Kim's Thoughts
Just a few thoughts I feel worthy of jotting down!
Rich In History
So – what makes Albion so rich in history? What are the monuments to the past? It is the 
buildings! You see, many of the buildings and homes around Albion, in fact most of Orleans County, were constructed of one of two types of stone that were abundant in the area. There are several rock quarries that were mined for stone – in particular, there was a stone known as Medina Sandstone (FYI – Medina is a neighboring town in the same county). First discovered in the 1820s, Medina Sandstone is a smooth slab type stone that was popular for paving blocks, walls, bridges, and as blocks for architecture. The photo to the left shows Medina Sandstone slabs used as a walkway along one of the lovely churches that will be featured later in this post.
The other popular stone found in the area and used for building purposes was Cobblestone. During the ice age, glaciers carved out the Great Lakes and the surrounding land. The glaciers rounded and polished stones into “cobble” and the waters of what became Lake Ontario continued to work to form and smooth the stones. The resulting Cobblestone was gathered and used to construct homes and other buildings throughout the area. The photo to the left is an up close shot of the artistic detail of a wall constructed of Cobblestone and the unique masonry that holds them together.
So — here are some of the historic buildings in and around the Albion area — some constructed of Medina Sandstone, some of Cobblestone, and some used other materials, but all have a story rich in history and some even have ties to famous people!!
I’ll start with the Cobblestone buildings. Route 104 (Ridge Road) runs east and west north of Albion through the Orleans County towns of Gaines and Childs, among others. Ridge Road is a historic stage coach turnpike and is often referred to as “the road of the cobblestone houses” because there are more buildings constructed of cobblestone along a 25 mile stretch than on any other highway in America. The Cobblestone Society is focused on the preservation of the cobblestone buildings designated a National Historic Landmarks.
This first photo is of the oldest cobblestone church in North America. It is located on Ridge Road in Childs and is the church that I was married in. I wanted a special location for my wedding and always treasured the Cobblestone Museum Complex, which consists of this church, the parsonage, and several other cobblestone buildings in Orleans County. This church was built in 1834 and represented the Universalist faith. It is now a museum visited by tourists and used only for special events. The building is still true to the time with no electricity – which means that I had a true candle lit ceremony for my wedding the evening of June 21, 1985. It was a beautiful ceremony in a wonderful old church.
This next photo is the parsonage situated next to the church. Also made of Cobblestone, this home was built in 1836. In 1861, a lady named Mary Ann Dwinnell purchased the house and the mortgage was held by her nephew Horace Greely, founder of the Liberal Republican Party, editor of the New York Tribune, and known as the greatest editor of his time. The house is now part of the Cobblestone Museum Complex and called the Ward House – named after Mrs. Inez Ward, the owner who sold the property to the Cobblestone Society in 1975. The home is still beautifully decorated with many of the original Victorian furnishings. The personal significance of this structure is that my bridesmaids and I used it to dress before my wedding. It made for a very romantic setting to prepare for a wedding.
Now, let’s move on to the fabulous churches and other historic buildings in Albion. First – the most distinctive church in town – the First Universalist Church, also known as the Pullman church. This church was constructed of Medina Sandstone and looks much like an incredible castle. It was built in 1894 by George Pullman (of the Pullman railroad sleeper car fame) in memory of his parents, who resided in Albion in the 1840s. George Pullman had his personal architect draw up the plans and was involved throughout the construction of the building. Additionally, Louis C. Tiffany was present for the installation of 41 windows created by his Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company. This beautiful church is one of Albion’s major treasures and is depicted in the next two photos.
St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic church is another striking building built of Medina Sandstone in the mid-late 1800s. The church is accompanied by the Catholic School, as well, shown in the photo right after the church.
The following photo is of the Baptist Church located next to the Catholic Church and was constructed of brick in 1832.
The church my family attended was the First United Methodist Church – also constructed of brick in 1832.
