If a picture is worth a thousand words, this post is worth over 38,000 of them. I apologize. I deleted about half of the photos I took yesterday, but so many of them were good that I didn’t have the heart to cut any further. You’ll just have to look at them.
I think I’ve been to Block Island, RI once before. It seems like more than that because I think about the place quite often. It’s one of those little gems that most of the area hasn’t visited. Don’t get me wrong, Block Island is jumping throughout the Summer, but the crowds disappear in the off season. Ahhh, the perfect time to visit.
The plan was to travel out to Block Island to have lunch at the Spring House Hotel. For my birthday last year, Laura got me a gift certificate just for this. I thought it was a great idea and was excited to go out and use it. We would take the 11AM ferry from Point Judith, arrive at Block Island at noon, eat lunch and leave at 3PM. Well, that was the plan.
When we arrived at Point Judith, we were a little early. I made a big fuss about getting out of the house at 8AM. I totally forgot how long it took to get to Point Judith, so yeah, as I said, we were a little early. Like about an hour. Good thing there was a high speed ferry that left at 10:30AM and only took a half hour to get to Block Island. By taking the high speed ferry, we arrived on Block Island an hour early (11AM).
When we got off the ferry, we walked straight up to the Spring House Hotel. I wanted to go up there just to let them know we were going to walk around a little bit and then come back for lunch. Hey, guess what? When we got to the hotel, we discovered that they don’t serve lunch after Labor Day. Oh well. We left.
On the way back down the road, I explained to Laura that it was actually a good thing that I didn’t call first to find that out. If I had, we wouldn’t have gone there for the day and would have just sat around doing other things. I was glad we made the trip. We just went and ate somewhere else.
Here’s the really cool part. Since we had a few hours to use up before the next ferry would bring us back to Point Judith, we decided to rent a scooter (or moped) to cruise around the island on. That was worth it because scooters are awesome to drive around on and you get to see the whole area. We drove from the most Northern tip of the island to the most Southern and made a bunch of stops in between. We looked hot on the scooter and all the other scooter drivers were envious of us because we could drive 28MPH. That’s a full MPH faster than most scooters on the island. Nobody had the guts to go that fast besides us. We were a gang of two.
At around 2:30PM, we gave the scooter back and did our thing to get on the ferry. During the ride back, I actually fell asleep on the bench. This was the slow ferry, so I had the time. Laura was busy talking with some old ladies who smoke and drank too much. I’ll tell ya, those ladies knew how to party.
Here are those 38 pictures I was talking about above. Enjoy.
Old fishing boat at Point Judith, RI
Point Judith – Block Island high speed ferry
Arriving at Old Harbor, Block Island on the high speed ferry
Small garden at the Hotel Manisses
Hotel Manisses, Block Island, Rhode Island
Spring House Hotel sign
Spring House Hotel, Block Island
Small airplane on final approach to Block Island Airport
Path leading down to Hotel Manisses
Front lawn of the Island Free Libray, Block Island
Large inn and restaurant on Block Island
Surf Hotel, Block Island
Scooter (moped) rental on Block Island
Looking South on Corn Neck Road, Block Island
Path leading to ocean
Lonely house on Block Island
Rock pile on beach
North Lighthouse, Block Island, RI
The scooter we rented on Block Island
The rock pile I made on the beach – bigger than the rest
Pretty shell from Block Island beach
Bird house in Block Island National Wildlife Refuge
More rock piles on a different beach – a whole bunch of them
Block Island National Wildlife Refuge sign
North Light Interpretive Center rock
West Beach Rd., Block Island – heading towards West shore
West Beach Rd. sign
Sandy entrance to Mansion Beach, Block Island
Looking North on Mansion Beach, Block Island
Looking toward Clay Head Beach, Block Island
Looking back at Old Harbor from Mansion Beach, Block Island
Block Island State Airport sign
Block Island State Airport
Southeast Lighthouse sign
Southeast Lighthouse on Block Island
Mohegan Bluffs on Block Island
Standing on small dock in Old Harbor, looking East
Standing on same small dock in Old Harbar, looking at boats back in harbor
Well, we finally did it. We took the schooner cruise on the Mary E. up the Connecticut River.
