Fortunately, all of our destinations were within walking distance. After lunch we journeyed over to Ben-Mar; a restaurant and bar just down the street from McDonnell's. Our cousins Pat and Marina Whittington operate the Ben-Mar; unfortunately, Pat was out of town that day. Marina was quite excited to see all of us and very delighted to receive the completed Whittington Family 2010 book. We had several drinks at the Ben-Mar as we visited and introduced ourselves. Marina recently emailed me to express her gratitude for the book and meeting her Moran cousins.
Danielle desired to visit one of Gerard's favorite haunts in Carbondale. Sisko's is a small, but quite the perfect small town bar with a wonderful owner and clientele who loved and adored Gerard. I can't remember her name (sorry Danielle), but she was very nice nonetheless. So who were we (at least Mary and I) to turn down the chance for another drink? We stumbled down the street to Sisko's to enjoy company with Gerard's friends.
By this time (late afternoon and several stiff drinks and beers), we had exhausted the downtown haunts and made our way to the haunt near Gerard's house---Orazzi's. The place was closed, but Art used his name and prestige to persuade the owner to open up for us (Art told him there were many, many thirsty Myers'). Even Bob McDonnell was able to stop in for a drink and a visit. We shared much laughter and good drink at Orazzi's before retiring back to our hotel where we went swimming with the kids (Gracie and Michael). I wisely decided to drink Iced Tea the rest of the evening. Afterall, this was only Friday; I had at least two full days of gluttony before I went home.
