The Blarg

I’ve scrounged up enough motivation to make the final vacation post. Here it is, New York City.

First stop we made was to eat at the Carnegie Deli. To be honest, it wasn’t very good. You know what a $13 turkey sandwich gets you? About a pound of dry turkey on the two thinest slices of dry white toast in history. Last time we went to the Stage Deli which was a LOT better. They’re just down the street from each other, so please, go to the Stage Deli. They did however have a colorful sign out front.

When we weren’t busy eating there were a lot of sites to see. This picture is of St. Patrick’s Cathedral. It’s a gorgeous church inside and out. Something that was extremely amusing was people taking pictures that didn’t know what they were doing. Now granted I’m not a professional photographer by any means, but even I know that a flash from 100 feet away isn’t doing anything. A group of Japanese tourists came in and they were clicking away on their cameras with flashes going off constantly. I hope they enjoy their black pictures when they get home. Here is one of the better pictures I took using no flash.

Something we didn’t do last trip was actually go to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island because they were still closed after 9/11. While we didn’t climb up the Statue of Liberty, it was a great opportunity to take some pictures and see it up close. From the mainland it looks really small, so a closer view is definitly recommended. I took this using the RAW mode on the Nikon D50 and was able to go back and tweak to my heart’s content. I think it came out pretty well.

At Ellis Island there really isn’t that much to see. There is a big building where immigrants waited…and that’s about all. They have computers you can use to search for your ancestors, but it’s the same thing on their website. Something interesting we did see was the Wall of Honor. The memorial shows names of people that came through Ellis Island. There is one caveat though: you have to pay to get the names put on. Out of the 20 million or so people that went through Ellis Island, half a million of them are on this wall. That being said, a relative was nice enough to pay the $100 and have my first ancestors that came to America put on the wall. These aren’t my first ancestors to come to America, but they brought the name I carry around today.

We spent a lot of our time riding around on a tour bus. It was a great way to see the city and I highly recommend them. This particular picture is from the Harlem area, and these are called Brownstones. It’s a special kind of building, and I thought they looked cool. That link says the Cosbys lived in one.

I’ve got another 500+ pictures, but those will have to do for now. Vacations are over and I look forward to posting about other things and getting back on the blogging bandwagon. Go Dodgers!

I know I’m late on this update. Both of you that noticed will have to just deal with it.

Our next stop found us moving Southeast towards Cape Cod. After the busyness of Boston it was nice to do some relaxing. In Cape Cod we stayed at the Clapp’s Guest House. It’s a cute little place in the town of Harwich Port on the Cape. I was originally under the impression that we were staying in "Cape Cod," but that’s like saying you’re staying in the Gulf of Mexico. This photo is from the backyard and facing the main house. The guest house is behind me, but this shot really shows the greeness and beauty of the area.

Here’s a picture of our room. I show this picture for several reasons. It shows how quaint and interesting the rooms are, and it sort of felt like staying at Grandma’s house. The bathroom was tiny and there were a lot of bugs to begin with (but I killed them all.) The other reason I show you this picture is because of what’s on the television. That would be the show Myth Busters on Discovery. I am fairly confident I have now seen every episode of the show…ever. It totally rocks, and is a perfect example why we should never get cable tv…hmm, but it is educational right?

This is a very good picture of my hot wife. It’s 6:45ish on Tuesday, anyone like to take bets on how long it takes her to read that last sentence? Like I said, this part of the trip was mostly relaxing, so if you were expecting grand church buildings where wars concerning the fate of a nation were fought, you will be disappointed. This is taken out back in the beautiful backyard. She was nice enough to let me work on my photography skills (ie humoring me).

Because I like to keep you guessing, there actually were a few sites to see on the cape. There are TONS of lighthouses, and I’m guessing that’s because a cape was really easy for boats to run into or something. We visted a couple and saw some from a distance. This is the Highland Lighthouse which is about 100 yards from a really steep cliff on the sea. There was another guy there with some fancy Nikon taking pictures. There is a strange bond you feel towards someone else that has a similar camera, much like when I’d see other people driving a Ghia. I know nothing about them, but I feel like we have a connection is some odd way. Last I heard though his wife was yelling at him. As he went over the barrier separating the viewing area from the cliff all I heard was "Don’t worry honey, I won’t fall!"

One night in Cape Cod, frick, I mean Harwich Port, we went and saw a local baseball game! There were signs all over Harwich Port advertising the game, but it took us awhile to figure out what it was all about. The game was part of the Cape Cod Baseball League where college players come to play during the Summer. There were players from all over the country at various points in their college careers. We even saw several players from CSULB. The game was between the Harwich Port Mariners and their crosstown rivals, the Chatam A’s. It was a packed house, but Chatam was thoroughly thrashing Harwich Port. I kept the roster list so I can check back in 5 years and see if I’ve heard of any of them.

That is Cape Cod in a nutshell. Before the baseball game we went to a very tasty BBQ place with a funny old man called Dave’s Barbeque. We went to a Mexican place called Aye Caramba advertising "authentic Mexican food." Paul asked if the burritos come wet, to which the waitress replied, "I don’t know what that means." Yes, eating was one of the best parts of the trip.

Last update is yet to come…the big apple, New York City!

In case you haven’t heard, there is a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie on the way! I haven’t read much, but it appears to be completely computer animated and with a very classic look. Computer animated might just be the ticket to a great movie. The original three were a little hokey because people dressed up in bulky turtle costumes don’t come across as very ninja-like.

It comes out in March, and this is one piece of childhood nostalgia that I will be watching closely.

