Keeping Up Your Strength!

The Nigro's never miss meals. Ever... I have friends and colleagues who say things like "Oh I just completely forgot to eat lunch today." I can honestly say that never happens to me. Even when I'm sick with food poisoning or a stomach flu - once the worst of it passes I'm normally home on the couch watching the Food Network or planning what I'll have for dinner the second I can have solid food again.

Keeping up with traditions, we worked our way from Massachusetts to Bar Harbor and ate well along the way. Our hotel came with a free breakfast buffet and, true to form we made the most of it. Scrambled eggs, omelets, french toast, yogurt, fruit, bagels etc.. I think between the three of us we touched on all of them. With full bellies and me full of coffee we headed off to finish the trip north to Maine.

After about two hours of driving we all needed a restroom and leg stretching break. I found a rest stop north of Portland and while there I grabbed a Starbucks, Mom got a Kit Kat and Dad grabbed an ice cream. We piled back in the car and continued the drive, pondering where to stop for lunch. What? They were just snacks!

Unfortunately, we followed the Garmin instead of our instincts and instead of driving up the coast we stayed on 95 up to Bangor, then took Route 1A to cut across to Highway 3 and Acadia. 95 produced nothing more than fast food options and 1A seemed to have nothing more than car dealerships, thrift shops and churches. Finally we passed a sign for "The Falls" - a burger, seafood and ice cream place that had a parking lot full of cars and a perfect casual atmosphere. Order from the window and someone will bring you your food either inside or out. We chose in as it was climbing into the upper 80's at that point and the sun was beating down. Mom and Dad went for grilled chicken wraps that were moist perfect chicken chunks in a sundried tomato wrap with lettuce and tomato served with kettle chips. I had the haddock basket with fries, cole slaw and a soft buttered roll. The haddock was local, fresh and super crisp. The fries were awesome and malt vinegar over everything made it perfect. Dad finished my cole slaw and Mom my roll.

We finished the drive to our Best Western in Acadia, checked in and immediately asked for a recommendation for dinner. All 3 of us were feeling pretty exhausted from various states of non sleep from the night before and the drive today so we decided to spend a little time by the pool and unwind. I grabbed a catnap, a shower and then we headed out to dinner at the Chart Room just 2 miles up the road from our hotel. The ladies at the hotel told us they had a great early bird special of $18.95 for a lobster dinner until 6pm. We got there at 6:08 and had the same dinner for $21.95. Dad asked the hostess 7 times if we made it in time for the special. After saying it ended at 6 a few times she finally just stopped answering. Dad made a point of grumbling about the cost. Mom made a point of getting aggravated. I made a point to snap at both of them and tell Dad I'd give him the $3 for the difference. Yup...it's a Nigro Family vacation. Our waiter took it all in stride and 3 lobster dinners appeared quickly.

Currently in the middle of soft shell lobster season our 1 1/4 pounders were super sweet but not too heavy on the meat. But dipped in drawn butter and accompanied with a hot baked potato with sour cream and butter and some crisp baby vegetables it was a perfect meal. I was probably the only one to attack the tomalley - the super creamy greenish paste that functions as both the liver and the pancreas of the lobster and to me, when spread either on a soft warm roll or a toast point is possibly the best part of the lobster. A local summer ale to wash it down and I was a happy happy girl. I was tempted to go for a slice of blueberry pie but we'd heard there was ice cream in town so figured we'd take a breather and save some time.

Down to Bar Harbor we found a perfect parking spot (thank you parking deities) and wandered up to Ben and Billie's confections. The ice cream flavors in this place were off the wall and included lobster ice cream with real lobster chunks. No - we didn't try it although tomorrow is another day... I got the chocolate peanut butter cookie dough, Dad got Moose Droppings (a super dark chocolate ice cream with chocolate chunks...at least that what's i hope they were) and Mom got vanilla caramel fudge. We sat on a bench near the shop to enjoy our ice cream while Dad harassed every kid that came out asking if he could have a lick of their ice cream. Amazing how he hasn't gotten arrested harassing random children yet.

On the drive back to the hotel in the last dregs of twilight, our thoughts turned to tomorrow and the trolley tour we booked of Acadia. No - it wasn't about what time to get up or what to wear or bring...it was about what time we had to be at breakfast so that we'd have enough time to eat! Heaven forbid we should miss a meal!

