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Not useful, but hopefully humorous.
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Me thinks the bar is pretty low for that particular award.
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This implies the people of Arklow, Ireland have been swimming with floaters for quite some time.
A subject which does not bear thinking about.
🤢
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The way America is currently being run? I fervently hope so… where do I unplug?
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Most excellent.
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This is the very epitome of useless news.
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She’s married to J.D.
How could she not?
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On our last full day of vacation I threw the husband a bone and let him choose our destination and activities.
Big mistake.
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Naturally he picked a giant antique mall in the neighboring state of Massachusetts.
It was a ratty looking old place and after an hours drive, we hit the rest rooms upon arrival.
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I was not impressed.
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But the husband was in treasure heaven.
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He adores these places and examines every item fully.
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There were a few interesting dealers and pieces.
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But after the first three hours?
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I was ready to drop the plunger on that detonator.
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And out of all the items in this massive space?
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My guy picked out old wooden yard sticks.
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Jesus wept.
He shopped, and shopped.
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And shopped….
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And I seriously regretted throwing him that bone.
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I don’t mind looking at vintage things. For a while. But antique shopping with my husband is a marathon event.
To pass the time I usually end up flipping through albums.
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This caught my eye.
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And this made me chuckle.
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And then I lost the husband to a clearance sale booth.
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After 4 hours, he wasn’t ready to go but I insisted on a lunch break.
He bought yard sticks, a giant glass water bottle, old advertising wooden hangers and some military ephemera.
I walked out with one thing.
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Jefferson Airplane’s last album with the original lineup, 1969.
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Controversial in its day for anti war lyrics and political content, Jerry Garcia made a guest appearance.
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A classic counter culture piece of vinyl history to add to my collection. .
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As we were walking along the harbor that early evening, my husband spied a bar he’d heard about from some locals.
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The Quencher is what some might call a dive.
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But I grew up in New Jersey and then the working waterfront of Portland, Maine in the late 70’s and early 80’s (before gentrification of the Old Port). Trust me, I know dives… and this wasn’t one.
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It’s a bar, you should buy a beer.
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Old Winnie knew his stuff.
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Being a Wednesday, I made it just in time for 20% off.
This bar was loud, with a bartender uninterested in conversation.
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Internet photo.
We were still full from lunch otherwise I’d have been tempted to try a pizza.
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The husband did order wings which were awful, so no photo required. We had one drink and moved on.
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To the Newport shipyard down the road. The husband’s new favorite breakfast cafe was there and he’d come back to the resort every morning filled with stories of the giant ships being worked on there.
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Untold millions of dollars in watercraft require a 24/7 guarded gate and no one drives in without a pass, but we walked and the guard recognized my husband as one of the breakfast crew. It pays to make friends.
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This was a research vessel from Maine.
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And this catamaran cost well over a million itself.
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All I can say is, it must be nice.
💵
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Leaving Bristol, we saw a sign for a lighthouse and decided to check it out.
Off the main road, down a hill, onto a rutted dirt lane and under a bridge…
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We found this –
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A private home with no trespassing signs posted everywhere. You weren’t even supposed to turn around but unless we wanted to drive into the bay, we didn’t really have a choice.
Note to Rhode Island – don’t post signs for lighthouses you don’t want people to visit.
Geesh.
We did pass this little guy a while later…
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But it’s not like we could visit that one either.
Back at the resort, but with some daylight still to burn, we took a stroll around Newport harbor…
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Since it was literally across the road.
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Whatever PFD was, we didn’t have it.
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But maybe this Kraken did.
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Here’s a photo of my husband examining one of the boats we could probably afford.
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All in all, not a bad way to spend an evening.
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😊
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You’re already here, so why not?
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I know it’s going to sound weird not to say chocolate or cheese or something wonderful, but honestly?
My answer is broccoli.
Every night when I’m cooking dinner I pick a vegetable for the husband and then choose fresh broccoli for myself. I could literally eat it with every meal. Steamed broccoli, roasted broccoli, broccoli casserole, broccoli salad… I love it all.
Weird, I know.
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How about you?
What could you eat every single day…
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After our fabulous meal, we felt the need to walk off some of the calories.
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And took a stroll around the waterfront of downtown Bristol.
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Quiet on the off season, I’m sure the marina is full of pleasure craft in the summer.
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Along the edge is the Maritime Center. A one time armory built in 1894, it now houses public restrooms, showers and laundry facilities for boaters as well as a wi-fi lounge and a 4,000 square foot multi use hall displaying local artists.
