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Ben Stein's Diary
Goodbye to Sandpoint
Now to return to Obama’s America.
Tuesday
We are going home today from
Sandpoint to L.A. Maybe I have that wrong. Maybe now Sandpoint is
home. But we are going south, like the osprey, as even Indian
summer promises to wane.
So, goodbye to our condo with its views over the lake and the comforting 24 hour a day roar and rumble of Mr. Buffett’s trains. Goodbye to the prime rib at Trinity on the lake at the Edgewater. Goodbye to the glorious meatless pasta at Ivano’s and Gabby, my economist-parented friend there. Goodbye to the friendly girls at Vanderford’s where I get my Wall Street Journal every day.
Goodbye to Tim Farmin, my boating guru and guide and friend who can fix everything and anything. Goodbye to Penny, his lovely wife, who is one of the most insightful women I have ever met.
Goodbye to Starbucks and Coldwater Creek, where my wife found a jacket that looks like Chanel but only cost a hundred bucks.
Bye-bye to Wendy, the bakery manager at Safeway, who sold me fabulous chocolate cakes for my bride and agreed that these are the latter days and that our refuge is in the Lord.
Goodbye to the great people at Sandpoint Super Drug, who actually know their customers and care about them. (They also have the best air conditioning in town.)
Adios, muchachos, to the men and women at Bottle Bay Resort and the Falls Café. Please, don’t go there. I would like it to be my secret. Those places are too cool for school.
Goodbye to the people at the Laclede Store in the middle of nowhere but that stocks everything. Goodbye to Mama Mac’s gas station and eatery and to the Priest River Police, who keep a close eye on me.
Goodbye to Ivano’s in Hope, with the best steaks and the best sunsets on earth. Goodbye to the chef there who asked me if I would give her a “fellowship” to culinary school. Goodbye to Hill’s, far, far away from Beverly Hills, but worth the trip.
Au revoir cute girls at City Beach who show me their ice cream confections and want photos with me and who all remind me of the girls I had crushes on at the Silver Spring Armory in 1959. Please remember to stay forever young. Don’t leave Sandpoint. Go see “Lost Horizons” and you’ll see what I mean.
Goodbye to the refreshment stand at City Beach where the high school girls who work there make me fresh popcorn and smile and all have haunting blue eyes. They keep a salt shaker just for me. Goodbye to the girl on the swing who wants to be a lawyer. Good bye to the Dairy Depot and their moose tracks chocolate milkshakes.
Goodbye to watching Tim fly his remote control seaplane. Good bye to the Cobalt cutting through the water at 60, 26 feet, three inches of pure pleasure. Goodbye to the Vissers, my pluperfectly beautiful and polite neighbors and friends.
In Fiddler on the Roof, a Jewish shtetl dweller in Russia asks the rabbi if he has a prayer for the Tsar. “Yes,” says the rebbe. “May God bless and keep the Tsar… far away.” That is my prayer for our President and Sandpoint. To keep Barack Obama and modern America far from Sandpoint.
Now, I have something to live for: to come back to a place where no one brags, no one cuts you off in traffic, where you do not hear one car horn honking at you all summer, where everyone has an absolutely unreserved love of America and no one starts an argument. Where you race in your boat under osprey and bald eagles that are impossibly powerful and swift and yet real and not in captivity.
Dear, dear Sandpoint, stay as magical as you are, stay free and far, far away from the captivity of the modern.
About the Author
Ben Stein is a writer, actor, economist, and lawyer living in Beverly Hills and Malibu. He writes “Ben Stein’s Diary” for every issue of The American Spectator.
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Cobalt| 9.18.12 @ 8:55AM
No goodbye to any vegan low carb eating establishments?
In the 1980s, my uncle used to take me to a place called Pollys Pies in Long Beach. Pollys Pies now has 16 locations in the Los Angeles area. Check them out.
http://www.pollyspies.com/
Alan Obama Fan Brooks | 9.18.12 @ 3:46PM
what 'bout that Idahoan Ben mentioned yesterday sellin org-anic veg-tables? the Idahoan mus' be a muslim cause everbody knows muslims put org-anic vege-tables in their fa-laughels before they strap on the IEDs an' blow up a bus fulla Kindergarteners.
Bill8472| 9.18.12 @ 9:11AM
WONDERFUL SUMMER
(Gil Garfield / Perry Botkin, Jr.)
Robin Ward - 1963-64
(sound of surf)
I want to thank you for giving me
The most wonderful summer of my life
It was so heavenly
You meant the world to me
And anyone could see that I was so in love
I want to thank you for giving me
The most wonderful summer of my life
I never will forget
That summer day we met
You were so shy and yet you stole my heart away
We strolled along the sand
Walking hand in hand
Then you kissed me and I knew
That I would love you my whole life through
I want to thank you for giving me
The most wonderful summer of my life
And though it broke my heart
That day we had to part
I'll always thank you for giving me
The most wonderful summer of my life
Bill8472| 9.18.12 @ 11:53AM
"Ben and Me" by Robert Lawson. Good kid's book. Disney made it into an animated story.
