The Fog

Had the oddest/coolest Independence Day yesterday.

Woke up early to some iffy weather.  We were supposed to head out to the beach on my sister's boat, but we chilled out for a while until we heard from them since we weren't sure if they were actually going to go.  Turns out they decided to head out early.  And once they got out onto the bay, they encountered a daytime fog that is truly rare around these parts.  Especially during a warm summer day.  Took them forever to get to Davis Park (a beach community on Fire Island).  They were planning on getting a dock slip and then coming back to the mainland to get us, but since it was dangerous boating with all that fog they asked us to take the ferry across and meet them there.

No problem.  Actually met some nice folks on the ferry.  A couple in front of us wanted to pay with their debit card, but the ferry only took cash.  So we gave them the money for the ride and they found a cash machine over at Davis Park to pay us back.  Good karma, I always say.  Then I gave up my seat to an elderly couple because the ferry was standing room only at that point.  Turned out to be my brother's ex-neighbors.  Really nice folks.

But the ride over to the beach was weird.  Total pea soup.  And it was already 11AM at that point.  Never saw a fog like that didn't burn off in the late morning/early afternoon.  It was like those fake clouds/fog that the alien ships used in the film Independence Day to mask their arrival.  Welcome to Earf!

But there was a bit of a breeze and the surf was pounding.  So we headed out to the beach.  I had a bit of a sunburn from lounging in the pool on Saturday, so I was covered up and sunscreened up. Even with all that fog. And the fog just kept on sticking around.  From the beach, you could see the first set of breakers.  But beyond that?  Nothing.  It was really eerie.  And really cool.  My niece and nephews (and Gia) didn't care, they just played in the surf like normal.  They said all they could see of the next wave was a great big shadow in the fog.  Nice!

Finally, around 4:30PM, the fog lifted. And the clouds mostly cleared too.  Excellent.  Because that meant the big fireworks show over the bay would happen as planned.  So we had a bite to eat back on the boat and headed out for the show.  I'm not a big fireworks guy, but the kids (and Gia) loved it.

All in all, a really cool, freaky, weird, eerie, fun day.