Saturday, July 01, 2006

Fenway

Last night I saw my first Red Sox game in Fenway Park. I met some KY friends Nick and Ben at the Airport blue liine station just 15 minutes before the first pitch. A quick ride on the T and a couple of blocks later we made it to the park.



Schilling started for the Sox and pitched a great game. We were down 0-2 by the 6th inning when Ortiz kicked it off with a solo homer. We ended up winning it 4-2 with Papelbon closing.



I would write more but I'm totally exhausted.

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Shaken, not stirred. Gin is for chumps.

Monday night was excellent. Progress at work and drinks in the Hub. Since I know you're not interested in work, I'll talk about Boston.

Driving through Boston isn't as nightmarish as other cities (I'm looking at you, Chicago), although parking can be a bitch. Most of the streetside parking is reserved for residents, and they'll tow your car if you try it. Luckily for me, however, I found a fly spot about a block away from the public library on Boylston St. where I met my friend Tiffany. She graduated from Virginia Tech with a Ph.D a year ago and has since moved to Salem, MA. She's the type of person who can live in a place for a week and meet more people and know more great restaurants than I could had I lived there a year.

We then headed towrads the back bay to find a place to eat and ended up at Cactus Club, a Mexican restaurant right across the street from Berklee. Feeling adventurous I ordered a hamburger (gasp!) with a delicious black bean salad. Although it didn't have garlic, it was accented nicely with cilantro, an herb I generally dislike. The burger wasn't bad, although since it's been over a year since I've had one I thought I'd enjoy it more. Tiffany and I, as usual, had a nice conversation ("If money weren't a factor, would you see a Madonna concert?"). After polishing off a Harpoon IPA, she convinced me to order a mojito. I'd never had one before. I thought of it as a caipirinha but with mint, and rum instead of cachaca. Have you noticed how popular mojitos are now, though? You can't throw a stick without hitting someone drinking one.

Afterwards we headed to Match where we ordered a couple of martinis (each). The espresso martini was nice, but a bit sweet. The vodka martini was the best I've ever had, though. Damn... and I mean damn! It was as if angels were watching Finding Neverland and you collected their tears in a shaker with ice (because who didn't cry at the end when she comes downstairs and they lift the curtain and... well, I don't want to ruin in for anyone).

My friends Nick and Ben are flying in tomorrow for the weekend. We've got a lot planned. Red Sox game. TMBG concert. Duck tour. Cheers. Sam Adams/Harpoon tour. I'm totally stoked.

My friend Marcus is coming up, too, although he didn't tell me until about three days ago. I hope we can hang out before he goes back to DC.

Oh yeah, and it's a 4-day weekend for me. I can't wait to be in the city for the celebration.

And I just know Nick is going to read this and add a comment saying he didn't cry at Finding Neverland... but he's such a liar. He bawled his eyes out. I have pictures.