On Sunday I woke up some time after noon. The night before I had told Natalia to call me when she got to the long branch train station or half an hr before I was to pick her up, so I sat at home waiting for the call. The first call came I think around 4. She told me that she was at the LB station and that the train she was supposed to transfer to, wasn’t going to be there for another half hr. so I called rick and jumped in my car and got on the parkway to head north. Just as I got on the parkway she calls me, tells me to wait and go back home till 5ish. I was a little mad, but I did. Besides I think I forgot something. Half an hour later she told me she was getting off the train at the Belmar station and to come get her. I know from experience that the drive to Belmar was at least 20 mins, so I called Rick who was already at the boathouse, to go pick her up. When I got to Belmar I passed the boathouse, then went to the train station. When I arrived there rick was just putting Nat into a cab, and we decided to rendezvous at the Boathouse. At the boathouse I parked on a side street... There isn’t much of a lot.
The three of us walked in the bat together and proceeded to hunt for a place to sit. Rick got a beeper from the hostess so we could be seated. In the meantime we tried sitting in a yet to be opened section of the bar. We were told by a bus boy that we could, but soon the hostess came by and told us we couldn’t, but there was a booth available for us now.
As we ate we b/s’d and reminisced some more. Nat and I told rick about our trip up together. She also showed us the 2 coats she finally found in Brooklyn. It wa here that Nat told Rick that I chose the most American dinner at the Russian restaurant. Nat also told us about the comedy show she saw. From what I could tell the show was performed by an improv troupe, she would say otherwise. I told them both about what I had done after I left her at the show. Rick sat and listened and told us that Roman wasn’t able to come because he had just gotten sick the night before. I think, and so might Nat that the story was b/s, Rom just didn’t want to go.
The three of us sat and ate and talked for I think 3 hrs there at the boathouse before we finally parted ways. It was 9pm before Nat and I left Belmar and hit the highway to bring her home. My GPS at first said we wouldn’t get back to Round Hill till 2:07am. The trip was long and we didn’t talk much on the trip down, Nat opt’d to sleep and listen to music. When we got to the six flags exit I stopped for gas as I had on the way down the first time. At the station nat asked for some other music and I told her to find a couple of cds to listen to… I had packed a plastic bag of a bunch of my old cds the week before for the trip. As I drove down we listened to the music. The only times I woke her were the couple of times I had to open the window for a toll, and for on rest stop break. I did however let her know a couple of times, as we got closer to her home. Somehow I got her home quarter to two.
Long before we got back to round hill I decided to stop at the 7-11 near her home to buy her some cherry garcia that I owed her from last year. I think it woke her some that we had stopped. A few minutes later we were at her house and I showed her in, helping with all her bags. I tried kissing her goodbye and left. i think we both thought that was it, but on the way out of the complex I realized the ice cream was still in my cup holder. I drove a little up the road and hun a U-y, calling Nat, trying to get her before she went to bed. I succeeded in contacting her and told her I forgot something. When I got back and gave her the ice cream, I think she was a little surprised and she was definitely gracious. I didn’t get the total response I was hoping for, but I guess it was good enough. (More about that in another blog I think).
Once I knew she had everything I headed back to the hotel I would be staying at. The hotel was half an hr away and I was exhausted… I thought Nat would do some of the driving, but she was tired and had more to do in the next 24 hrs than I… so drove pretty fast to get back to the hotel, I didn’t want to fall asleep driving in an area I didn’t know. I am surprised I didn’t get caught, but it was early Monday morning. I think it was 3am before I collapsed on the bed in my hotel room. I watched some bill maher and a movie before I fell asleep.
Despite just getting to sleep around 4 or 5 am, somehow I got up in time for the complimentary breakfast the hotel had served in the lobby. The breakfast was ok, they had little round egg patties like an egg mcmuffin or that sort of sandwich. They also had grits along with all the other things they had last time. I grabbed a bit to eat and sat in the dining room to watch the tv. They had fox news on and they were talking about acorn. I felt like asking someone to change the channel because it was making me sick as I ate, but I think republicans surrounded me.
I ate up quick and took the muffin I couldn’t finish back to my room. Back at the room I took a shower and packed. I think I checked out during the 11 o’clock hour.
The night before I decided to make my way to Annapolis, MD on my way home and figured out a rout. Although about a mile or two up the road from the hotel, I noticed that my check engine light was on. I didn’t panic too much. I might have gotten a little paranoid about how the car was running tho. I resolved to take back roads and try to make it back to jersey before anything really happened. I also called and left a message on my home answering machine, telling my folks what was going on and not to panic.
Fortunately taking the back roads that I found, they took me towards Annapolis and I took a drive and a walk around the town. The town was nice. It looked old. I guess it would be with the naval academy there. When I drove up to the academy gate I was told that I would have to find a place in town to park, and that all I needed to get in was a state issue ID.
I drove around the town and found a parking lot about a couple miles from the academy. I walked around the town finding my way back to the academy, taking pictures of the downtown shops as I went.
When I walked up to the academy gates I took some more pics and walked in the main pedestrian entrance. There were metal detectors at this entrance, but they didn’t seem in use. The only thing that I got checked was my I.D. I didn’t even have to take it out of the sleeve in my wallet. I walked through to the other side and made my way to a welcome center a block up the road. The welcome center also acted as a museum, but it didn’t seem like it had much to do with the academy… there was a space capsule there. I took a map and decided to walk around the campus on my own. Before I went for the walk my father called, and I told him what was happening.
Going to the academy I was expecting some big port or base with different ships around, there wasn’t. The only vessels I saw were the sail boats the cadets trained on, so I walked back to the exit almost a mile away. In order to get back to the exit I cut through some of the main courtyards of the school area. I felt soo weird with what I was wearing; surrounded by all these uniformed cadets, and was afraid I might soon be arrested for trespassing or something. I made it back to the exit and my car. The parking fee was rather cheap, not even $5 for 3 hrs.
When I got back to my car I headed out of town. When I spoke to my father earlier he recommended finding a Honda dealership to look at my car, for the engine light. On my way back to the highway I found a dealership, but it did not appear to have its service shop attached. I figured they would rape me in charges to find out was wrong anyway so I fig’d I might as well be raped close to home if I had to.
Once back on the highway I noticed my gas gauge was getting pretty low. One thing after the other led to my not getting gas soon. First I missed most of the stations when I first noticed, then I crossed a mile long bridge, and when I brought up the gas station search on the GPS I found out I had just passed one. I think I went 40 miles before I finally filled up.. it pays to have a Honda when you’re low on gas.
