Honeymoon 9: Heading Home

We woke up very slowly, packed our things, and had 3 different hotel employees wanting to do something to the room they thought was vacant. In the desire to save money, we hiked to the subway station with our luggage, and again I was very sweaty. High school kids were taking tours of Boston University as we boarded the crowded train and said goodbye to the Charles River and our home for the past few days.

We lugged our bags up and down steps and found our way to the airport and its chaotic way of running passengers through security. We had some good hot pressed sandwiches, and sat at the terminal reading the USA Today and an older edition of Rolling Stone that I found in the hotel’s gift shop. Eventually our flight got called onto the tarmac, and we were happy to be heading home. We bounced around a nose dived through some storms just north of Nashville, then landed in another steep descent. It felt wonderful to be back home, back in the south, back in my truck, and on roads I didn’t need a map or GPS to navigate my way around. We had a great trip, but it’s so sweet to be back home.

We got an e-mail that Phase 1 of our townhome is complete, and the next step is to pour the foundation. We’re really looking forward to that. Until then, Meg’s waiting in lines at the social security office and the DMV to change her name, and I’m getting together the final bits of paperwork for our mortgage loan application. We leave in 2 days for Georgia and Justin and Lesley’s wedding, and before we know it the summer will be over. It doesn’t feel like there will be any slowing down from here.

Honeymoon 8: Fenway and the Science Museum

We woke fairly early, ate some granola bars, and hopped on the subway for Fenway. We jumped into the end of a tour just as it was getting started. Fenway is surprisingly stark. The player's parking lot isn’t large enough to fit all of their cars. The upper deck walkway is paved with concrete squares sitting on top of the tar that keeps the roof from leaking. Those give way to plywood walkways, more tar, and cheap shower drains to prevent pooling.

That's the beauty of Fenway. You can't look at the field and not picture Carlton Fisk waving his homerun ball fair with both arms. You can't be there and not feel the history of baseball being played there for almost 100 years. The ballpark doesn't have all the extras of modern ones like in Atlanta -- it doesn't need to. It feels so pure, and I wish we'd been able to catch a game there.

We grabbed a hot dog on Yawkey way, then got back on the subway to see the science museum. They have a baseball exhibit, which ended up being the only part of the place we were interested in. Well, that and the “Archimedean Excogitation” kinetic sculpture. We watched for probably about 20 minutes as pool balls traveled around the contraption, mesmerized like kids at how creative and fun the whole thing was.

The baseball exhibit followed baseball from its start, to prominence beginning in the Civil War, to 9-11. They had everything from bats made by POWs in camps to Robert Redford’s Wonderboy in The Natural. There were letters of both appreciation and hate to Hank Aaron, and thankfully no mention of Barry Bonds that I could see.

Today was a baseball day. As we wind down to the end of our honeymoon trip, it feels like we've been gone longer than a week. It feels like Maine was weeks ago, and that I know my way around Boston and have been here for days and days. We're both ready to be back home. All this has been great fun and I'm not looking forward to coming down from this high.

But I am looking forward to being home and comfortable in my predictable surroundings, with a dog, 2 cats, and a wife--a partner who I get to spend the rest of my life with.

Honeymoon 7: The Freedom Trail

The Hyatt’s pillow top mattress hugged me until almost 10 am when Meg finally woke me up with a towel on her head. We had the breakfast buffet and unfortunately couldn't eat $20 apiece worth of food. The concierge working this morning was much more helpful and gave us a map that had all of the subway stops along with the points of interest very clearly marked. We walked to a closer (yet still good distance away) subway station and got to ride for free (it was so crowded the driver just told us to get on the back).

We got off at Boston Common, the country’s oldest public park, and were overwhelmed with tourists, the homeless, and a very conservative (plainly dressed) religious group of singers performing old hymns and passing out literature. We opted to save money and bought a guide book to the Freedom Trail rather than taking a guided tour.

The trail weaves its way through parks, cemeteries, historic sights, and even a street market. Here's a list of things that stood out to me:
1. Old churches didn't allow visitors. Your family had to own a box seat (pew).

