Date #24 - Paying it Forward

To any of the readers still following this blog, my apologies for the long breaks between posts. It's just that life keeps getting in the way and, truthfully, after sitting at a computer all day at work, that's usually the last thing I want to do when I'm home. But thanks for hanging in there as we wind our way very rapidly toward our 36th anniversary just three weeks away.

And although I haven't been blogging, we have been dating....but barely. After taking most of the summer off...we went on a 7 date spree in the last two weeks of September. Then we had exactly one date in October, and one more in November....but the month is not over.

Date #24 was a volunteer event. When we started this dating project and began planning what types of dates we would have...volunteering was high on our list. And we kicked it right off with date #2. But now I'm chagrined to say that this is only our second volunteer date and it came almost ten months after the first. However, I will give a shout-out to TH for his volunteer efforts. He has been president of our local youth soccer league since its inception in 1985 and he sets up the fields and nets at daybreak every Saturday and Sunday in the fall....BY HIMSELF.

Now back to our date. And since it was a volunteer effort, this will not be a long post because I believe that charity should be performed as silently as possible without blowing our own horn or patting ourselves on the back.

On September 18th, we were proud to be two of the 900 volunteers at The Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk. We were stationed at the finish line in Copley Square on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon where our job was: bus loaders. We were also question answerers...or at least that's what the back of our T-shirts claimed.

TH and I directed the walkers to the yellow school bus shuttles that would take them back to the start line. And since there were 4 starting points, it was our responsibility to ensure that they boarded the correct buses. Not a very big responsibility, but very rewarding; it was great to see the smiles of accomplishment and the gratitude of the tired walkers as they realized they were done walking and were getting to put their feet up for the ride back. It was also very humbling, as many teams of walkers wore customized t-shirts honoring a cancer patient. Most heartbreaking were the T-shirts with so many photos of wonderful children who had not survived. Here's the Manchester Monarchs hockey team; they walked with the picture of a beautiful little girl attached to their game jerseys.

Copley Square was transformed into a giant block party, with a huge performance stage and food booths. Huge props to the vendors that provided refreshments for the 8500 walkers and the volunteers. The Weathervane Restaurant provided hot, fresh clam chowder all day long. Domino's Pizza and Nathan's Hot Dogs served their signature dishes. Belmont Springs gave away gallons of water, Ga-Ga Ice Cream served up great desserts, and Willow Tree had fresh chicken salad. All delicious. We tried them all....several times!

Here we are with our official volunteer T-Shirts and Caps:

It was a long date for us, but it was an even longer day for all the walkers; many that walked the entire 26.5 mile Boston Marathon route. Together they pledged to donate 7.5 million to the Jimmy Fund to assist the Dana Farber Cancer Center in their quest to eradicate cancer.

Two dates ago, we listened to Michael Moore rail against a country where colleges are forced to their knees to beg for funds to help students continue their education. Well, we would prefer to see a future where nobody has to walk or run or hold telethons or wear colored ribbons to raise funds/awareness about cancer or any other deadly disease. Until then, however, we all need to continue to do our part.

And before I end this post, for those who have been counting the days until the next Blue Velour Alert...here it is:
We have been having an unseasonably warm Autumn. Despite a nor'easter that dumped up to two feet of snow in some areas of New England the last weekend of October, we have been enjoying temperatures in the 60's ever since. But that didn't deter TH from digging out the blue velour for a trip to Ikea on November 5th.

And he didn't stop there...the very next day he wore his other blue velour. And he might have worn them again but our washer broke the following day and we weren't able to do laundry until two days ago...and he hasn't learned how to use the new-fangled washer.

So the blue velour stayed in hibernation from May 23rd until November 4th....less than 6 months.
Some habits are just too hard to break... like TH for example. I think I'll have to keep him!

Date #23 - Gluttons 'R Us

So it appears we have entered the EATING zone of this Eat, Play, Love tour we're on. For this date we had planned to attend a trade show, followed by drinks and dinner. We only made it through the first portion...

Three hours of all the desserts we could eat...Yum! 

Editorial aside: Anytime I write the word 'dessert' I always think of the crazy spelling rules and songs I learned in grammar school that have stayed with me and served me well for half a century. I can't remember which nun taught me that the way to remember the difference between desert and dessert was that "they put an extra S in dessert because you always want a second serving,"  but I've never spelled it incorrectly since!

Now back to our date.

