Blogger.com got a new interface. I hate it. It's soft and bubble-rounded. And the new editing box ate my post. This is the second version. Sometimes I can only be clever once, and the second draft is just not the same.

On Friday we went out of town for part of the Memorial Day weekend. Headed east on Rte 50 toward Delaware. Traffic was great, but the Bay Bridge was horrifying. We were on the "new" span, which was built in 1973 (31 years ago!), not the "old" span which was built in 1952!!! So we were one lane heading east, while the lanes to our left were headed west. Yes, oncoming traffic, with no divider of any kind. There is no shoulder. There are no concrete edge barriers. Just three little metal railings that arent even as wide as a standard guard rail. So it's see through. You are VERY aware that you are nearly 200 feet off the water. Scary bridge. I will never cross it again. I will drive 1 hour up to Wilmington DE and 1 hour back down rather than cross that 4.3 miles of terror again.

Dover is a strange little town surrounded by farms and the Dover Air Force Base, home of Air Mobility Command. We visited the AMC Museum on Saturday. Mike got a clock for his office where the background looks like an altimeter; and a red shirt that says "Remove Before Flight" ... they also had that in a tank top and a nightshirt. On the internet, I found the same theme on boxer shorts. Cute. At the museum we got to climb in an old restored C-9, and I enjoyed hearing all about the cockpit controls.

Then we drove up to Longwood Gardens in PA. Wasnt the best idea since Mike has bad allergies. But he declined to stop for a decongestant, so within 2 hours he was utterly miserable. So that meant that I had to miss the evening's Festival of Fountains light&water display (the big point of going!). We did get to eat at the restaurant (I insisted). Service started out great and went sharply downhill. But I had an incredible mushroom soup (did you know that 50% of the mushrooms grown in America are from farms in West Chester County, PA?). Then I had a Heirloom Tomato Salad. Wonderful! Two orange/yellow and two red tomatoes had been squished slightly so that they stood in a 4-tall tower, surrounded by cheese and greens, in a delicious vinegrette. Heirloom tomatos have a LOT more flesh than modern hothouse varieties. Next was mustard-encrusted lamb with a mint salsa. It was very nice, but not as succulent as Mike's prime rib.

After two nights of thus hardly sleeping b/c of awful mattresses at hotels (expensive hotels, nonetheless!), Mike wanted to go home. So we did, instead of doing the other things I had planned for. But at least we had a little fun, and were total slugs on Monday at home.

What I'm reading now:
The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World

This series was suggested to me by Logan, who hasnt steered me wrong in the past. But Logan, if you ever read this... they're DUMB!