New England, Day 4

It was Sunday, my last morning at the Doubletree. I decided to get a workout in at the gym and I knew the club opened at 7. I got dressed in my workout clothes, took the elevator down two flights, and walked down two long corridors to the gym...and it was locked. 

Second straight time this shit happened. I and 2 other guys waited for someone to come and open up. And I couldn't ask the front desk since the gym was an operation independent of the Doubletree. I made sure to tell the from desk it was unacceptable. It's not that I wanted an apology, but for a nice hotel, there needs to be better communication between the two businesses.

So I cleaned up, packed up, checked out, and driove west to Lexington, where my mother was born. I stopped downtown at Peet's for a chai and a breakfast sandwich. Of course, this particular location has only pastries, no breakfast sandwiches. That was rather frustrating, not the best start to my Sunday. 

I went to church at Grace Chapel, where I had been several times before. The one thing with it is there are now five locations and I'm not sure which one I had been to previously. But I liked the service, it still has the blended music with light orchestra, choir, piano, and acoustic guitar. And I think I lowered the median age by about 20 years. For the most part, it was seniors and Asians in the congregation. But the pastor gave a good message about the Garden of Eden and Genesis; I do wonder if the younger crows was coming in for the 11 am service.

After that, I made a stop over by First Baptist church of Lexington, where my grandfather pastored in the 1960s. It seemed like I had walked into a time machine. The carpets, the floors, the stained glass windows, the wallpaper, the people, they all seemed like they were 30 or 40 years old. I was hoping to find a picture of him on a wall, but unfortunately, nothing was there. I did talk to the worship pastor, but I knew it just wasn't going to work out. The service was starting in five minutes and I knew he had other things to do. He tried, but I didn't want to be a distraction so I left.

Then came the 2.5 hour drive southwest to Wolcott, CT, a little bit southwest of Hartford. Wolcott is in a quiet hilly area of Connecticut, sort of the backwoods with a couple of lakes scattered around. I went to my friend Joe's house, the first time I'd been to his place. I gave him his Unkillable t-shirt, and of course I had one for myself. I also brought along some trail mix from Whitley's in Virginia so his wife and daughter could have something to enjoy as well.

Joe had a great spread of cold cuts and bread for us to chew on. And I hadn't had any solid food all day (outside of the church communion wafer) so I was game. We drank a couple of Yuengling beers while watching Buffalo vs Miami and then Dallas vs New England.

We left for dinner at Tap and Barrel, a roadside dive pub. We started with the big pretzel, which was coated in too much butter. And the dipping sauces were standard movie theater nacho cheese sauce and a grainy honey dijon dressing. I just opted for the pretzel by itself. I had the namesake burger that was really good, with applewood smoked bacon, jalapeño, cheddar cheese, BBQ sauce and onion frizzles. Excellent combo of spicy, crunchy, salty. Great burger. 

And then back to his place to watch the Jets' heartbreaker loss to Kansas City on Sunday Night Football. His cat was starting to affect me, even thought I had double up my allergy meds. Little did I know the darn cat would sleep downstairs right near me by the living room couch.

I woke up at 5 am with a bit of a runny nose and startled to see the cat staring at me. I got dressed and got out of there quietly but quickly. As I was driving back to the Hartford airport, I knew I felt fatigued, but I figured it was being around the cat and I would shake it off. But on both my flights, my nose was still running. I almost wish I had taken a mask with me. 

There was no issue flying to Hartford, but I got bumped off one flight to Richmond. And it was tough because I had a 3 hour layover between flights, that ultimately became 4hours. I did have a chicken club sandwich and fries at Phillip's seafood in Charlotte, which wasn't bad. But in retrospect, maybe soup was the way to go. The waiter seemed to have a puzzle to solve. I guess some lady was sitting in my seat right before I came in, and left, so her tab was on my table. So when the bill came to me and it had her items, I knew something was wrong.

