Day 42 – Life Without Whatsimacallher

Author – Grant (obviously)
From – The Dark Side of Washington (DC)
To - Easton (Maryland)
Via – St Michaels (Marlyland)
Miles Driven – 100 ish

Today’s Photos - http://www.flickr.com/photos/32017704@N03/sets/72157611267175995/
Today was a bit of an eye opener as I was a bit surprised to find out that there are actually quite a few people who regularly read this blog because, knowing that Kate wasn’t around, I received more phone calls today than I have cumulatively received for the previous 41 days. Admittedly that’s only 6 calls but I still feel equal parts mothered, harassed and hoarse. Anyway, that wasn’t my first emotion of the day – the primary one was thankfulness at a) still being alive and, b) confirmed by a daring peak around the curtain, that Bridget (the car) was still there and, thankfully, intact. However, when I was about 15 miles down the road that I noticed that there was a suitcase missing from the back of the car and I admit that I began to panic. Only then did I remember that the other thing missing from the car was my wife and, being a mathematician, I put two and two together and realised that she had probably stolen it before her banishment. So now Molly is my official co-pilot and I have to say that I am very pleased with the replacement as i) she never complains when I put Roxette CDs on , ii) she does not steal my car snacks, iii) she does not mind my musical bottom and iv) she does not insist on “hugs” and other such nonsense. Having said that, she doesn’t buy me surprise meat snacks and her lack of opposable thumbs means she doesn’t help unpack the car so I guess every silver lining has it’s cloud.

Thirty minutes after my bank robbery esque gettaway from my dank hotel, I realised that I hadn’t eaten since the previous evenings cockroach ridden Chinese meal. The next turn-off was Annapolis, the state capital of Maryland, which I assumed would provide a plethora of breakfast choices but either I didn’t find the town centre (don’t discount this – it’s a real possibility) or Annapolis is just a series of generic strip malls. Either way, all I ended up with was a Wawa coffee & bagel to accompany me the rest of the rainy journey. Talking of rain, it hasn’t stopped since Kate left the country. Coincidence? You tell me Sabrina. Despite visibility never being much beyond 50 metres, it was obvious that the bay bridge that separates mainland Maryland with the island bit that they share with Delaware is a pretty incredible feat of engineering. It was originally envisaged in 1927 but was scrapped because of the great depression and was eventually built 22 years later. The two directions are separate bridges built 20 years apart and the total cost was over $200m with each bridge spanning over 4 miles of the Chesapeake Bay. Don’t roll your eyes, it’s impressive stuff.

I wasn’t sure where to set up camp for the night so I thought I would visit a couple of towns and see what look looked the least scary. It turned out I needn’t be so pessimistic as both places I saw were both equally quaint but only one of them was inhabited so that made my decision easy. Whilst St Michaels was heart-achingly twee, it seemed to lack people which (call me a traditionalist) makes a town. Ironically there were posters up everywhere advertising that the shops would be open until midnight for the week running up to Christmas. But that wasn’t the least appropriate advert I saw in St Michaels – the flyer promoting “adult toy rentals” with an accompanying “rent-a-smile” guarantee with their various “water sport activities” caught my eye although it turned out they only rent boats. Surely there’s a misselling lawsuit hiding in there somewhere…

Due to the lack of personnel in St Michaels and every window’s obligatory “Open in March ‘09” sign, the choice to stay in Easton was a no-brainer. Kate’s unjustified aversion to motels means that I am taking her absence as opportunity to stay in as many motels as possible. Tonight’s experiment is Days Inn. It’s about half the price of the usual (admittedly budget) hotels we normally stay in but it’s actually really nice and, dare I say, homely. After a not-so fascinating 90 minutes in the local Laundromat (I took a book but I had my ear chewed off by a Slovak anglophile) I hit town for some food. Various reviews promised that the Legal Sprits Tavern served the best crap soup in Maryland and I don’t dispute it although I don’t think it is possible to survive on this stuff unless you are an Inuit as it is 50% cream, 40% butter and 10% lump crab. Beautiful but deadly…like Charlie’s Angels.

The nights are clearly going to be different without Kate…especially when the pub I am with only has two other people in it and they are smooching. It means that unless I can find some other randoms to talk to, the nights are going to end pretty early. Like tonight. Still, it means that Molly has company and who doesn’t love TBS’s Family Guy mini-marathon?

Heading east into Delaware tomorrow for some rainy state park walking and sharing crabs with Jaff & Denny. Wait a minute, that came out all wrong…