This was something we were supposed to do about a month ago. When we got the great idea, the weather was nice and cool. When it came time to actually drive down and get on the boat, the heat wave hit. We weren’t in the mood to do anything at that point.
September offers a bunch of great days to get back into those activities you missed during the heat of the Summer. Also, the kids are back in school, so that helps with the crowd levels. The schooner cruise we went on had mostly older folks aboard. I believe we were the youngest and best behaved people on the boat.
I took a bunch of pictures during the cruise and went through them this morning. We actually went on this boat ride last week. I just found the energy to write about it today. I deleted a bunch of pictures that I thought were good at the time of taking them, but later discovered that one can only have so many photos of a flat river. The ones I posted below are the better of the bunch.
If you are interested in taking a schooner cruise on the Mary E. up the Connecticut River, click here to get more information. The Connecticut River Museum manages the whole thing and is a nice place to visit on its own.
Sailboats on the Connecticut River near Essex, CT
Raising the sails on the Mary E. schooner
Schooner sail fully raised
Single sailboat sailing on the Connecticut River
Ropes and bell on the Mary E. schooner
Red house and dock on the Connecticut River
Looking forward past the front of the Mary E. schooner
Joshua Rock near Deep River on the Connecticut River
So Jeff (Jiu Jitsu instructor extraordinaire) emailed me this morning and asked if I was up for an hour long workout this afternoon before some of his private lessons. I wrote back telling him that I was and that I would meet him at 2:30.
It’s really awesome getting one on one time because I get all the focus. I like learning and doing and getting that kick a$$ cardio workout. It helps the both of us because he gets a workout too. I especially appreciate the fact that he can see if I am progressing or not. Since he is the one I am sparring with, he gets the up close view. Sometimes I feel like I am climbing a mountain and that peak is right over the next hill. This stuff is starting to come together. I think I am actually getting better.
Some of the things I am focusing on is slowing down, not using as much strength and distributing my weight properly. All of these things are very “learned.” If you compare wrestling a friend in the front yard when you were a kid to practicing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu as an adult, I would say that they might look similar at first glance, but are quite different in practice. For one, Jiu Jitsu is a heck of a lot more fun. It isn’t pointless rolling around. There is strategy and the satisfaction of knowing that your opponent is attempting some of the same things you are. Of course, there is always that ultimate high of getting a submission. For some people, that’s the goal. For others, the goal is just to get the workout. For me, it’s both.
Anyway, we had a great session. We went over the “Clock Choke” and what to do when your opponent is in the “turtle” position. Basically, the turtle position is when he or she is curled up in the ground in a defensive posture. There are some things you can do to break them down and get some submissions. These are important things to learn because you find your opponent in the turtle position quite a bit. Here is a quick example video of the Clock Choke. There are some different variations of this choke, but this one is pretty general.
In about a month and a half, I will be at my six month mark. As I think I wrote earlier on, getting a Jiu Jitsu blue belt takes about a year. There is a curriculum that needs to be met to get the blue belt, so I think I am going to start writing about each item on the check list after I hit six months. I did this with my flight training and it helped. I think it will help here as well. If you aren’t into Jiu Jitsu and you find yourself just breezing through these types of posts, I apologize ahead of time.
So, I am a few days shy of my four month mark in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Can you believe it?
I remember a little over four months ago. I was driving around going nuts trying to find some sort of martial art to keep me physically fit and to maintain my body’s lethal-ness. Okay, well maybe I wasn’t lethal before…oh hell, I’m still not lethal, but at least I am a bit more physically fit.
A few weeks into Jiu Jitsu training, I got a few back spasms. That really stunk. They were from using muscles that I have probably never used. I was just telling Laura today how good my back has been feeling lately. At my age, it’s important to keep the body doing all sorts of moves and exercises and I seriously can’t think of anything better for that than Jiu Jitsu. One of the stretching exercises I do every time we have class is to lay on my back and lift my legs all the way over my head until my feet are touching the floor. I never used to be able to do that. It’s a great stretch by the way.
For the past few weeks, I have been working out with two guys – one is my fellow classmate and the other is my instructor. They are both much better than me and really great to train with for this stuff. Since I am the newest, my instructor has his work cut out for him. Every so often, my classmate chimes in with some good advice. It’s like I am getting private lessons. Hey, not a bad deal.
