We had a long, boring, but uneventful drive north to Milford,
Connecticut, following the mostly I-95 route up through New Jersey and
across the wonderful George Washington Bridge into upper Manhattan, then
the Bronx, where we were bogged down in pretty heavy traffic for a
while, but the mess on the roads began to clear in New Rochelle and by
the time we reached Stamford, the traffic was normal. About 325 miles
from home and we were at my old high school buddy's summer cottage in
Milford.

Got up early on the 4th and spent most of the day swimming, sailing
around on some old Alcort Sunfish(es), water skiing (haven't done that
for decades and my lower back was sore afterwards), had a wonderful
clambake on the beach, walked on the sandbars at low tide, watched some
local "amateur" fireworks and the next thing I knew it was Friday.

Went fishing with three buddies Friday morning in a 14' dory powered by
a 10 hp outboard, had a lot of fun, caught some porgies, some trash
fish, small sand tiger sharks, but no stripers. Too early in the season
for snapper blues, I was told. We kept the porgies for a fish fry
mid-afternoon lunch. Used sand worms and cut up fish for bait, just like
we did 50+ years ago. When we got back, we emptied the boat out and
swamped it to clean it out, just as we used to do. Friday night dinner
was at a outdoor lobster joint in what I am guessing was Madison,
Connecticut. I wasn't driving and I wasn't paying attention, but it felt
and looked like Madison or Guilford.

On Saturday, we convoyed from Milford to another old buddy's place in
Branford, Connecticut, where we stayed Saturday and half of Sunday
nights. Pretty much the same sort of activities, except we somehow ended
up swimming in a pool Saturday instead of Long Island Sound.

I still prefer the beach to a pool. Got out on a couple of really nice
sailboats, one 20-footer, another a 25-footer. Chesapeake Bay may be one
of the sailing capitals of the world, but I believe the wind is more
reliable on Long Island Sound, in that there usually is wind, albeit
light wind, in the summer. The Bay in much of the summer suffers from a
lack of even a light breeze. Most of my old friends who still boat seem
to have transitioned from larger powerboats to day sailer sailboats, or
to modestly powered open fishing boats in the 14' to 18' range. Less
fuss, less muss, less mess, easier maintenance, really low operating
costs with a small four cycle outboard. There's still plenty of decent
fishing along the Connecticut shoreline within a mile of the shore, so
if all you want to do is catch a decent dinner, you don't need much of a
boat.

One old friend, recently retired and now living full-time in Maine,
showed up in a monster RV called a Fleetwood Motor Home. It was at least
40' long and nicely furnished inside. Big diesel engine. Looked like a
bus to most of us so naturally, our friend's new nickname is Ralph
Kramden. I'm going to get him an old bus driver's cap and maybe a badge
for it proclaiming Gotham Bus Company.

Big party Saturday night and caught up with lots of old friends. Found
out one of my old gal pals lost her fight with cervical cancer. Life
sucks sometimes. She was only 64.

We hit the road at 2 this morning, light traffic, came through Baltimore
and down US 97 to near Annapolis and then a straight shot down Route 2
to home. A short nap for me, and I lived to tell the tale.