Finally, I landed around 4:30 and made it home at 5:30. I don't remember much else from that day aside from scattering my backpack and suitcase on the bedroom floor, taking the hottest shower possible, and going to sleep around 6:30. Which led to another week of being sick and missing two additional days of work. I'm just glad it was not COVID.

New England, Day 3

Saturday was homecoming day. I woke up at 7, drank half a liter of water, and got dressed. I had my headband and wristbands on, taped the Breathe Right strip across my nose. I hadn't run an actual race in 18 months, I really didn't know how I would hold up. I knew this race was going to have some hills and it would go through the woods at times too. 

I drove the 15 minutes to Gordon College for my 20 year reunion. Well, I didn't expect to see anyone I knew from my class. But I guess I still wanted to go. The campus still looks great as ever, as I figured it would. I stretched out, did a short test run for 3 or 4 minutes. Unfortunately, I forgot the pre workout supplement in the hotel room. Not my finest hour.
 
The race began with the 1 mile run for the kids around the Quad. For our race, there were about 100 of us and we indeed had to go through the woods. The first mile was pretty good and I knew not to try to race too hard. For one thing, there were running groups doing this thing, and I know one of the runners finished in under 17 minutes. But also, I had another 5k the following weekend, it wasn't worth going all out. And as we went into the woods, it got a little tougher, I even rolled my ankle at one point, probably about halfway through the race. But I was able to push through and got one last sprint in to finish at 23:55. I know I'm capable of going faster. 

So at the finish line, I had my banana and water. Sadly, beer is not an option at a Christian school, but that's ok. I did see one kid wearing a Brady shirt and man I wanted to chastise him for supporting evil. I guess I did, just kind of under my breath. 

I didn't really have any need to hang around the runners anymore, so I went off to Lane Student Center to work on my computer a little and get some food. Dining services was serving brunch and I took full advantage. Steak and eggs, potatoes, veggies for plate 1. Then some sliced turkey, a slice of cheese pizza, salad, and roasted veggies. Finally for dessert, I wolfed down six apple cider donut munchkins, a cinnamon roll, and an amazing cup of spiced cider. '

I do have to say something about the pizza. I was well known in college for my ability to make pizza. I was even given a student service award for it, which in retrospect was really crazy, but it was very nice. So I had to have one slice of pizza and it was fine. But gone were the old conveyor belts that I used, now replaced by a Turbo Chef oven. They even moved the pizza area from the front right to the back center area. Where I used to make pizza, that is now the vegan area. And the grill area I'd work, which was on the front left side, that's now the nut allergy and gluten free spot. Things sure have changed in the last 20 years.

I decided to walk past Ferrin Hall, my old dorm for 2 years and over to Bennett Center, which is the athletic complex. Some of the kids were using the indoor climbing facility. I walked past the Gordon Hall of Honors. Quite a few people that I remembered. There was no one around that I knew, which was fine, like I said, I didn't expect anything. I didn't know a single runner, didn't know anyone while I was eating. I actually did recognize an old science teacher of mine, but it was not a situation where I thought she would remember me. But anyway, I thought I passed by Carter, the women's basketball coach. And I knew his wife Rebecca had to be around. And she and I had been high school classmates in Chicago a quarter century prior. I saw her in the gym lobby trying to keep control of her kids and it was awesome to see her again. Now I had told her I would be coming and I was hoping we could make something work out. Of course she had forgotten her phone, which explained why she had not texted me back that day.

But anyway, I got to hang out with her and her kids, while watching the women's soccer game on the Quad. There was a bounce house set up for the kids, and that kept them mostly occupied. Her oldest, Micah, had just come from a soccer game, he was the last of her 4 kids that I met, I think he's 7 or 8 years old. Another one of his friends joined him. And when the three of us revealed to each other that we all hated the New England Patriots, we began chest bumping. Micah was screaming that finally someone else felt the same way he did! Rebecca was nearly peeled over in laughter. One of the definite highlights of my trip.

