By pure accident, I find myself in New England again on the occassion of the Lanza family reunion picnic in Long Island. Nina's parents drove down from Boston and picked us up in Middletown. We drove down to Bridgeport to catch the ferry to Long Island. At the port, I saw this sweet one-man police hovercraft:

Ford Escort for scale

There was a surprising amount of security at the port; national guard, police, lots of guns, radiation detectors, the works. There was even an escort by a two-man split-hull fast boat with flashing lights until we got out of the harbor. The ferry trip was pleasant if somewhat unnoteworthy. The long island harbor had no security at all, as far as I could see; the contrast was really odd.

We went to Nina's aunt's place, where I learned that her uncle was the first person to fly solo across the Pacific. Now his son is the president of the Explorers Club. They showed us a copy of a "Wine Spectator" magazine that included this interview with megaexplorer Richard and his wine interests. The funny insider info that I'll let you in on is: Richard doesn't drink. Read the interview again with this in mind and have a good laugh. I have yet to meet Richard, but I get the sense that he's a huge smartass and he is certainly an interesting guy. He's on my list of people I hope to meet sometime soon. Check out this trailer for his upcoming TV show (WMV only, sorry).

Anyway we all packed up and headed over to the picnic. It was at the same place as the one I attended