2. The tombstones have skulls on them, and literally say things like "Here lies...". They are all crammed so closely together and have been moved so many times that there's no way they know who's buried where.

3. The vendors at the farmers market were very particular about people messing with their stuff, yet I saw their compassionate side too. I watched a couple different people tell them they didn't have money. One vendor gave a man a banana (which he turned in his hand and stared at like it was a crystal vase) and another gave a girl a pear. We lost the trail at the market, but because of the detour experienced a lot. It seemed like most of the patrons were foreign, so I guess this method of shopping was more like home for them.

4. Bunker Hill wasn't Bunker Hill. It was Breeds Hill. The orders were to fortify Bunker Hill, but after thinking about it, the commander chose Breeds Hill instead.

Bunker Hill marked the end of the trail. We were tired and had been standing for a very long time. Boston is gorgeous in the historic parts, and MIT and Hahvahd seem to have beautiful campuses. I can't wait for Fenway tomorrow. I hope we make it on a tour and the weather holds up for us.

We had dinner in the cheapest pub in a string of historic ones built in the 1700s. It was a great way to end the day.

Honeymoon 6: You Said Y'all & Hahvahd Squayah

Neither one of us felt like getting out of bed this morning. The combination of feeling mattress wires and unsupportive feather pillows has gotten the best of us and we're not sleeping well. We moved really slowly and beat our check out time by about 20 minutes.

Once again canoeing got passed over.

In the elevator on the way down I heard a woman say “y'all,” and I couldn't let it go unremarkably. I touched her on the shoulder and excitedly said, "You said y'all!"

"Why yes." she said sounding like a typical old-money southern woman (think Paula Deen). They were from South Carolina, and one of them went to UGA years ago. I said, "Y'all have a safe trip home," emphasizing the y'all.

We grabbed some Dunkin’ Donuts (they have them on every corner up here, even the tiny towns) and continued on to Boston, hoping the GPS wouldn't steer us wrong. The city played a cruel joke on us. Just as we exited I-95 the roads clogged and the bottom dropped out of the black clouds. Visibility was maybe 10 feet, and the windshield wipers of our poorly designed box of a car couldn't keep up. We finally limped into the hotel like wet dogs and checked in. We hurried to haul our bags to the room before the bellmen valet parked the car for a $35 a day fee.

We did better negotiating our way back to the airport than we did leaving it (after looking at a map we saw we had ended up very east in Boston instead of heading north to Maine). After dropping off the car we asked a few people the finally figured out Boston’s mass transportation system. Get it? Mass. transport. It's quite a walk from the nearest subway station, so I was drenched with sweat. We made a few wrong turns and agreed that we'd either take a cab to the airport or at least to the subway station Monday.

Back at the hotel we relaxed and I showered before we headed to dinner. Our concierge was foreign (probably an MIT student) and just showed us a binder of restaurants. We elected to take a cab to Harvard Square and pick a restaurant there. We chose some burger place that was pretty cheap. There was an eclectic mix of patrons varying from students to blue collar workers to families. We walked around, bought a Sox t-shirt and a cap and then went to a newsstand. I bought a USA Today, Spin, and Rolling Stone and plan to read them tonight. It’s funny how I get more into reading when I'm on the road.

Tomorrow looks like the only decent weather, so we're going to walk the Freedom Trail to see famous historical spots like Revere's ride. Meg and I don't do well with big cities, so we'll see if things improve tomorrow.

Honeymoon 5: Lighthouses, rain, and Cabela's

We woke to a weather forecast of afternoon thunderstorms and decided we'd rather not get stuck in a storm in a canoe. Instead we headed back to Portland to see the lighthouses up close. The Portland Head Light (deliberately 3 words, like our boat captain told us) was our first stop and the most impressive. It was very tall, and was commissioned by George Washington. After that we went to find Two Lights, but instead found a seafood restaurant the concierge had recommended to us. This time we got fried shrimp -- something we knew we'd like. We had a view of the lighthouses from there, but they were among the giant homes of the rich and famous down private roads. We went to the Two Lights State Park (where there are no light houses) and walked along the rocky shoreline. The tide was coming in, and we had been warned about rogue waves, so we stayed at the top of the rocks. There were plants growing on the rocks and it was only slippery near the water. The rocks looked like giant petrified trees and it was really pretty.

