Ogunquit, continued

After breakfast Saturday, we went for a walk along the Marginal Way. It's a path that follows the shore. The weather wasn't cooperating, but it still was a lovely walk.


In this shot, you can see our hotel in the distance. For a better view, just click on the photo.


Here's a view in the other direction. Say, do you think one of those houses would cost much? Nah. Probably dirt cheap! ;)


These were growing along the path.


Greg and Patrick pose for a shot.






Thought I'd try a little black and white.




Another of Patrick and Greg. They're a couple of camera hogs, aren't they? :)

Next stop: lunch! (Isn't this exciting, kids?)

Let's dive right in

We got to Ogunquit Friday evening. Patrick and Greg hadn't arrived yet, so we checked in and then went to find something for dinner. A nearby restaurant called the Blue Water Inn provided a wonderful seafood dinner (and what else were we going to eat in coastal Maine?).

Later that night, Patrick and Greg arrived. By the time they arrived, all we (or they) could do was sleep. So things really got started the next morning. In addition to Patrick and Greg, Chris and Jimmy arrived. They were lovely, and we hit it off from the start.

Time for breakfast...


We went to Bessie's, a local restaurant that offered a decent breakfast and allowed us time to linger and chat.


Greg


Chris


Jimmy


Patrick's camera playing dead. It liked to do that, and that mini-tripod was a real attention-getter.

You'll have to wait for future posts for photos of me, Marc and Patrick.


Walking back, we passed the Front Porch, a local piano bar. For New Yorkers, think "Marie's Crisis," or so I'm told. I never went inside. We discussed going there the last night, but there was no parking, and the rain was enough to dissuade me from walking there!


To me, this looked like the way to get around. $1.50 to go just about anywhere in town. No parking hassles at all!

The Rain in Maine

Come to think of it, let's start with the rain in New York. The weather as we left for our weekend up north foreshadowed much of the trip. Fortunately, it wasn't quite as bad as when we first left, but it wasn't exactly a dry weekend either.


Even Mildred (that's our navigation system's name) wasn't thrilled to be out in this!


Yes, the wipers are going. It was coming down that fast!


The view from a gas station where we stopped to fill up.


And a shot after we pulled away from the gas station.

Fortunately, that didn't continue for too long (or we would have needed an ark!). Since we weren't in a rush, we had time for a small detour. We stopped in Bethel, CT, for one of the best hamburgers around. By the way, Greg tells me that Bethel isn't pronounced beth-el. Rather, it's something like bethull or bethl. That second e isn't accented. Just in case you want to know!

Anyhow, if you're ever in the area, the burgers at the Sycamore drive-in are fabulous.




We didn't get car hop service. Instead, we went inside and ate at a table. Just as well. When I sit in the driver's seat too long, things start to hurt!




We both had Dagwood Burgers. Despite the name, they're not huge. Nevertheless, they are fabulous!

Next stop, Ogunquit!


Okay, here's a sneak preview. This is where we stayed. :)

Weekend

Tomorrow, a cousin is getting married in New Hampshire. He's straight, but we don't hold that against him.

So our plan is to drive up today and stay in nearby Ogunquit, Maine, on the coast. It should be lovely.

We're making a long weekend of it, and we're going to meet Patrick and Greg, as well as two friends of theirs. Meeting new people should be nice, but spending a long weekend with good friends is always a special treat.

The truth is, I'm so tired right now that sitting right here all weekend is appealing, but I'm sure the trip will be lovely!

Our friend Tom is going to stay here with the dogs, so we don't have to worry about them. Should be a good weekend!

By the way, what's this crap on my television? I'm usually at work by now. Since I'm actually home at the moment, I just saw some of the crap on the networks in the morning. Who's watching this dreck? Horrible!

New York's Laziest

Tonight, on my way home, I saw two NYPD officers perform their duties (or, rather, fail to perform them) in a way that was shameful.

I had just gotten off the subway at Penn Station. As I was heading into the main area of the station, the man in front of me kicked out his leg. At first, I wasn't sure if that was a gesture of frustration, but it quickly became clear that it was a lot more than that--it was a real kick. Whether it connected or not, I don't know, but it was aimed at the man in front of him. I know that, because he then punched the man in front of him in the side, in the face, knocked him down and continued the attack.