Jack in Wi| 9.18.12 @ 9:19AM
I don't know if it the end of days for mankind yet. But it is sure the sunset of our lives for Ben an me. We will find out soon enough what God has to say about our future.
Occam's Tool| 9.18.12 @ 8:20PM
Your future is hell after death, Jack. Richly deserved. The USSS guy missed his chance.
Joellen| 9.18.12 @ 9:59AM
Ben, you have truly lived a Blessed Life - give thanks to ABBA FATHER for all.
C. Vernon Crisler | 9.18.12 @ 10:23AM
"Goodbye to ... the Priest River Police, who keep a close eye on me."
Hah, Ben, I'm not sure if this was meant quite the way it sounds...... ;-)
Paul McGrath| 9.18.12 @ 10:33AM
Thanks Ben.
Mimi | 9.18.12 @ 10:41AM
Oh my God, Ben...Thankyou for the PICTURE of REAL America ! The people you say goodbye to are in every town in America...not just ...BEFORE but NOW !
We are a GOOD PEOPLE...you described us WELL !
TLP| 9.18.12 @ 1:15PM
I just left my Government Controlled Housing Project. Summer is over, and I wait at the Bus Stop, waiting for the Government Transportation Mass Transit Authority's Bus to take me to the Government Store.
I brought an old Book with me to pass the time, while standing in line to buy whatever I can find on the always empty shelves, as you can't find any New Books, anymore. Just Memoirs of our Dear Leader, filled with all of his Favourite Speeches.
Somedays I like to think about the life I used to have, before The One - that's what he's called, now. A good job. A house of my own, where my Wife and I raised our kids, before they were sent away to the Government Instilations for Retraining, and Indoctrination.
I wipe a tear from my eye, as I think of what it was like, before the Constitution was Deemed Counterrevolutionary, and Burned on the White House Lawn, along with all of the rest of our Founding Documents.
Our Founding Fathers have been Erased from the History Books, as they have been Deemed Racist, and no longer worthy of remembrance.
I whisper a Prayer to GOD, because I dare not speak HIS name out loud, as I look at the GOD IS DEAD printed on our Money, now.
TLP. September 18, 2019.
Occam's Tool| 9.18.12 @ 8:22PM
Nah, TLP. Just remember Bismarck's comments about the USA. One day we will destroy the Dhimmicrats and the "Wake Up, America!" party will be kicking Jack's ass and taking names.
Bob K| 9.18.12 @ 10:50AM
Ben,
That is a surprisingly cheerful farewell from someone who has to return to Los Angeles! Have a good trip.
Hardcard| 9.18.12 @ 3:02PM
Dear Ben.....Take a nap, you deserve it you must be exhausted.
Pooch Perfect| 9.18.12 @ 5:15PM
Ben neglected to say goodbye to CVS, the pharmacy where he buys his "adult undergarments," aka Depends.
Frank Drackman| 9.19.12 @ 8:33AM
Ben, I know you were key to Richard Milhouse's fabulously sucessfull second term, but you're setting off Creepy Old Man alarms all the way to Key West...(and as a 50 yr old with 2 daughters I've set off a few myself, hey I LIKE "Gilmore Girls")
"haunting Blue eyes"?
why not "Sexy"? I mean ummm
"Pretty"
Frank "it puts the lotion on it's skin" Drackman
SStierle| 9.19.12 @ 9:46PM
"Maybe now Sandpoint is home." Over the years I've seen you many times at football games, around town, and even at the hospital when my nephew was born...I consider Sandpoint your home. So I hope this is not really a goodbye, but an until next time. Take care.
Shaun| 9.20.12 @ 1:25PM
Hey Ben! It's always great having you here in Sandpoint. We met at the Loading Dock last summer after I finished playing a show with The Collective. I was the drummer :). You were kind enough to come up and compliment us personally on our music after you had heard it from your boat down on Sand Creek. You struck me as a very kind and humble man. Thanks Ben, See you again!
mtnlakeman| 9.21.12 @ 3:58PM
Hey Blabber Mouth, zip it. Take a clue from McManus and refer to all such things as trolls, grizzly bears, and rabid wolves.
Lajmaiz| 9.21.12 @ 6:23PM
Obama and his cohorts in congress have already devastated Sandpoint. Gas prices are more than double than they were 4 years ago. That impacts food and clothing prices. Housing has plummeted in the area to 50% of its value. That affects the timber, construction and real estate industries. I was laid off a year ago and had to leave my home in Sagle to find a new job.
We sat next to Ben Stein at Trinity one night. He is a gentleman. We will miss Sandpoint a lot, in particular Spuds and Slates. We also miss the good friends we made and the simple country life that Sandpoint afforded us for six years.
Spokgary| 10.1.12 @ 10:39PM
Living in Spokane, we visit Sandpoint regularly to see friends and enjoy the area. Tell Ben that we are now getting Indian Summer and enjoying the Fall Colors. Best time of the year for golf! Had to close-up the Cocolalla cabin for the Winter. Gary