a message to

local news...Save the drama for your mama.* There's a voluntary evacuation for the county that started at 6:00 this morning. I'm so happy the local news reported that to me. I appreciate that...but they still get on my nerves. Why is their cone of whatever always worse than TWC? It's funny how everything for their viewing area is always in the worse situation. Yes, I understand we will get rain regardless but enough of the drama. I'm so sick of it. Anything for ratings. I guess that's how it works. For an unbiased weather report I guess I'll stick to the Weather Channel.

Oh, thanks to the local newspaper I also know there is a prisoner on the loose. See that? Local news is so wrapped up in building up the storm, they're failing to mention other things.

*NOTE: While I'm on my soapbox, I'd also like to direct this message to all the drama queens out there. (Even though they more than likely don't realize who they are.) I don't understand why they think the world revolves around them. Guess what. I HAVE MY OWN LITTLE WORLD GOING ON RIGHT HERE, as does everyone else. (Chances are, as much as I like to worry, I'm probably not sitting here dwelling on your problems.) They need to get over themselves. Yes, I hate that anyone may have problems or less than perfect situations but the rest of the world is not rotating around that. They honestly need to get over themselves.

Yes, I'm done.

now back to the

vacation...

We left Rhode Island and drove on over to Massachusetts. It was pretty early when we got into Boston so we kept driving and went to Salem. As neat as the city was, I only got one picture.

It was so neat. I loved all the old buildings and stories. We stopped for lunch. It wasn't so great. We started with corn chowder. I don't know about you but I'm not big on greasy soup with Veg-All. The dessert was horrible. I had high hopes of the cannoli being wonderful. I broke it up on my plate so it would look like I had eaten a lot of it...just to be nice. We finally got to our hotel in Medford. We went for dinner down the road from the hotel. The girl at the front desk gave us a list of popular nearby restaurants, pointing out the favorite. Yuck. Oh well, we got back to the hotel and settled in. The next morning we took the train into North Station. We started our day walking through the North End with a quick stop for espresso and biscotti. Let me just say YUM. After a quick bite, we walked the streets. Here are some pictures.

Want to see more? Okay.I guess it really is one of those things that has to be seen to really enjoy it. We thoroughly enjoyed it. We stopped to tour Paul Revere's house. I loved all the buildings. I loved the cobblestone streets. I loved the food. For the record, from New York to Boston, those were some of the nicest people. That means a lot coming from a southern girl.

After our walking and stopping for some really great Italian food for lunch, we headed for Faneuil Hall. I did some shopping, we stopped for a drink at Cheers then bought tickets for a trolley tour and harbor cruise. (We tried to get tickets for the duck tours but they were sold out.) We took the cruise at the perfect time. It started to pour in the middle of it. Here are some pictures.

See the rain coming? The boat makes a stop for anyone wanting to tour this ship. We didn't get off because of the rain. In the background you can see the Bunker Hill monument.
When we got back to land, we hopped on the trolley for a really cool tour. There were a couple of stops I'd liked to have gotten off and seen but we were right in the middle of 5:00 traffic and I didn't want to get in a stressful situation...you know, like being stranded with no ride back to the beginning. Anyway, after the trolley ride we walked over to the Union Oyster House. It was really good, I loved the cornbread. Also, we sat across the aisle from JFK's designated booth. That was kind of neat. After dinner we took the train back to Medford. Call me a wimp or maybe I've seen The Departed one too many times but I wanted to be in before dark. It doesn't matter though. We thought Boston was great, especially the North End.

we interrupt

the regularly scheduled post to bring you this important image.
While we're on the topic...Oh heck. I'll go ahead and show you my favorite.

the next morning

we drove out of New Haven and headed along the coast to Mystic. Before getting to Mystic we stopped at a beach. These people are nuts. It was 68 degrees out and a van full of kids showed up in bathing suits.Once in Mystic, we parked and walked along Main Street to visit all the neat shops they have. During all of this, we had to stop for lunch at, of course, Mystic Pizza. Cosme hadn't heard of the movie until we went. That pizza was good.

