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| Our generous and delightful hosts Susan and Sam |
We had the distinct pleasure of staying with Sam and Susan
Patterson from WarmShowers.org They live
in Vermilion, OH and their house is less than a half miles off the route. We made really good time that day, with a
tailwind and flat roads. We got there
around 1 PM. Susan and Mary (her
mother-in-law) greeted us and invited us in their home. As it were, Mary was visiting from outside of
Cleveland, and Sam and Susan’s son Taylor was also there for the summer. They had a full-house, but still welcomed two
travelers.
We were immediately offered water and lunch, although we had
already eaten we gladly rested, had a drink of water, and munched on some local
blueberries and cucumbers. After we had
settled in and taken showers, Mary and Susan convinced David to play
Bananagrams and Triangle (a card game).
I declined as I am terrible at word games and had a bunch to do with
mapping out the next day. David, who is
rather good at scrabble was whooped by Susan who is a wiz at these games. To be fair though, it was the first time
David played them and he did very much hold his own.
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| Susan, Mary and Pata with the famous pies! |
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| Sam, Mary, Pata, and David holding the Bananagrams! |
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| Susan, Mary, Pata, and Sam |
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| Pata with Sam and Susan's (although mostly Sam's) bikes in the background. |
Before the game playing, Mary and Susan made two blueberry
pies which filled the kitchen with a heavenly aroma as the afternoon wore
on. When Sam got home, he greeted us
warmly and quickly changed to go for a ride.
He suggested that David might want to go with him and ride one of his
nice road bikes, but David (and his rear) had had enough riding for the day. While Sam was riding Taylor decided to have
pie appetizer which we all thought was a very good idea. The pie was “the best pie we’ve ever
had.” The crust was just amazing.
When Sam came home, he went into high gear to make
dinner. He has a beautiful outdoor
kitchen with a wood burning grill and a sink and a granite island with high
stools all around. I helped chop a few
veggies for grilling. He made us the
best appetizer of mozerella cheese and sausage with fresh basil. It was the best food I’ve had in many months,
and that was only the beginning. We had
delicious grilled pork, with jasmine rice and grilled veggies, I partook in some delightful summer wine and
there was more pie for dessert. We were
more than sated.
The conversation was great fun as we talked all kinds of
shop: bicycles (Sam, Pata, and David); education and schools (Pata and Susan);
running (David and Susan), coffee (Pata and Sam) and a myriad of other topics
as well. We had a great time! We felt so fortunate to have such generous
and sociable host.
In the morning, everyone was up early. Sam made us delicious oatmeal and Pata got a
cup of real French Pressed coffee. We
got off to a good start and are very thankful that we had the chance to meet
Sam, Susan, Mary, and Taylor.
DW: What a delightful stop this was! The welcome was warm and came from the hearts of our hosts.
I
liked the fact that Sam had quite a few bicycles hanging in his garage and a
beautiful Raleigh road bike sitting on a trainer in his living room. My kind of
guy! Pata and I were cyclists number nine and ten
who had stopped this season at the Patterson’s home. I’m sure there will be
many others. Good news spreads fast.
Other highlights of the Patterson home: the blueberry pies!
The Hawaiian slang for something delicious is said to “broke the mouth!” the
blueberry pies broke my mouth with their flavor, texture, just utterly
delicious!
Sam’s culinary prowess is remarkable as he produced a multi-course
dinner with flair and aplomb cutting this and seasoning that like a true chef.
The grilled sausage laid on the freshly cut mozzarella cheese with fresh basil
and olive oil was extraordinarily good.
Our visit was brief but oh so rewarding. Thank you Pattersons
for opening your home and your hearts to us.
We loved every minute of our visit with you.
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| Even Rosie made a friend! |
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