weekend getaways

Two saturdays ago, I bought a bike from the upstairs folks, who are selling and giving away their posessions before they depart (at the end of this week). It's a vast improvement from my rusty old bike, which I bought for two reasons: it was cheap, and no one would want to steal it.

This Saturday, I took the new bike for its first major trial ride, up the Minuteman Trail from the Davis Square extension (very close to our house) to Lexington Center. I don't have a map that tells me how many miles that is, but it was at least 15 or so each way. Lots of stuff along the trail worth checking out on future trips, too. And the Trader Joe's in Arlington happens to be right on the trail, which I didn't realize. It was a bonus, because I was in pretty desperate need of water and sustenance by the time I got to it on the return journey.

Seasonal inventory rotation at seemingly all the retail chains in the area has dealt us a cruel blow. It seems that if you want patio furniture, you need to buy it in the spring. We made a failed bid for some chairs and tables to put out on our porch. I'm sorry, Target, we didn't have a patio in the spring. And we haven't thought of any smaller places that actually sell patio furniture, either. Alas.

And we wound up the weekend with a trip to Portsmouth, NH, our favorite town that starts with a "P" south of Portland, ME. Mainly just walked around, and had dinner at the Brewing Company and stayed to watch a good part of the Red Sox game. The Yankees were satisfyingly trounced.