So, I am back from my weekend in Lowell.  It was filled with lots of interesting things..........

So, I am back from my weekend in Lowell.  It was filled with lots of interesting things...at least to me.  It was really great to meet my friend Pat King finally.  There is something about getting to actually hang out with people you have met online because it adds to the character of their words, whether it be just a plain email or something they wrote.  I am a very sensory person and hearing someones voice and watching their mannerisms changes the way I perceive things.

Friday was interesting.  The flights to Boston were ok but the drive up to Lowell, which would normally take 40 minutes....too over 2 hours.  It was rush hour on a Friday.  But I had a hot little Nissan Sentra to drive and people were actually nice about letting me change lanes and being polite.  Not something we noticed in Rhode Island or Connecticut this summer.  I wasn't half as nervous about driving as I thought I would be.  I had been 7 years since I drove in a city.  I did get lost once in Lowell.  It is a tangle of "turn this way only" lanes and one way streets.  So I cruised in and got to the hotel around 7pm.

I had dinner and then I started drinking.  Jack and Coke.  Oy.  I got fairly tipsy on this but then after that, we went to a dive bar and I had a beer or so, which really made me drunk, and then back to the hotel for more Jack and Coke.  I stayed up to my usual 4:30am and then fell into a coma.  I guess I was snoring like a train.  Oops!

We got up the next morning, showered and went for breakfast.  Pat and I walked over the Bootts Mill area and found a schedule, and saw the scroll for "On the Road" and also some family pictures and cool things.  We looked around this place and I got some great pictures.  Pat went back to join Katie as she had already been there trying to sleep off her over the top Jack consumption.  She was way hung over.  I tried to take a nap but y'all know I barely sleep at night let alone take a nap.  I left them to the sleeping and set out about the town.  I saw more interesting people and found a nice restuarant called Centro.

The Centro is a beautiful place.  The interior is the most gorgeous deep teal color accented with dark chocolates and golds, frosted glass, stainless steel and beautiful dark wood furniture.  I was given a small table by the window and it was nice to watch the world happen outside as if I didn't exist.  Those are my most favorite times to watch people.  I had a scrumptious Honeyed Chicken Salad with flame grapes and toasted almonds over a bed of organic greens with some plump slices of fresh Roma tomatos.  It also came with squares of foccacia and dipping oils.  After I was finished, I had a nice strong coffee and wrote.  The waitress was very beautiful and kind.  She told me I could stay as long as I wanted and write because she didn't need the table.  It was a tasteful lunch and made the day worth getting up.

I went and sat by the river and took in the canal and locks.  The river was being drained low for cleaning.  It was horrifying the amount of trash in the river.  Not just random garbage but huge pieces of junk.  Shopping carts, tires, toys, machines.  I just don't understand what makes people want to do that to a river when it could be such a beautiful thing to look at and admire.  But I enjoyed the sound of the water mixed in with the sounds of people milling about in the unusually warm weather.  I believe it was 88 degrees on Saturday....in October....in Massachusettes. Go figure.

I met back up with Pat and Katie and we hung in the hotel room a bit after they had their lunch and then we set out to see David Amram play music while others read letters written to family and friends by Jack Kerouac.  It was at this place called Ricardo's.  We had a basic map and Katie had it at first and she wasn't sure which way to go so I started to lead the pack.  She decided that it looked like I was leading us in the wrong direction.  So I relented and took the other direction.  We started walking through this residential area that was predominately Portuguese/Brazilian.  It was an interesting little hood.  The others had their doubts so I stopped and asked directions from a nice gentleman on a side street.  We had been heading in the proper direction.  Again we walked a ways and it seemed as if the houses would never end, but seeing that we were in a Latin neighborhood and the place was called Ricardo's, we continued.  I stopped in front of a local grocery and asked this old Portugese man if we were going in the right direction.  He smiled at me with stars in his eyes and said "No comprende englais", so I told him "gracias" and went into the store.  Two handsome young men pointed me in the right direction.  We walked and walked in the late afternoon son, sweating until we came to what was clearly the right street but wrong block.  We had ened up in the 800 block when we needed the 100 block.  I turned us around and when we got to the 100 block, it was about 20 feet from where I originally had us going.  Go figure.

Once in the restaurant, the event in full gear, I ordered a Tequila Sour and as always, I got a Tequila Sunrise.  Why is it bartenders hear the word tequila come out of a womans mouth and the only thing they can think we want is a Sunrise or a Marguerita??  I took the drink anyway and tried to stomach it but on my 21st birthday it was the last drink of the night I had and it made my world tip sideways.  I don't get along with the Sunrise much.  So I didn't finish it and switched to dark beer.  Oh my.  It was really good and I had a few of them.  I get drunk on dark beer very quickly.  I believe I was telling a story to Pat and talking like an Italian with my hands and whacked my drink over.  We got out of there after that.  We headed back to the dive bar we went to the night before.  I thought I saw Frank Reardon there and I went up and asked if his name was Frank but he said it was Mike.  Oh well.  I had another beer or so there and then I was d-runk.  Yes, I am a cheap date.

We went back to the hotel.  Mind you it was only 6pm by that time I think.  We had plans to go out again but then we started drinking Jack and Coke and getting really shitty.  It was a fun night, and it felt nice to just hang out and talk...laugh...be silly.

I left early in the morning and drove back to Boston.  I never did go the ice cream place called Sullivan's and I should have but I got drunk too early.  Maybe another time.  I had a pretty great weekend but I am glad to be back home.  It was nice to see my family.  Chloe was jumping out of her skin happy to see me....which always feels nice.  It is good to be back in my own bed and with the smells of familiarity.  Just think.....next month San Fran.

Last update : 08-10-2007 17:46

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