And Other Stories...


We’re back from some extended travel. As you know, it was our 30th anniversary, so naturally we had to go down to Disney to celebrate. I wrapped it up into my annual trip south to visit my aging aunt, and we actually arrived in South Florida on July 11…which was her 80th birthday!

The trip was quiet and easy…but of course there are multiple observations from our journey down and up the superslab.

How does NO TRAFFIC in New York City strike you? There was nothing. We even went over the GWB, and I literally never touched the brakes all the way through.

No trouble until we got to the Beltway. Have you ever seen a random kayak on the highway? We did. Some poor dude towing 5 of them on a trailer lost one. He looked rather forlorn a few hundred yards down the way.

The Quantico stretch remains what it is – the worst part of I-95. It’s 4 lanes in each direction, plus pay-to-play express lanes….but none of it seemed to help.

South Carolina was it’s usual charming self…plenty of amusing billboards, and the big red and yellow “JESUS” signs everywhere. Including one that had to have been 30 feet tall, around a blind curve. All you can do is say “Look out! It’s JESUS!” and keep moving.



I think we got our Southern Cards this trip. We stopped at an actual roadside barbecue joint in Yulee, Florida and ate some fine ribs in the parking lot using our cargo deck as a table.

My aunt was being my aunt the whole week. She’s the pariah of her retirement community there. She’s like Mikey; she hates everything! She probably even hates Life cereal.

But we sat by the pool for as much as I could tolerate. Despite it being South Florida, they too were having a rare “heat wave”, as it was over 100 degrees the entire time we were there.

Our anniversary was at a fine waterfront restaurant in Boynton Beach, and we also went to the Palm Beach Zoo to check out some Capybaras. They were smart – just chillin’ some distance away from the viewing platform in some convenient shade.

Fat Donnie summers in a relative shack on his golf course in New Jersey…so it was mostly quiet and uninteresting the whole time we were there.

We made it to Disney and did all the things. Call us “Disney Adults” if you must. I have some thoughts on that, but I’m saving it for another day. We had our celebratory dinner in the Mexico Pavillion, scoring a coveted reservation at San Angel Inn. It did not disappoint.

But as quickly as we got there – it was time to head home. Of course, Waze is our constant companion on the road…and I was struck by the number of “Car on Shoulder” alerts we got on I-95. It was peculiar to the South. There would just be a random vehicle abandoned on the shoulder. Sometimes in a ditch, or parked way off the road in the weeds. I was mystified by it all.



Even more JESUS signs on the northbound side….including sad little signs off in the woods stating “JESUS SAVE ME”. Like some poor dude was lost, and just had the remaining strength to put up a sign begging for help. Evidently he couldn’t make it to the road to flag down a passing vehicle for assistance.

Back to Quantico – it was surprisingly quiet. Made it past the museum and all the way up to the Mixing Bowl without the slightest trouble. But – we hit traffic on the Baltimore/Washington parkway….and Maryland is full of construction. Traffic never let up until we got back to the Skyway Memorial Bridge and the NJT.

Worth noting a road stop. We needed gas, and the time was just about right for a quick lunch. Jerry’s Pizza and Subs….well, the pizza was decent and was even a New York slice, but damn was it expensive for what it was.

We got back to NYC, and I noticed the very heavy haze layer in the upper atmosphere. It was really weird approaching the Meadowlands. It looked flat and two-dimensional off to the horizon, and there was no detail, almost like looking into a sector whiteout.

The only traffic heading home was around the stadium. Due to my poor planning, we rolled past right about kickoff. But it wasn’t any worse than a “normal” day in that neighborhood.

And then, home again jiggety-jig!

The benefits of having a chef at home…we arrived to a freshly-prepared vat of sausage Abruzzese, and pound cake from scratch!

Oh, and a martini. Plenty of those, too.

Until next time- which I am already planning. I’ve got baseball on the mind, with Baltimore, Washington, Tampa, and Miami all being possibilities next summer.