The Best of Times

Salutations everyone, it has been quite a while since I have sat down and taken the time to write. Today I wanted to bring you all up to speed with what the hell I have been up to for the past few months. For your convenience, I will break it into three parts since it will be a lengthy segment. Alright, let's start from the beginning shall we?

[Middle of February]
It reached exactly one year since I proposed to my girlfriend back in California. We both have been working like dogs, spending majority of the week at our two part time jobs. Finally, we reached that point where we needed time to relax and rejuvenate. Ivana made plans in advance with her uncle Luis and his boyfriend Kenny to go visit in Boston for a weekend. While looking for tickets, we found a reasonable round trip bus ride for forty-four dollars. Within no time, we were already getting out of our Uber to find the bus location. After the driver had left, I decided to tap all of my pockets an immediately realized I had lost my phone. Not panicking whatsoever, I wrote it off as a blessing in disguise. Thankfully a week prior, I backed up all the important files before this incident occurred. Walking quickly from one side of 30th St. Station to the other, we found the bus location and migrated to our designated seats. Looking eye to eye, we both were feeling giddy about exploring new territory on the east coast.

So it goes...

One could imagine an ass cramping bus ride lasting for roughly eight hours. Being overdressed, I recall heavily sweating in the tiny plastic seat. Majority of my time was spent surfing social media gaining inspiration from the users I follow. From time to time I would look out the window and catch myself referencing places I have already seen in my recent past. I was trying to fall asleep but kept failing, due to the coffee I had before we left the house. Once we reached our fifteen minute break, I went outside and immediately started to stretch every part of my aching body. We both went to grab a snack and saw the bus driver signaling for everyone to get back on the bus. With only another hour until Boston I was becoming impatient, constantly counting the minutes until we arrived.

Getting in Kenny's car, I fell like a ton of bricks in the back seat. I felt incredibly relaxed once we arrived in Boston. While I was sleeping, Ivana was throwing punches at me and I didn't feel a thing nor did I wake up. The three of us were laughing hysterically about it once I arose from my slumber. The snow out front of Kenny's house was three feet tall and chiseled out nicely. Going inside we started to make ourselves comfortable. In a matter of minutes we both passed out for seven hours with no disturbances. Upon waking up we were offered to go to By The Pound and Goodwill in New Hampshire. Spending what I believe was four dollars, we got a marvelous amount of goodies for ourselves and our friends back in Philly. Stepping out of the automatic doors we walked a few feet and into Goodwill to do some additional shopping. Sorting through the racks, I was able to grab some really nice threads. When we all met up again we headed back home. I was amazed by how close all the states were to each other. Being from the West Coast if you're not taking a plane or high speed train it will take several hours to move around. Arriving home we had a light dinner with some red wine and talked up a storm with Kenny about everything we could possibly think of. Before we knew it the clock read "2:00 am" and Kenny had to wake up in a few hours to pick up Luis from the bus station. We wished each other a goodnight and parted ways until the morning.

Weekend Wonderland

The next day we were presented with a tantalizing breakfast by chef Kenny who suggested we should go explore downtown Boston with Luis. Finishing breakfast with the both of them we made our way to the train station. That day the train was running late which allowed us to make small talk to pass the time. Once we boarded, we were able to see all the small towns covered in a powdery layer of snow. Arriving our destination we became activated. We visited the Harvard statue, ate Chinese food, and were easily mesmerized by the simple things in life; it had to have been the new area. By the time we completed our list the sun had fallen. We met up with Kenny and walked through the one of the main parks in the downtown area. For some reason I had the desire to walk across an iced over pond, not realizing that the end was melted which caused me to make a leap so I wouldn't go under. Losing excitement we felt it was time to stop walking, we hailed an Uber to make our way to the Science Museum and saw a film in a unique dome theater. Unfortunately, I cannot recall what the film was about because I felt so relaxed that I passed out multiple times. Nonetheless, the experience was worth while. We heading back to Kenny's car and stopped at a top notch vegan restaurant. The food was phenomenal. They boys got small meals while Ivana and I pampered ourselves with lavishing dishes. Feeling content and generous the both of us ended up covering the entire bill and migrated home to hibernate for the rest of the night.

On our final day we went to Salem and spent a reasonable amount of the day popping in and out of shops and reviewing the history of the area. Out of the three days of being in Massachuesettes this day moved by the fastest. Feeling hungry we headed to a popular BYOB seafood joint called Brown's and drank some rolling rocks as well as red wine. Despite the long wait time it was some of the best seafood I ever had in my life. On our way home we went on a scenic route along the water front seeing large coastal mansions. Some of them being vacation homes of popular Hollywood celebrities. While ridding in the backseat I felt immensely grateful for the experience that the two have given us. It really was beyond words.

The return home was identical to the arrival. Before leaving, we said our goodbyes and thanked the both of them for their wonderful hospitality. Our batteries were recharged and we felt unstoppable. Little did I know that something was brewing for me and ended up occurring exactly two weeks later.