Long weekend with my parents

My parents drove up from NC last Thursday evening, which also happened to be my birthday. I took the day off from working in the lab and spent the afternoon grocery shopping and cleaning. Seth was sweet and decorated the apartment with balloons and baked my all-time favorite cake: your basic yellow cake with chocolate frosting. There is just something immensely indescribable and warming about that cake and just the smell makes my head spin.

After two days in the car Mom and Dad arrived in time for us to go out for dinner to Mi Tierra, an amazing Guatemalan/Salvadoran taqueria far down Moody St. We had plantains, pupusas (corn tortillas stuffed with pork), carne asada for me, a half of a chicken for Seth, then returned to the apartment to dive into cake. We had lots of leftovers.

Thank goodness Seth didn't put all 25 candles on that cake.

Friday, after an Italian quiz (it had been years since I had last studied for a quiz and I was very nervous), the four of us drove out to Cape Cod for the afternoon. We swung by Moby Dicks Restaurant for scallop rolls and lobster bisque--I forgot that sea-side eateries only serve fried things, but though the scallops were surprisingly light, it was the creamy soup that did Seth and me in--and drove all the way out to the tip of the hook with Provincetown (aka P-Town) as the final destination. I didn't know much about Provincetown before we left so it was quite interesting to experience this little gay-mecca isolated on the tip of the Cape. I later read on Wiki that 'Provincetown's zip code has the highest concentration of same-sex couple households of any zip code in the United States'. I believe it. It rained 90 percent of the time we where there but between the rain drops and amongst the coffee shops, small theaters, dance clubs, galleries, and fudge shops (seriously) we got a sense of the town's thriving culture. It would be fun to spend a little more time out there in the future.

All-scallop sandwich

A pier at P-Town

Lots of fellas here...

Saturday was another cool rainy day. After a driving tour of the Brandeis campus, Mom and Dad took a quick trip up to Salem while Seth and I caught up on a little work. Sunday was warm and sunny and began with a long morning of church. It happened the be their Fall Rally so after the service Mom and Dad got to join in for a BBQ and meet a few locals. We then hopped on the bus downtown and walked 2/3rds of the Freedom Trail, a 2.5mile-long walk through Boston, covering 16 significant historical sites and structures. Unfortunately we didn't make it past the bridge and so missed the USS Constitution, the one thing Dad wanted to see the most. We also missed Chinatown, which Mom was keen to explore. We will have to save those for next time. I had never done the Freedom Trail and was very glad to get to walk most of it--it is concise, interesting, and gives a good sampling of some the best sites in Boston. With map in hand it was also fun to get to be a tourist and learn about the city. After a rest-stop in the Italian North End we took the train back to Waltham and met with Seth for a BBQ dinner at Blue Ribbon in Newton. Unfortunately there was not enough seating in the tiny eatery so we had to take our massive piles of meat back to the apartment with us.

The start of the Freedom Trail: Boston Common

No trip to the Common would be complete without someone showing off some funky breed of dog. This Pointer was actually quite amazing.

Lots of historical figures here in the Granary Burying Ground. We saw Paul Revere, Samuel Adams, etc.

King's Chapel

Bustling North End

The oldest building in downtown Boston (1680), this is where Paul Revere lived with his mother, two wives, and 16 children (though not all at once)

Blue Ribbon BBQ, the only place I know around here that serves NC pulled pork

Three meats: looks grotesque, tastes delicious

Monday morning Mom and Dad drove back home to Raleigh and it was back to work for Seth and me. Today, however, is Seth's birthday, so happy birthday to him! :o)