Survival Tip: Elastic waistbands are your friend!

Sleepless nights, shower management and what you really forgot (twice...)

So last night I confirmed that I really do hate soft mattresses. Growing up Mom had this theory that a hard mattress would be better for our backs (umm....5 years in a back brace and two titanium rods screwed into my spine might say otherwise but....). So here I am in this pretty room in Massachusetts with this luxury pillowtop mattress....and its 2am and I'm miserable. Thankfully we had separate rooms so I could toss, turn and curse to my heart's content about the woman damned me to miss out on the luxury that is the pillowtop. Sometime around 3 am I finally fell into a deep sleep to dream about hospitals, rowing and thunderstorms. Thanks melatonin for finally kicking in!

At 7:15 my in room phone rang to the melodious tones of Mom singing "Gooood Mooorning!" with the happy note that she gave me an extra 15 minutes! Thanks, Mom! But it was my idea to get an early start as we've got another 5 hour drive to get to Bar Harbor today and I'm anxious to get the driving over with! So into the shower I go! They only had handicapped rooms left and while my bathroom would probably have been better equipped for my Dad (walk in shower instead of tub) it was a further walk from the lobby. I didn't quite notice the two shower heads and turned on what i thought would turn on the handheld shower....WRONG. Sprayed in the face with icy cold water from the higher shower head I didn't see! Well that's a great way to wake up in the morning! I adjusted it pretty quick and actually managed to have a pretty nice shower all things considered. Except I don't understand with walk-in showers why they don't friggen tilt the floor so the water runs down the drain instead of all over the bathroom. If I was using crutches or supports of any kind I'd have busted my ass big time trying to navigate the wet floor (heck I'd do that without supports too....).

So I'm showered, dressed and now I realized that I forgot a hairbrush and socks. Sock solution is easy - steal from Mom and Dad. Hairbrush solution for the moment is fingers and pigtails. But it does mean a trip to a drug store is in our future. Which is good because I hear they sell vodka cheap in drug stores in Maine and I have a feeling I'm going to need it.

Survival Tip: When you double back to get your forgotten purse, you should also pick up other things you forgot including more sleeping pills.....

Handling Minor Setbacks (and how to not place blame....)

So sometimes things don't always go as you plan - or - perhaps as a good friend of the family likes to say "Man plans, and God (or insert your own personal deity, moral code, universe etc.. here) laughs".

So Mom and Dad showed up around 10:30 as planned with Fred in tow. The two furballs settled in fairly quickly with minimal growling. Both seemed resigned to their fate to be roommates for the week and once various safe zones and food bowl choices had been made each retreated to their own corner giving only the occasional weak hearted hiss.

And so, after a few last minute packing items we departed. As predicted, the arguments that ensued were over the directions and why wasn't I following the Garmin and the radio. But, in the relative scheme of life in the Nigro Family these were normal calm quiet discussions that any family could have :).

After a bout of traffic on the Hutchinson Parkway set us back about a half an hour we started to make great time. Around 1:00 we decided it was time to stop for lunch and pulled into an Outback. And that my friends, is where it all went wrong....

Getting out of the car I spoke the words "Hang on...let me grab my purse" only to have my nightmares realized. I checked the front seat - no purse. I checked the back seat. No purse. I checked the trunk. Nothing. I checked everything again. Nothing. No drivers license, no credit cards, no cash, no cash card, no make up...nothing. I frantically called my cat sitters in the hope that they would be able to access my apartment and make sure the purse was in fact there. My other fear was that I did in fact take the purse with me, put it on the roof of the car and drove away leaving the bag (which was purchased in Venice and is one of my favorite) to the wind. Both sitters were not in the area. I called another friend who happened to be on his way to Norwalk in the hopes that he could connect with the Super who also has a set of my keys. Only the damn Super is in Europe and his wife was in NJ throwing a baby shower for her daughter! The fates were against me.

I had to do it. I had to come clean. The first stupid setback of the trip belonged to me. We had to go back. Back down Route 8, back down the Merritt Parkway, across the Hutch and the Cross County to the Sawmill, to the Henry Hudson to Broadway and back to the apartment. Thankfully the traffic gods were on our side and we made it in just about an hour. I ran up and sure enough, there was the purse precisely where I left it. After a quick bathroom stop, we got on the road again. Up Broadway, onto the Henry Hudson (where my father reminded me that his E-Z pass now got to pay the toll twice....), up the Sawmill to the Cross County and the Hutch, up to the Merritt and back up to 8. By the time we hit Hartford I had been driving for well over 5 hours. We all remarked we didn't realize Hartford was quite so far and then realized - it actually wasn't.

