardo Main" and no better way to end the evening then taking our host out to dinner.  We went to the Ocean Restaurant, which is one of Bob's favorites.  It was a gorgeous night on the Bay.  One of the special's was "Lobster Night".  Well, I couldn't resist and neither could Sydney.  John had the special Fish Dish and Bob had his Vegetarian  dish. We had a very pleasant evening.