After lunch, a little more shopping was necessary. We then drove to Stonington Vineyard for some wine tasting.

Next was Foxwood. What could make a great vacation even better? Generous slots. I already decided I was only going to spend $100. So, $100 and 10 minutes later, we cashed out with a little over $300. We left the casino and started towards Rhode Island.

Let me first say how much I love Priceline. I'm totally addicted. I want to get hotel rooms just to see how cheap I can get them for. So, I got this room at the Renaissance Hotel in Providence for $59. I had to get a couple of pictures so everyone could see what a good deal I got.

We knew which restaurant we were going to that night. I also knew what appetizer I wanted to try. I asked the front desk about the walking distance to the restaurant and she mentioned a coupon. She wasn't sure if she had any but she'd check. Guess what. She found one. Also, it was for the appetizer I wanted.
Once again, we got to bed early. Not only were we heading out the next morning for Boston but we were also still recovering from New York.

everything worked out

perfectly in NYC. I'll explain. I was so excited I forgot my notes on what I wanted to see and where it was. Our train got into Grand Central Terminal around 7am. We bought a tourist map of Manhattan and the subway routes. After walking for a bit, we stopped for croissants and coffee so we could take a minute to read over the map. We decided to head to Rockefeller Center first. (After reading reviews, I decided against the Empire State Building and for Top of the Rock instead.) We headed up 5th Ave. and stumbled upon St. Patrick's Cathedral. Yes, I'd wanted to go but it just worked out to be on our path.We then headed over to Rockefeller Center and bought the Rock Pass which would get us to the Top of the Rock observation deck, a tour of NBC studios and a tour of Radio City Music Hall. Our first stop was the observation deck. Even though clouds were approaching, we had great views.One side offered a view of the Empire State Building while the other side offered a view of Central Park.

We finished with the sights up at the top and headed down for the studio tour. Boring. It was so boring and such a waste of time, we passed on Radio City Music Hall. We were in no hurry because it was raining by this time. (Remember how I said everything worked out perfectly? I needed to mail Eric's Six Flags season pass to him and we just happen to come across a post office in the building.) We wanted to find the right street, check out the severity of the rain and scope out the next sight. Somehow, we ended up at the subway. So we decided it was time to ride down to see the Brooklyn Bridge. Once on the subway, we weren't sure where to get off and swap trains.

See that girl over there reading? I, you know...being from Texas and all, asked her for directions. I think I scared her. She was really nice, told us which train to take next, got off at our stop and pointed out the direction to go. As soon as we got up to the street, we stopped for an umberella...even though the rain was just about finished. Then it was on to the Brooklyn Bridge.

After several attempts to get our picture together, we gave up and took one of each other. Once we got to the halfway point, we tried again to get a shot with the city behind us. A man came up and offered to help, so we let him. (If you look to the far left, you can see the Statue of Liberty.)

Once we walked across the bridge and back, we stopped at a deli for lunch. After our sandwiches and cheesecake, we headed over to the Staten Island Ferry. On the way we stopped in the NYPD museum. There were some pretty neat things in there. There were a lot of items they picked up from the debris from the World Trade Centers with tv screens of what was going on that day. I didn't stick around for too long. It was too real. I did get a picture of one of Al Capone's hats and machine guns. (I love that kind of stuff...not organized crime...historical artifacts.)