A few miles after the gas station I crossed the border from Maryland into Delaware. It is here that I stopped at a wawa for lunch and spoke to my father again. Once on the road again I noticed my “check engine” light had finally turned off and my car was running more smoothly.
The rest of the way home was uneventful as I listened to the rest of my Obama cd book. i think disc 4 of 5 finished up 4 miles from my house. When I got in and relaxed I fell right to sleep, exhausted as hell!
The end.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Trip to Virginia Part 3: New York, NY… and Brooklyn too
When we came home from the windmill around 3am I showed her to where we would sleep in the basement and made our beds. We slept till about 9am when we got up for showers and I made her some breakfast. I had originally wanted to take her to a restaurant near the train station for breakfast so I wouldn’t mess up the eggs as I had last year. But coffee was already made and I made some eggs and turkey sausage for us to eat. The meal came out a lot better than last time… I think.
After breakfast we each packed a bag or two, but she had some issues. While I just had my black back for my cameras and a shirt, she needed to bring two. One was her purse, the other a black bag like mine but bigger. It had to be bigger it had to carry her big school textbook. I think she wanted to bring a third for clothes, but I convinced her to stuff it all in the other two. I also told her that if she would carry my lighter bag through the city I would take her book bag.
On the way to the station Nat reminisced about places along the shore she remembered and wanted to visit that day. I told her repeatedly that we needed to get to the train on time. Fortunately we got to the train station about 10 mins before the train to the city arrived. Nat is so photogenic that she wanted a picture taken with the train schedule while we waited.
On the trip up we of course sat together. As we sat there she pulled out her iPod and textbook. She invited me to listen on one of the earplugs to some Russian pop/rock songs and some American stuff that I found on it too, as we read her textbook on business. The book restarted some thoughts I have had on my own business ideas. But those are stories for another blog.
When we got to the city she insisted on going straight to Macys to find a new coat. That was the first time I have ever been in that Macys of NYC. It was Frakking NUTS! It felt worse than black Friday. I guess the economy is doing well. I don’t know if it was just that it was Saturday or this 150 yr anniversary sale I saw advertised… or both! It felt like there wasn’t a department we didn’t visit hunting for that coat. But there wasn’t anything that seemed to fit her budget or taste. After we left Macys we hit two other stores in the area looking for the coat but didn’t find anything. In the end it all felt like a wild goose chase, but I didn’t argue. If its anything I learned at the shoe store over the last year… don’t argue with a woman when she is shopping. Esp. when I thought we might have a better chance in the basement (incase I forget she did find 2 coats in Brooklyn the next day)
We did finally get to the subway and I navigated us to station near the Brooklyn Bridge.
Crossing the bridge and our time in Brooklyn itself was adventures in of themselves.
As we approached the bridge I pointed out town hall and asked if she wanted to go there and/or take pictures from where we stood. She didn’t. Walking up the approach way to the bridge we saw a guy selling water and I bought us a bottle each for $2.
I soon grabbed my two cameras from my bag on her back and opened up my video camera and started filming. As soon as Nat found out the camera was on she went straight in to this monologue introducing the Brooklyn Bridge. I can’t remember however if she started in Russian or English first. I do remember that the camera seemed to cut out at this point. I thought that the disc was ready to be finalized, but there wasn’t anywhere at that point on the bridge (or any) to settle the cam down to do it. We were both soo disappointed. So I told her I could use my regular cam to take video instead.
I don’t remember taking any video of us as we crossed the bridge, but we took a number of pictures, with both our cameras. There are a few that I remember quite distinctly:
The first was on our approach to the bridge over the roadway. She handed me her camera and told me to take a picture as she climbed up on an I-beam overlooking the roadway, which was a good 10+ feet down. I was scared for her and might have told her she was crazy. But she sat up there with one leg stretched and the other bent as confidently and with out fear as she had done many times before. I think I took 2 pics but the first might have been shaky.
As we were crossing the span I took another memorable shot of her with her camera. I told her to walk down a distance and turn around. My original intent was to photograph her. What ended up happening only one word comes to mind “catwalk.” What she had done was… There was a white line painted down the middle of the walkway to divide it for cyclists on one side and pedestrians on the other… she walked down that line with such purpose!
The third picture I remember trying to take but cannot find in either of our collections is of her and the Empire State building. I wanted to photograph them together because I thought they were soo perfectly straight and lean. I thought it would be a rather artsy pic. But I think the latter two pics came out even better than that could have.
Besides her modeling shots we did of course take a picture or two together. The two keepers that were taken by a stranger with my camera and of us with lower Manhattan in the backdrop. The second I think is best as we are both smiling and I am not as stiff as I usually am in such pictures.
When we got to the Brooklyn side of the bridge time really began to crunch. It had to be around 4pm and she had to get to the theater in Brighton beach by 5pm. She suggested walking the distance. I checked Google maps/GPS on my phone and it said the trip would be over 13 miles. I was like hell no! I think/hope she was kidding. I instead suggested finding our way to a subway and taking that to get there.
We found a map of the area and I guided us towards the Jay St subway station. There was another group of tourists at the map and I said, “I think we go this way,” pointing and remembering how I had done this before. I think I came off as a little unsure of myself at this point, but I got her to the subway easily. However when we got there I did not know how to get to our final destination, so I asked a police or security woman for direction. She told me to take a train (I forget the letter) out to the Coney Island stop. I was afraid we would have to take a train back into Manhattan and from there get one to Brighton.
When we got on the train we were able to sit and relax. As we traveled I kept track of our location with my phone when we came above ground.
When we got to the end of the line I think we were both expecting our stop to be a lot close to our destination. Where we got off was at the Coney Island stop, almost a mile and a half away from the theater, with less than half an hr to get there. We ended up speed walking the entire distance, even attempting to take a bus 5 blocks from our end. The bus driver however told us that he would be turning up a blvd before our destination, so we ended up getting off and walking. Nat also suggested catching a cab as we were on Brighton ave, but I didn’t feel like dealing with such a hassle.
When we finally got there I realized that the bus REALLY would have been a good idea because it could have left us off less than half a block from the theater. We arrived with less than 5 mins to spare, running into the theater looking for the box office, totally passing it as we did so.
After she got her tickets we began to relax, but couldn’t totally till we could find a place to eat. We went up and down that block looking for places looking for a restaurant. I was no help as per most of the signs were in Russian or some other Cyrillic language. The place that she found was actually right next door to the theater.
