So for those of you who blog on a daily basis you will know what I mean when I feel overwhelmed from taking four days off from posting. I do not even know where to begin and so much has happened while I was away. So I am going to try and do my best to get it all in no matter how scattered it may seem. I just have to remember that whatever I write, it is better than nothing and much appreciated by you the reader. So here goes my attempt at describing just how fun the weekend in Boston was. Taking a deep breath because this is going to be a long entry.

Keep checking in until you see me say the end because this is going to be a work in progress. Thanks!

The numbers

Before I go deep into the details of the weekend here are some interesting numbers. We covered over 2200 KM’s, drove for 25 hours, payed endless amount of dollars at several toll booths, listened to hundreds of songs (some more than once), covered two provinces and three states and did not even get lost that bad. We survived the long and boring highway 9, a few rain storms and Katie cut her teeth on the art of highway merging. Changing back and forth from KM’s to miles and learning to love US truck stops was all apart of the experience. Wild accents, one bitchy waitress, and a killer game of scrabble were only some of the memories. Please read further for all the rest. This is our trip to Boston as I remember it.

Leaving home

Friday I spent most of the day doing all the prep work as Katie worked. Running around getting US cash, taking Bosco to the kennel and packing the car were all taken care of. I had some time to relax and calm the nervous excitement I was feeling. Finally it was time to hop in the car and pick up Katie and start this adventure. We had both heard on the news that there was some Native protests at the Nova Scotia-New Brunswick border so we were hoping this would not slow us down.

Everything went smooth getting out of town and we were jazzed and full of energy. The plan was to get as much driving over with and trying not to stop too much. This idea was going great until we got hungry and decided to pull off for a bite in Sussex, NB. Now I am not going to say the town is bad or the people are not worth knowing but we did not have a great experience. We stopped at the A&W figuring we could grab a quick bite and be back on the road. No chance. I had a bad feeling looking at the scene of workers who looked like it was their first day. I ordered two meals and Katie went to the car.

Almost 20 minutes later I came out with the food and a lot of anger. It took forever and in the end the food was bad as well. Not a great start to a trip when you are trying to make ground in good time. With upset tummy’s and a change in drivers we plugged away for a few more hours of daylight.

It was pretty cool to see how late the sun stayed up as we drove towards the Eastern time zone. The horizon was still bright until close to 11pm Atlantic time and that made for a nice drive along Highway 1 going through Saint John. I was starting to see I had set lofty goals for this leg of the trip and had to accept we were going to get as far.

Run for the border

Finally just after midnight we hit the U.S. border in the town of St. Stephen, NB. It was a small border crossing and it went smooth although Katie and I did not have our stories straight with the customs guy. We stopped for some cheaper American gas and decided to drive for another hour or so since we just gained an hour back with the time changing to Eastern time.

I took over the driving again and drove on the boring highway 9 in the dark trying to figure out what speed limits to go since our car did not have MPH listed. I got the feel and cruised along until we reached Bangor, Maine.

“Bangor, you brought her you bangor” Katie Rose Rock

We decided it was time to stop since we were both very tired and becoming more and more brain dead by the minute. We hit the Comfort Inn just off the I95 and checked in. This particular hotel was called The White House and was had a Presidential theme full on with themed rooms and trivia cards in the room. We just got a normal room and grabbed a solid five hours of rest.

Boston here we come

By 7:05am we were back on the road and headed to Boston full steam ahead. I estimated we still had a good three hours to go before getting to Kevin and Angela’s place so it was pedal to the metal and I drove the fun I95 through Maine, New Hampshire and finally getting on the I93 in Massachusetts. Many people have warned us about driving in Boston and trying to navigate around so I was expecting the worst. Other than a few “Mass-holes” it was not that bad. Thanks to some handy directions from Kev going from the highway into Somerville and finding their place was pretty easy. We pulled up and their was Kev sitting on the porch reading his book. We had arrived.

Time to hit Beantown

We had a small meet and greet, catching our breath and enjoying a tasty tea before we all were ready for a day in Boston. It was a gorgeous day and I made sure to use some sunscreen before leaving. We got our stuff together, took a quick picture of Kevin and Angela’s new car and started walking to the subway.

It was about a 15-20 minute walk to the “T” and then another 10-15 minutes to get into Boston. It was cool being in a big city again, smelling the subway and seeing the large buildings again. I was already starting to annoy everyone with all my picture taking I think.

