Kingston is a name that I have heard only in reference to memory sticks or thumb drives, or USB drives or Pen drives as the janta calls them... an opportunity to visit the place with that name had a different sort of excitement for me... I was feeling very similar when I went to Cherokee too!!!
An evening flight to Detroit and a connection to Syracuse and a 2.5 hours drive to Kingston later I was in the city last saturday! Thankfully the weather was bright and sunny throughout and was warm enough to roam around in a sweatshirt!!!
Kingston has nothing to do with the brand, I guess, and there is not much you can do in the town... You can be in Jail, it has a biiiig correction centre, or you could be in the Queens University, or you could be working in one of the local market places in the city! Pretty laid back, and a relaxed place to be in, with its own set of excitements too I am sure!
The rest below, along with the pictures...
The change of driver pit-stop some 20 miles before the US-Canadian Border. I was driving Jas's Shwanda so far!!! I love that white car... it is so similar to my palio!
We reached Jas's new apartment late afternoon, and after some amazing Chai, with chips and Bananabread Cake, went to the downtown to walk around the place...
There is something very very attractive about old stone buildings with veins all over them. In summers the entire walls can be hidden behind the leaves, but because of this being fall time, there were only veins and some last few leaves... and the red of the leaves against the grey of the walls made a very beautiful sight!
And then we walked towards the downtown...
Being a Saturday here was a farmer's market. Most farmer's markets in the US and Canada sell fresh produce from the farms, Jewelery, Handmade Soaps and other handmade stuff... We bought some dry flowers from Diane (the picture below). Mostly I was attracted to the Dodge Van she had and then noticed the flowers too! It was a 1978 Dodge rescue van, and Diane did mention her fondness for the vehicle in the few minutes of conversation we had with her.
While walking past the city hall, we heard some nice music and thought was it was coming from some speakers in a restaurant, but later realised that it was band of 3 young boys who were playing their songs in a small arrangement. We also picked up a few maple leaves of different colors to make some artwork at Jas's apartment with the leaves!
While walking back, I noticed this shop selling interesting stuff and had a very interesting board outside... They had a shower gel dispenser in the shape of a nose :P, and fart candies, and masks, and puzzles, and riddles and what not... I also bought a small puzzle myself and have been trying to figure out what to do with it for a while now :/
Leaves in Kingston had these strange black dots on them... and only those leaves which had the fall colors. Not sure why, but it was both spooky and interesting to notice! Like the mark of death, as Jas's colleague Al says!
I also saw one of the best beautiful sunsets in a very long time at the Lake Ontario that evening!!!
We finally called it a day as it was dark and getting real cold! Came back home, had some mind blowing dinner (Thanks Jas!!!!), saw Step Brothers and crashed! It was a nice day!
The next day we had to leave Kingston by 1 to catch my flight back... and because I woke up pretty late, there was not much we could do... So we hung around the apartment, while I took a few photographs...
The drive between Kingston and Syracuse has two interesting things, the border, and two very beautiful bridges over Lake Ontario through a place called 1000 Islands! yes... I was excited to be passing through this place, after knowing the 1000 Islands dressing for a long time! Its like I am seeing things which I have known only as objects so far! Its a feeling that I cannot express...
My flight from Syracuse was delayed by an hour, and that made me miss my connection to Milwaukee. I enjoyed my complimentary stay in Holiday Inn, Newark that night, and took the first flight out on Monday. Though I had to wake up at 4:30 in the morning, I was still ok.
In short, this weekend turned out to be very relaxed, de-stressing and refreshing.
One more to the list of memorable trips I have made! Thank you Jas! thank you Uncle!
And I almost forgot... last weekend was the first time, I signed some of my work! A huge moment of satisfaction for me as a photographer!!!!
and today, Jas gave Diane two prints as well!!! :) I am glad!
Life is Good!!!!