(I got a couple of pictures of Cosme but I'm not posting them because I'm sure he wouldn't want me to.) I decided we wouldn't go to the actual Statue of Liberty but instead take the Staten Island Ferry past it. It was a nice ride once I got my pictures. (With no help from the lady who tried to squeeze me out of the way.)
Once back to the ferry terminal, we took the subway to Times Square. We stopped for t-shirts and headed back to Grand Central Terminal. It was such a fun day. It doesn't seem like we did too much but our day was full. We were so sore and tired. We didn't even make it out for dinner, we had to get room service. I'm not complaining because it was pretty good. I wasn't feeling very well that evening. After a couple of Motrin, a pot (no, not a cup...a pot) of hot tea and a good night's sleep, I was better. The next morning we headed out of New Haven and went on a road trip to Providence. I'll save that for the next post.

today i'll post

some pictures from New Haven. We had a great time on our trip. We spent the first two nights in New Haven. We went walking through the area to find dinner.

We found this place called Basta. The food was wonderful. They had a lot of vegetarian dishes and went on about their organic ingredients. Cosme had a chicken dish and I had this steak with gorgonzola and red peppers. MMM... It was so good I HAD to get a picture of it (so I can try to copy).

All the buildings in that area are so pretty. I didn't get many pictures. I actually didn't take many pictures all week. It's just one of those things where you have to see it in person to enjoy it. We walked around a lot but wanted to get to bed early to catch the train to New York early the next morning. Here's a view from our hotel room.

strat really

missed Eric.

have you seen

Eric lately? He's probably doing this.
Sipping on a Diet Coke while speed-texting on his Blackberry. This was one night at the Mucky Duck.

welcome to my

cathouse. Seriously people. A year ago I would never have considered a cat. I've always hated cats. So what happened? Your guess is as good as mine.

Strat is the indoor cat. He's not demanding. He likes to be scratched occasionally and prefers to be left alone. I learned he also likes to sneak into the dryer when I accidentally leave the door open.

Oh, he also likes to take naps.

Lucille is the outdoor cat. I almost sent her packing when I found her "mess" in the flower bed. I decided to give her another shot and put a litter box in the garage for her. So far, so good. I caught her trying to earn her keep.

Since the heat and mosquitos have been pretty bad, I've been letting Lucille in. Oh, let's face it. She's been inside for about a week now. (She WILL go back out once everything lets up.) Anyway, she's not like Strat. She's very affectionate. If we sit, she jumps up in our laps and "makes biscuits" as Lauren calls it. Here's a shot I got of Lucille yesterday. Yeah, I wouldn't exactly call this an action shot.

don't judge a

book by its cover. As pretty as it was, delicious it was not. While sitting in the window of the cupcake shop, I took a picture of myself. See me in Cosme's glasses?
While I'm on the topic of self portraits, here I am again.Yes, I'm lying on the ground with my legs up against the building.

i wonder what

could possibly be in this box. Oh yeah, it must be a guitar. Eric took out a loan to pay for this guitar, a Les Paul Menace. So far he likes it. So far I like him having a loan...the chores are endless. [Insert crazed "mwhahaha"-like laugh here.] We have list of possible chores with the amount that gets knocked off the balance after completing said chore. Oh, there's also a penalty for having a bad attitude.

i set up another

computer in the guest room a while back. After all the frustration with the laptop and installing my camera stuff on the kitchen computer, I gave up and started doing "my thing" on that computer. It has internet problems. My pictures go from the camera to that computer, from that computer to a cd and from a cd to the kitchen computer. Fine, I can deal with that...quite well actually. Eric spilled Diet Coke on the kitchen keyboard. In the middle of the night he stole my keyboard and set it up in the kitchen. Deep down I just know that one day I might have good luck with a computer and get by without so many problems.

here's lucille

napping on the recycling bag.

Here she is hugging Strat. (Well, playing.)

Here's a better idea of their size difference.

Every once in a while I'll let her in the laundry room to play with Strat. He likes to play with her but she starts growling and hissing. Then she goes back out to kill June bugs. She was on the front walkway yesterday when I opened the door. Strat got out and went to grab her. Then it was as if he realized how hot it was outside and said, "screw this, I'm going back in with the a/c". I didn't even have to chase him, he turned around and ran back inside.