Life After Connecticut College

Chilling' Out Maxin' Relaxin' All Cool
About a month ago, I made the long trip to Philadelphia (which I like to call Illadelphia) to visit a fellow camel, Casey Johnson, who now resides in West Philly. I decided to try out the new Megabus, which was offering free rides for their first week. I was quite excited to get a free ride but I ended up paying a non-monetary price - time. The day I was riding out to Philly was the day that there was the huge crane accident in New York City causing massive traffic. To top it off, it was Megabus's first day so it was a bit chaotic and confusing. I was riding from Boston to NYC and getting on a connecting bus to Philly with a layover of about 15 minutes. However, due to the traffic and our driver who had apparently never driven in New York City and was lost (in addition to hitting a stop sign) I did not get to Penn Station in time. Now, I know what you're thinking - Penn Station is a train station and NOT for buses. Yes, I know that as I told the evil policeman who would not offer any suggestions or help me find Megabus. But the buses meet above ground right beside Penn Station. Anyway, I finally managed to find the bus and had a quick ride to Philly, where I arrived at 1 AM.

The following day Casey did a lovely job of showing me around Philly. We walked everywhere and I was able to see most of Philly. We even ran into three weddings within 30 minutes. Also, I got to eat a Philly cheesesteak, run up the front steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and walked along the river. Unfortunately, I only had a day to spend in Philly since I had to catch the bus back home the next day. Luckily, my bus ride home went much smoother - the buses were on time, easy to find, the drivers didn't get lost, and didn't hit anything. I will most likely ride Megabus again since they have special promotions for very cheap rides and have wireless on the bus. You should, too: http://www.megabus.com/us/

Best Week EVER
A while ago, Allie Smith and I had planned to see Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers in concert in Hartford because all the tickets were sold out in New York and Boston almost immediately. Since it was on a Wednesday we decided to make it a mini-vacation and she'd come spend the week with me. However, I was unsure if I was going to be able to manage it since I was trying to figure out my job situation. Luckily, I managed to have the week off since I was in between jobs. It worked out well.

Anyway, on Wednesday we went to Hartford, where the concert was held outside and the weather was perfect. The opening band was Steve Winwood, who sings a lot of songs I was unaware I knew. At this point there weren't too many people around but just as TP & the Heartbreakers were about to come on there was a massive amount of people of all ages - the old reminiscing and the young who grew up on the music. Everyone was dancing, a lot were drinking beers, and a good number were smoking grass. It was a bit of hippy atmosphere. Afterwards, I struggled to remember where I parked the car. Grrrrrr.

Thursday, we lounged by my pool (yes, I have a pool) for most of the day, which was lovely. These two strange, old women sat by us and chatted with us. They were humorous. But the main event of the day was the Red Sox game. Part of my benefits at BIDMC was the ability to get $5 tickets to a Sox game. Sounds great, right? Well, there's a catch: you can't buy tickets until after the 1st inning, if they have any left. I had a good feeling about it, though, until we showed up and saw the massive line of BIDMC employees. Eek! But, we were patient, crossed our fingers, and thought happy thoughts which all led to us getting tickets. They were for standing seats except the wonderful security dude hooked us up with some sweet seats nine rows from the field. It was a short game but wonderful nonetheless.

Allie and I had started our drinking extravaganza on Wednesday but we kicked it up a notch on Friday with some beer tasting. First, we went to the Harpoon brewery which has no tour and only a tasting. You can sample as many beers as you can in an hour while some dude tells you about the history of the brewery and the beers. It was interesting and definitely worth the trip out to the waterfront. Next up was the Sam Adams brewery tour in JP. It reminded me a bit of the Guinness storehouse tour except smaller, not as pretty, but more personal. At the end of the tour we sat in a room and sampled some beers. This was enjoyable except for the group of women who were in their thirties but were dressed like they were teens and kept giggling, flirting with our guide, and hogging the beer. Either way, I'll have to go for some of their special tastings where they pair food with beer. Sounds delicious!

On Saturday, we did some more lounging by the pool for most of the day followed by a stroll along Newbury St. At night Abby, Allie, and I went out to dinner at Union Oyster House and then met up with some more camels at a club for some dancing. It was a good night despite the apparent lack of air-conditioning on the dance floor leading to a lot of gross, sweaty people. At the end of the night, instead of taking a cab home we managed to get in a van that was taking people back to Brighton. It was a bit sketchy but so funny! Some guy rolls up in his van and says, "Where you going?" "Brighton." "Hop in!" It's a brilliant idea. If I had a van, I'd drive downtown on weekends and pick up the young'ns as they leave the bars and clubs to take them home. You know you'd do it, too.

Our fabulous week, well I guess it was more like half-a-week, came to an end on Sunday. Allie went home via Chinatown bus and I lied in bed watching movies and recuperating as the rain outside soothed me to sleep.

KickBALLIN'
The following weekend was my kickball team's annual Booze Cruise, where all of the team members and some others in the Boston League book tickets for a cruise around Boston Harbor that takes place on Friday nights. On our particular cruise, the famous Stevie B performed live. Who the hell is Stevie B? Well, you might know the song, "Spring love, come back to me". No? Doesn't ring a bell? Too bad. You should brush up on your 90s dance hits. Other than dancing, there's booze (duh!). However, the drinks are very pricey and you're not allowed to bring any beverages onto the boat, which they make sure of by patting you down. So, we are left to disguise our alcohol. I filled two plastic ziplock bags with vodka and then stuffed them into my bra. Dual purpose. Ladies, I highly recommend. Unfortunately, we tied that weekend's game. Our first non-win of the season. :(

This past Saturday was the rookie party. It was not as bad as I thought it would be - they did not harass us as much as I thought they would. Although, I was sabotaged during the Edward Forty Hands competition which I would've won otherwise. Nonetheless, we had a vice war - essentially, an eating and drinking contest (nips, beer, ho-hos, hot dogs, other gross food) that my team won. I also had a little revenge of my own when one of my teammates passed out, who happens to have graduated from the Coast Guard Academy. I drew all over his face and a friend drew on his legs. It was classic. Finally, the next day we conquered our opponents, who had been undefeated. :)

I don't want to work, I want to bang on these drums all day
Now, I work at DFCI along with 50% of CC students who work at Longwood. And, no, I am not blogging during work hours. Sheesh.

Anyway, if you've gotten this far into my passage, thank you. Hooray for the long weekend! I hope you enjoy your fireworks and bbq. Just don't burn yourself.