I have been getting better. I can feel it. I am not getting my butt kicked as bad as I used to and I am starting to implement some submissions as opposed to just playing defense the whole time. I am also getting better at keeping pressure on my opponent (physical pressure by using the weight of my body) and I have gotten MUCH better at not getting completely exhausted every time I go out there with someone. That was a huge obstacle when I first started. I didn’t like the feeling of losing, so I used all my strength to stop what was happening. I would tire myself out to the point of being useless.
From what I have gathered, Jiu Jitsu requires some degree of intelligence to progress at. It’s not walking out on the mat to randomly see what happens. You need to have a plan and to be able to moderate yourself. You need to find your opponent’s weaknesses and exploit them. It’s a tricky thing and it’s as much in the head as it is in the body. Maybe that’s why I like it so much.
Today was a great day. After about 45 minutes of getting a great workout, my instructor walked over to me and put another blue stripe on my white belt. He said that I was getting much better and then offered some advice on the day’s matches. Always good advice, I just wish that I was able to use more of it. It’s not the easiest thing to try to submit guys who have years of experience at this stuff.
I will say this – there is a real benefit of working out with guys who have so much more experience than I have. While I do play defense, I am learning what types of moves to defend against. For example, back in the beginning, I would just stick my arms up in the air to stop whatever was coming at me. Now, let’s just say my arms don’t go up in the air nearly as much as they used to and I use many alternative strategies to defend myself. Every so often, I actually get in top position to see where I can go from there. It’s fun. Hey, only eight more months of doing what I’m doing and I might be close to my blue belt. I am looking forward to that challenge.
Here is a pic of my belt and a nice motivational video. By the way, stop by to say hi and you might want to give Jiu Jitsu a try yourself – Jiu Jitsu near Hartford, CT (located in Glastonbury).
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu white belt with two blue stripes
Ever since we took our canoe rides down the Farmington River, I have been thinking about doing some serious white water river rafting. I have heard about a crazy river in West Virgina. Well, after looking through some videos, I am having second thoughts.
Laura’s brother and girlfriend came over for a weekend visit. They arrived yesterday and left today. Their visit was tentative, so when they said there were going to make it, I was a happy boy.
Since they showed up in the late afternoon, there was only one real thing to do…bring them down to Essex, CT for dinner. I bet you couldn’t figure that one out. Man, what an awesome night.
When we got to Essex, the sun was going down. We parked and walked around and bit and looked at the sights. I showed Laura’s brother and his girlfriend the town green and then we went down to the water. Oh yeah, just for your information, Author Norman Crampton named Essex as the best small town in America in his book, “Best small towns in America.” It’s that neat?
Last night, just like the night we visited two weeks ago, there was a wedding on the lawn at the Connecticut River Museum. It’s exciting when this happens because that means liquored up people and loud music. I dig it.
Before we made it to the water, I thought it would be a good idea to pop into the Griswold Inn to make dinner reservations. I didn’t know what kind of crowd was going to be there so I figured better safe than sorry. As it turned out, the place was pretty busy, but we could have done fine without the reservations.
Okay, so we hung out a bit at the water, then walked back up Main Street for some dinner. We ate dinner and went back down to the water. This is why I love this town. It’s a walking town and there seems to be stuff going on. I like the way that you just need to park and forget about it…then walk around all night doing all sorts of stuff.
As we were walking down to the water again, Laura’s brother happened to see fireworks going off in the distance. I guess there was some sort of fireworks show going on way across the river, maybe in Old Lyme or something like that. By this point, we heard the music from the wedding, along with people talking loudly. There was a real party going on down there. When we made it to the water, we saw everyone dancing like dancing people do. I luckily didn’t hear the chicken dance or one of those cheesy songs. They did choose “Faithfully” by Journey as their “Song.” I thought that was nice because I am a Journey fan. It also added some romance to the air and we all know how much I am into romance.
So as Laura and I were standing out on the dock in the dark, I thought to myself that a “move” was in order. These moments don’t come along too often these days, so I took the opportunity to give my lady a nice kiss. I think she liked it. The funny part is that as I was doing this, the drunk guys at the wedding caught a glimpse of it and started yelling, “WOO WOO WOO.” I got a little embarrassed, but handled myself well by smiling and waving at them. It was a funny scene. Hey man, you gotta do what you gotta do. I’m not going to let the drunk dudes stop me.