Let me start by saying that desserts do not call my name. Rarely, if ever, will I order dessert at a restaurant. Growing up, we never had dessert unless it was somebody's birthday. And while raising our own sons, dessert was never more than homemade chocolate chip cookies. Mind you, there were always boxes of Twinkies or Hostess Cupcakes atop the refrigerator, but those were primarily for TH as the boys did not have a sweet tooth. Even today, while I pack my breakfast and lunch to take to work everyday....this is what TH packs......

Yup, that is the sum total of what he takes to work every day. A plastic bag with exactly three Oreo and three Chips Ahoy cookies. Nothing more. And he even packs it the night before so he won't forget!!

So this date was right up his alley. While desserts do not call to me... they yell TH's name out loud. That said, I have been known to heed the whisper of anything with ice cream, nuts or whipped cream, so I didn't frown when he suggested this date. Thanks to discount vouchers we were able to get into this show at the Sheraton Boston for $15 each, and it's safe to say we got our money's worth and then some.

From the moment we walked in, it was difficult to choose a starting point. Everything looked and smelled lovely.

This blue cake was on the Konditor Meister table. And while they didn't give out samples from the wedding cake, they did give out the most decadent cups filled with chocolate fudge...it was sinful.

These babies were filled to the rim with nothing but chocolate, and you could have all you wanted.

I don't remember how many we ate, but I assure you it was way too many!

And speaking of sinful, this dessert stopped me in my tracks and reminded me why most of the civilized world hates America....

behold...the world's largest cannoli.

It was made by Golden Cannoli, was 12 feet long, and weighed over 300 pounds. Was this really necessary?! Really?!  Do you have any idea how many needy people could be fed on what it cost to make this dessert? And for what?...it certainly wasn't anything worth raving about. And once it was displayed like that in the open air for a weekend I'm sure it was no longer edible.

To assuage their guilt, I'm sure, this company had a table where they served two-inch cannoli's for a suggested donation of $1 each that they promised to donate to charity. Proof positive that even they realized how excessive their claim to fame was.

That's why I don't understand the showcase competitions that are so popular nowadays; where top pastry chefs get together and create these massive displays that are beautiful but completely non-edible when through. Now I love art as much as the next person, but let's create art that will live on in posterity...and not use food that could be feeding millions instead of landing in the dumpster the next day.

And who created fondant? It may be beautiful to look at, but completely tasteless. Give me plain old whipped cream or butter cream frosting any day!

And speaking of whipped cream....not a trace of it in the entire place. And ice cream? There were actually two vendors there with tables, but I am not even going to give them a plug because they don't deserve it. While every other vendor was giving away cupcake size portions of their product, the two ice cream vendors gave out the teeniest, tiniest samples. I wish I thought to take a picture, but I was so enraged. When I tell you that they had the nerve to hand me a thimble-size serving on the end of a plastic spoon, I am not exaggerating! It wasn't even worth getting back in line for.

But that doesn't mean that we went hungry. On the contrary, we ate enough to feed a small third world nation...heck, it felt like we consumed a third world nation.

There was plenty of cake from Finale

and giant whoopie pies from the Whoopie Monster

But the biggest line in the place was here....

Hint was giving away 12 oz bottles of fruit flavored water, that was soooo refreshing after all that sugar and butter, we went back for seconds and thirds. Needless to say, they were one of the few booths that ran out of supply before the afternoon was over.

We did not even stay the allotted three hours. We were like wild animals that have no idea when they are full and just continue to eat. and eat. and eat. Finally, we both looked at each other and decided this was not fun anymore. Even TH surrendered. Who's idea was this for a date? Forget the dinner and drinks that were to follow.

We gave away our wristbands at the door to two unsuspecting souls, and then we waddled on over to the bus for the long bloated ride home. I think our next date needs to be someplace we have never been together....the GYM!!!

Date #22 - Monologue from a Mad Man

We're baaaack!!  And to paraphrase Mark Twain..."Rumors of our break-up are greatly exaggerated."

Life got in the way and we stopped dating this summer, simply because we were having way too much fun with weddings, grandsons, parties, cape/beach trips, grandsons, supper club, bike rides, a hurricane, and doing what we love most...hanging with our grandsons.

I snuck off to Santa Monica yet again for one more week before reporting back to work on August 17th, and for the next month I barely came up for air...let alone a date. Our niece K stayed with us for two and half weeks before she moved into her dorm at Lesley and it was fun having another female in the house. And then TH was mega busy with the start of his 27th season as president of the soccer league.