Once in Boston we did some walking around and checking out some of the sites. The first plan was to get something to eat since it was close to noon and we were all starving. Kevin directed us to Beer Works, a place both Kev and Ang claimed to have some great food. We got their and they had numerous Beers on tap that were all brewed at the place. Both Kevin and I went with a locally themed libation while Katie had some wine and Angela tried the watermelon beer (we know, we laughed too). The food was outstanding and the portions were large. The one memory was the incredibly large heap of nachos that Katie got and I bet it is still there being picked at by people. She ate a lot and yet everytime we looked the pile of chips was the same. We all tried to put a dent in it but it did not work. I think those nachos were regenertating or something. Once full of tasty food and ice cold brew we had to walk it off to make room for the next stop.

A little shopping

We went to the market or whatever that area is called with all the shops and vendors. It was so cool to look around and see all the hustle and bustle. There was this guy dressed as a statue and he moved really slow collecting money in a jar. There were all the Red Sox fans everywhere. There were all the tourists like us snapping up all kinds of pictures. We went to Urban Outfitters (a store I miss from TO) and I ended up getting a pair of shades for my birthday (it was a good weekend for me). After donning the new sunglasses I became the coolest guy in town and walked around with my posse checking out the scene. It was time for another drink so after a stop at the waterfront and seeing where some of The Departed was shot we headed over to the next pub, The Black Rose.

What’s Clamato juice?

Here we sat at the bar and had an entertaining bartender with the classic Boston accent. Katie wanted Ceasars but I guess they don’t know what Clamato juice is down there so it was not exactly what they wanted. Angela sucked back some Ameretto Sours pretty fast while the boys of course went old school with some Harp. Here we discussed the day so far and laughed at Kevin who has the best skill of having the same face in every picture. We kept up the buzz and decided to move on once again. Man who knew this was going to be a Beantown pub crawl?

Where everybody knows your name

Next up we took a lazy walk through town towards the best known tourist destination, Cheers! We checked out the park and the fancy condos that Kev would not mind having one day and finally we reached the Bar that launched a thousand hangovers. As soon as we got within view of Cheers it was clear that it was busy and had more cameras in it than a camera factory. People snapping shots out front, inside and everywhere in between. We did a stroll through but it was way to busy for our tastes. It was cool to see it and to see all the pictures on the wall but it was like going to Walmart on Chirstmas eve for me. We got out of their, took some of our own pics and kept going.

We took the road less traveled and hit a bar that I can’t even remember the name of. It was a small watering hole that had some awards from year’s past but the memory we will all leave with was the BITCHY waitress. Here is a list of all the things she did to get into the B-Category.

  • Made a face of annoyance when we were taking pictures of each other.
  • Took a drink order and left before asking the girls what they wanted (assuming they were having beer from the pitcher the boyz got, phhh no way).
  • Came back and took Katie’s order and forgot Angela.
  • Took Angela’s order the next time.
  • I don’t remember her coming back to check on us.
  • Looked annoyed just having to work.
  • The icing on the cake was when we had paid, still drinking……she took the money we put out for tip before we even left. Who does that??? Just grabbed it like it was hers no matter what. Crazy man.

Here we discussed many things…….HD TV, my shades, the next plan of attack, how much of “a treat” our waitress was etc.

Off to mingle with the SOX nation

We decided that even with slim odds of getting into Fenway for the Sox-Rangers game we would go over and try. A short subway ride and we came out on a madhouse of action. Fenway Park, a place even more famous than Cheers in Boston and everything around it had to do with the BoSox. Bars, stores and the people all covered in red. It is quite something to see. Then as we walked closer, there it was, the light stands of Fenway and the famous green colouring of the building. So what that we never got in, it was great just being down there and in that atmosphere.

We ended up sitting on the patio at Cask ‘N Flagon just across the way from the Green Monster. We had some drinks and dinner and listened to the crowd roar like they were watching gladiators battle in the coliseum. Kevin and I had a moment of disdain when Kev tried to weez on my order of boneless wings. We got our own orders and in the end Kev failed to finish his. I do not look down upon him for this, only because he is shorter than me. Highlights of this place were the flat screens over the pissers and the vibe.

We walked around the park and took some more pictures and then headed towards the subway before the game ended to avoid the rush. Back into the hot and steamy subway and home to Somerville. I swear that walk from the station to Kev and Ang’s place got twice as long on the way back but maybe that was my sore feet talking.

