Newburyport Trip Summer of 2013

We went home to Newburyport for two weeks to celebrate Rebecca's 40th birthday!  

While we were home I arranged a surprise visit from Trent's Air force buddy, Woody and his family.  We haven't seen Woody, Monica and Ashley since we moved from Germany over 15 years ago.  They're retired in Maine now and took a road trip down to say hello.    

It wouldn't be a proper trip home without Crazy Aunt Patsy's Fried Puff Party.

We spent some time with Papa who handed the kids cash and let them have soda, ice cream and cookies!

We cured hangovers on the beach with the girls.  

Currier fell in love!

We went yardsaling with Cheryl.

We had fun playing with our yardsale finds.

We attended a pig-roast at Kristin's house on the lake and I saw friends I haven't seen since high school .

Cheryl and I went to Papa's old house, now turned swanky spa, and got body glow treatments.

We spent a weekend on Cape Cod at my god-mother Helen's house, the Cape Escape.

The kids played in the same lake my brother and I enjoyed growing up.

We spent a lot of time on Hampton Beach watching drunk people get arrested.

We ate Chinese in my old neighborhood in Malden with my Coffee cousins.

It was a vodka-soaked roller coaster ride of AWESOME!

Blizzard of 2013

My brother just sent me this picture from Ipswich, MA and my Facebook newsfeed is riddled with the Blizzard of 2013.  There's cool images of snow covering doorways and grinning children (and adults!) sledding and creating snow angels and building memories to last a lifetime. There's shocking reports that the Park Lunch and The Thirsty Whale are closed forcing patrons to get blackout drunk in the privacy of their own homes (gasp). There's complaints of shoveling and driving bans and the possibility of another storm coming this Thursday. There's sexual innuendoes flying around every time someone mentions "inches" or "plowed" (almost always instigated by me). There's worry about my precious Plum Island taking more of a pounding (OH, Baby!) than she can handle and there's a mandatory evacuation of Salisbury Beach instantly causing me to crave Cristy's Pizza (corner slice extra provolone of course). My newsfeed is making me feel homesick and thankful I live in the South all at once.

Valdez Alaska

I had the privilege of attending a conference in Alaska this past week. It was the Alaska Museums/Alaska Historical Society Joint Annual Conference in Valdez. My Publisher, Donna, and I arrived in Valdez late Tuesday night after 17 hours of traveling. We woke early Wednesday morning a bit jet lagged and disoriented (truthfully hungover!) and ventured around this foggy harbor town.

That evening we embarked on the Opening Reception Glacier Cruise with other history enthusiasts (total geeks!). The delicious catered food, open bar and views of several waterfalls thoroughly impressed us. The fact that we didn't actually see a glacier on the glacier cruise unimpressed us.

On Thursday and Friday we attended the conference at the Valdez Convention and Civic Center where we accomplished our goal of making contacts with potential authors for our local history books. 

On Friday we had a little down time before heading to the airport so we took a drive to the Worthington Glacier because we refused to leave Alaska without seeing a glacier (giant ice cube!).  We also drove by countless waterfalls along the way but much to our disappointment we had no run-ins with any wildlife such as bear, moose, baby seals, penguins or huskies.     

We also got a great view of more glaciers from the airplane. I'm not sure what was more frightening—the rickety prop airplane ride to Anchorage or the fact that we didn't go through security to board this flight but the incredible views of the snow capped mountains and glaciers outweighed the fear (the cocktail named Northern Lights didn't hurt either!).  

We had a four hour layover in Anchorage so we ventured away from the airport to a bar called Humpy's where I met an old Newburyport High School friend for a couple of drinks. Steve and I graduated together over 20 years ago and we haven't seen each other since.  He's a pilot up in Anchorage now and if it wasn't for facebook our drinks, shared laughs and sarcasm would have never occurred some 4000 miles away from our home town all these years after high school. I love how facebook makes the world smaller (YEAT!).

