edpaffjr.comMy friends Karen and Aaron were married in Newport, Rhode Island at the beautiful Belle Mer Island House a couple of weeks ago. It was a wonderful time with many close friends, wonderful food, and delicious drinks. Before helping them celebrate their wedding vows, we also spent time exploring Newport. We had a big group dinner at the Brick Alley the night before, which might be my favorite meal of the trip. I would highly recommend the Triple Hot! Hot! Hot! Buffalo Pasta. Earlier on the day of the wedding, we took a tour of the famous Breakers mansion and enjoyed a nice lunch at the Marina Cafe & Pub. I really enjoyed our time in Newport, but the large tourist crowds and traffic congestion made me happy to only be spending a couple of days there.
Archive for the 'Travel' Category
Before ducking out of Massachusetts and heading back toward Rhode Island for the wedding a few weekends ago, we made a quick stop in Cambridge to see the Harvard University campus. I didn’t take very many pictures of the campus, but it was cool to see, and we even sat in on a tour for a bit. We attempted to grab lunch at Mr. Bartley’s Gourmet Burgers, but the line was insane. Instead we ended up at the Cambridge Common for great food and a wonderful beer selection. I don’t recall what everyone ordered, but my Uncommon BLT was excellent! After lunch we headed toward Rhode Island with a quick stop past the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. We didn’t even get out of the car, just drove through, as we were running out of time. Here are a few pictures from the day that was filled mostly with travel.
After checking out Fenway on our first night in Boston, we spent the majority of our second day walking the Freedom Trail. We started in Boston Common and made it all the way to the USS Constitution, which I’m told is about two and a half miles. It certainly felt like it was longer than that, but the effort was well worth it. The amount of history along this trail is unparalleled, at least as far as the U.S. goes. I would highly recommend the walk, and I think you’ll agree after flipping through these photos.
If you recall, we recently spent some time in New England. The first activity we took in was a baseball game at the legendary Fenway Park. My friend Jay secured some tickets for us from StubHub, and though they were located in the second to last row, we were all excited to see the stadium. I was prepared to see lots of history inside the stadium, but I wasn’t ready for just how small it really is. Despite being in the top rows of the outfield, we still felt close enough to the action. We spent about half the game in our assigned seats, and the other half of the game walking around the park and taking it all in. Here are some pictures from our experience.
We are back from our trip to New England. I have plenty of pictures to post, but that will have to wait for future days. We didn’t get in until late last night and I am already back at work with no time for picture processing. Instead I’ll provide a brief recap of our trip and then elaborate more when I have some pictures ready.
Last Thursday morning we caught a very early flight out of Denver and over to Nashville. Here we had a three-hour layover which nearly bored us to death, before catching another two-hour flight to Providence, Rhode Island. We flew for free on Southwest Rapid Rewards, so we couldn’t be too picky about our flights. The important thing is that we made it, and were somewhat rested. The second flight was a bit delayed, forcing us right into hush hour traffic around Boston. Fortunately my phone helped us to avoid some major traffic spots, allowing us to arrive in downtown Boston just before the Red Sox were set to take on the Cleveland Indians. After meeting up with some of our friends, we rushed off to Fenway Park to take in the game at this famous stadium.
That pretty much took care of our first night in Boston. On our second full day we got an early start out on the Freedom Trail, and walked through many historic sites. The trail is only supposed to be two and a half miles, but it felt like we walked a lot farther than that. We didn’t make it all the way out to Bunker Hill, but we did visit the nearby USS Constitution. After touring the old ship, we stopped for the first of many great meals at the Tavern on the Water. From there we decided to take the ferry back over to Boston, specifically Long Wharf. It was a short ride, but worth not having to backtrack on foot to the hotel. Later in the evening we stopped at a variety of places: The Tam for $3 beers, Rabia’s Ristorante for an excellent dinner, and Cheers where everyone knew our name.
Saturday we all headed out of Boston and toward Newport, Rhode Island with stops along the way to check out Harvard and MIT. Harvard was cool to see, but I feel like we could have skipped MIT. After we eventually made it down to Newport, it didn’t take long for us to start exploring Thames Street. After walking the full strip, we decided to get a reservation for ten at the Brick Alley Pub & Restaurant. I think this was my favorite meal of the trip, and I bet others would agree. After dinner it was off to the Gas Lamp Grille to see the wedding party and have a couple of drinks.
Sunday was the big wedding day, but before that event, we took a tour of Newport’s most famous mansion, The Breakers. This “summer-house” was incredible! I especially liked seeing the billiards room and the large kitchen. It was an amazing house. Some others in our group decided to tour another mansion, but I had my fill of lavishness in just one. Kim and I decided to have a nice lunch overlooking the harbor at the Marina Cafe & Pub. Before too long it was time to get ready for the wedding out at the beautiful Belle Mer. Needless to say it was a lovely wedding and a great time with wonderful friends.
