Chautauqua Week

It is one of my favorite weeks of summer, Chautauqua week. Over the weekend, the boys and I left Columbus to meet up with my mom and drive to New York State and a little taste of "stepping away from the world" for a week. I first went to Chautauqua when I was my boys' age. My godmother and aunt, a school teacher at the time, had decided to run an inn during the summer at Chautauqua and so we were invited to spend some time visiting her each year. I've been going to Chautauqua for three decades now and very little has changed since my first visit: few cars are allowed on the grounds, so bike riding in the street is the preferred method of transport, few people lock their doors and exploration into the arts, learning and spiritual matters is encouraged. This little Victorian enclave has existed in almost the identical state since the 1800s. Well, almost identical: there is wireless Internet, so I will be blogging as I relax, renew and refresh in a very non-stressful environment for the week. Yesterday we did our annual "stock up at Wegmans" grocery run (the apartment where we are staying has a small kitchen, so we will cook most of our meals...Chautauqua is many things, but inexpensive for food once inside the grounds, it is not). Since being on vacation doesn't normally equate with me wanting to spend vast amounts of time in the kitchen, we kept it simple on our grocery run. I have lots of easy breakfast and lunch options for the boys, and for dinner, we keep it super simple: pumped up macaroni and cheese (basically, we add some vegetables), bean and rice burritos, soup night (it is cool here!), pasta with marinara and veggie burgers. We'll add some fresh produce and a few sides but again, even the most avid cook needs to take a break from KP every now and then. So as I unwind and retreat from the very fast pace of day to day life, I'm sure one thing on my mind is where to take this blog as we head into late summer and early fall. My question for you is...any requests? SPC