After our quick Anchorage outing, we headed back to mainland America feeling lucky for our Alaska experience where the air is cold and fresh, the salmon is something I will talk about for the rest of my life, and the nature is for lack of a better word "breathtaking". We arrived back in Charleston yesterday afternoon feeling thankful for the sunshine, modern conveniences of the mainland and for the lack of camouflage, flannel and facial hair.

We're Gonna Party Like It's 1991

I went home to Newburyport for my 20th high school reunion.  We kicked off the 10 day trip with a keg party potluck at my cousin Cheryl's house in Amesbury.  It was a fun day filled with family, friends, delicious food, keg beer, wicked laughs, ridiculous sarcasm, keg stands and lots of silly behavior.

After nursing our hangovers the following day, we took the kid's to Yankee Homecoming Old Fashion Sunday in Newburyport where we watched the muster and played in the water.  We ended the day at Salisbury Beach eating Cristy's pizza and soft serve ice cream with jimmies. 

On Monday my dad took us to Storyland in Glen, New Hampshire.  It was a total blast and it's just as magical as I remember it as a child.  The kids absolutely loved it and honestly so did the adults.  My brother and I went there in 1977 and it was so fun to come home and compare the then and now pictures. 

On Tuesday Currier had a bit of a stomach bug so we relaxed around the house and I rested up for the Yankee Homecoming Road Race.  I ran it with my brother's girlfriend Eliza and her sister Leanna.  It was perfect weather for a race and although I found the hill of Oakland Street a total bitch I still enjoyed the run.  After the race we went to the Park Lunch for burgers and beers.  A perfect way to end the day. 

On Wednesday we went to Fenway to watch the Boston Red Sox vs. the Cleveland Indians.  A few months ago I put a message out on facebook asking if anyone would like to join us as I was able to get tickets through a friend.  85 people ended up responding and so 85 friends from Newburyport met at Fenway and watched the Red Sox win.  It was an incredibly fun night and I loved the wicked energy from all the Newburyporters "YEAT". 

On Thursday we went to Seabrook Beach with my dad and several friends joined us.  It was a little chilly especially for this now Southern girl but we ended up staying for hours and having a lovely little beach day.  

On Friday we had breakfast at Mad Martha's on Plum Island and then we took the kids to the spot where Trent and I were married 14 years earlier. 

After the beach we visited my mother's grave.  It was bitter sweet seeing Rya Diane stand on the resting spot of the woman for whom she is named.  My mother's been dead nearly 30 years now and it never gets easier visiting her grave.   

Friday was the Newburyport High School Class of 1991 20th reunion.  It was a TOTAL BLAST to see some people I haven't seen in 20 years.  It was a really great night and well worth the trip. 

On Saturday my brother PJ took Trent and Currier fishing so the girls (Me, Rya, Cheryl and Eliza) went downtown Newburyport to do a little shopping and get psychic readings (she told me something that gave me the chills).  While downtown we ate dinner at the Grog where I worked for eight years as a teenager.  After dinner we met up with the boys and party hopped between Tracey and Loren's house watching the Yankee Homecoming Fireworks.  

On Sunday we watched the Yankee Homecoming Parade with my dad.  The kids loved it and Currier said it was better than Halloween with all the candy they got from the passing floats. 

After the parade we met Rebecca and bunch of friends at a Mexican restaurant to celebrate her birthday.  What was intended to be a mellow last night dinner turned into a drunken tequila soaked roller coaster ride and my cheeks still hurt from laughing so hard!  

On Monday we bid farewell to my family, my friends and Newburyport and we hoped on a plane (very hungover and 8 pounds heavier) and headed back to Charleston where we are still trying to recover from this vacation.   

And here's the rest of the pictures! 

