I got to Cold Spring a little early, so I snapped some pictures of the Hudson:
After some mild confusion about which Main street we were supposed to meet on, we finally made the handoff. Here's bugdrvr, the pig, and our bikes:
We had a nice little lunch outdoors next to the MTA / Amtrak trains that went screaming through every 10 minutes, and then took the pig around for a few photo opportunities.
While I was waiting for bugdrvr (I was early he wasn't late FYI), I struck up a conversation with an 83-year-old man born and raised in town. If you ever want to learn about a small town, find an old-timer. He'll be pleased as punch to tell you everything he knows, and I learned a whole lot about the area. For instance this cannon:
...is a replica of the cannon that were manufactured in the area during the civil war. Unlike the other cannon the pig has been photographed with, this would be one of the ones that WON the war. Piggy looks triumphant, no?
Mack (the old timer) also told me that during the Revolutionary War Cold Spring was the site of a massive chain that was stretched across the river which was used to trap British boats on their way up the Hudson. A fort nestled in the forest along the river would then open fire on the boats, sinking them in the river.
By the town's High School is a huge rock (deposited by glaciers WAY back in the day), with a bell on it (originally used to call workers back to the factories) and a link of said chain. After a brief run-in with Cold Spring's finest (who seemed to decide that two out-of-towners on motorcycles couldn't be up to any good and followed us), we found the rock, and piggy posed:
That's the chain to the right of the pig. We headed back up to 84 (and I almost decapitated bugdrvr when the visor of my helmet inexplicably flew off and went flying back down the road) where I headed east and he went west.
Piggy likes to ride fast, so we made good time getting home. I wanted to stop and take a picture of him posing in front of the "Welcome to Connecticut" sign, but it was on the median and there was a cop there and I didn't think he'd appreciate that I was breaking traffic laws for the INTERNETS.
After I got home and washed the road off of me, I rang up my riding partner (my dad, who drives a Bergman scooter) and we went out for dinner. Piggy liked the Gixxer, so we took that to dinner instead of the BMW:
Here is the piggy riding bitch, waiting to go to dinner - and the two most improbable Suzuki riding partner vehicles:
For the ride I strapped him in. He looks smooshed, but I assure you he's most comfortably secured - just look at his smile:
We went to dinner at the most New England restaurant in the area, the Saybrook Fish House:
The pig approved - no pork on the menu.
My dad managed to get tomorrow off (and I'm currently between jobs) so we've got a big day planned. Some gambling, submarines, beaches, trains, and castles. Maybe even a big fuck-off tree.