Before I post about our trip, let me say that I am flattered by the supposed power I hold in our blog circle of 10 or so people. Whether I am influential or simply have too much time on my hands, I love hearing about what is going on in everyone’s life. Kudos to Paddy for getting his title image fixed and super looking, Mr. Bakersfield for consistently posting great stuff, Amy’s super dooper Ecuador post, and Andrew’s cool Aquarium post. I still need to reply to everyone, just need a little bit to catch up. Now, on to our tour of New England.

We went a lot of places in Boston, but I’ve picked out the most memorable. One stop was Walden Pond where Thoreau went into the woods to live. We walked around this big pond getting bit by mosquitos and found the original site of his house. It’s no longer there, but there are a bunch of rocks that people have left from around the world paying tribute. There were also tons of cool mushrooms that I took pictures of along the trail.

One cool aspect of Boston was all the famous dead people. Below is a picture of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s grave, but we also saw Henry Thoreau, Louisa May Alcott (Little Women), and from a distance Paul Reveere and other Revolutionary War players. I particularly enjoyed Emerson in High School, and while I can’t recall anything specific about him or his essay on Self-Reliance, I’m pretty sure it set me on my path to conservativism.

A cool Revolutionary War site we saw was the Old North Church. This is where the whole "one if by land, two if by sea" thing happened. This was also special to us because it was on an episode of Treasure Hunters, haha. We also saw Paul Reveere’s house, but it wasn’t very exciting from the outside, and we didn’t want to pay to go inside.

A very cool tour we went on in Boston was called a Duck Tour. A DUKW (pronounced Duck) is an old WWII vehicle that could go on both land and sea. This particular tour took us all around downtown Boston and then into the Charles River. It was cool hearing about all the history in Boston and riding in vehicles that were used on D-Day. What you can’t see below the water is that there are a bunch of wheels!

Finally on our way from Boston to Cape Cod (the subject of my next post) we stopped in Plymouth to see the Mayflower II and Plymouth Rock. We were all very interested to see what exactly would be at "Plymouth Rock," because when you think about it, was there one specific rock that the original Mayflower landed on? Turns out over a hundred years ago somebody picked a rock and decided it was Plymouth Rock, and there is a small memorial with that rock inside. I have a picture of it, but it’s not very exciting, and it’s really just a random rock. Below is the Mayflower II which was built in England as a replica of the original. And you know who was behind the whole idea? Someone who shares my surname!

That was Boston in a nutshell. Overall I thought it was a gorgeous area. The old buildings and green landscapes are wonderful. Downtown Boston is sort of insane with streets going every which way, but some of the surrounding cities were quiet and relaxing.

It’s good to be back and blogging. Look for part two (Cape Cod) tomorrow.

We’re back.
Still need to read friend’s posts and reply.
Will post about the trip over the coming days.
I’m tired.
Goodnight.

Even though it’s Summer I’m feeling awfully busy! We leave bright and early in 5 hours for Boston, followed up by a little Cape Cod, and finally on to New York city. I am anxiously trying to organize songs onto the mp3 player and wasting what precious sleep time still remains. Luckily there will be a caffeinated beverage in the fridge downstairs waiting for me at 4:15 am when I wake up. We’ll be back in a week and a half or so, see ya then.

We got back last night from our short trip up the coast. We spent our first two nights in San Luis Obispo at the San Luis Creek Lodge. It’s a fairly new place that feels fresh and up-to-date. In San Luis Obispo we spent time walking around the downtown area, went to the farmers market and had a turkey leg, and drove to Morro Bay. A recurring theme on our trip was the wildlife we kept seeing, and this guy below was hanging out in Morro Bay. He even jumped up near a dock to let us take some good pictures.

I love these "smokestacks" in Morro Bay because they always look like a painting. They don’t look real for some reason, like they’re computer generated and my eyes are playing tricks on me.

After San Luis Obispo we headed up the coast and stopped in Cayucos on our way to Cambria, where we stayed at Moonstone Landing. I had never been to Cambria, but it reminded me very much of Poipu Beach on Kauai where we went on our honeymoon (but much closer and cheaper). While it’s not a Hawaii replacement (you can only spend a day or two in Cambria until you’re bored), it’s a very similar setup where a small street is the only thing between your hotel and a beautiful beach.

Cambria is just south of Hearst Castle, and even though we didn’t go there, we enjoyed the view of the coast and a nice drive. Something totally unexpected we found was a place along the beach that was literally crawling with Elephant Seals. Apparently male Elephant Seals have been coming to this specific spot since the early 1990’s to molt (get rid of their gross old skin). In a stretch of about 200 yards I would say there were at least 100 seals (there were two other spots similar to this one below).

It was great because they were barking and play fighting the whole time. There was also a really small pup that was getting chased by some big fat dude. That was hilarious. Another interesting site in Cambria was something called Nit Wit Ridge. It’s like Hearst Castle, but not really. Some guy did lots of funny/odd stuff to his house, and here is the result. Much like the hundreds of antique shops in these small towns, I’m not sure if it is art or crap.

Overall it was a very nice and relaxing few days. On a side note, I thoroughly enjoyed the Nikon d50 on the trip. It was great being able to snap pictures at will and have a lot of control over the pictures I was taking. My brother got me a nifty case to put it in that makes it much easier to carry around.

We leave Wednesday morning at 5 am for a Boston/NY trip with my parents and Denise/Paul. I’ll be sure to take a lot of pictures, but The Blarg will be update free for a week and a half. In the meantime, head on over to the Milkinator’s new site for some blogger goodness.

Happy One Year Anniversary to us! We’re going to San Luis Obispo to relax and eat a turkey leg at the farmers market, and then to Cambria. Be back on Sunday. Go Dodgers!