A kind word and some Tiki

 

Since we've been staying here, there have been TWO weddings. That was kind of a surprise, but isn't that a lovely setting? This is looking right out our room. The arch is there for the bride and groom to stand under. The weather is pretty much always perfect here, so it's a beautiful place to have an outdoor wedding.

 

For the first wedding, the caterers left an announcement on our door, with coupons for two free drinks at the hotel restaurant. Sweet! We intended to use them last night, as I mentioned. When we got to the hotel restaurant, the place was packed, apparently because of the wedding that took place yesterday. They also have banquet facilities, and it looks like they do a lively business in that area.

 

We found one seat at the bar, then a couple next to us left, so we were able to sit. However, the place was so full and the people were so obnoxious, we decided to get our stuff to go. How obnoxious, you ask? There was a guy at the end of the bar loudly singing "Rockin' Robin." You know that song..."He rocks in the treetops all day long, hoppin' and a-boppin' and a-singin' his song...." ARGH! So guess what song is going through my head today?! The poor bartender, Rob, was obviously not having a good time. I don't know if it was because of all the irritating people there, or if he was just seriously overworked. I would guess both. We felt so bad for him that Ken finally stopped him and shook his hand and said, "You're doing a good job, buddy." Rob really seemed to appreciate it. I know we preach about it a lot, but we should never underestimate the power of a kind word. So many people were treating this guy as some kind of lackey, as in, "Hey you! I need another one over here!" That's just rude, and it's just wrong. We left him a hefty tip, too, and I hope that helped a little bit.

 

So as planned, we ate our food sitting on the bed, and watched the Olympics. It was fun to just kick back like that and watch some great athletic performances. Michael Phelps got his first Gold, and I hope there are many more to come for him.

 

This is the entrance to our hotel. Notice the pointed, upswept roof, a sure indicator of Googie architecture. In this case, it's a sub-category of Googie called Tiki. Tiki seems to be big on Shelter Island, with lots of roofs like this, exposed beams, and a Tiki god here and there. This leads me to believe that many of these buildings date to sometime in the 60's. I love Tiki! Some call it tacky, I call it just plain fun!

 

I had several comments wondering about the passive-aggressive waitresses at Almost World Famous. Ours was fairly nice to us when we first got there, but for some reason, she was rather rude toward Adam's friend Christine. The waitress came by to ask if we wanted more drinks, and she brought them all except Christine's water. She reached between Christine and Adam and plonked it down in front of Christine. I don't know if it's because she had to keep coming back to get our order because Mike couldn't make up his mind, or what. She didn't bring condiments when she brought the food, Ken had no silverware...it was all very subtle, but there was some definite, slowly simmering anger there. Christine said that all the waitresses are like that there. Perhaps they need to go the route of places that purposefully have their wait staff be sassy and on the verge of rude, as part of the ambiance. They're close enough to it already, might as well go whole-hog!

 

We're off soon to head back up to Cousin Ros's to spend one more day with her and Aunt Bea and Kristi. Should be a nice relaxing afternoon. There was some talk of Mike following us up there, but he decided he didn't feel like driving (since he does it for a living), so he's not going. Ros is such a sweet person, and always makes us feel at home.

 

Oh, speaking of Route 66 (I know I didn't, but I was on the topic in my head), I needed to clarify something. I think it was before we left on this trip that I wrote something about how much of Route 66 in California is gone. Shane sent me an email saying, "Au contraire, mi amiga!" Ha ha! He said what I should have said in the first place: that while it's pretty much gone in L.A., there are other parts that survive. It's mostly from San Bernardino to Arizona, and he wrote that there are some fine stretches along there. What I should have written was that where we would be driving, there wasn't anything really left. We never went into San Bernardino proper, and we pretty much kept to the freeways. We'll have our chance in a couple of years to do plenty of exploring! Thanks for the clarification, Shane!

 

Okay, better get ready to head out. Later, Gators!

Tags: Michael Phelps, Googie, Tiki, Route 66