July 31, 2003
Connecticut Trip Notes (or "So Where Did You Eat?")
Well, we are back from our trip to Madison, Connecticut. It was a great trip, and we really jammed quite a few things into parts of four short days. Below is a day-by-day rundown, in case you care:
FRIDAY: Got up at 3:30 a.m. and drove to Atlanta to catch flight. Got into Hartford at 10:30, where my sister, Laurie, and my niece, Emily, picked us up. We then went directly to Lenny and Joe's Fish Tale Restaurant in Madison, CT. I have been going to Fish Tale since I was little, and the food never disappoints. Say what you will, but there is NOWHERE on earth better for seafood than the northeast.
We then went to see my dad's new shop, "Imagine," which he just opened in Guilford. After seeing the shop, and walking around the green in Guilford, we headed back to Laurie's house. She and my brother-in-law Glenn have done amazing things to the house since buying it from my dad in a couple years back. We chilled out for a while and then met my dad and Beverly at the Surf Club in Madison for a nice dinner at the beach. 80 degrees with a nice breeze off the sound. I also introduced grilled corn on the cob to my skeptical family.
SATURDAY: My nephew, Stephan, came up from New Jersey to spend the weekend with us. Went to CVS and ran into family friend, Mr. Picard, who told us about his family's trip to England, Italy, and France. His brother writes for the Economist, and has lived 40 years in Paris. The highlight of the conversation was when Mr. Picard mentioned that while in Europe he was eating in a restaurant and Venus Williams and her (i'll censor and use the word "effeminate") boyfriend walked in.
Melissa and I spent the day at the wedding our friend, Janet Hull, and her husband, Paul Criscuolo. At the reception at Aleia's in Westbrook, we sat with Mike Farrell and Dawn Hovey, two people we went to high school with. They brought their spouses, who were very cool people. Everyone at the table were Yankee fans, and the ribbing started early. It soon died down, though, as the Red Sox beat the Yankees during the course of our meal.
SUNDAY: We had planned to go to Six Flags New England, but threats of rain (it never did rain) kept us away. Instead, we went to eat lunch at Dad's in Niantic, which, coincidentally, is the last place I went out to eat with my mother. It was the summer of 1997, right after her birthday, and four months before she died.
After eating at Dad's (the clam strips were terrific), we decided to go to Newport, Rhode Island. I have been to Newport MANY times, but was amazed how much it had been built up. We went shopping, and I bought the new Ugly Duckling CD. It's very funny. Stephan bought Talking Heads' "Remain in Light." The best one they did. With Adrian Belew on it.
We then drove back to Madison, and had KILLER pizza at The Red Tomato.
We then watched "Meet the Parents" on TV. Stephan then threatened to "take me down to Chinatown."
MONDAY: This was our last day. Mrs. Hull stopped by to say goodbye to us, and brought us a gift. After MANY years in Madison, she and Mr. Hull are selling their house and moving to Guilford.
Melissa, Laurie, Emily, and I then met Dad and Bev for lunch. Dad and Bev have a new super pimped-out Lexus with a GPS system, which they don't know how to use yet. Melissa and I rode with them as we decided to go to New Haven for lunch and to walk around. We ate at the Playwright, which is across from from the Shubert theatre. The marquee said that Todd Rundgren (one my faves) will be appearing there soon. Dang!
Lunch was killer, and before we left for the airport, Mr. Hull gave us a guided tour of the Yale law library. Very impressive. A bomb went off there a couple years ago and they're STILL fixing all the damage. It's amazing. I lived around Yale my whole life, and never really stopped to soak in its coolness until I came back.
Our flight was uneventful. I worked on some comedy writing exercises after Melissa forgave me for inadvertantly getting us seats across the aisle from each other.
Man, I'm such a punk sometimes.