BERMUDA AND NEW ENGLAND IN SPRING - NJ

Tuesday 16 May 1995 Churchtown PA - Ringwood NJ

A beautiful looking day. I could not do credit to the awful tweeness of this house last night – writer’s cramp; a recalcitrant pen; a snoozing Rab – all conspired to cut it short. The first signs were out front “NO PARKING”; “GUESTS PARK AT REAR” ; “PARK HERE”. Fairly authoritarian you might say and belying the gentle countryside, the birds in the trees and the rabbits  nibbling grass in the driveway before scuttling off across the fields. A scarecrow alongside the path together with several “Gardeners’’ Prayers” planted next to the path raised the kitsch detectors as did the two authentically rustic swinging benches (for the use of guests in the evening, we discovered).

Good country

 

An anxious little scrap of a lass - Gina - was on the back porch to greet us timorously and warn us of the immediate rules – we got the distinct impression she would like to have checked the soles of our shoes. Taking us up to our room (I think it was the Violet Room, although the hand painted floral bordered sign on the door refers to it as The Edward Davies Room) we were reminded of a more  cluttered version of Bronwyn’s house (our neighbour in Elsternwick, Melbourne) a feat we had not thought to be possible.

I suppose we were lucky that we were prepared for the incredible jumble of the room. Every surface had something on it – even the bed had a hand painted floral bordered sign demanding removal of the quilt and shams before retiring. Little notices abounded adjuring guests to turn off lights to save electricity; not to run the air-conditioning if not necessary; to be considerate of other guests by keeping the volume on the radio and ancient television down between 9 pm and 9 am; pointing out that tipping was voluntary and not included in the bill – this printed on an envelope designed to accept a very large tip. But best of all was a small sign saying “Thanks – your [sic] worth a mint to us.” next to a delicate china saucer containing two root beer candies.

Ready for breakfast

Today was quite an adventure in the end. We set off after our late breakfast which was good but did not really live up to its reputation, we thought. There were very tasty pears to start with – home preserved little Gina  told us, by the folks up the road; followed by home made granola which was also good – like sticky muesli. The main course, egg entrée, as Gina called it was Eggs Oh Lay? Au Lait? Who knows? Basically Macaroni Cheese a la Arthur Cole without the macaroni. It was served with a salsa sauce i.e. tomato sauce with onions. But what got us that it was served with slices of gingerbread on the side. Most unusual for us.

The only other people at the Inn was a group of Australians – also from Victoria by what they said. They studiously ignored us, which was fine by me. Rab could see the patriarch carefully picking each nostril and studying the contents thus revealed.

After breakfast we headed back down the road a bit to se if we could pick up a couple of batteries from Obies General Store. My, my, what a place. A huge double storied barn with a mezzanine store, all creaking woodwork and shelves jammed with an eclectic collection of all manner of things. There were some lovely quilts – hundreds of them – and I finally bought my hat, a black Amish one which I was refused permission to purchase in 1981. (I tried to buy at least one piece of headwear every trip and built up an interesting collection over the years. Alas, most were stolen in a burglary when we were living in Zimbabwe -  by the security guard we suspected.) no batteries, but.

So we finally got on our way at about 10.30 thorough some delightful countryside. The trees are all soft greens and, as I have probably mentioned previously, the azaleas and dogwoods are profusely in bloom. The former are so densely packed they look like bougainvillea and the latter, both pink and white are simply beautiful. The cultivated ones seem more heavily packed with blossom than those on the woods. The wisteria were also a sight to see.

We kept to the back roads again, which slows down the passage but makes it much more interesting. We paused briefly at a small mall where I managed to get the batteries (and where Rab snouzed around looking for a back brush for Matt!!) All went well and Rab navigated with her usual level of skill. We did miss one poorly signposted turn, but that didn’t make any significant difference and we were soon on the expressway aiming to make up for lost time. Unfortunately while hurtling along we hit some rubbish on the highway. There was a tremendous clatter but all seemed well. Rab was getting peckish so we turned off the highway. Just as well we did because one rear tyre was flat and shredded. That was when the drama started.

I went into a handy booze shop to find out where I could get a new tyre. One of the boys gave me a couple of addresses (and some very dodgy directions) and I changed the wheel – of course all the cars here come with those dinky little spares which can only be used for about 10 miles at low speeds. We stopped at the first of the shops – Whites – but not for long. What a rude bunch of arseholes they were. Incredibly rude. The next shop was much better – really nice guys but unfortunately they didn’t have the right size tyre. The advertising for the car we are driving – a Ford Taurus – says it is the biggest seller in the US and it seems incredible to me that no one stocked a tyre to fit it.

Another five miles down the road, after a couple more false alarms, we found a place that could do the job, quickly and pleasantly, but the whole shebang took us the best part of three hours. I must say too that I did not get all the support I might have done from my travelling companion, who implied a lack of attention on my part merely because I had not cross examined the people who gave the directions. Of course the position was exacerbated by the fact that she hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast and she calmed down a bit after getting some food down her – a Big Mac of all things. I took somewhat longer to simmer down – it is after all quite difficult to drive on the ‘wrong’ side of the road and it had been a long day.

We finally arrived here at our friends the Schafers safe and sound to a very warm welcome from Nora who had gone to considerable trouble to cook us a very tasty meal, including and vegetarian pie. After a good walk around the Lake, we had a couple of beers a glass or two of wine and hours of chat which is still continuing as I write.