After the walk through the rain we headed for Cabela’s. First thing we see in the door is a large Columbia tent. It a really good price so we try to think of ways to get one home. As we're walking around the Bass-Pro-Shop-on-steroids, we find a kiosk that allows you to order from their catalog like you would on their website. So we bought a tent and it might beat us home.

Tonight's the last night in Maine, so we watched the wedding video. Mr. Henderson was a hilarious producer, and that more than made up for his lack of cinematographic skills on my Wal-Mart tripod.

We hope to canoe tomorrow on our way out of Maine as we head to Boston.

Honeymoon 4: Mt. Washington and Grafton Notch State Park

After bacon and eggs, Meg and I headed toward Gorham, NH and Mt. Washington -- the highest point in New England. There are 4 ways up: hiking, driving, taking a guided van ride, or taking the cog rail. The train left from the other side of the mountain and was the most expensive, so we elected to drive. Weather conditions at the base were 76 degrees with 10 mph winds. At the peak, we were told to looks forward to 45 degrees, 30 mph winds, and wind chill of 34 degrees.

The drive up was quite an experience. It reminded me of roads in Colorado: steep, long way down off the side, and no guard rails. The difference here is the roads were narrow. Meg felt confident to drive so I dizzily watched as we climbed toward the peak and the fast moving clouds. The road went from paved to not, and we had to drive around a parked truck where guys were filling in a spot on the edge of the road where some of it had slid off the side.

We made it nervously to the top and quickly threw on our thin rain jackets. At least they cut the wind. We took wind-blown, teary-eyed photos on the peak, almost falling over when gusts surprised us. The views were incredible, and apparently we were very lucky to be at the peak on a clear day. We had lunch in the car staring off to the nearby mountains. I drove down and felt a lot more comfortable being in control.

We visited the museum of wagons, cars, and vans that have been used in the 150+ years that the road has been used. The guy working said there has only been 1 fatality on the road in that incredibly long time, and that guy was driving drunk. We smelled some hot brakes, but for the most part people were driving cautiously in their lower gear. They give you a CD to narrate your tour and a bumper sticker proclaiming "This car climbed Mt. Washington."

Mt. Washington claims to have the world's worst weather, and recorded the highest measured sustained winds at 231 mph. The record high on the peak is 60 degrees. It was quite an adventure and we enjoyed it very much.

After that we headed toward the resort then north to Grafton Notch State Park. We saw some waterfalls cutting through glacier-carved boulders, and some cliffs on the nearby peaks. We still haven't seen any meese, not even at Moose Cave, named for a moose that fell into a crack in the boulders and died.

We saw some gorgeous views and I was able to take some great pictures. We're hoping the Dawgs win it all tonight and the river's low enough to canoe down tomorrow.

Honeymoon 3: Portland, Boats, and LL Bean

We woke up fairly early today. I fueled up with Pop Tarts and a green banana. Meg had a bagel. We drove to Portland, but stopped at a New Balance factory store on the way. We had a coupon, so after we found some really cool shoes, we ended up getting an additional 20% off. We drove to her friend's house in Portland. Driving in was very pretty. All of the homes look like you'd expect to see in New England -- old, large homes with wood siding and simple colors. Even the bums look like they’re supposed to – like washed up sailors with salt and pepper beards and leathery skin. Her friend rents a floor in an older home, and the owners live above her. It looks like most of the larger homes are broken into smaller apartments.

Portland is a very cool town. It looks like a mixture of Savannah and San Francisco. I asked if it was a liberal place because we saw an article in the paper about the 23 annual gay pride parade last weekend. She said it is "very liberal and very gay.".