The restaurant she found was this little hole in the wall place. Very nice, quaint and simple. I think the owner doubled as the maître d and waiter. All the tables had booth seating, that I would say resembled a school bus: on one side tables/booths that could sit 4, the other tables/booths that could sit 10 or more.
I was soo relieved to sit down after all the running and get her heavy bag off my back.
As the waiter brought out the menu I was afraid I would need Natalia to interpret for me, but what was written in Russian was duplicated in English. I soon found some pork kabob that I thought would be safe to eat… She would later tell Rick that it was the most American thing I could order (in my defense I like to try new things and places, but not be too adventurous when too far from home)…
When the waiter came around I let her go first. She ordered in Russian so I didn’t know what she was getting till it got there. To drink she had some tea that came out in what I guess was a clear Pyrex glass surrounded by a fancy metal holder with a handle. I had Snapple, and ordered in English.
When I ordered I think some nervousness bleed through. I think how I was feeling was like a stranger in my own country… and I know how my tongue can be at times I even forgot the meanings of some of the Russian words I knew and kept to English… nervously. I think it was also because I hadn’t mastered the formal versions of the words either. Russian language is really strict.
I was happy to see that Natalia was feeling the opposite of me. She was happy to be in a place that resembled her home; she can speak her language and have some good old borsht!
I ordered some borsht too. I said like to try new things. I also remembered not trying anything distinctly Russian the last time I ate at such a restaurant with her… I had some Russian version of dumplings.
While we waited for our food she was brazen again and went to the bathroom to get changed for the show. When the borsht came out she was still in the bathroom. I tried waiting but I was famished. I sat and took some sips of the soup. Occasionally hovering my hand over hers to try and keep it warm. When she came out she dug right in and was overjoyed that the bread was not American. Later I would ask her how the borsht as I had never tried it before and wouldn’t know good borsht from bad borsht. She said that it was good, but would have been better with meat. I think my eyes widened with some surprise.
Soon our dinners came out: mine was a nice platter with chunks of the pork, some potatoes and what I thought at first was a salad, but really was coleslaw. I think I was disappointed as usual that the kabob didn’t come out on a stick. I guess the place was too formal for that. I also thought I saw a lil nat or bug falling in my food, but thought it better not to say anything. I was hungry, besides, more protein for me! I think it might have been a seasoning seed.
When I saw her plate I could see that it was potatoes. To me the dish looked like home fries that I usually got with my omelets at the diner near home. I told her this and she said “no” then offered me some to try. I tried to say no too as I had plenty of potatoes and other food to eat as it was. But she couldn’t finish everything herself and put it on my plate. I tasted it and it was rather doughy, but good. I still couldn’t understand how this could be a meal.
When the bill came I was rather relieved at the price. I had been thinking it would be rather outrageous and over fifty bucks. Suffice to say it was far from that!
When we left the restaurant is wasn’t far to show her off. There was a much larger crowd outside than earlier. I gave her a hug and only managed to give her a peck on the cheek. That was the last time I would see her for nearly 24 hrs.
This blog ended up being 6 pages long, so I split it for you…
As an amendment I wanted to say for anyone that doesn’t know, the whole point of the entire trip was 2 things: 1. Spend some much needed time with Nat. 2. Drive her to see Comedy Club, a Comedy central-like Russian TV show being performed in Brighton Beach. There may be more about this in part 4.
Part 3.1
Now I was alone in Brooklyn. I knew as we arrived in Coney Island earlier that I did not want to leave the area with out first checking it out. So I found a train to the Coney Island stop from earlier. I would also learn that we prob could have made a transfer at Coney Island to get closer to Brighton. Sadly when I reach the amusement area it was too dark to take any good pictures. I tried to take a couple of the ferries wheel but failed. I walked up onto the boardwalk but couldn’t see far out onto the water. The only thing open on the boardwalk was a sketchy bar that as I passed by I heard the bartender call “last call” I think it was 6:30 or 7pm.
I left the boardwalk and made my way to this establishment that I had noted earlier. The place I thought would be a freak show exhibit of some sort. When I approached I saw a sign saying there was beer served there and that there was a tour. I asked rather stupidly whether it was a bar or both. It was both. I also asked if I could drink on the tour, the guy said yes. So I bought a $10 ticket for the tour and one of the Brooklyn brews they served there and walked around waiting for the tour. I also the asked man about what really was gonna happen to the area and what happened to the Pain Proof Rubber Girls (Google it!) that I had met years before at 6 flags. He told me how the landmark rides like the ferries wheel, parachute jump and I think the roller coaster, and the “museum” plus Nathan’s would stay. Everything else would be torn down to make way for condos.
The show had been advertised as a Halloween tour, and I had expected a freak show, what with all the signage of blockheads and the like in the place. Sadly it wasn’t quite that. What it was more of an interactive funhouse. There wasn’t much scary about the show… unless you find US presidents and politicians scary. The show may not have been much of a freak show, but it was definitely filled with exhibitionists… not nudist. There was our tour guide who I couldn’t decide if she was a dirty simpleton with a stutter, or if that was her act. She would show us around the many rooms caring an A shaped signage that said, “Push here to begin” with an arrow to a button. Whenever we come to a new room she an audience member would have to push the button and the host would push play on a tape recorder.
Once the recording was going the act of the room would come to life. The actors would tell us that they were automatons similar to the ones found in Disney World, but older, defective models. The act was good. When we came into a set room the actors/robots hardly breathed… until the button had been pushed.
Each room had a dead or living president in some form of death or living. The only two non-presidents were the last two first ladies: Laura bush and Hillary. They would introduce the coffin of JFK… then FDR, then Lincoln and other dead presidents, but all was the same coffin, to fool the children in the room to look repeatedly. Then the adults became curious to see… it was a mask of splattered brain.
The tour would end with Obama and McCain debating over Nixon’s coffin, which would also come to life. Over all I guess the tour was unique. Maybe not worth the ten bucks, but eh! It’s New York. It was certainly worth the time and fun. When the tour was done I left and took a picture of the marquee and soon Nathan’s. Then I got back on the train and head back to Manhattan.
