Memorial Day, New England Style

My close friend Regina invited me to join her on a trip to visit family and friends in her home state. Knowing there is no better way to visit a state than with a local, I enthusiastically accepted. We packed our bags and headed out, destination Fairfield Connecticut. Our mission, spend a week house hopping, visiting family and friends from Bethel to Bantam Lake, Old Greenwich to Harwinton , and, finally, a quick stop into New York city. Regina has an awesome family. Everyone was so generous and made me feel right at home. I had incredible food throughout the trip, I gained 6 pounds in one week! I didn’t think it was humanly possible!

This was my first time visiting the East Coast and I had a blast, I only wish Jase was with me.

Day 1 - Thursday May 24, 2006

My First Steps on East Coast Soil

Regina and I decided to stay at the Travelodge close to the Burbank airport so we could make our flight at 7:00 am. The place was a bit scary and the room grimy. Luckily, the flight went as planned and we arrived at JFK airport on time, but getting our rental car took a bit longer than we expected. So, by the time we hit the I-684 it was pretty congested, it took us nearly 2 hours to get to Bethel.

We arrived at Deb’s house (Regina’s sister-in-law) around 7:00 pm and were welcomed with a home cooked meal made by Deb and Carol (Regina’s mother-in-law). The meal was a perfect cure after a long day of travel. Grace and Marion, Deb’s two daughters, kept us entertained all night with stories of school, sharing their favorite toys and performing dance moves in the living room. With all the excitement, we did not get to bed until after midnight!

Day 2 - Friday May 25, 2006

Dumb Laws, Every State Has Them

I woke up early the next morning and visited with Grace and Marion one more time before they headed off to school. While Regina was still asleep upstairs, I joined Deb for her morning routine of walking Marion to the bus stop and taking Mindy, their dog, for a walk in the woods. Grace had left before us to catch her bus for school. The lush green plants blanketing the trees were beautiful. I didn’t expect the humidity, but it felt good in the morning. When we got back, Regina and Carol joined us for a nice relaxing morning talk over coffee. It was so easy to just sit and visit with Carol and Deb I could have been there all day. But, Regina had plans for me so we said our goodbyes and off we went to explore Fairfield.

The scenery during the drive was incredibly green and lush. I know I am repeating myself, but I could not get over the abundance of trees, so many trees, as far as the eye could see! Regina drove through the city streets to give me the grand tour of Fairfield. We saw houses and apartments she had lived in after moving out of her parents house. We saw her old high school and joints she used to hang out at. We stopped for lunch at Rawleys, a famous little hot dog joint that all the locals have been going to since the late 1940’s. They deep fry their dogs then toss it on the grill to add some crispy goodness. It was unbelievable. We rolled out of Rawleys stuffed and headed over to Regina’s parent’s house.

I have known Regina for almost 5 years. We have shared many stories about our parents and I knew that meeting hers was going to be one of the highlights of the trip. Just as I expected, they both were so sweet and funny, telling stories of Regina when she was little. I hated to leave after only being there such a short time, but we promised to return later in the week and have dinner with them.

Again we jumped in the car and headed off to visit Regina’s girlfriend Lisa and her family. I have met Lisa once before when she came to visit Regina in California, Lisa was six months pregnant at the time. This time I was able to meet her husband Ed and beautiful little girl Abby. Ed let us steal Lisa for the night so we could have a “girls night.” Lynn, another long time friend, joined us at Mulino’s, a fine Italian restaurant in Fairfield. One of Regina’s goals for this trip was for me to taste “real” Italian food. Apparently the Italian food that can be found in southern California was not ‘true’ Italian. I asked the waiter if he could suggest something since this was my first Italian meal in Connecticut. The waiter proceeded to tell me he did not understand what I meant, nor that he understood the menu since he just started working there. I could not help but laugh, I have never experienced a person whose first language was Italian, and I did not know whether he was being rude or completely honest. Although, I did ask to have the cook “Rock my World” and maybe that caused confusion. I played it safe and ordered that nights special of angel hair pasta with Veal Parmesan. The pasta was great, but the veal was average. This mediocrity coming from a restaurant that have the waiters stand very close to you while your eating to fill your water glass as soon as it reaches mid level, or if you get up and return to your table one of them rushes over to put the napkin back on your lap. I would suggest spending more on the food and less on the extensive help.