The only person from Gordon I saw who I knew was Chris, who was in my class and now works for the school. He and I were more like acquaintances really, but it was cool to see him again.

By 2 pm, I was ready to go and the temperature was dropping a little. The skies were gray, but at least the rain had not started falling. I decided to drive east to Rockport, a small coastal town that I always enjoyed visiting. It's at the very end of Route 128, which is a super fast highway, but you have to remember to slow down once you get off of it, because it's a great speed trap. Truth be told, the cop I passed could have pulled me over, but I did get a little grace.

I always liked Rockport for the small independent shops crammed closely together and also the walls of rocks. One of my favorite things to do is walking those rocks out to the very edge and breathing in the salty air. then to see the waves crash against the rocks is pretty fantastic. 

By now I was hungry again and I stopped in a local restaurant called the Fish Shack. I took a seat at the bar and ordered a local IPA. It was the 1620 from Ipswich, absolutely fantastic to the point that I ordered a second. I figured I would just get some seafood, only an appetizer. I saw the fried clams and asked for an order. The menu said they were market price, I guess I should have asked. They cost 29 freaking dollars! Yes I got a large plate, but for that price, I expect a lot more than just clams.

I think I purchased my usual cheap sticker for my trunk and drive back to the hotel, which was about a 30 minute drive. It was 4:30 or so, and I just felt like relaxing. I did get one glass of wine to go with my leftover Bertucci's pizza. But I really had no desire to go out again that night, maybe it was the $29 clams! 

Oh and thankfully the hotel gave me a free toothbrush. I had packed the case for my Oral B electric, except I forgot the actual toothbrush! It's amazing, I always forget something when I travel.

New England, Day 2

Before heading into Boston on Friday, I wanted to get a workout in and get some water. But the gym was closed. Now this wasn't the hotel gym, mind you. The Doubletree is connected to an Athletic Club that did not open it doors until 7 am. I could not even access water, the only fountain was inside the club. So I settled for one bottle water from the front desk. And even worse, I was not feeling right. I had a runny nose going on that wouldn't stop. I tried recording a video for my YouTube channel, but my voice was so nasally sounding that I had to delete it immediately.

So I got myself together and drive down to Revere MA, just north of Logan Airport on the coast. I parked at the Wonderland garage, where I had gone many times as a college student. Strangely though I did not remember the route to Wonderland or the garage or the look of the station. It all felt brand new. So I hopped on the blue line and took it to the end of route, which is the Bowdoin station in downtown Boston.

My first stop was Flour, a bakery I had seen many times on the Food Network. There was only one thing I wanted, their sticky bun. It was served warm and gooey, with loads of chopped pecans on top. I don't eat many pastries nowadays, but this place knows how to make them. I also had a cup of chai to warm me up, a little on the milky side as opposed to the spiced side, but still very satisfying. Since I wasn't feeling well, I bit the bullet and took a bottle of their veggie juice, which wound up being my appetizer while I waited for the sticky bun and chai. Very flavorful blend, and it was funny that after I drank it, I didn't feel sick the rest of the day. I'm not suggesting magical healing powers, but I did feel much better afterwards.  I took a seat upstairs against the window, which looked down on the busyness of the city. A very nice place to sort of get away from the rush for a minute. Oh, and to use the restroom, you have to ask them for a code. Might want to do that ahead of time.

So I began my walk of the Freedom trail, probably the most touristy thing to do in Boston, besides riding one of those duck boats. I walked by the State House, the Park Street Church, the Old Town Meeting House, and a few other historical sites. Of course, I got there a little early before any of them were opened. About the only place I could go in was the Granary Burial Ground where, Paul Revere, John Hancock, and Samuel Adams are all buried. There's even a tower in the middle for Benjamin Franklin, and his parents are buried there. Of course, Franklin himself is laid to rest in Philadelphia. But it's a nice tease for the uninitiated.

