This was definitely a wonderful and action packed weekend. There were adorable puppies, out of this planet delicious food, gorgeous Fall Foliage sights, and most importantly, great times with my family. This weekend we started it off at Bristol Glenn in Newton. The future Seeing Eye Puppy group we've been joining lately was holding a wonderful Halloween event for the senior residents at Bristol Glenn. During this event, the club gave a fantastic, fun and educational demonstration. They showed many steps on how we're trying to train these potential future seeing eye puppies before they go away to college in Morristown. The residents asked great questions and we learned so much about this intense process. After the residents were able to see how these puppies are doing in their training, asked some fun questions, they then got to pet and play with the cute puppies. Cute puppies everywhere in hilarious costumes on a Friday night! If that isn't a great way to start your weekend, I don't know what is! So many of these puppies were downright adorable, and sometimes miserable in these costumes. Some of them might be less fans of dressing up in costume than me, and I haven't done that in over 30 years! That being said, it was explained to us this is great training for these puppies because after graduating from college they'll all be wearing Service Animal vests anyway. The 50-60 residents were all so happy enjoying this event. Bristol Glenn in Newton was so breathtaking. I had never been there before, always knew it was nice but wow. I was impressed. It felt more like a fancy hotel / home for everyone, beautiful lobby, a cute little General Country Store, Gift Shop, and much more. Girlfriend Brooks and I agreed it would definitely be a fun goal for us to retire there in a few decades!
Saturday morning we were on the road departing Vernon, New Jersey at 8am on the dot. Time for us to Ship Up To Boston! Two of my top goals were to see my parents Madre and Padre, also going to Faneuil Hall Quincy Market in Downtown Boston for my first time in a couple of years, and Brooks first time in over 20 years. Given our travel schedule and my loosely planned itinerary, it made the most sense for us to drive from Jersey up to Boston first, then see my parents after our trip. The drive from Vernon to Faneuil Hall was 4 hours door to door, the same commute it would have been going straight from Vernon to Mansfield, Massachusetts. We knew the weather was likely to be better Saturday and Sunday, plus if we went Sunday morning before my New England Patriots 1pm kick off many fun places might not even be open anyway. The drive up to Boston was one of the best and most beautiful drives you can possibly have all year. Each hour we went more north, the Fall Foliage became more intense and lovely. The Foliage became so much richer, crisper, and even more beautiful the closer to Boston we got.
My top priority was taking Brooks to Regina Pizzeria in Faneuil Hall. I knew that any line by the original Boston North End location would likely be hours long outside the door this time of year. This was the next best option we could take. Within one bite, Brooks looked up and said "oh wow. This is amazing." I was so happy. There was a violinist playing right near us in the middle of The Faneuil Hall Food Court, and she was extremely talented. The first song we heard by her was a Taylor Swift song, which made everyone there even happier. Boston was PACKED with this gorgeous Fall weather. The good thing is even though every single place was insanely packed, everyone was happy and in good spirits enjoying the weather and sights. Success. At one point, the line at the restroom in Faneuil Hall was much longer than earlier, which was already lengthy. Brooks looked slightly disappointed and said we can try going somewhere else later. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a low key looking Tavern that was only 30 feet to the left of us. We went into this Tavern called J.J. Donovan's Tavern. This was a perfect break for us. It was casual, rustic, dark and low key. We enjoyed our Guinness and people watching at the next door busy Faneuil Hall. It almost felt like we were taking a nice break and hiding from the storm of sensory overload. We then enjoyed looking at a Sugar candy store that was 2 stories, and had candy inventions I didn't even know existed. A cereal with mushrooms only? Wow. I probably would have loved that as a kid. As an adult it made me cringe!
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Saturday night we were able to meet up with Madre and Padre. They took us to one of my favorite restaurants, ever. Girlfriend Brooks was blown away with her first ever visit to Fresh Catch in Mansfield, Massachusetts. While we were in traffic on our way from Boston to Mansfield, Brooks pulled up their menu on her phone and was so impressed. She was impressed and almost overwhelmed because there were so many delicious looking seafood options. I kept stressing to her that we can't overcomplicate this on her first visit. Just relax, and enjoy one of the best Lobster rolls you'll ever have. We did the Connecticut Style Lobster Roll, which I've already been doing there for 15 years whether it was on the menu or not. A ton of delicious, scrumptious fresh lobster meat, in a roll with just melted butter. No celery, mayo, filler, etc. You're getting nothing but lobster meat, without having to cook or crack open anything. Brooks joked she felt like this was stealing, a phenomenal lobster meal without any effort involved whatsoever. As I promised, she is now dreaming still about that lobster roll days later. We had a wonderful time with Uncle JDawg/Jeff, Aunty Soup/Sue, Madre and Padre. I know, it's tough for everyone to keep up with all of my loved ones with nicknames, LOL.
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Sunday morning we were able to go see my Grammy, and my Aunty Donna and Uncle Buck/Chris too! That was a wonderful visit getting to see them. I can't wait to see them again next month for a longer time. We then went to Patriots Place Mall and Gillette Stadium. I always say if anyone wants to sign up for a Steve Allan Epic Weekend In Pictures, get comfortable walking shoes because I always love to see a ton. We first went to a Cranberry Bog Nature Trail that's right behind The Bass Pro Shops at Patriots Place Mall. This was even better than I expected and we had so much fun taking in the breathtaking sights, Foliage, and learning many fun facts about Cranberries. This was right on the money. I'm honestly mad at myself because even after the hundreds of times I've been to Gillette Stadium and Patriots Place Mall, this was my first time ever walking this trail. I'll definitely be trying to make this a part of my routine during months when it isn't totally freezing outside for me. I then took Brooks out Splitsville Howl At The Moon just moments after showing her off Gillette Stadium. This restaurant was not just one of my late sister Suzanne's 3 jobs she excelled at, they were absolutely a family together. She was with them even before they opened on day 1 nearly 15 years ago. We had a great time getting to see and surprise bartender friend Skye, who was one of Zannie's besties there and I always loved seeing her and boyfriend Jessie whenever possible. They still have an extremely touching and wonderful tribute near the Hostess stand to honor Zannie. This brings me and my parents to tears every single time we see it. Skye showed it to me so I could take a picture, send to Madre and Padre so we could save it.
Later on we had a great time watching the Patriots game on TV together with Madre and Padre. So often in life it can be the little things. It was a nice, relaxing football Sunday with my family. I promised everyone that we would be much more low key on Sunday as opposed to Saturday that was action packed even for me.
Monday we had a great farewell lunch at Fitzy's Pub with Madre and Padre, before making the trek back here to Jersey last night.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my Epic Weekend In Pictures. Time to start planning next weekend!