Monday was a bonus day for us along with our friends Tracey and Kevin. We left Newport before noon and took the long way over to the town of Mystic, Connecticut. I was hoping for a scenic ocean side drive, but it didn’t quite work out that way. It was still neat to take our time through a variety of small villages and towns. Our first stop was for lunch at Mystic Pizza. I will admit to never hearing of the movie with the same name before last week, but we decided to check it out anyway. It definitely wasn’t the best pizza in the world, but it is fairly good and definitely a popular place. After that we visited the Mystic Seaport, which took up the rest of the day. I was blown away by the amount of things to see at the Seaport. Later in the evening we had another great meal at the The Captain Daniel Packer Inne.
Tuesday we explored the boardwalk in Niantic, Connecticut enjoyed one last meal at Dad’s Restaurant, and were back on our way to the Providence Airport. This wrapped up a tiring, scenic, and fun vacation, adding three more states to my visited states list. Congratulations again Karen and Aaron. I hope you are enjoying your honeymoon!
I love these short work weeks! Tomorrow I will be catching an early flight out of Denver up to New England. The reason for the trip is that my friends Aaron (Weeba) and Karen are getting married. I’ve known Weeba since late 2001. Back in the day we both made many trips to various cities and states to see O.A.R. In addition he was even the manager of our college band, DuckFood. We traveled together to lots of different places and have tons of great memories.
With this trip I will be adding even more to my list of visited states. Rhode Island will become number forty-four, Massachusetts will be forty-five, and Connecticut will be forty-six. I’ve really been looking forward to this trip for awhile. I will finally visit Boston and spend a couple of nights there. We will also spend a couple of nights in Newport, Rhode Island and finally near Mystic, Connecticut. After this I only have four more states left to visit before seeing them all.
In years past I made a trip back to Cincinnati nearly every other month or so. We always had weddings and parties to attend. This year has been a little slower for us, and I actually haven’t been back to Cincy since Christmas. That will all change tonight. Kim and I are taking the late flight out of Denver tonight and flying to Indianapolis. This is our preferred way to get to Cincinnati, for cheaper flights, dirt cheap rental cars, and we get to fly on Frontier, our favorite. When I was working in my old position I often worked from Cincinnati, but I will actually take tomorrow off from work and spend even more time with family. We have lots of events planned already, but let me know if there is something that we shouldn’t miss. I’m excited to see everyone!
I’m getting the travel bug again and I’ve started looking into an anniversary trip for Kim and I. Last year we headed to Alaska to celebrate our first year together as a married couple. This year I’m hoping to get to Yellowstone and other surrounding areas, including Grand Teton and parts of Montana. I’ve started today by searching for available lodging inside Yellowstone. It looks like we should spend a night near Old Faithful, and a few other nights elsewhere in the park, likely near the Canyon Village. We may have started planning this a little too late, as many of the rooms are already filled, but I’m hopeful that we can find sometime in September to make the trip work. What I’m looking for are suggestions for where we should stay, and for how many nights. I’m not sure many readers have been to the area, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
As I mentioned at the end of last week, I traveled to Noblesville, Indiana this past weekend for two nights of shows performed by the Dave Matthews Band. Kim and I both took the late evening flight out of Denver to Indianapolis. Her parents and brother Nick met us at the airport and they were soon on their way to a nice family trip to Lake Monroe south of Indianapolis. Shortly after their departure, a group of my friends arrived at the airport to escort me to the campground out in Noblesville, about an hour from the airport. We didn’t arrive until sometime around two in the morning. There were only a couple of guys still up at the campsite when I arrived, we had a couple of drinks, did some catching up, and then headed to bed with the others.
Friday morning came quickly. Even though we had already setup nearly a dozen tents, we continued to have more and more friends arriving at the campground every hour. I spent some time getting my tent ready early that morning, and decided not to put the rainfly on to let air flow through the tent to keep it cooler. Besides, there was a zero percent chance of rain on Friday when I had checked a day or so earlier. By early afternoon all of our friends had arrived and we spent the rest of the time before the show playing cornhole, ladder balls, tossing footballs, etc. It was awesome to catch up with everyone, many of whom I hadn’t seen since our wedding nearly two years ago, and some even longer than that.
