spring break vacation, Day 7

Day 7 we left New Hampshire.  Sigh.

It was a nice drive down to the Boston area, and thanks again to Ed for driving us.  We set out at a decent time of the morning, enabling us to stop in Lawrence, an outer Boston suburb, so that Conrad could visit a museum there and see a specific piece on exhibit.  The Lawrence Heritage State Park was a nice stop en route, I have to admit.  A fine little museum about the industrial history of the city including labour strife, disaster, and the growing presence and influence of a Latino community. 

And, sorry, but the person staffing the park welcome desk was a friendly and handsome mature guy.  Sue me, I'm gay!  ;-)

It wasn't long after that that we arrived at our hotel in the Seaport area of Boston.  I hadn't been in Boston in ten years, and the last time I was there, the Seaport area was rather less developed.  I'd had to stay out that way for a conference at the new (at the time) convention center.  This time I chose it because it is relatively easy to get from there to the airport across the water.

We were able to check in right away,

then we took Ed for lunch nearby (mocktail, shrimp tacos)

before sending him on his way home to Rhode Island.  We spent the rest of the afternoon napping (not pictured) and strolling around the area a little. 

Such beautiful spring weather!

I was excited for dinner.  No, not for the food, but for the company. 

I first got to know Robert ages ago, I think it was on Flickr.  We met once for dinner back on my last trip to Boston in 2016 (I had a cassoulet that was nowhere near as good as what I would have at Yoshi's), and I'd looked forward to another chance to meet again.  Oddly enough, we were both in Palm Springs last month at the same time but not realizing it.  We almost missed the chance to have dinner in Boston - Robert was booked to be in Hawaii on vacation.  However, the torrential rains that Hawaii has received in recent times had him reconsider, and that meant he was in town and free for dinner. 

Yay!  Conrad got to meet him, too, which was a bonus.

We met up at Woods Hill Pier 4 not far from the hotel, a nice little walk.  Robert was already enjoying a drink when we got there, and we soon joined him in that pursuit once seated.  The dinner was good, and I liked the food, but the only thing that stuck with me was the salt-roasted celery root.  The star of the meal.  Everything else was great, though. 

I confess, after a week of dining out and drinking, I was looking forward to getting home and maybe trying a little more of a regular diet again.

Anyway, a lovely dinner.  Robert is a character, and that is a compliment.  Stylish, a raconteur.  It was fun conversation. 

We walked him partway to where he could get transit

then headed the other way back to our hotel.  There was no rush for us the next morning, so we knew we could wind down and sleep as late as we liked. 

February weekend

Yes, I know:  more Vancouver to come.  Let me, however, take a break from reporting on that trip and just check in on the weekend that was....

Friday!  Friday was a welcome return to Maestro.  I was absolutely enamoured with one of the cocktails that they were still offering, leftover from their Valentine's menu.  A tequila and milk punch drink,

it was delicious.  Rigo suggested I try the strawberry negroni after that,

and it was fine, but the first drink was the clear winner for me.  We didn't eat too much that evening with birria tacos

being such a great choice on a cold (shut up, it was!) evening.  We swung by Delight to pick up dessert on the way home, and that was a lovely evening.

Saturday!  A bit of a walk - I've been so lazy lately - and then on to Amara where we shared a breakfast burrito. 

The day was given over to a lot of small things that accomplished something but left me feeling like I'd done nothing.  We did have a nice dinner last night, though.  Van drove us over to the Los Feliz neighbourhood to meet up with Heath and Nicole,

and we enjoyed dinner at the Dresden Room. 

I loved their special martini, but it was all quite nice.  Shrimp cocktail for me,

then steak frites. 

We shared dessert and wine, and then most of us had a Grasshopper to finish the evening. 

A good meal together.

Sunday!  No photos!  Groceries and massage and some work toward the Vietnam trip.  I put together a grazing board for dinner.

Monday is soon upon us, and a week today we're already into March.  Wow! 

third weekend in November

Herb Alpert aside, how was the weekend?

Well, wet. 

This was Friday morning, before the rains really came.  I don't know the official amount for Pasadena, but I believe that over the course of late Thursday to early Tuesday, downtown LA got about 3.5 inches.  I know that doesn't sound like much, but it's an extraordinary amount for November even if November is part of our rainy season.  Yep, we got soaked.

Saturday was a quiet day, and I was showing Conrad my ideas for doing some redecorating around the condo in the new year when I got a call from the massage place.  Late for my appointment!  Yikes.  I had completely forgotten it, I blush to admit.  I headed over their as quickly as I could, had at least part of the appointment, then stopped in at TJ's for groceries and - hooray! - picked up the first poinsettia of the season. 

That brightens things nicely.

Van came by that evening, and the three of us braved a lull in the rain to head for an overdue dinner at Maestro.  Good to be back!  A Mezcal Campfire

to start my evening (and a Sancho Barrel Aged to end it). 

The three of us shared the roasted beet salad,

birria tacos,

and the tamal poblano

before finishing with the Oaxacan chocolate tart. 

And it was all so good and welcome.  We said hello to familiar faces, we had our own conversation flowing, and we ignored the brisk temperatures rushing in every time the door opened - we had the table closest to it!

The evening ended early, and then it was on to a rainy Sunday.

Actually, it wasn't super rainy when we got up on Sunday.  In fact, it was fine enough for a bit of a walk, ending with breakfast at Amara. 

Another welcome thing!  Conrad had packing to do, and I ended up making some banana bread loaves.  And then it was 2:00 and time for an online happy hour to catch up with Rick and Dave in Kentucky.  I was making South Side Royale cocktails,

the classic gin sour with mint recipe dolled up with some champagne.  They went down nicely.  After a leisurely couple of hours with the guys online, I worked to get dinner on the table, a chicken I had been roasting for some slow while. 

It will be leftovers of that for me this evening!

I looked at some travel arrangements for the new year after dinner, and that was that.  Sunday wound down, and the third weekend in November was over.