I'd like to say I instantly jumped into action, but there was a second of pure shock and disbelief. Then I and a number of other people broke it up. Not like I had to fight it out--nothing so macho--but I grabbed the guy's left arm while other men grabbed him, too.

The police were there pretty quickly. Two cops showed up. The attacker said the other guy kicked at him and/or elbowed him--his story seemed flexible, to say the least. He tried some bullshit line about being "an old man." He was probably in his late 50s. Pretty damn sad if you think of yourself as old at that age, but the truth is he was just full of shit.

Meanwhile, the other guy, who I'd say was in his 30s, was dazed and truly hurt. The welt/bruise/bleeding spot next to his left eye was about the size of a golf ball.

These two cops said to the hurt guy, "if you press charges against him, then he'll press charges against you, and we'll have to arrest both of you, because we don't know who attacked who." With that, I and several other people began shouting at them that we saw who the attacker was. The cops completely ignored all of us, bullied the victim into letting it go, and then let the madman walk away. That was for the best, of course, since they didn't want to have to fill out paperwork and otherwise do justice. That's just too tedious!

It was almost too hard to believe. New York's Finest? Not those two!

I need a vacation...

...or at least a nice nap.

We've got a long weekend coming up, but I really feel wiped out. I can't take a big chunk of time off right now, but it really would feel good! Well, maybe a full night's sleep sometime soon will help. :)

A few Dodger shots

Yes, I'm posting dog photos again. Deal with it! :)


WHAT IS THAT? Another blurry Bigfoot photo? No! Something more terrifying! The legendary Dodgefoot!


Daddy Marc, can you get Daddy Jess to leave me alone? He's using that flash thing on me again!


Please, Daddy Marc! I'm right here by your leg. Save me from the camera!


Fine! I'll pose for one photo!


I said ONE photo. That's it! I'm done! Go away!

(Yes, I'm turning into one of those people who invents lines for his pets. I'm ready for my semi-insane old age!) :)

Friday night event

I'm an officer in one of the prominent groups in New York for folks in my profession. I had taken Friday off, so Marc and I could enjoy Thursday night (our anniversary) and sleep in on Friday. Still, being so involved in the aforementioned group, I couldn't very well skip a function we had scheduled for Friday night.

As nice as the event might be, the idea of dressing up and heading into Manhattan on a day off wasn't ideal. Oh well, no use fighting it. The best part was that Marc was going to come along. So off we went to the train, Marc, me and our little Canon Elph...


Marc checked in with the office while we waited for our train.


The occasional passing train made it hard for him to talk.


This bird kept an eye on us. I think it's a bald eagle. :)


Here comes the train again.


The view from my seat.


Okay, here's a better view.


The sunlight shows the damage to this window. I have to wonder what it took to do this. These train windows are tough. I once read that federal regulations require them to be bulletproof (and what horrific incident led to that requirement?).


Walking through Penn Station to the 8th Avenue side.


This is where we were headed--Chelsea Brewing Company at Chelsea Piers.


This building was across the street. I don't know what it is, but it's interesting.


The way it's set up, people can drive in. There's covered parking. We walked in. This is the entrance to Chelsea Brewing Company, where the event was being held.

We were too early, so we looked for a way to kill some time. Fortunately, there are tons of choices at Chelsea Piers.


We decided to do some bowling.


It's an impressive looking bowling alley.


Everything's brightly colored, but they'd do better to keep the balls, floors, etc., nice and clean. The floors were slick, and I nearly broke my neck once or twice.

On a positive note, I got my highest score ever. The sad part is that's only a 157. I suppose that comes from only bowling once or twice a year!


The view out entrance is nice, though.

Actually, the view from Chelsea Brewing Company is pretty nice. The event was fun, too...






They even have a facility for golfing at Chelsea Piers.


When we left, we saw that something bad had happened out front. As much as we like looking at the boys from the FDNY (although some of them are a little rough looking!), we couldn't be bothered to go be nosey at that point.


Here's a closer shot, thanks to the Elph's digital zoom.


Back on the train. I took this shot, in case anyone feels the need to learn what to do in the event of an emergency on a Long Island Railroad train. :)


Next, a quick stop at Borders, before they close. Think Marc's a little too tired for this?


There was a long line, but they couldn't be bothered with opening more than one register until it got to be about 10 people waiting.


One last stop before going home: the lovely local 7-11.

We live exciting lives, don't we? ;)