Saturday, April 22, 2006
Shuffle Off to Buffalo
Early Thursday (April 20th), we traveled west towards Buffalo.My octogenarian grandmother and great aunt took us to the famous Roycroft Inn for a grand meal in the quaint ambience of the 101 year old national landmark.
The area is known historically for the Roycroft Arts and Crafts Community founded in East Aurora, New York by writer-philosopher Elbert Hubbard, who developed and promoted a self-contained community which supported hundreds of craftspeople. Well-known names such as Frank Lloyd Wright, Gustav Stickley and Dard Hunter, were highly influential to the Roycrofters and the Arts and Crafts Movement in America. The Roycroft community became the mecca for those interested in the Arts and Crafts movement and in 1905 the Roycroft Inn was opened to accommodate the thousands of people who journeyed there.
From there, we headed to my cousin Debbie’s house, where her daughters Morgan and Taylor, dog Lucy, and husband Jeff welcomed us. My parents Dennis and Joan had driven from Michigan to meet us there (they couldn’t wait until the Michigan leg of our tour next month!) Thanks to my creative mother, everyone was wearing Expat Harem t-shirts in order to welcome us in festive spirit!
