Some asked me why I was going up to see my family in New England this weekend and if there was a special occasion of some sort. No special occasion technically, but getting to see them is special. There weren't any holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, concerts or sporting events we were attending. I just wanted to see them. Looking ahead, I have a fun, busy few weekends ahead of me here in Jersey and also Las Vegas. My next best realistic chance of getting to see my family up in New England is early June. I wanted to take the opportunity possible to take a long weekend and see them while it was possible. What was I looking forward to the most? Just simply hugging them, relaxing and watching our local Boston sports teams together. The Boston Bruins and Boston Celtics both had playoff games at The TD Garden, plus the Red Sox were playing close games as well. This is probably the first time they ever have all won while I've been home visiting.
I was able to take a half day off Friday, and hit the road by 12. Some would say I had rather tough timing, but my timing was much better than it could have been. I drove by a record 6 multi-car accidents. Unreal. Thank goodness my timing was I just came up on them within 5 minutes of after each of them happened. While it was inconvenient having to battle traffic, repeatedly switching lanes to one that was passable, my timing could have been much worse if just moments earlier. That being said, it took me close to 5 hours than 4 making it back up to New England. When I made it to Bog Iron Brewery to see Padre and Zannie (Dad and sister,) everyone was happy to see me. I was very happy to enjoy one of their delicious, ice cold IPA beers. After that long ride, it felt like heaven on Earth. It was great to see Padre and Zannie, along with Bog Iron friends Sully, Gabby, Liz, and others too. They always are good sports about starring in my Epic Weekend In Pictures and helping me out with my content.
Saturday morning I was able to hang out spending quality time with Grammy aka "Captain Chaos," (we say it out of love, I swear!) and my Aunty Donna. It was great just spending an hour catching up with them and also talking about so many fun events I've done recently just within the last month. If you think about it, I have had a rather Epic past several weeks. Celebrity emceeing SCARC's Annual Honors Dinner, our Home & Garden Show, Newton Medical Center's Wine & Roses (where we had our picture taken with a horse for their Kentucky Derby theme,) Spinning For Hope, and probably even more that I'm forgetting.
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Saturday early afternoon I went out with my parents and wanted something light. I was just simply craving a house salad with italian dressing. Healthy and boring? Absolutely! I didn't want to get filled up before what was likely going to be a hearty dinner meal at Geno's in Mansfield. Geno's in Mansfield, Massachusetts has won several awards throughout the years for their New England Clam Chowder. It's so fantastic at times I would get it to go and have my amazing family help me package it for cooling purposes to bring back to New Jersey. Saturday night I ended up doing just basic buffalo chicken tenders, but the company was what made everything. Getting to enjoy "Dinner Bunch," as we call it with my Madre, Padre, Zannie, Uncle JDawg and Aunty Soup (yes, her real name is Sue but I've been butchering it since being a little kid, just ended up sticking,) was fantastic.
We were then able to make it home in time for the Bruins playoff game after the Red Sox had just won. Success! It really was such a highlight getting to be with my family and watch our local sports games. I think sometimes in life, that's really all you need.
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Sunday morning I was able to go to Gillette Stadium like normal during my visits. It's still so different with the huge new lighthouse we went on top of during my birthday November 25th. I'll get used to it. I do still highly recommend getting your picture on top of it as long as you don't have fear of heights like I do.
Our first order of business was going out to brunch at Bog Iron Brewery. They had just started offering brunch last month, and we wanted to check them out for sure. We all had great meals. It definitely felt being there on a Sunday morning as opposed to the normal happy hour timeslot but still so much fun.
Sunday early afternoon I paid a visit to my sister Zannie who was working at Splittsville. I don't know whether to call them Howl At The Moon / Splittsville Luxury Lanes or whichever, but either way, it's the fun nice bowling alley / restaurant at Gillette Stadium. I had a great time getting to meet some of her coworkers who I've always heard fun stories about, but never met them in person.
I was then able to enjoy Sunday afternoon with Padre and JDawg watching the Celtics win! We had a great afternoon hanging out, and being able to joke around a bit with the Celtics usually having the upper hand comfortably. Great times.
Monday I did my usual goodbye lunch with Madre and Padre. Without fail, Madre and I are always the first ones to tear up once we go back to our cars as I get ready to drive back here in Jersey.
I'm happy to report my drive back here was much less adventurous than my ride up there with multiple car accidents. We'll take that victory for sure. Thank you so much for taking the time to read my Epic Weekend In Pictures. Next weekend, we'll be doing our first ever St. Jude Radiothon with our 3 local iHeartRadio stations, 103.7 NNJ, 102.3 WSUS, and 106.3 The Bear. I've always enjoyed listening to these, and am psyched our stations are now in position to help. Here we go!
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