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.