The County Courthouse is a Greek Revival Style dome building constructed of brick in 1856.
And, finally, Albion has a famous prison with significant historical value. Construction for the “Western House of Refuge for Women” began in April 1892. The institution opened in December 1893 and was designed as a “refuge” for reformable women aged 16 to 30 charged with misdemeanors such as petty larceny, drunkenness, prostitution, and “waywardness”. The mission of the institution was to give moral and religious training to form a good character and to provide domestic training that would enable them to find employment, secure good homes, and be self supporting. Over the years, the facility went from a State Reformatory School for Women to an Institution for Mentally Defective Delinquent Women to a medium security Correctional Facility for men to a co-ed facility. Once the new Correctional Facility for Men was constructed nearby, the original building returned to a Women’s Correctional Facility, which is as it stands now.
The most notable inmate that the Albion facility has had was Amy Fisher (of Joey and Mary Joe Buttafuco fame) – she spent a part of her sentence for her attack on Mary Joe Buttafuco in the Albion facility.
So — that is a sampling of the rich history of my home town!!! Watch for a post about the schools and one on an incredible historic cemetery in the next day or so.
And The Winner Is….
Check out all the winners by clicking here— you might find an interesting blog in the list!!!
Rosa Marina Salad
I don’t think I have ever been to an Italian wedding without finding Rosa Marina Salad on the table. It is always made lovingly by one or more of the Italian ladies in the family. I even attended a fully catered wedding once (rather than the usual ones where the ladies in the family cook for days prior to the wedding to supply all the food) and there it was – a huge bowl of Rosa Marina Salad available for the guests to enjoy!!!
Rosa Marina Salad is made from Rosa Marina pasta and can be a dessert or side dish – whatever works for the occassion it is being made for. It is very sweet, so dessert is usually the choice, but not so sweet that it couldn’t hold it’s own on a plate along side of a grilled burger or steak! This dish always brings back fond memories for me and I really enjoy making it and seeing the surprised looks on people’s faces that have never tried it before. At first, they think it might be a rice dish, like rice pudding or something – then, when they taste it, they are hooked!!! ha-ha-ha
As I said – the dish is supposed to be made with Rosa Marina pasta – unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find Rosa Marina pasta this far south!!! So, I began to substitue Orzo pasta! Orzo is the closest thing I have been able to find to Rosa Marina – it is a small rice-looking pasta – and works out very well.
Try this and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!!!
Rosa Marina Salad
Ingredients:
1 pound box Rosa Marina Macaroni
*This is hard to find around here. I substitute Orzo Pasta when I can’t find Rosa Marina. Don’t use Rice – it won’t soak up and swell, like pasta does.
2 eggs
¾ cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons flour
1 large can crushed pineapple
1 large can mandarin oranges
2 8 oz containers of Cool Whip
Directions:
Cook Rosa Marina or Orzo Pasta per instructions on box for “al dente”. Drain, rinse, and set aside.
Separate the fruit from the juice. Refrigerate fruit for use later. Use juice in next step.
Cook eggs, sugar, salt, flour, and the juice from the cans of fruit together until thickened. Stir or whisk to keep smooth while thickening. Consistency should be like a milky, thick gravy.
Pour sauce over macaroni and stir to coat thoroughly. This should be rather soupy. Refrigerate overnight to allow sauce to soak into macaroni.
The next day, the mixture will be firm and usually solid – sauce will be all soaked in. Use a spoon or spatula to break up the macaroni.
As close to serving time as possible, fold in the fruit and Cool Whip thoroughly. Serve chilled.
NOTE: A single batch as outlined above is usually enough for most small gatherings.
NC Symphony at the Civic Center
The downfall of the day was having to do it with a painful knee and leg brace!! Have you ever tried to get in and out of a car with your left leg braced so that it can’t bend at the knee? Not easy!! Luckily, it isn’t the leg I need to drive.
Saturday – The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly!
