Paul's visit

One of my best friends, Paul, came to visit this past weekend. He arrived in Marlborough on Thursday night at about 7:30. I think I’ve mentioned this before—he is from outside Philadelphia, so he had to drive up the busiest part of the Eastern Seaboard (which I drove in March when I visited him) through New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut, basically the entire NYC metropolitan area. It can be frustrating, but also very cool knowing that you are so close to Manhattan. Anyway, when he got here, we decided to go to Friday’s (our old standard, we used to go to the one by our high school a lot) and then we saw “Hairspray,” the movie. Now, I’ve seen the older John Waters flick and the musical (in Louisville), so I had to see the new movie musical. I think that the film was made well, except I wasn’t very keen on John Travolta in the role of Edna (Divine was way better, Travolta was too “pretty” for the role) and they omitted a few of the songs, including “Momma, I’m a big girl now,” which is one of my favorites.



Anyway, Friday, we decided to go Boston, even though it was by far the hottest day of the weekend. I had to get a cavity filled (I’ve had like four in the past year and a half, which is terrible) at 8:30 am. Not really fun. We left for Boston at like 10:45 and got there at 12:15, running a little later because the T at Riverside is being repaired and we had to take a bus from Riverside to the Reservoir station, near Boston College, and then go into the city. We met Mary for lunch at the Copley Square station and then had a nice lunch at Joe’s American Bar and Grill; I love onion rings! We then went to see where she works, the New England Genealogical and Historical society on Newbury Street. I am very proud of her, as she has her dream job right now and loves it! She gets to research genealogy, etc. for people in the New England. After lunch, we went to H &M and I bought a new green cardigan with light green polka dots. I have a weakness for that store! That afternoon, we walked to the lovely Boston common and totally did a tourist thing—we took a swan boat ride. The swan boats are just these flat boats with swans on the end. Not really anything special, but now we can both say we did it.



It was still so hot. We continued to walk around and explore the city—the State house, Fanueil Hall and Quincy Market, the wharf, etc. We met Paul’s friend from high school (who goes to BU) and went to the North End, which is the Italian section of town, for dinner. Oh, a few hours before that, we got gelato in chocolate dipped cones in a neat ice cream place there as well. Dinner was okay (overpriced, if you ask me), but fine for the North End. We also went to Mike’s pastry to pick up some dessert for later (which we didn’t eat until the next day). At 10, we were home, and I was pretty tired, so we went to sleep.



On Saturday, we got a late start, but we drove to Naragansett beach in southern Rhode Island. There wasn’t much parking when we got there at 2, and I got really anxious about finding a parking place. I just got really angry about it and then had Brian drive to try to find a place. It was very bad; I was embarrassed. However, the rest of the day went smoothly. The beach was small and crowded, but beautiful and the water was pretty temperate. I think we’re going back on Tuesday, the 14th. Maybe it won’t be so crowded. That night, we came home, grilled some haddock (a fish) on the George Foreman, and had potatoes and steamed squash. Paul and I went out to a bar down the street from where I live, we had a few a drinks, and watched the first two episodes of “The Real World-Sydney” on demand. It’s funny, the show had not even debuted on MTV yet. It’s pretty bad and dramatic this time, with some ho named Kelly Anne on from Texas. But there’s a guy on there (Dunbar) who goes to Ole Miss, so that is cool. He’s a typical Ole Miss frat guy, minus the Mississippi mop haircut.



Sunday, we took another daytrip to the eerie town of Salem, Massachusetts. Of course, the town is really well known for the Salem witch trials of 1692, where nineteen were hanged and one person was crushed to death for not confessing to be a witch. It was a really sad event, but the sad thing is that the town capitalizes on it immensely. There are “witch” items in every nook and cranny in that town. However, the town was also a huge port in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and a big center for the whaling industry (I believe). Also, the town has a wonderful museum (the Peabody-Essex museum) devoted to maritime arts and art from New England, Asia, and Oceania (the latter two are not represented very often). They also have a really neat Chinese house that was brought over piece by piece from China and reconstructed in a section of the museum. Honestly, I would love to work at this museum; I think it is one of the coolest museums ever. We didn’t go to the museum on Sunday, but we did go to the Salem Witch museum (kind of a crock but explains the story of the witch trials pretty well) and to this mock trial of one of the accused. We ate at a restaurant on the harbor with a beautiful view and decent food. I cooked eggplant parmesan when we got home for dinner and we went to sleep pretty early that night. Paul left at 7:30 on Monday morning. Our next trip together will be in New York in October.



Today, I had the day off work because I am working on Saturday. Sarah and I went to look at wedding gowns in Sturbridge. I had an appointment and tried on at least six gowns. Although I really loved two of the gowns, they were very expensive (one was $1450 and the other was $998). Really, I only went to look at the styles. Next week, I am going to David’s and Rebecca’s in Louisville. There is one dress I really like at David’s—it is tea-length and made by Galina, and it is pretty inexpensive (I think it is $299). I think it would make a great dress to wear to the separate ceremony and reception (in Mass. and Louisville, respectively). Sarah and I went to lunch at a great old-lady lunch spot (I had quiche) and then we went to a bakery which served gelato. We also drove by a few venues that I am looking at. The process is just being held up because we have no date set. Although, I think I would really like my mom to see some of these places before I choose one. Anyway, it was nice to spend the afternoon with Sarah and I got some ideas about my dress, etc.