I know what I did this summer: My travel and concert adventures Part 1

This has been my first summer in many many years that I worked through the summer, but I have managed to fit some fun weekend trips, some concerts in and some beer.

Lots of beer.

So far it's been a great summer!

Here are my adventures so far with some recommendations and best moments. It's part 1 because I have some pretty cool adventures coming up.

Summer started for me over Memorial Day when I traveled up to Portland, Maine for my birthday weekend.   Portland is a cool little New England town with an unusual amount of restaurants, coffee shops, and comic book stores considering it's only a town of 60,000 people.   For me the highlights are definitely walking around Old Port and seeing all the cool little shops, the dining scene, and local breweries and beer everywhere (I know that's shocking!).  It's also a very outdoorsy town and a great place to walk your dog.

My recommendations for Portland:
1. Beer- any place that's a bar will have a number of very local beers on tap.  Don't waste your beer consumption on your standby domestic beer here.  Try out as many of the local beers as you can in your time here.
2. Duckfat- if you know anyone who has been to Portland they will suggest Duckfat, a small (too small) restaurant that is known for their fries that are cooked in duck fat.  The wait can be crazy.  I was able to get in quickly because I ventured out on my own and was able to get a single open bar seat.  But a table for 2 can have a two hour wait.  Come at a non peak time and you will not be disappointed.  I ordered everything I wanted to try and ended up bringing half of it back to the hotel.  I'd suggest any of the following: the Cuban sandwich, poutine (apparently the plain fries are excellent too but that's not my thing.  I need gravy and cheese curds), their famous vanilla milkshake (it's very vanilla), housemade donuts with a delicious caramel dipping sauce, and of course a fine selection of local beers.
3. Otto- Boston people can probably ignore this choice because now Boston has Otto.  I think the west end Portland Otto is the best though.  They sell pizza and beer essentially.  You can get pizza by the slice too.  They have a bacon mashed potato pizza that's amazing if not sacreligious to traditional New York style pizza.
4. Lobster- yeah, Maine is lobster land.  If you like it , you can find it here for pretty cheap. But do your research.  Don't get lured into touristy lobster shops.

After Portland I took a few week traveling break in which I went to two concerts.

First up was Beyonce. I acted late on this concert and got a ticket in the upper echelon of the football stadium where the Patriots play.  To be honest Beyonce was so far from me, I can't say if it was actually her.  It could have been drag queen Beyonce for all I know (it was not).

I have been a low key fan of Beyonce since Destiny's Child, but she never got many props from me before Lemonade.  Lemonade was a game changer, and so I knew I'd regret not going to this show.  It definitely was a fast moving spectacle of a show.   Even though I couldn't really see her, the very unique screens were twisting and turning throughout the show so I didn't miss a whole lot.

Best parts: this was a Lemonade showcase.   All of the best tracks, including Formation, Hold  Up, and Daddy's Lessons were on display.  Halo, the rare ballad on the set list, was a great show ender, but Freedom with its walk on water choreography was easily the best thing of the night.

Also the stadium had a lot of good beer.

Could've been better: I know Beyonce has so many hits, but another ballad or two would've been fine. Halo was basically it.  Irresistible, XO, or If I were a boy would've been welcome additions.

A week after that show I went to a much more intimate Xfinity Center to see the Dixie Chicks.  I've seen the Dixie Chicks before, and they are probably my favorite live band that  I've ever seen, and I've seen a lot of concerts.  Let me just say if you like their songs and won't go because of what they said about Bush, well too bad for you.  You're missing out on some amazing music.  (Plus I'm guessing you've probably said much worse about President Obama)


Best parts: Taking the Long Way, a remake if Nothing Compares 2 U which was written by Prince, a cover of Beyonce's Daddy Lessons and the patriotic confetti explosion of Ready to Run. And to be honest pretty much everything was great.

Could've been better: Not much.  I would have liked one of their lullabies on the set list and like everyone else I'm holding my breath we will someday get new material from them. But the chicks are amazing musicians.

A couple weeks later I was headed to Montreal with my friend. On the way we stopped at the Ben  and Jerry's factory in Vermont.  I highly recommend the quick tour, the free ice cream and a tour of the flavor graveyard (no Schweddy balls there though). On the way home we want to the White Mountains of New Hampshire, went on a train ride to the top, and stayed at a cozy B&b

So back to Montreal.  Montreal is a great city! It came to my attention from one of my friends that some people don't know a lot about Montreal, and they were not aware of it as a tourist destination.   I've been three times, and I always go because it's as close to a European experience as you can find in North America (except for maybe Quebec City. I haven't been there yet).  There is great shopping, dining and drinking . It's also a very walkable city with lots of interesting areas. You definitely don't want to miss the old town area.  We had my best AirBnb experience ever there.  I was so spoiled by that experience that I can now only stay at that Air BNB when I go to Montreal.

