Boston

Some friends and I headed up to Boston to visit a friend for the weekend. Boston is one of my favorite US cities. That is if you are visiting from Spring to Fall. I call Boston a great family city. It's cute, very clean, and a great city if you have kids. But remember, only Spring to Fall. I refuse to go in the Winter. This is true, just ask my friend Heman.
We got lucky with the most perfect weather we could have asked for. Strolling all around Boston and just enjoying being outside. We walked around an Earth loving/environment awareness festival which was quite good. Lots of free food being handed out. Unfortunately, I have no photos of it due to the extreme hangover.

Wen saw this fountain in the middle of Boston Common. It's of two kids playing. Don't you think that's a bit inappropriate?...

What's the best thing for a hangover? A brewery tour!

The door to the ladies room. Hey, us ladies love to drink!

The guy poured right from the whatever that thing is called. Does it get any fresher??? Than this???

The beer helped my hangover. I'm serious. Scary huh?

I took a walk down Commonwealth and then over to Marlborough while everyone else was getting ready. It was so nice outside with the sun shining, a slight breeze, and the sounds of birds chirping. I'll be back Boston!

Maine for Memorial Day weekend (Day 4)

I woke up to discover I had random mosquito bites around my ankles, neck, and lower back. Kind of makes sense considering we went star gazing with some beers by the carriage trails after hours at Acadia last night. Apparently, drinking after dark in a national park is illegal. The lady that sold us beers warned us. How kind of her.
So off we took to head back home with a few stops along the way.

First stop, Red's Eats in Wiscasset, Maine. My co-worker told me about this place when I went to Maine in October 2008. Unfortunately, they were closed for the season last time. This time around we had to hit it up. They are known for their lobster rolls which I couldn't eat. Even the lady at the counter gave me a sympathetic look for my unfortunate allergy.

The menu

I got the crab roll and fried clams. The crab roll was good, but not spectacular. Not a waste, but I won't get it again.

The fried clams were excellent! They were bigger and more flavorful than the ones from Clam Shack. I would say they are the best I've had. They were super fishy, just the way I like them. If you don't like very fishy seafood, then I wouldn't recommend them. Great, now I want some...

One of the great things about staying in hostels is all the people you meet. You share travel tips. We got the Desert of Maine in Freeport, Maine from Sarah from Cali.

The sand was super soft.

Forty acres of glacial silt. Got here from a glacier that was here back in the ice age. Glacier melted. Vegetation grew. People came and over farmed it. Raised sheep on it. Sheep kicked up the remaining top soil and under it was this glacial silt. Crazy stuff.

Maine for Memorial Day weekend (Day 3)

Our second full day in Maine we hit up a Farmer's Market which was surprisingly right next to our hostel. Bought some steaks, lettuce, smoked mozzarella, raw milk, and salad dressing for real grilling on the BBQ for dinner.

The man at the lettuce stand told us about the fjord at Acadia. It's the only fjord in the US along the Atlantic Ocean. I got so pumped! Most don't know that I have a slight fjord obsession. I'm dying to go to Norway to check out the famous fjords.

Ever had raw milk? Nope? Me either. It was like sucking straight from the teat of the cow. We had a pretty yummy lunch of raw milk, grilled turkey and smoked mozzarella (from the farmer's market) cheese sandwiches. Happy and full, we were off to hike up to the fjord.

The hike up was more difficult of the hike we did the previous day. A great hike nonetheless and well worth it!

We made it. Time to sit back and relax!

Chillin.

A fjord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides, created in a valley carved by glacial activity

The hike down.

Real grilling on the bbq. Steaks and hot dogs wrapped in bacon.

T-bone steak, hot dogs wrapped in bacon, corn on the cob, and the most amazing salad ever. We made it with lettuce from the farmer's market, grilled onions, grilled corn, and parmesan vinaigrette dressing from the farmer's market. We invited a fellow traveler and Jeff the hostel manager to join us since we had so much food.

