Sooo Close!

This evening, Richard and I attended the Sound Tigers playoff game against the Connecticut Whale in Hartford. The Tigers had lost the first 2 games (of 5) in Bridgeport, so this was a do or die game for them. In fact, the Tigers had been shut out in both games.

We arrived at the XL Center early enough to watch the teams warm up. We got $5 seats which turned out to be pretty decent.

I was hoping that the Tigers would win 3-2 like they during the previous 2 games we attended this season. But I got a foreshadowing of the ending when I discovered that my cell phone (& camera) was suffering a dead battery (I hope that was all it was).

The game turned out to be a real nail biter. The Whale scored first and the thought occurred that the Tigers could be swept in 3 games and shut out in all. But it was not to be as the Tigers finally scored a goal. Then they actually took the lead 2-1 but the Whale tied it up. With 15 minutes to go in the 3rd period, the Whale went ahead 3-2, but the Tigers tied it up and regulation time ended with a tie.

So the game went into sudden death overtime (after a regular 20-minute intermission). Now we were really chewing our nails. About 10 minutes into the period, the Whale prevailed and the game and the series was over. Although it was a thrilling game, we went home tired and disappointed that the Tigers had come sooo close but not close enough.

But I take comfort in my Cleveland heritage that there is always next year!

Saturday Meanderings

With the Soh Daiko concert over and a gorgeous sunny, warmishly cool day blessing us, it was hard to just drive (55 miles) back home. Richard had a taste for an Oreo Blizzard at DQ but didn't feel like waiting in line at the Fairfield store and I didn't feel like returning to the one around the corner from my old apartment. So we continued on.

We weren't especially hungry because we had lunch at a Taco Bell on the way to the concert. I had two 'Fresco' soft beef tacos and a Sierra Mist soda. Richard had a Grilled Steak Burrito (or something like that) and a soda. This location was newly remodeled and in good shape. (After lunch we continued on and just made it to the concert on time.)

As we drove, we reminisced about the good times we had visiting Sikorsky Airport in Stratford and watching the blimps. A few years ago, the WWII Corsair fighter plane was removed from the concrete pedestal at the entrance in order to restore it and it's been a few years since the blimps have visited the airport.

Being curious, we meandered over there but the pedestal was empty and no sign of any blimps. However, we did catch a glimpse of the ferry boat heading toward Bridgeport.

As we drove to the other side of the airport, we passed through the Lordship section of town. I was delighted to spot a couple large nests of the green Monk Parakeets. A few years ago, the local utility company was killing them because the birds built huge nests on the poles. Richard and I have fond memories of a movie we saw a few years ago about similar birds: The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill. We also recall a humorous incident a few years ago when I saw the green birds in Milford Center. As I gazed up at them I felt a soft warm splosh on my shoulder: a gift from the gods. My favorite orange polo shirt was ruined (although I still have it and wear it despite the stain on the shoulder).

We drove past Marnick's by the seawall and meandered through the backroads of Lordship admiring the expensive houses that look out over the Sound. Since we were in the area, we drove down the deadend road to the Stratford Lighthouse.

Once, when Richard was small, we stopped by the lighthouse and were greeted by the new keepers and invited in for a tour. We got to go up to the top and see the light. But in more recent times, the occupants chase visitors away. Today, the lighthouse was still working.

Continuing our trek, we drove through the nearby Short Beach park. We were disappointed to see that the mini-golf course had been abandoned; however, the skateboard park was still there. Richard thought the playground set looked new.

The other side of the airport is right across the street from Short Beach. We drove over there to check out the old hangers. We used to stop there and look for Morgan Kaolian, a former radio traffic reporter/pilot. He had a couple planes parked there and once we got to check out a biplane he had. I think Richard got to sit in the open cockpit. But today, all we saw was the decaying (historic) hanger that Morgan is trying to save. Apparently he is still in business taking aerial pictures and giving rides.

As we drove along, Richard mentioned that his English teacher is (still) planning to have them read something from Shakespeare before the school year ends. That lead us to drive around the Shakespeare Theater in Stratford. It has been closed for decades and is literally falling down. A couple years ago, Richard and I visited the grounds to view a production of "The Tempest" performed outside. We left after the first act because we couldn't even follow the script. Shakespeare is like a foreign language to me.

While driving away from the Shakespeare Theater, Richard spotted a sign about a carnival. We quickly found the Coleman Brothers carnival at a nearby shopping center. We drove around it looking at the rides, Richard wondering if anyone he used to know was working (and if they would remember him). Richard is a big fan of carnival rides. Lynn used to take him to many of these (including Stewart Amusements). He especially enjoyed watching them set up or take down the rides.

Then we continued on our way and ended up in Milford for ice ice cream.