Thanksgiving time in Boston
Graduate school continues to fill up nearly every waking moment. Luckily the powers that be granted us some time off for Thanksgiving, so I joined Tom on a trip to Boston to visit his friends and family in the area. After battling nasty traffic upon arrival, Wednesday involved partying with his friends Bill and Roz who cooked us a delicious steak dinner. We managed to put the kids to bed and stay up late drinking and playing with the dog and snake.
Thursday delivered plenty of rain for Thanksgiving, and I was glad not to be in New York in the hoards watching the Macy's parade. I can't believe none of the Rockettes slipped and fell during their number. We jumped into the rental car - an awful Chevy tin-can called an HHR that was impossible to pilot without smashing into the world - and arrived at his family's house. The afternoon was spent eating, drinking, chatting and singing. We ate delicious cheeses from fromages.com in a brief interlude before it was turkey time. Note to self: buy clothes with elastic waistbands from now on. The rest of the evening was spent sipping scotch, watching football and drifting in and out of consciousness.
Friday bought Tom and I into Boston proper, staying at the Marriott Copley Place. This wasn't my first trip to Boston, but the last time I was there I saw nothing more than the convention center. Crowds were out and about shopping of course, but the day was sunny and warm and I loved wandering the small neighborhoods in the South End and Back Bay. It has a more European feel to it than most US cities, especially in the center of town. Kind of like Glasgow. Tom had the evening planned out, starting with dinner at a tiny Italian restaurant/bar. Then we met my roommate at Club Cafe, switched venues to Fritz, and then to Ramrod/Machine. It was a great night out hanging with the locals.
When we finally got up on Saturday, we needed brunch so we hit the Pour House and our Blow-pop waitress served up the greasy food and bloody marys. In the afternoon we walked the freedom trail to Faneuil Hall and battled crowds even in a spooky cemetery where Paul Revere is buried. Outside Quincy market we just caught the tail end of a Tuba Christmas ensemble, got a quick drink at a deserted pub, and took the funky green line T back to the hotel. Cute subway!
Saturday evening brought us to Thai food in the South End, which was decent, but I will not be ordering crispy pad thai again - just not satisfying as a dinner entree (too sweet). We did some more traipsing around the neighborhoods looking for a place that had closed, and eventually hiked to the Alley at a much-too-early hour. For some reason the music was slow Mariah Carey ballads, and Dateline NBC was playing on the TV. When Sinatra's "Strangers in the Night" came on, Tom and I knew it was time to split so we headed a couple blocks down the street to Silvertone. We somehow managed to score seats at the crowded bar, and found out the bartenders were very friendly. The smells of fried food from the kitchen eventually broke me down, and I had calamari covered in garlic aioli with my Ketel One martini. That pretty much destroyed my breath for the entire night. The bartenders didn't care, though, and we all drank a vile shot of Fernet-Branca before they shook our hands and we headed back to the Alley. What a difference 2 hours makes! We quickly ran into an old friend of Tom's, and a bevy of others. Another late night and coffee-filled morning, and now I'm back on the Acela to NYC.
Hope everyone had a great Turkey day!
PS - Google Maps and Zagat-2-Go are incredibly useful programs when out and about in a new city armed with a Treo.
UPDATE! - Photos are online now.
Election day is almost here, and I'm voting absentee, to be sure I can properly google everyone on the ballot. I almost think it's a joke that Edgar Allen Blow is on the ballot, especially since his party affiliation is "Nominated by Petition". Still, I'm totally voting for him.
Sleeping in is harder than usual for me due to the proximity of a bus stop, and angry drivers who overuse horns. It goes with the territory, and I'm becoming immune to it slowly but surely. This morning, though, snoozy bliss was mine and I didn't know why. Why no horns? No busses? There's music in place, and cheering... and... what's that? Helicopters? 