We left our lovely retreat in Massachusetts and made our way West through the scenic countryside of up-state New York.  We had to stop in Rome, NY where there is a National Park on the site of the Revolutionary War Fort Stanwix.  After traveling back in time and exploring the fort, we picnicked in the car and turned our nose North to visit Sandy Creek, NY and see if we could find more ancestral sites.  Some generations of Underhill’s moved to Sandy Creek and then to Ellisburg – which we had to visit as well.  Both were small quaint towns of attractive character.  My ancestors picked beautiful places to settle!  Wanting to see Lake Ontario, we make a side trip to a state park where it was wildly windy and threatened to storm, so I took a couple of quick pictures and we traveled on.

By late afternoon we arrived in Syracuse, NY where I had lived when I was in the 6th grade.  Talk about a travel back in time!  We found the house on Livingston St., and the small mini grocery on Westcott Ave. where I used to walk to for milk.  We found the school I attended and the church where we worshiped.  Just being in the neighborhood, I remembered Thornden Park where I used to play with neighborhood friends and where we went swimming on hot days – all still there, mostly unchanged.

Dinner was a feast of familiar ethnic fare – German food – and it was excellent!  For a wonderful bonus, I got a call from each of my four sons and then I called my own mother to wish her a Happy Mother’s Day.  All in all, a beautiful and grace-filled day.