That takes us right up to just before six in the evening, when the doors of the amphitheater opened up. We all headed over early to check out an amazing band, Elmwood, who were playing the side stage. Many of my friends had seen them play before, in fact some where in Indianapolis the night before attending their show, but I had yet to see them. Right away I was blown away by the amount of talent that was on display. I already have one of their albums, and would highly recommend checking them out. From there we moved to the main stage as Robert Earl Keen started their opening set. This band doesn’t fit into the mold of music that I typically listen to, but I still recognized their talent and abilities. It was neither great or un-great.
Just as DMB was scheduled to take the stage a little after eight, an announcer got on mic and let everyone know that there was a storm about to hit and that the show was going to be delayed. Just after the announcement, the skies unleashed their fury on the lawn. Fortunately my friend Fighty and I had seats in the pavilion so we remained dry. However, I realized that I had left the rainfly off of my tent and that nearly everything I brought was going to be soaked! The show was delayed for quite some time, but eventually the band was allowed to play and they still performed a full length set. The energy that started the beginning of this set was amazing. It all started with a crowd sing along of Sublime’s “Santaria” launching into the band taking the stage with “JTR.” I believe it rained through much of the show, and that trend continued all night. We walked up the lawn on the way out and it was a swampy mess. Back at camp, some friends of ours had a large enough tent for a group of us to sit in for the remainder of the night. And fortunately some other friends had an extra tent that I slept in that night.
Saturday was essentially a repeat of the prior day for the first part: more games, more conversation, and more drinks. My brother and his friend Nick joined us for most of that afternoon, and also met us at the sidestage to see another Elmwood performance. If it was even possible, I think their performance was even better this second day. Toward the end of their set DMB touring musician, Rashawn Ross, was even there to catch the talented band play. We skipped the majority of Robert Earl Keen’s set this second day to hang out at the sidestage area. DMB’s set was not delayed this night, and it again started off great. So great in fact that this is probably one of their better shows I have seen in many years. Highlights for me include Stay or Leave, Recently, Warehouse, heck nearly the entire show.
The entire weekend was awesome, even though I now have a destroyed library book that I’ll have to replace as it didn’t survive my flooded tent. By the end of the second night my tent and most other possessions had finally dried out and I was able to use the gear that I lugged with me all the way from Denver. Even the storms couldn’t ruin our trip and it was so great to see so many friends again and catch up with all of them. With DMB not going on tour next summer it sounds like we may have to find something else to do for our gathering.
Last weekend, we traveled through New Mexico. After seeing Albuquerque on Saturday, we moved up to Santa Fe on Sunday. We arrived in the early evening at La Posada de Santa Fe, the resort I had reserved on Priceline for only $110. “Nestled on six beautifully landscaped acres in the heart of Santa Fe, this AAA Four Diamond name in Santa Fe hotel resorts is a haven of Adobe-style architecture, colorful gardens, and cozy outdoor fireplaces.” The old structures have been completely renovated and easily exceeded our expectations.
After we found our room, we spent a little time relaxing at the heated outdoor pool. While there we started planning our remaining time in Santa Fe. Originally I wanted to go to The Shed for dinner that night, but we soon realized that they are closed on Sundays. Instead we decided to walk around the downtown plaza area and see what caught our eye. Eventually we ended up at the Cantina at the Coyote Cafe. We dined on more tacos and enchiladas, specifically the Al Pastor tacos (Special Spice Blended Pork, Sweet Grilled Pineapple, Vidalia Onions, Roasted Tomatillo & Salsa Fresca) and Chicken & Cheese enchiladas (Arroz Verde, Refried Beans, Red or Green Chile, Lettuce, Tomatoes, Guacamole & Mexican Crema).
We walked around Santa Fe after dinner and again were back to the hotel and in bed by eleven. The following day we snacked on leftovers and things we had brought along in the morning. We then toured the Loretto Chapel, San Miguel Mission, and the New Mexico State Capitol. Out of the three, I think the Loretto Chapel was the best, though San Miguel was also very interesting to see. After a few hours of walking we had worked up a good appetite and headed to The Shed for lunch. Kim had the Green Chile Stew and salad, while I continued on the trend and had the Enchilada and Taco Plate. This was one rolled, blue corn enchilada filled with cheddar cheese, onion and covered with red chile. One soft blue corn taco with cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, baked chicken with green chile. Served with pinto beans & posole. Their red chile was my favorite!
After lunch we left Santa Fe and started on the drive back to Denver. Our only notable stop along the way was near the city of Taos, at Taos Pueblo. Taos Pueblo is an ancient pueblo belonging to a Native American tribe of Pueblo people. It is approximately 1000 years old and said to be the oldest continuously inhabited houses still occupied in the US. We almost backed out after seeing the $10 admission per person and $5 camera fee, but I’m glad we decided to go through. As we were walking in, a tour was starting, so we joined that and then spent some time on our own exploring the ancient pueblo buildings.
