Monday, March 24th, 2008
I know that I have told you in the past how much Laura and I like to eat lunch at the Fife’n Drum restaurant in Kent, CT every Easter. We have been doing it now for about four years. It usually is a very good time. Well, unfortunately, yesterday was our last visit to this restaurant.
I am going to try to keep this short and sweet and not too much like a restaurant critic. Let’s just say that it seems like there is some new management and a new chef at this place.
The wait was very long during each portion of our two course Easter lunch and the food was amateur at best. It seemed like the dish washing dude was back there cooking too. I swear it seemed like there were parts of my dishes that were from a can. To me, “warm potatoes” does not mean potato salad that tasted like it was straight from Costco. A vegetarian dish does not mean boiled vegetables. Oh well, there’s $80 down the drain. We didn’t even stay for dessert…my favorite part. We just left the money on the table and left. During the last 20 minute wait to have our plates cleared from the table, three different waiters walked by and looked at us at least seven times. We kept wondering if our waiter had gone home. Well, as it turns out, as we were leaving, Laura caught sight of this guy eating at the bar. What the hell? If you can’t tell, I am a little annoyed. To think, I still left a tip…A TIP. I didn’t have the patience to wait for any change. I swear, if we had stayed any longer, they would’ve started vacuuming the floor while people were still eating. Yes, we will have to find a new place to eat on Easter.
To simmer down, we went on our traditional hike at Bull’s Bridge. I have a few posts about our previous hikes. It’s a really neat place.
Since we have been down the same trail so many times, I thought it would be a good idea to check out the top part of the trails. Laura might have been a little disappointed because she wanted to go on a real hike. I will have to make it up to her. We took lots of pictures and video. I will upload the video today and post it here.
This is a photo of the front of the Fife’n Drum restaurant in Kent, CT. I don’t even know why I am showing this. Perhaps someone from the restaurant will read this post and mail me a refund check.
This is the monument in Kent, CT.
These are two shots of Bull’s Bridge itself. We got lucky with very good weather.
These are all shots of the river. The water was rushing very fast, due to all the rain we have been getting. We didn’t see any kayakers like we have in previous years. Maybe the water was going too fast. I sure wouldn’t get in there.
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Sunday, July 8th, 2007
I was outside strolling around, when I noticed that our Easter Lilys are almost in full bloom. Laura’s friend gave us a few of these flowers last summer. We planted them and they immediately died. I left them there and within a few weeks, new sprouts were coming up out of the ground. When I saw that, I transplanted them into the front garden where they could get some sun.
These flowers have been doing extraordinarily well. The flower is huge and the pollen almost drips, there is so much. Here, take a look…
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Friday, June 8th, 2007
My sister Laurie emailed me these really cool photos this morning, so I decided to dedicate this post to her. Now she can print it out and hold it close forever.
Now, I don’t have much of a memory of any of these pictures being taken, but I am sure they did, because we are in them. Laurie’s email indicated that they were taken in 1976. Her email said, “All the things I love…..my stroller, my Jenny Doll, my blankie, my little brother and having lunch on the driveway (I still have the blankie and the little brother).” Now that is just too cute. Thank you so much Laurie. I love these kinds of photos.
Man, I have a lot of memories of that porch we were standing on in the first photo. I used to sleep out there when it got too hot in my room in the summer. Back when breakdancing was huge, I had my own cardboard box that I placed on the floor and tried to do the windmill (don’t laugh, you know you did too). There used to be a wooden bench that ran the length of the porch that my father built…it was pretty cool. Our cats, Smokey and Tiger, used to meow at the back door when they wanted to come in and I gave my sister Laurie a very meaningful hug on that back porch during a pretty hard time for her.
The driveway is a similar story. There is a lot to remember when you grow up your entire young life in the same house. My parents built most of that house, so there was a lot of heart put into it. Sure, they were ready to go when the time came, but you have to respect the amount of work that went into it.
I remember trying to roller skate on that driveway when we got roller skates…probably at a yard sale somewhere, or what we called “tag sales.” The blacktop was never quite smooth enough, no matter what we thought. Later on, we set up a basketball net to practice what I am still horrible at…basketball. I remember people kept on asking me why I don’t join the team (probably because I am tall) and I wanted to tell them because I stink at the game, but I didn’t say that. I can’t even count how many times I had the hood of my Camaro open in that driveway, just looking at the engine. What fun it was to try to fix things. I guess that’s where I get it from.
I am sure Laurie has a bunch more…
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Saturday, April 21st, 2007
I almost totally forgot about this picture. I was so busy the other day posting about our Easter hike at Bull’s Bridge in Kent, I completely overlooked the most important part of the morning - coloring Easter Eggs!
I was informed that this is “Laura’s” gig, so I wasn’t invited to participate. Can you believe it? Well, me keeping my mouth shut is how I maintain a smooth running relationship, so I just continued to go about my business. Laura made some fabulous looking eggs, but I want you to pay particular attention to her hands…yes, hmmm, her hands. Those weird little gloves come out every so often and they kind of freak me out. Just seeing her little fingers wiggle around in them give me the creeps. You be the judge.
By the way, for those of you who are still waiting for the 3rd funniest thing that ever happened in my life, I am still putting it together in my head. Thank you for your patience.
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Monday, April 9th, 2007
Every Easter, Laura and I try to go to dinner at “Fife’n Drum” restaurant in Kent, CT and then hiking down at Bull’s Bridge. This has become a little tradition for us. It gives us something to look forward to during this time of year.
Yesterday was pretty fun. We got into Millbrook and took Rt.343 down to Dover, NY. 343 has some of the nicest houses on it! I just love to look at those places…horse farms and all that. Reminds me of one day in the future when I will sit with my feet up laughing at my past.
We took a bunch of back roads all the way into Kent, CT. We made it to Fife’n Drum about a half hour late, but the dude let us in anyway. The people over there in CT are a little different than the people that we live near. I am not sure they would put up with the barking dog my neighbor has. Yeah, they seem like the kind of people that might have a little problem with that, if you catch my drift.
Dinner was good, even though it was at 2PM. The thing that makes this day so much fun, is that we get to go hiking down at Bull’s Bridge after dinner.
Bull’s Bridge is a little covered wooden bridge right off Rt.7. The bridge is nice, but the hiking is nicer. There is part of the Appalachian Trail right next to it.
We go hiking all the way down to a small campground. I think it’s called 10 Mile Campground or something. It’s about a mile down the trail. There is so much to look at along the way…like an overlook and rapids and all that. It’s pretty damn cool.
We spent a few hours hiking and then came back to head up to Laura’s parents house for some dessert. Overall, I would have to say it was a rather enjoyable day. Enjoy the pics!
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