Breakfast in Boston

I made a detour into Cambridge and Boston during my rambling road trip home Sunday to revisit my old college hometown and grab a four star brunch at the Cheesecake Factory. The city is always a great place to eat and on a weekend in the summer getting a table wasn't too bad. After adequately stuffing myself with eggs I strolled down Newbury Street to check out some galleries and shop. There were a number of galleries stocked with prints aimed to sell such as: Warhol, Haring, Picasso, and Chagall which are always fun but there were a few modern artists such as Laurent Dauptain that I haven't seen before at the Axelle Gallery. His work reminded me stylistically a bit of one of my favorite painters Jenny Saville just without the sexuality and skin. There were also a few pieces by Takashi Murakami that were pretty cool in the gallery next door.

Free Adult Movies...and Bacon

Breakfast is great. That's why I had 3 of them today on the drive up to Maine from Boston. Pictured is the winning breakfast by a quick Tysonesque knockout- "The King Cakes". Named for Elvis these mammoth chocolate chip banana pancakes were sandwiched with a healthy portion of peanut butter inbetween and it was topped with some perfectly crisp bacon and homemade whip creme- amazing. I found this treasure in a quirky little eatery in Portsmouth, New Hampshire called Friendly Toast that is a little hipster paradise snugly wedged into the historic buildings on the main drag in town. My drive through northern New England was plagued by bad weather but I managed to snag a couple of interesting photos on the drive- my favorite is the motel offering Free Adult Movies to patrons on their sign- how weird is that?

On the Road in New England

I spent the day traveling through New England on the way up to mid coast Maine for a week long stay. I drove out to the North Shore of Long Island to grab the Orient Point Ferry to New London, Connecticut. I stopped out in Greenport to grab dinner and take a walk around. I love the North Fork of Long Island out on the east end in the summer and unfortunately I just don't get a chance to get out there much. I snagged a table at the classic Claudios restaurant but after waiting 15 minutes for service I left to try a new place in town BBQ Bill's, which was great.

The ferry ride across the Sound was perfect during sunset with a nice summer breeze. I've made the trip across on the ferry countless times over the years having gone to school in Boston for awhile and I've always loved it. I made a few pit stops along the way stopping off in Providence, Rhode Island for some much needed Starbucks and a trip through Brown University and a local outdoor Italian Festival (on Long Island we just call them festivals). I stopped off in Woburn, Massachusetts for the night and I'll be spending some time in Boston, New Hampshire, and Portland tomorrow.

Dirty Water

I just returned from a week long trip to Boston. The city has changed a bit from what I remember when I went to school there in the nineties but it was fun to be back. I was working with Adobe on their Youth Voices program and I met a bunch of terrific artists and educators. There were a few visitors from London in the group and one of them actually went swimming in the Charles river. She survived and lives to tell about it.