I typically really enjoy Saturdays, but I’d like to have completely skipped over the majority of today and just forgot about it!!! Here are my ramblings to tell you how it was a mish mash of good and bad – don’t think there was any actual “ugly”, but it made the title of the post sound cool…..
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First – an update on my earlier post about my experience with the Sanford Herald this morning: The print copy was good – no Business Section! Apparently, it was just an error that it was included in the Saturday on-line version! All is well with the universe! ha-ha
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I was so tired this morning – I decided to lay down for a little while before my 2:00 nail appt. While I was dozing, I had a strange dream – I dreamed that I was riding in my car with my ex-husband driving. We were driving down a road near our home town that has a one lane bridge across a river – the road slopes down to the bridge after a curve and then slopes back up to another curve. In the dream, Ronald was taking the curve a little fast and I yelled to slow down cause he might miss the bridge! Just as he started to slow down, we got to the bridge and there was no railing on the right side and we missed the turn and ran off the bridge into the river! We stayed calm, but I couldn’t reach the release for my seat belt – I looked at him and told him I couldn’t undo my seat belt. He undid his own and then helped me with mine. I then opened the window to relieve some pressure so I could open the door and we both got out of the car and swam to the surface! I was so upset about my beautiful car being under water!!!! But, some guys were there with a winch and they pulled it out and all was fine!!! Weird!!! I had set the alarm in case I fell asleep so that I wouldn’t miss my appt – when it went off, I felt really odd and out of breathe!!!
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I got ready and headed to Marcello’s so Pam could do my nails — that was nice — we had a nice chat and my nails look great!!!
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When I got done there, I went down town to check out that new shop – Beauty Basket – it is located between Local Joe’s and Southern Jewelers on Steele Street. WOW – great store!!!! If you liked Priss Pots for their sunglasses, jewelry, and cool accessories, you’ll like this store!!! I picked up a couple things and chatted with the owner. She has only been open for two weeks, but has already captured the hearts of some of the old Priss Pots regulars! Check it out — you’re sure to find something you like in there!
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Then, I popped in to Shops of Steele Street and picked up a new night shirt and some of fudge and other goodies from Amy’s Confection Company for a friend I needed to get a little something for.
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So far, so good (except the newspaper confusion and the strange dream) — I was getting sleepy again, so I decided to go to The Dairy Bar and get some supper before I went home to settle in for the evening. That’s when things started to go down hill – fast! I got out of the car and when I took the first step that put weight on my left leg, I felt my knee pop and buckle!!!! It really hurt!!!! I have trouble off and on with that knee, so I didn’t think a lot of it – this felt really different than the usual trouble, but I went ahead in and had some dinner. By the time I got home, I could barely walk on my left leg – it hurt so bad!!! I just curled up on the couch to give it a rest.
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It wasn’t long before I realized this was NOT the usual acting up of that knee – it was really painful and I couldn’t find any position that would let it be comfortable. So, I went over to the Pine Ridge Urgent Care – I have been there a couple times now (when I had that cracked rib a month or so ago) and really like the doctors and staff – it is a really nice place and everyone is friendly and very caring!!! And, it is so close to home — definitely the place I think of if I need a doctor during off hours or when I can’t get worked in at my regular doctor. The doc asked me some questions and took some x-rays! He thinks I popped the cartilage and gave me a brace that keeps the knee from bending and moving and told me to take some anti-inflammatory meds and something for the pain, if I need it to get to sleep. BUT — he also said there is some pretty bad degenerative activity going on in that knee – which explains the usual problems I have with it!!! He said there are several big bone spurs! I asked if that meant arthritis and he said definitely!! He said what he saw on the x-ray is classic signs of arthritis!!! Uugghh!!! I had a strong suspicion that I was starting to get some arthritis in that knee and some other joints, but wasn’t absolutely sure – until now!!! Guess I’m gonna need to start taking care of that — all the women in my family have had arthritis and I have watched them all go through such bad pain and inability to do things they loved to do because of it! I don’t want it to come to that and will fight it as long as I can!!! As for this particular problem, I’ll need to wear the brace and take the anti-inflammatory meds at least until Weds – then, if it isn’t getting better, I’ll need to go to my regular doctor to see what else may need to be done!
