Baahstan trip, Day Three, Friday September 1st - Part Two!!

It seems that I am a bit behind here. I will have been back home for 3 weeks before I finish typing up the report of the whole trip. But that will still be faster than my brother Dave mails my package. So much for having my favorite pair of shoes anytime soon. Anyway... picking up right where I left off...

So I rode into Mystic, down onto the road running parallel to the water's edge. I passed a pretty looking cemetery (which I neglected to photograph) and zipped right on by Kitchen Little. That was Rachael Ray's first stop on her show and I found it without trying. One of the few fortuitous happenstances of the trip.


So I turned around, parked my Ninja out front and went on in. Kitchen Little, as I noted in an earlier post, was on Rachael Ray's "$40 A Day" show. I'd looked online to see at what three places she'd dined. The place is a tiny shack, with hardly any seating inside. The waitress asked if I would like to go outside. I agreed. I'm glad I did. Despite the gloom of the sky, the scenery was nice and eating outside is not something I do too often. Seating being scarce outside as well as in, I was seated with a group of three.

Feeling uncharacteristically freindly, I introduced myself. My brunch companions were Charley, Deb and Alexa. Charley was an older guy and a Hardley rider. Deb was (I'm guessing) his girlfriend and Alexa was Deb's daughter. She was around 13, I would guess. All three were from New York City, which I tried not hold against them. Alexa promptly informed me that laughing consumes three calories. After hearing this factoid the third time, I asked from where she'd gleaned this helpful information. It seems she learned this from Dr. Stephen Urkel of the Family Matters Institute. For some vague reason, I was a tad bit skeptical.

Charley and I talked motorcycles for the most part. They were all surprised I was riding 1000 miles for a trip. He said the Harley lets him ride all day at way over the speed limits in comfort. Personally, I don't want to be too isolated from the road while riding. It seems to this rider that this could easily lead to complacency and, eventually, a really bad wreck.

I mentioned that I was thinking about renting a Harley for a day on Cape Cod and he said "You'll never want to get on that little bike again." I wouldn't mind riding one for a day. But I'd never buy one, at least not a new one. I would much rather get a Victory touring bike than a Harley any day. Less snobbery involved, I'm guessing. Too many Harley riders look down on those that ride anything else. Which is funny since I think just about every Japanese cruiser out there outperforms Harleys with smaller engine sizes.

I ordered a "Portugese Fisherman" breakfast without the cheese and a sideof potatoes. Here's what the recipe looks like: "Portugese Fisherman"

The breakfast was good, but not nearly as spicy as I'd hoped. I decided against drenching the eggs with hot sauce since I was going to be on the road for a few more hours. The Portugese Muffin served with was almost just like an English Muffin, only sans the large craters inside and with a sweet taste. It was a welcome new culinary experience. I am guessing I might have liked the eggs more with the cheese, but I am not usually a cheese person unless it is on pizza.

When they cleared our plates, I had an awful thought. I asked if they took plastic and they don't. Now this might have been helpful to know beforehand since I had zero dollars in my wallet. I mean, you're running a eatery in a tourist trap town and you don't take cards? Too stupid. You would think they would have a BIG sign saying "no cards" on the door!

Luckily, I had just enough toll change in my tail bag for the meal and a decent tip. After counting out twelve or more dollars in small change and paying, I went out to my bike and retrieved my camera for a picture of Charley & Co. We said our goodbyes and I got back on the bike and returned to I-95.

Somewhere along the way after crossing into Rhode Island I stopped at Dunkin Donuts and gave my brother Dave a call. He said he would not be home until about 5. I called my younger brother Jason to see what he was doing. He, Shane and his girlfriend Leetha were planning to go see a movie and I didn't have time to get to there before it started. (I guess cancelling their movie plans to meet me would have been out of the question.) So I continued on my way.

Traffic was pleasantly light until I got into Providence, where it stopped completely a few times and slowed to a crawl for much, much longer. If it sounds as if I whine about traffic too much, I admit I do. I have a two or three mile commute to work every day. I am NOT used to sitting in stopped traffic and I have a short fuse when it happens.

Looking at the map, trying to refresh my memory, I see that I could have had a much nicer ride if I'd gone out of my way. Look at a map of Rhode Island. I could have gone over to Route 138 from I-95, then of the Route 138. I could have spent a good part of the trip on bridges and in the salty breezes, gone through Newport and on north to Plymouth. Instead I got exhausted (by the fumes) and frustration. Hindsight is 20/20, of course.

So I continued up I-96 and over to Route 44, crossing into Massachusetts. 44 starts off in Providence and is really just a big city street until you get out of town. It then is a nice, quiet (albeit boring and way too straight) country road. At least until you get close to Plymouth. There it turns into a modern and even more boring divided highway. I soon got to Dave's new house, without him being there. I took off the bags and went into the center of Plymouth to sightsee a bit. It was nice seeing the water and the harbor again. I stopped at another Dunkin Donuts (are you seeing a theme here?) and watched the rush hour traffic go on by. (I just remembered I never checked my Mass Lotto ticket I bought that day. I could be rich and not even know it!)

Soon Dave was home and my trip out there had come to a blissful end. The ride out there was pretty rough on my neophyte self. More than once I'd seriously considered turning back home and forgetting the whole thing. But I am glad I did it. Next year, I will be trailering the bike out there and back in the pickup I will be acquiring within a few days.

I will continue with some nice (and cute!) vacation pics and posts about the rest of the vacation and my return trip soon. But it's very late and I have work in less than 6 hours. Good night!