Out and about

Today we went to town out towards Gaines and east on Hwy 6. We stopped at Northwoods Gift Shop (formally called Manhattan Station) and had a nice talk with Tom and Kathy Livesey. They were full of catch up stories from the winter months and the most exciting one for them was their daughter won a million dollar (well closer to 700k after taxes) in a scratch off game. Happy news for her and them.

The carved bear in front of their place is one of my favorites, he
seems to be waiting for the caboose parked along the gift store to move. Sadly, it hasn't moved for a long time and is not expected to move anytime soon.
The Northwoods shop has a variety of tourist gifts and some great fun for kids in their mini putt putt and gem mining. "Gem mining?", you say, "What's that?" Well I have to admit I didn't think too much of taking a bag of sand and running it through some water to sort out precious stones and prizes, until I did it with my grandkids.
There were little rocks that looked like gold and all sorts of polished stones and if you were lucky and found a special coin..well that was worth a nice prize in the store. Tom and Kathy are very generous with the stones and prizes found in the bags of sand and it is almost as fun as easter egg hunting without all the calories.

The last picture is the owners Tom and Kathy Livesey all rested up from winter...looking forward to a great season. Oh one last note Tom said there is a magnificent eagle who makes his home in
Ansonia, near the Darling Run bike and boat launch area. He said this bird defies everything eagles are supposed to do. It kills ducks, weasels, and dives for fish under the water (maybe it learned that from chasing those ducks. So keep a look out for him if you are biking or boating.

This last picture few of you will recognize who haven't been up here since last year. Last year in May the Antlers Restaurant burnt down. Well, according to some workers there today it is going to be open for business again sometime the end of this month or the first of May. They are particularly hoping to have it open for all you people looking to take your mom somewhere nice for mother's day. If it is anything like most new openings you better get reservations in early.