First, some bike talk because I guess I should:
We went and "raced" in the underground-style and I didn't do as bad as I thought. Based on all the metrics available, I'm pretty much just as fast (read: slow) as last year.
At least now I care about racing a bit. My interest was waning pretty badly this year -- we'll see if the attention span can hold through to January. And I haven't re-upped my USAC license yet.
Now, the more interesting stuff. Allison and I recently flew to Providence, RI to celebrate the wedding of our friends Curtis Mann and Brooke Berger. We flew in to P-Town, or however they abbreviate it, on a Friday morning. Wake-up call was at 4:15 for our 8 a.m. flight. I had no problem of it; Allison grumbled until about mid-afternoon. We got in, found the place we were staying at, which we'd booked via AirBNB (and had an A+ experience), and got to walking around to shake off the jet legs.
We went and lunched at Eastside Pockets, which I remembered so fondly from my earlier trips to Providence to visit my brother Eric. We then went down the hill to Symposium Books and a few other shops and spent way too much money. We lounged for a while on the riverfront, kicking it in the sun. Then got an OK dinner at a Belgian-style restaurant with a terrible beer list. I wanted Ben & Jerry's for dessert, but we nixed that in favor of retaining our waistlines. Walked about 8-9 miles, so we could probably have had a scoop or three.
Saturday, we woke up early and got on down to Newport, RI. Our parents and it seemed everyone else told us that Newport was
the place to be. The Cliffwalk! Clams! So, we hustled down there, all in a froth about the chance to look at
Great Gatsbyian mansions and eat fried clams. OK, so the town is alright. We got there pretty early and found ourselves in the tourist-trap part of town. Boring and full of bad shops like Subway. So we went up and over the hill and visited a few yardsales and hung out with some locals -- that was fun. I passed up the chance to buy a RC airplane, like an idiot. We then walked over to the Cliffwalk and it was pleasant -- I guess it would be fun to run on it.
Lunch, we took the recommendation of one of the yardsale folks and went to
Flo's, where I had a clam roll and Coke. Allison had a plateful of calamari that wasn't nearly as good as my selection. Afterward, we wandered around a bit and then got back to the car to head to our hotel to relax before the wedding. The wedding was in Bristol, RI, which we took a bus to like children.
The wedding itself was perfect. Perfect weather, great food, awesome music, and in a fantastic setting at
Mt. Hope Farm. It was a treat, but it was scary seeing how well Curt and Brooke's wedding went off. Afterward, we went over to a rented house and hung out with the couple and I sloshed around in the bay capturing crabs and mussels.
Sunday, we were promised surfing so Allison and I started driving down the RI coast and explored the back roads. Saw lots of cyclists out and about, which depressed me, because I was not riding, I was driving. Found and explored a bit by a grist mill and got a snack at a little bakery. Surfing was canceled at the last minute, so we went on ahead to a BBQ at Brooke's parents' house and ate like pigs. Sunday night, it was Cuban Revolution and softserve. Walked another 6-7 miles in the Providence dark.
Monday, it was rainy and our flights home were delayed. Missed our connection, but I drank a huge smoothie at the Baltimore airport to cure the ache. That was nice.