So – that’s my Saturday!!! Parts were really quite enjoyable and parts really sucked!!! And – hey — I guess there was some “ugly” after all — you should see this big, yucky brace on my leg!!!!
Yanks on the move…
The Yankees have swapped places with Baltimore on the Standings Board!!!
Yep – that’s right – the incredible NY Yankees are no longer in last place! They have slipped up one rung in the standings to put the Baltimore Orioles in the bottom spot! They are on the move and I’m sure will continue their climb to an impressive comeback!!! WOO HOO!!!
What Day Is It?????
So, I hovered my cursor over the time in the bottom right corner of my monitor and, sure enough, it WAS Saturday — I didn’t sleep through it to find that it was actually Sunday!!! Nope — I was on the right day — the Business Section was on the WRONG day!!!! Was this a mistake – did someone accidentally print Sunday’s “D” section in place of Saturday’s “D” section? Has something happened in the universe to mis-align the moon and the sun to create this strange anomaly? What will be in Sunday’s paper in place of the Business Section???? Does the hard copy have the same bazaar day swap? I’ll have to get out to the box and check that out! I rushed to Jonathan’s and Billy Liggett’s blogs to see if they posted anything that might solve the mystery – nothing! My whole day will be out of kilter hanging on the chance to read Sunday’s edition to find out what will be there to replace what I already read today that I am not supposed to read until tomorrow — oh woo is me — the drama of it all — I don’t know how I am going to survive the day today — what else is going to be out of whack to further cement this feeling of utter confusion!!!!
On a brighter note — being able to read Jonathan’s column today gave me a chance to check out a new shop that has opened downtown that he mentioned — Beauty Basket on Steele Street — if I had read this tomorrow, I would have had to wait until next Saturday to check it out!!! So – there you go – yet another proof of the old saying “everything happens for a reason”!!!!
Ch-Ch-Changes….
Renalds
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If you have read this blog for very long, you know that Renalds is one of my most favorite restaurants in town and I am almost always there on Thursday nights for dinner!!! Well, Chef Hamm – the chef that has worked with Joni Martin (owner) to prepare the Thursday night dinner menu at Renalds for a long time now – has bought the restaurant and will be managing it for himself under the name “Cafe 121” beginning on Father’s Day!!! As much as I hate to see the restaurant change from it’s current quaint setting, luscious desserts, and special dinner menus, I am very much anticipating what Chef Hamm will do with it!!! If it had to be sold, I couldn’t think of a better person to take it over!!! He plans to have a weekly Sunday Brunch, a Coffee Bar, and be open for lunch on Saturday – those are the big logistical changes – he also has a totally new menu that looks scrumptious!! I’ll get in to Renalds as much as I can between now that the change to enjoy the current Renalds and will anxiously await the opportunity to begin enjoying the new Cafe 121!!!
Myra’s Kitchen
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Myra’s Kitchen (another favorite of mine) has been doing such a good business – and rightfully so – they are so good!!! In fact, the business has been so good – especially at lunch – that they are running out of space!!! Sounds like a good problem to have, but Myra and Buddy are beginning plans to solve it! They are starting to draw up ideas to expand the size of their restaurant – they are going to build out the side to make the dining room larger and make room to serve more customers!! Sounds great to me!!!
So – at least two good changes to look forward to!!!
Weekend Adventure – The Rest of the Story
So — it wasn’t all that bad — after I settled in from Day One and had a good night’s sleep, the weekend turned out really great!!!
Friday —
- On Friday, Mom and I spent the day talking and enjoying each other’s company. We went to a local greenhouse and Mom got a bunch of plants for the planters on her patio and to take out to the cemetery for our family graves.