But our dating drought ended the 15th of September when we embarked on a grueling dating marathon with no less than seven dates before the month was over, so now we are back on track to get those 35 dates in as we race to the exciting finish line. Fasten your seatbelts....

First stop: Bunker Hill Community College (one of my many alma maters) for their Compelling Conversations Speaker Series where we had the pleasure of spending an evening listening to one of my heroes:

Yes, that's right...Michael Moore. And while it wasn't a conversation thus my title, it was certainly compelling.

I wasn't sure how TH would feel about this date, as he is an ultra-conservative (albeit registered democrat) who votes republican in every major election. But I figured they had at least two things in common...they both love to rant, and neither one has ever been accused of having any fashion style.

The event was held in the gymnasium with general seating for the first 1500 applicants who pre-registered, and everyone else could watch it on closed-circuit monitors in a separate conference hall. We arrived 90 minutes early (because we are old and anal)... but it was enough to score front row seats on the "left" side of the aisle. Well...that's a relative term. We were in the very first row of the peanut gallery BEHIND the velvet ropes that separated us from the seating for the very important people who didn't need to take their seats until 5 minutes before the presentation school trustees and selected students who were to cover the event. Luckily I brought some paperwork from the office to occupy my time while we waited.

.......and waited.

................and waited.

Finally at 6:15 we were informed that Moore's train from New York had been delayed and he would be arriving momentarily. Boston was the second stop of his tour to promote his new book "Here Comes Trouble"...but thanks to Amtrak, we would have to wait just a bit longer for trouble to arrive.

In the meantime, one of the school's directors took the mike to remind everyone that the evening was also serving as an opportunity to raise much needed funds for the school's emergency assistance programs that provide grant money to students for when life's unexpected obstacles might get in the way of completing their education. He informed us we had all received envelopes in our programs that evening and students were making their way through the gymnasium with tote bags on their shoulders to collect the donations. Did we somehow make a wrong turn into Sunday mass?

The director then introduced the college president who kept her remarks very brief (thank you) before introducing the man of the hour. And there he was, his rumpled self, looking like he'd just rolled out of the sleeping car berth, wearing his usual baggy attire, unzipped hoodie, and a red BHCC hat that he was handed to swap out for his ever-present Detroit Tigers cap as he mounted the stage.

Michael Moore. Of course he didn't apologize for being late. But he did take the opportunity to criticize our country's rail system that had come to a halt simply because lightning had struck the tracks ahead of his train.

And then the ranting really began. He was so spitting mad, because he had apparently arrived in time to hear the director's plea for funds, that he put aside whatever topic he had previous planned to instead express his outrage that our great nation is sending community colleges to their knees, begging for auto repair and babysitting money for their students, while wall street and the banking industry continue to raid our pension funds and render us homeless.

He then put his money where his mouth was and made a pledge to match every single dollar raised that evening, up to ten thousand dollars. I was thrilled to read in his blog the next day that we almost achieved that magic number. His perspective.  Yet, when the audience gave him a standing ovation, he demanded strongly that we STOP and explained that he had been very blessed in his career. He further madly informed us that the combined wealth of the 400 richest Americans was GREATER THAN the total earnings of the other 300 million citizens combined. (Think about that for a minute.)


Then he settled down, somewhat, and the rest of his presentation was heartfelt and pure Michael Moore. Of course he railed against the Republicans, but he also expressed his disappointment at some of the decisions made by the man he was so proud to call President. Nonetheless, he staunchly defended Obama and the Democrats.

He talked sports, predicting that Boston would meet his beloved Tigers in the post-season. He only got that half-right. Go Tigers. He also bragged that he and Tim Thomas graduated from the same high school in Michigan.

Here's a view from our front-row seats. LOL.

Here's a better view from the mini-tron:

Then Moore took a seat and proceeded to read excerpts from his new book of anectodal short stories subtitled: Stories from my life. Both stories he shared were touching insights into the life of a young man born to be a rabble rouser. He tells of winning an essay contest sponsored by the "whites-only" Elks Club while still a teenager, where he turned the tables on their racial membership policies and earned an invitation to testify before congress. He also writes about becoming the youngest elected official in the nation when he won a seat on the school board while still a high school student. But he didn't let hubris get in the way of his humility as he recounted one of his greatest regrets at not speaking out for a fellow student who was not allowed to graduate by the very same asshole vice-principal that spurred Moore to run for office just so he could fire the man. I venture to say with certainty that Michael Moore has NEVER remained silent against another injustice.

