MorgenDautrich.com - Trips 2008

After an overnight in Crooklyn [1] and brief stop at 1 Police Plaza [2], we hit the Northway for Vermont in the early afternoon of the 31st. We got up to Killington in time to dump our stuff at the house [3] we had rented and crank it up for New Years. After we killed the rest of the ginger brandy, Pete and I decided to hit the club with a vengeance. 2009 came at midnight and I did my best to start 2009 with a bang [4]. After some serious dancing and a few trips to the Moët fountain, I was slizzardsville [5]. Allegedly, everything went well until Pete and I left the club without knowing there was a re-enactment of the film 300 about to break out. Needless to say, we weren't on the Persian side and didn't crawl back in until 04h30.


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Weather was great on the first day of skiing. The sky was clear, but wind chill was reported to be minus 30ºF, and it felt like it. I ended up skiing on my own most of the time, stopping back at the lodge periodically to power up with Florida snowboarding legend Pete Silver [9].


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For all the hype (and cost of lift tickets), the mountain wasn't much at all. It didn't take more than a few runs to realize there was going to be a lot of waiting in line. The last resort I skied in high school was Val Thoren (Trois Vallée) in the Savoie and I think it ruined me for good. Killington was my last hope for the eastern coast of the US and the 930m drop wasn't impressive. To make things worse, the resort seemed to have be expanded piecemeal over time and lacked an overall plan. The "base lodge" was mid-slope, several lifts didn't go to any summit, multiple areas required polling from place to place and several gauntlets of snow-cannons first directly on open chairlifts [10]. The first day was a bit of a blow and I had to make an evening phone call to the parents and blame them for ruining my perspective.


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Once I got over my initial fit, I did some decent skiing the next two days. Luckily, Tim [11] had skied for Penn State and we both wanted to get as many runs as possible in so that made for a good duo (unless we ended up in the terrain park). I didn't know they had Scottish highland cows in Vermont! [18]


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I maxed out my lift time [15,16] so most evening were low-key at the lodge [19]. Typically we would make dinner and play games afterwards [20]. Some of which were pretty silly, some involved drinking, other involved simply living through the weekend [21]. Luckily I didn't have to drive back to New York!
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Tried my luck hunting again this year. You may notice that most of the photos are of Ron and I [1] or nature, but none of animals. That's pretty much the way it went. I had a run-in with a spiker (wasn't allowed to shoot) the first morning and nothing after that. Tracks were everywhere, especially with the dusting of snow [2]. We tried the forest [3], along the pipeline [4] and on both sides of the mountain [5], but we didn't see any deer.


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We tried different tactics including using blinds [6], tree stands [7,8], standing next to tree stands [9] and even typing in "deer" in the GPS [10], but no luck. It was nice to be out in the woods, but I guess I could do that without a donation to the PA Game Commission.


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As usual, the first stop in town was the Reading Terminal Market. We skipped Kamal's this year and opted for Halal grub from Nanee's Indian-Pakistani Kitchen [1,2]. While browsing afterwards I happened across some caña de azúcar [3] and suffered a brief Costa Rica flashback. The temperature outside put an end to that in a hurry!
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Next, we stop by to see the sights around Independence Hall on the way to Penn's Landing. The most over-inflated and insignificant de-traction was the Independence Visitor Center. I don't know what this disaster cost to build and operate, but it should move directly to the head of Mayor Nutter's list of things to 86. In support of my position, I offer this perplexing bit of propaganda: a yellow steer which has been adorned with the US Constitutional text, then strapped to a dolly [4]. Why do I think the phrase "...or else the terrorists win" was used to justify this over-enthused act of misguided bovine patriotism. Speaking of over enthusiasm, I had to snap this picture of Independence Hall [5] before being yelled at by park rangers for standing on a [modern, historically-insignificant, structurally sound] brick wall. Clearly they fail to realize that I've been whistled at with much quicker response time by more serious guards for far lesser offenses. I think the lady guard at the Liberty Bell [6] threatened to break our arms if we tried to touch [ring] it. Blew past the Second Bank of the United States [7] and finally got down to Penn's Landing [8] where the rink stood sadly vacant..


