Weasel's stay sober on vacation thread
Member
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: California
Posts: 1,914
This is a great idea! I'm going on a trip soon as well, so I may have to copy you and make my own!
Glad we can help you on your stay-cation, and glad you can keep us entertained with pictures and tell us about your lovely days off!
Glad we can help you on your stay-cation, and glad you can keep us entertained with pictures and tell us about your lovely days off!
Member
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Somewhere on the East Coast
Posts: 579
Yeay to you Weasel! I love Staycations....all the glory of having time off and "touring" your own city, w/o the traffic and hassle and money of going out of town!
Have you found somewhere nice to have a lunch out one day? That's one of my favorite things...eating a leisurely meal with a book in the middle of the day when everyone else is hurrying around on their lunch break.
I've never been to Maine, keep posting pictures!
Have you found somewhere nice to have a lunch out one day? That's one of my favorite things...eating a leisurely meal with a book in the middle of the day when everyone else is hurrying around on their lunch break.
I've never been to Maine, keep posting pictures!
A simple guy making his way
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Maine
Posts: 7,864
Well what started as a beach day turned into a rather cathartic experience. After breakfast and a water walk I got myself together for a ride to the beach. It's not far. There are several nice spots to chose from but I chose to revisit the scene of many a drunk and drug fueled binges. Why? Because.
How can one measure progress if you never hold it up to a stick?
When I said perfect weather I was not kidding. The air was warm and sticky, unusual for Maine, and considering the coolness it has been it made a beach day all the more beachy!
I parked at the top of the hill in order to stroll down the Main Street. For effect I passed all the store fronts showing inflatables and beach chairs. Of course there are all the t shirts hanging with silly slogans like "drunk chicks dig me". No they don't I said out loud to myself. I stopped for a hot dog. A requirement for me. And yes.... I put ketchup on my hot dogs. Get over it.
Nothing has changed and everything has changed.
Spent time walking the waters edge. Ocean temps here at this time of year are 48 degrees. Fun to have freezing stinging feet and sweating brow. Watch the little ones come running from the start of the beach to the water so excited only to come to a screeching halt. I couldn't help but smile. A simple thing I would never have seen in the day but one I got some joy from.
Looked up at the nightclub at the end of the pier. I show it below. I spent many many nights dancing like a fool. I passed many of the beach front motels where I would stay so I had a "home base" as I partied. Every beach town has them. Little strip of rooms that all sound the same. Ocean Walk Motor Inn or Atlantis and even as generic as Beachfront Inn. I think I hit the majority of them.
The nightlcub at the end
I seldom walk without a shirt but the 25 pounds less of me felt rather good and freeing. I am not in bad shape and working out as much as I do I thought I would give the folks a peak at a buff Weasel. there is something not right about that statement. But I move on....
Leaving the beach after an hour or so I wanted to keep the tour dePast going. So I drove up past one of my old homes. It was the place I bought when I first moved to Maine back in 2000. It represented the happiest of times for me. A new beginning with a partner of 8 years at the time. I was maturing I thought. I had arrived.
I do believe it's in that safety net I created... In that bubble... Where addiction took hold. I never unclenched my fists long enough to allow anything to rock my world or be care free. I grew up in an abusive home where I was in perpetual survival mode. A way of being that took many years to abate. Drugs and drinking and parties at the house where all ways I felt I could be free. Yet little by little. One beach weekend and party at a time I built the cage around me. It wasn't freedom. It was just sad. And you know I saw it too. I sat on the steps of that house and said to my other half. This is not ok. This is wrong. We must stop. Well.... We know how that goes don't we?
The house sat on a slight hill. I always drove up and felt a sense of pride. We added a lot to the property. Today, however, I saw a shell of what was. The house is run down. Garage doors hanging. The new ones we put in are replaced for some reason. The roof all dis colored and ugly. The whole property over run and unkept. Like the life I had there was dead. Nope. I think I will hold the joy I did have there with me. I own that. Like every sober day we spend they cannot be taken away.
Well on a hot day what else does one do on vacation? Take a walk to the Dairy Queen for an ice cream. And I think a bit of grilling. Nicely seasoned thin chicken breasts to top a fresh romaine salad with a squirt of fresh lemon and grated Parmesan cheese. Mmmmm
It's my normal drunk time as I sit soberly unaffected. You know you are doing better when the thoughts of drinking just don't make sense. After seeing what was today how could I do that to myself. Turn the page. Start anew.
Think I will go into town and watch the sunset as well. That should be pretty.
K
So many little toe prints!!!
How can one measure progress if you never hold it up to a stick?
When I said perfect weather I was not kidding. The air was warm and sticky, unusual for Maine, and considering the coolness it has been it made a beach day all the more beachy!
