Day 25 – Plainview, Long Island, New York

Hi, folks, it’s me, Don, here to do my best to fill in for DeeBee this weekend while he’s on leave in Rhode Island.  I know that you understand that this is his blog, intended to represent his views on the things that happen during our travels, so the best I can do in the interim is to tell you what we’ve been up to on a daily basis, and interject what I think the Deeb might have to say about our activities.  I know that Joanne will be reading the blog to him daily, and will relay any disputations he might have regarding the content.  So, here goes!

When Geri and I got up this morning, it was painfully obvious that part of our family was missing; no demands for a morning massage, no grumping about breakfast not being served on time, no accusatory looks when the morning walk doesn’t start on schedule.  Still, we managed to work through it and get ourselves packed up for the trip to Long Island.  We’ve rented a little car from Enterprise, the largest they had available, called a Chevy HHR; it looks small, anyway, but it’s surprisingly spacious inside.  We got out of Worden Pond Family Campground before eleven, and headed over to pick up I-95 for our trip to Connecticut.  The highway was surprisingly lightly travelled, and we made very good time to Bridgeport, where we stopped for a pastrami sandwich lunch before making it over to the ferry.  Downtown Bridgeport looks like an Urban Renewal Program has supplied a fresh stock of office buildings, but has yet to supply any businesses to occupy them.  Great supply, no demand.  Or, if the Government builds it, private enterprise will stay away. 

We caught the 2:30 ferry for Port Jefferson, and donned our coats for venturing up to the top deck for sightseeing.  We soon found the coats to be superfluous, as the weather was very warm and pleasant.  Leaving the ferry at Port Jeff, we went directly to Geri’s sister Carol and her husband Mikey’s place in East Setauket, not far from the Port.  We were greeted by son Gary, DeeBee’s trainer, mentor and worst nightmare, who had arrived the day before.  Carol and Mikey were also on hand to welcome us, and we were soon on our way to dinner at an excellent steak and sushi place just down the road.  We were well entertained by our hibachi chef, who was very proficient at juggling eggs with his implements, slicing and dicing the food as it cooked, and squirting saki into the open mouths of his clients; Gary proved to be the best recipient of this operation, due to his relative location and the size of his mouth.  Personally, I found the California Roll Sushi to be the best prepared with the finest mix of components that I have ever experienced, in or out of California.  It’s nice to have a new favorite restaurant, but it’s a bummer to have it 3000 miles from home.  We then adjourned to a yogurt dispensary nearby, and encountered another delightful treat for the taste buds.  You get to make your own yogurt dish, choosing from more than a dozen flavors, then apply fruit and nut toppings to your taste.  The results are amazingly tasty and satisfying; wish we had one of these in Ventura!

Back at Carol and Mikey’s, we broke up and Geri and I headed for our hotel in Plainview, about thirty miles away.  We got there without incident, checked in, put this little post together, then crashed. 

Looking back on this posting, I recognize that it is woefully lacking of DeeBee’s trenchant observations and biting wit, and for that I apologize, and promise to try to do better over the next couple of days.  But, after all, I’m only human!  We love you, DeeBee!