When I finally emerged from the subway in Manhattan, I think I was in either SOHO, Tribeca, or somewhere just south of the Village. I walked north thinking I would find my way to someplace familiar. I remember as I approached one intersection smelling a strong whiff of pot in the air, but when I got to the other side of the intersection all I could smell was trash/crap. As I made my way I came to a movie theater that I had past a couple of times before and looked to see what was playing there: “Religoulus.” My original plan after dropping Nat off in Brooklyn was to go see a comedy act of my own in Times Square… but I forgot my ticket at home! Besides I thought it would be lonely too. So I resolved to see this movie as my comedy act.
(I think I will blog about this else-time)
Two hours later I emerged from the theater and made my way north again. I would soon find myself in my favorite part of the village: bleaker st. just west of LaGuardia. I took a pic of a Mexican themed bar that I had seen before, but I think they changed signage. I wanted to go in one of the clubs there. I don’t think it was quite ten or eleven yet. I asked at Booty Bay the cover: $5 I think. I contemplated it, but thought other. I needed the money for the rest of the weekend, and I didn’t want to be stumbling to get to Penn station and home. I also felt uncomfortable going in alone where I knew no one.
As I stood thinking a weird vehicle came down the street and stopped at the red light. The vehicle was red and had 3-wheels: 2 in the front and one in the back. It looked like a partially enclosed motorcycle possible of holding 2… maybe even side by side. Unfortunately I couldn’t get my cam out in time to take a pic.
By the time I got to the next corner I had gotten my video camera out too. This is where/when I would find that there was nothing wrong with it, and I didn’t have to finalize. So I went back to the beginning of the street and videoed the length of the street as I walked. At 6th ave I turned the cam off and headed up to a sub station I knew was nearby. On the way I spotted a Maserati or Ferrari (I cant remember) and I think my vid cam was still in my hand and I caught some images of it while I could. I got to the subway and headed to Penn Station
At Penn I got off the subway and headed for the bigger station. I think where I got off the subway was different from what I am used to, it was a maze walking to Penn. Along the way I ended up following a cute gothic looking woman. I remember feeling like I was stalking her. I was prepared to tell her “I’m not following you unless you are headed for the NJTransit train down the coast.” She finally went a different way.
When I emerged into the NJ Transit/LIRR/Amtrak hall with the schedule I saw it say my train was “all aboard.” I burst into a run to the track! When I got there the doors of the cars were already closed and the train was inching away. No chance at getting on. I had to wait close to half an hr for the next train. I almost fell asleep in the waiting area. Surprisingly when I got on the train I didn’t fall asleep, I think I was over tired.
When I got off the train I got in my car, went to the windmill and update rick. We made plans for dinner the next day with Nat, maybe roman too.
To be continued…
After breakfast we each packed a bag or two, but she had some issues. While I just had my black back for my cameras and a shirt, she needed to bring two. One was her purse, the other a black bag like mine but bigger. It had to be bigger it had to carry her big school textbook. I think she wanted to bring a third for clothes, but I convinced her to stuff it all in the other two. I also told her that if she would carry my lighter bag through the city I would take her book bag.
On the way to the station Nat reminisced about places along the shore she remembered and wanted to visit that day. I told her repeatedly that we needed to get to the train on time. Fortunately we got to the train station about 10 mins before the train to the city arrived. Nat is so photogenic that she wanted a picture taken with the train schedule while we waited.
On the trip up we of course sat together. As we sat there she pulled out her iPod and textbook. She invited me to listen on one of the earplugs to some Russian pop/rock songs and some American stuff that I found on it too, as we read her textbook on business. The book restarted some thoughts I have had on my own business ideas. But those are stories for another blog.
When we got to the city she insisted on going straight to Macys to find a new coat. That was the first time I have ever been in that Macys of NYC. It was Frakking NUTS! It felt worse than black Friday. I guess the economy is doing well. I don’t know if it was just that it was Saturday or this 150 yr anniversary sale I saw advertised… or both! It felt like there wasn’t a department we didn’t visit hunting for that coat. But there wasn’t anything that seemed to fit her budget or taste. After we left Macys we hit two other stores in the area looking for the coat but didn’t find anything. In the end it all felt like a wild goose chase, but I didn’t argue. If its anything I learned at the shoe store over the last year… don’t argue with a woman when she is shopping. Esp. when I thought we might have a better chance in the basement (incase I forget she did find 2 coats in Brooklyn the next day)
We did finally get to the subway and I navigated us to station near the Brooklyn Bridge.
Crossing the bridge and our time in Brooklyn itself was adventures in of themselves.
As we approached the bridge I pointed out town hall and asked if she wanted to go there and/or take pictures from where we stood. She didn’t. Walking up the approach way to the bridge we saw a guy selling water and I bought us a bottle each for $2.
I soon grabbed my two cameras from my bag on her back and opened up my video camera and started filming. As soon as Nat found out the camera was on she went straight in to this monologue introducing the Brooklyn Bridge. I can’t remember however if she started in Russian or English first. I do remember that the camera seemed to cut out at this point. I thought that the disc was ready to be finalized, but there wasn’t anywhere at that point on the bridge (or any) to settle the cam down to do it. We were both soo disappointed. So I told her I could use my regular cam to take video instead.
I don’t remember taking any video of us as we crossed the bridge, but we took a number of pictures, with both our cameras. There are a few that I remember quite distinctly:
The first was on our approach to the bridge over the roadway. She handed me her camera and told me to take a picture as she climbed up on an I-beam overlooking the roadway, which was a good 10+ feet down. I was scared for her and might have told her she was crazy. But she sat up there with one leg stretched and the other bent as confidently and with out fear as she had done many times before. I think I took 2 pics but the first might have been shaky.
As we were crossing the span I took another memorable shot of her with her camera. I told her to walk down a distance and turn around. My original intent was to photograph her. What ended up happening only one word comes to mind “catwalk.” What she had done was… There was a white line painted down the middle of the walkway to divide it for cyclists on one side and pedestrians on the other… she walked down that line with such purpose!
The third picture I remember trying to take but cannot find in either of our collections is of her and the Empire State building. I wanted to photograph them together because I thought they were soo perfectly straight and lean. I thought it would be a rather artsy pic. But I think the latter two pics came out even better than that could have.
Besides her modeling shots we did of course take a picture or two together. The two keepers that were taken by a stranger with my camera and of us with lower Manhattan in the backdrop. The second I think is best as we are both smiling and I am not as stiff as I usually am in such pictures.
When we got to the Brooklyn side of the bridge time really began to crunch. It had to be around 4pm and she had to get to the theater in Brighton beach by 5pm. She suggested walking the distance. I checked Google maps/GPS on my phone and it said the trip would be over 13 miles. I was like hell no! I think/hope she was kidding. I instead suggested finding our way to a subway and taking that to get there.
