(Almost) All is Right

If we were having a beer, you’d be confused by my opening remark.

“Welcome back!”

“Thanks, but I wasn’t gone.”

“I guess I should have said ‘welcome back, Cheryl’ to avoid the confusion.”

“Oh, right. I’m sorry, Cheryl, I didn’t see you. Unfortunately, I’m looking at him.”

“It’s OK, it’s good to be back. So, you boys still drinking, or did my replacement inspire an attitude of temperance?”

“Yuengling.”

“Meiomi. I trust that the glasses are clean.”

“Yes, clean glasses, frosted for his beer and appropriately shaped for your wine. Are you going to want some food?”

“Only if you promise better attention to detail than last week. I got the wrong wings, and blue cheese dressing.”

“How hard is it to bring Parm Pep?”

“Apparently, very hard, and I got Teriyaki wings.”

“And my grinder had onions and Mozzarella cheese. The guy belongs at McDonalds.”

“Might be where he’s working. You boys know I would have been here if it hadn’t been for that hurricane.”

“You almost came back to one. I guess Boston had a close call.”

“Boston did not have a close call. I was in Boston Tuesday and Wednesday. It was overcast, but it barely rained.”

“The guy on the news was saying…”

“…the guy looking for photo-op? Let me guess, in his parka on the waterfront.”

“A little touchy?”

“Sorry, when you travel, you want the weather forecast to be accurate, not entertaining.”

“You go to Boston a lot, but you hardly ever share any pictures.”

“Well, that’s because ‘Boston’ usually means Burlington. That’s like coming to Windsor and saying you were in Hartford.”

“Don’t be picking on my town, Windsor’s a fine place.”

“I know, so is Burlington, but strip malls and modern buildings aren’t interesting.”

“Oh right, you prefer buildings that have been partially blown apart.”

“Here’s your beer and your wine. I’ll come back after you guys are done. Nice going, Dan.”

“It was just a figure of speech. You know, the difference between staying in the burbs and staying downtown.”

“So, Skyline Charlie, where’d you stay this time?”

“I stayed downtown. Ironically, I even paid extra for a high-floor room with a city view.”

“You paid? I thought you were on business.”

“I paid the extra cost. It was only twenty dollars, but that’s on me.”

“Oh, OK. But why ironic?”

“Like I said, overcast. Most of the skyline wasn’t visible.”

“Ouch. There’s twenty bucks worth of beer money you’ll never see again.”

“That’s OK; you’re paying today.”

“I guess that’s fair. You paid for that train wreck last week.”

“I did, but you have to leave Cheryl a better tip than I gave Skippy.”

“Skippy? Wow, he must have been bad. Let’s consider that first round on me.”

“Aww, thanks, Cheryl. So, traveling boy, where did you eat in Boston?”

“Where I always eat the first night I’m in Boston, Jacob Wirth’s.”

“After your buddies were busting you on Facebook about your pedestrian choices, I thought you might have tried a Sushi place.”

“I took a picture of an ‘organic’ Sushi place for those guys – on my way to Jacob Wirth’s.”

“So, what’s Jacob known for? Meat and potatoes?”

“Potato pancakes, Schnitzel, Spaetzel and beer – forty five beers on tap.”

“I recognize the word, but what exactly is Spaetzel?”

“In this case, noodles.”

“In this case, Gracie?”

“It can also refer to dumplings, but I love noodles.”

“No organic Sushi for you?”

“No, and I question their labeling it as ‘organic.’ What would inorganic Sushi be?”

“Very bad. How about some barbeque wings, or a nice Pepperoni Pizza?”

“Pizza sounds good, Cheryl. You want in on that?”

“That does sound good, and bring us another round, please. As for the labeling, there’s more to Sushi than fish.”

“What does that mean?”

“Everything has to be fresh, the rice, the wasabi, the veggies. The Sushi you get at 7-11 didn’t start with fresh wasabi.”

“What kind of Slurpee goes with Sushi?”

“Hey, it’s popular. It looks good, it’s fun to eat, and if properly prepared, it’s good for you.”

“You can say the same thing about Wiener Schnitzel.”

“You’re hopeless. Besides, I thought you didn’t like Veal.”

“I don’t like the idea of Veal.”

“But you ate it…”

“Actually, at Jacob Wirth’s, you can choose Veal or Pork Cutlet for your Schnitzel. I had pork.”

“But even with 45 beers, I’m guessing you had Yuengling?”

“Jake’s Lager. I do try to sample local beers.”

“Speaking of local, we just added New England Brewery’s ‘Ghost Pigeon Porter’ to our taps. I think your daughter and that guy from Chicago might like that.”

“That’s good news, Cheryl. Unfortunately, my friend from Chicago won’t be coming back, he’s moving on from our company.”

“Aw, that’s sad. I liked him.”

“Me, too. I guess I’ll have to go to Chicago more often.

Oh yeah, this is the place.

This trip, keeping the laptop out of harm’s way.

I do like Thia food, but not tonight.

No, no Sushi for this boy.

Wiener Schnitzel with Spaetzel.

Potato pancakes and roasted apples.

I like to eat at the bar, especially this one.

45 beers on tap

Oh my those look good.

(Quincy Market) I think you can find a better lobster roll.

Pizza pizza (Quincy Market) I think you can do better.

Not sure what was going on, but there were about seven fire trucks here.

Even in the middle of the night, the clouds are pretty low.

There’s a lot of construction in the area of my hotel, and construction means cranes.

This was taken as I checked into my high-floor-city-view room.

The Boston skyline is pretty – trust me.

I thought I’d check one more time before going to bed. Nope, still foggy.

I’m not sure how tall that building is.