World Tour of America #7: Week 3
This is a bit of a belated post; I had intended to do it yesterday but I ended up with a splitting headache. ftmichael went off to work this afternoon and left me at home doing the washing so it seemed like a good time to do an update post. I started writing this sitting in the kitchen with my laptop and a glass of spiced apple juice, and it was such a lovely day that I had the door open with a breeze coming through so it was all nice and happy. This has been a fairly quiet week as Michael is still recovering from surgery so although we've been going out, we've been taking it easy and not done a great deal when we've been out. It's been a very foody week though, which I think might please certain hobbits ;)
Thursday:
A few days ago, I'd asked Michael about getting in touch with someone to talk to about my stepfather's death so he'd arranged something with one of his friends who is a religious leader and also Trans. We went to see him today and Michael made himself scarce until 2pm so I was able to talk to him on my own. It was very helpful so I was glad that I'd suggested it. As it was well after dinnertime when I finished, we were both starving. We'd intended to go to a nearby Indian restaurant, but were recommended a place called Chutney in The Garage which does amazing wraps so we each got one of those instead. They certainly were very tasty indeed but a bit spicier than we'd anticipated so we felt like we needed chocolate afterwards or, better yet, ice cream. Michael said it was a shame there was no JP Licks nearby and I said that there was! And just round the corner too. (I'm always amused when I know where things are more than Michael does. You'd think I lived here or something.) When we got there, they were queueing out the door, despite the fact that it was mid-October, raining and a bit chilly. I tried one of their new for October flavours, cheesecake Oreo, and it was omg!sogood. It had pieces of Oreo in it and actually tasted like cheesecake. And to make it even more appealing - if that was at all possible - it was free! We both had a loyalty card which got us a free ice cream. We sat and ate in Harvard Yard and had just finished when a gusty wind blew up out of nowhere. The sky was full of large black clouds indicating a storm was on the way so we tried to find somewhere to hide from it. We'd been recommended an art museum round the corner but when we got there, it was undergoing renovation which was a shame. We decided to call it a day and went home instead. Probably a good idea anyway, as Michael didn't want to be doing too much so early on.
Friday:
When the post came the other day, there was a flyer for a company called Building #19 who sell seconds and unwanted items from various other companies. The flyer said they had a load of large plastic storage boxes for very few dollars so Michael wanted to go and see what they had. There wasn't anything I especially wanted but was open to looking anyway. It was quite a way out on Route 9 and turned out to be a huge building with a huge variety of stuff. It was a lot quieter than I expected but we spent a decent amount of time looking round it all. They didn't have storage boxes large enough to suit Michael, but I managed to find a very nice AC/DC "For those about to Rock" long-sleeved T-shirt for the bargainous price of $5.99. There was a mall nearby but it was all posh clothing stores like Neiman Marcus and Lord & Taylor so we didn't bother going in. We almost ran out of Route so Michael pulled into a Walgreens car park to turn around although we went in to have a look first. I was after non-Christmas holiday cards and it seemed a good place to get some but they only had individual ones rather than boxes. Perhaps it was a bit too early. However, I did find boxes of Mike & Ike's which were 3 for $3 and that was too good to resist so I got three boxes of those instead!
By now it was 1.15pm and we were both hungry so decided to pull into the first decent eatery we saw. That happened to be Uno's which was fine with both of us! Michael chose the rattlesnake pasta and salad combo, while I had the firecracker chicken sandwich (Grilled chicken, house-made quacamole, spicy dressing, Yancey's™ spicy Buffalo Cheddar, lettuce, tomato and red onion on an artisan stirato roll) and the skinless bake (red bliss mashed potatoes baked with Cheddar and bacon, topped with sour cream). The sandwich seemed to be quite a bit spicier than last time I had it, although the spicy dressing is still reminiscent of something McDonald's use. The mash is seriously yummy. I could eat a huge dish of that on its own quite happily. It works really well with the spicy sandwich too, especially with the sour cream to cool things down. Michael was rather tired when we'd finished so we called it a day and went home. He then spent the rest of the day playing PS2 while laying on my bed in the playroom and I read my way through more of his collection of For Better or For Worse comic books. Not quite the way we had anticipated the day going but certainly no complaints from either of us.
