Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Jersey Shore

June 15th 2008
Well after working 45 days straight without a break the owner of my boat realized that it would be critical for me to have some time off if I was to survive the rest of the season. So last week I hopped on an Air France flight to Philly via Paris.
Mom and Pop picked me up at the airport and we drove back through the Pine Barrens to Barnegat. There really isn’t too much to report. I came back full of plans: 1) Avoid plans. 2) To do as little as possible. 3) Try not to think about work. 4) Drink real coffee. 5) Eat American comfort foods. 6) Mimic a bump on a log. Etc, etc…. I’ve been fairly successful!
I’ve gotten a chance to catch up with a bunch of my old friends. I’ve gotten to surf a couple of times. I’ve gotten to relax in the hot tub. I’ve eaten bagels, pizza, homemade waffles and drank good coffee! Europe still hasn’t and probably never will come around to “American Coffee” even though you can get “CafĂ© American”, but it’s not the real deal! Now I’m not suggesting that Europe would or should mimic the U.S.. But the fact is the best coffee comes from South America and is extremely popular throughout the Americas so you would think that you could find some Columbian Beans and brew some, but alas it’s all espresso or what we have on the boat which is Nescafe capsules. Nothing close to real coffee. And Europeans love their espresso, it such a part of the culture you’d think in this day and age they may branch into new territory and expand their palates a little. No such luck. Anyhooo…
The latest highlight was a trip up to Boston, Amesbury to be exact, to visit my sister, her husband and my little 9 month old Nephew. He is just starting to crawl around and pull himself up to stand. He is a happy baby, full of smiles and we believe he has to be the cutest baby alive today. We may be biased, but you’d be hard pressed to disagree.
So it’s been a little over a week at home and I have a little under a week to go. I plan on carrying on with my detailed plans: eat, sleep, surf, be lazy and little else!!