After that, we were looking out on the water at all the boats cruising around, when we noticed a big sailboat pulling in. I saw a sign that was half folded over, but I believe it said something like, “Come sail with us.” I got excited and needed to check it out. We walked over to the entrance to the Connecticut River Museum and saw a sign for daily schooner cruises. I think they go for about an hour and a half out to the Sound. I took a picture of the sign and have a little plan to go on one of these very cruises next week.
That was an awesome night.
Essex, CT town green
Boat in Essex, CT
Schooner cruises by Connecticut River Museum sign
Wedding on lawn at Connecticut River Museum – Essex, CT
Griswold Inn at night – Essex, CT
Nice house with American flags – Essex, CT
Today’s plan was to head back up to New Hartford, CT and the Farmington River to do a little more canoeing. Since we had two more people this time, it was going to be even more fun than we had last time. The only problem was that the weather people were calling for rain all day. Funny, as I sit here and write this at 8:06PM, it hasn’t rained yet. Good thing we didn’t listen to them.
After a bit of indecisiveness, we got in the cars and left. They took their car and we took ours. Since they came from NY, it would be easier for them to get back home from where we were.
This time, we got dropped off four miles further North than we did last time. There were supposed to be more rapids up in this area of the river. Also, since the water was so high today, it was moving faster. I was all set for some serious canoeing. I really wanted to go for the full twelve miles, but there was a little fright in some of our friend’s eyes, so we decided to stick with the ten mile trip. It didn’t disappoint.
Since the river was higher (the highest level before they don’t let you go on it), there were many more opportunities to get splashed with water from the rapids. Again, Laura sat in the front and got hit the most, but I enjoyed my fair share of water in the lap. It was a good trip and I’m glad that we got to show her brother the river, because he was psyched to go down it.
So those two events took up most of our weekend. I am starting to notice that the good ‘ol state of Connecticut is pretty fun. There are just a ton of things to do and people around here love outdoor activities and nice little towns. Looks like I am in the right place. Now, if I could just get my hands on a nice old house on the water…okay, just kidding.
If you have ever entertained the thought of getting a boat, you surely have entertained the thought of what kind of boat you should get.
If you are a beginner, everyone you know will almost certainly instruct you to get a boat on the smaller side. They really don’t care what brand or type, just that it’s small. They figure you won’t know how to handle or dock something larger. As the person wanting to purchase your first boat, you probably agree with them and tell them their advice makes sense.
Then, a few days go by and you start realizing that getting rid of a boat is a real pain in the a$$. You get the wacky thought in your head that you shouldn’t waste valuable time toying with some small boat that you are going to grow out of in one season. Hmmm…that makes sense too. Why not get something you really want right off the bat and just learn what you have to do? I mean, how long can it take? Famous last words.
Okay, forget about size for a second. What type of boat to get is a major issue. I guess three really popular choices are bowrider, cabin cruiser or sailboat. They all have their perks, but one of them doesn’t use insane amounts of fuel. That would be the sailboat. While many sailboats do have smaller diesel engines to deal with difficult situations, they oftentimes aren’t used. That’s a big plus. I mean, have you ever looked into the amount of fuel boats use? It’s really a turnoff.
Many people think of sailboats as romantic rides into the sunset. While they are romantic and nice, I think a lot of the younger crowd thinks of sailboats as slow and boring. It’s like, “What? A sailboat. No way dude, I want to actually get there today.”
Okay, well, you should check out this video. I think it might change your view on sailboats. Just make sure you play it all the way through.
A few nights ago, out of nowhere, I was bitten by something. I didn’t know what it was, but when I woke up, I wanted a boat. I guess I was bitten by the boat bug.
This is horrible. I have never wanted a boat in my life. I think it all started when I was wandering around on Google Earth (again) and noticed how cool it was that the Connecticut River leads right into the Long Island Sound. I mean, it is so easy to either launch a boat or have it docked up in East Haddam and within a half hour, you could be in the ocean. The access is incredible. That’s probably why there are like two zillion boats on this river and in the Sound. How this is just dawning on me, I don’t know.
