Nostalgia

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Turoni's Pizza, Evansville. 19 July 2026.

We're now all back from reunion weekend, after picking up the family from a series of flights. Part of this trip in addition to seeing family was returning to old familiar places in the town my wife grew up in. "It's about the nostalgia" she said.

One of the locations was the country club house (now renovated and completely changed) for lunch with her uncle and aunt on her Dad's side. This is where we had our wedding reception back in 1999, and it is a place we haven't seen since.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Oak Meadow. 19 July 2026.

On this visit we stayed in a new part of town, one that was very unfamiliar from the memories of her youth. This is an observation as it is really her story to tell, but places change and evolve. I could sense her frustration not remembering the town in the same way. I probably could not drive around southside or Downtown Indy without navigation helping me get there now. It was that way on this trip, needing navigation to cross town. Some of the roads we recognized, some were completely new.

We played in the family softball game, put up some shots on the barn basketball hoop and enjoyed the time with cousins, aunts, uncles, grands and greats. We held some puppies, surveyed the corn, and generated some new memories among our four.

Travel delays

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. SDF, Louisville. 21 July 2026.

Yesterday's storms forced a overnight stay next to Louisville's Muhammad Ali International Airport, rerouting me on a very early flight this morning back home. I have a lot to catch up on, with further posts from the reunion weekend to follow.

Reunions

This weekend we have a family reunion on Allison's side. It's been a few years since we've been back to the farm, and we're looking forward to seeing cousins, nieces, grands and greats. We have some catching up to do. 

Roberta

In both recollections on the "California or Bust" 1937 road trip story, told from the perspective of my Gumpy, and then by his brother Bob, they mention the kindness of Roberta Elliott during their stop in San Francisco. Roberta was from Thorntown, Indiana, and was an older classmate of Bob's from Sugar Plains school. When my Gumpy, Bob, and cousins Tom and Guy stopped in San Francisco, Roberta put them up at her apartment with her first husband Archie Monson. She cooked them a shrimp dinner from Fishermans Wharf and guided them on a tour through the city. This memory stood out in both their stories and they remembered her fondly.

When I shared Bob's version of the road trip in 2024 (self-published in his book in 1994), I had intended to follow-up with more information about Roberta. Unfortunately I forgot to come back to her story, so I'm doing that with this post.

Roberta lived to be 102, and died in August 2016. Her obituary captures a fascinating set of achievements, including a medical school now named for her at California Pacific Medical Center.

San Francisco Chronicle, 7 Aug 2016.

Indianapolis News. 22 Apr 1937.

It looks like Roberta did not have children of her own. In 1959, Roberta traveled with second husband Newt Neustadter on a trip to South America, visiting Rio de Janeiro, Brasil and Lima, Peru. An interview with Roberta published after her 100th birthday includes further recollections of her time in Thorntown and journey to California.

Casa Dos Amados

Photo by Patrick Jones. Casa Dos Amados.

Yesterday before the Norway v England World Cup match, I went to our neighborhood wine shop to pick up something for a game viewing party at a friends' house. The local wine shop was tasting a quartet of wines from Casa Dos Amados in Portugal. The label caught my attention as I'm pursuing our Amado line back to Portugal. My Aunt Linda has 5% Portugal in her Ancestral Regions on Ancestry, and 23&Me's latest update shows me as 6.7% Portuguese and Galician.

A portion of my composition from 23&Me.

Back to Casa Dos Amados, they are located in Saima, between Lisbon and Porto. The wines were tasty. Now this place is on my list for a future visit.

Google Maps. Saima, PT.