Being in RI

I was just told that I don't ever post anything to my blog. Well, here is a posting.

I'm currently in Narragansett, RI with my girlfriend for a week. We came here for a friend's wedding and to visit my family. The trip has been nice, but I'm looking forward to being back in Seattle. I forgot what the summers are like in this small New England seaside town. When it's hot, it's humid. When it's sunny, the roads are full of cars. When it's sunny and hot, you just sit around the house and wish you were in Seattle. Oh, that's not entirely true. The evenings are lovely. Most of the daytrippers have left and the temps have cooled. The beaches are really lovely, and unlike the PNW, I can go in the ocean without risk of hypothermia.

There are also the gastronomic delights of the Ocean State. "What's a CLAM cake?" my girlfriend asks. If you you've never had one, the name seems to be a complete oxymoron. Clams in cakes. What could be more repulsive? In truth, they are pretty tasty. They are deep-fried balls of dough with clam bits in them that you eat with clam chowder - Rhode Island's clam theme has even been picked up by Saveur magazine. We also lay claim to 'hot wieners' - the food that is. Also known as 'New York System Style Wieners' - 'hot wieners' sounds better, doesn't it? - these little dogs are covered with a spiced meat sauce and are often served with mustard and onions. Then there's Del's frozen lemonade. Another odd RI concoction, this is like a lemonade slushy. I've heard they tried marketing it in other parts of the country buy people didn't know whether to sip it or eat it with a spoon. I guess people are less concerned with convention around here. It's not uncommon to see a kid at the beach with a towel around his waist mashing a waxed paper cup into a funnel to pour his Del's lemonade into his mouth. Without fail, at some point, the glacier of lemony ice calves a chunk into his nose. He wipes it off and continues his task like a dog trying to clean to bottom of a used mayonnaise jar.

When I get home to Seattle, I'll post some photos from the trip.