from south jersey to vermont in my head

this isn't about current travels, or planned travels, but travels remembered.  i'm listening to flogging molly.  i'm flooded with emotions, thoughts, memories, visions, images...

one of my very best friends introduced me to this band.  he's the first person i think about when hearing them.  we used to be crazy, we would drive around, music loud.  go to someone's house, get drunk and dance.  when we went off to college, me only to montclair but him all the way to vermont, he would always be home for my birthday because it was on or near a long weekend.  a flogging molly cd was a gift one year.

i can remember standing on top of a parking deck in burlington, looking at the colors of a late afternoon autumn sky.  i had somewhat tricked a guy i was hanging around with to drive me up there for a weekend visit to that best friend's college.  that guy wound up giving me a ton of flogging molly stuff for my birthday a short time later, which i subsequently gave to my ex that i had started seeing again at the same time.  the two of them spent my birthday weekend in the same hotel room that a group of us were staying in for a convention in south jersey.  no wonder i was such a drunk.  or perhaps these things were the result of being a drunk.

i saw flogging molly at 'warped tour' with that ex before we split the first time.  they are fucking fantastic live.  we danced through the entire set, a mixture of some kind of irish jig and a punk pit, and those around us did the same, switching dancing partners, twirling and laughing and yelling along to the songs. it was one of the most fun concerts i've ever been to in my life.  it was one of the best times he and i had, and one i can use to see the good in our time together, instead of remembering all the bad things.

a friend i've acquired through my husband is also a flogging molly fan.  when i still drank straight liquor, he and i used to throw back whiskey together.  as abrasive as he can be, he's true.  one of the best friends i've got in my life.

my husband collects vinyl.  there is something wonderful about listening to flogging molly on a turntable.  it is like all parts of my life coming together as one, all things that made me who i am being present at the same moment in time.  all the bad has melted into the past.

my brother is considering attending a college near the one my friend went to years ago.  i told him its a beautiful place, and he'll love it.  hopefully he won't be a foolish alcoholic cunt like myself.

i need a sign

last week eric mused about going to newcastle before i'm too preggo to fly. today i went looking at airline fares to england. some good deals in the next few months. not that we can afford it.

i want to go home.

note to self...

always check exactly where you're going before the day of the event when you get invited to an out of state family function. the cousins who used to live an hour and a half into PA might now live in lancaster county. this is a significant time difference. driving out there to go to eric's cousins' daughter's christening was an adventure. not a bad adventure, but a tedious one.

once we got to our destination (after missing church entirely) things were immediately better. its a beautiful area out there, and no matter how many times we go visit i don't think i'll ever get used to seeing the horse-drawn buggies. the restaurant was quite delicious, too.

our last trip out to lancaster county was for our honeymoon. we stayed at a little bed and breakfast called the creekside inn, and had a splendidly peaceful 3 days. the owners were wonderful cooks, and even left us evening snacks of cake in our room. their house is gorgeous, kept to look as period as possible, and our room, the creekside suite, was spacious, with a private bath and a little sitting room. at night the only sounds were crickets and the horses occasionally going up and down the street.

we've seen lancaster county in summer and winter, now we just have to hit up the other 2 seasons...

stokes state forest

so last weekend i went camping with deb and anna in a leanto at stokes up in sussex county. now, generally i don't go to sussex county on purpose but this was a good reason. so it was 20 degrees outside, we had a wood stove in the leanto and a fire outside to cook dinner. i recommend winter camping at stokes any weather except perhaps blizzard conditions. the bathrooms even have heat and hot water now! its really just one step below hotel conditions, except somebody has to get up every few hours to feed the woodstove. sometimes, that involves picking through the woods for kindling at 4am because some people were too drunk to remember to collect enough in the first place. but i didn't mind. the moon was gorgeous and bright, bathing the frigid campsite in silvery light, and i could see every star. the world is very peaceful at these moments. plus its hardeer for the bears to get the drop on you.

warwick, ny

this sunday, for my birthday, we took a mini-road trip up to warwick, ny.

first stop was och's orchard for apple picking with will, michelle, sean, maria, lina, marco, jen, their parents, jen's boyfriend, and their dogs dragon and winky.  i hadn't been apple picking since i was a kid, so i had a blast! while it is busy as hell most weekends in the fall, once you're inside the gigantic orchard, you can barely tell.  they have a fabulous variety of apples, too.  i remembered lessons learned and only ate one apple, plus a bite here and there, while we were there.  i didn't want to suffer for it later!  once everyone's bags were full, plus some extras shoved into purses and pockets, we headed out.  the wine was calling...

we were off to warwick valley winery, the same place where tom and sarah got married and where i had the lunch portion of my bachelorette party.  i love it there.  so beautiful!  but apparently, ridiculously crowded on nice autumn sundays!

its cold, dark, and august.

its a misty rain.  and its making everything on the porch wet, so no sitting outside drinking and playing the worst case scenario survival game.  that will have to be done inside.

tomorrow will hopefully be a better beach day.

for lunch, moko, eric, and i went to the terrace tavern right on bay ave.  we got 'the feast,' a roaster full of steamed goodness.  they gave us complimentary shell splitting tools, as well as cheesy plastic bibs, wet wipes, a bucket for the shells, and pairs of crackers.

then came 'the feast'... a pot full of carrots, potatoes, kielbasa, mussels, clams, peel and eat shrimp, and dungeoness and snow crab clusters.  mmmmmm.  we devoured it rather expediently.  i'm not a shrimp fan, so i beat up the crab and the mussels.

i don't think i can eat any more seafood for a while.  i've had seafood every day for 3 days straight.  time to take a rest... tomorrow... chicken...

raining on lbi

its been raining for 2 days and the island is flooding.  so much for the beach.  but tomorrow should be better.

uncle will's pancake house is, as usual, absolutely fantastic.  you have to be prepared to either wait or get up early, though.  yesterday we waited 15 minutes at 8:45, today was 45 minutes at 10.  once you're in, though, the food flies out of the kitchen.  i highly recommend the redneck benedict.  two biscuits cut in half, with chopped up ham and tomatoes, sausage gravy, and 2 eggs on top.  the pancakes are also delightful, some of the best i've ever had.  when you sit down, they ask if you'd like some coffee, cups for which are already on the table, and the coffee is strong and spicy.  water is served out of handled mason jars.  if you ask nicely, you can eat breakfast with the pig, a ceramic pig on a wheeled chair.  usually i don't ask, because there's always oodles of kids in there who are waiting their turn to eat with the pig.  if i'm there with my mom and russell, however, we eat with the pig.  russell lives to eat with the pig.  i simply live to eat.