After he shared the two chapters, there was only time for questions from two audience members before the evening came to a disappointing end. Although it was late, we would gladly have listened to him all night. It was the first book tour reading I've ever attended where, not only did the author not remain to sign books, there weren't any copies of the book for sale! I'm sure Michael Moore is not worried about book sales.

And while I don't think TH is ready to move over and sit permanently on the liberal side of the aisle, he did admit to enjoying the evening with Michael Moore. And we were definitely not at Sunday mass he never nodded off, not once.

Date #21 - Saints and Segways

Our dates and this blog have apparently been on extended summer vacation because we only went on exactly one (count 'em) date during the month of July...and we just barely managed to squeeze that one in during the waning hours on the last day of the month. That's what I get for bragging that we were right on schedule when we crossed the midpoint date!

But we weren't exactly sitting home playing cribbage during July. The first half of the month was spent on a Whale Watch on the 4th of July, visiting the Butterfly Place, spending days on the Cape and at local beaches, riding our bikes extensively, and attending a lovely wedding in Topsfield where we later spent the night in Amesbury. None of those qualified as dates, however, because it was rarely just the two of us, and those were invitation events, or things we'd done before, or fun grandparenting occasions.

The latter part of the month was spent on the west coast where most of our family and many dear friends traveled to celebrate our younger son's wedding in Malibu. It was a fabulous event, J&K really know how to throw a party! And I stayed in Santa Monica for the week that followed to hang with Grandbaby M. Thus, there wasn't much time for dating in July.

Now finally back to the one date we did manage to make time for...

We had discount Groupon vouchers for a one-hour Segway tour along the Boston Harborfront. When we called to redeem our coupons, the only remaining slots were for the last tour of the evening...the 7pm sunset tour. It would be a perfect way to spend a warm Sunday evening following a HOT summer day.

And, as an added bonus, the Boston Glider office/garage is located at the base of Hanover Street in the North End. Now, if it's a Sunday nite in the summer, you can guarantee there's a saint being carried through the streets of Boston's North End. This particular Sunday was the culmination of the Feast of Saint Joseph. The segway training area was just steps from the event stage where The Ray Cavicchio Orchestra featuring Sharon "Z" was performing. Where do they find these acts?

Here's TH (orange shirt wearing the helmet) watching the performers while waiting for our safety lesson to start.

Once we signed our life away, watched a safety film, refused to have our photo taken, and learned to ride the Segway... we were ready to roll. Our tour guide was a nice young college lad named Sam, from County Kerry, who was working here for the summer. And he was thrilled to learn that TH and I, along with the other three girls in our group, were all locals and he could skip the historical portion of the tour. Because we obviously knew far more about Boston than he did! We just wanted to ride the Segways...so we dispensed with the radio headsets and off we went.

We followed Sam along the Commercial Street waterfront, through Christopher Columbus Park, and around the back of the Mariott Long Wharf. The view was spectacular, although the journey was a bit hairy as we rode in single file on the SIDEWALK, and had to dodge hundreds of pedestrian tourists while getting used to navigating the vehicles. Who knew that Segways did not have brakes?!

Sam led us to an area he referred to as the Segway Playground, where we met up with two other tour groups, also led by Irish students. It's a wide open area on the wharf and, although there were still plenty of tourists out and about, we were able to "play"....have races, ride up and down ramps, and even bounce down stairs. Who knew?

Here's a photo of the playground. Sam is in the light blue shirt without a helmet on the right. He was a hottie rather cute and not bad to look at from the rear either. And, even though it was against company policy, he was kind enough to take this photo of the "daters".

Once playtime was over, the tour continued. We rode past the Aquarium and through the Boston Harbor Hotel, over the Northern Ave Bridge, and around the Moakley Courthouse. From there we continued on the Harbor Walk past Louis and the ICA to the Pier 4 parking lot. It was a great vantage point from which to watch the sun set over Boston Harbor. It was almost romantic... if not for the fact we were standing on precarious vehicles and with four other riders alongside.

In the parking lot we had one more race but, truthfully it's far less exciting than it sounds. The top speed of the machines is 9 miles per hour. That's right...NINE. You could walk faster and win the race. And, when you press it to the top speed, the big bar that's in front of you pushes back against your midsection to slow you right back down.