- We went out to the cemetery and put flowers on my Great Grandmother Freeman’s grave (my Grandfather’s mother), my Grandparent’s graves, and my Poppie’s grave.
- Then we met my brother and sister-in-law at a favorite restaurant in town for dinner.
- Friday was a full day — Mom and I were really wore out!
Saturday —
- Mom planted the flowers in her planters on the patio – I watched – Mom has the green thumb – I am a notorious plant murderer!
- We spent the bulk of the rest of the day downloading music onto Mom’s new MP3 player!
- We had a lot of fun thinking of songs and artists from our youth and listening to clips and talking about the memories they congered up!!! I loved it — I hope she did!!!
- For dinner, we went to Point Breeze – a marina area located on the river right where it joins Lake Ontario – I love spending time at the Point! There is a really good restaurant there called the Black North Inn – it used to be a dumpy bar/restaurant that was a popular hang out with great food and great times! It has been completely remodeled and is now still pretty shabby looking from the outside and the bar hasn’t changed, but the dining room is beautiful!!!! We had a really good dinner!!!
- Another full day that wore us both out!!!
Sunday —
- We tried to just relax on Sunday!
- The day we went for flowers, we didn’t have room for the hanging plants, so we went to get those and some more plants to fill a left over pot.
- My sister-in-law came out to mow my Mom’s lawn and we talked a while.
- Then, we met my brother and sister-in-law for dinner and then downloaded some more music for Mom’s MP3 player!
- Not as full a day, but we were still all wore out!!!!
Monday —
- I went to town to have some alone time at the cemetery to catch up my Grandparents and my Poppie on what is going on in my life. I watered the plants that we put out and took some photos.
- While I was in town, I went around and took a bunch of photos of places that remind me of home or have special meaning to me — I’ll post some highlights of the photos in the next day or two.
- I caught the tail end of a Memorial Day celebration at the high school and go to hear the ending of a performance by the high school’s Purple Eagles Marching Band — what a treat!!!
- Mom and I took a nap cause she was exhausted from being a lot more active than she has been since before the hip replacement surgery and I was going to have to get up at 3:00 am Tuesday to catch a flight back to NC!
- We fixed dinner and then played around on the computer to end up the visit!
Tuesday —
- Tuesday morning, I got up at 3:00 to get ready to be picked up by my brother to take me to the airport on his way in to work.
- I caught the 6:00 flight – connected in JFK – and arrived in RDU without any delays, massive crowds, or other issues!!!
- I picked up the girls, who were soooooooooooo happy to see me and to get home!!! They went nuts all over the house and back yard – then crashed and have been snoring almost non-stop ever since!
- I had a 5:00 CIS meeting and then went to Myra’s Kitchen for dinner!
The adventure is over — today was back to normal and back to work — all-in-all I had a great visit with Mom!!! She is doing so good — still shaky on her legs and needs a cane to get around, but the muscles are getting stronger and there is NO pain associated with the hip surgery!!! The doc says she’s progressing very well and it shows!!!
Watch for photos of some of my favorite home town sights in the next day or two!
Weekend Adventure – Day One
Thursday —
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The trip started out on a rocky note! I got up in the morning and took the girls to Rae-Zor for boarding (they were so happy to get to go!). Once they were settled in, I picked up some breakfast and went back home to get ready to go to the airport. I was planning my time so that I would leave the house about 10:00 to make my 11:49 Jet Blue flight. At 10:00, I took out my boarding passes and checked to be sure I had the right ones and put them where I could easily get them out when I got to the airport. As I glanced at them, I noticed that it said that the plane would begin boarding at 10:00!! The thoughts that flashed through my head were “WHAT??? 10:00???? Why board at 10:00 for an 11:49 flight???” So I looked closer and it said my flight was 10:20 – not 11:49!!! OMG!!! My first thought was that the boarding pass was wrong – so I looked at the itinerary. Sure enough – the flight was 10:20 – it was arriving at JFK at 11:49 – I read it wrong!!!! The rush of panic poured over me – no way would I make it to the airport in time, let alone get through security, etc…… So, I called Jet Blue to find out what options I had. They were very nice and helpful and got me on the next flight that was leaving at 2-something (just about the same time I was originally supposed to arrive in Rochester!).