After dinner Lynn suggested we have dessert at her place since we were gonna sleep there that night. I asked them to stop at a local shop so I could pick up some wine and….What was this? How could this be? I can’t?!?!? That evening I learned that in the state of Connecticut one can not buy any kind of alcoholic beverages after 9:00pm Monday through Saturday and NONE on Sundays and Holidays under chapter 545. www.dumblaws.com/law/273 I looked at my watch and it was 9:45p.m. OK, so Connecticut has one flaw. I made a mental note to stock up the next day.

Day 3 - Saturday May 25, 2007

Bantam Lake

We woke up to a perfect sunny morning and decided to go to one of Lynn’s favorite beaches Ye Olde Yacht Yard, in South Port. I have never seen so many colonial homes in my life! Even Lynn’s house, was a colonial built in the early 1900’s. This is something you do not see much of in southern California. I felt very patriotic as we drove through the neighborhood as homes were decorated with American flags and red, white and blue banners to celebrate Memorial Day weekend. We grabbed some bagels, muffins and coffee and found a quite spot on the beach to watch the yachts go by.

Midday Regina and I packed our things and headed to Harwinton, about 60 miles north of Fairfield to stay with Regina’s childhood friend Andrea. Andrea had invited us to stay the night at a cabin that she had booked for the summer on Bantam Lake. We arrived at Andrea’s home and met Scott, Andrea’s husband, and their two children, Emily and Cameron. I met Scott and Andrea two years earlier while they were visiting California. Scott was going to stay home with the kids and have Andrea go with us to the cabin so we could have another “girls night.” What a surprise, this trip was turning out to be an all girls week. On the way to Lake Bantam we made a pit stop at a grocery store so we could pick up some goodies. It was Saturday and Regina reminded me that I could not buy any more alcoholic beverages after Saturday until Tuesday! I stocked up since I wanted to make sure to leave some for Andrea and Scott and to have plenty for Lynn’s big Memorial party the next day. So, the girl from California filled the rental car full of beer.

We arrived at Bantam Lake in mid-afternoon to a shabby chic cabin filled with cute collectibles and all the comforts of home. The surrounding community was dotted with small white and green cabins. Everyone knew each other since most of the same families have been coming to Bantam Lake year after year. The cabins reminded me of the movie “Dirty Dancing.” For dinner we decided to go eat at Wood’s Pit BBQ and Mexican Grill, a small BBQ joint a bit further down the lake. There we had the most incredible BBQ pork ribs. I am not a big fan of BBQ sauce, but theirs was amazing. They slow smoke all their meats to perfection and you could smell the meat smoking as you made your way towards the restaurant.

We got back to cabin as all the adults were slowly gathering at the communal bonfire. There were kids still wanting to play, but this was the adult time to unwind and mingle. We joined the group for drinks, stories and suggestions of places they thought I should visit while in Connecticut. After some time we headed to the cabin and opened another bottle of wine and had some girl talk. We did not get to bed till after 1:00a.m. that night.

Day 4 - Sunday May 26, 2007

Back to Fairfield

My favorite part of this day was taking a shower outdoors! As I hung my towel and clothes in the stall, I knew I had to take a picture of the amazing view while standing inside the shower. The mountains in Connecticut are much different than in California. I am used to seeing Redwoods and Ponderosa Pine, here it is Maple and Oak trees. I would love to come back in the fall just to see the trees turn color.

Once again it was time to say our goodbyes and head back over to Lynn’s. Meeting up with so many of Regina’s friends during this trip was great, but it was hard to say good-bye after such a short visits.

Back in Fairfield we met Regina’s cousin Suzanne and another childhood friend Amy, both I have never met before. We all headed to the beach to watch the sunset. Lynn’s kids, Taylor and Morgan, and Suzanne daughter Mirinda joined us . After, Amy cooked us some fabulous chicken with salt potatoes, nothing beats great food and great company!

Day 5 - Monday May 28, 2007

What Our Country Needs is More Singing

We woke up early the next morning so we could grab a good spot downtown for the big Memorial Day Parade and hit the pancake breakfast at St. Paul’s Church. I was amazed. Everything was picture perfect, just like a scene from a movie. I was waiting for a director to shout “action.” It was when I saw the helpers at the pancake breakfast wearing their cute straw hats that I could not believe people still do this. I certainly do not remember ever going to a Memorial Day Parade that was so big and elaborate. In Ventura we have 4th of July, St. Patrick’s, and Christmas parades, but nothing this exciting on memorial day. The crowd was huge and the parade was long. I took a walk towards a cemetery that I had noticed while driving to the beach, it was only a block or two from where we were sitting. I did not realize how pretty a cemetery it was, with the big head stones and the old stone wall that surrounded it. I soon realized that it was a memorial site for all the soldiers of Fairfield that had helped fight in the American Revolution! I tried to find Jase’s family name on the old tombstones, but no luck.

