in with the new

Memorial Day Weekend!

Happy 3-day weekend! It's Fleet Week here in New York! In 1998, my sister and I went to check out the ships parked in the Hudson. We took tours and flirted with the cute sailor boyz. It was a really fun time. I remember being so amazed at the USS John F. Kennedy. It's an aircraft carrier, and SO big...

More than 5,000 sailors call the carrier home. As a self-contained city, Kennedy has the same amenities as any U.S. city with a comparable population. It has a daily newspaper, radio and television stations, fire department, library, hospital, two general stores, a barbershop and a post office - with its own zip code.

I wonder how long before a Starbucks opens on it.

This is the first Memorial Day Weekend that we are staying home. We live near the beach now, so we are going to enjoy our beach this time around. Yay! I love the sound of that phrase... "Our Beach".

Whiting

I just threw away an envelope postmarked from Whiting, NJ. It made me smile.

Once upon a time, there was a boy. His name is Eric San Juan. I met him Summer 1993, when I was working at Six Flags on the Irrawaddy Riptide* (the flume in the water park). He was part of the cowboy show over by the other (log) flume. He lived in Whiting. We wrote each other letters a few times. He even sent me a mix tape. Then we lost contact.

One day, Shannon (my bff) and I decided to drive down to Whiting and do a drive-by of his house (I'll do another entry about drive-bys another time). We used an ATLAS. Or maybe a AAA map. (It was 1993! Before Mapquest!) It was a fun road trip. We probably listened to whatever Disney tape we had available. We probably sang "Chicken Lips and Lizard Hips" right along with Springsteen. We found Whiting AND found his house. It had lots of artsy stuff in the yard and a COOL VW bug. But no Eric San Juan. And that was the end of that. Road trips with Shannon = good times (even when you cried in Ithaca). Thanks postmark, for the smile!

(I bet you thought this was going to be a story about a boy with kissing?!? Nah, that's gross!)

* As a bonus, here's the spiel I used to say on the Irrawaddy Riptide...

Welcome to the Irrawaddy Riptide!
Please remain seated with your hands, arms and legs inside the boat at all times.
Please secure all loose articles such as hats, handbags, eyeglasses, (glass eyes, false teeth, wooden legs) and cameras.
If you lose them on the ride, we will not be held responsible.
Please note that rocking the boat and splashing is not permitted nor will it be tolerated on the ride.
Thank you and have a great day at Six Flags,
your number one place for fun family entertainment in the northeast.