Fall Mini-Scenes

Among the sprawling conversations L. and I had, there was a bit of fierce debate about the number of times she has joined me in the country. My memory was two, both with Fatty. Hers was three, the first time without him. The blog was surprisingly unhelpful in this regard, at least in part because if there was a first visit sans Fat T. there was no photographic evidence of it. So I really meant to take at least one good photo of L. while she was around. The perfect time to do so would have been when we took a lovely fall walk. Unfortunately I took literally two photographs, both of which were totally not working in terms of focus or composition, and I'm simply not going to post them. The point is that I SWEAR L. was in fact around for this weekend. God. And if I'm lying I'm the person who makes up a friend to eat cheese and tacos with. I am not that person but I can only hope you understand that to be true.

While no photos of L. or me are available, we did see some pretty things on our walk.

UGH. HOW DARE YOU BE SO PRETTY?! At one point we were walking kind of in rhythm, and the sound of our feet sloughing through the fallen leaves was so loud that we could barely carry on a conversation because of the racket. Nature can be quiet, but not always!

Delaware Beach and Camp Times

This summer flew by. Between my two biggest excursions to North Carolina and Lake Champlain, I certainly can't say that I didn't get my fair share of swimming done, but somehow I struggled to find a weekend to dedicate to my annual Delaware beach camping adventure. In previous years I've gone in the early summer and then again in the latter part of the season. This year I wasn't sure I was going to go at all. I've gained some new responsibilities at work and they were making me feel slightly less capable of taking vacation days...but I made it happen. I arrived on the Wednesday before Labor Day and quickly set up my tent. Rain was also in the forecast, so I set up a tarp so I could still enjoy at least a little time sitting outside. After setting the site up I did as I often do and went to Fin's for happy hour and oysters. Unfortunately I forgot to bring my camera so you'll just have to trust me when I say that I had a dozen oysters and steamed shrimp and enjoyed a Troeg's beer while making friends with an older woman who has a hair cutting license in three states.

The next day it was beach times. I brought a beer with me. I also brought Let's Pretend This Never Happened, which is a pretty good read if you're interested in a funny woman with a wacky childhood recounting her various anxieties and triumphs.

The water was really perfect that first day. The waves weren't crashing as much as lolling and I was able to comfortably float without fear of being smashed to the ocean's floor. So the campground is about a mile away from an access point for the beach. This access point is about 2 miles away from the primary beach area for the park, which features a giant parking lot,  large bath house, concession stand and life guards. Generally speaking the section of beach that you can walk to from the campground is far less crowded. The area by the beach house is always pretty chock full of bodies and umbrellas, while this more remote spot certainly isn't going to give you a sense of being totally alone but does give you a little more space between people. This was very much the case on that Wednesday, when it was pretty much me with my set up and then a young couple a couple hundred yards away from me on one side and a lady with her two sons on the other. It wasn't quite as solitary or remote as the beaches of Eleuthera, but it was still nice. Oh and there was an Amish couple playing baseball because of course. I have many thoughts about the Amish/Mennonite folks also camping but I'll perhaps share that in my next post.

After a day at the beach it was time to seek out a meal. I decided to return to the Surfing Crab and debated whether I was going to go the soft shell or hard shell crab route. In the end I decided that I was up to a solitary round of crab cracking and ordered half a dozen medium crabs. In the past I've been seated, or have seated myself, in the dining room to the left when you first walk into the space, which has long picnic tables that are perfect for large parties. This time, however, I went to the room that actually had seats with backs. I was, as is often the case, the only person by myself and the majority of the other tables were older couples on what seemed like double or triple dates. In one instance three couples came in together and quickly the men sat at one table while the women sat at another. I guess that makes sense? As a woman who sometimes finds the conversation of men more interesting than those of women (not always of course), I always hate that breakdown, but maybe after you're married for 30 years you just don't feel like hanging out in a coed group anymore?

I also ordered fries. This was a generous basket of very hot and crispy fries. I enjoyed them but didn't make that much of a dent, as my real focus was on the crabs.

This crab was a dictator in life, and a high five enthusiast in death. I made it through four crabs but couldn't quite bring myself to eat the last two. Service was good and fast. I could have perhaps done without my waiter touching my shoulder in a way that I felt was a little pitying or presumptuous. Or maybe I was just being overly sensitive. I didn't see him touching anyone else's shoulders. So it is a funny thing, my simultaneous desire to want to talk about how it actually is a little bit of a bummer to do things I like by myself and my annoyance if anyone other than me assumes that I am bummed. I had a fine time on this evening. The crabs were good. I had a book. I was doing exactly what I wanted to do. Yes, I would have liked to have a little company, but not having a companion didn't immediately make the meal (or any other aspect of the trip) suddenly sad. And yet I felt like those shoulder touches were somehow supposed to buck me up. Or it was all in my head. Hard to tell really.

And then it was a new day. The water was a little rougher and I was reading a new book, also good: Beautiful Ruins. This day was definitely more packed as far as folks, which made sense given the fact it was now a Friday on Labor Day weekend.