What I recommend: experience as much of the French places as possible, walk or bike  a lot, have poutine in Old Town, and walk the always exciting, pedestrian friendly,and gay Rue de St. Catherine.

Finally, the next weekend we went to Provincetown (otherwise known as PTown).  It's the very tip of Cape Cod, and it used to be primarily a gay resort area, but like everything else as soon as straight people found how fun the gays made it, they wanted to come too! :)

Ptown is full of quaint B&Bs, lots of beach or forestry hiking areas, restaurants, lots of shows, and lots of bars.  Do a little research on tripadvisor and find the best B&b you can find unless you know someone who has a place there.  In the summer Ptown runs cooler than Boston so if it's 90 in Boston, it can often be like 75 in PTown, which is perfect!

I recommend Mews which is the only restaurant I've been to all three times I've bern to Ptown.  They have an amazing Lobster Vindaloo there but everything is good. I also recommend getting a reservation.  I like the bars The Monkey Bar and Harbor Lounge.  I also recommend hunting down places with draught beer because there is a lot of bottled beer in Ptown.  Finally, I recommend going to a drag show unless you can't be cool. Varla Jean Merman is a PTown mainstay. She is very funny, and she pulled me out if the audience and I got a wet kiss. Haha

I have a lot of traveling coming up in the next few weeks so Part 2 to this is imminent.

Wisdom from my Uber Driver: The American Dream

Like many of you I've been disgusted lately by some of my fellow Americans.  That has definitely been the case after a very trying news week.  So many are fed up with division and those who create it.   I've been tired of politicians who use division to make people fearful and forward their nefarious cause.

I will admit.   This week I've been tired of America.

And that is why if you've also been tired or cynical or angry or afraid,  I must share this story.

Last night I called an uber from the train stop I was at to get the rest of the way home since it was rainy and very dark.

Muhammad was my Uber driver last night.  Usually I can gauge very quickly which uber drivers want to chat and sometimes I don't particularly feel like chatting myself.  But last night I endulged in my typical polite conversation with Muhammed.

I asked how long he worked for uber and if he liked it.   His enthusiasm for his tone when he told me that he loved it was surprising.  He started giving tips on the best places to catch ubers and then went into how busy the night had been because it had been raining.  He told me some people caught ubers just to drive them a couple blocks.

The jaded part of me who was tired of people's privilege took over and said, "isn't that annoying to pick up someone who just wants to be driven a couple blocks"

Get ready,  because this is where I really started to listen.

Muhammed said, "No," without a smattering of irony, "I'm grateful for every dollar I can earn."

How humbled on my tower of fortune and privilege I felt.

I later asked him how often he drives and he told me "well,  when I was in school I did it every night along with my other job"

More humility.  I never had to be enrolled in any school and work two jobs at the same time.

"But when I graduated I got a job promotion so now I only drive uber on weekends"

I asked him what he did for his other job , and he is a manager of something that I didn't entirely understand.

He said, "Listen, I've only been in the USA for three years. And you won't believe this, but I started out working as a valet.  Now I'm a manager at the company I was a valet for." Then he laughed, "and now I manage some of my previous managers."

I laughed also, "that's awesome!"

"But I am very respectful of those people," he told me.

Of course he was.

I thanked him for telling me that story.  I told him, "That's the story of the American dream. You don't hear people telling that kind of story much anymore"

He said, "I believe that this is the land of opportunity and if you work hard you can be successful."

Do I think his glasses were a tad too rose colored? Sure.  Would I have liked to give up my jaded glasses in exchange for his for awhile? You bet.

Obviously the USA  has problems, but Muhammed's is the kind of story America was built on.   And even hundreds of years ago it was an overly positive way to look at the darkness that has always been happening around us in this country.

But the country Muhammed was talking about is the country we should strive to be.   Even if the reality is that we never can 100% quite be that country.   But we can be better.

And dividing and frightening and shooing out people is not going to make us that country.  If we continue on that path, we will continue to be the country that we were last week. Hopefully most people really don't want that.

I hope.