The major shift in plan brought me to Perkins Funeral Home in Dryden for the calling hours for
pkdan's grandmother, Frances Adinolfi. I certainly didn't know her well, but I did know she was a sweet lady who loved her family, and her passing deserved observance. It was an opportunity to see Dan's parents (Frances was Dan's dad's mother) and brother tonelive, as well as pickled_cotton and Jeff. I was privileged to spend a good chunk of the time there with Jaden and Anna! They were both very good, and Jaden seemed to mostly relax in my arms. Seemed like a good idea to give Dan and queenmabwords a little time off from kid duty.kinnerc and I decided to check out Song Tao before heading back to town; I knew I needed some food, and I've been meaning to try the place after reading about aregulardyke's occasional visits there. They have tables, and pretend to offer table service, but in reality they don't seem geared to it. It seems like a gussied-up Chinese take-out place, and as long as you treat it that way, they do fine. The food was tasty and plentiful (there are leftovers) and reasonably priced.We spent some of dinner talking about cell phone plans, which Doc's been considering instead of a landline for the new house, so when we were done, I suggested we swing through Groton on the way back to Ithaca to see how the signal strength is. Doc thought that was crazy, but mused that I hadn't yet seen the house at all yet, so off we went.
Darrowby House is fantastic! We walked around the outside and confirmed a nice strong cell signal in the area, and then Doc, recalling that Sandy had heard about his past drive-by visits and said "You should have knocked!," went ahead and knocked. She gave us a tour of the place, a beautiful, old, and large house that dates back on the order of 140 years. They've obviously done a fine job of upkeep, and some great renovations, in the ten years they've been there. We were pleased to find a reasonable Verizon Wireless signal inside the house, too.
After leaving, I found my way over to
fabunobo and drdjmike's house, but they were out for the evening! I got to chat with Ronzi for a few minutes, said hi to Rachel, met Anka, and of course Poco virtually levitated into my arms when he saw me. We hung out for a few before I drove back home, roughly a 22 minute drive. Not too bad. 