A Ride In The Bug

Mistah and I think we own the coolest Volkswagen on the face of the Earth.

The Westy! She is, simply, the biggest stud there is. A 1987 VW Vanagon -- her conversion from a van into a camper done by Westfalia, hence her nickname -- she has done us nothing but right. She's fun, she's cool, she's awesome, she's reliable, she is oh-so-very-close to her 200,000 mile birthday, and she is always, ever ready.

On Sunday, though, the day after UConn made it into, ahem, the Final Four, and during the very day that the UConn women made it into the Elite Eight -- during which Mom came to Milford for a champagne brunchie-poo, Mark-Dowd-Style, and a oh! what a Time was had by all -- well, we found ourselves on the shore of Gulf Beach in Milford, and really, there is only one thing to do at a time like this.

Call Bobby Larsson for a ride in the V-Dub Bug.

And just like that, he showed up.

Bobby Larsson has a sweet, sweet ride. An original 1970s Volkswagen Beetle convertible, all refab-ed and spit-shined and spectacular.

We all piled in like the fun-loving, V-Dub-lovers we are. . . .

Smile, peeps!

. . . and . . . we were off.

I sat behind Bobby, cheering him on the whole way.

Actually, the whole back seat was a mad cheering section. Check us out, back there:

They call that Back Seat Bug Love.

Bobby's an excellent driver and he had Big Fun with his Bug Full 'o Freaks.

Does he not look like a man having Big Fun? Yes he does. I mean yes he does not. Oh, you know what I mean.

Milford claims to have more coastline than any other town in Connecticut. And I believe them: whenever you're driving near the shore in that town, you're right by the coast.

See? There it is again, The Shore. Right by the Coast.

(Sigh. Well, at least I crack myself up.)

And there, up there on the left, our destination. The Beachcomber. The absolute biggest dive bar in the world. But did that stop us? No. No, it did not. Instead, it impelled us.

In fact, we used the opportunity for yet another photo op. Photo Ops is our collective middle name.

The bartender grabbed our camera and told us to strike a five-heads-in-a-row-pose . . .

. . . here she is now . . .

. . . isn't that a cute idea? I think the five-heads-in-a-row is an awfully cute idea. I think we're awfully cute.

But then, like many afternoons, our magical afternoon was over. I mean, how much Tom Petty and Squeeze can one play on a jukebox?

So we headed back out, and into the Bug, and into the world, with an afternoon of hilarious memories under our belt . . .

. . . but not before the cutest doorman in the world showed us out.