I parked at the top of the hill in order to stroll down the Main Street. For effect I passed all the store fronts showing inflatables and beach chairs. Of course there are all the t shirts hanging with silly slogans like "drunk chicks dig me". No they don't I said out loud to myself. I stopped for a hot dog. A requirement for me. And yes.... I put ketchup on my hot dogs. Get over it.
Nothing has changed and everything has changed.
Spent time walking the waters edge. Ocean temps here at this time of year are 48 degrees. Fun to have freezing stinging feet and sweating brow. Watch the little ones come running from the start of the beach to the water so excited only to come to a screeching halt. I couldn't help but smile. A simple thing I would never have seen in the day but one I got some joy from.
Looked up at the nightclub at the end of the pier. I show it below. I spent many many nights dancing like a fool. I passed many of the beach front motels where I would stay so I had a "home base" as I partied. Every beach town has them. Little strip of rooms that all sound the same. Ocean Walk Motor Inn or Atlantis and even as generic as Beachfront Inn. I think I hit the majority of them.
The nightlcub at the end
I seldom walk without a shirt but the 25 pounds less of me felt rather good and freeing. I am not in bad shape and working out as much as I do I thought I would give the folks a peak at a buff Weasel.
there is something not right about that statement. But I move on....Leaving the beach after an hour or so I wanted to keep the tour dePast going. So I drove up past one of my old homes. It was the place I bought when I first moved to Maine back in 2000. It represented the happiest of times for me. A new beginning with a partner of 8 years at the time. I was maturing I thought. I had arrived.
I do believe it's in that safety net I created... In that bubble... Where addiction took hold. I never unclenched my fists long enough to allow anything to rock my world or be care free. I grew up in an abusive home where I was in perpetual survival mode. A way of being that took many years to abate. Drugs and drinking and parties at the house where all ways I felt I could be free. Yet little by little. One beach weekend and party at a time I built the cage around me. It wasn't freedom. It was just sad. And you know I saw it too. I sat on the steps of that house and said to my other half. This is not ok. This is wrong. We must stop. Well.... We know how that goes don't we?
The house sat on a slight hill. I always drove up and felt a sense of pride. We added a lot to the property. Today, however, I saw a shell of what was. The house is run down. Garage doors hanging. The new ones we put in are replaced for some reason. The roof all dis colored and ugly. The whole property over run and unkept. Like the life I had there was dead. Nope. I think I will hold the joy I did have there with me. I own that. Like every sober day we spend they cannot be taken away.
Well on a hot day what else does one do on vacation? Take a walk to the Dairy Queen for an ice cream. And I think a bit of grilling. Nicely seasoned thin chicken breasts to top a fresh romaine salad with a squirt of fresh lemon and grated Parmesan cheese. Mmmmm
It's my normal drunk time as I sit soberly unaffected. You know you are doing better when the thoughts of drinking just don't make sense. After seeing what was today how could I do that to myself. Turn the page. Start anew.
Think I will go into town and watch the sunset as well. That should be pretty.
K
So many little toe prints!!!
A simple guy making his way
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Maine
Posts: 7,864
2 eggs over easy with hash browns, sausage and rye toast...
Hot dog... Yes ketchup...
SMALL cheesesteak at my fav pizza house...
Beef and bean chili...
Pint of pork fried rice...
I am going from buff weasel to puff weasel as we speak....
Chicken is on hold.... It was pork fried rice!
Sun tuckered me out so I relax in my chair. I actually turned on the central air. A guilty pleasure and totally uncessesary in Maine.... Why? Cuz it was melting my chocolate fudge from the beach. Oh yeah.... Chocolate fudge....
Hot dog... Yes ketchup...
SMALL cheesesteak at my fav pizza house...
Beef and bean chili...
Pint of pork fried rice...
I am going from buff weasel to puff weasel as we speak....
Chicken is on hold.... It was pork fried rice!
Sun tuckered me out so I relax in my chair. I actually turned on the central air. A guilty pleasure and totally uncessesary in Maine.... Why? Cuz it was melting my chocolate fudge from the beach. Oh yeah.... Chocolate fudge....
A simple guy making his way
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Maine
Posts: 7,864
Thanks you'all.... (How very southern of me!)
You really make it fun to be sober and here. Tomorrow will be an exercise day. I promised Olive I would do 30k steps in a day.
K
You really make it fun to be sober and here. Tomorrow will be an exercise day. I promised Olive I would do 30k steps in a day.
K
Member
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Central America/Florida USA
Posts: 4,064
Nice post there about re-tracing your past steps, Weasel. Those are tough roads sometimes. Always best done once those wounds have healed - taking a stroll through the past before you're ready can be painful. Cool pix, and an interesting story. Particularly symbolic that the nightclub you used to visit is at the end of a steep pier, isn't it? You've chosen to come back to solid ground rather than fall off the edge!
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