We found a map of the area and I guided us towards the Jay St subway station. There was another group of tourists at the map and I said, “I think we go this way,” pointing and remembering how I had done this before. I think I came off as a little unsure of myself at this point, but I got her to the subway easily. However when we got there I did not know how to get to our final destination, so I asked a police or security woman for direction. She told me to take a train (I forget the letter) out to the Coney Island stop. I was afraid we would have to take a train back into Manhattan and from there get one to Brighton.
When we got on the train we were able to sit and relax. As we traveled I kept track of our location with my phone when we came above ground.
When we got to the end of the line I think we were both expecting our stop to be a lot close to our destination. Where we got off was at the Coney Island stop, almost a mile and a half away from the theater, with less than half an hr to get there. We ended up speed walking the entire distance, even attempting to take a bus 5 blocks from our end. The bus driver however told us that he would be turning up a blvd before our destination, so we ended up getting off and walking. Nat also suggested catching a cab as we were on Brighton ave, but I didn’t feel like dealing with such a hassle.
When we finally got there I realized that the bus REALLY would have been a good idea because it could have left us off less than half a block from the theater. We arrived with less than 5 mins to spare, running into the theater looking for the box office, totally passing it as we did so.
After she got her tickets we began to relax, but couldn’t totally till we could find a place to eat. We went up and down that block looking for places looking for a restaurant. I was no help as per most of the signs were in Russian or some other Cyrillic language. The place that she found was actually right next door to the theater.
The restaurant she found was this little hole in the wall place. Very nice, quaint and simple. I think the owner doubled as the maître d and waiter. All the tables had booth seating, that I would say resembled a school bus: on one side tables/booths that could sit 4, the other tables/booths that could sit 10 or more.
I was soo relieved to sit down after all the running and get her heavy bag off my back.
As the waiter brought out the menu I was afraid I would need Natalia to interpret for me, but what was written in Russian was duplicated in English. I soon found some pork kabob that I thought would be safe to eat… She would later tell Rick that it was the most American thing I could order (in my defense I like to try new things and places, but not be too adventurous when too far from home)…
When the waiter came around I let her go first. She ordered in Russian so I didn’t know what she was getting till it got there. To drink she had some tea that came out in what I guess was a clear Pyrex glass surrounded by a fancy metal holder with a handle. I had Snapple, and ordered in English.
When I ordered I think some nervousness bleed through. I think how I was feeling was like a stranger in my own country… and I know how my tongue can be at times I even forgot the meanings of some of the Russian words I knew and kept to English… nervously. I think it was also because I hadn’t mastered the formal versions of the words either. Russian language is really strict.
I was happy to see that Natalia was feeling the opposite of me. She was happy to be in a place that resembled her home; she can speak her language and have some good old borsht!
I ordered some borsht too. I said like to try new things. I also remembered not trying anything distinctly Russian the last time I ate at such a restaurant with her… I had some Russian version of dumplings.
While we waited for our food she was brazen again and went to the bathroom to get changed for the show. When the borsht came out she was still in the bathroom. I tried waiting but I was famished. I sat and took some sips of the soup. Occasionally hovering my hand over hers to try and keep it warm. When she came out she dug right in and was overjoyed that the bread was not American. Later I would ask her how the borsht as I had never tried it before and wouldn’t know good borsht from bad borsht. She said that it was good, but would have been better with meat. I think my eyes widened with some surprise.
Soon our dinners came out: mine was a nice platter with chunks of the pork, some potatoes and what I thought at first was a salad, but really was coleslaw. I think I was disappointed as usual that the kabob didn’t come out on a stick. I guess the place was too formal for that. I also thought I saw a lil nat or bug falling in my food, but thought it better not to say anything. I was hungry, besides, more protein for me! I think it might have been a seasoning seed.
When I saw her plate I could see that it was potatoes. To me the dish looked like home fries that I usually got with my omelets at the diner near home. I told her this and she said “no” then offered me some to try. I tried to say no too as I had plenty of potatoes and other food to eat as it was. But she couldn’t finish everything herself and put it on my plate. I tasted it and it was rather doughy, but good. I still couldn’t understand how this could be a meal.
When the bill came I was rather relieved at the price. I had been thinking it would be rather outrageous and over fifty bucks. Suffice to say it was far from that!
When we left the restaurant is wasn’t far to show her off. There was a much larger crowd outside than earlier. I gave her a hug and only managed to give her a peck on the cheek. That was the last time I would see her for nearly 24 hrs.
This blog ended up being 6 pages long, so I split it for you…
As an amendment I wanted to say for anyone that doesn’t know, the whole point of the entire trip was 2 things: 1. Spend some much needed time with Nat. 2. Drive her to see Comedy Club, a Comedy central-like Russian TV show being performed in Brighton Beach. There may be more about this in part 4.
Part 3.1
Now I was alone in Brooklyn. I knew as we arrived in Coney Island earlier that I did not want to leave the area with out first checking it out. So I found a train to the Coney Island stop from earlier. I would also learn that we prob could have made a transfer at Coney Island to get closer to Brighton. Sadly when I reach the amusement area it was too dark to take any good pictures. I tried to take a couple of the ferries wheel but failed. I walked up onto the boardwalk but couldn’t see far out onto the water. The only thing open on the boardwalk was a sketchy bar that as I passed by I heard the bartender call “last call” I think it was 6:30 or 7pm.
I left the boardwalk and made my way to this establishment that I had noted earlier. The place I thought would be a freak show exhibit of some sort. When I approached I saw a sign saying there was beer served there and that there was a tour. I asked rather stupidly whether it was a bar or both. It was both. I also asked if I could drink on the tour, the guy said yes. So I bought a $10 ticket for the tour and one of the Brooklyn brews they served there and walked around waiting for the tour. I also the asked man about what really was gonna happen to the area and what happened to the Pain Proof Rubber Girls (Google it!) that I had met years before at 6 flags. He told me how the landmark rides like the ferries wheel, parachute jump and I think the roller coaster, and the “museum” plus Nathan’s would stay. Everything else would be torn down to make way for condos.