From there we made our way across the Children's Museum Wharf, over the Congress Street Bridge, behind the Intercontinental Hotel, and back to Atlantic Avenue. Darkness was setting in quickly on the return trip which made navigating the pedestrian obstacle course a completely new extreme sport. However, we arrived unscathed, without incident and it was actually a relief to dismount from the machines. I was glad we'd only taken the one hour tour. It is quite numbing to have your legs stationary on a vibrating vehicle for all that time.

The St. Joseph's feast was still in full swing when we returned. And while this part of the evening didn't officially qualify as part of our date because we attend the feasts every summer, that didn't stop us from wandering around inhaling the delicious scents while enjoying the music, the crowds, and (as always) the gelato.

Buona Notte!



Date #20 - They're still having fun...and they're still the one

For our 20th date, we crashed an anniversary celebration. Sorta.

We received a last minute, out-of-the-blue, invitation and it was so much fun it became our second group date.

Our friends J and D were celebrating their 43rd anniversary. When J posted this news on her FB page, my first thought was Holy Shit Wow!....is it possible we actually have friends old enough to be celebrating 43 years of marriage? In fairness to them, they were babies when they married - still in high school - and they are both younger than TH. But they've "been together since a way back when" (and now I can't get that Orleans song out of my head).

We've known J&D for about 17 years now...our sons played hockey together in high school and against each other in the minor leagues...but our sons are still good friends and so are we. The only problem is that they live way down Plymouth County, which is only about 45 minutes away. However, they own several businesses, and their work schedules differ from ours, so we are lucky to get together even once per summer. Sometimes years go by without seeing each other. But the great thing about our friendship is that we can pick up right where we left off as if we'd just seen each other the week before. Those are the best kind of friends!

So imagine my surprise when J sent me a message that afternoon, that they were celebrating in Boston and inviting us to join them for dinner in the North End. Nothing is better than receiving an unexpected spur-of the moment offer which we are actually available to accept. And those always turn out to be the best of times! As soon as TH arrived from work and changed into play clothes, we were on our way to join them at a restaurant we'd never tried before on Hanover Street.

When we arrived, J&D were already seated down in the bowels wine cellar of the restaurant. They had earlier been to the Omni theater at the Aquarium, and then stopped at several bars on their way to the North End attempting to get a frozen drink for D on this hot summer evening, but without any luck. And this restaurant was no exception (strike one). Nor did they have any champagne by the glass (strike two).

Our entertainment was provided by the waiter; this tiny old man in his eighties (maybe nineties) who had no sense of humor and mumbled everything with an Italian accent so that it was impossible to understand anything he said (strike three). However J&D had been there before and raved about the food, and that certainly didn't disappoint...we cleaned our plates (home run)!

And truthfully, we had such a great time laughing and catching up, that the incredibly slow service didn't matter one bit. There was no place else we'd rather be. It was shocking, however, to come out of the restaurant and discover that it was still daylight....we had been sitting in the dark for what seemed forever. So we decided to skip dessert and find a bar with outdoor seating where D might finally get a frozen drink.

Hanover Street was packed and there were lines outside most of the establishments and, to make matters worse, when we reached J&D's car it sported a brand new accessory, compliments of the City of Boston...a $40 parking ticket. Rather than risk having the vehicle towed, we suggested leaving the North End and heading over to the vibrant new South Boston Seaport district. (Who's stupid idea was that?)

When we arrived, the waterfront and all the outdoor cafes were alive and hopping. That was the good news. The bad news was that it was Thirsty Thursday and we couldn't get near any establishment...they all had waiting times of several HOURS, and the bars were jammed twelve deep with every young kid in the city. We strolled the new Liberty Wharf weighing our options (none) and trying to figure out how to get one of those drinks. It was like being 15 again and waiting outside a packy store for someone to make a run.

Here's a picture of J and Me outside Jerry Remy's.

D took the photo, when we clearly weren't ready.

J is pointing and getting ready to say something, and I'm digging in my bag.

So, as darkness descended we continued our search for a drink. We tried several more restaurants further down the waterfront, but with the same results. Finally, D and TH decided they could wait no more, so they walked right into the very next restaurant and bulldozed their way to the bar.

Of course (you know where this story is going) they did not have any frozen drinks or champagne. And they only had two bartenders for the six thousand people trying to buy a drink. But finally, at long last, we had adult beverages in hand and went searching for a place to stand and drink them. However, the noise level was so loud we wouldn't have been able to hear if the fire alarms went off, let alone attempt to carry on a conversation. Is this really how kids go clubbing these days? There was no room to dance, not that you could even hear the music. Everyone was just screaming to be heard.