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Though the marina was people free, the seagulls kept a close eye on us.
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And since we were roughly 20 miles from the wind tunnel that is Newport?
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A smile and a relatively in tact hairdo.
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Should we visit the area again, I would take more time to explore this lovely town.
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And perhaps bring the seagulls a treat.
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The gulls concur.
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As we were leaving I glanced over the side of the pier and saw…
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Eggs?
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They’re actually jellyfish, but tell me that doesn’t look like someone randomly cracked a few eggs in the harbor.
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As we made our way back to the car through the park, my husband made a friend.
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Who was a little reticent at first, but when he realized the strange man could push him higher than his mother?
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Was quickly and happily on board.
😊
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After multiple stores, extensive research and an extremely aggravated husband…
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A mattress has been chosen.
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An Aireloom night stars luxury firm.
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It will be hard to say goodbye to our old mattress that’s served us well for an unbelievable 39 years.
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But stretching out on this handmade beauty was almost a spiritual experience.
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Firm, but soft… if that makes sense.
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And while I know this one won’t last nearly as long as our first..
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I’m looking forward to the change.
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And though the furniture store hopping drove my less than patient husband nuts, it paid off in the end as I found a family run store that was celebrating its 70th anniversary with a 25% off sale on mattresses.
Delivery in 3 weeks.
😊
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Deciding to take a drive to Bristol on our 6th day of vacation, the husband spotted an antique shop on our way out of town.
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Which turned out to be more of a tourist trap gift shop where the new items outnumbered the old so I thought I’d dodged a bullet. Until my guy started chatting up the owner and she told him about two giant antique malls he simply had to visit.
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Damn her.
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Bristol, Rhode Island is a lovely spot.
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Waterfront, like most of the towns we visited.
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With its share of stone walls and beautiful old homes.
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Arriving at lunch time, we chose an assuming little place called the Beach House.
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It was on the water, no surprise there.
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And was nicely decorated, with a warm, welcoming beachy feel.
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One aperol and pink guava spritz in…
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I was feeling right at home.
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My NY strip crostini with shallot brandy cream sauce appetizer?
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Omg.
I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. The beef literally melted in my mouth.
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And when my husband raved over his butternut squash bisque? I knew we’d chosen the right place.
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They even had his new favorite local beer.
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My main course of homemade wild mushroom ravioli with caramelized onions and porcini cream sauce?
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Absolutely decedent.
But the husband’s crab topped filet mignon with stuffed lobster tail, sautéed garlic spinach and mashed new potatoes?
.
.
Huge.
Filling.
And perfectly cooked.
This entree alone… in Maine, would easily be $100. And we’re the land of lobster. In lovely little Bristol, Rhode Island? $44.
We were stunned.
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.
And vowed to come back to this hidden gem if we’re ever in the area again.
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The red b*tch is back and driving our boy crazy.
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.
Running across the deck railing and making Lord Dudley Mountcatten cackle in frustration.
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He was so agitated I had to take him outside for a closer look.
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.
He tried….
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But she’s just too quick.
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As our fifth day in glorious Newport, Rhode Island was drawing to a close… we made one final stop.
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Needing a bottle or two of regional wine to gift our pet sitting neighbor upon our return, we ducked into a local favorite.
.
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I can honestly say I’ve never visited a winery that’s also a brewery, but this place made it work.
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With multiple tasting rooms…
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And outdoors spaces…
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.
We browsed their large retail shop, purchased two bottles of wine for our neighbor and chuckled at this hard cider I know Mark would love.
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Making our way into the tasting room, we stood on line and ordered a flight.
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Which is when the men who stood beside us paid for it. Thanking my husband for his service and saying Semper Fi started a conversation with one of them which would last until the employees were locking the doors and we were the last people in the building. My husband’s money was no good and stories of the military flowed.
Turns out this fellow was a Commander who was in the Persian Gulf the same time as my husband and an instant friendship was formed.
I’ve been married to my guy for 41 years and have heard his stories so many times I could recite them myself, but there’s something about veterans getting together and talking about their experiences that resonates. It’s special. A brotherhood that civilians can never truly understand.
.
.
Commemorating the meeting with a photo as I always do, our new friend asked me to text him a copy and shortly after we parted ways sent me this message.
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He included this old photo.
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And not that we needed one, but reuniting these two men will be an excellent excuse to visit Newport again.
❤️
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River's world..... 