The show had been advertised as a Halloween tour, and I had expected a freak show, what with all the signage of blockheads and the like in the place. Sadly it wasn’t quite that. What it was more of an interactive funhouse. There wasn’t much scary about the show… unless you find US presidents and politicians scary. The show may not have been much of a freak show, but it was definitely filled with exhibitionists… not nudist. There was our tour guide who I couldn’t decide if she was a dirty simpleton with a stutter, or if that was her act. She would show us around the many rooms caring an A shaped signage that said, “Push here to begin” with an arrow to a button. Whenever we come to a new room she an audience member would have to push the button and the host would push play on a tape recorder.
Once the recording was going the act of the room would come to life. The actors would tell us that they were automatons similar to the ones found in Disney World, but older, defective models. The act was good. When we came into a set room the actors/robots hardly breathed… until the button had been pushed.
Each room had a dead or living president in some form of death or living. The only two non-presidents were the last two first ladies: Laura bush and Hillary. They would introduce the coffin of JFK… then FDR, then Lincoln and other dead presidents, but all was the same coffin, to fool the children in the room to look repeatedly. Then the adults became curious to see… it was a mask of splattered brain.
The tour would end with Obama and McCain debating over Nixon’s coffin, which would also come to life. Over all I guess the tour was unique. Maybe not worth the ten bucks, but eh! It’s New York. It was certainly worth the time and fun. When the tour was done I left and took a picture of the marquee and soon Nathan’s. Then I got back on the train and head back to Manhattan.
When I finally emerged from the subway in Manhattan, I think I was in either SOHO, Tribeca, or somewhere just south of the Village. I walked north thinking I would find my way to someplace familiar. I remember as I approached one intersection smelling a strong whiff of pot in the air, but when I got to the other side of the intersection all I could smell was trash/crap. As I made my way I came to a movie theater that I had past a couple of times before and looked to see what was playing there: “Religoulus.” My original plan after dropping Nat off in Brooklyn was to go see a comedy act of my own in Times Square… but I forgot my ticket at home! Besides I thought it would be lonely too. So I resolved to see this movie as my comedy act.
(I think I will blog about this else-time)
Two hours later I emerged from the theater and made my way north again. I would soon find myself in my favorite part of the village: bleaker st. just west of LaGuardia. I took a pic of a Mexican themed bar that I had seen before, but I think they changed signage. I wanted to go in one of the clubs there. I don’t think it was quite ten or eleven yet. I asked at Booty Bay the cover: $5 I think. I contemplated it, but thought other. I needed the money for the rest of the weekend, and I didn’t want to be stumbling to get to Penn station and home. I also felt uncomfortable going in alone where I knew no one.
As I stood thinking a weird vehicle came down the street and stopped at the red light. The vehicle was red and had 3-wheels: 2 in the front and one in the back. It looked like a partially enclosed motorcycle possible of holding 2… maybe even side by side. Unfortunately I couldn’t get my cam out in time to take a pic.
By the time I got to the next corner I had gotten my video camera out too. This is where/when I would find that there was nothing wrong with it, and I didn’t have to finalize. So I went back to the beginning of the street and videoed the length of the street as I walked. At 6th ave I turned the cam off and headed up to a sub station I knew was nearby. On the way I spotted a Maserati or Ferrari (I cant remember) and I think my vid cam was still in my hand and I caught some images of it while I could. I got to the subway and headed to Penn Station
At Penn I got off the subway and headed for the bigger station. I think where I got off the subway was different from what I am used to, it was a maze walking to Penn. Along the way I ended up following a cute gothic looking woman. I remember feeling like I was stalking her. I was prepared to tell her “I’m not following you unless you are headed for the NJTransit train down the coast.” She finally went a different way.
When I emerged into the NJ Transit/LIRR/Amtrak hall with the schedule I saw it say my train was “all aboard.” I burst into a run to the track! When I got there the doors of the cars were already closed and the train was inching away. No chance at getting on. I had to wait close to half an hr for the next train. I almost fell asleep in the waiting area. Surprisingly when I got on the train I didn’t fall asleep, I think I was over tired.
When I got off the train I got in my car, went to the windmill and update rick. We made plans for dinner the next day with Nat, maybe roman too.
To be continued…
Trip to Virginia Part 2: Reunion
…. I think i arrived at Round Hill about ¼ to 6pm. I called Nat and told her I was there. I think she thought I said I was nearby because I ended up waiting and walking around the neighborhood for 10 mins. before she called me back and asked where I was. I told her I was parked between the two Volvos. She came out a few minutes later to greet and invite me in. on the way in I gave her the Godiva chocolate bars I had bought in Jersey for her. While inside she finished her dinner, showed me the food made for the Halloween party and gathered some last minute things for the trip.
The trip north (back to Jersey) was rather uneventful. We talked, b/s’d, and reminisced along the trip. I tried putting a cd on a couple times but the volume was either turned down or drowned out by our/my talking.
Once back in Jersey I drove straight for the windmill in Belmar where we would reunite with the old gang for what could be called an anniversary get together. We got there about ¼ to 10pm. We walked in and I got Rick’s attention and let him know we were there. As usual before we got there he was sitting contemplating and doodling in the corner. He lit up and greeted us (esp. Nat of course) and sat us down. A few minutes late Roman without being asked brought Nat over a fresh batch of cheese fries. Nat shared the fries with me, but got mad when I used my fingers instead of a fork; weird! So I got a toothpick and ordered a chicken sandwich for myself.
When we first got to the restaurant I let Jess/Jake know that we were at the windmill and invited her down. As she arrived the whole gang: Roman, Rick, Nat, and I were outside getting ready to take our anniversary pic with the help of the new guy Ryan. Nat made cracks and complained that it wasn’t different enough from the previous years group pic.
When Jess/Jake got there I convinced Nat to come have a drink at Bar A for a till closing heading home. After getting both ladies in successfully and cheaply I order them both drinks we watched the band that was playing. (I cant remember the bands’ name for the life of me!) The three of us ended up having two rounds each of our drinks (wine for nat, miller lite fore jess and I think I had a heini). We walked around the bar and talked outside for a little. While out on the enclosed deck space nat convinced a guy to take a pic of the 3 of us together (the pic is now my new default ☺). Nat also wanted a picture taken with the band that played, so we both talked them into a group pic that I took as the band was wrapping up.
Before the bouncers could kick us out we left of our own accord. Nat and I really wanted to go home and get some rest for the next day’s trip to NYC. But jess wanted to go back to the windmill so she/we could sober up some to drive home.
While Jess and I sobered up outside Roman and I were retelold the same old stories so that the new ears of Jess/Jake and Ryan could hear. I kept trying to get Nat to tell her side of the “ride me home” story but she seemed to enjoy how Roman and I rehashed it in our own ways.
