Life in the Cheese Drawer

somehow it’s still the middle of the week and i’m still on vacation! this is great. and you get a two for one because i forgot to blog yesterday.

tuesday

newport was the playground of the rich in the late 1800s/early 1900s, especially the railroad barons, and they certainly like to throw their money at opulent, useless things instead of using it for good, like helping the poor or feeding peeps. so naturally, we wanted to see how the other half lived; we headed to the breakers, the “summer cottage” of the vanderbilts.

they imported slabs of marble form italy and an entire fireplace from france. i mean, good grief. the tour was worth it to add an historical element to visiting newport, but it was just over the top excessiveness on the part of the vanderbilts. plus, you drive down that area of newport, and there are a LOT of over the top, excessive homes. we give the tour 10 out of 13 stars but the excessiveness of the rich a 1. we may go back to check out the marble house on friday, but we’ll see. that one has a gold room.

for a late lunch, we headed to the wharf to one of the fancier places just to say we’ve eaten at the wharf. unfortunately, this is the second nice place that just wasn’t great. our server was new or something and couldn’t figure out how to take our order. there was construction going on in two sections, loudly in one of them, and service took forever. i had some tuna tacos that i thought were going to come in a tortilla and came in a wonton instead. what. the food was ok, but service was really poor. 5 out of 13 stars.

we came back to the condo and everyone had a lie down before BAR TRIVIA woohoo. best service of the trip so far! AND we won third place, which was a $10 gift card to the bar. we had pizza, wings, crab cakes, and some local booze. bar trivia night was good, though the tab racked up quickly. 12 out of 13 stars, only because we weren’t paying attention to our tab. (boo on us.)

wednesday

woke up to some fog this morning.

boston! lori got us out of the house by 8:30, and we headed to braintree, ma, to catch the metro train into boston proper. we got off at the freedom trail, which is a walking tour of several important sites during the revolutionary war. it’s just hard to fathom for a lowly midwesterner like ourselves the kind of history that the east coast has (and it’s hard for any american who immigrated to fathom the history of europe). we saw old buildings, a cemetery where sam adams is buried, lori and i toured paul revere’s house, the boston massacre site, the tea harbor, little italy, and a lot more. the only downsides to the day were that the tea party museum was closed and it was HOT – 90º oof. but boston is fun. the architecture is great, the history, the cobblestones. my dad would hate it because the streets aren’t straight, but who cares. that adds to the charm! i give the freedom tour 11 out of 13 stars. maybe it would’ve been more if it’d been cooler or things were open.

for lunch, we stopped in a dining hall that had several restaurants in it, and i got my lobster roll!

i also got a cup of clam chowder with it, and i’m not normally a clam chowder kind of person, but that was delicious. a lobster roll was my goal this trip and i hit it. i give my lunch a 12 out of 13.

the drive home from boston was definitely sketchier and more frantic, traffic wise, than the drive there. it was close to rush hour, and again, east coasters can’t figure out how to drive. well, they drive differently, i guess. after we got home, we ate the food we actually bought from the grocery store for our snacks, and then played some games before checking out the full moon! full moon gets 13 stars. heh heh heh.

beach day!

the day started off HOT and sunny, so we knew this was the day to head to the beach. but first, we had to prepare for the beach, which meant a trip to pick up a couple beach towels and a beach umbrella (and good call on the beach umbrella because it really helped with the warmth). we brought snacks and bev with us, and after that detour, we headed out to the newport “second beach”, which had a parking lot that was absolutely packed. but we found a spot and then were able to breath in that sea salty air!

the beach gets 12/13 stars. there were a lot of people there and it was SUPER windy, but it was still the ocean. and my first time seeing the atlantic!

we spent about 2 hours on the beach and then headed back to our condo, at which point we learned that our toll pass on our rental cars didn’t work with the newport bridge. of course. we paid extra on our rentals so we didn’t have to worry about tolls, and now we have to figure out how to fix that; that’s our mission tomorrow. that and to hopefully swap out the cigarette smelling car. that brings my rental car rating down to a 5. the car rating is definitely fluid at this point.

got back to the condo and made plans for supper at simpatico here on the jamestown side so we didn’t have to deal with tolls at the moment. lori and i went on a quick driving tour of the town (i also wanted to scope out running routes), and after driving through the very small downtown, we decided on simpatico.

started out sitting outside, but a small squall rolled in and we headed indoors. liz and i shared a lobster mac n cheese, liz and lori shared a paella, and doug had fish n chips. mmmm it was delish! topped it off with tiramisu for dessert, and i am definitely going to need to run tomorrow! the decor was great and vibe super awesome. service was awesome too! i think i’m going to roll out 13 stars for the restaurant and food this evening. so far, food has been a win this trip. but the week is young.