By now it was starting to rain outside and I escaped into the Boston Public Market. Now I was familiar with Quincy Market, the well known food hall. But it wasn't open yet either, and the Public Market was a nice alternative. Bagels, smoothies, pastrami, vegan bakeries, apple cider donuts. The place wasn't too big, but still plenty of variety. Definitely more room that Reading Terminal Market in Philly. Sadly no roast pork sandwiches to be found in Boston.

But I didn't eat because I was saving it up for the Politically Incorrect Food Tour of the North End. It was set to start at 11 am sharp. And we were asked to meet outside in front of the North End branch of the Boston Public Library. There were 16 of us total, and I was the only one there by myself. No big deal, I'm used to it. 11 am, no tour guide. 11:05, no tour guide. By 11:10, we're starting to look at each other and wonder what was going on. So this one guy with the cute wife calls the number. He said he was coming. Around 11:15, Anthony shows up in a black tracksuit with a cigarette in one hand, cup of McDonald's coffee in the other. He reminded me of a mafia version of Rodney Dangerfield. Even had the slicked hair and it didn't move an inch the whole tour. Whatever he uses, I could use it.

Anyway, we got a history of the neighborhood and how the value of the real estate has exploded over the last 2 or 3 decade. But it was also interesting to learn how the Italians have all but moved out of the neighborhood. And about the only businesses that can operate are restaurants because the rent has gone up so high and restaurants are about the only businesses that can make enough money to make up the difference. The local hardware store, drug store, they're gone and not coming back. 

Our first food stop was Galleria Umberto, a pizza joint. And it's funny, because I didn't know the places we were going, but this was a stop I was going to make regardless. So I'm glad I didn't go there ahead of time! They serve square Sicilian slices of cheese pizza, along with arancini and calzones. It's a pretty simple menu, which is fine. What they do, they do very well. We each got a slice, half a rice ball, and a bottle of water. The pizza was fine, not the best I've had, but I actually liked the rice ball more. I'm used to rice balls having too much filling and the outside coating getting soggy. This had just enough cheese and filling to balance out the rice and crispy coating. Excellent flavor and well made.

From there, we stopped into a little general store for an Italian lemon slush, a nice palate cleanser. The store was pretty crazy with all kinds of coffee and tea and the back shelf in jars and then the employees weigh them on a little bronze scale that's probably 100 plus years old. They also have a lot of random kinds of candy and your usual preserved Italian favorites like olive oils, roasted peppers, artichokes, etc. From there, it was onto Monica's for one of the best Italian subs around. Before we entered the shop, Anthony talked about the details of the sub, how it was created, how to make it and how to not make it. Remember, thin cold cuts are key! The sandwich was remarkable. Three of our meats, including salami, mortadella, prosciutto, and capicola. Also provolone, lettuce, tomato, red onion, and hot peppers. But there was also some fresh basil and aged balsamic vinegar to balance everything out. So the sandwich had heat, sweet, and salt. And the bread was quite unique. It reminded me a little of focaccia, I could taste the virgin olive oil. And it was very soft and squishy, sometimes I like a more crusty bread, but this was still really really good.

After hearing a few mafia stories, we went to an actual sitdown eatery, called L'Osteria, for some cheese ravioli and a glass of wine. Well, we actually had to purchase the wine, unfortunately, and it was about $12 a glass. Then came what may have been the highlight. First, we walked down an alley, which I think is how every exciting Italian neighborhood story begins. We then walked down a flight of stairs past a pasta shop and into a little building called Bricco. They make prosciutto bread, which is one of my favorite things in the world. But for the first time I tried a pastry called Sfogliotellle, which is layer after layer of flaky pastry. Inside is some custard, and a little orange zest and cinnamon. Oh my goodness, move over cannoli! This was perfect, not too sweet, intense flavor, not creamy or heavy. Perfection! I'm resentful to my Italian father that it took this long for me to discover this deliciousness! 

Finally, it was a cafe across the street for a scoop of vanilla gelato topped with a shot of espresso. Not a coffee guy, but with the gelato, it was a great finish to the tour, which lasted till about 3 pm.

