I feel like today being the anniversary allows me to completely skip over the fact that it has taken a year to write this post…. Sure that works.

When I first accepted the job in Saudi, one of the conditions was that I would be able to take a week and a half off in July to return Stateside to my father’s wedding. With this, I did not do a lot of traveling prior to this trip, due to upstart costs and flights associated with the trip. I chose Lufthansa because they had a 747 with a layover in Frankfurt. I had also worked out a scenario where I would arrive and depart through Boston Logan Airport. I absolutely love Boston. So this meant we could have at least one night in Beantown. I planned a night on the town and a morning full of activities before we headed up to Maine.

Customs

Arriving back to the states for the first time was very cumbersome. On my way out, I did not have my own luggage set, so I had borrowed mismatched suitcases from my parents. Some rolled, some didn’t. After a 6 hour flight, 12 hour walking tour, and 6 hour flight, I was exhausted. This compounded the luggage issue. My dad helped with the burden as we headed out to the car. Boston is also not the most fun town to drive in if you haven’t practiced. We made it to the Renaissance, and I needed to refresh. After this experience, I knew I needed to get my Global Entry card.

Dinner

I had read great things about many surrounding restaurants, but by the time I was through customs, to the car, at the hotel and out of the shower, most places had closed. We picked Row 34. But sadly the kitchen had closed by the time we got there. I had a couple beers, and then it was time to head over to Pastoral – Artisan Pizza for some food. It was time to head back for some sleep.

Brewery Time

Lucky for us, our hotel was located just down the street from Harpoon Brewery. It was so nice to get back into some delicious craft beer after my 6 weeks of dry country living. My dad and I ordered a couple flights while we waited for our food. I remember back in 2007, when I first tasted Harpoon IPA, it was one of my favourite beers for a long time. I enjoyed the nostalgia this beer brought back.

After this, we headed back to Row 34 to try the food. This time they were open. I had the Oyster Flight…. and it was tasty. While we waited for our food, I popped out and headed over to Trillium for some take away bottles. After securing the bottles, I went back to finish my meal. My dad and I wrapped up the meal and piled into Neytiri (my old blue Subaru) to head up to Maine.

Overall

My time back in Boston was very short, but it was just what the doctor ordered. We had stomachs full of delicious seafood and a trunk full of amazing beer. I was ready for the week.