When all the stories dried up I finally drove Nat to my house where we would both sleep in my basement. As she got ready for bed I downloaded the pix from my camera to the mac to clear room for NY.
To be continued… again…
The trip north (back to Jersey) was rather uneventful. We talked, b/s’d, and reminisced along the trip. I tried putting a cd on a couple times but the volume was either turned down or drowned out by our/my talking.
Once back in Jersey I drove straight for the windmill in Belmar where we would reunite with the old gang for what could be called an anniversary get together. We got there about ¼ to 10pm. We walked in and I got Rick’s attention and let him know we were there. As usual before we got there he was sitting contemplating and doodling in the corner. He lit up and greeted us (esp. Nat of course) and sat us down. A few minutes late Roman without being asked brought Nat over a fresh batch of cheese fries. Nat shared the fries with me, but got mad when I used my fingers instead of a fork; weird! So I got a toothpick and ordered a chicken sandwich for myself.
When we first got to the restaurant I let Jess/Jake know that we were at the windmill and invited her down. As she arrived the whole gang: Roman, Rick, Nat, and I were outside getting ready to take our anniversary pic with the help of the new guy Ryan. Nat made cracks and complained that it wasn’t different enough from the previous years group pic.
When Jess/Jake got there I convinced Nat to come have a drink at Bar A for a till closing heading home. After getting both ladies in successfully and cheaply I order them both drinks we watched the band that was playing. (I cant remember the bands’ name for the life of me!) The three of us ended up having two rounds each of our drinks (wine for nat, miller lite fore jess and I think I had a heini). We walked around the bar and talked outside for a little. While out on the enclosed deck space nat convinced a guy to take a pic of the 3 of us together (the pic is now my new default ☺). Nat also wanted a picture taken with the band that played, so we both talked them into a group pic that I took as the band was wrapping up.
Before the bouncers could kick us out we left of our own accord. Nat and I really wanted to go home and get some rest for the next day’s trip to NYC. But jess wanted to go back to the windmill so she/we could sober up some to drive home.
While Jess and I sobered up outside Roman and I were retelold the same old stories so that the new ears of Jess/Jake and Ryan could hear. I kept trying to get Nat to tell her side of the “ride me home” story but she seemed to enjoy how Roman and I rehashed it in our own ways.
When all the stories dried up I finally drove Nat to my house where we would both sleep in my basement. As she got ready for bed I downloaded the pix from my camera to the mac to clear room for NY.
To be continued… again…
Virginia Trip & Time with Nat Part 1
originally written: 10/24
So here I am finally sitting down to write about my adventure(s) last week. It has already been about 7 days since the escapades began. I am afraid I may forget some details as per how much time has gone by since.
10/16
About a week ago I began the journey to VA a lot earlier than it ended up I needed to. The trip was roughly 3.5 hrs and I left around 11am. The trip down was really rather uneventful I guess. There was little traffic and I listened to the first 2 CDs of Obama’s book: “the audacity of hope” and my annoying GPS unit. I arrived just before the check in time of 3pm.
I remember after I arrived and checked in at my hotel for the night thinking “ oh great! I planned for everything except for this. I don’t know what to do now, I have more than 24 hrs before I can pick up Nat.” After getting comfortable and acquainted with my room I decided to explore the area, maybe find a way to Nat’s. I ended up grabbing lunch at a local restaurant instead.
The restaurant was rather unique. The place was hidden away in a shopping plaza that looked like it self was recently built and surrounded by Latino/Mexican restaurants. The place was named: Kabob Delicioso. The sign advertised that it served a multi ethnical cuisine that included: American, Latin, Lebanese cuisine and homemade ice cream. I found that the menu also included Mediterranean, Greek, and Mexi tastes. The ice cream looked like it could be gelato, though I didn’t try it. I had chicken wrap with some crazy sauce/dressing on it. I can’t even remember the taste of it, but there were definitely a variety of flavors in it.
The lunch was good but I was still anxious to go find Natalia’s house so I punched her addy up in my GPS and headed out. The GPS told me and I knew that the trip out would be about half an hr so I wasn’t expecting the trip to be all that long. However I ran into some bumper to bumper, full stop traffic at and after an interchange by Leesburg. The traffic was soo slow I was able to take pix of the fall foliage as I went. I tried getting off the highway and finding an alternative route, but my GPS wasn’t helpful and I ended up getting back on the highway after driving around Leesburg a little. The traffic soon let up and I got back up to 60 mph for a couple more miles before I had to get off at her exit. Between the traffic and the beautiful scenery on the side of the highway (maybe the newness of it all too) the trip seemed to be a little longer than I expected.
During the trip along the highway I saw a lot of new homes and developments, which really looked out of place on the rolling hills of this part of Virginia. I supposed during the trip that, that is what Nat’s neighborhood would look like…. It was! The community was up on a hill in a community called Round Hill (idk if that is the town or development. There were no entrance signage) that overlooked the highway I was just on. Most of the homes were townhomes with barely any room between the units on ANY side. However it seemed some of the streets had a green courtyard space. Her street even had a little playground set. When I say it was little I mean it was SMALL. The area the set was in was barely the size of a master bedroom. After passing through her street and taking pictures of houses (I found out later neither was hers) on the street I found the overlook of the highway and took some pics of the surrounding landscape. Then I drove around the neighborhood and discovered just how NEW this neighborhood really was. There were streets with homes in every state of being built. Everything from pipes sticking out of the ground for the water main, to half done foundations, to fully built homes that still looked like either: a. they were still in need of interior work, or b. did not have a family yet. All and all in some ways this place looked like a nice place to raise a family, although I don’t know if I would want to live in that compact of a development. (I think it has to do with where I currently live)
On my trip back to my hotel in sterling I still had a lot of time to kill so I decided to take a tour and get a little lost in Leesburg. One of the first things I found was a Roy Rogers right across the street from a Starbucks in what also looked like a rather young shopping plaza district. As young as 10-15 yrs though I guess. However “downtown” or “main street” Leesburg was very nice and quaint. After finding a public parking lot and walking around for just like 5 or 10 minutes I was quickly reminded of the village in Allaire State Park, here in jersey. There was smells of firewood or charcoal burning and most of the buildings surrounding the parking lot were had to have been over a century and a half old. It was quite nice. Most of the storefronts and even the law offices had signs that hung off the store in a classic sense. Yet a few blocks away I found the old small town theater that I had seen earlier. I think it said it still had $1 or $2 movies. This little town of Leesburg was like a little city it was even the county seat of the (I forget the name of) county it was in. Although I think I only saw 2 bars/taverns in the town (kinda lame). But at least now I knew why everyone had to go to DC for a good time. The downtown area also had a lot of little shops and restaurants. Unfortunately though it looked like they all close before sundown and it was about 6pm by the time I arrived in town. So I left town with just a bunch of pictures, thinking: “I should probably get my grandmother down here.”
