Tag Archives: Sandy Hook

Ants Invasion

It’s a Thursday now. Thursday night to be exact. Last night turned out to be better than I anticipated. No hurt feelings, no toes stepped on.

It was a nice seemingly impromptu gathering of my immediate family. There were a few hitches to overcome but they were taken care of. I was famished by the time I got there with Annemarie and Bill.

I took the train and Bill took a bus. It was a strange train ride for me. Apparently someone was talking too loud on their cell causing another passenger to stand up and yell, ‘Can you talk any louder?’

I was wearing my headphones so I didn’t hear the cellphone conversation but I did hear the NY Post reader yell at the other passenger, so in my book, he was the nuisance, not the cellphone user.

Got off the train at the Plauderville station in Garfield. A few entrances there and I couldn’t figure out where Annemarie was. It turned out she was on the street waving to me from her Volkswagen Beetle.

We picked up some beers and then drove to pick up Bill at his bus stop. Then it was off to Pierre Avenue where my brother Brian and my niece Meghan and her husband Rob were sitting soon joined by Anne’s son Earl.

It was a pleasant evening and eventually my brother Frank, his wife Elaine showed up, then Brian’s’ wife Karen and their two daughters Hillary & Cassie and finally Frank & Elaine’s daughter Corinne arrived.

I ate a lot of cheese and I rarely eat cheese, but I was that hungry. Even ate a cheeseburger which was probably the third time in my life that I’ve eaten a cheeseburger. The night went by fast, soon it was dark and our uncovered legs proved to be an ample feast for many mosquitoes flying around.

We left since Bill had to get up really early to take a drug test in Brooklyn. Bill drove Annemarie’s Beetle back to Hoboken with Anne & Earl in the backseat and me in the front.

It was a white knuckle ride with Bill thinking he was driving a bus and zooming in and out of traffic, passing on the right which anyone will tell you is a no no. I had to ask him to stop doing that. Bill’s rationale was that he’s an aggressive driver and a quick driver.

I explained there was no need for his aggression (plus it’s a bad way to drive. I remember being taught to drive defensively. Maybe in the 23 years since I last drove the rules had changed which could account for the dozens of horrible drivers out there that I see each week).

Luckily we got home safely though I was a bit disturbed by Bill’s driving and was a bit distant. I explained this morning why I was the way I was and thats when Bill told me his reason for his driving, that he wanted to get home and go to bed as soon as possible.

I did stay up and watched Paul McCartney on the David Letterman show. Macca was very good, performed outside on the marquee above Broadway surrounded by thousands. If I had known that’s what he was going to do I probably would have been there.

According to the Daily News, Macca played 7 songs, ending with Helter Skelter. Tomorrow it’s off to the new Mets stadium to see Macca and his band in concert.

Today it was a trip to Sandy Hook with Annemarie & Earl. It was originally supposed to be at 9:00 but I moved it to 10:00 which was great since I didn’t get out of bed until 9:00. It was an easy uneventful ride with not much traffic.

The only glitch was the choice of beach. I’m used to going to the North Beach on Sandy Hook, the farthest away from everything else. Anne was tired of driving and we parked in Beach C to my chagrin. I had never been to that beach before and I probably will never go back there again.

Too small a beach, swimming area and way too crowded for my taste. Filled with people who would never dream of going to North Beach or the nude beach at Gunnison Beach. The people I try to stay away from.

I was uneasy and Annemarie knew it, offering to move to another beach. No, I did my silent martyr bit and sat there stone faced taking it all in before I realized that it wasn’t fair to Anne or Earl to behave this way.

Things got better and we all swam a bit. Too windy and too crowded to toss a Frisbee so we mainly sat around under neath the umbrellas.

Earl and I did go in later in the afternoon when the water was a little bit warmer. There were also hundreds of dead ants floating in the water so maybe that helped with the temperature.

A drive to Rumson like we’ve done previous summers where we got some ice cream and soon we were on the rode back to Hoboken.

A nice Mexican dinner at Mision Burrito on 4th Street and a quick chat with Stine and Alexander before Anne and Earl were on their way back to Garfield.

Tomorrow, we’re off to see Paul McCartney!

The O'Toole Family 2009

The O'Toole Family 2009


t'is himself?

t'is himself?


Californian Earl

Californian Earl


Annemarie in shade

Annemarie in shade


7.15-16.09 Garfield Sandy Hook 043
7.15-16.09 Garfield Sandy Hook 0467.15-16.09 Garfield Sandy Hook 051aa
7.15-16.09 Garfield Sandy Hook 060
who wants ice cream? Crazies!

who wants ice cream? Crazies!

Dig It

Well this is the second attempt. Lost the first set. Word Press being difficult. Last night watched Bananas by Woody Allen with Bill.

It was ok, I had seen it a few times already. Bill liked it a lot, having seen it only for the first time. It left me wondering if a movie that was funny in 1971 be funny almost 40 years later?

It did have it moments but overall it doesn’t hold up. I can see why Woody Allen wanted to make movies that were different than that.

After that I went to bed since I had to get up early for a trip to Sandy Hook with Annemarie. I made arrangements with Julio to get my beach gear back. I’m sure Julio would have liked to go but he has familial duties for the next 20 years.

Anne and I were on the road after I made some sandwiches and it was smooth sailing until we got to the bridge on Route 36. They’re making a new bridge and everything stopped for major merges.

We did make it into Sandy Hook at 11:00 after leaving Hoboken at 9:00. We would have been earlier if it wasn’t for the traffic.

It wasn’t too crowded when we got to the last beach, but it soon started filling up. All day long people were trickling in.

We had plans to see Bill sing at Joe’s Pub in Manhattan at 7:00 so we left the beach at 4:00. We certainly did not expect the traffic on the way out of the park. For an hour, we inched towards Route 36.

We were soon on the highway to the Parkway to the Turnpike. Approaching the Holland Tunnel it was more bumper to bumper so I navigated Annemarie through the streets of Jersey City.

We were going to get back to my apartment, change clothes and take the Path train in, but by 6:30 that seemed highly unlikely. I suggested we just head right into the city.

Anne was a bit mortified at wearing the beach clothes to a nightclub but I assured her that it would be ok, and it was. She followed my directions for driving across town on Canal Street and then up Lafayette Street.

We found a spot on Lafayette a block away and found a cozy corner in the club just as the compère, Rome Neal was making his introductions.

There were a few excellent singers, but of course we were there for Bill who sung 2 beautiful songs. Anne and I split some brushetta and I had 2 Stella Artois to Anne’s 1.

We even made it to the party after the show, enjoying some banana pudding that Rome Neal made and satisfied our hunger.

Now Anne is back in Garfield, Bill is in bed and I’m writing this for the second time. I’m at least glad I was able to take a shower and change out of the bathing suit I had been wearing for the past 15 hours.

Now it’s time for sleep. No pics tonight, no time. I will post the beach pics tomorrow and also post 2 videos I shot from the show tomorrow on YouTube under the log in johnotoole99.