This was a great day. One of those classic days full of seeing things you've never seen before, hanging out in a chilled out hostel, and having great conversation with fellow travelers in the hostel. Good times.

Maine for Memorial Day weekend (Day 2)

Got a nice and early start to make the most of our first full day at Acadia National Park. We chatted some some travelers at the hostel while we made breakfast. Got some good tips on some trails to do and scored ourselves a car pass and map to Acadia.

Sand Beach. We started our hike at the far end of the beach.

We veered off the trail a ton to climb around the rocks.

Just taking it in.

Chillin out on the rocks before we climbed and hiked some more.

Nalgene bottle comes with me everywhere.

Back on part of the trail. As a perfect day for a hike.

Left some time to do some tastings at Atlantic Brewing Company

Back at the hostel to "grill" food on the BBQ.

"Grilled" burgers, bacon wrapped asparagus, and corn on the cob.

Maine for Memorial Day weekend (Day 1)

Not many know this, but Maine is up there as one of my top three favorite states. My company was so kind to force us to use a personal day by giving us a four day Memorial Day weekend. I decided on a trip to Acadia National Park right outside Bar Harbor, Maine. Made some great stops on the way up and back. Unexpectedly hungover, 6 hours behind schedule (due to all things related to the hangover...), a third and unexpected friend in tow, we headed up to Maine!

First stop, The Clam Shack in Kennebunkport, Maine for fried clams and clam strips.

Fried clams. The clams were a bit smaller than I expected, but pretty good. They give you a ton, so much that it's spilling over the top. A worthy stop.

Clam strips. Personally, I'm more of a fan of the full on clams.

Right next door is the usual stop at Bartley's for blueberry pie

Lobster stew that I couldn't have, allergic. The boys said it was delicious. You can see it's packed with lobster meat! I stared while they ate.

Seriously the best blueberry pie ever!

The Bush Sr. compound is in Kennebunkpork. The Bush's love the pie at Bartley's. It's been in the White House and Air Force One. The walls were covered with signed photos of different politicians that have visited Bartley's

So awesome that they serve it in a bowl. A plate just cant contain all the awesome.

Water bottles they served us. I have no idea.

Laying in the back with my injured neck and belly fully of good food.

We made a quick stop in Portland at Gritty's. My first time in Portland, Maine. It was a quiet industrial portside town.

Around 9pm at night, we arrived at Bar Harbor Hostel! They remembered me from last season! I have no idea who Ken is.

Rutt's Hutt

My hot dog tour of Jersey continues. On a perfect May night, my great pal Laura and I hit up Rutt's Hut in Clifton, NJ. The first thing we both immediately noticed was the parking lot full of bikers. Motorcycles, not bicycles. We were a bit taken back. And by taken back I mean scared, ha. Laura had on a pink zip up and I wore my white Deutschland Puma zip up. We felt a bit out of place. Don't worry, that couldn't stop us from stuff hot dogs!
We hovered by the counter for a bit discussing what to order. We discovered that we could get draft beer for $2! We were sold! We decided on a ripper, a cremator, and some beers.

Rutt's Hutt. I was too scared to take a photo of the lot full of bikers.

This lady was really nice. She made a funny shocked face when we ordered the a cremator. Guess only the bad asses order them =D

Ripper. Deep fat fried hot dog. Naked. Before I loaded it with their famous relish and the usual, ketchup and mustard.

nom nom nom.

The cremator! By definition it is ripper that's deep fried even longer. Kind of tastes like what bacon would taste like if it were a hot dog.

Peek-a-boo!

The relish is the best I've had.

Dogs were great and the atmosphere was interesting. We were a bit intimidated, but was well worth the trip. I had my "Save a Drum Fuck a Drummer" t-shirt on under my zip up. A biker that looked like his name could have been Tiny came up to chat with me about it. He was a drummer and looked like he'd be a leader of a bike gang. Ok, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but it was a funny moment nonetheless.
I think the rippers were better at Hiram's, but Rutt's is definitely worth a couple visits if you are in the area. Don't forget to wear your favorite leather jacket and bad ass mask when you go.