Carla, we hardly knew ye...

memorial day weekend was a great time for my brother doug to come visit. he arrived Friday afternoon, and after having gotten off of work early (they actually closed at 3!) we met up in midtown to rendezvous with his old high school friend, neil, and eat cheap chinese. no kidding, i got half a duck in a bowl the size of a toilet full of noodles and dim sum for $4. then we met neil's brother at grand central, and headed up to the bronx on the 4 train to watch the Yankees lose to the lesser-talented but morally superior Royals. the game was rained out in the bottom of the ninth, and the four of us were drenched beyond repair. i am still soaked.

saturday heather, doug and i woke up early and headed down to Coney Island. our original intent was to make the morning boat out to the atlantic ocean for sea fishing, but as it became painfully clear that a holiday weekend MTA schedule would preclude us from making it to sheepshead bay by 7am, we opted to slow it down a bit and get a nosh at mcdonalds (the only place open) and meander our way to Coney Island. we were to walk the boardwalk, partake in the roller coaster and shoot the freak. of course, arriving at Coney before 11am is not advisable as literally only ONE place is open, and so we found ourselves on the solitary pier, watching the russian gangsters consort with fishermen who owed them money. many a crab was crushed.

after beers at the ONE place that was open (now 9am) we walked to Brighton Beach and hopped the Q train once more to find ourselves at sheepshead bay. this is a place i've been wanting to visit since we've arrived, mostly because of the fresh fish market (literally just family owned boats, the patriarchs of which yell out in their peculiar accents, "FRESSSHH FISSHHH!"). the morning boat (the Dorothy B IVV) excursion was still at sea, and so at 11am, we were the first customers of a newly opened Applebee's, partaking of hard liquors and mixers.

finally, at 12, we were on a boat, feeding bait to seagulls and about to shove off for the best fluke fishing available. and by best i mean mediocre. i would surmise only about 12 fish were caught during the whole four-hour trip, heather and i having caught two of those. unfortunately doug didn't catch any, but we all did have a fun time anyway as fishing has always been a great means of bonding. heather was introduced to the fluke (think of a flounder, only smaller) and doug and i hit the ocean for the first time in ten years.

that evening we hung out watching tv and eating Indian food, of which doug was not a fan.

sunday was another maritime adventure, the NYHRC yacht held a brunch, launching from Pier 6 (East 23rd St. and, um...the East River). many fine honies available for doug's flirtation exploration (after seeing the women in the city he did proclaim many times,'That's it, I'm moving to New York!") though he was satisfied to simply watch the passing skyline of New York.

incidentally it was Fleet Week in New York. that is, Navy ships come into port and the city is rife with servicemen. they also perfom demonstrations and the Coast Guard was out in full force, guarding the docked ships and aircraft carriers while helicopters flew overhead performing maneuvers and practicing a rescue excercise.

we went to ground zero, st. paul's chapel and the movie, Thankyou for Smoking. sunday night we walked around time square where we were pleasantly surprised to find a Dave&Busters. i won a stuffed dog for heather, but doug and i failed to save our hostage on a shootemup game.

On monday we went to Central Park and the Seinfeld diner (aka Tom's Restaurant at 112th and Broadway) but not before seeing Rhea Perlman (of Cheers fame) on 18th Street near 6th Ave. i hadn't been paying attention, just walking along, but doug asked, "is that Danny DeVito's wife?" and we watched her: looking quite confused, with a paper in her hand, like she was following directions to nowhere.

after lunch we took doug to LaGuardia via the M60 bus through Harlem and he left around 4pm. it was such a great weekend, and it was awesome seeing him again. i hope we'll be able to hang out again sooner rather than later, but with the new job and other forseeable responsibilities, i don't think i'll be able to get out to colorado this summer. but i have a suspicion i am in for a windfall of visitors.