Strong Island

Have you ever walked in a restaurant and wished that you had never even opened the door?

Had this experience while visiting my friend Autumn in Long Island this past weekend. We were trying to grab sandwiches on our way to the beach so we made a pitstop at a deli/bagel place. As we walked inside, I looked at the first meat case. It was completely empty. The second meat case contained shrink-wrapped paper towel rolls on display. There were also bottles of Tylenol for sale.

So no food anywhere at the deli, save for a few bagels by the cash register. Something didn't seem right. There was a menu, but it seemed unchanged for eons...

A manager emerged from the backroom, and was enthusiastic enough. "What can I get for you?" he asked. But I didn't want anything particularly from this restaurant, as I value my life. I tried to communicate this with my eyes to my friends. It didn't work. We all stood there hemming and hawing for awhile, trying to leave without insulting the manager too much. An impossible task.

After we escaped and regrouped on the sidewalk, my friend's husband said, "I can't believe we stayed there for that long. Obviously we weren't going to order anything."

Meanwhile, all of us girls had been thinking, "Well, I don't want to eat here, but maybe one of my friends wants to eat here. I should consider her feelings." Too polite!

Just so you don't think my mini-vacation was all suspect delis, here's a picture of the water at Port Jefferson! And another of the fine lobster roll I got at Braun Seafood - $2 more expensive than the Lobster Roll truck in D.C., but I didn't have to wait two hours for it.

Charm City

Last weekend, my friend Amy and I took a day trip to Baltimore. I'd only been to the Inner Harbor, and I wanted to see what else there was to see - the weird, artsy stuff that I've read about recently. Alas, there were many tactical errors on this trip. It turns out that a synchronized swimming or "water ballet" performance might be more fun to participate in than to attend. What was I thinking with that one? Watching other people swim on a 100-degree day doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

Before the show, we tried to go to the bakery from "Ace of Cakes" but missed it by a block and ended up accidentally going to a bar instead. Turns out you can't go inside Charm City Cakes at all. You can't even look in the windows! The panes are all blacked out and cakes start at $1000 each, a little out of my price range. Each bite would be like $50.

Photos by Amy! Thanks!

Then we tried to get crabcake sandwiches, but neglected to read the menu carefully and accidentally ordered softshell crabs. The sandwiches arrived with legs sticking out of the bread, it was all very shocking. A perfect end to a topsy turvy day.

Although we did see this car:

That probably fulfilled the "weird and artsy" component I was looking for. What is it? Is it driveable? Can anyone shed some light on what this car is all about?

Llamas and Alpacas, Oh My

The only logical place to begin describing my Peruvian vacay is here:

This is Percy. He is a llama (or alpaca? It's unclear...). He is made out of real alpaca wool. I named him after our tour guide at Huaca Pucllana, who was by far the best guide of our trip. Our tour guide at al Museo del Convento de San Francisco, for instance, spoke in a monotone at all times and appeared to be actively trying to lose our group as he walked briskly down the cathedral halls.

But back to Percy. Isn't he loveable? As you can tell from the fabulous art on my blog, llamas are my favorite. I was so excited to see them in real life and to buy llama-related souvenirs, like the llama-emblazoned backpack you see above. The whole trip, my friend Debie and I cooed at all the llama stuffed animals at every touristy shop.

How can you resist?

Debie was the first to cave: she picked up a little llama and christened him Gary, after the dearly departed Gary Coleman. We were on Machu Picchu when we first found out Gary died. Now whenever anyone asks me, "Where were you when you heard Gary Coleman died?" I can say, "Machu Picchu." Top that!

Gary the llama was a good little tourist. He saw all the sights, and Debie snapped pictures of his adventures. Here are some of her pics:

Gary climbing mountains near Huayna Picchu.

Gary taking it all in at the Plaza de Armas in Cuzco.

Here's one I took: Gary enjoying a Maracuya Sour.

This is where I got Percy, can you spot him in the crowd? A little Peruvian grandma ran this table at Pisac Market. She advertised her wares by picking up a doll, shaking it vigorously, then picking up another. "Llama!" she'd say. Shake shake shake. "Alpaca!" Shake shake shake. "Llama!" Shake shake shake. "Vicuna!" Shake shake shake. She was cool. I was laughing so hard that I kept knocking all the little llamas on the floor but she didn't seem to mind too much and I give her props for that.

And then there were two - Gary and Percy. Before long though, we acquired an army. Here's our whole llama/alpaca tribe lined up together. Could it be that we have a problem?

Nah, nothing to see here, just two 25-year-old women playing with stuffed animals.

They are so cute and fuzzy though. I defy you to hold a stuffed llama without making it trot across the table. It's human nature.

We did see real alpacas and llamas though. Here are some at Huaca Pucllana.

Here I am with my best friend Gary. I mean Debie.

And at Machu Picchu. These alpacas wandered free throughout the ruins.

Debie, Lisa, Caroline and I pretty much ambushed the poor things and cornered one until we got the chance to pet it. It made a mooing sound and looked worried. ¡Pobrecita! Guards at Macchu Picchu blew a whistle at anyone who stepped on the grass, and I am so thankful that they didn't see us chasing the alpacas. A lot of whistles would've been blown if they saw that spectacle.

Here's Percy at the airport, en route to his new home in America. I took him to work on Friday and propped him up on my desk. Everyone loved him. Even a principal at our office petted him. "Does he bite?" he asked. "No, he's docile," I said. And yesterday at work, someone asked me, "Where's Percy today?" I think they noticed his absence more than they would mine.