We sought out the only semi-quiet place in the joint. The hallway to the rest rooms. This also happened to be where the line formed for the stairway to the roof deck...so we joined the queue. Apparently there was a limit, and they only allowed a few patrons up the stairs at a time. By the time we reached the front of the line our drinks were just about empty, but they made us pour them into plastic cups and then let us climb the stairs.

At the top of the stairs we encountered darkness and bedlam. We were trying to figure out how to navigate a path through the gazillion people to reach the outdoor space when the cutest little waitress came right over and yelled in my ear, "Do you want a table outside?" Hell yeah....but where on earth was she going to find one?

Amazingly, she led us right outside and sat us down at the only empty table in the place, right at the railing overlooking the harbor. And no sooner were we seated than the most amazing fireworks display went off directly in front of us!! We were shocked and had no idea why there were fireworks on the 30th of June, but TH and I told J&D that we had ordered them special just for their anniversary. LOL.

 J took these great pictures.

And (can this story get any better)...this little angel brought us drinks almost immediately. We might as well have died and gone to heaven. We all just kept shaking our heads...not quite sure what we did to receive this special treatment as hoardes of bodies stood all around us straining to get a glimpse of the spectacular.

The fabulous fireworks display went on for a good 30 minutes (we later learned they were sponsored by the Fallon Company to kick off The Extreme Sailing Series). But D and TH barely noticed them. They were so smitten by our cute young waitress, they were swooning and making google-eyes like two pathetic puppies. J and I had a good laugh just watching them. It was too dark to get a picture, but they looked something like this image I borrowed from disneyclips.com:

The waitress could not have been sweeter. I wish I thought to get her name because I'm adding her to the list of Angels Among Us elsewhere on this blog, not just for the great table and service, but also for putting up with our two little boys (she earned the great tip J left for her). And to top it all off, they were wearing these silly Mariachi hats that were on our table. The quality of the photo is not good, but you get the picture....

A good time was had by all.

Our date didn't actually end that nite. Two nites later we drove down to the South Shore and went out to play with J&D again. Even though this particular restaurant was packed and the service slow (and the dance floor was now a parking lot LOL), the food was excellent and we finally found a place that served frozen drinks and splits of champagne!

In my last post, I mentioned my astonishment at the two outlaws who spent 16 years alone together while on the lam. But I have to say that J&D's marriage is so strong after 43 years, I truly believe they could survive far more than 16 years on a deserted island with just each other and not kill each other still be madly in love. We are blessed to count them among our friends!



Date #19 - Water and Wine (and Whitey)

Our 19th date was on Father's Day. But since neither of our sons were in the state to celebrate with their Dad, we decided to leave the state as well....and drove to Newport, R.I.

Newport is a beautiful city and always a favorite destination of ours. We try to get down there not often enough at least once every summer. Through the years we've biked the historic 10-mile drive, visited all the mansions, walked the length of the cliff walk, gambled at the Jai Ali fronton, and even watched our son compete in track meets at St. George's.

For our date, we decided to do something completely different that we'd never done before...we took a cruise of the beautiful harbor and Narraganset Bay on the Majestic, operated by the Newport Cruise Company.

Thanks to Groupon, we only paid half price for the one-hour voyage, but we would have gladly shelled out full price for the trip. It was terrific. The tour took us through the harbor and around Goat Island into the Bay. Our narrator/guide was an older woman who was quite versed in everything you'd ever want to know about Newport and, best of all, she had the strongest Rhode Island accent...the letter R never passed her lips. LOL

We sailed past Fort Adams and some of the grandest mansions in Newport - Hammersmith Farm, Castle Hill, and Ocean Cliff - and they were even more impressive and beautiful when viewed from the sea. The most amazing mansion was Clingstone, which was literally built on a rock in Narraganset Bay. It's accessible only by boat, and can be rented for the bargain rate of $7500 per week. Here's a picture I stole borrowed from http://www.rhodeislandbaycruises.com/

And if exotic and remote vacation destinations are your thing....we discovered another within spitting distance. The Rose Island Lighthouse is a working lighthouse and museum that you can visit by ferry. However, you can also spend a night in the museum or (I love this) you can actually be a full time keeper for the week. But before you get any romantic notions, keep in mind that it's a working vacation where your duties include raising/lowering the flag, managing the electrical and water system, cleaning the lighthouse, greeting the museum visitors, hosting the overnight guests, and collecting fees. And, get this, not only do you volunteer your services, you get to pay $1000-2300/week for the pleasure. Click here if you have lost your mind and would actually consider this a fun thing to do!

