It’s good to be back at the bar after two Saturdays away. David is ready to catch up, and we’re both ready for a nice cool beverage and a chance to work with Linda G. Hill’s fun weekly prompt.
Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “shirt.’” Use it any way you’d like. Have fun!
Linda G. Hill
If we were having a beer, you’d be impatient.
“Good afternoon, David. A John Howell’s Special for you?”
“Yes, Curley. Dan just pulled in. Bourbon, a snifter of seltzer and a glass of ice will be perfect.”
“It’s an odd combination, but whatever floats your boat.”
“Welcome back, Dan. I feel I should add, it’s about time.”
“It’s good to be back, David. I guess I shouldn’t tell you, but I did stop here last week on my way home. Just for some takeout.”
“I was here on Tuesday. Cheryl didn’t mention having seen you.”
“I asked her not to. No sense getting you all spun up.”
“Here you go, gentlemen, one bourbon ensemble and one Modelo draft.”
“Thanks, Curley.”
“You’re welcome, Dan. Is that a new shirt?”
“Yes, it goes with the hat. It’s a long story.”
“No offense, Dan, but most of your stories on long ones. I’d love to hear it, but I have customers on the patio.”
“David, I guess the leaves you.”
“Maybe after you answer a question. You’re retired, what’s the deal with traveling on two Saturdays for a week’s vacation? Is it personal?”
“Personal? As in avoiding David? No, of course not. I just like the lack of traffic on the weekend. In fact, if I could predict my travel time better, I would have suggested meeting here for a quick beer last week.”
“Dan, I know you use the GPS on your phone. It predicts arrival time, accurate to the minute.”
“Not last week. Last week, it was off by almost three hours.”
“What? Was there an accident or something?”
“No, it wanted me to come home via Albany.”
“Albany? That’s over a hundred miles away. Why would your GPS route you through Albany?”
“To avoid the toll on the bridge over the Hudson.”
“That’s crazy. I’ve been over that bridge. The toll is less than two dollars.”
“A dollar sixty-five. I had set the GPS to avoid tolls, when my brother and I visited the place on Lake Erie our grandparents used to go every summer.”
“Why avoid tolls? Wouldn’t those roads be faster?”
“We wanted to travel the back roads our mother used back in the sixties.”
“And you forgot to turn that selection off?”
“Actually, I didn’t expect it to be on. I used Google Maps going to Lake Erie. I used Apple Maps on my way home. I didn’t think they talked.”
“I wouldn’t expect they would. From what I’ve heard, those two don’t get along.”
“Yeah, but Apple Car Play talks to both. We think that’s how the setting was shared.”
“You didn’t go to Albany…did you?”
“No, I’ve made this trip often enough to know the route. I only have the GPS on to warn me of construction and speed traps.”
“How was the lake?”
“Different. Sixty years ago, we stayed in some ramshackle cottages in a park overlooking the beach. Those have been replaced with pricey condos, and the beach has mostly eroded away.”
“That’s too bad.”
“I guess it’s progress. People today wouldn’t stay in those cottages. They didn’t even have bathrooms.”
“Didn’t have bathrooms! The original No Facilities. Where did you…you know?”
“There was a central bathroom, with all the facilities.”
“Yeah, that would be a little too nostalgic for me. Was anything the same?”
“There’s a strip we called ‘The Center’ with midway attractions, food and shops. It’s largely the same, but almost everything was closed on the Tuesday we were there.”
“That’s too bad.”
“Well, I wasn’t planning to play Skee-Ball, but a hot sausage grinder and a beer would have been good.”
“You know, we serve those here, Dan.”
“I do, Curley, and that’s exactly what I’m going to have.”
“He meant to say, ‘we’re going to have.’ Those, and another round.”
“I figured you’d join me.”
“So did you have any nostalgic moments in Ohio, Dan?”
“I did. As we were getting close to the lake, we drove through the town of Geneva. My brother asked if I remembered some of the things that were still there.”
“Did you?”
“I did, but I told him my favorite thing was when we’d get stopped at a grade-level railroad crossing at the end of town.”
“Let me guess. You got stopped.”
“We did. First car at the gate. A unit train carrying cars out of Detroit. Over a hundred rail cars. It was fabulous!”
“You’re nuts.”
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No Facilities 
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