Bought in Haste: On feet and Dorothy's footware

I admit it.  Given my aversion to feet (bleeck) and confusion over the very concept of green shoes (wtf?), I've spent far more time than I like to admit thinking about Irm's bum foot and the pair of green tennis shoes Dorothy alludes to purchasing in her 1967 trip diary (for details on both, see posting from Sunday, April 10th.)

As of today, however, there appears to be some relief in sight, as I happened to come across this (see image above) in a scrapbook that also provides documentation of the Penn Yan and Prouts Neck trips as it covers the span of time between June 1967 and Christmas of 1967.  Here, Dorothy devotes a full page of the scrapbook to an image of a shoe (presumably she purchased the pair) underneath which she has written: "Bought in haste for museum visit."  Excellent.  I had a real chuckle about this one.  And while I'm left wondering about the museum she visited (and, more generally, about the details of this purchase--from what I've read thus far, Dorothy tended to keep very detailed notes about money received and spent), I am thankful for something to get my mind off Irm's bum foot and Dorothy's green tennis shoes.

But wait. Relief was but brief as the scrapbook also contains this:  The actual receipt for those green tennis shoes.   

And this too:  An image of Irm bathing her swollen foot (while Dorothy stands there looking quite fetching on the other side of the scrapbook page).  Alas.  My thoughts return again to feet. (bleeck)

Luckily, the scrapbook contains still other images from the trip detailed in the trip diary.  Here, again, are images of Dorothy and Fred poolside at the Black Point Inn in Prouts Neck, Maine. Mercifully, I'm spared from having to look at their feet.       

In terms of timeliness though, perhaps the coolest find was this:  A copy of Dorothy and Fred's bill (paid in full) and record of their $100 deposit for their four night stay at the Black Point Inn. As it so happens, Chris and I are in the process of planning our own spring getaway to Maine--to be fair, Chris is doing most of the work on this.  My main contribution to the planning is to promise to get my end-of-semester grading done in a timely fashion.  Turns out his family's place is about 20 miles from the Black Point Inn. In this way, it's a shame we can't score the 1967 rates--$46.00 a night.  Were we able to do that, we might well consider spending a night or two at the Inn, trying to retrace some of the Dorothy and Fred's steps.  Given the 2011 rates ($210-$270 per night, per person) the best we'll likely be able to do is a photo drive-by.  We've gotten quite good at this:  Chris slows the truck down while I take as many pics as I can through the open window.

This is yet another reason why I'm eager to get into that conference that never lets me in--CCCC 2012 will be held in Dorothy's home town, St. Louis, MO.  If a miracle occurs and I do happen to get in, Chris and I have discussed the possibility of driving down to Missouri, retracing the route Dorothy detailed in their trip diaries.