(A bit more) satiated Boston

How's this for the unexpected: Boston is really, really humid! So much for escaping the Southern heat. It might as well have been rolled up and packed in with our luggage because it seemed to have followed us here.

No matter- Boston is still a cool city. Susan arrived and we were whisked away to her humble abode in South Hamilton, a quaint town 30 minutes away with farms and houses that could rival those featured in Better Home & Garden magazine. There's a noticeable colonial touch to the boxy, mostly wood-paneled houses and many do not have fences. THe short walls of large stones seem to hint at underlying Irish ties. So far, so good.

After we settled in and lunched on homemade lasagna, we headed out to Newburyport, a charming waterfront town 20 minutes away. Hot and suffocating are one way describe how it felt walking around the cobblestones and red-brick buildings, but plenty of stores had AC pumping to the high heavens, so all was still good in the 'hood. Newburyport actually reminded me a lot of the Georgetown area in D.C.



For dinner, we drove back into downtown Boston to try out the infamous Union Oyster House, but alas, it did not fit our budget (esp. after paying $30 for parking. $30!) We perused a number of pubs and taverns in the area, many adorned with Irish flags and featuring a lobster special. We chose the Hennessey, which sounds like an ode to the drink, but it was just one of many Irish pubs. The servers were very untimely, yet brusque in taking our orders of chicken foccacia and lobster. No beer tonight, as it would have been a deathly combo with the lack of sleep.


In the end, not my favorite place, but we were too hungry to care. Plus, they gave us a free round of Photo Hunt on the game machine. And we never say no to Photo Hunt! Once, the five of us crowded around an iPhone to try out an app very similar to Photo Hunt. We're very accepting people.

Then we tried to head back to South Hamilton, but somehow got lost while looking for a Target that Susan wanted to stop by at. It sent us on a detour... to the New Hampshire border! The GPS and Hannah's iPhone had gone completely kaput. We were doomed? We called some friends to help us, but few could figure out where exactly we were (heck, even we had no clue.) In the end, we just went with the gut and it ended up being the right choice.

Tomorrow is Salem in the morn' and clam chowda for lunch. Here's to Boston! Cheers!