Monday, August 21, 2023
Long Morning Walk to the Salt Marshes in Fairfield, Lunch with Bonnie in Southport, A Spurt of Shopping, Dinner and Dessert with my Brother’s Family
Today was another enjoyable day, but then I guess in these posts I am focusing on all the fun I am having and leaving out the nitty gritty, annoying details pertaining to banking and medical insurance issues that have been plaguing me since I arrived here and that I am trying hard to resolve.
Anyway, I awoke at 5.30 or 6.00 am (getting latter now for sure), did some blogging (no time to read at all) and then washed and got ready for the three classes I taught, back to back, for an hour each. By the time I was done and could have my breakfast, it was 10.30 am and I was famished.
Breakfast of muesli and yogurt and coffee done, I got ready to leave with Leslie to get her car tyres fixed at Town Fair Tyres. My friend Bonnie was going to pick me up from there at 10.45 and by the time we arrived, she was already in the parking lot. It was not long before she drove me to her place where we parked.
A Lovely Long Walk in the Fairfield Marshes:
I will always be grateful to Bonnie for showing me this gorgeous walk in Fairfield. It takes you across the Salt Marshes that back up to the sea and are always filled with bird life especially white egrets which are Bonnie’s favorite bird. This time too, we had such a swell walk together as we always have so much to discuss and so much to notice. We swung by the edge of the water (we could not go on to the beach as they had some tree-trimming going on), but then we got on to the marshes and walked to the water. We had a lot to talk about with regards to her daughter’s wedding at the weekend and I could see that Bonnie was keyed up and also excited.
Reviewing Stuff in Bonnie’s Basement:
Once we arrived at her place, we had a cold Coke each as the walk had left us winded. Then, we went straight down to her basement as I needed to pick up some of the items I had left behind in her home. This took us about fifteen minutes and by this time, Bonnie told me she was hungry and wanted to know if I would go back with her to The Driftwood Café in Southport Village to share a tuna sandwich—as we’d had one last week and she said she was “jones-ing” for one. I had never heard this expression which she told me dated back to the 1950s! Interesting. With my items placed in my suitcase (which will become my carry-on on my flight back, but a silver tray left behind as we simply did not have the weight allowance for it, we left Bonnie’s place together and made our way to Southport Village,
Lunch at The Driftwood Café in Southport Village:
We settled down at The Driftwood Café and ordered the same thing we’d had last week. We shared a tuna sandwich on toasted whole wheat with a Diet Coke each. Lovely light lunch and being in the neighborhood hangout that has been in business for decades was quite something.
Library Browsing:
Bonnie then dropped me and my suitcase back to the Pequot Library parking lot where I awaited Leslie’s arrival at 2.00 pm. I placed my suitcase in her trunk and then went down to the basement bins to see if I could find any friends. Sadly, I missed Stephanie who had left on vacation—I was looking forward to getting a picture with her. However, I did meet Sandy Zera who gave me a hug and told me that she missed both Llew and me very much. A little social visiting later, I was on my way again.
A Long Spurt of Shopping:
This time, since I had access to Leslie’s car until 6.00 pm when I would need me to return to take her back home, I was able to go from one big shop to the next buying up all the items on our list: sadly, Bed Bath and Beyond had closed but I was able to go to Stop and Shop, Staples, Home Goods, the Main Fairfield Library where I needed to do some reference work, and then, because it was so hot, I stopped at Dairy Queen and had my favorite blizzard—yes, for lunch (after all, ‘tis the season!)! This time, I was able to explain to the salesperson exactly how I like my blizzards and she made me a really great one! With a chocolate ice-xream base, chocolate dipping sauce and chocolate-covered cherries! I was thrilled! With my Blizzard done, I went off to Home Goods where I found the oven mitts I wanted.
With about 20 minutes to spare, I swung back on the Post Road to get to the Pequot Library to be just in time to meet Leslie who would be finishing up her shift at work. I requested her to drop me off to my next port of call, Colony Grill, as I had plans to meet my brother’s family there.
Dinner with my Brother’s Family:
I had plans to see my brother Roger and his family at Colony Grill at 7.00 pm and thought I would simply get there an hour earlier and wait. But, en route to the place, Leslie happened to inform me that the Fairfield Main Library was open till 8.00 pm. It made more sense for me to go there and pass my time in a library rather than in a crowded and noisy place on my own. So that’s what I did. This left me an hour to browse through some of my favorite magazines (that I really do miss in India) such as Victoria and Real Simple. In fact, I found out that Victoria has a special issue on England (they do this once a year) and that they had beautiful photo-features on Oxford and Highclerc Castle. Well, I decided to take pictures of these pages because the photography was so beautiful.
6.50pm, I began walking towards Colony Grill and was there in five minutes. My brother’s family had arrived and we were lucky, apparently, to find a booth as there was a line out the door. They told me that this is one of their favorite places in Fairfield and that they take all their guests to this place. I have to say that I was very surprised as I have never (in all my years living in Fairfield) ever been to this spot! The pizza, it seems, is renowned here and since pizza is all they serve, they have gained a vast reputation for it.
Pizza at Colony Grill takes the form of something called “hot oil pizza”. It is extremely thin crust, comes with a very thin layer of what looks like cheese (but is not mozzarella as it is not stringy) and a light tomato sauce. Although I thought it was a novel experience, this is not my idea of pizza and nowhere in the world (not even anywhere in Italy) have I come across pizza like this. I cannot say I was a huge fan. I prefer my pizza with more body and much more filling on it. This has a couple of meatballs, a lot of delicious pepperoni (saving grace) and a few pieces of sausage (all on the individual pizzas that went by these names). There was also a pickled chilli pepper at the top which was able to offer some much-needed heat. Overall, it was an unusual eating experience.
More importantly, we had a really good time at the dinner and talked about all sorts of things including my stay here and all the things I am managing to accomplish. It was lovely and we had a nice evening.
After dinner, when we left the place, the family conferred among themselves and decided to go out for dessert. Here too, they took me to a place to which I had never been. It’s called Whale Tea and is in a tucked-away corner at the other end of the Bodega strip mall. Inside I found those novelty teas that I had first seen in Hawai’i a long time ago. They are filled with tapioca pearls which I do not like at all. Aside from the teas, there was what is called ‘stir-fried’ ice-cream or ‘rolled’ ice-cream. It’s similar to the sort of gimmicky thing they do at Cold Stone Creamery where they flatten the ice-cream down with one’s own choice of mix-ins and toppings. Using a flat spatula, these are then rolled into an ice-cream cup. I had just a couple of tastes as I’d had my Dairy Queen blizzard in the afternoon and did not want to overdose on ice-cream! More chatter, more laughter around the table until finally, it was time for me to take their leave and say Goodbye to them as I do not think I will see them again before I return to India.
Roger then dropped me back home to Leslie’s and I was able to spend a few moments with Leslie and Sunil before calling it a night. Yes, it had been another splendid day and I am really grateful I have all these opportunities to meet up with a variety of people and enjoy a variety of experiences.
Until tomorrow…cheerio!
No comments:
Post a Comment