Our cruise ended right where it began, at Bowen's Wharf.

From there we strolled next door to The Landing Restaurant, where we snagged a table on the upper deck and enjoyed the great weather and some fabulous food and adult beverages while enjoying the view of all the yachts in the marina. It was mind-boggling to consider the $$$ that were floating before our eyes. Just how many gazillionaires are there in this tiny neck of the woods?

After our leisurely lunch, we meandered through the shops and boutiques that are ubiquitous in every coastal town. And I'm a sucker for every one of them....although on this particular day we were simply looky-loo's because we didn't buy anything. I lie...we did splurge on some yummy gelato. Then we made our way back to the car and drove to the last stop on our date.

Once again we had half-price vouchers (from Eversave.com) for a tour of the vineyards and wine-tasting at Newport Vineyards. But unlike the harbor cruise, we both agreed that this experience wasn't even worth the discounted price of admission. Maybe we were spoiled from the only other vineyard tour we'd ever taken...the Robert Mondavi Winery in Napa...but this didn't even come close.

Our wine tasting took place in the gift shop, where we were handed a menu of all the wines available and told to select five. Then they proceeded to pour one mouthful two-fingers of each wine we'd selected. That was it. There was no explanation of the differences, no lesson in tasting wine, no recommendations, nothing. Just a basket of crackers and a carafe of water to rinse your glass between tastings. There was one person pouring for about six couples, and the only interaction was when she'd ask, "Are you ready for your next one?"

I don't believe we had the equivalent of a full glass of wine by the time we finished. And the worst part, their sparkling wine was not included in the wine tasting. But they were more than willing to sell me a bottle of Brut for $34.95. Really?! When all was said and done, there wasn't one wine we tasted that was worth purchasing (and TH drinks wine almost exclusively, but he didn't care of any of them).

After the wine tasting, it was time for the tour. And if we thought the wine tasting was a waste of time, the tour was worse not much better. A young college-age girl conducted the tour, and I couldn't stop focusing on the fact that every third word out of her mouth was either "like" or "um". And it didn't help that we had some obnoxious hillbilly in our group that kept asking her stupid questions like "what's the difference between champagne and sparkling wine?" At least she answered that one correctly.

We toured the unimpressive vineyards out back (their main/larger vineyards are not at this location), and the barrel rooms. And after about 15 minutes, the tour was over...that quick. Then our tourguide led us into an outdoor tent where there were counters with the same baskets of crackers and carafes of water. She passed out the menus and told us to select five wines, while she went to get glasses. We stared incredulously at some of the other couples who had already tasted wine with us earlier...but it didn't appear that anyone was going to tell her. TH and I just looked at each other and headed for the nearest exit.

But we did get to take home our wine glasses as souvenirs!

So three days after this date, Whitey Bulger was captured... which brought its share of excitement to our family with both our sons having front row seats. But when I heard how Whitey and Catherine spent their 16 years on the lam, all I could think was Holy Crap! While I was happy to hear she was still alive (contrary to popular local opinions), I was flabbergasted to even imagine what those years must have been like. While I love TH, I could not contemplate spending 16 days completely alone with him, let alone years. I would surely have killed him by now. 

With no girlfriends for her to hang out with, to shop with, to get drunk and vent with; no buddies for him to watch a game with or have a beer with; no children or grandchildren to enjoy and play with; no family to share holidays and special occasions; no co-workers to interact with; WHAT THE HELL DID THEY DO TOGETHER FOR 16 YEARS?! She doesn't deserve jail time, she's already served 16 years in almost solitary confinement!

Date #18 - What am I bid?

Well we've passed the half-way mark of our 35 Dates Project, and we are right on target six months in. It is getting harder to find original things to do, however. But for Date #18 we did manage to do something we'd never done together before...

We went to an auction!

Not too long ago I read an article in the Boston Globe about an auction house down in Holbrook that held weekly auctions every Wednesday at 6pm. On this particular afternoon the weather was lousy, and we had nothing to do before the Bruins game started at 8pm, so we made our way through the South Shore rush hour traffic. On the way we listened to dire storm forecasts and tornado warnings but, seriously, when's the last time a tornado touched down in Massachusetts? Maybe never!

