back in seattle again

we arrived back in seattle yesterday afternoon, after a just-under-1-week trip to manchester, nh and the boston area. “a good time was had by all” as the kids say (and i’ve probably said about every trip i’ve blogged about here, ever.) falcon was happy to see us, of course.

i guess, if a good time wasn’t had, why would we keep doing this? or why would i bother telling you about it?

it all started with a redeye flight to boston. who knew alaska did non-stops from seattle to boston? i sure didn’t. but now i know, and since losing weight, flights are a lot easier to deal with.

the flight out was somewhat uncomfortable, however. not sure if it was just the type of plane or seat, but i didn’t get a lot of sleep. perhaps it was the excitement of being back in new england, or just being excited about not having to go to work the next day.

DENT-all car

we arrived in boston shortly after 7. after an amusing shuttle ride to the rental car co, we saw our steed for the trip: Chevy Malibu MAXX. non-plussed. 25,000+ miles. beaten. every panel, scratched/dented. super non-plussed. the greater disappointment, however, would come later.

anyways, in car, heading out. ted williams tunnel. want 93 north. see sign: “93 South Boston” think “oh, that’s 93 South, it goes to South Boston.” nope. interpret the above to say: “93 and/or South Boston.” ugh. now we’re stuck on the mass pike, heading west out of town.

first exit: newton exit towards cambridge, able to get back on storrow heading back downtown. $1 toll for the pike. d’oh! considered alternative toll booth payment, thought against it.

find 93 north, zakim bridge!

anyway, we got to manchester okay. did a little hanging out with carrie’s folks, went to a few brewpubs. got to see one of carrie’s childhood friends/classmates be ordained. that was very interesting.

after a few short days, we were heading back to seattle.

brewpubs

i’d be remiss if i neglected to summarize our brewpub experiences, so here we go. short list:

Strange Brew Tavern, Manchester NH

one of our usual haunts in manchester. many taps, many great beers available. free popcorn. quite smokey in the bar.

The Tap, Haverhill MA

what a surprise. friday night haverhill was hopping, we eventually found parking in the historic washington street district. The Tap was awesome – very good beer, very good food, very good service, very good atmosphere. can’t say enough good things.

Cambridge Brewing Company, Cambridge MA

located in the one kendall square complex in cambridge, it was a nice surprise. again, great beer and great food of course. kinda noisy and they sit you within 5 inches of a table next to you (kinda weird… i don’t need to hear other conversations as if i should be part of them) but we dealt with it and eventually tuned the obnoxious guy next to us out.

oh, by the way, hopper is happy that we’re home, too.

oh! the disappointment with the rental car? we found out on friday, when the temps and humidity both rose to around 90, that the AC didn’t work. ugh.