Over Labor Day weekend, I decided to visit some friends in the greater Binghamton, NY area where I went to grad school. It had been a really long time since I’d visited and the timing was good, since nearly all of my friends are teachers who are now back at school!
My friend Erin won tickets to the Rockwell Museum of Western Art in Corning, NY, so we started the weekend there. I’d been to Corning several times (the museum of glass is very cool) and had always assumed that the Rockwell Museum had something to do with Norman Rockwell. Not so, as it turns out! The name comes from Robert and Hertha Rockwell who owned a local department store and amassed a large collection of Western art.
The collection was interesting, and not something I would normally go out to see. Most of the permanent collection was made up of paintings and sculptures done by early travelers out west, though there was also some very cool art by contemporary Native American artists. I was pleased to see some discussion (like in this gallery) about white artists of the time and how they have some responsibility for a lot of negative stereotypes that exist about Native Americans. After the first few galleries of late 19th century painters I was more than a little worried that the curators were going to gloss over any negative criticism of how the artists were representing Native Americans.
But on the positive side — there was a whole room full of buffalo!
http://instagram.com/p/dsC3DTwSWL/
After returning to Binghamton, we went to the one place where I must stop every time I visit: Crepe Heaven! I used to live upstairs from this restaurant so I ate there at least once every week — often more than that. The owners still recognize us when we stop by even though it’s been two years since I moved away. Miss that place!
It’s always so hard to decide what flavor to get!
The next day, we went over to our friends’ family’s lake house. But not before stopping at my second favorite place in Binghamton.
http://instagram.com/p/duRWNhQST-/
The first of September is the day all the pumpkin stuff comes out! Yuuum!!! I might have to visit the closest Wegmans to me (which is 45 minutes away in Northborough, MA… booo!).
When we arrived at the lake house, I finally got to see my friends who I hadn’t met up with since their son was in utero. He was such a cutie! He spent about 30 minutes gumming away at my fingers until they were all pruney.
Most of the afternoon was spent lounging around and chatting with various friends and visitors to the lake house and eating a bunch of tasty food. Then we capped it off with a big bonfire and some lakeside fireworks. A very relaxing way to spend the weekend!
For Science! 