You Get What You Deserve

Ice strands Canadian cruise ship for 30-plus hours

TORONTO – A cruise ship carrying 300 passengers that became lodged in thick ice in the St. Lawrence River for more than 30 hours was freed Tuesday with the help of an ice breaking vessel, officials said.

“Because it was so cold and windy, the wind blew ice from Montreal down into the St. Lawrence River at high speeds and it became very thick, which is why the ship became stuck there for so long,” Arsenault said.

Arsenault said there were no injuries.

Gray said the cruise ship got stuck about five miles from Montreal.

“All of a sudden, there was this loud, grinding noise and we knew we were really in a fix,” he said.

That’s what you get for booking A CRUISE in the MIDDLE OF WINTER IN CANADA!!!!

Sheesh…

Return to La La Land, Part 3

Hubby and I woke up to a partly cloudy sky and with the fizzy drinks completely out of our system, we walked back to the 6 House Pub for our complementary continental breakfast. It certainly felt continental because of the 12 Scandinavians speaking their gutteral viking language on the other side of the dining room. (I noticed they didn’t tip the serving woman. The Euro must not be pulling its earning power like it used to.) 

Jacked up on coffee and danish (see…very continental), we checked out of the motel and headed down Route 7. The sun was trying to peak through the clouds and, at times, it won the struggle. But Hubby and I knew it would be a lost cause later in the day.

We parked at the Running Brook Trailhead and I took this lovely picture before taking our first steps toward Mt. Greylock’s summit:

Running Brook Trail, Mt. Greylock

Not too far up the trail, we got lost. DON’T ASK! But it was a happy accident because we saw this:

It pays to get lost.

Anyhoo…we got back on the trail and made good time up to the summit. The sunshine had completely disappeared but there was still miles of scenery to observe. There were 4 people up on the summit as well. Hubby and I took our obligatory “couple” picture:

Behind us is Adams, MA at 3,491 ft.

We sat for a few minutes looking east and then realized that the temperature was dropping. We headed back down the trail right when it started to pour. Luckily we were protected under the remaining canopy and by the time we made it back to our Matrix, the rain was over and the temperature was warmer.

After all that hiking, there was one thing left to do…celebrate! We heard about a pub in Lanesboro that has an amazing beer selection, The Old Forge Restaurant, on Route 7. Holy Crap!!! This is a great place! From the outside it doesn’t look like much but inside is woody and exudes local watering hole (but not in a “bar” kind of way.) Hubby and I ordered the half order of nachos and butternut raviolis with cranberries. Both plates were amazing but the beer…The beer menu was at least ten pages with liquid refreshment from around the world. We both tried Founders Breakfast Stout and could totally taste the coffee and chocolate! The other beer we tried was the Imperial Pumpkin Ale from Weyerbacher Brewing Co. Besides Milly’s Tavern’s Pumpkin Ale (Manchester, NH), this was one of the best pumpkin beers we’ve tasted. We sat next to a family visiting the Berkshires from England. It was interesting about their thoughts on America. They were having a smashing time and said Americans were extremely friendly and helpful (except for the employees at JFK airport).

We waddled out of the restaurant and reluctantly got back onto the road toward home. We had a marvelous time in the western part of the state. If only it wasn’t so “tin foil” in it’s politics…

Return to La La Land, Part 2

Nice set piece in Williamstown

From North Adams, we headed into Williamstown. There would be no Williamstown without Williams College. Beautiful (empty?) gothic and New England clapboard churches line the main road through campus. We parked (again making sure our McCain sticker was not easily seen) and walked around the Thai restaurants and coffee bars. The campus is a mix of traditional academic brick buildings and more modern structures, assuring alumni that Williams is moving into the 21st century.

After assessing that our Matrix was o.k., we headed down Route 7 to our lodging, The 1896 House Country Inn. We stayed in the Brookside building, one of those one-story, 1940’s/’50s, roadside places that’s been renovated very nicely. The Inn has it’s own pub, the 6 House Pub. The atmosphere was relaxing but the food was disappointing. Hubby and I ordered the Butternut Squash Soup, which reminded me of corn meal batter. But the real disappointment was the beer. The pub has a whole selection of Berkshire Brewing Company  (BBC) beers on tap and they offer 22 oz mugs. That’s all good, right? The taps had so much nitrogen that the beers (which I have quaffed in the past) were fizzy like soda and left my tongue tingling long after the beer traveled past my gullet. Too bad.

We crawled back to our Brookside room, climbed into our 4 poster bed, slept off the batter and fizzy drinks, eagerly anticipating the next day of climbing Mt. Greylock. Part 3 coming soon…

Return to La La Land, Part 1

Sorry for the disappearing act! Hubby and I took one last trip for the year. On Monday and Tuesday we returned to the northern towns of La La Land, a.k.a the Berkshires. Driving along Route 2 we eyed some color but the peak has passed in that part of the state. We noticed that the further west one drives, there is an increased number of “Obama Biden” lawn signs. I’m sure the home owners are not worried about rabid McCain supporters ripping their signs down.

