who dat?

Some things never change....thankfully.

Your favorite explorers of all endeavors that are cheap or free got a little selfish this past weekend and indulged themselves. The world famous Vacations From Home team made their yearly trek to the Crawfish Festival at the Sussex County Fairgrounds in Augusta, NJ. This is the fifth year for your illustrious team to nibble on all kinds of God's critters, Cajun style, and to dance & boogie to swamp pop and jazz music. This year though was a tough decision. Sadly, the Crawfish festival is not cheap, especially in today's economy. At $40 per person just for the right to enter the grounds which did not cover food and drink, both very very necessary ingredients to the day, the cost was nearly prohibitive and it was a calculated risk. Even if the VFH team were flush with cash, the cost of the day runs counter to its credo to mooch and slouch its way through the summer and to pass on to you fair and wonderful readers of this blog all the sordid details so you may also enjoy on the quick. But, this event this Crawfish Festival now in its 21st year and held the first weekend of June is a must for us and we took a deep breath, counted out our money and then drove to the upper regions of New Jersey. It proved to be the best year.
Truthfully it is worth every penny.

After 5 fesitvals we are already seasoned travelers to this event though we neither camp, nor set up party tents as many other long time visitors. Each year we marvel at these people who spend the weekend and decorate their tents with beads and other trinkets and set up elaborate displays and carry poles adorned with masks and and feather boas, and then happily settle our butts down in lawn chairs near the main stage (and a beer station) to gather in the music and the people festooned in hats and garb as well as a great number of Bruce Wray worthy Aloha shirts. Each year we say we're going to camp, each year we say we're bringing a "posse" (to get a group rate) and each year we roll our eyes and sip our beer.

After we pick our spot we get food. First it's a carton of crawfish boil. Janet had never eaten a crawfish before she started coming here and now she can suck the head and pinch the tail like a regular old coon ass. Then red beans and rice and alligator sausage. We stopped here at this point, though in years past we would eat far too much and we couldn't walk back to the car! But there are other delectable items on the menu: etoufee, crawfish pie, boudin links, oyster po-boys, shrimp creole, beignets and Jambalaya. But, because of the BP oil spill off the Louisiana coast there were no fresh oysters available. Evidently all the crawfish are farm raised and out of harm's way, that is until they get to the boiling pot!

The food is very good. You watch the people cooking the stuff in the back and you think it's just a mix of some sort. Well, a couple of years ago at one of these stands we met the head chef of a restaurant in Lafayette, Louisiana. He was making sure all the Jambalaya was cooking to order. He gave us his card when we told him we were traveling to Louisiana that summer and we had the best meals at Prejean's. We actually drove out of our way on the way back from Lake Charles just so we could eat a lunch there. The food was excellent. If you'd like to read about that particular trip you can always go to http://cajuncountrytravels.blogspot.com/.
That was back in the day when the Vacations From Home team was flush with cash and able to go to exotic locales. The crawfish festival is not exotic, but it is a must event....we just have to figure out how to sneak in next year...
http://www.crawfishfest.com/


After the food and a couple of beers we were ready to shed our dignity. We danced to Jeffery Broussard and the Creole Cowboys at the dance hall. There is a definite way of dancing to cajun music, whether it's a waltz or a two-step and well, we limped and boogied and sweated and laughed at ourselves and then sat and marveled at how beautifully some of the people danced to a band that featured an accordian player with a cowboy hat and a "spoon guy", someone who wears a washboard over his shoulders and strums at it with spoons. Then we bopped over to the Jaegermeister hall to weave precariously to the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and Janet flirted with the Sax player in a feeble ploy to score beads....women....
Evidently they have dance lessons from 11-12. Janet and I say the same thing every year, that we'll get there early enough...then we sip our beers and roll our eyes.

The main act for the day on the main stage was Taj Mahal. I was mildly interested because that's a big name in music, although we really liked Amanda Shaw and the Cute Guys. Shaw plays a mean fiddle, but Taj Mahal didn't hold our interest and we danced a whole lot with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band.

Thanks for reading, hope you put this event on your calender for next year.

If anyone has any suggestions for a VFH sojurn please pass such information on to us... Or if you want to invite us over to your house for dinner, especially if you have a pool or beach house, feel free to consider our names for the guest list. .... that's not mooching...is it?

love,
greg

slower lower

Along the Jersey shore there are various names for the people who visit the 100+ miles of sand and surf. North of Long Beach Island are the Bennys and south are Shoobies. They are derogatory terms whose meanings are steeped in a mysterious history. More than once I've been called a "Benny" while cavorting about in Belmar, in the dark ages before "Jersey Shore". And, I remember offending a colleague from Philadelphia when I playfully called him a "Shoobie". (They take these things much more seriously down there...)