Anyway, I decided a wanted a boat about two days ago. Then I told myself to forget about it. I didn’t want another thing taking up space around here. Then, I got back into it because I was talking to my accountant about business and the boat thing came up. Apparently, he is in the market too and he knows all about them. So, I wanted one again. Then, I talked to my father and kind of didn’t want one, but still did. I just told him I didn’t want one anymore because I didn’t want to make him nervous, even though he has two boats and two jet skis. He believes that his boats are plenty and if I would just go visit him, he could take me out. What he doesn’t know is that I need a boat to go visit him in. Then I could take him out. To make a long story short, when I went to bed that night, I kind of didn’t want a boat anymore. I figured I should sleep on it instead of making another impulse purchase.
Okay, back to a long story. Since boating requires some knowledge of the subject, I figured it would be a good idea to visit a boating town to learn a little something. What better boating town is there than Essex, CT? It would be like visiting the belly of the beast as Rob would say. So, that’s what we did.
Today, we visited Essex, CT, the nicest small town we have visited in a good long while. Essex is otherwise known as “BMW Heaven.” That’s the name I gave it. There were more BMWs in Essex today than any other place on earth. It felt good being among so many high quality machines. I kept looking at all of their wheels, running boards, ski racks, etc…seeing who had what. I am sure there were a few other enthusiast doing the same thing as I was. I decided that the X5 looks great in black. Also, the larger wheels look pretty good, but could possibly make someone a little nervous around curbs.
We visited Essex on a mission. We had to get to the water and visit a few of the many shipyards and marinas in the town. We also had to talk to a few boaters and generally absorb he vibe of the boating life. We did that and now I really want a boat.
Here is my dream – I want a boat docked in East Haddam. I want to drive down to the boat weekly with my lady and hop in for a ride. I want to cruise down to Essex, Old Saybrook, Stonington, Block Island, Matha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, Newport, etc…, dock someplace and eat dinner. Then, I want to slowly cruise along the Connecticut shoreline while making our way back to the Connecticut River and up to East Haddam. Again, I want to do this all the time.
Now, I know this sounds absurd, but that’s what all these people were doing today in Essex. Man, it was so cool. All day, people were pulling up and docking their boats, only to jump out and walk around town and stop at the local eatery. It was a whole new lifestyle I have never really witnessed. I mean, I knew it was there, but I have never seen it. It’s interesting and really neat.
We did a lot of walking around today in Essex. I got a bunch of pictures and we visited a few shipyards. I got the skinny on where to dock a boat and how much it costs. Both Laura and I also helped a guy with his boat. He was having some trouble trying to dock it. All I needed was my skipper hat. It doesn’t help that I have been looking at boat websites for the past few days. Here, check out the boat I want. Now wouldn’t that be the mac daddy?
We also did a bunch of general walking around today just to check out the scene. Essex is really nice. It’s very well taken care of and the shops are unique. We stopped and went in one just because it had a sign that said, “Garden open in back.” I wanted to check that out.
After a while, we ended up in the Griswold Inn for some drinks and dinner. That was nice too. It was fun to see the boating crowd come in and eat and then leave to get back on their boats.
I am just going to post the pictures that I took and give some descriptions below them.
Gazebo in park in Essex, CT
The English Lady sign in Essex, CT
Looking up Main Street in Essex, CT
Essex history sign
Nice house in Essex, CT – #1
Church in Essex, CT off Main Street
Small backyard garden
Nice house in Essex, CT – #2
Nice house in Essex, CT – #3
Nice house in Essex, CT – #4
Nice house in Essex, CT – #5
Ducks and geese walking towards us out of water
Looking North up the Connecticut River from Essex, CT
Looking South down the Connecticut River from Essex, CT
The Connecticut River Museum on the Connecticut River
The Connecticut River Museum sign
Looking down Ferry Street at a marina
A big sail boat at Essex Boat Works
Some boats docked at a marina in Essex, CT
Some really big boats off the Connecticut River
Lighthouse in Essex, CT
Dauntless Shipyard sign
Boatworks Yacht Sales sign
Nice house in Essex, CT – #6
The Griswold Inn, Essex, CT
The Christmas Barn
A wedding reception on the river
Looking down at some docks and boats on the Connecticut River
We have had this little adventure on our list since last Summer. Finally we got up to New Hartford, CT for some canoeing down the Farmington River.
