New England Vacation

We flew into Boston and picked up a rental car and drove to Gardner in north central Massachusetts and were greeted with my aunt's homemade clam chowder, lobster rolls, and blueberry pie.  The next day we went out to their camp on the lake.

Here we are in a totally nonchalant candid and unposed photo picking blueberries.  My aunt's pies were from the berries picked at their camp.  We showed them how to grill corn (Yankees don't know how to do that, crazy!) and grilled burgers and hot dogs, munched on Cape Cod potato chips and drank beer from the Wachusett Brewery.  

 

After lunch Darryl (middle) went on a kayak expedition with my dad and uncle in the pouring rain.  Staying on the porch and drinking beer was more my speed.

Later that day we attended the rehearsal dinner in my aunt and uncle's back yard and hung out with all the fam.  The next morning we went to the wedding, here's me and the folks above.  Look how good we are in our primary colors, almost like we planned it.

Here's me and Darryl deep in conversation at the wedding reception with my cousins.  After a lovely visit in Gardner and my aunt's homemade pancakes every morning (who knew you can make those things from scratch?) we went to spend the day in Boston.

Here we are at Cheers (replica) at Quincy Market where we had lunch.

After lunch we went on the longest most boring tour of our lives (but it was good exercise), then ended up here at Paul Revere's grave.

After a long day walking the Freedom Trail, with brief detours to the North End's Feast of St. Joseph, we settled in at Legal Seafood for a lobster dinner.  I made Darryl wear his bib.  He's getting pretty good at this lobster stuff, much better than when we first met.

Bellies full of lobster and wine we strolled along the dock.  That night my mom and I hung out in the Logan Hilton Airport Executive lounge and watched the sun set over cups of tea and petits fours.  All and all, it was a wonderful time with the family and a wild success for Darryl's first trip to New England!