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The big attraction this year was Independence Seaport Museum. We didn't have time to look around in the museum, but we did tour the USS Becuna (SS-319) and USS Olympia (C-6) [9]. Despite being almost 100m long, the space on the Becuna was at a premium. Racks were everywhere, including above the reserve torpedoes [10]. The control room had the low-level red lighting [11], but the periscope was off-limits. We weren't below very long, but when I got to the aft engine room I found my dad doing and impression of Obermaschinist Johann from Das Boot [12]. I didn't have my Walther on me so the incident passed without punishment.


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After the sub, the Spanish-American War cruiser USS Olympia seemed luxurious...aside from having to sleep in hammocks in the hallways [13]. Another bizarre maritime moment occurred aboard this vessel [14]. Last stop was a peak at the Moshulu Floating Restaurant [15]. On the way back I got a quick shot of the Columbus monument [16], erected on the cinquecento anniversary of his "discovery" of America. No mention of the fine work the arrival...


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Hit the coaching clinic in the evening. The Hound was there [17] so we got the photo we missed last year. The food was unavoidably up in quantity and held even in quality. Technical presentation was vastly improved as all the talks (HC John Stevens [18], AC Joe Mullen, AC Jack McIlhargey, etc) were broadcast over the jumbotron and supplemented with video [19]. Thankfully, Craig Berube had his speaking roll revoked and demonstrated some on-ice drills instead [20]. Not really much new information this year and the quality of the gift (a Flyers' poster) went through the floor. We'll have to see about next year...


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Arenal lodge, which in addition to the most ___ driveway had a great view of the volcano [].

With the guest list I was given, Frantic City was the only acceptable destination for Kevin's Bachelor Party. As the best man, I put together an itinerary around all his favorite things: gambling, booze and golf (midget porn was excluded). We stayed at the Showboat [1], which was slightly less freakish [2] than Circus-Circus in Vegas, but provided a good location. The first night was a low-key affair, but featured Andrew Knowles the craps table maniac, freshly arrived from North Carolina [3]


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The second day started with a round of golf at the Twisted Dunes golf club. Reinforcements had arrived from Long Island [4] and competition was stiff [5] (at least in in the two carts ahead of Tony and I). The course seemed quite satisfactory [6], but play was cut short by limitations in the re-hydration supplies (no bar in the clubhouse!!!). As expected, Kevin ended up with the lowest individual score [7]. Joey Cement had the longest drive as well as longest driver throw [8]. I won best headwear despite Knowles' remark that I resembled The Man with the Yellow Hat [7].


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After some pre-gaming, and a few bets (some called in from Jack and Jerry) we headed down the boardwalk [9,10] to dinner. I had to make a quick stop along the way to see the Korean War Memorial [11].
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Like it says on several men's room stalls, Kevin is a huge fan of steak. The natural place for dinner was Sonsie Steakhouse [12, 13]. I reserved the wine room so we had the best seating in the house [14].

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There was slightly better seating at Bare Exposure afterward. They put some pretty good abuse on Kevin. Naturally, we all wanted more, but I guess they had just been in some kind of legal battle and no longer offered some package they were unwilling to talk about over the phone. Tame compared to the last Vegas trip, but not a bad get-together.

14th Anual Pocono Garlic Festival
14th Anual Pocono Garlic Festival	[1]	[2]	[3]	[4]

Bushkill Falls - "Niagara of Pennsylvania,"
Bushkill Falls - "Niagara of Pennsylvania,"	[5]	[6]


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I had heard that the East Coast Military Vehicle Rally in Aberdeen was a good show so Pete and I swung by Ripkin Stadium [1] to see what it was about. The weather was horrible, but there wasn't much cooking at the show. There were some artillery pieces [2] and several trucks [3] but most everything was under tarps. We made 3/4 of a pass through and that was enough for us. So much for the largest outdoor militaria flea market in the country! We played some racquetball, chess, and ended up getting drinks at some local dive [4]


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The next day we headed down to Annapolis. We toured the town [5,6] and harbor [7] before stopping in to check out the U.S. Naval Academy. The first stop was a photo with Bill the Goat [8] in front of Lejeune Hall.


