Mystic (redux)

Day 20

We are back in Mystic!  We rode and took three ferries from Southampton, NY on a beautiful day and arrived a little before 6pm.  The last ferry took about an hour and a half and that gave me some time to be reflective and what I reflected upon was that ferry rides are very boring.  Short ferry rides are boring, but at least they have the advantage of ending soon.  Not so with longer ferry rides; their boringness just goes on and on.  Well, I don't want to belabor this point, so I'll just say I recommend avoiding ferry rides.

A few days ago (July 3) we took the ferry from Jersey City to Manhattan.  This day was notable for two reasons.  First, it marked the beginning of my realization that ferry rides are boring.  Second, it provided an opportunity for me to display my navigational skills.  Di had trouble getting the Garmin to show us the way to the Brooklyn Bridge, but I said the Garmin was unnecessary and took charge of getting us to the bridge.  After all, I could see the bridge from the dock where the ferry landed.

          The view of the bridge from the ferry dock

I unerringly guided us to the entrance of the bridge, but a traffic cop then informed me that this was the Manhattan Bridge and not the Brooklyn Bridge.  The Brooklyn Bridge was in the exact opposite direction we had gone.  I was very upset.  Why would anybody build two bridges so close to each other?  That kind of poor planning can only end up in chaos and confusion.  We turned around and rode to the Not Manhattan Bridge, also known as the Brooklyn Bridge.

          Di on the Brooklyn Bridge

We stayed that night in a cheap motel called the Red Carpet Motel.  I hate when we stay in cheap motels because I can never get a good night sleep.  This is because Di, when in a cheap motel, always suspects there are insects just waiting to get at her and during her sleep continually and spasmodically strikes at these imaginary bugs.  I've never been bitten by bugs at any of these motels, but I have been slapped a number of times by Di during her sleep.  At least she tells me that she was sleeping.

We rode to Southampton on July 4th.  That was the day the remnants of Hurricane Arthur came through the area.  This blog is rate MA (mom approved), so I'll just say we really enjoyed those moments it wasn't raining on us.  Like the time we stopped in a McDonald's, for instance.

Di drying her clothes and self in Mcdonald's

There really isn't much more to say about that day and retain our MA rating, so I'll just move on to our stay in Southampton.  I don't like Southampton.  Its the kind of place where people talk very loudly into their cell phones so you can't help but overhear their conversations.  On our first day there some guy on the sidewalk was practically yelling into his phone "All six of you have to come up with your $500,000 now.  I can't wait any longer, so I need EACH of you to give me FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND NOW!"  And at the motel where we were staying, one of the guests put his phone into speaker mode to tell his mom her $250,000 investment was required now.  What is funny about that conversation is that I could hear her tell her son that she wouldn't give it.  I thought the son would be embarrassed, but this was not the case.  He was proud to be in the money game, even if this deal wasn't going his way.  Its also the type of place where people dress to be seen.  I'm sure some of those casual summer outfits I saw people wearing cost more than my bike!  We went to Cooper's Beach, which is a very beautiful spot, but even there people felt a need to dress in an attention-getting style.  For example, look at this guy obviously trying too hard to be a trend setter:

We enjoyed two rest days of being financially gouged each time we ate a meal or bought a coffee.  We stopped to buy lemonade from three young girls at a stand they set up in front of their yard and had to pay $1.50 per cup.  Di said it was the most she had ever paid for neighborhood lemonade and I agreed, but I also said it was probably the best deal in Southampton.  At least the girls were pleasant and the lemonade was good.

We left Southampton this morning and after riding for about six miles our directions brought us to a dirt path through the woods.  It looked really inviting.

Inviting path through woods

But, like Southampton, the superficial beauty hid the insidious core of the path.  And what made the core insidious is that it was made of beach sand.  Imagine how much fun it would be to ride your bike along the soft sand of the beach.  If you are having trouble trying to imagine this, then I can help you by saying you should imagine it is not fun.  Unless, of course, you think it is fun to frequently fall down while riding your bicycle.  Or that it is fun to walk your heavy bike through thick sand on a hot day with the sun beating down on you and horse flies eating your face.  If this is your idea of fun, then this bike path is for you.  It wasn't fun for Di and me.

Di de-ticking herself after the bike path from Hell Southampton

Then we rode some ferries.  Those rides were uneventful.

Here is Di suffering from ferry ennui

We rode on the Rt 95 bridge from New London to Groton and had a very enjoyable and easy ride into Mystic.

Di here ...

Today is the last ride to complete our 21 bike-day tour.  A short 39 miles before we can then divert our attention to watching Le Tour De France :).  One might expect the feeling of happiness when finally being home after such a long vacation, but last night Steve and I discussed being sad that our bike tour has come to an end.  Perhaps the tone of Steve's post above is because of this or because he found a nasty deer tick on his leg while on that dirt path and its memory had ticked him off, no pun intended!

Day 19

Second rest day in Southampton, NY.  No post.