Anyway, if you're interested in reading about the whole Jersey phenom a good website to go to is: http://www.bennygohome.com/questions.html

So, what is a Benny and a Shoobie, traveling together incognito as the world famous Vacation From Home team to do in Slower Lower Delaware? We can't continue our antics so familiar in New Jersey. No longer can I be crass and flash $100 bills around and Janet will have to carry her clothes in a bag and not a Shoebox. It is a difficult adjustment, but Delaware is quite worth the trip, especially if the Fitzcharles clan continues to open their home for visits. You see... mooching is always at the core of all necessary modifications in one's lifestyle! We spent the Memorial Day Weekend down there and will house/dog sit for them in the last week of July.

But what is a visitor to "slower lower" called? We of the Vacation From Home team are not sure, although Janet has said that they are kind of "slow" down there and perhaps can't formulate such thoughts. Evidently there is a raging debate on Facebook as to where slower lower even begins. So heated is this debate there is little room to point fingers at the throngs who descend on the beaches from Broadkill to Bethany and make derisive comments. The name Slower Lower covers a lot of territory. Now we're not being derogatory ourselves; people down there seem to embrace the lifestyle. There's even a website for merchandise. Although you won't catch this Benny wearing USLD (University of Slower Lower Delaware) shirts, there's gotta be someone out there who does. http://www.slowerlowerdelaware.com/

coco-nuts

Well...The better half of the Vacation From Home team was somewhat successful in the Hawaiian shirt competition on Friday and came away with the coconut and second prize. Janet wanted the pineapple though and was accused of canvassing too hard for the award when she forwarded emails about this blog to members of her staff.... That's okay... the shirt was still hideous and Janet is proud of her coconut. She even took it to bed with her, afraid that someone would make a rum drink out of the thing in the middle of the night.

We at Vacation From Home central are actively looking for photographs of the Hawaiian Shirt competition and are hoping some will be sent in to be posted here. Please email to: greg.dunaj@yahoo.com

hawaii in west chester

If "clothes make the man" then the act of putting on an Aloha or Hawaiian shirt will immediately transform a tightly wound special education teacher (especially so at this time of year when the kids finally realize they have to do work in order to graduate) into a rum swilling knucklehead looking for a lei. For some reason tensions ease with donning a shirt that features colors not found in nature, as if one has settled their toes in the sand of Waikiki and is handed a Mai Tai.

Yes, feel the cool tropical breezes, see swaying palms and Diamond Head in the distance, all by putting on an Aloha shirt that makes onlookers wince. Wear an Hawaiian shirt and your hips start to swivel in a hula and you give a Shaka "Hang Loose" sign to everyone you meet, because you know you are Vacationing From Home! Just be careful when you cross the street....

Well your more favored member of the Vacation From Home team, Janet, doesn't wear Hawaiian shirts except on days like today. It is the annual Bruce Wray Memorial Hawaiian Shirt Invitational Competition. In honor of Mr. Wray's prediliction for Hawaiian shirts, Janet's school mimics his skewed sense of fashion by also wearing the same. It is a competition. The more wretched the better. If it looks like you tore down your curtains to make the shirt you are liable to win. The first prize is a Pineapple. A real one. Second prize is a Coconut and 3rd place gets a Lei. Yes, the "worst" shirt will win the prize.

Sadly, Mr. Wray passed away recently, but this competition continues in his honor.

Janet is determined to win this event. She has borrowed one of my most hideous shirts, one that I even refuse to wear. It is salmon colored with bowling pins and balls. I purchased it, like most of the shirts I find off-island, at a Salvation Army store for a few pennies. I think I'll let her keep it.

and so it begins

So...what does your favorite Vacations From Home Team do on the first free Sunday of the year? They go to Reading, PA. Now, you may ask why, you may ask what the hell is in Reading? And, let me tell you that when the day unfolded I was questioning the choice as well...

We started the day at the Sunshine Cafe in Royersford, PA, which is already on the edge of Pennsyltucky and after enduring the gap-toothed smiles gathered at the counter we decided to delve into the deepest darkest regions of the glorious commonwealth that is so close and yet so very different from my home state of New Jersey.

I was actually suprised to learn that from the loins of Reading sprang John Updike and that the "Rabbit" series of novels had fictionalized names of the sprawling burg and it's environs. But, no, that wasn't the reason we decided to drive out there. And, no, it wasn't to tour First Energy Stadium. home of the double-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies, The R-Phils, where a friend of mine played for the club back in the ahem, dark ages. No, we went to see the outlets shops that is evidently the city's main tourist attraction. We weren't in the mood to shop, but figured it was worth the visit. After many wrong turns, for we came into the town a different way than Janet was used to, we finally found the VF shopping area. It is a complex of renovated factory buildings converted into stores. So, with the day blustery and rainy we shuffled through a couple of the stores in the blue and red factory buildings just to say we were there. We looked for a Phillies t-shirt for Janet, but found nothing she liked and then lifting our nose at the Lingerie Tent and the kettle korn stand, we headed for a mysterious site that looms over the city atop Mount Penn. It is a Japanese Pagoda. Janet had talked about it all the way to Reading and there it was high high high up looking majestic and quite out of place in Pennsylbama.