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I switched gears and calmed myself down – all was gonna be OK! I called my Mom and told her to let my brother know about the change – he was planning to pick me up at the airport. This was going to create a problem for him – I picked the original arrival time to coincide when he got off work because my home town is about an hour away from the Rochester airport, but Kevin works as a Lab Technician at Strong Memorial Hospital at the University of Rochester – not far from the airport. Now that I was going to arrive about 7:00, he was going to have to go all the way home and come back for me! Uugghh! But….it was what it was! Since I now had the time, I went by Shops of Steele Street to pick him up some of Amy’s Carolina Cake Truffles (he loves them and I thought they would make a nice peace offering!). She was out of Truffles, but I was able to get him some Fudge and English Toffee. (Time warp ahead — he was really happy to get them, so it was a good decision!)
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The problems didn’t stop there — I got to the airport in plenty of time, we boarded on time, taxi’d to the tarmac, and suddenly the pilot stopped the plane and shut off the engines. Not a good sign!!! He came on the intercom and announced that we were put on hold because JFK decided to shut down part of the airport to permit some practice flights for an airshow that was scheduled for Memorial Day (4 days away)!!! WHAT??? We all looked around at each other saying that we never heard of such a thing!!! Anyway – we sat there almost an hour waiting for clearance to take off and head toward JFK! The pilot said that the weather conditions and other factors would allow him to make up most of that time and that we would only be about 15 minutes late. Some of us talked about how we should probably be OK with connecting flights because of the made up time and the “assumption” that if they shut down large portions of JFK, then the connections should be running late, too……
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The problems continued…….we were able to make up the time, but we discovered that our “assumption” about cascading delays was not necessarily correct! In my case, I had a 1 hour layover, so by the time I got off the plane, I had about 30 minutes to get to my next flight. I arrived at gate 18 and was departing at gate 10, so was happy that it appeared that I wouldn’t have too far to go! WRONG AGAIN!!! I soon found out that gates 1-17 was in another concourse and I had to walk a fair distance to hop a shuttle to take me there! JFK was PACKED and it was very difficult to maneuver my way through the crowds! I made it to the gate totally out of breathe with only about 5 minutes to take off time – thinking they might have already closed the doors and I missed ANOTHER flight!!!! But – I soon found out they hadn’t even started boarding, yet – even though the monitors were still saying the flight was “on time”!
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It’s not over, yet………we finally boarded about 20 minutes after the original take off time! We pulled away from the gate and began to taxi to the runway — we drove and drove and drove and drove — I began to wonder if we were “driving” to Rochester, instead of “flying”! We came to a stop and sat there for almost 15 minutes before we started driving again and the pilot said that we were 20th for take off, so he received permission to move to another runway – another long drive the seemed to never end! When we got to the other runway, we were 8th for take off, but then there was some other delay (by then I lost track of all the reasons!) and we were almost two hours late taking off and over an hour late landing in Rochester!!! I was exhausted!!!! My brother and sister-in-law were frustrated waiting for a flight that was super late, but continued to show “on time” on the monitors!!!
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It was my first experience with Jet Blue — I usually fly Southwest! But, from what I could tell, none of the problems were their fault and the employees were very friendly, helpful, and easy to deal with; the planes were very nice and had super comfortable seats AND individual TVs at each seat with free access to watch 30-some odd channels of Direct TV through personal headsets — I was impressed with Jet Blue!!!
Stay tuned for the rest of the Weekend Adventure!
Kim's Thoughts 
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