Travels

Wed - August 13, 2003

Back Home

Feet to subway to train to monorail to airplane to SUV to home (with a quick detour to Chicken Ranch - yum).

Beer, eat, talk, chocolate, beer, talk, bed.

Posted: 12:50 PM Read More

Tue - August 12, 2003

Inge's first trip to B&H

Inge and Todd outside the big kids toy store

Our goal was the Museum of Natural History. What did we want to learn about? The Flora and Fauna of New York? Dinosaurs? The Ocean World? Fie, Fie I say! Chocolate was our quest. The museum was hosting an exhibition of the history and manufacture of chocolate. The exhibit was (dare I say?) mouth watering. And to top it all off, it ended conveniently at the gift shop were Miss Inge bought $45 worth of chocolate bars. We only had a few minutes before closing to see any other exhibits because we got there a little late because we had a few stops to make...

First, Kiehls . For those of you not familiar with this NY landmark, it is an old pharmacy that makes incredible lotions, creams, oil, and beauty products. Inge spent a about a half hour sniffing, sampling, and shopping while I squatted outside around the corner trying (and succeeding) to get on someone's Wi-Fi network to check email.

Next stop, B&H Photo .

I know, I know, I already have 2 digital cameras. Why do I (we) need another?

I'm glad you asked. You see my other 2 are either too big or too slow. I need one for taking happy snaps, that has large enough files for small prints, and, most importantly, will fit in your pocket. At the wedding I didn't want to break the lines of my new suit by trying to cram a big camera in my pocket. Enter the Casio Exilim S3 , yeah baby! I have been coveting this camera for a month or so and being so close to B&H, it seemed like the right thing to do. To top it of, Inge Kautzmann, Miss Marketing Director of the Best Photo School in the World has never been to this Photo/Video Equipment mecca. If you've never been, it is a lot like Santa's workshop with interesting characters in odd costumes taking care of customers. The toys come up from the basement, get put in baskets that ride in tracks in the ceiling, finally coming to rest at the pickup area. the whole process is fun, wondrous, and efficient. We got our camera, loaded it with batteries and memory, and took the first picture outside to document the historic occasion.

Next Stop, the Museum of Natural History . It's big, it's old, it's cool, it's got dead dinosaurs in the lobby. And for a limited time, it has chocolate (see above).

We hoped to get down to SoHo to see some galleries but we arrived too late. On the way to find some food I spotted this store window which displayed this:

I alerted Inge and she went in muttering that they wouldn't have her size. The response to her query was this:

Note the look of joy on her face

She ended up finding 3 pairs of boots for herself and a pair of shoes for me. Not a bad day.

A girl and her loot

Posted: 12:04 PM Read More

Mon - August 11, 2003

Off to the Museum

Back in Brooklyn, with a whole new perspective on sex in the city.

Our only goal for today was to visit the Museum of Sex . Yes friends and neighbors, I said it: Museum of Sex. God bless New York City. Inge had read about the Museum which had opened last November. We were there when the doors opened, eager to see what our Bible Belt upbringing had omitted. The museum turned out to be about the history of sex in New York, and the influences the city had on ideas about sex. It started with exhibits about prostitution and brothels (in the 1800s there were actual guide books to brothels in the city, kind of a Zagat's Guide to Whorehouses) and covered topics such as the burlesque and porn, finishing with aids epidemic. Very interesting (and graphic) stuff. Worth seeing but not for anyone under 18 (and you probably don't want to go with your grandmother).

Interestingly, that night we went to an oyster bar where she polished of 1 1/2 dozen. I had a sandwich.

Posted: 11:25 AM Read More

Sun - August 10, 2003

The Post-Wedding Hangover

Sunday morning and the rain was gone, pans of fresh orange rolls kept pouring from the oven, and the coffee pot was bottomless. Everyone sat around sleepy-eyed and talked about the previous nights soiree. We had left at 12:30 and things continued on without us until 2 a.m. We learned that we missed a lot of dancing and one altercation and a couple of would-be party crashers. Alas, you can't have it all.

