Who Picnics?

[mso489]

My late wife and I had a good picnic with the local pastie (sandwiches) at White Fish Point near where the Edmund Fitzgerald went down, at the memorial there.

My second wife and I had a good packed panic at the Eurgne O'Neil (actually his father's summer home) on the Connecticut shore. The staff let us eat on the front porch in the rockers, not a usual amenity, with wine and all. Mighty nice. The playwright would have approved.

The set of the play "A Long Day's Journey Into Night" is often modeled on the front room of the house where it was said to have been set.

 

[kcghost]

The wife and I are getting a little old for picnicking. But I am glad others get out there.

 

[Hovannes]

The picnic basket (or whatever it is---a Brit I know calls it a" hamper") is a subject all it's own.
I do know there are some very expensive ones with the whole nine yards---wine glasses, china, silverware etc...
We've never felt the temptation or had the disposable income to indulge though.
Sometimes we just use a paper bag if we left our basket at home on a road trip.
Being somewhat known for our picnics, we've even been gifted a picnic basket or two, however these will seldom fill the bill with either too much paraphernalia or not enough. or the wrong kind for our purposes. We'll usually re-gift these to young people just starting out, sort of like a beginner's kit for cheap dates.

 

[mso489]

Speaking of intimidating ducks in an earlier post, at work we had flocks of Canada geese when they migrated en masse to the U.S. as permanent residents. People made the unforgivable mistake of feeding them from the picnic tables, which of course trained them to demand food in an aggressive way.

Eventually, feeding them was forbidden, and the geese retreated from the human population, so now they mind their own business, and people mind theres. I often encounter them on my walks around the neighborhood. The males stand guard on their nests, but give you no problem if you keep walking on a tangental path.

Canada geese here in North Carolina are now year-round residents. Since they don't migrate, they only fly in a V formation as a sort of recreational exercise, honking above, often at dusk. But they don't go anywhere, and they nest everywhere, in parking lots and on lawns, and visit yards foraging for tidbits.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Speaking of intimidating ducks in an earlier post, at work we had flocks of Canada geese when they migrated en masse to the U.S. as permanent residents. People made the unforgivable mistake of feeding them from the picnic tables, which of course trained them to demand food in an aggressive way.

Eventually, feeding them was forbidden, and the geese retreated from the human population, so now they mind their own business, and people mind theres. I often encounter them on my walks around the neighborhood. The males stand guard on their nests, but give you no problem if you keep walking on a tangental path.

Canada geese here in North Carolina are now year-round residents. Since they don't migrate, they only fly in a V formation as a sort of recreational exercise, honking above, often at dusk. But they don't go anywhere, and they nest everywhere, in parking lots and on lawns, and visit yards foraging for tidbits.

We had a similar problem in town. A little old lady took it upon herself to feed the geese at our local park, which led to the park being covered in feces. The city had raised hundreds of thousands to build a sensory playground for deaf, blind, and handicapped children. One of the nicest of its kind. You could no longer use it, the walking trail around the lake, or the regular playgrounds. They were home to ecoli from all of the feces. The town passed a law making it illegal to feed the ducks, the first time we had a law meant for one specific person. She was driving up every day with 80'lbs of feed for them. It was sort of sad, because it was her only thing in life. But, even after the law, she was still going in at midnight to feed them. Then, the police set up a sting to catch her, and brought the 80 year old perpetrator in. People showed up at her trial to sneer at her, holding signs and throwing stuff at her, because she had made the whole park unusable, and it took a whole year to clean up the mess.

 

[JOHN72]

While working as a truck driver, we had a picnic at a gas station, me and a few other fellow truckers. We were discussing the horrible smell of some cheese we were eating. Turns out we were just a few yards from a pig farm. And we thought it was the cheese, those cheeses that smell like rotten animals. Well, yes, it was both. The wind was blowing in our favor, from that mysterious farm..........

 

[Paul lec]

Love going out in the gulf and finding a deserted island(sand bar). Get out, spread a blanket and picnic in a quiet remote setting. Love it! As we approached one island my grandsons jumped out to explore, they came running back yelling “Naked People”,seems we stumbled onto a nude beach!?

 

[Sweet Home Alabama]

Love going out in the gulf and finding a deserted island(sand bar). Get out, spread a blanket and picnic in a quiet remote setting. Love it! As we approached one island my grandsons jumped out to explore, they came running back yelling “Naked People”,seems we stumbled onto a nude beach!?

Found 100 or so stranded women once in the gulf. Just fig leaves. Yes, this is a myth often suggested by disparate men…lol

 

[mawnansmiff]

"Our picnic basket has accompanied us on many road trips and the inner lid is plastered with tourist decals of locations were we "spread the blanket.""

Hovannes, this is where you and I would differ. When me and the girlfriend used to picnic we would find a quiet out of the way spot with no distractions (other than the view) to spread our blanket....sort of 'no tourist decal' places

There's something rather quaint about having a picnic, from the making of the food to selecting the area and then finding the perfect spot. I so miss those times.

Regards,

Jay.

 

[workman]

We do it when we can. There is a nice beach a 15 minutes drive from our house, and when weather permits we'll pack up the kids and a carful of blankets, towels, spades and shovels for the kids, food, drink, books, diapers, napkins, pipes and tobacco and be on our way.
With four kids it takes a lot of preparation to get everything right and we try to make it a whole day trip to make all the work count.
I'm considering a portable grill this summer to make it even nicer, we'll see about that. Summer is still a month or two away.

 

[fireground_piper]

Perhaps not a genuine picnic, but as I have been working from home for two years, the wife and I eat our lunch out in our backyard every day during the summer. Something we’ve never been able to do together prior and it’s great every time.

One actual picnic we planned for was a place that does outdoor theater with a lawn that overlooks the Hudson. They open the lawn prior to the evening show and everyone picnics with a great view and sunset. I knew some talent working in it, so we’d go and support. Nice time.

 

[Hovannes]

One particular picnic I remember was at Eagle Lake New Mexico, along the Enchanted Circle route. Enchanted is the right word for it---it's an absolutely glorious scenic by-way.
IIRC, our first picnic together was at Friant Dam overlooking Millerton Lake. This was long before 9-11 so the Dam was open to visitors but we were the only ones there. Cold chicken on a drizzly Winter day.
There was another picnic, on a hike at 10,300' in the Sierra. Salami, dry Jack cheese, a sour dough baguette and a bottle of Hahn Merlot. That Merlot gave us quite a buzz at 10,300'!
Other picnics were at Happy Isles on the Merced River, on stretches of deserted beach North of Pismo (provisions supplied by Soto's Market) and numerous other locations, both close to home and far afield.

 

[tklee]

My dad used to bring us to picnic at the beach when we were kids. It was about 1 and a half hour drive from our town, brought some food, usually are some sandwiches and some curry chicken and bread. It's been a long time we didn't do it after we grew up.

 

[Hovannes]

Perhaps not a genuine picnic, but as I have been working from home for two years, the wife and I eat our lunch out in our backyard every day during the summer. Something we’ve never been able to do together prior and it’s great every time.

One actual picnic we planned for was a place that does outdoor theater with a lawn that overlooks the Hudson. They open the lawn prior to the evening show and everyone picnics with a great view and sunset. I knew some talent working in it, so we’d go and support. Nice time.

They're all picnics!