July 12 Keith and I leave, driving his Escort wagon, and make it all the way to Florence in northern South Carolina. We'd done this before, in 2000 when we drove up to NYC to see Lisa, and we are going there again. But, while the route is the same, we stay at a different hotel, forsaking the Swamp Fox Inn and picking instead Econo Lodge. Let's examine the names. Econo Lodge. Swamp Fox Inn. Hm. Neither is too appealing, come to think of it.

July 13 It's Saturday, and by early afternoon we make it to D.C., where once again we manage to fail to navigate efficiently. This time we try to hop a spur from 395 over to the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, but mysteriously end up in the slums of New York Avenue (again). Back on the freeway, we prepare for the heist that is the Jersey Turnpike. We worked out that we spent about $20 in tolls, just to get to the other side of NYC and the opluence that is Greenwich, CT. We arrive at Lisa's around nine, having made good time, and chat with her and play the alarmingly addictive shareware game Snood. Meanwhile, Mom and Dad are staying in Gainesville, after a very late start. They decide to plan to take four days to get to the cabin and take it easy.

July 14 It's Bastille Day, and Lisa and Keith and I spend it driving along the CT coast. We get to Mystic around lunchtime and Keith and I cheap out and buy apples at a bagel shop. Actually, neither of us was really hungry, but there just aren't any cheapo restaurants on the coast--not that we saw anyway. There's an aquarium in Mystic, and after waffling about "do we want to go?" we decide that we do, and turns out it is a good idea because they are having a special exhibit on frogs of the world. This means that we get to see the pixie frog, which only sounds like it would be a darling petite frog. The pixie frog is a gigantic, expansively fat frog that, according to the information plaque on its aquarium, eats "whatever will fit in its mouth." Other highlights include the beluga whales and a sea lion show in which perky human presenters ran around, divulging sea lion facts and feeding a trio of trained...monkeys! No, trained sea lions.

We keet driving north and east up the coast until we hit Rhode Island, where we find a neat old cemetary by accident. We were actually trying to get to a public-access beach, and in the course of following signs indicating such a beach, we find no beach, but instead a cemetary. But no matter. We enjoy ourselves making up Ben and Jerry's cemetary-themed ice cream flavors: Dead and Berried, Ashes to Ashes (vanilla) and Dust to Dust (chocolate). Finally, we do find a beach access point near the Theater by the Sea (hopefully Lisa got back up there to catch Todd Alan Johnson's play, but that's a different story) and we all stand on the beach for a while.

Lisa and I stand on the beach while Keith snaps photos. From here we can about see Long Island...or some big landmass.

It's a rocky beach.

And Lisa doubles as a fashion model. It's something about the spontaneous pose.

We turn around late in the afternoon, stopping at a lobster restaurant where Keith and I shared some appetizers, and took the scenic route back in the dark. See, I-95 cloggs up something awful with returning weekend vacationers on Sunday nights, so we dove off the interstate to some winding, hilly side roads that are marked as scenic in my National Geographic scenic drives book. We also pass William Gillette's castle (in the dark), sight unseen.

July 15 Today we walk around New York City. We don't actually manage to do anything, but we try. After failing to want to stand in a two-hour TKTS line, we walk south, see the Statue of Liberty from a distance and fail to gather enough desire to get on a ferry and tour Ellis Island. Next we make it to lunch at an excellent little restaurant in a slum. Maybe that's why it was so cheap, but the penne pasta they had was great. Then, egged on by an ad we spotted on a bus, we make for Central Park to see about Shakespeare in the Park's production of Twelfth Night. Sadly, Monday is the show's dark night (no performances on Monday), and this is made even more bittersweet by the discovery of the cast list.

Keith points out that Katie's doppelganger, Kristen Johnston, is in the cast. Not only is it a free play, but we would have seen Kristen Johnston too!

After we give up on Shakespeare in the Park we nap in Central Park's Shakespeare Garden.

We also find that the bathroom at the Shakespeare Garden side of the park is housed in an alarmingly nice-looking stone building.

After a Hebrew Nation hot dog dinner we walk to a gym so Lisa can make it in time to her office-league volleyball game. Keith and I watch, and turns out, volleyball is pretty entertaing to watch.

July 16 We drive to Quebec, Keith and I in his car and Lisa in her Explorer. We take the Vermont route, up I-91, which is scenic and well-maintained. The rest areas even offer coffee at a suggested donation level of fifty cents--just drop your coins in the styrofoam cup and help yourself.

A scenic pull-out along I-91. The same pull-out Keith and I stopped at the last time we went to Quebec. Coincidence?

Once in Canada we are immediately entertained by the "EN LA NOM DU LA VIE -- RELENTEZ" signs telling motorists to slow the heck down. (I do not vouch for the French spelling of "relent.") We arrive in Quebec, keep right on driving, and stop in St. Foy (pronounced "San Fwa," we found out) where we met Lisa at the hotel we'd reserved.

Lisa asked the front desk woman for some ice...and got this. Ice cubes wrapped in plastic. Fascinating.