I worried after hearing stories all summer about these massive dolphin deaths in the Atlantic that I wouldn't see any on this trip. Luckily that wasn't the case. One of the positive things of being on a beach with other people, some of whom are children, is that I could focus on reading my book with the knowledge that if there were dolphins to be sighted, the parents would call out to their kids loudly enough for me to to into zoom photo action. As always, it was neater really to actually just watch their fins skim the water's surface than to try and photograph it. Really neat. Though I still haven't seen another one jump out of the water like I did quite a few years back.

Looking toward the main beach/bath house area.

Cayuga Lake and Surrounding Environs

The next morning I happily awoke to the sound of the lake's waters gently slapping up against the shores.There were many things that the Lake Champlain and Cayuga Lake experiences shared, which included families with long-held ties and traditions to each respective place; gossip about the other families who also owned houses around them for generations (but weren't actually family); a general population of folks who are not afraid of getting wet, diving or otherwise involving themselves in a body of water that certainly is host to myriad fish (and occasionally snakes); herons; ducks; the sound of boats coming to life and swooshing away, etc. But the S.'s lake house was perhaps slightly closer to the water so the sound of it in the morning was more striking than at Champlain. I also think I wouldn't be wrong to say that Cayuga Lake isn't as wide, nor long, as Champlain, which somehow made the view from shore slightly different. In any case, it was a beautiful morning.

There were clouds, but I don't think they wanted to really hurt us.

Birds flew.

Flowers unfurled.

Breakfast was prepared most masterfully by A.S.'s father and most gratefully consumed by all in attendance.

I believe I was the first into the water on this particular day. I woke up so much earlier than everyone else that I had already enjoyed my breakfast and gotten into my suit while others were still digging in. I BC was kind enough to take a break from the book she was reading to provide some proof that I did indeed swim during this week of lake life.

No hands or feet! Or...I mean I was kind of floating without treading water? Is the point? I love floating.

A.S. likes jumping.

As do others. I never was much into jumping, but I do like a shallow dive from time to time.

I missed getting an action shot of A. going into the water, but this reaction shot is pretty good I thought.

I think she called this the hammer? Something different than the traditional cannon ball for sure.

Triumph.

Before some of the ladies went with a round of planking on the raft, we played a few dozen rounds of four square on the raft, which is not without it's challenges, let me just tell you.

Tubing in progress by A.S.'s neighbors. They swung by and asked if she (and I imagine by extension us) would like to tube, but I guess historically the guy is quite the aggressive boat driver and really and truly goes out of his way to try to get folks to fall off. A.S. declined and so did the rest of us.

Then there was an excursion to a winery. It was good and I'll have to remember the name of the place so I can tell you to consider buying their dry riesling.Anyela's!

It was on a different lake about an hour north and west near a town that has a name that is spelled entirely different than how it is pronounced.

A.S. and her parents stayed behind and were going to have dinner while we were gone, so we ended up at Hill Top Diner, which also has a bowling alley attached to it because, of course it does. B.C. and J. went hog wild with their combined and shared order of: a bowl of macaroni and cheese, a bowl of potato salad, a bowl of mashed potatoes and gravy and the fried appetizer combo. It was frankly miraculous how much they ordered and how good a job they generally did on finishing it all.

I was drawn to the roasted turkey sandwich, which I guess usually comes pre-drenched in gravy. I opted for gravy on the side along with mashed potatoes. I then pretty much ignored the bread and ate the turkey after dipping it in the gravy/potatoes.

Seriously, diner gravy and potatoes, which I know are totally not fancy and basically just sodium, are still one of my all time comfort foods. A million years ago in Wheaton Plaza, my mother and I would go to Hot Shoppes (anyone? anyone?) (also the Hot Shoppes in Wheaton Plaza was not a drive in as the link I've included might make you imagine) and they also had some pretty magic potatoes and gravy to consider in their buffet line.And their roast beef sliced right in front of you? Memories. Nothing like going to a 1960s-style buffet in a mall with your mother and about nine million senior citizens. Good times, they were.

With more of their meal displayed.

And that was the night. The drive back was uneventful except for getting stuck in ungodly traffic outside a drive-thru for a bit of time, and the copious fireworks that were still being lit along the river. Actually that second thing, all the fireworks leaping out of the night sky as we zoomed south was truly a lovely sight to behold.

Pizza and Pretty c/o Cayuga Lake

For the last couple of years I've been lucky enough to be invited up to A.S.'s family lake house on one of the finger lakes: Cayuga Lake. I was 100% presumptuous when I emailed A.S. asking whether she would be at all amenable to my swinging by upon my departure from Champlain, and I can only hope that my actually making good on that suggestion (once I heard her response in the affirmative) was an example of things working out as opposed to me making a really huge faux pas in the etiquette of life. There's nothing to be done now one way or the other, so I'm just going to focus on the positives. Positives like the drive through the Adirondacks I took, most of which were on two lane roads that no one could call anything but scenic. I saw so many pretty vistas and funny little lake towns, but I was pretty focused on enjoying the drive without delaying myself, so there really is no photographic evidence of just how pretty it was. After about five and change hours I arrived at the S. family's house and quickly joined in the conversation, swimming and general relaxation that was taking place there. I hadn't realized that there would be so many faces I actually knew. B.C. was there along with A.S.'s current roommate J., B.C.'s friend from college A. and A.S.'s friend from college too. A very strong group of ladies no doubt.