Saturday:
Today was the Head of the Charles Regatta, featuring lots of rowing boats competing in various races but more importantly, lots of stalls featuring various freebies! We went last year for the first time and it was cold and pissing it down so much that we ended up being soaked through to the skin. This time there was glorious sunshine with only a little bit of a chill so it was much nicer. And therefore MUCH busier. There were crowds of people in Harvard Square just because it was Harvard Square on a Saturday, never mind the steady stream of other people going down to the Charles. There was a long line of stalls which started off with official programme and official merchandise types that wanted you to part with moneys but there were only a couple of those. There were also two sets of food stalls as well in the middle of the rest but still a large proportion were sponsors with freebies. Some of them couldn't wait to give you things, the first stalls was EMC where the people staffing it thrust a handful of things into my hands as soon as I approached! There were companies like Nantucket Nectars, V8 and Dunkies who had small sample cups for you to drink then and there, but others such as Turkey Hill, Lärabar, rip it, Fruit2day and Libertié had actual products for you to take away. Although we did rather have to eat the Turkey Hill ice cream then and there. Some were mini sized samples but others were the full thing. The only freebies we didn't get were from Dr. Oetker's Pizza Ristorante and Chobani Greek yoghurt because the queues for each one stretched all the way down to the riverbank. The freebie of choice this year seemed to be can coolers, I got about 8 so I will be sharing those with various friends and relations.
Once we'd accumulated all possible freebies, we went back into Harvard Square and searched for somewhere to eat. We ended up at Qdoba, a Mexican fastfood place where I got the tortilla soup which was very good but incredibly spicy! From there we walked up to Cambridge Common and had a look at all the plaques and statues. There's a serious amount of them just in that area! We admired the tree under which George Washington said stuff; it's all fenced off so no one can get within a foot of it, although that doesn't deter the squirrels who daringly ran up and down the trunk as if to remind us that it's just a tree and if it's anyone's, it's theirs. There's also three cannons which were left by the British at some point. I wonder if the MOD is aware of this, perhaps they should ask for them back? When we'd had enough, we headed back on the T only to stop at Kendall/MIT. The tannoy announcement said it was due to police action at Park Street which made us wonder what was going on there. I've since tried to find out what was happening but have been unable to find anything.
We hadn't got anything out for tea so I suggested going to the Haven. It's a Scottish restaurant run by a Scotsman and when my mother read about it in The Sunday Post a few weeks before I came to Boston, she told me I should go there. So we did! It's out in Jamaica Plain and hasn't been open very long but it seems to be doing well. It was packed when we arrived and we just managed to get the last table. The menu is fairly limited and a bit on the pricey side, but the portions are huge and the food is So Good. It really is worth paying that bit extra. I got the fish supper and the entire thing was so tasty; the chips were proper thick-cut chips and the fish was one of the best pieces of fish I've had. And it was washed down with Irn Bru. Michael had the beef and ale pie which he really enjoyed, although he left half to make sure he had room for pudding. I ate all mine because reheated fish and chips are not that pleasant. Michael got the spiced chocolate shortbread which was homemade shortbread with spiced chocolate for dipping. The shortbread was light and melty in the mouth, but the chocolate was rather too spicy which was a shame. We'd seen a bloke in a tartan trilby taking orders and serving food and he had a Scottish accent, but I couldn't be sure if he looked like the photo of the owner from the Sunday Post article. When we were leaving, he happened to be walking past and so I asked him if he was the owner. When he said he was, I told him about the Sunday Post article and he said that it was only on the off-chance that it was done but it had resulted in quite a bit of interest for the restaurant. He was very friendly, asked our names and shook our hands which just added that nice personal touch to the place. So if you're ever in JP and you're looking for a yummy place to eat, then go to the Haven! It was a really nice way to round off what had been a very enjoyable and gastronomically varied day.
Sunday:
Sunday started off with the usual trip to Dunkies, although it was just me going on my own this time. Michael was waiting at home because a friend of his was dropping off a Get Well Soon apple pie. It was a nice walk to Dunkies because it was warm and sunny, and also because it was so quiet! The roads were almost deserted and Dunkies was empty. Well, it had four people in it which amounts to the same thing. Most bizarre, but I suppose everyone was off at the Head of the Charles again. That was about the most exciting thing that happened today as we spent it resting from all the excitement of the day before.
