An August Weekend

I had an eventful and entertaining summer weekend.

It commenced on Friday night when I took Jason out for Sushi (his Birthday was last weekend but he was away for work). It was a new Japanese restaurant called Yoki located at Station Landing off of the Wellington Station T stop on the Orange Line. Great food, I had some Miso soup, some Yakitori, and two rolls, a salmon and "spicy scallop" roll. We went to Cold Stone following the sushi feast. Jason was pleased to show me the evidence of his most recent adventure. He hit a bat with his car and it is embedded in the grill of his car. Lovely.

Saturday I woke up early enough to finally get the oil changed on my car. While I was at Ford waiting I walked over to the new Chipolte grill. As I was telling Kate, it is as though someone designed this chain Mexican eat and go establishment with me particularly in mind. It was great... easily blows Baja Fresh, Qdoba, and even some of boston's local joints (Anna's and Bocca Grande) away. The food was delicious, affordable, fresh, the service was great, the atmosphere is great... and I could go on. One cool feature was the piped in music was very good, I heard Elliott Smith, My Morning Jacket, Steely Dan, John Lennon, Portishead, and several other artists who I didn't recognize but was chomping at the bit to try and figure out who it was. I learned from a message on my drink cup (of all things) that Chipolte has a relationship with an organization called "etown" which enhances the listening experience. As explained on the website: etown is an exciting weekly radio broadcast heard from coast to coast on NPR, public and commercial stations. Every etown show is taped in front of a live audience and features performances from many of today's top musical artists as well as conversations and information about the world around us. At etown, we build community through music. I'm going to have to make a point to find and listen to one of etown's shows.

I returned to my apartment as soon as my oil change was complete, and performed some errands quickly. I headed out around 1:30 to go pick up Kate. We were going to Providence to check out Water Fire. This event which Providence holds several weekends a summer is nothing short of awesome. The description honestly doesn't do it justice. Neither do the pictures that I snapped. The premise is that Providence sets up these large torches/fires on the system of canals that go through providence. They are lit just after dusk and are fed with wood the entire evening by people on gondolas. The effect is mystical, romantic, and very unique. It feels as though you are watching some sort of Ancient Roman ceremony, and thousands show up to see it. It just touches upon that primal satisfaction of watching and being near a controlled fire. It creates this wonderful sense of contentment and sense of community with all who are there to witness it. I would strongly advise anyone who is able to make the trip to check it out. Providence is an hour south of Boston, and it is a free event. See the link provided above.

I have no idea what I'm doing with my camera at this point so the picture is blurry... I have to practice with the settings. It appears to try to focus on close objects.... like some guy's noggin.

There was additionally a Latin band from Puerto Rico performing and a large mass of people dancing. The stage was set up on the corner of an ornate office building which had red curtains draped under it's grand entrance. It was beautiful with spotlights and large colorful moving lights which were dancing over the crowd and along the high-rises adjacent to the outdoor festival. We would have danced... however Kate had her backpack and we didn't want to seriously injure anyone. Again.... crappy picture... if anyone has any digital camera advice for me... feel free to send it along.

At some point that evening we stumbled upon an old fashioned diner which was set up near the bus terminal in Providence. Kate bought me a milkshake and got herself a Diet Coke. This is a picture where I attempt to self-photograph us in front of the diner. Again... blurry. There must be a motion or resolution setting I can adjust.

Prior to this event it had been probably 15 years since I had been to Providence. When I last went there, to put it bluntly, it was a dump. Now the small city is beautifully invigorated with culture and activity. I was blown away. They were just building "Providence Place" when I was last there, which is a large mall. I actually thought the mall was wasteful at the time, and that it would further suck the life out of the downtown. This however has definitely not happened.

In addition to Water Fire, Kate and I walked around the Brown Campus and Thayer St., a hipster/artist haven near the University. We ate at a place called Spats which was just off of Thayer St. We ate on some sidewalk cafe tables because the weather was absolutely gorgeous. It was 75 degrees Farenheit out so of course Kate was freezing (Pictured in sweatshirt). We had a great meal, I had Fish & Chips which came with a unique, tasty, corn-based salad. Kate had a Chili burger which she enjoyed. After we went to a local bakery and cafe where we purchased a couple of plate sized cookies which were simply divine.

Sunday was a pretty lazy day. Kate and I walked around Melrose a bit, made supper, watched TV, and I drove her back to Brookline in the evening.

Now it's off to another week!!