What's in Dave's Head

Sandwiched around my Alcatraz Sharkfest swim, Donna and I visited San Francisco and the Napa and Sonoma valleys.   What an unbelievable and unforgettable experience. We arrived in San Francisco on Thursday morning and drove to our hotel, the Argonaut, in the Fisherman’s Wharf section of town, adjacent to Aquatics Park, where the swim ended.   The Wharf is really touristy, like a beach boardwalk—shops selling tee-shirts and souvenirs, bike rentals, chain restaurants and entertainment venues like wax museums.   And bajillions of tourists.   The sidewalks were packed from 9 in the morning to late at night.   But the location was excellent not only because of its proximity to the race but because we were close to so many things we wanted to see. On Friday, the day before my swim, we toured Alcatraz.   The watchtowers and ruins of buildings reminded me of the pictures I have seen of POW camps or Auschwitz.   The conditions looked sub-hum...

I survived Sharkfest !  I successfully swam the 1.5 miles from Alcatraz Island to Aquatic Park near Fisherman's Wharf this morning.   There were four of us from Central Maryland Y Masters and we all finished. After we checked in, got our timing chips and heard instructions from the race organizer, I and the other 900 swimmers(!) walked about half a mile to a dock where we boarded two large boats, which took us to the east side of the island.  There we jumped off in twos and swam a few hundred yards to the starting line and treaded while we awaited the starting whistle.  When the whistle finally sounded, there was a great deal of kicking, elbowing and thrashing because we were all right on top of each other.  I maneuvered around slower swimmers as best I could and wound my way to open patches so I could get on with the business of swimming. There were lots of kayaks and small boats patrolling to make sure we stayed on course as we h...

Yesterday was the Conroy-Harding family reunion , hosted by Tom and Kathleen. Friday night Tom and Kathleen and Pete and Judy hosted a dinner at Rustico’s in Stevensville, with Marie Anais, Larry and Patricia and Donna and me.   Dinner was at six, but Donna and I didn’t leave home till five and found that for some reason traffic was hellacious.   It took us two and a half hours for what is normally a 50-minute drive.   When we finally arrived, we were greeted like long-lost friends.   What a great evening—catching up, trading stories, laughing and drinking, oh, a few bottles of very good Cline Cashmere. Saturday, the traffic gods again were against us.   It took us more than two hours to get to Tom and Kathleen’s—and arrived with just enough time to unload our coolers of food and drinks and turn around and head out with Larry and Patricia to Baxter’s to pick up the crabs. Large, heavy and highly seasoned they were.   Because the weather was rainy...

We picked a good week to be away .  Severe thunderstorms hit the East Coast Friday night, June 29, the night before we were heading to Long Beach Island in New Jersey for the week.  The storm left about a million and a half people without power, including us.  We didn't know how long we would be without power or just how violent and widespread the storm was.  I went out at about 6am Saturday to get coffee and ice.  Portions of our neighborhood looked like bombs had exploded--dozens of large trees were split or downed, driven onto cars, onto garages, into the street.  Branches and leaves were everywhere.  We were very fortunate that we had no damage.  Donna swept up the debris and leaves that littered our driveway so there wouldn't be signs that we were gone. Nearby businesses were without power so I drove down to the next town to our south, Burtonsville, and found a Dunkin' Donuts that was open--and with a very long lin...

The Douglasses and Swanekamps are at Loveladies, Long Beach Island, with Joan and Lou.  Jack got in Monday night from LA.  It's really special to have everyone together.  The weather has been outstanding and we've been having a great time--on the beach, great meals together, pork roll sandwiches at Neptune's, reading.  I'm reading one of the best novels I've read in a long, long time--The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen.  Yesterday was July 4th and we celebrated with what has become a series of traditions.  Watching Wimbledon, hot dogs for lunch, family pictures under the flag, tenderloin for dinner and then watching fireworks from the roof deck and singing of a patriotic song or two.  There is a 360 degree fireworks show, as Waretown across the bay, Harvey Cedars, Barnegat Light and other towns on the island all have displays, and a number of people put on pretty impressive amateur shows on the beach right behind us.  Here are some ...