According to Leslie, who once hailed from the city, (readers of this blog may recall she did a wonderful and true imitation of all 3 members of the Stooges last summer) says the Pagoda and the immediate area is the place to go drinking. It certainly is a beautiful place to visit and the Duryea Drive and Skyline Drive that climbs up the mountain is quite the excursion. Named after Charles Duryea, the owner of the Duryea Power Company, an early car manufacturer, technicians would test each manufactured car on the hilly roads and would only sell those that made it.

Well we twisted up the road, rising out of the creaky streets and delapitated buildings that are more the norm for Reading and entered the rustic area of Mount Penn rather quickly. Eventually we arrived to marvel at this striking Pagoda as the bracing winds buffeted this peak. I had been to Japan a few times over the years and this very authentic. But, as I leaned into the wind and looked at the curving tiers of this majestic building a nagging thought came to me....

WHY?

Was there a sizeable Japanese population in Reading, Pennsylvania? No...

The baseball team wasn't called the Reading Pagodas...

There are no Japanese restaurants in Reading, although I am sure there are a few chinese take out joints, though we were unwilling to lurk about in search of an egg roll.

But here, rising proudly atop this mountain in the middle of Pennsyltucky was a Pagoda. They are often temples associated with the Buddist religion, and usually erected over the remains of a holy man or a king and to house relics and holy writings. But this enigmatic structure was not built with any religious intent and the only relics inside were the elderly women who ran the hot dog stand and gift booth.

We learned the history of the place from a little piece of paper stuck in the window.

Around the 1900's this guy was attempting to quarry the mountain, but the residents of Reading stopped him because it would ruin the view. So, after seeing a picture of a pagoda from the Philippines he decided to build this pagoda as a luxury hotel. Poor planning or stupidity followed soon after, as this fellow could not get a liquor license from the city. The building was never utilized as a luxury resort and it went into forclosure with a bank. Eventually it fell into the hands of another citizen who eventually donated it to Reading. The town used its location as a way of transmitting morse code signals for firemen and news to the citizens. It was renovated in the 60's through donations and it remains a MUST stop in Reading, despite it's boring history.

Well, the place smelt of greasy burnt hot dogs and acidic coffee. The moldering ladies were pleasant and happy to see us as they presided over the array of pins and kites and commemorative plates in the display counter. We opted for coffee and sat on couches as we watched a number of people pay their dollar to climb all the stairs to the top, our enthusiasm having waned with the ho hum history of the place. Still it was a place to visit and we were pleased. The view is worth the trek, even if it's only Reading.

On the way back to Janet's we followed signs to the homestead of Daniel Boone. He was born not far from Reading and we drove through the idyllic grounds and did a quick walk through of the museum, making sure we did not make eye contact with the volunteers dressed in period costumes on the edge of their chairs waiting to give us a tour. We didn't stay long; Janet inflamed them by singing the theme song to Davey Crockett.... and we hightailed it back to Collegeville...and dinner.

Being from New Jersey, anything across the Delaware is rural, but I have since discovered that west of Route 113 is where the real Pennsyltucky begins.

So it begins.... another season of Vacations From Home. Sadly I haven't won the lottery, or at least enough of it to keep me in airline tickets, so we shall continue this haphazard sojurn through the area as cheaply as we can. Hope you can find some nugget of direction, some idea for a trip when the money is tight. It's certainly nice seeing the places that are nearer to home. One usually neglects what is in their own backyards. I just wish my backyard was on the north shore of Oahu.

If you have ideas for future trips for your favorite Vacations From Home team you can write me:
Greg.Dunaj@yahoo.com
You could also donate some frequent flyer miles to the cause.

love
g

snow days

You know... I've had enough of snow. We have been hit with three major storms in the month of February and have spent many days sitting by the fire smoking cigars and sipping scotch. I guess it's a good thing I have a four wheeler, I don't even shovel my driveway. I used to cross country ski alot and when this sort of weather would hit, I'd be out there. There are enough miles on the towpath that runs along the Delaware that I could go out for miles and miles. Not inspired enough I suppose.

reunion reunion

Well... Talk about a HOME Vacation.... Janet is reuniting with a bunch of her sorority sisters/drinking buddies at her house tonight! There is a lot of beer and as they crackle with laughter in the other room I'm watching the Yankees win another game in the postseason. Actually, I'm having a great time, making beer runs for the ladies in between innings.

It is very comforting to be a part of this though. Janet is certainly very happy to be with these people, some of whom she's not seen in 30 years!!!! Having been around the world, literally, a couple of times, it is wonderful to see such love and affection transcend decades. Home is the place to be.....

If only we could turn off the damned awful music.