We started out with lunch at an Italian/seafood place. Meg got the lobster roll (like chicken salad with lobster) and I got the crab roll. I've never been a big crab fan and definitely don't like it cold. The lobster was a little better, but again I think we would have been better with something warm.

After lunch we boarded the Islander for the harbor tour. Our captain gave us some insight as to how the tour would go when he told us he enjoyed talking and it would be obvious to us that he enjoyed it. His safety speech about life jackets and railings lasted over 10 minutes. From the time we got on the boat until after we got off, the heavy Boston accent faded in and out as he filibustered about everything from ships to Portland to John Wayne, all while failing to hold the mic at a constant distance from his mouth.

We got to see some lighthouses and pretty homes, as well as some old sail boats. As we weaved through lobster trap buoys it became very apparent we were underdressed, and the incoming thunderstorms weren't going to help. We huddled under the wool blanket, embroidered with the ships name and a number for identification while we prayed we didn't get struck by lightning. I took a ton of photos. The only thing I regret is not walking to the port side of the ship to get the old homes and shops overlooking the harbor on our way -- it was raining when we came back in. A few lighthouses, seals, a loon, and some stinky birds later, we stepped off.

We walked in a few souvenir shops, bought Eric a birthday present, then headed to Freeport. Freeport is a funny little town. At first it looks like a historic city, but when you look closer you notice the main drag is all outlet malls. The city ordinances are so strict, everything had to look historic. McDonald’s isn't allowed to talk to you through the drive thru speaker. They have a sign that says "Order, we can hear you." Luckily they use that screen that tracks your order to make sure it's right. After working drive thru before, I'm sure it’s very frustrating.

We went to Freeport to go to the L.L. Bean factory outlet. It’s a massive compound, complete with a massive bean boot. There are 4 separate stores -- an outlet, hunting and fishing, retail, and boating. We bought some rain jackets and I bought a day pack.

After grabbing dinner at Mickey D's and its unique drive thru, we headed back for Bethel. The Dogs are winning 5-1, but with the bases loaded I'm a little worried... Must watch!

Honeymoon 2: Massages and Tucker Carlson?!

Surprisingly we were up and feeling refreshed at 9:30. We went through one of our complimentary Starbucks coffee/filter packs (we have 2, additional ones are $3), looked through the guest info binder, made a list of things we wanted to do, and found our way to the hotel's Northern Lights Cafe. There was no one else there, so the lone cook/waitress/cashier was nice enough to cook us breakfast after breakfast hours. Meg had a sausage eggs and cheese sandwich, and I had eggs, toast, potatoes, and sausage. The sausage wasn't great, but everything else was delicious. We looked through yesterday's paper and saw that the flooding in Missouri unexpectedly got worse. It showed Hannibal, where we drive through to get to Iowa, and it was all under water. I hope her family and friends didn't have too hard of a time getting back. This year's been crazy for weather, especially in the Midwest.

After breakfast we explored the hotel. The concierge took a break from her lunch to show us where to go for scenery, sightseeing, shopping, basically answered all or our questions. We've got a lot of great ideas, including lighthouses, state parks, shopping, and of course lobster.

Today is massages, grocery shopping (we have a kitchen so we'll save a little money), and hopefully find a sports bar with the College World Series. The are a ton of microbreweries around here so I'm looking forward to sampling what Maine has to offer.

* * *

We went to dinner at Suds Pub. It’s in the basement of an inn, and felt like a hole in the wall where it was about 50/50 tourists to locals. About half way through our meal, this guy who looked like Tucker Carlson walked in. I probably stared a little too much, but when I heard him talk was almost positive it was him. I wanted to ask him what he thought of Jon Stewart (after Stewart called him an expletive live on CNN and seemed to be the downfall of the show "Crossfire"). Megan said I had to leave him alone. What I thought was really funny was he talked just as animated to his kids as he does on TV. He seemed... interesting.

The food was excellent. I had baked haddock with rice and veggies, and Megan had alfredo pizza with chicken and broccoli. It was awesome. Add to that local (well Maine and Vermont anyway) beers on tap and it was great. As much as I love Sweetwater 420, the Long Trail pale ale I had up here was much better.

