With our packed suitcase just inside the door, we turned in our room keys and joined the group to listen to a talk with a music producer. His current activities with Decca have him remastering cast recordings from long-ago performances. He works from glass or metal discs, and the quality of the recordings is excellent, better in some respects than the tapes of later times.

We had our final meal together at The Glass House Restaurant, eating more than we needed before the long flight home. Because the bridges across the rivers were closed for a bike race, we took a really circuitous route to LaGuardia through neighborhoods, “downtown” Queens, back roads with interesting small shops and row houses. It was much more fun than a straight shot to the airport. It took about as long as our ride on Thursday, but it didn’t feel that way. We hadn’t the pressure of deadlines, and we had more interesting scenery.

As we neared Minneapolis-St. Paul, we were told there was bad weather ahead. The pilot took us north toward Brainerd so we could come in to the airport from the north. We did avoid the storm, and our flight came in a bit earlier than scheduled. The man seated in our row received an email from his son with a picture of the hail-damaged roof and yard of his White Bear home. We had only evidence of rain at our house. It was good to be home. As in previous years, we plan to return in 2016.