Even before driving down I determined that I did not want to deal with the Washington area much. I did not want to go into downtown DC for anything. I felt like I had done most of what the city had to offer and kind of bored of it. So the next day thanks to advice from a guy I talked to at the hotel the night before I went to the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum by the Dulles airport.
10/17
I was kind of surprised that there was a second location for the museum. The place ended up being REALLY big. I don’t think that there was an aircraft that wasn’t included at this place! Their 4 biggest (real) pieces were an SR-71 directly from the Skunk works in Cali, the prototype Space Shuttle Enterprise, the B-29 super fortress: the Enola Gay, and the Concord. But also included a Joint Strike fighter (F-22 I think), F-14 tomcat, some cold war era helicopters and MIG fighters as well as may other aircraft and components.
The gentleman that advised me on going to the museum told me that there were more than enough things to see and do there… and he was correct! I brought both my didgi camera and video cam into the place. I took soo many pics and video of everything in the place. I think I went through like 4 AA batteries (incl. 2 that I bought at the gift shop and told the guy I didn’t need 4…dumb!) in my didgi and def all the battery on the vid cam. I definitely filled them with images of everything in the place. I remember as I was touring that I was a little stressed and worried if I would be able to get images of the Enola Gay, as per I wasted soo much battery and space on both cams on everything else, and the plane ended up being the last exhibit I went to see specifically.
After all the touring of the exhibits I still had like 3 hrs to kill before I could pick up Natalia, so I bought tickets for the flight simulator and an IMAX show they had. The simulator was fun and rather ridiculous. It was of some kind of fighter plane, that I can’t remember which. They had me: 1. Watch a video on how to use it; 2. Empty my pockets into a locker, however I left some change in my 5th pocket; 3. Get into the simulator and be strapped in like it was a rollercoaster with both 2 shoulder straps and a roll bar like on the batman ride at 6 flags. When the bar came down I asked the guy if it was supposed to be soo tight, because I could hardly breath with it. He said if it wasn’t like that the machine wouldn’t work. It ended up being a little fun but scary, as a part of the loading process the machine rolled upside down. Even though I was kind of expecting that it still shocked me when my feet ended up on the ceiling thanks to gravity. I think some of my coin fell out too. The machine was like a really big video game… that moved! Lol! I could have shot down other aircraft, but I couldn’t keep the damn thing level!
The IMAX show I expected to be of that Planet Earth series seen on the Discovery Channel, but it was a special movie made for the Smithsonian by astronauts about earth and its features. It was similar to what the Discovery Channel had I guess, although whereas the Disc Chan showed nature and animals, this showed the physical characteristics of earth.
The museum also had a mock up of an airport control tower attached to it. You could see it from the parking lot, yet I think I almost left with out going in it. From the top you could see a 360 of the surrounding area. It was almost all trees and hills. Close by though was the runway for Dulles airport and you could watch as planes landed. You could also listen into the flight controllers of the airport talking to those aircraft. On another floor of the tower was a special little museum/exhibit dedicated to flight control towers and the system. At the center there was a map and computer/radar display like you would find in such a control tower. I was disappointed when I found out it was of Newark international airport. I was like: ”wtf?! If I wanted to see the radar/map of the Newark/NY area I would have stayed in Jersey!” but I figured they probably did the display that way was for security purposes. I mean a. it is an airport and b. it is the airport near WA, D.C. it could have Air Force One on the radar.
Even after wasting all this time I still had a good half hr or so before I had to get on the road and take the 30+ min trip to pick up Nat, so I went to a little historic park that I saw on the way into the museum. I was expecting a village something like Allaire, but it wasn’t. I was expecting some trails to walk around on, but there weren’t really. What it really was, was a pre-Civil War estate/plantation, just a house, a couple of buildings and a slave quarters. For a place with two parking lots I think I was expecting more. I remember thinking it was quite nice though. It was right off the highway, yet hidden away. In the park you wouldn’t know that there was a highway nearby, and vice-versa. After a brisk walk around the park and not finding any well-beaten paths to walk on I headed back to my car.
Even with the little detour to this plantation I still had some more time to kill. So I figured to blaze some new paths to get to Round hill. Finding different routes with my GPS is not that easy. But good sense of direction and adventure runs in my family. Along this alternative route I discovered a little farm called: “Frying Pan Farm Park.” So I stopped to walk around and take some more pictures. I think every farm animal was on this farm, even peacocks! Though I don’t know how those are farm animals?
As I walked around the farm some rather funny things (or atleast to me) happened. The first thing I remember is how as I was taking pictures I came across 2 black cows (or some form of cattle). The first of which I think was a bull, and I took a rather normal pic of it. The second I saw after walking behind one of the barns/sheds. When it came in back of it towards a smaller pen I thought it with the other cows/animals in the background might make a nice picture. So I brought up my camera for a pic and as I was about to take a pic I found out why the cow had come back there… lets just say it seems that animals require privacy for some things as well.
I walked around the farm some more then headed back to my car some more.
On my way back was a coral for calves, and maybe a goat or two that I hadn’t looked at earlier. So I approached the pen for some pictures and a goat in it approached me. I didn’t do anything to attract its attention. I guess he is just used to the attention people and was expecting either food or a petting. I backed off a little as he approached and he stuck his head through the bars in the fence. I remember wanting to ask it “what do you want?” As I walked along the fence to get back to my car the goat followed me. I kept thinking “what does he want?” and “what is he going to do when we get to the end of the coral?” I thought it was funny how he followed me with just one eye, almost poking through the bars in the fence. I wasn’t really afraid, but there was a sign as I came in that said not to feed or pet the animals; so I stayed my distance from the goat. I think I was also afraid of getting my hands dirty, as I would see Nat, and didn’t have plans to find a place to wash.
Near 5pm I went to my car and navigated my way back to Round Hill, hitting the same amount of traffic in just about the same spot as the day before.
To be continued…
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