After the parade we went back to Lynn’s to relax in the backyard before heading to Derosa’s Restaurant for dinner. I have to say, it was the best Italian food I had on the trip. It was excellent. Their homemade ravioli was great and the sauce incredible. Maybe this was your basic good Italian restaurant Regina was talking about. I have never had such great marinara and pasta before. Now, it could have been a mix of things… good food, good peeps and good entertainment. As we walked in the restaurant, we noticed that there were only about three other tables filled, but we figured it was Memorial Day and the weather was perfect so most people were out enjoying the nice weather. The waiter sat us in the back room of the restaurant so we had the back to ourselves. Soon after a man came in the restaurant talked to the waiter, and walked past our table saying with a strong Irish accent saying…. “sorry ladies, but we are gonna crash your private room, hope we won’t be to much of a bother to ya”. We really didn’t know what he was talking about until they all starting pouring in the restaurant. About twelve men came in the back where we were sitting and sat at the next table. It seemed like they all had come from a nearby pub. I believe they may have belonged to some sort of club. We quickly got back to our “girl talk” discussing what we were gonna have for dinner, intertwined with hot topics of kids, work, and plans for the summer. All of a sudden one of the Irish man began to sing “I did it my way” by Frank Sinatra , then the others joined in. I knew this was gonna be fun. The men sounded great. One thing I have learned watching the Travel Channel is that in Europe, while people are drinking, they love to sing. How cool is that? We need to sing more in America, I think that is what the country needs, more singing. After the song we clapped and one of the guys asked us what we were drinking. Of course I didn’t hesitate and quickly showed them the bottle of wine and, shortly after, another bottle arrived at our table, compliments from all the gentlemen. The whole night was filled with the guys taking turns singing funny, silly and old classics. During our dessert we got the bug to sing, but for the life of us we could not think of a song to sing. And when we did come up with a good song, none of us remembered the lyrics. Suzanne and I finally did belt one out, which was fun and, honestly, I think our voices blended very nicely. But then again, maybe it was the three bottles of wine that made everything sound so good. We took some pictures of the guys as we were leaving the restaurant, and gave our thanks for the wonderful entertainment they provided throughout the night. Lynn thought we should start singing “So long, farewell” from “The Sound of Music” as we made our way out the door. It was late and just us, the group of men and a few other people at the bar, who would care? Alas, we all chickened out. But we did laugh all the way home.

Day 6 - Tuesday May 29, 2007

Dinner with the Vorgang’s

This ended up being the most relaxing day so far. The only item on our agenda was to go have dinner with Regina’s parents at their favorite French restaurant. In the morning went to a great little market, Balducci’s, to pick up pasties and coffee. This was our third time there since staying with Lynn, their food selection is wonderful. We slowly made our way into Westport , a great town with higher end boutiques. A while later and exhausted from all the window shopping, we headed back to Lynn’s to pack and get ready for dinner.

We arrived at Saint Tropez Bistro Francias as it opened its doors at 5:00p.m. The owner of the restaurant gave us his full attention in explaining the menu. Regina’s mom Evelyn’s favorite dish is Escargot, which I have never had, as a matter of fact this was my first time at a “real” French restaurant. I also ordered the Escargot, which was very similar in texture and taste to a mushroom. Everything, the drinks, food and presentation were outstanding.

Again, it was hard to say good bye to Mr. and Mrs. Vorgang. It was especially hard for Regina, since she only sees them a couple times a year. Mrs. Vorgang reminded me of my own mother that had passed away about 7 months earlier. They both shared some of the same health issues and had the same witty personally.

We tried hard to collect ourselves as I drove off the exit into Old Greenwich Village to stay with Rick and Darice for the last two days of our visit. We arrived a little after 10p.m. and were greeted by Rick and two of his teenage kids home from College, Robbie and Laura. We sat at the kitchen table with Rick to have a drink and unwind before heading to bed. We told Rick about our crazy experience at the Italian restaurant with all the guys singing and how for the life of us couldn’t think of any good songs to sing. Without even a blink of an eye, Rick threw out a list of great songs that we could have sung. Old classics to famous show tunes! If you ever find yourself in a situation and you need to come up with a song/lyrics fast…call Rick!