Bridge with two LEFT ends. Shelburne, MA

Monday was a breathtakingly beautiful day; not a cloud in the sky with a very slight autumn chill. Hubby and I stopped in Shelburne Falls, home to the Bridge of Flowers. I lost count of the number of Obama signs in the windows. Remember, this is a town with cafes, art galleries and yoga studios. What the inhabitants do for work, I haven’t a clue. But they can afford Priuses with the obligatory Obama bumper stickers. (Note: During this entire trip, we made sure to park the car with our “McCain Palin” stickers away from the street. We really like our Toyota Matrix.) Around 12 noon we were feeling like it was Beer O’Clock, so we scanned for a cute watering hole. We found one but we counted 5 Obama window signs facing the street. We got back on the road instead. It’s a shame. Hubby and I have returned to that town on numerous occasions thinking it would be a great place to retire but I don’t think we could fit into the culture. We would be rolling our eyes too much.

Further down Route 2 we veered off to explore the backroads leading to Rowe and Monroe. It’s a whole other world in that corner of the state. It’s an area to live in if you don’t want neighbors. Basically these towns are ”blink and you miss” kind of places. Hubby and I found them rather delightful. We meandered our way to Florida…MA. and got back onto Route 2. Once in the working class town of North Adams, we stopped at the Freight Yard Pub for a couple of pints and nachos. We needed nourishment before hitting our destination…Williamstown. But that gets into a whole ‘nother blog entry. In the meantime, visit my Flickr set of the trip.

Greetings from Florida, MA!!!

Martha’s Vineyard…Why Go?

Where can you pay a 30% mark-up on everything? Martha’s Vineyard!

Where can you get the Boston Globe and New York Times delivered to your seaside manse? Martha’s Vineyard!

Where can you spend $4.47 for gas? Martha’s Vineyard!

Where can you see what Cape Cod would be like as an island? Martha’s Vineyard!

For the last four years, I’ve taken the New Bedford ferry to Martha’s Vineyard to bike around the island with Swansea Brother, a.k.a. Roller Derby Brother.

We visit every VJ Day. (The second Monday in August is “Victory over Japan Day,” a state holiday in Rhode Island. I love this holiday because it’s so un-P.C.)

Don’t get me wrong… MV is a lovely place (Life is Good store in Vineyard Haven!). But the only reason I go is to spend time with my brother and this year I got to chill with my kick-butt niece.

Nantucket is a playground for the wealthy and MV is not far behind but you can still do family stuff and get in a nice 65 mile bike ride to boot! Check out more photos from the MV ride.

Kick-Butt Niece on the right.

Exit 7, off Route 95

One of my favorite New England towns is Portsmouth, NH. It’s about 45 minutes from Boston, situated along the Piscataqua River just over from Kittery, ME. Unfortunately, the town has been subsumed by Yuppie Culture (Life is Good, Starbucks, Gap, etc). There used to be a great Irish pub, Jack Quigley’s, that’s now a bistro called, Ak’s. Still, there are reasons to visit if you can look beyond the khaki:

* If you get trippy over old buildings, then visit Strawbery Banke, a Portsmouth neighborhood spanning four centuries of history. The Christmas Stroll is a great holiday tradition.

Serious Beer Drinker

* Funkiest eatery east of the Merrimac? The Friendly Toast. I always order a Mission Burrito and mimosa, no matter the time of day. If you can deal with the nose-ringed, tattooed wait servers who haven’t been trained in customer service, then you’ll have a super time.

* Looking for the right tartan to go with your shillelagh? Go to Celtic Crossing. Hubby loves this store; it’s where he bought his kilt (the one he wore to our wedding…SIGH). And it’s all TAX FREE!!!

* Finally, I can not stop in Portsmouth and NOT go here…Portsmouth Brewery, home of Smuttynose Beer. My favorite brew is the Old Brown Dog. The downside to the place…I’ll admit the brewpub is on the Yup-Yup side and they have printed peace signs on their beer coasters. But they do make excellent beer.

Ogunquit is La-La Land

I’m sure every state in the union has a town where all the artists cluster. For example in MA, I can think of Provincetown as a place where the painters chill out. In Maine I would say it was Ogunquit for all the THEATRE ARTISTS (notice the correct BRITISH “…TRE” spelling, not that provincial spelling which really separates the amateurs from the professionals).

I spent less than two hours in Broadway-by-the-Bay, but I noticed a few things:

* Obligatory “Life Is Good” store located in what was once a fisherman’s home. (Nice touch!)

Happy Chickens in La-La Land

* GREEN, ORGANIC, GREEN, ORGANIC. Even the chickens are happy!

* Sanctuary – a boutique in an old church building. You can still see the altar. I saw all the expensive, chi-chi items arranged artistically around the Lord’s Table. Very hip. I’m sure the 10 year old chinese kids making that pottery which looks like it was made up the road, are so proud. (I did look at the pottery labels – MADE IN CHINA.)

  * We can’t have trash bins that LOOK look like trash bins messing up our boucolic village. We must place the bins in gray, wooden receptacles and place wording on them to make people THINK. I was inspired to IMAGINATION, PERSISTENCE, and DILIGENCE.

Persistence!

 If only we could all (afford to) live in La-La Land…

Wells Beach, the French (Canadian) Riviera

I just got back from the Pine Tree State. I never knew that Quebec was only 2 hours from Leominster. Seriously, I had NO IDEA that Quebeckers flock to southern Maine. York, Wells, and Old Orchard Beaches are inundated (right now!) by those pale, funny talkin’ foreigners. In the motel parking lot nearly half the cars exclaimed, “Je me souviens.”

$$$

Here is some free investment advice: Don’t open a seafood restaurant or a mini golf park. Open yourself a franchise of poutine shacks from Kittery to Cape Elizabeth. The Canadian dollar is kickin’ George’s butt at the moment. Those frenchies are in hockey withdrawal and their loonies are just burning a hole in their speedos.