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Unfortunately, the Museum at Preble Hall was closed for renovations, but we toured the rest of campus. The visitor center had a nice view of Spa Creek [9] and several interesting displays including model ships [10]. We snuck into Dahlgren Hall, the old hockey rink, which was an impressive building [11,12].

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Photo by P. Silver

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We also stopped at the Sumariner Monument [14], the Midway Monument [15], and the Crypt of John Paul Jones [16]. This was my first trip to the USNA and the campus was quite nice. It would definitely warrant a second trip once the museum re-opens.

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Photo by P. Silver

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We finally got our act together to visit Jake in Kentucky. He had been whining for the past ten years about how we forgot about him and "why come we don't get to the south" to visit him. The Kentucky Derby would be a good excuse to visit him and swing by Brian's in Missouri too. Both Bootsy and I had delayed flights into Lambert so it was the initial tour, which included Forest Park, was cut short. We did get some nice dusk shots of the Missouri History Museum [1] and the St Louis Art Museum [2], [3] before heading to University City for the night to stay with Brian's friend Dave [4]. The plan was to take it easy the first night, but we ended up being obnoxious at a Thai restaurant across from Club 608. I think it was Beckstrom who demanded to speak with the "lord noodle" who was not the owner, but menu item #57.


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The next day we did some sightseeing being heading to Louisville. The first stop was the Art Museum, where Beckstrom made 65 attempts to obtain free postcards by impressing the old women at the various giftshops with the phrase "...oh, really, I run the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City." Favorite pieces included: [5,6,7].
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	Breaking the Vessels (1990) by Anselm Kiefer	Loch Lomond (1875) by Gustave Doré	Sadak in Search of the Waters of Oblivion (1812) by John Martin

The second stop was the Missouri History Museum, which must be thrilling...if you're from Missouri. Highlights included and exhibition on the 1904 World's Fair [8] which was by far the largest from the Fair's inception in 1851 through at least the 1960's. From the contemporary paintings of the grounds [9], it seems like a terrible mistake to have torn down the all the buildings. Another minor attraction was the mandatory reproduction of Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis [ ] (I believe the original is at the Air & Space Museum in DC).


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After the museums, we headed downtown to see the old courthouse [ ] and the arch [ ]. We stopped several other places along the way including the ____ church and the Fox Theater, but had to cut the dragging tour short due to Beckstrom's self-proclaimed sleep deprivation induced "annihilation"
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Just as we are about to start the 260mi drive, Brian announces that his radiator is leaking profusely and we would probably end up on the side of the road, hitchhiking, like he was two weeks earlier [13]. Unfortunately the Corvette was in a ditch, the Mercedes was t-boned at the bottom of a hill, so the ____ was the only means of conveyance left. Given that we were on a mission, our only alternative was to buy several gallons of anti-freeze, several gallons of distilled water, and slap a big tiger magnet on the side of the car before hitting the road to Louisville.


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Bowling Green

Tour of campus + walk around stadium

National Corvette museum - Brian super-excited

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Columbia, MO

Cinco De Mayo a big deal in Mid-west

Buddy Lance gave us a drive back to St. Louis airport

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This was my second trip in as many weeks to Lawrence's new pad in Deal, NJ. One more trip will complete my first visitor trifecta, granting me couch preferences at that residence for life! After my short visit we headed to the Island for the big party. Our first stop was, of course, BK Sweeney's [1] where we met Barbara, James, and Joey (behind the bar). We took it easy to pace ourselves for the big party the next day. Preparations the next day included buying a ton of food and booze, as well as running from the cops after Mary rammed cars in the parking lot in a helium-induced planning frenzy [2].


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The party was a big hit with drinks [3] , dancing [4], and the traditional push-up contest [5]. Here I feel obligated to point out the magnanimity of Joey Simone, who refused to take money wagered against his feat of strength! In other competitions, Kevin's grandfather was a shoe-in for best-dressed [6]. On the way out, I got a photo with Roseann and Elizabeth [7] before heading back to Sweeney's for the after party [8].


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The drive back to NJ was rough the next morning. I was wheelman for the hellish 89mi departing at 06h30, which was rivaled by only Groundhog Day 2006.

	Dinner at Dimmick Steakhouse (Milford, PA)
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