Day 7 - Wednesday May 30, 2007

A Taste Of New York City

OK, this is the day I was really looking forward to. A day in New York city. Since I was in the fourth grade I have always wanted to visit the big apple. At first I did not want to visit New York city when we were making plans for this trip. I wanted to wait and visit with just Jase and I. But, for business reasons Regina needed to make a quick stop in the city and who was I to stop that from happening. We caught the 10:00a.m. train and headed out to the city, it was funny how excited I was. I knew in less than 40 minutes I would be arriving into world famous Grand Central Station. Regina gave me the window seat so I could look out and see the city as we sped past. Bronx Spanish Harlem was so beautiful to me, which Regina could not understand. It was so pretty seeing the old brick buildings with the graffiti and the surrounding bright green grass. It gave the city such character. It reminded me of “Sesame Street,” which I used to watch as a kid. One does not see this many really old buildings in Ventura.

Grand Central Station was a smaller than I had expected. It looks much bigger in the movies, but it still felt amazing standing there. Regina and I could not have picked a better time to come to Connecticut and New York, the weather all week was perfect and that day was no exception.

As we walked out onto the sidewalk, the sun was high over our heads. The rush of city sounds, smells and energy filled me. I closed my eyes and stood there to take it all in. I felt myself getting emotional, New York was so beautiful. We decided to skip taking a taxi and walk the 17 blocks to where Regina needed to go, the day was just too pretty to be in a car. We passed by the Empire State Building and, for a minute, we were tempted to go up. But, we both thought we should have Jase and Scott with us.

People have told me that you need at least a week to see all of New York city so I did not mind that we were there for only one afternoon. I knew I was getting a little taste of New York as an appetizer. We hopped into a taxi afterward Regina’s meeting and decided to hit a little of Soho and do some window shopping while we wait for Darice, who happened to be in the city for a convention. It was cool to see such old cast-iron warehouses and cobble stone streets in this part of the city. There was a mix of galleries, furniture and clothing boutiques hidden in the warehouses, but as soon as you step into them most were new and modern inside. I knew that this was my city. We grabbed a bite to eat and walked to Marie Belle’s to meet Darice for a little afternoon treat. I’m not a real chocolate fan, but the aroma at Marie Belle’s would convert any non-chocolate lover. I soon realized what I was smelling was Marie Belle’s famous creation the Aztec Hot Chocolate which was brewing for people to sample. The beautiful handmade chocolates were displayed like jewels in old antique cases, and the lovely Victorian decor made you feel like you somehow stepped back in time. In the back they had a Cacao Bar where you could sit and enjoy homemade mixed drinks and chocolates. Yes, you can have chocolate with your chocolate! We all had the Aztec Iced Chocolate smoothie which was simply the best chocolate drink I have ever had! Rich in flavor with the right amount of spice and coco, truly unbelievable.

It broke my heart to leave New York city, but we had plans to meet up with Marc and Nancy for dinner back in Fairfield. I met both of them at the Memorial Day Parade and they invited us to eat at their favorite pizza joint Pepe’s Pizza. I’ve heard so much about this place from Regina and Scott. Pepe’s is one of the things they missed after moving to California. After walking hours in the city we were ready to eat!

We arrived at around 5:00pm to discover a line out the door. A good sign that we were going to have some great food. The pizza came in on big cookie sheets and the slices were cut in different shapes and sizes. It wasn’t the perfect round circle with equal triangle pieces I was used to. We had a traditional pepperoni cheese, a veggie and a new one for me, a fresh clam and sausage, Pepe’s signature pizza. Yum. The crust was thin, with a good balance of chewy and crispiness. We ended the day going back to Marc and Nancy’s for an assortment of desserts. The one I enjoyed the most was a shredded Jewish dish, that didn’t look like much of anything really. I took a pinch and it reminded me of the inside of a butterfingers candy bar, only finer. After a day of walking and eating, we called it an early night.

Day 8 - Thursday May 31, 2007

Time Goes Fast When Your Having Fun

I could not believe how fast the week went by. It seemed like we had just gotten off the plane and soon we will board it. We woke up late, dragging our feet, but Darice had a great idea to cheer us up. For our last day we rode bikes into town to pick up some breakfast and rode down to the beach. This was a perfect way to see the beautiful picturesque neighborhood Darice lives in. More Colonial and Victorian homes dotted this part of Connecticut, some very old and some brand new but with the “old” feel to it. Charming is the perfect word for Old Greenwich. We rode around the beach shore for a few hours before heading back to the house for some lunch and finally packing our bags for the last time.