Well... it was a wonderful Easter weekend with Kimmy and Shaky in Boston!
Heading up on Friday we hit a bit of traffic, but not bad; basically "infrastructure" traffic caused by the terrible toll set-up Massachusetts has set up as you exit Rt. 84 in Connecticut to enter Rt. 90 in Massachusetts.
Kimmy actually lives in Brighton. She and a couple roommates rent the upstairs of a house and Kim has the finished attic as her bedroom. (That's where we slept; Kim slept downstairs.)
On Friday night we had dinner over at Kim's "secondary employer's" home. During the day Kim is a lead teacher at a day care and she also does private childcare for a family with an autistic child and two other children; both the parents are physicians. The family is of Indian descent, with the father having grown up in India and the mother having grown up in England. They met while working together in Birmingham, I believe.
Very, very nice people and really, really cute kids! A beautiful, smart, charming little 12 year old girl who loves math and her five year old brother who loves racing cars. To round out the family, there's Nikhel, Kim's special charge, who is autistic.
While Nikhel does of course require special care, he is surprisingly self-sufficient in the sense that he basically spent the evening playing by himself. He's also an affectionate young man, not shy... not afraid of strangers.
The mother cooked us a feast! The father... a fellow scotch man! Mary and I couldn't have had a nicer time! Wonderful conversations! Although the evening seemed to fly by, we were actually there for almost five hours! Mary and I sincerely hope that the next time the family is down in the New York area we can return the gracious hospitality!
On Saturday we had breakfast at Kim's before heading out to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. We had a wonderful time! We easily found street parking and after two and a half or so hours exploring the museum it was time for...
(*DRUM ROLL*)
Cappies!
Oh, yes... my large steak and extra cheese... extra pickles... extra mayo... salt, pepper, and everything except "the hots."
Yum! Yum! Yum!
There's just no beating Cappies!
(I swear... they must use the same grease from the 1980's!)
After Cappies... off to the Sam Adams brewery!
Yep... you read that right - the Same Adams brewery!
When we arrived at 2:30 p.m. we were given tickets for the 3:45 p.m. tour. Fine... an hour and fifteen minutes to kill. No problem! A short walk to a nearby bar and waiting became a pleasure!
Anyway... the brewery tour itself was awesome - both informative and entertaining. Best of all, it ended with a good half hour's worth of tasting!
(Boy, oh, boy... there's nothing like fresh beer!)
After leaving the brewery it was back "home" to Brighton where Shaky was making us beef stew for dinner!
(Pretty darn good beef stew as it turns out; complimented by some fine bakery bread which I picked up - along with some Kerry Irish Butter!)
After dinner... off to the Sunset Grill for beer... beer... and more beer. My friends... we're talking 112 taps and 380 bottled and canned microbrews and imports!
(My friends... they had my beloved sour beers on tap!)
After a couple hours at Sunset it was time again for...
(*DRUM ROLL*)
Cappies!
Oh, yes, my friends... I did!
Yes... twice in one day!
(And I'm proud of it!)
Easter Sunday morning... woke up... had breakfast... drank a 750 ml. bottle of Sam Adams Kriek which I had picked up as my "souvenir" from the brewery... and then off to brunch at Tavern In The Square!
What a wonderful place! Kimmy picked it and I've gotta say... she hit this one out of the park! I couldn't have done better myself!
Huge buffet - and tasty! Nice crowd. Great tap selection! Seriously... I've gotta give the kid her props!
(Oh... and get this... Shaky grabbed the damn check right out of the waiters hand before I could grab it! Oh... and he wouldn't give it to me! That little son of...)
(Oh... and you're gonna love this! I was able to give the waiter a $100 gift card that I'd been holding on to since being given it as an inducement to take part in a time-share presentation last June in Charleston, SC., and... the waiter brought it back telling me it was expired! Those bastards at Festiva had suckered me with a gift card that - now I find out - had only a three month usage window!)
(Anyway... bottom line... Shaky won - I lost.)
(Yeah... for men and checks... paying the check is a "win" - not getting to pick up the check is a "loss." Congratulations, Shakey... you little son of...)
(*GNASHING MY TEETH WHILE CHUCKLING*)
Oh... almost forgot! Shaky's friend Chandoo can along for brunch! Nice guy! A Ph.d! A physicist! Learned to drink at Penn State (where Shaky did his undergrad) while pursuing his doctorate. I turned the "kid" on to Hendricks gin (& tonic).
A real nice guy...
Anyway... we headed home right after brunch. Hit absolutely no traffic! Made it from Brighton to Pearl River in two hours, fifty-seven minutes flat!
Now... back to the daily grind.
(*WINK*)
1 comment:
No newsbites today; sorry!
BILL
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