Monday:
We decided to go into Boston today and do some of the things I'd marked off in my guide book. We got off at Government Centre to do the couple of things that were round there. Firstly we went to the New England Holocaust Memorial. It's situated on Congress Street, near Quincy Market/Faneuil Hall and the Freedom Trail runs right past it. The main part of the memorial is the 6 glass towers, each of which is dedicated to one of the six primary concentration camps. The towers are also 54 foot high, and each glass panel is etched with six million numbers to represent the six million Jews that were killed there - the numbers are a similar style to the tattoos that they were made to wear. At the bottom of each tower is a grate which constantly releases steam. It is extremely emotional, just to see all of the numbers and how tall the towers have to be to contain them all; six million is such a huge number that it's hard to picture but this memorial manages to show that. And when you're standing in one of the towers, looking up at the tiny patch of sky at the top and there's a huge billow of steam in your face... I found it kind of claustrophobic and the steam made it hard to breathe so it really brought the whole thing home to me.
From there we went to Blackstone Block which has cobbled streets and buildings dating back to the 17th and 18th century. My guidebook said there was a warren of streets hidden away but it turned out to be one street and an alleyway so it was rather disappointing. It was 3pm by the time we'd finished there and most of the other stuff I'd marked off to do was quite a distance away so we went to Quincy Market and had a look round there until 5pm when things started to close so we went home.
Before we got home, we went on a Search For Custard™. I wanted some to go with the apple pie that Michael had got the day before so Michael suggested going to Stop & Shop which had a decent International Section containing Ambrosia's finest. Except when we got there, it only had the rice pudding and not the custard. It did however, have a tin of Bird's custard powder which outranks Ambrosia any day of the week, but not at $6 a tin. The only other option was to get Jell-o's custard dessert which I used a few years ago in a trifle. Stop & Shop didn't have it which meant going to Star Market, who did. And after all that, it was almost, but not quite entirely unlike custard. Perhaps I should have gone with cream instead. We spent the night watching Morecambe & Wise videos on Youtube anyway so that made it all better.
Tuesday:
Back into Boston today, this time to do Newbury Street. The weather said it was going to be a sunny 20°C but feel like 18. Having visited Boston before, I didn't believe this in the slightest and put my jacket in my bag just in case. As soon as we got into the city, I regretted putting on a black T-shirt and jeans. It was Seriously Muggy. Thankfully we walked up the shady part of Newbury Street first. Initial port of call was Niketown so that Michael could part with 10 pairs of old trainers to be recycled. Which I'd had to lug about as he can't carry anything yet! We called into Newbury Comics as is the custom whenever passing one, where a girl who was eyeing up all the Doctor Who stuff admired my T-shirt. Shame she didn't notice my Converse too. We called in at the Other Side Café for dinner which looked very much like any student pub back in the UK. I was saddened that it was just too hot to go for the veggie chilli, but my tuna melt was very tasty, although not worth nearly $10. We called in at JP Licks for pudding which we expected to be queueing out the door seeing as it was definitely ice cream weather but to our surprise, it had 3 people in it. Maybe everyone was eating their ice creams outside. We walked all the way back down to the other end of Newbury Street, taking a detour towards Sugar Heaven and Lindt where I was super good and didn't buy anything. I wanted to look in the newly opened Converse store but by the time we got to the end of the street, we'd still not seen it. Michael had to ask the Hive Mind to get the address and of course, it was right at the very top of the street. We walked back up and when we found it, it turned out to be next-door-but-one to JP Licks. No wonder we didn't see it! There were some very nice shoes inside, including a pair of purple suede ones to the tune of $70. I splashed out and bought two pairs of shoelaces. Damn the expense.