There are a bunch of places you can canoe, kayak or tube on the Farmington River, but since we really have zero experience with canoeing and the river itself, we figured it would be a good idea not to get fancy and just stick to a rather simple trip, departing from the “half way point” and ending up back at the place we rented the canoe from (Main Stream Canoes and Kayaks).
Main Stream makes it really easy for you. You show up, pay them $55, hop in the van and get dropped off six miles North with two life vests, two paddles and one canoe. Slide the boat in the water and off you go. The full trip is twelve miles, but since the six mile trip was supposed to last 3-4 hours, we felt that this was the one to take. It ends up that it only took us an hour because we were paddling, but I think if you just sat there and didn’t do anything, it would take the full time.
The lower section of the upper Farmington River (the one we went on) had class one and two rapids. I don’t know what that means, but there were a few points that we found pretty interesting. Looking back, those were the fun parts. Laura sat in the front and I sat in the back, so she got most of the action. I actually ate half of my Subway sandwich while she was trying to keep her cool. Of course, I ate during the serene parts and I kept offering to hand up her salad, but nooo, she had to keep a look-out for rocks. she did a splendid job of navigating.
I took lots of pictures, but had to keep stuffing the camera back in my bag whenever the water got faster, thus not many pictures of rapids. I think I got one of some faster flowing water though. I also had to keep the boat steady because I didn’t want to tip over. If we did, then my bag would get all wet and our food would get ruined. We couldn’t have that happen.
The next time we go up there, we are going to try to get some other people to go with us. We are going to do the full twelve miles (there are more rapids on the upper half) and we aren’t going to bring anything with us. All I will have is my cell phone in a zip-lock bag.
Here are some pictures I took of the trip. Of course, I forget to get any of the actual canoe or the place we rented it from. Oh boy.
Canoe drop off point – mid point – of the upper Farmington River
Fly fisherman on the Farmington River
Water getting faster while canoeing down the Farmington River
Black Bridge Road crossing the Farmington River
Paddling on calm water on the Farmington River
Heading back to Main Stream Canoes and Kayaks on the Farmington River
Do they have a 4th of July in Canada? haha. Old joke.
So it finally stopped raining. I am hoping this lasts for more than just a few days, but I doubt it will. It’s about 70 degrees outside and I would say that it’s perfect, perfect weather. You can’t get much better than the 70s and sunny.
A few nights ago, I was telling my mother about all the rain. I said that while it has been raining a lot, it really hasn’t been all too annoying. For some reason I have been able to work around it. Timing our walks around thunderstorms does get on my nerves though. Two days ago, we almost brought our rain coats with us, just in case. At the last second, I looked at the online radar and discovered the storm was South/West of us, so we were okay. We did hear the thunder though. It kind of just kept on rumbling. I have a slight fear of being evaporated by a bolt of lightening, but since the clouds were far away, I felt it was safe to walk.
I do remember a show on TV one time telling me that you can get hit by lightening like 20 miles away on a clear day. Hey, thanks guys. Just something else to worry about. Now we have that and a nuclear warhead coming from over the Pacific.
We went to a 4th of July party yesterday. It was a big step for me because trying to move my butt over to a get-together where I don’t know anyone is a chore. Congrats to Laura.
The party was thrown by a friend of Laura’s son. He and his soon to be wife bought a house with a pool about two months ago and decided to have people over. Since I didn’t know anyone (including Laura’s friend), I really didn’t know what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised by the friendliness of everyone who was there. They were very personable folks. We are actually going blueberry picking with Laura’s friend this afternoon.
I have to mow the lawn today. It is growing quite nicely from all the rain and now sunshine. I am back to fertilizing by my lonesome because I severed my relationship with the service that was coming out to do it. Let’s just say I feel that I could do a better job than them. We’ll leave it at that. I am a particular person when it comes to certain things and when I get the feeling that other people aren’t as particular as I am, I get particularly annoyed.
I had three tons of pellets delivered yesterday. I will take a pic and post that next.
Peace out. I gotta hop in the shower and get ready for some berry picking.