After gorging ourselves on orange rolls and coffee, we said our goodbyes and caught a ride back to Brooklyn.

Posted: 09:53 AM Read More

Sat - August 9, 2003

The Big Day

The day started off okay. It was hot but at least the sun was in and out. We had breakfast in the local diner and then went to the house to help with the last minutes preparations. For me that consisted of yard work (spraying insecticide over the entire property) and Inge was assigned the task of cleaning the get-away car. I got off easy. The car might not have been showroom quality when she got done but it was damn impressive.

We went back and changed for the wedding and the rain started to come down. It wasn't a downpour, just a nice steady rain. It probably was a blessing because it cooled everything off and kept the surviving bugs at bay. As far as the wedding and reception, it was fantastic. My writing skills are inadequate to describe the event so I will direct you to Ian's blog if you are interested. It is worth the trip.

Posted: 09:49 PM Read More

Fri - August 8, 2003

Work day, Play day

This wedding was a huge production. I knew that before I even got there. Tessa and Ian have a lot of loyal and creative friends and family and many of them came out to work at pulling this thing off. I went over to the house in the morning to do my part. My "part" consisted of manual labor and sweating. Happily, a lunch picnic was being held at a local park making my shift relatively short. We went to the park, I stuffed my face sandwiches and cookies, and jumped in the water without waiting the required 30 minutes (yet another joy of being an adult). The swimming hole was an abandoned ore pit. We call them quarries where I come from except back home the quarries rarely have ladders and swimming platforms, let alone lifeguards. I was a fun afternoon, complete with choreographed diving and synchronized swimming much to the bewilderment of the locals.

The best part of the evening came later. We descended on another park for softball, frisbee, swinging on swings, and GENUINE North Carolina BBQ shipped from the great state of North Carolina. I gorged myself on pig and hushpuppies, doused myself in bug spray and sat back to watch the fun. Late that night it was back to the pool and then a rare treat of cable TV.

Posted: 09:31 PM Read More

Thu - August 7, 2003

Trains, trains, and more trains.

I had hoped to pare down our luggage and take just the essentials. Of course, since we didn't know exactly what we needed, "essential" meant everything. We left the apartment late (meaning I left the apartment irritated), dragging our luggage to the subway station. Now, one would think that since the subway is underground it would be cool. It was not, it was sweltering. We got on the train and thankfully the AC was set on "kill". Don't get me wrong, I think the subways are great but when you are hauling luggage and are late, all of the stairs and turnstiles are a pain in the ass. We made it to Grand Central Station about 2 minutes after our train had left. I didn't take it well. I had to go stand in the deli section of a market for a while to cool off, mentally and physically. The next train wasn't leaving for 2 hours so we went and had some breakfast and called to arrange for transportation from the train station upstate.

The train ride up was easy. We got on, had plenty of room for our cargo, and sat back to watch the city turn into countryside. We got off in the town of Wassaic where, despite miscommunication and our being late, someone picked us up and took us to our final destination, the town of Hillsdale. We were staying at the Celerhon Motel just down the road from Tessa and Ian's farmhouse, where the festivities would be taking place. The Celerhon was described as a "funky, 50s style" motel. I bought into it, Inge did not. Now spending much of my childhood in various one-star hotels on the way to, from, or during drag races, I have a higher tolerance. The owner admitted, in writing, that the place was a work in progress and I'll give him credit for that. The rooms were small but clean, the showers had a weird curtain/sliding door thing that is hard to describe, and the furniture looked like it might actually be from the 50s, both in style and level of wear. It had 3 things going for it though: the owner was very cool, there was coffee in the lobby in the morning, and it had a great pool.

We unpacked, showered, headed off to the rehearsal dinner. It was a wonderful evening of wine, toasts, and spending time with people I hadn't seen in a while. And to top it off, I looked damn good.

Afterwards, we went and cooled off in the pool.

bliss.

Posted: 08:41 PM Read More

Off to New York
Cook Islands, Part Two: The Vacation
A Job in the Cook Islands (yes, life is hard)
Water-skiing and Board games...good clean family fun
The warm waters of the Atlantic
50 years of business
Back in NC!