Splash down

The Girl and three of her friends had a plan to go to Zoom Flume, and I became the designated driver. I had no desire to join them (I'm sure the feeling was mutual) so I dropped them off and drove about for a while.

I stopped for lunch in East Durham, which is a little outpost of a remembered Ireland in the Catskills. Shamrocks at every turn, even on everyday people's t-shirts. I stopped for lunch at Lawyer's General Stores, and ate a sandwich on the porch. There was a choice of benches marked "Republicans" and "Democrats". I don't know if this was supposed to generate conversation or not, but it mostly seemed to mean that some people said hello to me and some pointedly ignored me (I sat on the Democrat bench).

The Catskills have seen better days. The area used to be a summer playground for New Yorkers, but nearly every motel or restaurant I passed had a for sale sign out, or was boarded up and overgrown. I headed up to the ski resort of Windham - a pretty enough town, but hardly hopping on this hot and humid day.

The girls wore themselves out at the water park after about four hours, and so we wound our way back along Rte 32.