I got up at 5:45. I really wanted to hit the gym, especially at such a nice hotel. I did my first elliptical workout in three weeks and I hadn't done it since my leg injuries. It went pretty well. I did weights for maybe a half hour and spent a few minutes on the stretching machine, since we don't have those at my home gym. Much to my surprise, they had Fit crunch bars for sale. I quickly grabbed a peanut butter and headed back to the room with some coffee for mom. I didn't have cash on me initially, so I figured I'd head back and pay the two bucks. On the way to the gym though, I had to walk past the jacuzzi. Yeah I didn't have a suit, but I thought...why but not. I took off everything but my gym shorts and settled in the hot water.
The rain was falling hard outside so I put on my Jets raincoat. In New England, I was wondering if I'd get any reaction. We drove 15 minutes north to Pawtucket. Mom checked out where a local tour company was headquartered and I took pictures at McCoy stadium, home of the AAA affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. Aside from seeing ten cars inn line at the drive thru at the Dunkin donuts, there was nothing else memorable.
It took an hour to get to Newport It's different than most of southern New England which can be very quaint and dull. Newport has a lot of boats and small shops and curvy streets. It's also home to the tennis hall of fame. Just a good town to spend a weekend. Sadly, there is a $4.00 toll to get in and out, kind of like Coronado in San Diego. Going over that bridge through the fog, i remarked it felt like driving in San Francisco.
Newport is also home to Salve Regina University, who is in the same conference as Gordon, where I went. Pretty nice campus, but they are right on the water and they have some great walking trails in that area, especially the cliff walk. I wish it could have been a clear day, so we could have gotten a better view. After about a half hour treading on the trail, we did some downtown shopping. It was a lot of corny stuff, nothing that I wanted.
Then it was a half hour south to Narragansett, where my grandparents used to vacation. Lunch was at Aunt Carries, a seafood shack I had seen on the food network. They also invented the clam cake, such is basically a corn fritter with clams. Pretty good. We split the seafood deluxe platter. Clear clam chowder, salad, homemade cinnamon raisin bread, clam strips, clam bellies, shrimp, scallops, flounder, and fries. Lots of food, all of it fried, except the salad. Very very good. Oh and it included a homemade dessert. Coconut custard pie for me. It's so rare I can find that flavor of pie, so I savored it. Of course right before the dessert comes, I got a call from from Waubonsee College. Told me they weren't going to hire me, but good luck in my future endeavors. Same old frustration. I took it out on the pie.
Then we drove to Connecticut, specifically Lawrence Hospital in New London where my grandparents used to work in the chaplain's office. My grandmother is 85 and is a patient there now, as she's had some health issues. I even bought a basket of flowers for the room. We spent an hour with her before she just fell asleep.
Then we drove to Niantic, where my grandfather is staying at the Crescent Point nursing home after breaking his hip. He moved quite slowly, but his spirits were very good. We bought him some coffee ice cream, which he always enjoys. Good getting to see him again. Finally, we saw my aunt Linda, who just hasn't had a good go of it. Her cat just recently died at 19 years old, quite a run. There were 15 cigarette butts in the ashtray, not a good sight. Not a good smell either. And her voice is so shot from it. We went to the basement of the old family house, where Linda refuses to go. Turns out nearly everything has been removed. Pictures, books, electronics. All gone. And we had no idea that had happened. Quite an empty feeling.
We went to dinner and I wasn't even hungry. But I enjoyed a salad and grilled margherita pizza. Finally we dropped Linda off and headed to the Comfort inn in Mystic. Finding it was bad enough. I typed Whitehall lane into the GPS. Turns out that was a residential address. I had to type Whitehall avenue. Why a town this small would name two streets the same, I have no idea. Anyway, talk about going from the penthouse to the outhouse. No elevators, the room smelled like smoke, we could not control the thermostat, and we had to unplug lamps to charge devices.
I watched the Rangers play Game 5 of the finals in Los Angeles. One of the most emotional games I've.ever seen. I had to be quiet most of the game since mom passed out asleep. But damn, I could have screamed so many times. In the end, it was a 3-2 double overtime defeat/disaster, whatever. The series is over in five, with three losses coming in overtime. It hurts. It freaking hurts. At least the beautiful Jana Kramer responded to one of my tweets about the game. Shame she was rooting for the wrong team.
I got to sleep somehow, though it took a few hours. We packed and drove to the Mohegan Sun. The stop was the Hash house a go-go, a place known for twisted farm food. I ordered a large tangerine juice and we split the...Fried chicken eggs Benedict. Yes, that's what I said. It's a base of griddled mashed potatoes typed with a buttermilk biscuit, spinach, tomato, a crispy sage fried chicken breast, smoked bacon, scrambled eggs, griddled mozzarella, and a chipotle cream sauce. Great depression food. Needed more tomato bacon and eggs though with all those potatoes! And the biscuit was great, it wasn't too salty, it was crunchy on the outside, and soft inside.
We looked through a couple of shops as well. I went into Puma, where I bought a pair of blue Italy soccer shorts and two high quality brand t-shirts for $50. The store was running a special for $25 off a $75 order. The subtotal came to exactly 75, so it worked out perfectly. Not seeing any other reason to stay, we drove to the airport. In the airport bar, I finally got to drink my Blue Point Toasted Lager before flying home.
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