On a random note, the North End, which is known for being Italian has a street called Bartlett Place. Odd since that's my mom's maiden name and that is the British side of the family. No streets with my last name to be found though! 

By the end of the tour, the rain was really picking up. I had met a mom and daughter from central New Jersey, not far from where I grew up. We decided to head into Modern Pastry and get some treats for the road. They were driving back to Jersey that night, I was just trying to get to the train quickly. I went with another Sfogliotelle along with a cannoli dipped in pistachios. I'm telling you for the last time pistachios > chocolate chips. The two pastries were not cheap, ten dollars, and they only take cash. And the line even went halfway down the block, but they have multiple cashiers who keep the line moving pretty well. 

After I got back to my car, I figured I had a long drive ahead of me and I did, still plenty of traffic to get out of Revere and back to the highway. I went back to the hotel to shower and refresh. Now I had my 5k the next morning, so I didn't want to eat anything too heavy. I decided to order takeout from Bertucci's, which I always liked visiting as a kid. There still is one outside DC about 3 hours away from me, but it's not exactly what I would call convenient for me to visit. So I ordered the Italian chopped salad and margherita pizza with chicken. Little did I know I would also get six of their amazing rolls with the spiced olive oil as well. I knew the salad and bread would pretty much finish me off. So the pizza, well, I saved that for the next night.

To top off the night, it was a glass of chianti, I recorded 3 videos for my YouTube channel and dozed off to bed.

New England, Day 1

I woke up on a Thursday morning at 2 am to make the hour drive from Newport News to Richmond. I had never flown out of there before but the flights looked better there than Norfolk or Newport News so I didn't mind. The parking lot could not have been easier. Seven dollars a day, and the bus driver told me I would be dropped off at my exact parking spot. I don't know how people can be that friendly at 3 am! Security didn't open till 4 am for the 5:15 flight, so I turned out to be early. In fact I probably could have slept another 45 minutes, but that's ok. 

Richmond has a facial recognition system at their security line, it's more than just giving your ID card and showing your boarding pass. The machine says it discards the photo as soon as the identity is verified. Hopefully that's true.

The flight to Charlotte was pretty smooth. One kid screaming a lot, but I have to remind myself it's ok. Because as a standby passenger, I'm thankful to get on. I have no right to complain about my seat location. On my flight, there were 27 passengers connecting to Orlando. I know that because the flight attendant said as much. So we had to wait for all of them to deplane first. The plane arrived in Charlotte 15 minutes early, so I would up with about 2 hours to kill. No issues making the flight to Hartford either.

So I landed, collected my bag, and walked outside to the rental car building. My Priceline reservation was with Alamo. I got my Toyota Corolla and drove north to Springfield, MA, my first time in that city. I hadn't eaten any solid food and I had been awake eight hours already. Since we don't have Wahlburger's in the region where I live, I had a chance to visit for the first time. I was the only customer in the restaurant on a Thursday at 11:15, which seems a little strange. I took down a double cheeseburger and sweet potato tots. I thought the burger was quite good, that government cheese has a pretty strong flavor. Being back in the north, I had to get used to once again ordering iced tea and asking for sweetener as opposed to half sweet and half unsweet like I do living south of the Mason Dixon line.

Then I made my trip to the Basketball Hall of Fame. Yes, it wasn't cheap, close to 30 bucks, but I had a great time. Very interactive with videos and all kinds of exhibits that talk about the progression of the game, the integration of the NBA, there's even an NBA Finals trophy you can hold. But the Hall is basically 3 levels that go in a circle above a basketball court so you can actually shoot around and dunk after you're done exploring. They even have a series of baskets that show the progression of the actual basket, from the initial peach baskets from the 1800s all the way to the modern graphite backboard and hoop. I could not believe how hard it was to sink a shot in the peach basket. With no backboard, every shot had to be perfect back then. And I will admit, I used to have a pretty good jump shot back in my high school and college days. But I have not shot a basketball in at least 15 years. And oh my God, my form was so off the mark. Eventually, I was able to sink consecutive 3's and I was done! But the other thing that was crazy was how tired I felt from the hard running. I mean I work out, I do cardio, but playing basketball is a whole different type of conditioning.

