Week In Review (Vacation Edition)

• Coney Island--is where we are above. No, not on the world famous "Cyclone." This is aboard the less well-known "Sea Serpent" at Deno's, which has the insane Wonder Wheel ferris wheel. Note the contrast between the hands-free 7 year-old Drew, and holding-on-tight 5 year-old Jacob, who is yelling, "Momma!"

• Bronx Zoo--Okay. To be fair, I haven't been to Zoo Atlanta in about six years. The last I checked it's a well-regarded zoo. But, the Bronx Zoo has to be at least ten times better! The newest exhibit is "Wild Dogs of Africa." They were Drew's must see. Marian liked the cheetahs, Matty the ducks, Jacob the rhinos, and I liked the black panthers. Also, the Children's Zoo area was terrific!

• Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel--This is an amazing bit of engineering . . . 17 miles coastline to coastline. It's been around since '64, but I've never seen it till now. Wow.

• Rest Areas--They're kind of a crap shoot (so to speak), and I think we stopped at the worst and at the best rest areas I have ever encountered. The worst was in Virginia off I-95. There was a huge line of porta potties outside which we of course avoided to use the more civilized indoor plumbing. But oh the stench and flies we found there! Forget changing the baby! And Jacob decided he could wait a little longer! (At least this didn't happen to us, or things would have been much worse!) The best was outside of Smyrna, DL off of Hwy 13. Playground for the kids, complimentary coffee, clean restrooms, beautiful landscaping, friendly staff. I'm planning all future travels through Delaware so I can stop there again!

Church Signs Yet Again

The Potter's House is a church on my way to work that has proved to be a fruitful source of church sign fodder. I have spared you from some of them, but they currently have dueling sayings on each side of the sign, so I wonder which you like better:

THIS CHURCH IS PRAYER CONDITIONED

or

GOD GRADES ON THE CROSS, NOT THE CURVE

Thoughts? Comments?

A Week Later . . .

And I've finally found a moment to check in again. The blog looks great on this Dell 17" flat panel! I'm currently sitting in Southold, Long Island, NY. This is a scenic, quiet place on the North Fork of the island. It's quite a change from the Bronx, Queens, and even our base of operation in Centereach. The picture above (thanks Bob McInnis) is from Greenport, where we are headed next. We'll reach the Hamptons today and end up at Splish Splash water park before calling it a day. I have much to say, but no time!

Daily Mail on the Road

Yep, family vacation. A liesurely tour of I-95. So far we have stopped in Cary, NC where we worshipped yesterday morning at Christ Church of NC. That was followed by a wonderful dinner at Amedeo's in Raleigh. Good food and good people. We are now in D.C. and will make the final push to Long Island later today. Looking forward to NYC traffic!

New Poll--MAYONNAISE!

The old poll was up forever, but I was pleased with the results. NCAA Football and Basketball combined for 50% of the vote! I'll choose to ignore some of the current college football headlines and say "Hurray" for the amatuers over the professional guys!

But on to the new . . . Mayonnaise! This seems to be a love/hate thing, so the question is "Yay" or "Nay."

Also, what brand do you prefer? I have come to believe that Duke's is the best. Here's something about Duke's from wikipedia:

In the Southeastern part of the United States, Mrs. Eugenia Duke of Greenville, South Carolina founded the Duke's Product Company in 1917 to sell sandwiches to soldiers training at nearby Fort Sevier. Her homemade mayonnaise became so popular that her company began to focus exclusively on producing and selling the mayonnaise, eventually selling out to the C.F. Sauer company in 1929. Duke's Mayonnaise, still made to the original recipe, remains a popular brand of mayonnaise in the Southeast, although it is not generally available in other markets. Of special note to diabetics, Duke's mayonnaise is the only major mayonnaise available in the United States which does not include sugar as an ingredient.