davidfcooper

I've been trying to remember on which other websites I've used my old FB password and have been changing those that I do recall. I was going to write another examiner.com article but that has been preempted. I suspect most Matisyahu fans already know about his concert tomorrow anyway. Shoshana's next BWAC show opens Saturday in Red Hook; this time she's showing works on paper instead of her usual reverse paintings on clear plexiglas.

Next month we'll spend a week in Maine (after we celebrate my MIL's 75th birthday in CT). From central CT we'll drive up to Camden, ME and spend 3 nights there, and then we'll drive down to Portland and spend three more nights there after which we'll drive home to Brooklyn. We're looking forward to it.

We did not have to chose between mountains/forest vs. sea shore on this vacation. Yesterday we did both. We hiked a challenging trail on a hill/mountain just southwest of the Foxwoods Casino and the Pequot Indian Museum (we visited the latter years ago & is worth a trip on its own) and then drove to the shore and walked along the Southington Borough waterfront after which we drove to Westerly, RI for a swordfish dinner. Today we spent several hundred dollars at the Tanger Outlet in Westbrook, CT. Shoshana bought six pairs of shoes, a dress, shorts, a top, and I bought a pair of boots ($55 reduced from $110), a pair of sandals, pants, and a short sleeve polo shirt (we both also bought underwear and socks). We dined at The Seaman's Inn in Mystic where we sat outside and listened to a jazz duet (guitar and acoustic bass). Tomorrow we'll have lunch with my in-laws and pick up our niece Naomi with whom we'll return to Brooklyn, and on Thursday and Friday Shoshana will show her around the big city including a performance of Avenue Q Thursday night while I print out and mail more copies of bethr's and my IAMB book proposal and sample chapters (the latter beautifully designed by chanaleh). On shabbat Naomi will go to shul with us and afterward her dad will join us for an afternoon in Coney Island before taking Naomi home.

The bar-mitzvah was lovely. Gilad is a sweet affectionate kid. His older brother reads Hebrew with an Israeli accent, but Gilad reads Hebrew with a Spanish accent (their mom and step-father live in Barcelona; they were born in Israel where their dad, my cousin, lives).

The Gatsby like Shelter Island party was pleasanter this year (less drinking and the food courses were served in stages instead of all at once). Gilad's aunt and uncle's marriage appears to be in trouble--their high functioning autistic son (who also has muscular dystrophy) will be 13 in a year, and if they're still together we may do this evening bar-mitzvah and next day party again next year.

The drive from Greenport to Orient Point was scenic, and the ferry ride to New London was pleasant. We had sunny weather and sat on the sun deck which gives a real feeing of water travel. The hotel is fine, but they charge for broadband (but even so it's still a good value). Today we'll go hiking and tomorrow shopping.

It was a good vacation for us, less so for Sasson who hates 1) being in the carrier, 2) traveling by car, and regurgitated twice at my in-laws (a cold couple who did not know how to relate to our sensitive emo cat, though they did let him sleep with them). Sasson was quite angry on the way home and stuck his paw out of his carrier and scratched Shoshana twice. Within a few hours of our return he was back to his old self.

We spent the entire four days in Newport county RI; some of our best vacations have been ones where we stay in one place rather than traipse from location to location, such as our 1998 Burlington, VT, 2002 South County, RI, and 2005 Poconos vacations.

The best parts this time were Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge, Brenton Point State Park, the Newport Cliff Walk, and Ballard Park. Most people just visit the mansions and scenic Ocean Drive (which we did on our first visit here the first night of our honeymoon 25 years ago), but the nature walks along the shore are truly wonderful. Here are our photos.

We had several good meals (I gained six pounds) the best of which was at Mama Luisa where we had butternut squash ravioli and tempe Italian stew. The best dessert however was the Tollhouse Cookie Pie we had after a fish dinner at Rhea's Inn and Restaurant.

Before leaving Mt. Laurel, NJ we paid one more visit to Whole Foods and bought food for lunch today and breakfast tomorrow. We had bread and humus and dates for lunch at a picnic table at the Grover Cleveland rest stop on the Jersey Turnpike. We stopped in Riverdale (NW Bronx) to pick a few Pesach items for our parents' seders, and then got back on the road arriving in Danbury in the late afternoon. We had a delicious dinner at Bombay; we started with RAGADA, and our curries were SABJI BHAJI and PANEER MAKHANI with roti and garlic naan. The servings were very generous, and we had no room for dessert. Now I'm back in the room and must commence my evening therapeutic regimen. For breakfast tomorrow we have cereal, soy milk, and muffins. Our hotel has a decent fitness room where I plan to work out tomorrow; we also plan to do some hiking in one or another state park.

We're back from our Poconos vacation and have uploaded photos (after clicking on the link you can click on View Slideshow or else view the photos one at a time):
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/shoshndavid/album?.dir=/2a72

We got to the Budget Motel in East Stroudsburg in a little over an hour and half from Brooklyn including a stop in Rockaway, NJ for lunch at The Hibernia Diner where I had a roasted veggies wrap and Shosh had a veggie panini. After checking in and partial unpacking we headed out to try to get in a hike before dinner. Five or six minutes later we exited the interstate and started hearing a dragging sound behind us and suddenly the engine became noisier. We pulled over to the parking lot of a convenience store and discovered that our muffler had broken off and was dragging. After getting a referral to a repair shop from the store clerk I kicked the muffler off and put it in the trunk and drove five interstate exits to the repair shop without the muffler. Fortunately the repair shop could take us right away and could locate a new replacement muffler. While the work was being done we went for a walk down Main St. in Stoudsburg taking note of Everybody's Cafe, a restaurant in an old victorian house. Our new muffler cost $125 installed (plus tax) and we drove to Tannersville to shop at the outlet center where we bought underwear at Hanes and sneakers and sandals at Easy Spirit. We then returned to Everybody's Cafe for a romantic dinner (which has numerous vegetarian dishes; we'll definitely dine there again).

The next day we drove to Bushkill Falls and did the "difficult" hike that the brochure said would take two and a half hours in a little over an hour; it's a scenic walk on well maintained paths. For lunch we had funnel cakes and ice cream (we never eat junk food at home) and on the drive back there was a traffic jam; the area is being overdeveloped into exurbia sprawl. We decided to have a fish dinner at the restaurant in the motel, which was surprisingly good.

Our third day we got a late start and headed out to look for a place to hike but decided to have lunch at a truck stop first. The people leaving the next table were Israelis; almost every vacation we've been on we hear Hebrew being spoken at some point in the trip. On our waitress' recommendation we drove to Hickory Run State Park. After exiting the interstate the fire patrol instructed us to take a detour to the park, where Shosh was bitten by a flying insect (possibly a bee). We drove to a ranger station where she was given an insect bite wipe that brought down the swelling and where the ranger recommended the Shades of Death trail. My guess is that the trail is named for the hemlock trees that provide a lovely canopy (as do the abundant mountain laurel). After our hike we drove to Big Pocono State Park and drove to the top of Camelback and enjoyed the panoramic views. We dined nearby at an Indian restaurant in an old railroad car, Tandoor Palace, which we also recommend.

Before returning to NY on Sunday we drove down route 611, stopped at a scenic overpass, and did a short hike at the Old Slate Farmhouse. We had lunch in Delaware Watergap, bought local produce and baked goods. and then headed out. On the drive home we stopped for gas and encountered some traffic so the trip took two hours. Considering the quality of the hiking and dining and how much closer PA is to NYC than say VT, I think we'll be back. Although VT is politically and culturally more in tune with us, it takes twice or three time as long to get to; and although the Poconos is more Republican it is also demographically more integrated.