ah the beach! it's almost mandatory that we'd pay a visit to cupsogue beach. so after breakfast, we left in two cars, megan came with dan, john, and myself, while mark drove brendan, lionel, and andie. halfway there a police cruiser pulled mark over, who was following behind us, so we stopped as well. we watched in the rear-view mirror, wondering what was going on. dan thought maybe it was a speeding violation, but if you've seen dan drive, he adheres to the speed limit (barely). once we got to the beach parking lot ($10 admission) we finally got the whole story. the cop pulled them over because he couldn't see the license plate (it fell off, but it was visible from the rearview window, massachusetts plate). then he said they were playing their music too loud (which is ironic, because we were blaring our music as well, an offensive collection of booty singles). then he told mark to warn us that if he saw us again with our broken tail light (dan's car) he'd give us a ticket. it just seemed the police was looking for a reason to stop us, but at least nobody got a ticket (mark just got off with a warning).

the water was cold and the waves were strong; i went up to my knees then came right back, spending the rest of my time lying on my beach towel. i didn't bother putting on any sunblock; i wanted to get dark and i figured i already had a base coat so i wasn't really going to burn. i did put some on my feet when i could start feeling them sting a little bit from the sun.

one of mark's friend showed up and they decided to stay there a little bit longer while we gave andie a ride back to the house. dan was careful not to drive above the speed limit nor do anything that would give the police reason to pull us over.

the beach is fun and all, and a great place to people watch, but real swimming takes place back at the house in the pool. i took the opportunity to re-introduce my blow-up sex doll "sandy duncan." we fought each other with our inflatable toys and i floated in the pool on a water noodle.

the afternoon was just lazy and peaceful. nobody really knew what time it was. dan and i went down by the pier and watched fish swimming in the water as well as scary looking horseshoe crabs crawling on the ocean bottom. john and deanna help may and mariane with some kayaking equipment. mariane ended up kayaking out into the open waters, coming back without her hat which blew away in the wind. dan and i helped the ladies carry the boat back onshore. soon people were hungry enough that it was time for dinner (lionel returned to the city, to take care of his dog). michelle's husband is a chef so of course the responsibility of cooking rested on his shoulders, whether he wanted to or not. we had a barbecue and had some tasty homemade burgers as well as slices of steak. the amount of food was just enough that people were fighting over scraps, and vegetarians (mariane) became carnivores (at least for one night).

after dinner a bunch of people went out into the field to play some softball. i stayed back at the house chatting with mariane about our travels. suddenly there was a commotion; apparently sean (christine's boyfriend) hurt himself pitching (pulled something) and was in some pain. john and deanna ended up taking sean (and christine) to the local area hospital, leaving everyone else back at the house to make our own fun.

now in hindsight we should've all jumped into the hot tub and get all liquored up while exchanging embarassing anecdotes, but nobody knew when the hosts would return from the hospital, so we just waited around, hoping maybe it'd be soon. that didn't turn out to be the case however. mariane, may, and andie started a game of scrabbles, dan was absorbed by an abbreviated solitaire version of chinese checkers, and mark and brendan were engaged in a serious chess match. later, those of us who were still awake (mark and brendan went out clubbing) played a rousing game of non-drinking asshole. megan, who promised herself she wouldn't drink this whole weekend, was fighting temptation all night long, a few times suggesting we'd raid the liquor cabinet and do shots. finally by midnight she broke down and went to the garage and came back with a double serving of corona (i think she ended up going 6 bottles, party girl!). michelle was the big winner, staying president for most of the rounds, while i was the big loser for most of the game. at one point dan and i became president and vice president (boys rule!) but that only lasted one round.

finally, around 1am, john and deanna came back from the hospital, along with christine, and sean in an arm sling. they looked exhausted, having spent most of the night in the waiting room. a handful of us piled into the hot tub for a late evening dip, talking celebrity gossip with megan.

i was the last person to leave the tub and by then i was a walking prune. dan and i headed down to the cabin and went to sleep.