New England Whirlwind

So while we were packing for our New England weekend, Leonard asked me what he should pack (i.e. weather). I told him to figure about 10 degrees colder.

Heh. It was 92 degrees and not a cloud in the sky Thursday in Denver. It was about 45-50 degrees, windy, and raining on and off in Maine. Not that he really cared - he never wears a coat anyways. And I didn't really care either because I was in Maine! That's just how life is there.

Here is part of the whirlwind itinerary we followed:

Friday - landed at Logan at 5:30 AM. Got our luggage (well, his luggage.) I packed light enough so I could carry on - he is a little more high maintenance than I. :) Got our luggage, I changed, we caught the T into Boston. Got off at the Aquarium, looked at the seals... barely awake at 6:30 in the morning, but so cute. Meandered our way toward the common. Hit some of the Financial District, Downtown Crossing, walked by a couple Freedom Trail landmarks, a couple of old spooky but well kept cemetaries, part of the Theatre District, sat on a bench next to the Park Street station and watched the bums wake up. I hear they prefer to be called "temporarily homeless"... Boston is so damn PC. Anyways. 7:30 rolled around, we squished our way onto the green line (rush hour with luggage is great!), took it out to Coolidge Corner, and met big brother and girlfriend Jen for breakfast. My breakfast was delicious, by the way. I highly recommend Banana Stuffed French Toast to anyone who visits Zaftigs. (Leonard didn't eat, he had hot cocoa instead.) Continuing on with our day, we got ourselves dropped off at Harvard Square and walked around, watching the scholars wake up and have their breakfasts of coffee and cigarettes. Saw a frazzled woman carrying an even more frazzled cat in a pet carrier - but I think she didn't realize that there was a live animal in there because that cat had to hang on for dear life. It was entertaining. Went to L.A. Burdick's (yummy chocolate) and had a hot cocoa - this was Leonard's second of the day. First time I've ever seen someone add sugar to hot cocoa. I followed suit because ... well, just because. Big brother picked us up at the taxi stand in his personal taxi and drove us up to Lowell. Went to Mr. Bob's hardware store, said hello to Mr. Bob and Grampy and gave Leonard a tour of the top floor - fabulous views of Adam's Street drug deals, junk yards, and whatnot. That store is a mecca for the imagination without looking out the windows, and it was fun to be able to show it to someone - I used to spend hours there exploring and getting lost. Got Mr. Bob's car around noon and drove to his house to take a nap. This is where Leonard finally decided that it was a good idea to eat. Chatted with stepmother and stepbrother, I napped, Leonard continued chatting, I ate twice, yada yada. Left at around 1:30/1:45 I think. Drove to Nancy's mother's house because baby Hayley was spending the weekend with Grandma. Couldn't have a weekend without a baby visit! Gave the baby a bottle, marveled at how much she looks like Nancy and how she is still the most beautiful baby I have ever seen (Leonard concurred - as we were leaving he said "God bless that baby - she is so beautiful.") And she is developing a strong personality - Nancy's mom said she's just like Nancy - Lord help them all. Drove to stepfather's house to visit old, deaf dog and then continued on our way to Maine. Driving through Haverhill, I remembered that little brother had a baseball game that day at Whittier Tech. Another detour. Stopped, watched him play left field but no balls were hit that way. Watched him hit a home run. Chatted with stepfather (who by the way had no idea I was in town, so that was a fun surprise I think?). Mother arrived; chatted with her. Waved to little brother. Got back in the car and continued on our way to Maine. Yes, it was still Friday... and only 5:00 PM. Leonard hadn't slept yet - I am blessed with the ability to sleep on airplanes. He's not. In the car Leonard mentioned that my mother seems really needy - I was impressed that he got that out of a 10 minute conversation! I drove to Kennebunkport while Leonard napped, and we finally arrived at our hotel at dinnertime. Changed, drove to Nunan's. Leonard was now starving. Got to Nunan's, found out they don't take credit cards so had to go to the ATM at Bradbury's Market next door. ATM was down, so we had to drive all the way back into town to get money. Leonard wanted to go somewhere else, but Nunan's it had to be. But I told him that if he saw another place along the way we could go there (I knew there wasn't any other place!). Got free money, ate at Nunan's... the place is exactly the same as it's always been. Immaculate, shiny, cozy, and delicious. Gorged ourselves of course. Beer, shrimp cocktail, steamed lobsters (Leonard got a lesson in eating lobsters, but refused to wear the bib... I can choose my battles.), blueberry pie for dessert. An all-around yummy experience. Drove back to the hotel, went to the lounge downstairs where my friends were finishing up the rehearsal dinner and having drinks. Drank, chatted with friends, drank a little more. Bought a bottle of wine, brought it up to our room, and drank the bottle and talked for the next 2 hours. Talked about everything, it was great. Our neighbors asked to have their room changed and that upset us - although their room was next to the stairs. Or it could've been their upstairs neighbors that were too noisy? In any case it is an old, echoey building with hardwood floors - so we could hear everything the maitre'd was saying. (Honestly, if it was us, we were JUST talking!) Oh well. Nobody knocked on our door to complain, so it wasn't our problem. Finished the bottle of wine, PASSED OUT at about 11:00 PM.

That was just Friday.