erudity.net prattlings on via nattering nabobs

Vacation pt. 1: Massachussets

I got back from my deployment aboard USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) at the end of July, but unlike most people I prefer not to take leave immediately upon return from deployment; I would rather take leave on my own terms than on the Navy's, especially since I'll soon be all of 45 minutes from my entire family.  This, along with the fact that Kendra is still in Japan and thus limited in the time that she can spend in the States, led me to postpone my post-deployment leave until the third week in September, when I boarded a quick flight to Boston to meet Kendra and her mom's side of the family.

Kendra, bless her heart, had a much harder time of it while in Boston than I did due to the severe jet lag from her thirteen-time-zone-hopping plane ride.  I actually got to witness firsthand some of the more interesting side effects of Ambien when she took one and stayed awake for a bit afterwards.  I was lucky enough that she only had to use it once and for the rest of the trip was pretty okay.  I also got the distinct pleasure of meeting her sister Kelly, who is more brash than her sibling, if that's at all possible.

Kendra and I

Our first night there we were treated to homemade enchildadas courtesy of Kelly, followed the next day by a Sox game.  I'm getting a bit ahead of myself, actually - we headed to Kendra's grandmother's house for a bit more meet 'n greet along with some cheese and crackers when everyone got a bit peckish.  A few miles and wrong turns down the road and we were at Alewife station on the Red Line, headed into Boston for my first Red Sox game!  Kendra made sure to point out all the important landmarks, such as the large Citgo sign, Yawkey Way, etc. while ensuring that I looked like a complete tourist by getting pictures of us under or near everything.  Of course, they're awesome pictures.  The game itself wasn't too shabby either; our seats were awesome, the food was pretty tasty for ballpark fare and we were treated to one hell of a heckler that did a bang-up job of calling anyone and everyone out on any embarrassing things that might have escaped their notice.

A shot from our seats at Fenway

Kelly's, ahem, clavicle also got an up-close-and-personal encounter with one of the scraggliest beards I've ever seen - but alas, no pictures.  The Sox did their best but came up just short of a rally in the 9th, at which point we schlepped on out of the park and towards the Green Line and home.

The next day was a scheduled trip to the Nashoba Valley Winery for some apple picking and some unscheduled wine tasting.  I was surprised to learn that the entire area is rife with orchards - I counted four signs at the off-ramp to the interstate alone.  I assumed that there would be multiple varieties of apples available to pick at the orchard, but guessed a bit low; Kendra's mother asked us how many kinds of apples they had at the Winery and I guessed twelve while Kendra guessed 102.  They have 104, so yeah, I lowballed it a bit.

Contemplating peaches

Being a bit of a Georgia boy, I was also pleased to find that they had peaches ripe for the picking just a couple rows from some apple trees. Shortly after the start of our picking adventure Kendra's grandmother and grandfather arrived to pick with us, and I have to tell you - her grandfather is something else.  Think the "shitmydadsays" guy, but with less profanity and more balls.  To wit:  there are signs everywhere on the property about how it's illegal to pick using anything but a bag purchased from the winery (stealing, basically.)  Naturally, Kendra's granddad grabbed a plastic grocery bag and immediately set out for the fruit trees, ignoring our protestations with repeated remarks of "What're they gonna do to me?"  Someone eventually convinced him that two apple bags and a peach bag would produce more than enough fruit than all of us could reasonably eat or use before it all went bad, and he somewhat sullenly put the bag away and walked with the rest of us through the lines of trees.

Illicit Apples

Wine tasting

Shortly afterwards we had filled all the bags with some delicious, and in some cases, illicit, apples and peaches and bid Grandma and Grandpa farewell as they were headed back to their house to, um.  I think they had a meeting or something... anyway!  We put the apples into the cars and then headed into the restaurant/retail area, which was conveniently located three feet from the wine tasting area.  After perusing the shelves for a bit, we all bellied up with our tickets and sampled some rather delicious wine.  I especially enjoyed the plum wine and the mead, while Kendra, Kelly and their mom all loved the ice wine that I introduced to them.  Everyone ended up getting a bottle of the ice wine, while Kendra and Kelly both got a bottle of the plum, and I got a bottle of peach brandy for my mom and a bottle of their Renaissance offering, a dry red with a hint of a spicy finish.

That was mostly it for Massachusetts - we all got an early dinner at an Italian place and then Kendra and I headed to Logan for our flight to Norfolk to attend the Helicopter Ball. More on that in part 2.