Wednesday:
And now to yesterday which was spent doing various errands and things. I picked up my copy of The Nearest Exit May Be Behind You by the ever fabulous bearsir aka S Bear Bergman. It cost me nearly $20 so I hope ze gets a decent percentage of that! At least I bought it from an independent bookshop. We went to Target for the sole reason that it's near Friendly's and we could have dinner there. Michael wanted storage boxes and I didn't want anything, so of course I came out with a T-shirt. Target do some T-shirts with really cool stuff on the front, it's not my fault! We'd also wanted to get some fake blood and caution tape for Hallowe'en but the Hallowe'en stuff was being replaced by Christmas things! Already!! We weren't all that hungry by the time we finished at Target, so we went to Best Buy also where we spent a great amount of time playing on the Apple Macs and changing all the homepages to ubuntu.com. That worked up quite an appetite, I can tell you! At Friendly's I got my favourite honey BBQ chicken supermelt which is the yummiest thing ever, mostly because Friendly's honey barbecue sauce is AMAZING. I decided to try the new Sweet Cinnamon Roll sundae but the smaller Happy Ending-sized so 2 scoops of Maple Syrup ice cream with chunks of warm caramel coated cinnamon bun. Except that they had no Maple Syrup so I had to have Maple Walnut and the person who made it was new so I ended up with half a cinnamon bun in a small dish alongside the sundae. And for some reason, I got charged for the bun. The sundae was very nice though, the cinnamon in the bun went really well with the maple flavour ice cream.
We were full to bursting after that but had other things to do. Michael drove us out to Burlington as I wanted to get a white long-sleeved T-shirt from L.L. Bean. I'd got a $50 Visa card for doing surveys and it expired at the end of October, so I wanted to spend the last $12 on it before it ran out. L.L. Bean seems to have really generous sizes, their small fits me perfectly which is so nice. The clothing is a bit expensive compared to places like Old Navy but it fits better and the lifetime guarantee thing is a bonus. We had a quick look in Michael's for Hallowe'en stuffs but they had very little. Seems to be end of the season for Hallowe'en for some reason! They did have a large section of 10 for $10 things which included some nice writing paper and envelopes so that was a bonus. Final port of call was iParty where we got some fake blood but they were out of caution tape. The sales assistant said to try a hardware store as it would be cheaper there anyway! I'd got a banging headache at this point so when we got back home, I spent most of the night reading rather than writing an LJ post as I'd intended.
And that leads us up to today! This morning we went out to a little farm stall to get pumpkins ready for Sunday. They had a fairly decent selection left still so we managed to get two decent ones. I'm going to try and not spend most of the day carving it this time!
I've now got just a week left in Boston now and so the list of Things To Do is getting smaller. Still a couple of things to look forward to though:
Oct 30: Boston Vegetarian Food Festival
Oct 31: Hallowe'en
Thursday:
A few days ago, I'd asked Michael about getting in touch with someone to talk to about my stepfather's death so he'd arranged something with one of his friends who is a religious leader and also Trans. We went to see him today and Michael made himself scarce until 2pm so I was able to talk to him on my own. It was very helpful so I was glad that I'd suggested it. As it was well after dinnertime when I finished, we were both starving. We'd intended to go to a nearby Indian restaurant, but were recommended a place called Chutney in The Garage which does amazing wraps so we each got one of those instead. They certainly were very tasty indeed but a bit spicier than we'd anticipated so we felt like we needed chocolate afterwards or, better yet, ice cream. Michael said it was a shame there was no JP Licks nearby and I said that there was! And just round the corner too. (I'm always amused when I know where things are more than Michael does. You'd think I lived here or something.) When we got there, they were queueing out the door, despite the fact that it was mid-October, raining and a bit chilly. I tried one of their new for October flavours, cheesecake Oreo, and it was omg!sogood. It had pieces of Oreo in it and actually tasted like cheesecake. And to make it even more appealing - if that was at all possible - it was free! We both had a loyalty card which got us a free ice cream. We sat and ate in Harvard Yard and had just finished when a gusty wind blew up out of nowhere. The sky was full of large black clouds indicating a storm was on the way so we tried to find somewhere to hide from it. We'd been recommended an art museum round the corner but when we got there, it was undergoing renovation which was a shame. We decided to call it a day and went home instead. Probably a good idea anyway, as Michael didn't want to be doing too much so early on.
