Act 2: Coastal Confessions

I spent the last 5 days visiting a friend on the East Coast and touring around Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.  We were lucky to have beautiful weather... the first warm weekend of the year I think with temps in the 50's for a couple of days!  Rhode Island and Connecticut are both states I've never visited before so I got to check them off my "States to Visit" list.  32 down, 18 to go!

Visiting new states isn't the only new thing I did while I was there though.  Let's have a rundown, shall we?

1. Hugged a giant Mr. Potato Head (apparently Hasbro is very big in Providence, RI).
2. Saw elephants walk with trunk holding tail like they do in Dumbo.  I realize they are probably trained to do that, but it's cute anyway.  Also, saw one getting a bath.  And saw one stealing food from another one.  Very amusing animals :-)

3. Ate at Mystic Pizza (pretty good!) and watched the movie of the same name (one of Julia Robert's first films... a little corny, a lot 80's, but better than I expected to be.)

4. Went to Cape Cod... enough said.  I would highly recommend South Cape Beach State Park.  It's not as far out as others and has long sandy beaches, a dirt walking trail, and an estuary for added interest.  And while you're there, pretend you're rich and take in a few open houses... they're NICE.

5. Ate Stuffed Quahog.  Quahog is a popular type of clam in the New England area and also the namesake of the Family Guy town (which made the Drunken Clam and other show references make a lot more sense!).  It also meant I had to try it.  It's good!

6. Toured the Sam Adams Brewery in Boston.  Ate 3 different kinds of barley they use in their beers.  I could have taken a bag of the Caramel-60 home with me (pic below).  It was kind of like sunflower or other eating seeds and super tasty.  No wonder beer tastes good!  In the tasting room I tried 3 beers.  Boston Lager I'd had before.  Not terrible.  Noble Hops was fantastic and not overly hoppy as the name would suggest.  I hope I can find it at home.  Boston Brick Red is only served on draft in bars in Boston, so I'm told I should feel quite special for having had it.  Most people on Earth never will!

7. Saw Fenway Park.  The outside mostly... it's not open unless it's baseball season.  We did find the Bleacher Bar though, which has a window to the field.  Not pretty since they're in the process of tearing it all up before the season starts.  But hey, I saw it!

All in all, not a bad weekend!


"The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page." ~St Augustine