Fathers Day Cruise To The Shore

The best way to spend a Fathers Day is doing what YOU the father like to do. And it wasn't just me, there were lots of dads in the group. It was a warm and humid day, but not too bad near the water. These weren't all the bikes, we could not all park together because other people had the nerve to be out on Fathers Day and clogged up the parking lot.

This trip was not without a couple of minor mishaps. We stopped at a gas station on RT. 2 south of Norwich, because SOMEONE on a Harley thought he had enough gas to make it to Stonington.... NOT! While there, my riding bud that also has a Goldwing, accidentally locked his keys in the trunk. He stayed behind to wait for either Honda Roadside Assistance, or his girlfriend to bring the extra set of keys, whoever got there first. His 13 year old granddaughter that was visiting from Georgia and his passenger hopped on with me so she wasn't stuck too. Cute kid, polite, soft-spoken and a pretty mature girl for that age. Although I am not her parent, in my own experience, she may be a little monster at home. Plus I am that much of a trusted friend. The plan was for him to meet us down at the restaurant when he was squared away. 

The restaurant we planned on going to was the Dog Watch Cafe at Dodson's Boatyard. Parking was where my mishap occurred. The lot was loose stone, and while sitting and waiting for my turn to park, the stones under my left foot rolled and "The Beast" did what a 1200 pound bike with riders will do. Answer to gravity. Actually not a problem on a `Wing, because the crash bars do a great job of preventing any damage. Funny thing was as the bike was keeling over; in one motion, Julia swung the armrest out of the way, stood up on the floor boards, leaped over the seat and landed on her feet. Normally I can get the bike up by myself, but the loose stone was making that difficult so a couple of the guys came over to assist. I got parked and we went over to the restaurant. They did not want our money because they turned us away saying it was reservation only. Now I would expect a restaurant running that way to have full tables and a line of people queued up minutes before their table was ready. Nope, there was a bunch of empty outdoor tables. It was after 2 PM and the lunch rush and they still turned us away. None of us drink while riding and we are a fun but not rowdy crowd. I guess that was their legal alternative to a sign that said "No Bikers!" Fuck 'em, we saddled up and left.

We headed across town towards RT. 1 in Mystic and the roaside seafood joint called the "Sea Swirl." Good food and not stupid expensive. I got an order of clam fritters, sweet potato fries, and a Barq's root beer. I will be finishing the fritters for lunch today. My bud that got locked out and his girlfriend showed up in time to get some food too. The group broke up from there and my bud's grandaughter returned with his girlfriend in the car. He and I continued on north for about 25 miles or so when he broke off west and I continued north to home.

When I got home and parked in the garage I shut the bike off to let the dogs out. I went back out and turned the bike on "ACC" to see what the total miles were and set the suspension back to my normal. This is the first info screen for outside temperature. I've never seen it go that high.

It definitely was not 117 degrees in my garage, but the air intake thought it was