Friday:
When the post came the other day, there was a flyer for a company called Building #19 who sell seconds and unwanted items from various other companies. The flyer said they had a load of large plastic storage boxes for very few dollars so Michael wanted to go and see what they had. There wasn't anything I especially wanted but was open to looking anyway. It was quite a way out on Route 9 and turned out to be a huge building with a huge variety of stuff. It was a lot quieter than I expected but we spent a decent amount of time looking round it all. They didn't have storage boxes large enough to suit Michael, but I managed to find a very nice AC/DC "For those about to Rock" long-sleeved T-shirt for the bargainous price of $5.99. There was a mall nearby but it was all posh clothing stores like Neiman Marcus and Lord & Taylor so we didn't bother going in. We almost ran out of Route so Michael pulled into a Walgreens car park to turn around although we went in to have a look first. I was after non-Christmas holiday cards and it seemed a good place to get some but they only had individual ones rather than boxes. Perhaps it was a bit too early. However, I did find boxes of Mike & Ike's which were 3 for $3 and that was too good to resist so I got three boxes of those instead!
By now it was 1.15pm and we were both hungry so decided to pull into the first decent eatery we saw. That happened to be Uno's which was fine with both of us! Michael chose the rattlesnake pasta and salad combo, while I had the firecracker chicken sandwich (Grilled chicken, house-made quacamole, spicy dressing, Yancey's™ spicy Buffalo Cheddar, lettuce, tomato and red onion on an artisan stirato roll) and the skinless bake (red bliss mashed potatoes baked with Cheddar and bacon, topped with sour cream). The sandwich seemed to be quite a bit spicier than last time I had it, although the spicy dressing is still reminiscent of something McDonald's use. The mash is seriously yummy. I could eat a huge dish of that on its own quite happily. It works really well with the spicy sandwich too, especially with the sour cream to cool things down. Michael was rather tired when we'd finished so we called it a day and went home. He then spent the rest of the day playing PS2 while laying on my bed in the playroom and I read my way through more of his collection of For Better or For Worse comic books. Not quite the way we had anticipated the day going but certainly no complaints from either of us.
Saturday:
Today was the Head of the Charles Regatta, featuring lots of rowing boats competing in various races but more importantly, lots of stalls featuring various freebies! We went last year for the first time and it was cold and pissing it down so much that we ended up being soaked through to the skin. This time there was glorious sunshine with only a little bit of a chill so it was much nicer. And therefore MUCH busier. There were crowds of people in Harvard Square just because it was Harvard Square on a Saturday, never mind the steady stream of other people going down to the Charles. There was a long line of stalls which started off with official programme and official merchandise types that wanted you to part with moneys but there were only a couple of those. There were also two sets of food stalls as well in the middle of the rest but still a large proportion were sponsors with freebies. Some of them couldn't wait to give you things, the first stalls was EMC where the people staffing it thrust a handful of things into my hands as soon as I approached! There were companies like Nantucket Nectars, V8 and Dunkies who had small sample cups for you to drink then and there, but others such as Turkey Hill, Lärabar, rip it, Fruit2day and Libertié had actual products for you to take away. Although we did rather have to eat the Turkey Hill ice cream then and there. Some were mini sized samples but others were the full thing. The only freebies we didn't get were from Dr. Oetker's Pizza Ristorante and Chobani Greek yoghurt because the queues for each one stretched all the way down to the riverbank. The freebie of choice this year seemed to be can coolers, I got about 8 so I will be sharing those with various friends and relations.
Once we'd accumulated all possible freebies, we went back into Harvard Square and searched for somewhere to eat. We ended up at Qdoba, a Mexican fastfood place where I got the tortilla soup which was very good but incredibly spicy! From there we walked up to Cambridge Common and had a look at all the plaques and statues. There's a serious amount of them just in that area! We admired the tree under which George Washington said stuff; it's all fenced off so no one can get within a foot of it, although that doesn't deter the squirrels who daringly ran up and down the trunk as if to remind us that it's just a tree and if it's anyone's, it's theirs. There's also three cannons which were left by the British at some point. I wonder if the MOD is aware of this, perhaps they should ask for them back? When we'd had enough, we headed back on the T only to stop at Kendall/MIT. The tannoy announcement said it was due to police action at Park Street which made us wonder what was going on there. I've since tried to find out what was happening but have been unable to find anything.
