Pssst, Boston... ready for another gathering?

ok....

As I said, I don't have any of Region and Jes. I only have one of rosborne and it's not great. So, I'll post these for now.....

George bears gifts! His first gift of love goes to Walter who will be heading to NYC soon. George thought he'd help him fit in down theyah.



But, I have my doubts.



The next gift of love went to realJohnboy who recently lamented that at the age of 61, he still hasn't gotten a pony for his birthday.

I will wait to post that after I hear from RJB, himself, that it's ok. The image I shot with username in it also has rjb in it.... so that'll have to wait too. And, one more shot has Merry involved... no word from him yet.

I have nothing to hide, li'lK. (Well, very little to hide, anyway. )









Just don't post the one with me and the lampshade and the pepperoni...well, you know the one I mean.

Great shots! (I know RJB didn't object when I posted pics of him in Chicago, so I doubt that's changed.)

You mean the one where you're on the bar?

Ok, then! Walter tries to pose with Andrew, but Andrew will be having none of that!

I just got back to Cville within the last hour. A couple of hours early, as it turned out.
I have no problem with pictures.
I was up this morning at my usual time of 6:30. I only had 5 different beers at the Brew House last night! A sampler of some of the beers they make there, in small glasses; perhaps 3 ounces each.

Some notes I scribbled down on my way back tonight:

The Philly airport (where I had about a two hour layover on my way up) is not going to make my list of favorites. But one feature I thought was cool was the white, wooden rocking chairs in Concourse C. They looked so incongruous midst the otherwise sterile airport interior design features. Many of them were occupied, and rocking.
I mentioned this to the young lady sitting next to me tonight on the last leg home to Cville. It turns out that she is from Columbia, SC, and there are white rocking chairs everwhere there in her airport. I think I might have seen some at Logan, too. So evidentally white rocking chairs, like the word "yall," is spreading north and west. Eventually we will have yall eating grits and drinking sweet tea.

The hotel I stayed at, the Wyndam/Clelsea, despite being kind of out of the way, turned out to be one of nicest hotels I have stayed in. Incredibly clean, very comfortable, with a staff that was very friendly. They said they had a full house last night, and yes, I was on the top floor at the end of the hall, but it was an amazingly quiet place.

They also have, pretty much for effect, a library off the lobby, with overstuffed chairs and a wall of books and a piano. The books had probably been bought for 25 cents a pound, sslected to look good but not perhaps to actually be taken off the shelves. There was a set of Encyclopedia Brittanicals-1911 edition and 19 volumes-except Volume IV (BIZ-CAL) was missing.

This morning at 7:30, while I was sitting there eating a bowl of Raisin Bran, an older couple came through. The man sat down at the key board, opened a piece of sheet music lieing there, and began playing "Summertime." The piano was in tune, and he played the right notes without error, but he had to think about it a bit, so the rhythm was a bit off. He only got about 30 seconds into it before his wife of perhaps 50 years said "Leonard." He stopped playing without a word or even a sigh.

I caught the hotel shuttle to the train station. I remarked to the driver that Boston drivers are aggressive by my standards, switching lanes and cutting in front of each other But I didn't see any road rage. In fact, when stopped at a light, most seem to leave room for turning cars to cross in front of them. He didn't respond. Perhaps it was the way he had always driven and it didn't seem remarkable.

I took the train down (over?) to Boston Common and walked around for a couple of hours Then I bought a salad and some bread to go and took the train out to the airport, getting they just before 2. My flight to Philly wasn't until 6, to Philly where, after another layover, I could get home at 11 pm.
I asked the US Air guy if there was anything earlier. He punched away at his keyboard furiously for about 30 seconds and said he could get me on a shuttle to LaGuardia in, um 10 minutes. Still a layover there, but in the end saving me about 2 and a half hours. $25 charge for re ticketing, he said. I hesitated until he said, conspiratorially, but I can waive that if you get on the 2 pm flight. I would suggest you go. I did.
So I got into NY and had almost four hours to kill. I sat aound the area before you go through security. That way I could go outside for a couple of smokes. I could watch the mechanics of taxicabs and the fleet of unmarked but identical black sedans dropping people off. And the occasional stretch limos disgourging people who were not recognizable to me. Maybe they are rich and famous. They didn't look like it.
All of this was observed by Johnboy and a fair number of US Army folks dressed in camo fatigues and toting M-16 rifles.
Eventually I went through security and nursed a beer or two in a bar learning far more about the air-head Paris Hilton from the equally air-headed "news" team at CNN.
And I watched the arrival and departure screens of US air flights. The 4 pm from Boston-NY delayed 20 minutes; the 5 pm down 30; the 6 pm (my original one) down 40; the 7 pm cancelled. The kid at the US Air counter knew it was coming.

