There will be times when I really don’t have much to write on this blog; this isn’t one of them.
After a great weekend in Boston, I’ll try to recap some highlights in chronological order:
I discovered a small snag in a part of my plans for the trip to Europe. On Friday morning, I went to Bank of America looking to exchange some US Dollars for Euros. I found out that most of the local BofA’s need to order Euros, and it would take at least one business day for me to procure my requested money. Since I’m flying out Monday afternoon, I don’t have a full business day to wait for a bank to exchange my money for a different kind of money. Anyway, I was forced to drive to Concord, MA, where there was a BofA that could exchange USDs for Euros on the spot.
This is probably a once-in-a-lifetime thing, but whenever anyone says, “Sir, I have a 500 note in that currency. Would you like that and then smaller denominations?” You always answer, “Yes, please!”
With my Euros on board, I went to Boston Friday night to spend some time with friends who I wouldn’t see back in Fitchburg. Before I got to Eamon’s apartment in Brighton, I had to ride the train through the BU campus; something I hadn’t done in 3+ years.
A few observations:
-Charlie Cards??? I’m supposed to buy Charlie Cards when I want to ride the train? Get the fuck out. If I want to ride the train, I’ll give you $2 and you’ll like it.
-The McDonald’s near west campus at BU is gone? That’s the first place where I became “a regular.” Seriously, at one point junior year of college, I’d walk into this MickeyD’s and an employee would say, “the #5 today, Ross?” Is it more sad that I’m telling a true story, or that I’m upset the McDonald’s is gone?
-T’s Pub appears to no longer be called T’s Pub. Instead it’s called something like 973 Commonwealth Ave. Totally has a nice ring to it.
-Marty’s liquor store on the corner of Harvard & Comm Ave is gone? The place where I once got my fake ID confiscated is no longer? Unfortunate.
(Quick side story: the summer between sophomore & junior year at BU, my buddy Werner had to come up to Boston for a hearing regarding his fake ID that was confiscated at the Wine Press. The night before the hearing, he stayed with me, and we weren’t really in the mood to drink at all--I had to work in the morning & he had the aforementioned hearing--but because we were college kids, we felt obligated to drink something alcoholic. So I strolled into Marty’s, grabbed two 40’s, and went to the cashier. Obviously that worked out poorly as they gave me the option to either walk out the door without my ID or wait for the Cops to arrive if I wanted to fight them on it. So yes, I got my fake ID taken away on the eve of Werner’s hearing regarding his fake ID getting taken away. Sweet irony.)
-Finally, Tonic has turned into something called “Joshua Tree.” Wait, I always hated Tonic anyway; what do I care?
Back to the weekend… I’d like to give a big F U to mother nature because after a solid week of weather in Mass. leading up to this weekend, she decided to mess with all potential plans by pissing rain on Boston for 30 hours. Friday turned into pizza & beer at Eamon’s, and the night ended with me sleeping on the world’s largest air mattress. Seriously, it was 3x the height of a normal mattress & took up an entire living room.
After drinks & cigars with more friends on Saturday afternoon, me, Eamon & our Dads were off to the Sox game. The weather didn’t screw us on Saturday night as much as the Red Sox did. At the expected start time (7:10PM), there wasn’t a hint of rain in the sky, but for some reason the Sox decided to delay the game for over 2 hours. Long story short, we got bored at 8:15 and decided bowling would be a much better option. Even though the Sox went on to crush the Rays 9-1 in a rain-shortened game, we clearly made the right choice. If we had gone to the game, I never would have gotten to see my Dad beating all of us in bowling while falling down & being completely sprawled out on the lane (twice). And at the Sox game, there would have been no watching Eamon throw the bowling ball from between his legs religiously regardless of the amount of ridicule we gave him.
So while under normal circumstances it would have been sacrilegious for me to leave a Sox game without seeing a single pitch, it was worth it in every way. Just a great weekend even without doing much.
And now, I will watch 10 straight hours of football as my final act before leaving the country.
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