Peddling My Backside All Over Town

I've spent a lot of this summer riding my bike everywhere.  Some place along the way, I got back in touch with the inexpressible joy I felt riding my banana bike on Knollwood Road in East Hartford when I was little.  We lived in a 1930's Tudor in those days with vintage cherry wallpaper in the dining room. 

I became curious recently about how many miles I was riding as I took off for Starbucks, or Merrimac Point or to church.  I follow a wonderful blog by an amazing woman named Sheryl Yvette who rides in New York City high heels and skirts. http://www.sherylyvette.com/
 I've also found that I'm more comfortable biking in a skirt and do ride in to church with higher heels. It appeals to the 1940's girl deep within that maybe others who once lived at the Old Shea House at 256 peddled downtown in the same way.

So off I went to East Coast Bicycles in the Ghent neighborhood of Norfolk to have an electronic odometer placed on my bike.  I took the ferry from Portsmouth across the Harbor.  This is what I saw as I waited for the ferry:

I love our working waterfront.  I road over this footbridge to cross the Canal in Norfolk:

Here is the view of the Chrysler Museum while crossing:

After lunch, I found this dim, cool garden area at the side of a Victorian museum.  I was happy to sit down for a few minutes.  My bike is there in the background.

 I forgot one thing.  The streets are all cobble-stoned.  I think I jiggled a few fillings loose!  I thought about all the people in the Netherlands who used bicycles over the same kind of streets during World War II.  Rubber was scarce and many road their bikes on the rims only, no tires.  MERCY!

I headed back to the ferry landing at Waterside here and waited to cross the River back home.  It was so hot and hazy, but I thought the pic looked good in sepia tones.  Over the river and through the streets to East Coast Bicycles I went.  And my odometer tells me that I've done 41 miles since then.

I-Need-to-go-Grocery-Shopping-Lunch Salad

Start with a large can of garbanzo beans (or chick peas or ceci, depending on your ethnicity). 

Add the drips and drabs that need to be used up from the fridge. In my case it was carrots, a green pepper past its first blush of youth, a chopped onion, some black olives, some sugar snap peas, a roma tomato, and some frozen corn.

Add lemon juice, olive oil, and your choice of spices.  I decided to go vaguely Middle Eastern with ground cumin, fennel seed, red pepper flakes, allspice, and salt.  Equal parts olive oil to lemon juice.  Toss.

Make grocery list.  Enjoy lunch.  Go grocery shopping.