The auction is housed in a small cramped warehouse space in the rear of a lighting showroom. They hold a preview from 4-6 pm, but with the traffic and the weather, we arrived with little time to spare. We circled the building twice before we found a barely legal parking space to squeeze into. And once inside, there wasn't a seat to be found.

In this picture there appears to be a lot of empty chairs, or so we thought. But as we made our way down the rows we realized that every single chair had a sticky post-it with someone's name reserving the seat while they perused the merchandise. LOL. Apparently this wasn't their first time here!

We took a walk around and examined the goods, but there wasn't one thing that I would have bid a dime on. We have an attic and two basements filled to the brim with much of the same crap stuff. So we didn't bother to register or get a bidding number. Instead, we made our way to the back of the house and took a seat on a lovely white victorian couch and watched the bidding begin.

Well can I tell you, I almost fell off the sofa when we saw what some items sold for. A teeny ceramic hurricane lamp went for $700. This guy in the black shirt spent several thousand on all sorts of civil war stuff, including a $900 sword. There were two women who consistently bid against each other for anything sterling and drove the prices pretty high. Another guy next to us bid on (and won) every iron door stopper, and there were plenty to choose from.

Who were these bidders? By the look of their clothing (and the cars in the parking lot), these did not appear to be people who had money to throw around. Were they serious collectors? Ebay vendors? Agents? I just didn't get it.

There were some antique furniture pieces that sold for prices in the four-figures. The woman in this picture is one of the auction house owners, Ms. Kelley, and she had a cell phone to her ear most of the night placing bids for an anonymous bidder who purchased most of the estate antiques.

And yet, some furniture pieces (mostly bureaus and dressers) sold for $20 each...a great steal for anyone furnishing a first apartment or a vacation home. The only thing in the entire place I might have considered bidding on was an old fashioned cradle, that I thought was an antique, in great condition. However, it sold for a mere $10 and I kicked myself that I didn't have a bidding number. But in retrospect, I would have no use (or space) for it.

The only thing TH was interested in purchasing was...food. There was a table set up at the back of the room, under a poster-board sign for the Gavel Cafe, where they sold homemade food out of crockpots and aluminum tins at reasonable prices: meatballs, salads, chicken-broccoli-ziti, Boston cream pie, and carrot cake. I told TH not to even think about it...that was NOT where we were eating dinner that evening.

After about an hour, Ms. Kelley came over to kick us off the sofa so that it could be auctioned off. And although it came with a receipt proving it was recently reupholstered for $2000... it only sold for a few hundred. Such a bargain. It also turns out that TH and Ms. Kelley knew each other. They finally figured out they had both worked at Dana Farber at one time. Small world.

Once we lost our seats, we decided to leave. But it was raining so hard that it took a while before we worked up the courage to run to our car. Once in the car, however, the visibility was so poor that we pulled into the closest restaurant to wait out the storm. Ironically, it was the Halfway Cafe where we chose to stop.

While we waited for our food to arrive and for the Bruins game to begin, every TV set in the place was tuned to breaking news about the weather. Apparently, tornados had touched down in the western part of the state and caused extensive damage, and storm warnings were still in effect throughout the region. It was pretty surreal. By the time the first period ended, however, the rain had stopped and we headed home.

The drive home was quite eerie and more than a little scary as we witnessed the most amazing non-stop display of lightning. There were also very few vehicles on the southeast expressway, as apparently most motorists had heeded the weather warnings, which made the ride even creepier. Luckily we arrived unscathed and there was no damage to our property. Many others were not so lucky.

The Bruins lost game one of the Stanley Cup finals that night, but we all know now how that fairy tale ended.

What will be most memorable to us is WHERE we watched many of the playoff games. TH and I were in California for the first six games of the Montreal series...where the games aired at 4pm on the west coast. We watched game 6 in a bar packed with Boston fans at Sonny McLean's where TH was over-served just before we took a red-eye home. I am still amazed we were ever allowed to board our flight because TH was so inebriated that he started twirling and jumping and pretending to be a ballerina while in the body scanner.

I was back in Santa Monica for games 4 and 5 of the finals and in the air during game 6 on a Jet Blue flight where we were able to watch the first period on Direct TV. It was so cool to be surrounded by Boston fans on a cheering plane as the four goals were scored in succession.

And after all the years our sons spent playing hockey and watching the Bruins play in the old Garden, we still can't believe that both of them were out of state when the Bruins finally brought the Stanley Cup back to Boston!