But I digress...

Good point, O'Bill. Hmmmm......ok.

Johnboy didn't quite know what to say when presented, finally, with his own birthday pony.



And, lastly, a photo of a beer vat (with Johnboy, Walter and username).

Ah! There's Johnboy in the nick of time!

White rocking chairs, eh?

Interesting notes RJB and great pics LilK... thanks!

These pictures are great. Walter sure seems happy to be in Boston.
What are these giant bottles in front of Walter and Andrew? Their beer?
No wonder they look so happy!

So George was kind enough to offer to pick me up at my somewhat off the beaten path hotel and, more importantly, to take me back there after the get together. He knew the area. He knew right where the hotel was, in fact.
He walked into the lobby promptly at 5:30 and off we went. But, he said, I might find it more scenic if we gave up the idea of parking in some suburban lot and riding the train in. We could just drive the whole way in. And it was nice. We drove over a couple of bridges, past the new arena the Celtics play in, and along the fringes of MIT and Harvard Med School. It was very nice. We repeated the scenic thing on the way home a few hours later but...
We seemed to be passing some of the same "scenic sites" -- old warehouses, working class residential areas-- more than once.
We weren't ever lost, of course, just, um, temporarily off course.

I very much appreciate George's contribution to making this little trip as enjoyable as it was for me.

There were several large jugs, empty, on the table when I arrived. They told me they didn't drink them. <shrug>. All I can say is, why were they there then? And, why didn't anyone save any for me?

Thanks, littleK. Great pictures and Walter is always grinning. Doesn't he ever have a somber moment?

Recognized my furry friend, and John of Virginia. (glad you are home safely).

Nice to see Merry Andrew's great face. Hmmm. Andy, I thought seaglass was going to be there, and I would love to see Rosborne. Any other pics, Kris?

I think we're gonna need a bigger brush.

PS I'm fine with posting any pics.

Nice pics littlek!

I love Merry Andrew's shirt.

Hi username! <waves>

Great pics, littlek.

Sounds like a wonderful evening! Glad you all had fun.

[Insert jugs jokes here]

But seriously, 'k, would we lie to you?
Well, of course we would, but we didn't.

You can buy their brews in containers such as those.
I haven't yet, but their oatmeal stout was mighty tempting.

I was amazed at how easy it was to just sit and talk with all these folks,
even the ones I don't usually interact with on line.

Johnboy, thanks for bearing with me as we took the not-so-scenic route
back. I always check out the way to someplace very carefully, but then
assume getting back is just the reverse. Right? Wrong. The exit I
should have taken off the Mystic River Bridge was not named as I
expected. So when I did get off we were lost in Chelsea at night.
Nothing against Chelsea, but that's not something I'd recommend. I
headed for the huge complex of trucking depots and oil tanks the hotel is
near assuming we would cross Everett Ave. Wrong again. When we got
to Route 99, I knew that would take us to Route 16 which would take us
to Everett Ave. It would have if I'd turned right. I turned left. After a
dipsy-doodle or two, I found Route 16. I knew if I headed east I would
get to Everett Ave. I headed west. We reversed direction and FINALLY I
got you there.

Anybody else need directions? Just ask.

~George (the Pathfinder)

Hey, Soz, Bill, thanks. Nice storytelling with the pix, kris.

Funny how you associate folks with their avatars.
I was happy to find out username is not invisible.