Birthday cupcakes? Hell yeah

After we got home we all crashed into whatever piece of furniture we could find. We were TIRED! That was a lot of walking for anyone and I have to say Katie did awesome. Already lacking sleep she was a trooper and did not let anything affect her mood or fun. Gold star goes to her. I quicky took that star away and gave it to Angela when she pulled out birthday cupcakes complete with candles! I of course had already wished for a great weekend so no point over doing it.

The were tasty cakes and I could hardly stuff it in my belly but I did. What a day of walking, site seeing and eating. Boston you did us proud, hope to meet you again soon.

We all crashed and slept so well resting up for Canada Day in Boston. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Happy Canada Day!

Well we were all up pretty early for a Sunday and the morning was pretty relaxed. Coffee and tea and some mini putt on the Xbox started the day nicely. We all got ready to take a trip into town (Somerville) to do some shopping. We also got to ride in the new car and smell that new car smell.

The plan was to start off with some brunch and we went to Kev and Ang’s favourite place in town so far, Rosebud. It is a diner inside an old train car. It was classic Mass. with the accents and people. We all had a big breakfast and the girls even dipped into some bloody mary’s although they did not like them very much. We settled up and hit the road with things to do.

Next stop at the mall was Jcrew. Katie had to do some dealings about dress she bought and I looked around for some clothes. The dress thing seems to be all taken care of and I did find some new duds. Once again I cashed in on the birthday fun with two new shirts and a pair of pants thanks to miss Katie. Kev found some shirts as well and all was good.

The girls checked out some stores while Kevin and I looked around Best Buy and the book store. Kevin picked up two copies of Rant and was nice enough to give me one for my birthday. Sweet!

All that was left was to take a cruise around Cambridge to see Harvard and where Kevin worked. Nice buildings and very busy.

Grillin and chillin

Once we got home it was time to kick it into Canada Day partying. The beer was out and the backyard was the destination of choice. We sat around trying new beers and listening to music while enjoying another gorgeous day of sun.

Kevin dug out their bache ball set and we had a match or two. I lost but it was thrilling none the less. The girls also played but not for that long since sitting in the sun was more of a sport for them. The guy team did twart the girls in a quick match to 10.

After all the sun and fun and beer it was finally time for some grillin. Kevin took care of firing up the bbq and Angela made the burgers. There were dogs and burgs and salad for all. I was highly impressed with the amount of condiments that they had to offer. Several kinds of mustard is just outstanding.

We ate and ate some more and once it was over I can say I was stuffed. All I could think was I had to start a diet once the weekend was over. One more birthday cupcake and I was done.

Scrabble anyone? NICE

We moved over to the living room for a game of scrabble. Kevin won in the end by it was close and the PHD’s did not win by that much. I got stuck with a Q otherwise I think I would of won. In honour of Canada Day we had Strange Brew on the TV as we played. NICE.

Finally those tired feelings caught up with all of us and we went to bed kind of early. Kevin and Angela had to work on Monday and we had to leave pretty early and get on the road for home. We packed what we could, got organized and turned out the lights. The weekend of fun was over, always a bittersweet feeling. The long road back to Nova Scotia was ahead and being well rested was key.

See ya guys

We were all up bright and early and wishing for more sleep but there was a long drive ahead. We all spent some last moments together and finally we packed up the car and pulled down Trull Street for the last time (for now). I was driving the first leg because Katie was not quite ready for four lane highway action.

The drive home was long but easy. We hit all the right exits and never got lost. There were a few moments of panic but nothing that was major. We stopped at the same truck stop on the way back and Katie got another Starbucks treat. There was a lot of music and looking back at the last two days. Filled up the tank and kept going finding Maine to be as big as it was on the way down. Once we got back to the Bangor area we made a driver change and Katie took us all the way to the border with some really good driving. We went through a few showers that tested her new found skills and she never missed a beat. I am still way to jumpy but she had it all under control.

Just before the border we had a bite to eat at Burger King and made a run for the border. Sadly there was a long lineup that really cut into our time and our change to hit the Duty Free. We passed at all the cheap booze and finally got back into Canada around 5pm. Hard to believe I thought we were going to make it back by 7pm to pick up Bosco at the kennel.

New Brunswick, nice to see you

I put the cruise control in high gear and as Katie dozed I did my best to buzz through NB. We made great time for the rest of the trip and the excitement to get home started to build once we crossed back into Nova Scotia.

We pulled into the driveway just before 10pm totally exhausted but happy about the weekend and that we were back on Kline. We unloaded and went inside to see Mercy pleased to see us home. Back to life, back to reality……we unpacked and  watched some TV and passed out around midnight.

GREAT TRIP, thanks to Kevin and Angela.

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