We hadn't got anything out for tea so I suggested going to the Haven. It's a Scottish restaurant run by a Scotsman and when my mother read about it in The Sunday Post a few weeks before I came to Boston, she told me I should go there. So we did! It's out in Jamaica Plain and hasn't been open very long but it seems to be doing well. It was packed when we arrived and we just managed to get the last table. The menu is fairly limited and a bit on the pricey side, but the portions are huge and the food is So Good. It really is worth paying that bit extra. I got the fish supper and the entire thing was so tasty; the chips were proper thick-cut chips and the fish was one of the best pieces of fish I've had. And it was washed down with Irn Bru. Michael had the beef and ale pie which he really enjoyed, although he left half to make sure he had room for pudding. I ate all mine because reheated fish and chips are not that pleasant. Michael got the spiced chocolate shortbread which was homemade shortbread with spiced chocolate for dipping. The shortbread was light and melty in the mouth, but the chocolate was rather too spicy which was a shame. We'd seen a bloke in a tartan trilby taking orders and serving food and he had a Scottish accent, but I couldn't be sure if he looked like the photo of the owner from the Sunday Post article. When we were leaving, he happened to be walking past and so I asked him if he was the owner. When he said he was, I told him about the Sunday Post article and he said that it was only on the off-chance that it was done but it had resulted in quite a bit of interest for the restaurant. He was very friendly, asked our names and shook our hands which just added that nice personal touch to the place. So if you're ever in JP and you're looking for a yummy place to eat, then go to the Haven! It was a really nice way to round off what had been a very enjoyable and gastronomically varied day.
Sunday:
Sunday started off with the usual trip to Dunkies, although it was just me going on my own this time. Michael was waiting at home because a friend of his was dropping off a Get Well Soon apple pie. It was a nice walk to Dunkies because it was warm and sunny, and also because it was so quiet! The roads were almost deserted and Dunkies was empty. Well, it had four people in it which amounts to the same thing. Most bizarre, but I suppose everyone was off at the Head of the Charles again. That was about the most exciting thing that happened today as we spent it resting from all the excitement of the day before.
Monday:
We decided to go into Boston today and do some of the things I'd marked off in my guide book. We got off at Government Centre to do the couple of things that were round there. Firstly we went to the New England Holocaust Memorial. It's situated on Congress Street, near Quincy Market/Faneuil Hall and the Freedom Trail runs right past it. The main part of the memorial is the 6 glass towers, each of which is dedicated to one of the six primary concentration camps. The towers are also 54 foot high, and each glass panel is etched with six million numbers to represent the six million Jews that were killed there - the numbers are a similar style to the tattoos that they were made to wear. At the bottom of each tower is a grate which constantly releases steam. It is extremely emotional, just to see all of the numbers and how tall the towers have to be to contain them all; six million is such a huge number that it's hard to picture but this memorial manages to show that. And when you're standing in one of the towers, looking up at the tiny patch of sky at the top and there's a huge billow of steam in your face... I found it kind of claustrophobic and the steam made it hard to breathe so it really brought the whole thing home to me.
From there we went to Blackstone Block which has cobbled streets and buildings dating back to the 17th and 18th century. My guidebook said there was a warren of streets hidden away but it turned out to be one street and an alleyway so it was rather disappointing. It was 3pm by the time we'd finished there and most of the other stuff I'd marked off to do was quite a distance away so we went to Quincy Market and had a look round there until 5pm when things started to close so we went home.
Before we got home, we went on a Search For Custard™. I wanted some to go with the apple pie that Michael had got the day before so Michael suggested going to Stop & Shop which had a decent International Section containing Ambrosia's finest. Except when we got there, it only had the rice pudding and not the custard. It did however, have a tin of Bird's custard powder which outranks Ambrosia any day of the week, but not at $6 a tin. The only other option was to get Jell-o's custard dessert which I used a few years ago in a trifle. Stop & Shop didn't have it which meant going to Star Market, who did. And after all that, it was almost, but not quite entirely unlike custard. Perhaps I should have gone with cream instead. We spent the night watching Morecambe & Wise videos on Youtube anyway so that made it all better.