We crossed into Massachusetts sometimes after 6 and I knew that my plans of Portsmouth were slipping away. The stress of the day and the extra two hours of driving were taking their toll on all of us. Dad stopped complaining about the radio and the temperature in the car. Mom's idle chatter about everyone and everything slowed to a crawl. When I passed a sign that said 69 miles to Portsmouth I felt a renewed sense of energy. Until I realized those were the 69 miles I already drove to get back and forth to the apartment - and finally, upon seeing the green lights of a Holiday Inn somewhere north of Worcester, MA I gave up the goat.

Here I was planning on blogging about how to survive a trip with my parents but maybe I should be blogging about how they survive the trip with me? Can't wait to see what tomorrow will bring... For now all is well. I have a comfy king size bed, Family Guy is on back to back episodes and the security guards just kicked out the loud family sitting by the indoor pool directly outside my room. Dreamland calls.

Survival Tip: A little OCD checking of EVERYTHING you need to have with you doesn't hurt anybody.

And it begins.....

After weeks of planning, here we are on the morning of departure for our family trip to Maine. Mom and Dad are on their way to me as I type, with their cat in the backseat whom they insisted would benefit from spending the week while we're all away with my cat so they wouldn't get "lonely". Number 1 - their cat (Fred) hates my cat (Meatball). Number 2 - do cats get lonely? I mean I know Meatball will miss me but as long as his Aunt Stacie and Aunt Wendy come by to give him some food and a scratch he'll be fine. Meanwhile - the question of whether or not I'll have an apartment left after these two try to kill each other is another story.

Moving on, I'm nearly packed except for the 40 something pounds of technology I'll be carrying with me. Laptop, Charger, Ipad, Iphone, Charger, Nook (b/c I can't read on the Ipad in the sun) and charger, Digital Camera and charger.... So glad I'm heading up to Maine to 'reconnect' with nature. There's also a work folder I'm bringing up with a horrific looking macro that I need to finish updating at some point. Don't tell my mother this. She hates when I work when we're on vacation. What she doesn't realize is I do to - I just sort of would like to make sure I have a job to come back to! (Otherwise that will be another blog: How to survive moving back with your parents at 33.....)

So after they drop off the cat, and we attempt to have them make 'friends' we'll load up the car and begin the journey northward. My guess is that we'll stop somewhere in Riverdale for lunch (for those of you who don't know I live in Washington Heights). After that it's (hopefully) a straight shot onto Portsmouth, New Hampshire where we'll be camping (in a Marriott) for the night. This is where it gets fun. My parents have a Garmin that they have come to rely pretty heavily on for travel. But a friend of mine has made the trek from NY to Maine a few times lately and sent me what he promises are better directions. I have warned, and rewarned my parents that since I'm driving I get to pick the route. And to at least get out of Connecticut with minimal hassles we're following the directions that I have which say avoid 95 at all costs and take smaller less traveled roads for no traffic hassles. I'm opening the betting pool now that our first argument (possibly even before the lunch stop after 10 minutes of driving....) will be about how my directions are different from the Garmin....

The other fun part of this is going to be the radio. I meant to get a ipod car connector as I have a few playlists that even my parents would like, but of course, forgot. Now you have to understand that until I was about 14 I thought that cars only had AM radio and the only thing you could listen to on long family car trips was talk radio - generally Dr. Melzer (sp?) who gave what I think was the worst advice ever. Occasionally there would be Arthur Schwarz and Food Talk which I grew to not surprisingly love. There was also a woman Joan Somebody....can't remember who talked about travel and shopping etc... She grew on me as I got older and realized that anyone was better than Dr. Melzer! Now in the New York area I can probably get away with NPR for a while but when we leave the tri-state it should get more interesting. So the 2nd fight after the directions (and possibly a tiff over lunch) will most likely be the radio. Too bad driving with headphones is frowned upon....

Survival tactic? Taking a tip from Dory in Finding Nemo - just keep driving.