After dinner we swung by a tiny grocery store to grab some essentials. It was so small they didn't even sell frozen pizzas. We're going to eat breakfasts here and pack lunches on our sightseeing trips.

Well the Dawgs are on so I'm gonna see if they can beat the other bulldogs from Fresno St. in the College World Series. Tomorrow is Portland - lighthouses and boats and lobster!

Honeymoon 1: New England here we come!

Our honeymoon began with a slightly delayed flight and a mechanic fixing something that "needed to be taken care of" but was never disclosed. We flew around a giant thunderstorm that looked incredible from our altitude. Sunset turned all of the clouds various shades of red, and at twilight it looked like we were sailing on a misty lake. The descent into Boston at night was one of the most peaceful things I've ever experienced. Lone cars winding down 2 lane roads, amber street lights twinkling like fireflies, Fenway glowing in bright white light.

Apparently the captain was in a hurry, because I swear we landed nose-first. He slammed on the brakes, threw the engines in reverse, and finally got the commuter jet to stop at what felt like the end of the runway.

The Boston airport was empty, and we watched multiple empty Alamo Rental Car buses circle while we waited for our bags. Of course, once we got our bags, there were no buses for about 30 minutes. We got our Chevy HHR (not at all what we expected, but it's roomy and handles the tight tunnel turns of Boston like a go cart). GPS didn't do so well at getting us out of Boston, and impatient drivers were whizzing around us to make it that much more stressful. It felt like we went around in circles, and after $10 in various toll payments, we finally found I-95 and headed north.

New England interstates at 1 am are quite possibly the most boring roads on earth. Gas stations and restaurants are quarantined to plazas and only come around every 20 or so miles. This allows them to get away with charging $4.23 for gas. It’s right around $4.00 everywhere else. Ridiculously high, but that's the way this year is going.

We finally winded our way through the mountains to the Sunday River Resort, finding the hotel at about 2:30. I parked the car next to the only other guy who had to use the overflow lot down the hill from the hotel. We stumbled into the room and were finally able to rest. MUST GET MASSAGES TOMORROW! It will be our lazy day.

5 days

wow. it's coming. fast!

we took a long weekend to go camping with my family in our annual trek to cades cove. it was a good time to relax and be outside in the gorgeous smokies, but now that we're back, the wedding is pretty much here.

megan's in training all day and tomorrow, which means i have long to-do lists. everything's pretty much done. but like when you're moving, just because you've gotten the furniture and big boxes moved out, you've still got a lot of small stuff to do.

1. coffee
2. walk dog
3. to do list
3a.
3b..
3c...

-jd

catch you up

wow, we haven't blogged in forever. sorry 2 loyal readers!

to catch you up, we're getting down to the wire. we spent the past couple of weeks unwinding from the school year. we took a trip down to the georgia coast with my brother, his fiancee, and some of their friends. it was a lot of driving, but very worth it. megan finally got to see savannah. no, we didn't eat at paula deen's restaurant, but we went on a trolley tour and know all of the places we want to explore when we go back.

after some begging, we've gotten most of the rsvp's back and have some sort of idea as to how many people will show up. do we pay for more food and expect everyone to show up? do we suspect some folks will back out at the last minute? will more people come than said they would? we're gonna let that decision run down to the wire.

megan says she's got her dress all ready to go. i haven't seen it of course, but it's supposed to fit just right and there are some numbers and some buttons and loops for this thing called "bustling..?" that's why she's the woman and i'm not.

we went over all the final wedding planning with cedarwood today, and are meeting with the minister on monday. i'm so glad God put him in our life. he's such a cool guy, and is going to be the perfect person to marry us.

i never dreamed that there would be so many little details that we have to take care of at the end. meg's getting a little stressed out by them, but everything's going to come together just like it should.

that's about it for now. we're going camping with my folks next week. in the meantime it's going to be a mad dash to get everything done on time. if you wanna see what's going on in my nerdy little head, you can read this.

-jason