Boston June 20-27

Krisann and I were atypically motivated for a Sunday morning and completed all our chores and boat shut-down procedures with enough time to catch the 11:00 ferry.  Today marked 20 consecutive days on Krisanngria. The stays aboard were never intended to be this long.  Initially we planned to be working from home and traveling to PTown for long weekends for the duration of the summer.   But one of the many lessons that sailing has hammered home is that plans change, change often, and all that you can do is adjust.  Krisann is taking much deserved extended time for herself and I can work remotely, so we decided to be away as much as possible this summer.  Travel home will only be for appointments, family commitments or when the weather is really too bad.   As a result this spell has been the longest stretch aboard for us since a 10 day trip to Martha’s Vineyard a few years ago. We were ready for a reset.

Naturally, for our first ride home, we were blessed with one the few beautiful days thus far this summer. This one-good-day was not completely lost to us though, since the ferry passes have priority boarding. We could snatch up the good seats in the lee of the wind to enjoy the weather outside.  It should be noted that our passes did not, however, afford us any protection from the cool stares blowing our way as we skipped to the head of the line.  

• 

• 

The luxury motor yacht “Excellence” drafted us out of the harbor and we skipped across the flat seas of Cape Cod Bay to arrive at Long Wharf by 1:30. We fetched the car from Savin Hill Yacht Club and soon were enjoying the luxuries of home reclining in front of the idiot-box.   Twenty days with virtually no TV, and in less than 30 minutes home and I’m wasting my time again. 

My first weigh-in in 3 weeks showed a loss of 3 pounds- this despite eating like a Roman emperor and getting no workouts other than walking- to the coffee shop, to the restaurant, to the ice cream stand…  All that toting, carrying, balancing, lifting, and a million other little movements must be burning the calories.  Nevertheless, while I am home I am learning some body weight exercises that should be transferrable to a school yard in PTown.  And, while on the topic of health, we are both griping about the state of our backs.  The mattress on Krisanngria is custom made, but too hard.  The one here at home is new and too soft.  We need the Goldilocks solution.  As we’ve said more than once since arriving in PTown:  “we aren’t 20 years old”

For the next few days Krisann and I took advantage of our time home to squeeze  in as much activity as we could in the city as our next stop would take us to the South Shore for a wedding shower and clambake.  Our morning walks took us  through the equipment trucks and the movie sets currently in residence in the South End.  Appointments got ticked the to do lists… doctors, hair, etc.  From our nice dry bedroom we heard the thunder and drumming rain of yet another large front as it passed through on its east bound track while I worried away about our damp v-berth 50 miles away.  I’m the worrier.

The heat of Wednesday evening gave us with the chance to do some “stooping”.   A true brownstone has a good stoop.  Our stoop is covered by a brick archway so we are relegated to the sidewalk much to the amusement of our neighbors. The stooping  equipment  (chairs, table, wine, ice bucket, glasses,) was lugged down to the sidewalk for a couple of hours of sipping and chatting with the passersby.  

Because there is no food fridge, we ate out. Thursday, we dined outside at the Buttery with our chairs precariously balanced on the rolling brick sidewalks.    At the corner of Union Park Street and Shawmut Ave, it has, one of the prettiest locales for outdoor dining in Boston.  Friday we met up with a friend at Grill 23 for Old Cubans and Ribeye.  Grill 23 has been one of our go-to places over the past year.  It is one of the few that stayed open throughout the pandemic and each time we visited we questioned why we didn’t go more often pre-COVID.  It was a nice visit and we were able to catch up on the scene at the other steak house around the corner… Abe and Louies’– not that we were part of the “scene”, but again, during COVID,  Abe’s was the only place that had a semblance of a scene.

My niece’s bridal shower was held at her family home on the South Shore on Saturday.  The back yard was trimmed out  in all white for the ladies, while the four men  “supervised” from the cheap seats on the deck above.  After the shower guests had departed and only family remained… we were treated to a clambake/party lasting well into the night.  Van Halen cranked up to 10 on the turntable (yes, turntable) indelicately announcing the cessation of the party party’s end in the early hours of the new day.

Sunday.  Did nothing.  Absolutely nothing.  We sat in the corner of the porch for 12 hours straight just chatting and eating.   It was lovely.