Then came the 2 and a half hour drive east on the Mass Pike. It was a nice ride, a lot of cheap tolls along the way. As I was driving east towards Boston and the North Shore, I actually did get a little emotional. As Miranda Lambert's "The House That Built Me" played through my speakers, I found myself identifying with that song. Felt like I was going back to a place of my youth when I was a different guy and maybe I wasn't so scarred, so jaded.

The traffic was a little rough once I got into the Boston area, but I worked my way back onto 95 and arrived at the Doubletree hotel in Danvers, MA, right near the merge of Rt 1 and 95. As it turned out, the hotel was packed because there were 8 weddings that weekend with guests staying at that hotel. I'm amazed I was able to book a room only 3 weeks prior!

I had a room on the 3rd floor, and it was very well maintained, very clean. The one thing I did not like was that my TV was not a smart TV. So I couldn't even play YouTube or music or anything like that through the device. 

After unpacking and cleaning up a bit, I drive to Salem and it took 35 minutes to drive 9 miles. That's one thing about Boston, I hadn't driven there in many years and with so little room, there are a lot of one lane roads and traffic just builds and builds. I arrived at Finz, a seafood restaurant right near the water. My friend of 20-plus years, Andrea arrived and I was so happy to see her. Our conversation was really easy and if the distance wasn't a thing, I can't help but wonder what we could have become. But at this point in my life, I'm in my early 40's, my peak has passed, I can't afford to ruminate on that or it'll just eat away at me. Anyway for my meal, I had clam chowder and lemon butter sea scallops with roasted potatoes and veggies. Wonderful food.

We walked along the main drag and the Halloweeners were celebrating since their little holiday was a month out. A pizzeria/candlestick bowling caught our attention and we went inside. It was a little dive, only four lanes, one employee, an AC/DC pinball machine. We decided to play a little and we went for about an hour. I used to candlestick bowl a little bit in my college days, but it's been two decades. With the pins and small ball, it's a totally different art than typical bowling. Oh and we couldn't keep score. We were told that some kid threw a ball into the monitor and it took the whole system out. So we had to use pencil and paper. Scoring bowling is akin to staring into the human brain. After about 1 frame, we decided screw it, let's just bowl till we knock em down. It got so intense, I was sweating through my shirt and I even had bruising on the front of my right shoulder from my bowling form. Yeah, my shoulder was chaffing against my shirt seam!

Anyway, we headed back to the car and I even gave her a framed picture of us from 20 years ago. Of course, she thought she looked fat at the time and began to feel bad about it. So I tried to turn it around and told her if that's how she really felt, she can see how far she's come. Not sure it was my smoothest line, but I tried. 

As we approached her ride, which was on the water, we stopped for a moment, just taking in the atmosphere. Cool night, boats on the water, some stars in the sky. I kissed her for the first time. She didn't expect it, and I didn't know if I was going to do it, but I did. She didn't hit me, so that's a plus. But she drove me back to my car and we said our goodbyes. But she called me as I was driving, saying she thought I might like some company. And we stayed on for about 25 minutes, we said good night as I pulled into the hotel parking lot.

 

I was in the mood for a drink, so I decided to stop in the hotel bar, and holy crap it was packed and loud. I guess everyone from the weddings decided to go in at the same time. I would say 60 or 70 people easily. I went with a Maine lunch beer for $9, a very well known beer from, I guess, Maine. It was not a cheap bar by any stretch. Couldn't get wine for less than 13, or a mixed drink for under 15. So after elbowing my way to the bar, I got my beer and took it back to the room. I think I played a little music to settle in. I would've watched some Ryder Cup highlights, but seeing the unmitigated disaster that the USA team was on Friday, I knew the competition was already over.