Last weekend (August 12th-15th), I went toRacine, WI for my great aunt's 100th birthday party. It was incredibly fun. Her birthday is actually in October, but this was the only time the whole family could get together, and when you're talking about 100 years, what difference do a few months really make?
On Friday, my parents and my grandfather picked me up at my apartment and we drove to the airport. I had bought a shiny new skein of rainbow yarn to entertain myself with on the airplane. By the time we got to Racine, I had most of a bag done. I decided to finish it and give it to my aunt as a birthday present, along with the pompon I had made for her hat. (The pompon had been a request.) We made our way to the Ravine Radisson, where my mother, being the center of all activity, had requested the biggest room in the hotel. Everyone always hangs out in her room when we go anywhere, so it was really a good idea. It had its own kitchen, which was good because we had a place to put leftovers, and we got breakfast items and ate breakfast in the room instead of spending$10 for breakfast somewhere. Interestingly, the room also had a whirlpool bath, but it was not in the bathroom. It was next to the bed. There was a separate bathtub in the bathroom. This turned out to be useful as well as my cousin is still recovering from a badly broken leg, and he had his leg in the hot whirlpool when everyone was hanging out in the room.
On Friday evening, we were going to go to some fancy restaurant where one of my aunts had made reservations, but that fell through, so we decided to go to my Aunt Bertha and Aunt Mary's (the great aunts- it was Bertha's 100th that we were celebrating) favorite restaurant, The Corner House. It was delicious food and a nice place to be generally. Most of us had the walleyed pike, which had come from the lake only a few blocks away. The owner of the restaurant happened to be there that night, and he was walking around and talking to people. We told him the occasion for which we had come, and he was quite surprised. He asked Aunt Bert what her secret was, and she replied that it was because she ate at The Corner House regularly! He laughed and we all took pictures, and we told him that, according to our itinerary, we would be eating there on Sunday as well. He called over the waitress that would be serving us on Sunday and told her to take special care of us. He also made Aunt Bert a special birthday sundae with vanilla ice cream, brandy, cocoa, and nutmeg.
After dinner, the great aunts went home to sleep, and everyone else was hanging out in my mom's hotel room. I happened to be sharing the room with my mom. Everyone decided that they would go to the bar for drinks, but I elected not to go as I was tired and at the end of my endurance for socialization for the day.
On Saturday, we went to the Racine zoo. It was a small zoo, but nice, and the animals had many toys to play with, but the tiger seemed very sad. He was pacing around his enclosure, over and over again in the same path. The meerkats seemed happy, though, with their lookout on top of the mound, and the others tunneling away. The mountain goats were climbing their crag, and the penguins, whose scheduled feeding time was a mere fifteen minutes away, were staring expectantly at the area where the fish came out. The sky had been threatening for some time, and it started to open up. Most of the family took refuge under a large picnic tent, but my brother, my dad, and I decided to see if we could see the bear. The bear had taken shelter from the storm, as had the meerkats and the mountain goats. The penguins, however, hadn't moved, and were still staring expectantly at the food opening.
That night was the big birthday celebration in a big restaurant on the pier. We watched the boats out on the water and had another party. Aunt Heidi had made centerpieces out of antique bingo cards (one of Aunt Bert's favorite pastimes is bingo) with pictures of Aunt Bert and quotes from her. This was the biggest party as there were 5 people who came in on Saturday and had to leave during the day on Sunday. It was big and loud and I talked to Aunt Mary about crafts.
After dinner, there was hanging out in mom's hotel room.
Sunday was beach day. The lake was quite murky because the wind had stirred up the sand underneath, but at least you don't have to worry about sharks and things like you do in New Jersey. Also, it's fresh water, not salt water, so you don't get the salt taste in your mouth. There is, however, algae that comes in clumps that I'm still picking out of my hair. It's very nice, though. Aunt Heidi sat in her beach chair and enjoyed the sun while Aunt Gretchen and I walked the beach and swam in the waves.
That night, it was back to The Corner House for dinner, which was still wonderful. We were well taken care of by the waitress we had met on Friday.
After dinner, more hanging out in mom's room, but with less people than the night before.
On Monday morning, mom and I took a last walk down by the beach. After that, we packed and checked out of the hotel and went to Aunt Bert's house before going to the airport for the flight home.
All in all, a very fun weekend.
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