vip in the city

Off the hook

We arrived at the Ocean Street Dock in Hyannis early this chilly morning, all set for a half day of fishing. The cruise operator warned us of rough Ernesto-churned waters ahead; the exact words were to expect a “four hour roller coaster ride.”

We boarded with some trepidation, but reconsidered after about ten minutes, rescheduling our trip for Monday morning. Let’s hope for calmer seas then.

The National Weather Service issued a small craft advisory for the day, predicting gusts up to 35 knots and seas rising six to nine feet. Yeah… good call.

To Cape Cod

Mom, Dad and I set out for Cape Cod in the early afternoon. Labor Day traffic clogged the I-95 through the southern half of Connecticut; the GPS informed us that we lost an hour and a half in traffic, but as the cars ground to a standstill around New Haven, it felt much, much longer.

J & J drove in from Boston after a full day’s work to meet us at the Cove. By the time the four of us settled in, it was well after dark. Alas, perennial favorite Seafood Sam’s closed at 9:00PM on Friday — Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in New York City anymore — as did just about every other restaurant in the area. After considering our dwindling options, we settled upon a dinner of classic American chain fare at Friendly’s, home of the Fribble and the Jim Dandy: five scoops of ice cream, strawberry, marshmallow and chocolate topping, a split fresh banana, sprinkles, walnuts and whipped topping — “divine decadence” indeed!

In transit

Leaving HCMC: view of City Hall:

Stopover at the Hong Kong International Airport. It began to pour about fifteen minutes after I took this photo — the beginning of what would become a pattern for the rest of the trip. From San Francisco, my flight was delayed and then rerouted through Canada due to “weather” in the Midwestern United States. Incidentally, never understood the use of the term “weather” without an adjective; isn’t there always weather?:

Home sweet home: 2 stopovers and just under 30 hours after leaving my hotel room in Saigon. Whew.