Bertha. Inside I met Mary the owner who was really cool, great coffee, great menu, and a good bacon, egg and cheese. The outside of the place looks like this,
So when I got to Phillips the parking lot was packed, and on the beach guys were lined up north and south. The tide was just heading out, water flat, no birds, "Shoulda been here yesterday.", no really that's what I was told, fish in the wash on sand eels. One fly guy was out on the tip of the rocks when I got there, and I made a few dozen casts with nothing. Not a fish caught all morning, from guys there since before sun up. Later in the day I spoke with a local reel manufacturer rep who lives locally and fishes the salt water. In his opinion, " It hasn't even started yet.", wow now that sounds good. I'll be checking out the local scene for the next two days and then it's off to Tampa for redfish with Dave Choinard from the old Fly Hatch in Shrewbury. So those that know me know I keep vehicles for along time, keep them clean and try and do the right thing and keep my mechanics in business.
Well my Dodge Dakota that you've seen and read about here, the one I dropped a new tranny in during the spring when I broke down in the Adirondacks, well, she was tired, and ready to move on. So I started looking for a nice new or newer, mid size pickup, for the family and the drift boats, something good on gas, low miles and not too expensive. Forget it. I looked at 30,000 trucks both in person and online. It's pretty simple, the more you pay, the better shape it's in, and the less mileage. I saw trucks with over 75,000 miles for over 20 thousand dollars. So, I finally found one real close to home, a trade in at a dealership that they knew for years and here it is. Oh, yeah the Smog and Green Rating on this, like Blutarski's GPA in Animal House, 0.00. It's a 2003 Dodge Ram 2500, 8 cyl 5.7 Hemi, with a quad cab and 8 foot bed. Sweet, sweet, sweet. There a few drawbacks- it's 57 feet long and gets 10 miles per gallon on gas. Perfect for those client trips to the Catskills or the Adirondacks. Anyway I liked it, hemmed and hawed over it, and did the pros vs cons list, came down to this 48,000 miles for 15 thousand. Sold! I will be gladly accepting gas cards for Christmas.