I asked them all if they had been having the same extremely tempestuous weather each day and they had said generally no. I guess Champlain got more of the strange deluges of rain. But on this particular day there was definitely a storm slowly making its way across the lake. Always neat to see.

But no one would be running inside unless it was really serious.

Pretty cloud we all declared.

The making of the pizza was very collaborative. The result was very delicious.

Salad too, with a dressing that was just right.

The evening concluded with karaoke mostly sung by others, though I gave it a college try with a Patsy Cline song. It's never as much fun to sing Karaoke when there are legitimately good singers in your midst.

Breakfast and Burgers and the Fourth of July on Lake Champlain

On July Fourth I awoke before J. or K. (or J.'s additional family members who had arrived in the preceding evening). I needed to do an internetty work check in, which couldn't be done from the cabin itself, so I drove to Port Henry to take advantage of the weird glory that is parking in front of a small town library and using their wireless. A thing no one did ten years ago...though I did, at that stage, walk to a small town library and go inside to use their internet. The times, they are a'changin'. In any case after getting the work stuff out of the way I drove and took a gander at the view of the lake by a nearby church, and then decided that I'd have breakfast at the little old-school diner next to the town's grocery store. The diner does have that very quaint small town look to it, and though it's not the most iconic in terms of a longer rail road car-like set up, there was a bit of that. I made the choice of sitting at the counter, which was generally wise as I think that it had a little more character than the backroom with tables. One drawback, however, was that my feet couldn't touch the ground on the stool and there was nothing to really easily rest my feet on. This wouldn't have really been that big a deal if it wasn't for the fact that the food really did take forever and a day to actually arrive in front of me. Basically I ordered two eggs, sausage (I was told they only had Italian sausage) and home fries with a roll and then sat for about 45 minutes. The lady behind the counter was diligent in refilling my coffee cup and it wasn't an entirely unpleasant experience, but by that same measure I really had expected to be in and out in about 45 minutes, so the delay kind of cramped my style a bit. The food was good and the cook/owner came out to say hi to me once he saw a camera involved. Basically I have no ill will towards this place, but the wait wasn't entirely counterbalanced by what was a pretty unremarkable breakfast.

Then there was more swimming and sitting. I think this was the day that J.'s uncle was using his motor boat to let people go 'tubing.' I have always thought of tubing in terms of moseying down a river without a care in the world in something that, you know, actually resembles a tube. But on lakes there seems to be a completely different take on the activity....covered tube-like things at the end of a long rope attached to a power boat that drives you around in fast fun circles. I have no photographic evidence of J. and I tubing in tandem, but it was fun and I'm glad I didn't wuss out as I was thinking I might. Each bump over a wake of water was like a little roller coaster adventure, but with the knowledge that the worst that would really happen is that I would fall into the water, which was delightful in temperature. I also went out to the middle of the lake with J.'s younger cousin and enjoyed diving into the really, really deep water, which was even cooler and speckled with sunlight than the shores I kept to for most of the visit. Then the sun began to set and it was beautiful.

And I momentarily lost a hand and looked weirdly pale and bald with a comb over.

I mixed up ground beef for burgers that night, which K. was in charge of grilling to perfection. Some were "fancy" and some were "non-fancy" to appeal to those with an interest in my version of burgers (little salt and pepper, soy sauce, worcestire, garlic, cumin etc.). Turns out that J.'s family doesn't even salt and pepper their burgers usually, or that's what one of them said in any case.

J. testing out a fancy photo with his mom nearby.

K. jumping into the action too.

Three!

Yup. Cheese makes the world go round.

Then there was a period of time sitting around a fire with J.'s extended cousin network. Looking at fireworks that were being lit all over the shores of the lake north and south and east (we were on the west shore.

It was not a good year for me and taking photographs of fireworks. I'll have to try better with the next opportunity I am given.

At some point K. and I headed back towards the cabin we were staying in and ended up going back down the the lake for a night swim, which really was a wonderful experience. Floating in water and being able to see a bazillion stars (and I think the Milky Way) all while naked without a concern of anyone seeing you is pretty much a winning situation for me, and one that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys the outdoors.

And that pretty much wraps up the days I spent on Lake Champlain. It truly was a relaxing and satisfying experience. In addition to all the swimming and Catan and eating, I also read three books in quick succession, which really reminded me how much I actually love to read. I even started thinking about my novel for the first time in so long there is no point in even pointing out how long it actually has been. Not that I've actually made any progress with those notes, but I felt momentarily excited for the first time in forever.