Tuesday:
Back into Boston today, this time to do Newbury Street. The weather said it was going to be a sunny 20°C but feel like 18. Having visited Boston before, I didn't believe this in the slightest and put my jacket in my bag just in case. As soon as we got into the city, I regretted putting on a black T-shirt and jeans. It was Seriously Muggy. Thankfully we walked up the shady part of Newbury Street first. Initial port of call was Niketown so that Michael could part with 10 pairs of old trainers to be recycled. Which I'd had to lug about as he can't carry anything yet! We called into Newbury Comics as is the custom whenever passing one, where a girl who was eyeing up all the Doctor Who stuff admired my T-shirt. Shame she didn't notice my Converse too. We called in at the Other Side Café for dinner which looked very much like any student pub back in the UK. I was saddened that it was just too hot to go for the veggie chilli, but my tuna melt was very tasty, although not worth nearly $10. We called in at JP Licks for pudding which we expected to be queueing out the door seeing as it was definitely ice cream weather but to our surprise, it had 3 people in it. Maybe everyone was eating their ice creams outside. We walked all the way back down to the other end of Newbury Street, taking a detour towards Sugar Heaven and Lindt where I was super good and didn't buy anything. I wanted to look in the newly opened Converse store but by the time we got to the end of the street, we'd still not seen it. Michael had to ask the Hive Mind to get the address and of course, it was right at the very top of the street. We walked back up and when we found it, it turned out to be next-door-but-one to JP Licks. No wonder we didn't see it! There were some very nice shoes inside, including a pair of purple suede ones to the tune of $70. I splashed out and bought two pairs of shoelaces. Damn the expense.
Wednesday:
And now to yesterday which was spent doing various errands and things. I picked up my copy of The Nearest Exit May Be Behind You by the ever fabulous bearsir aka S Bear Bergman. It cost me nearly $20 so I hope ze gets a decent percentage of that! At least I bought it from an independent bookshop. We went to Target for the sole reason that it's near Friendly's and we could have dinner there. Michael wanted storage boxes and I didn't want anything, so of course I came out with a T-shirt. Target do some T-shirts with really cool stuff on the front, it's not my fault! We'd also wanted to get some fake blood and caution tape for Hallowe'en but the Hallowe'en stuff was being replaced by Christmas things! Already!! We weren't all that hungry by the time we finished at Target, so we went to Best Buy also where we spent a great amount of time playing on the Apple Macs and changing all the homepages to ubuntu.com. That worked up quite an appetite, I can tell you! At Friendly's I got my favourite honey BBQ chicken supermelt which is the yummiest thing ever, mostly because Friendly's honey barbecue sauce is AMAZING. I decided to try the new Sweet Cinnamon Roll sundae but the smaller Happy Ending-sized so 2 scoops of Maple Syrup ice cream with chunks of warm caramel coated cinnamon bun. Except that they had no Maple Syrup so I had to have Maple Walnut and the person who made it was new so I ended up with half a cinnamon bun in a small dish alongside the sundae. And for some reason, I got charged for the bun. The sundae was very nice though, the cinnamon in the bun went really well with the maple flavour ice cream.
We were full to bursting after that but had other things to do. Michael drove us out to Burlington as I wanted to get a white long-sleeved T-shirt from L.L. Bean. I'd got a $50 Visa card for doing surveys and it expired at the end of October, so I wanted to spend the last $12 on it before it ran out. L.L. Bean seems to have really generous sizes, their small fits me perfectly which is so nice. The clothing is a bit expensive compared to places like Old Navy but it fits better and the lifetime guarantee thing is a bonus. We had a quick look in Michael's for Hallowe'en stuffs but they had very little. Seems to be end of the season for Hallowe'en for some reason! They did have a large section of 10 for $10 things which included some nice writing paper and envelopes so that was a bonus. Final port of call was iParty where we got some fake blood but they were out of caution tape. The sales assistant said to try a hardware store as it would be cheaper there anyway! I'd got a banging headache at this point so when we got back home, I spent most of the night reading rather than writing an LJ post as I'd intended.
And that leads us up to today! This morning we went out to a little farm stall to get pumpkins ready for Sunday. They had a fairly decent selection left still so we managed to get two decent ones. I'm going to try and not spend most of the day carving it this time!
I've now got just a week left in Boston now and so the list of Things To Do is getting smaller. Still a couple of things to look forward to though:
Oct 30: Boston Vegetarian Food Festival
Oct 31: Hallowe'en