Surprise Weekend with Dad

My dad has been fighting multiple myeloma (blood cancer) for two years now and was just diagnosed with Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura or ITP which is much easier to pronounce, a bleeding disorder in which his immune system destroys platelets that are necessary for normal blood clotting.  The doctors are confident that they can control this with medication and my dad assured me that he's fine and in good spirits; Alas, I still felt compelled to go home and be with him.  With the help of Trent's sister getting me a plane ticket home (Thanks Tracy!) and my cousin picking me up from the airport, white-knuckleing the steering wheel in a snow storm and putting me up/putting up with me for the weekend (Thanks Cheryl!), I surprised my dad on April Fools Day!  Our first stop was of course the Park Lunch where we enjoyed some chowdaahh and exchanged jokes and laughs.          

My dad took me by the Commonwealth Newburyport Cancer Center where it was a pleasure to finally meet all the wonderful nurses who have been putting up with my father's bullshit and sexual harassment for the past two years.   

After an evening of take-out Chinese and the Red Sox game at Dad's house, my brother PJ and I hit the Winner's Circle for some beers.     

And we shared some laughs with Cheryl and Eliza until we got kicked out of the Winner's Circle for being losers.

Of course it wouldn't be a proper visit with my dad without a couple rounds of Scrabble coupled with Christy's Beach Pizza, Moxie and verbal abuse. 

I rounded up the girls on my last evening home and hit downtown Newburyport for drinks, giggles, catching up and more drinks!  It was a good visit home and I'm thankful for the time spent with my dad, my brother and my friends.   

Stacey's 40th

We celebrated Stacey's 40th birthday last weekend.  Her husband rented a pimped out party bus with disco lights and a stripper poll to chauffer us to a waterfront restaurant.  Stacey's mom, sister and aunt from Newburyport flew down and her friends from various parts of the country flew in to surprise her making it a total of 20 people in the limo.  She had no idea and seeing her shocked face walk on to the bus was priceless.  It was a WILD time and I'm so happy I could be a part of it even if it took me three days to recover from it.  Happy 40th Stacey, you crazy girl!

Balentowski.o

My cousin Cheryl came for a week long visit.  She arrived on my birthday, Saturday evening, and we kicked off her visit with class and rented the horror film The Human Centipede.  The movie was so incredibly disturbing that it took me hours to fall asleep that night.  I highly recommend it! 

Sunday afternoon we drove up to Columbia to check into the Hilton for the night and see our favorite comedian Daniel Tosh Live.  I scored great seats front and center and Tosh was so funny our cheeks and stomachs hurt from laughing!  

After the show, we ran into Daniel Tosh at a club and got our picture taken with him.  He looks completely different in person. 

On Tuesday we took the kids to Kiln Time to do ceramics.  Growing up in Newburyport, my grandmother and Cheryl's great-grandmother, Mimi, owned a ceramic shop so this was one of those sweet nostalgic moments that made us feel special for passing on our family craft as well as our family lunacy. 

  

Wednesday evening we did Bottles and Brushes.  The painting was Sunset Over the Battery.  We wore our Fugu Tour t-shirts to support our cousin Dickie's art tour- "Fugu and Beyond, The World Tour".

After the art class we kept it classy by going to the local biker bar, Richard's, for a few drinks and a few twirls on the dance floor.  We left our mark on the women's bathroom door! 

On Thurday we took the kids to the Scary'um Aquarium and got to pet a baby alligator! 

After our morning at the aquarium, we went to Poogan's Porch for a lovely Southern lunch.  Named after a dog, Poogan's Porch is famous for being one of the most haunted restaurants in America.  We had no run-ins with any ghosts but the Gouda Macaroni and Cheese and the Fried Green Tomatoes more than made up for it! 

For Cheryl's final day, we made Mexican Sugar Skulls in preparation for the upcoming Day of the Dead and we just felt like we needed to keep with our crafty theme of the week. 

We ended her visit with cocktails on the dock, followed by Skittles vodka shots, beer, more beer and then more Skittles vodka shots.  It was a fantastic week fueled by booze and giggles.  I love me some Cheryl.  One day I hope we marry and adopt Chinese and African babies together!