(i also think i’m going to stick with crab here on out. lobster’s fine, but i like crab better.)

after a little stroll on the wharf, we headed back to the condo, where i did some yoga outside and then we wrapped up the day with some games! now it’s time to sleep because unfortunately tomorrow is the “deal with the car rentals” day. ugh.

this vacation is brought to by a  13-star rating system and doug, knowledge master extraordinaire of the trip thanks to a report on rhode island in 5th grade. RI is the 13th state!

the day started early with a 5:15 alarm for our 8 am flight. .5 stars. this would higher, since we are on vacation, but we had originally booked a 1 p.m. flight.

however, we got to MSP and had the breakfast of champions, a morning bloody mary/mimosa and coffee. (bloody for me, mimosas for others). grabbed a caribou and hopped on the plane for a normal flight (except everyone was masked and there were no weirdos making a scene, thank goodness). getting the rental cars was pretty uneventful, except our one rental smells like cigarette smoke. plus rental cars are just a pain in general – it takes so long! BUT we got our cars before we were supposed to pick them up, so that turned out ok. rental car experience so far, 8. this may increase after i complain to budget about the cigarette smell.

the drive through boston into RI wasn’t bad – the length was good. the drivers were erratic. merging was awful. there were tons of people just stopped on the side of the road. it 60 miles and took 2 hours, but the traffic thinned as we got closer to our destination. the roads aren’t as bad LA roads – definitely have room in the lanes, but the shoulders were minimal. and curvy!  we’re giving east coast drivers a 3.

but the best part of the drive as the TREES. they were tall and right up close to the road, and they looked super awesome and old and leafy and beautiful – like driving up north on steroids! add in the older homes and history, and the tree experience was a solid 13 stars.

we stopped in foxboro, home of the new england patriots (per lori), for a jaunt around a weird roundabout around a town square and lunch. our first thought was a pizza joint that was clearly a one point joint, so doug made us leave. good call! we ended up at union straw for an excellent lunch:

• shrimp po’boy: 11 stars
• bbq burnt ends: 8 stars
• crab cakes: 12 stars
• duck and fig flatbread: 5 stars (too much fig)

then we got back on the road and made it to our timeshare condo. we all expected a sad condo with a parking lot overlook, but LO AND BEHOLD we got an ocean view!!

oh yeah. condo would get 13 stars, but it has a weird smell and not all bedrooms have a balcony. so, 11 stars for the condo.

first order of business was taking a nap. that, we went grocery shopping and came home.

we ended with a nice view of the bridge at night!

ok we’ll give day one 9 stars – traveling is hard, but getting here was good! and food so far is excellent.

so in ONE MONTH i am going to be on the east coast in new england. can i say how stupidly excited i am for going somewhere – aNYWHERE- for a trip? i mean, last month jane and i went to visit cousin lori, but that was the boonies and not a lot going on (sorry lori).

don’t worry; my travel companions and i will all be fully vaccinated when we go, and you best believe that i am wearing a kn95 on the airplane and in the airport.

we are flying into boston and then renting a couple cars to take us to rhode island where we have a condo for a week, right next to the atlantic. i’m not sure exactly what we’re doing, but i do think we’re spending a day in boston for sure, and i’d like to check out salem (though i’ve heard it’s kitschy and touristy and who the heck cares i’m sure i’ll love it). 😍  i wouldn’t mind taking a day trip to check out the appalachian trail since we’re so close to it (well, relatively). i don’t even care if i’m the only one who goes – there’s a reason we rented two cars!

and of course i am planning on eating nothing but lobster rolls and crab cakes while i’m out there.

anyway, anyone who’s been to new england and has any recommendations, write them in the comments!

saturday

• 2 lakes
• 2 rivers
• 5 portages
• 1 big meal
• 1 beer
• 1 shower-less campsite 🙁

i figured out the secret to my sleep pad and had a great-for-camping night’s sleep. we broke camp fairly quickly and set out shortly after 9 a.m. it was a little gloomy, which was ok because it mean no sun – no heat – an and easy, sweat-free paddle. it was a long slog because we camped at the far end of lake agnes, but it was about 5 hours to the trailhead.

mr. beaver was hard at work while were out. not only did we slide up/push through 4-5 dam, but we actually had to get out and pull our canoe over one of them. busy beavers!

i might like canoeing the rivers more than the lakes. the trees are tall and surround you like you imagine they should. maybe hugging the shorelines of the lakes would make me feel differently. the tall pines and aspen are really beautiful.

i wouldn’t have minded paddling longer yesterday for a shorter day today, but that’s ok. steady as the beating drum! unless the portage is short, i really don’t notice the difference between all the distances. it’s all just one foot in front of the other with 40 lbs on your back.

after we got out, it was another hour-ish to ely, where i dropped off the canoe and remembered there was  pandemic happening and forgot my mask when i went to the gas station. we went to a brewery for a post-trip meal, and it was delish. i had a patty melt, fries, and beer and i could’ve died in food heaven.

then it was time to part ways. i had a campsite at judge cr magney and the weather’s not forecast horribly, so i decided to head northeast. looking back, i probably should’ve just gone home.

i stopped in grand marais to hopefully get some pie, but no luck. i stopped at a holiday station for a cookie and a muffin and some tea instead. tomorrow i’ll stop at the rustic inn for a slice.

i realized as i was driving in that the park might not have the showers open. and i was right. —sigh —

so i washed my hair under my water jug and heated water to wash my face and for tea. so here i am in front of a fire with a wet head. i’m excited for my cot and my pillow.

it’s very weird going form almost complete silence in the evenings to a low chatter among people in a campground and the occasional passing car on the highway just down the road. in the BWCA, a jet would pass over occasionally (MSP to…?? toronto to seattle?) it was such a weird, out of place sound. and now i wouldn’t notice.

i just looked up at the sky and saw a lone star among the trees. if the sky continues to clear, more will pop. a commonality among the north.