This picture was taken in 2000 when I went to England.
It's one of my favorites
We Met on the Internet in the Pen Pal section of AOL.
I lived in New York and he lived in Birmingham, England.
We had a wonderful 6 years.
He died at 55 years old of a Heart Anyurisim
I think his website is going to go down, so I am transfering most of what I can here.
The rest of the words are his.
First though we had to meet at Newark Airport and I was wearing my 'here I am' tourist clothes so that Rita would easily see me .. I hoped !
The formalities were over with quite quickly and I was soon exiting into the waiting area where we had agreed to meet.
At first I couldn't spot her, but she had seen me and was hiding behind a pillar from which she suddenly appeared smiling broadly.
After a brief sit down to catch my breath off we went to Alamo to pick up our rental car with which we were both pleased as it was quite large & virtually new. We had planned our route back to Queens, with some help from a friend of Rita's, and were soon on our way to the New Jersey Turnpike & the George Washington Bridge....
(skip to our vacation)
We had planned where to go in the previous months and had also booked motels over the Internet rather than have to find places on route. So on the Thursday morning we left Queens and headed out of New York towards Connecticut and eventually the New England Thruway/ I-95 all the way to Mystic.
Our first stop was at the Old Mystic Motor Lodge in the seafaring port of Mystic where we were to spend two nights. This location had been chosen more for it's proximity to the Clinton Crossings Outlet Shopping Centre than the delights that I'm sure Mystic holds for the traveller.
Despite a drive down into the town one evening we never actually had much of a look around due to the lack of parking spaces ! 
The next morning we set off for the Clinton Outlet and spent a contented morning wandering around it's variety of shops where we managed to make a few purchases ! We had lunch at the Bristol Cafe which sustained us for a further few hours shopping before deciding it was time to head back to the motel. One evening we ate at a Friendly's which was right next door to the motel, but we had made sure that all the rooms we booked had a fridge as we decided to take snacks and eat in some nights too during the fortnight.
On the Saturday we packed our things and prepared for the drive to wards Cape Cod where we would spend the next week. After passing through Rhode Island we were in Massachusetts and soon queuing for the Sagamore Bridge which is one of only two that take you onto, or off, the Cape across the canal.
Because it was a Saturday there were a lot of vehicles heading along the Capes main highways, Routes 6 and 6A, but by mid afternoon we arrived at North Truro and the Cape View Motel.
Most evenings we ate in our room & watched videos which were supplied free by the motel, it was for us simply the best place to be !
This is my favourite photo of the whole vacation as it expresses just how happy we were to be there together and having a wonderful time.
I know we would both love to return there someday, but only if we can have 'our' room again !
We saw pictures of our room at the Cape View from their Website we were still not prepared for how large it was, and the lovely view it gave us across Cape Cod Bay, all the way from Provincetown to the Sagamore Bridge & beyond.
The Sunsets were stunning, as this view towards Provincetown shows, and we never tired of watching every night from our balcony or just sitting in the room enjoying a drink and gazing at the wonderful sky. It is so true to say that the photos do not do it justice. The floor to ceiling windows covered almost two sides of the room, as did the balcony, and the drop down blinds kept the light out superbly at night. Once the Sun has gone down though it was very dark outside as we were well away from any lit up areas. It is hard to express how much we loved it there and considered ourselves so lucky to have found such a fantastic place to stay.
Not far away was the stores where we bought the food and snacks we both love.. lol.. whilst it was not very big it did have enough choice for us though.
It was fun shopping together for the first time and deciding what to have for lunch or dinner that night and what to wash it down with too !
A couple of nights we ate out at this restaurant called Moby Dicks, it was only a short drive down Route 6 and the menu was plentiful and the food very good.
One evening we drove just down the road to the local cemetery for a look round, both of us enjoy old churches and graveyards so it was a place we just had to go !!
Some of the headstones made fascinating reading and were up to 200 years old. 
During our week there we travelled round each day seeing the places we thought would be of interest to us. We were fortunate in that the weather was mostly dry & sunny except for one wet day when we drove to Hyannis to shop at the Cape Cod Mall. The following is a selection of photos from the places we visited. Rita at the Marconi Station where the first transatlantic telegraph was transmitted from. There is not much left now except the outline of a few buildings as most of the site has slipped into the sea.
Nearby was a walking trail through a 'swamp', but it seemed very dusty and dry to us, but I guess it was much better that way and we kept to the paths ! Anyway we spent a pleasant hour strolling along in the shade of the trees and enjoying the peace and solitude.
We both loved visiting Provincetown too and went there twice just to stroll round the streets and shops. It was fascinating seeing the various people and browsing in the wide variety of stores, many of which were a throwback to the 60's !
One lunchtime we went into a bar/cafe for a midday snack & were thoroughly entertained by the barman & waiters who kept up a never ending banter back & forwards to each other, some of it very lively ! It was hard to eat as most people were laughing so much.
They have some wonderful old trolley buses that do a circular tour of the area and are well worth the trip if you are there for the first time.
Although Rita & I didn't go on one it was a must to have her picture taken in front of one.. lol.
There were a few indoor markets with stalls and one especially we enjoyed seeing and chatting with the owner was Mr Al's, otherwise known as Princess Jennifer.
It was in P'town that we chose our Friendship rings which are hand made using silver and Apache gold.
Here is a picture of my ring. It was to be our wedding bands.
.......Please note that some pages are still under construction..........
That is his webpage.
