So
it's the last week of classes meaning Winter Break is imminent and I've still
not completed Thanksgiving's blog update. While I have some time on my hands
(pahaha, who am I kidding, I'm ludicrously busy) I thought I'd fill in the gaps for the
fans back home. Here goes nothing, Wednesday 21st December marked the start of
Thanksgiving Break at BG and the British had a plan in store. Mitch got up at
the crack of dawn to retrieve the hire car we would spend the following ten
hours in. With all our baggage satisfying to trunk of the Chevvie
and a majority of the back seat we embarked on our journey to Albany, New York.
I’m going to level with you, I can’t really report on the voyage there as I was
unconscious for drive across Ohio, the board cross to Pennsylvania and the
following state line breach into New York. I did regain consciousness for the
final stretch to Albany but even then very little antics can take place in an
enclosed space when it is mandatory for your seatbelts to be fastened and you’re
securely penned in by belongings.
We
arrived safely yet encapsulated in darkness at Seamus’ household just in time
to gorge on some tasty home-made burgers and appreciate some refined banter
about college campus and the like. Thanksgiving morning rolled round and I
awoke, slightly disgusted at the fact I had once again passed the fuck out but
this time fully clothed. Once I was showered and as presentable as the sore-thumb
adorning fuchsia hair can be, we assembled alongside Seamus’ friends at the
local park in preparation for Thanksgiving breakfast. The American youth, being
the tradition rejecting rebels they are, have devised an additional practise to
Thanksgiving entitled Friendsgiving. As I understand it is Thanksgiving dinner
with friends that may or may not involve the inclusion of copious amount of
alcohol. Though we did not partake in this event I think to assume Thanksgiving
breakfast at Denny’s is a similar approach.
With
our tummy’s reasonably satisfied we ventured back home for some festive fun in
the form of Scattegories. I’m feeling real apathetic right now and my bed is
just laughing at me temptingly so if you desperately need to know what this is –
Google it as I do not have the energy.
After
a bit more competitive rivalry and some trivial television it was time to start
meeting the family. This was actually a really pleasant experience as Seamus’
family were exceedingly welcoming and by that I mean they fed me and called me
Adele so I was content. As I’ve said I’m recapping what feels like a distant
memory now thus cannot recall the exact menu nor did I pull my usual hi-jinks
and photograph everything, but my good friend Google has once again come to my
rescue.
Eventually
family started returning to their own hospices and our food began to digest, it
was time for the teenagers and old man Mitch to dominate the living room. Some
not so light-hearted comedy was presented by my future husband Bo Burnham (this
is not an advertising plug but go check him out, you will not regret).
Before
we knew it, Friday morning was upon us. I was reluctant to wake up as I had
discovered a new addiction to virtually running around slaying deer and wolves
then muttering ‘Yama’ as I skinned them – yes, I mean playing Assassin’s Creed –
which robbed me of valuable sleeping hours. Nevertheless, Mitch was not putting
anything on hold for me so I had to get my shit together and prepare myself for
the 3 hour drive to Boston. This time a point of interest arose during the car
ride as we entered the densest patch of fog for a noteworthy period of time and
if I’m really honest with you I thought the other side would be Narnia or the
River Styx. Unfortunately this was also when we released that a majority of the
hair dye on my head had transferred itself onto the headrest of the back seat.
As
usual we arrived at our destination with very little idea of where our hotel
was or where anything was really. We deduced parking up on the nearest car park
for photographing opportunity was clearly the best idea. We paid for this
mistake, to the tune of $13 for 30mins. Day light robbery if I do say so
myself. Surveillancing the SatNav we learned we weren’t too far from Harvard
University and so head towards the flashing little dot on the iPhone. With a
Starbucks in hand, we were strolling along the street that is home to Harvard
Law School when the sleep deprivation kicked in. In a very sophisticated manner
we elected to point at Harvard Law School, one of the most prestigious universities
worldwide, and imitate Borat’s ‘Eees Niiiiice’. Keele’s finest everyone. Our
yobbish behaviour didn’t even there as Mitch encouraged me to climb statues for
photo opportunity. Only in retrospect did I recognise this was probably wasn’t
a wise move.
With
the hotel located, prematurely stocked Christmas store visited and very picturesque
setting captured on our DSLR’s, we determined our touristic plan submitting ourselves
back into the heart of Boston to follow the ironic named Freedom Trail for the
successive hours that followed. I’ve taken the liberty to include an interactive
Freedom Trail below
I
would be more descriptive of what we were educated on during the saunter but
much like 90% of American history it mainly consisted of “The British
discovered America, then there was a war and we flipped them off in order to
become an independent nation…” Trust me, when I can’t mask your accent being
the only British on the tour gets awkward.
Seeing
as we were in Boston, a city renounced for its fresh sea food, we nominated The
Oyster House for dindins. After several minutes of standing in what we thought
was a reception area waiting to be served, we realised reservations were a
pre-requisite so we exited the establishment hungry with our heads hung in
slight embarrassment. That is until we walked 10 foot down the street and
entered the next moderately priced eatery. I had clam chowder, it was
delectable. Having force fed Mitch some sustenance containing crustaceans, it
was time for the train home and apparently some sleep after questionable
conversations about sibilance and fricative sounds. If only we had recorded the
tête-à-têtes we had that day, we’d be YouTube millionaires. We defined slap
happy.
Our
second and last day in Boston was a relaxing one. Having had SEPARATE baths the
night before and an abundance of sleep we were energised for a day of playing
on the beach and shopping. I haven’t concluded whether or not it is regrettable
that we didn’t witness first hand brawling on Black Friday I have concluded
that my fluffy dolly shoes from American Eagle were a steal at only $20. All
shopped out and ready to go we set sail for Albany once again and with that
another excursion came to a close. A tearful departure was had on Sunday
morning but we all made it securely back to Bowling Green in one piece. Stain
remover was bought and luggage was unloaded and that was the end of that.
I
would like to take this opportunity to thank Seamus’ parents for their
hospitality over the weekend from providing us with someone to sleep to feeding
us. You certainly made us feel really welcome the whole time we were in your company
and I for one am incredibly grateful. You have a lovely home and a lovely set
of children and I am proud to think you semi-adopted me. J
With
that, it is time for bed. Check back in the next few days to see photographs
uploading to this update and Columbus lights blog post is still to come. I also think it's worth mentioning that I can now go to Starbucks without muttering a word and get an tall eggnog latte with my name and a smiley face adjacent to it. Oops.
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