All about Purple

Sorry so late on the travel update but time got away from us. Day 4 was not very eventful. We took this day to relax and enjoy the relaxation of vacation. We woke up really late and then decided to go for a drive. Of course Kevin was there with the “Does this drive involve food?” question. To which I replied “I’m not sure..”

We hopped in the rental and drove around the back shore. The water was so nice to look at. We ended up driving through East Gloucester and then the conversation about food happened again. Cameron and Jermaine said they were not hungry but could eat, Kevin was hungry and Ashton had no desire to eat. So we ended up at Surfside Subs and the Long Beach Dairymaid. You guessed it, everyone had a sub with chips and a drink, well Ashton had a slice of pizza and a drink. And just like that we went from one hungry person to everyone eating a full meal and then getting large ice creams to end the drive.

I have to admit it was pretty nostalgic getting ice cream with my boys at the place I grew up getting ice cream all summer. We sat and ate ice cream and everyone agreed this was the best part of the trip.

Of course we went back to my Aunt and Uncles to take a nap before the evening festivities. That evening we went to my friend Errika’s mothers house for a cookout. The kids had fun walking to McDonald’s for what was supposed to be french fries but ended up being french fries, milkshakes and Slurpee drinks with Errika and Alicia’s sons. Ashton said he felt like he was on a guys nigh out as the 5 of them walked through town to get to McDonald’s.  My boys had no desire to go to Fiesta so we just enjoyed the cook out and company and went home.

I guess this was our day of relaxing as the next day we would be traveling home. And that was certainly a busy day.

 

The crew drove into Boston today. It was actually an easy drive with no traffic till we hit downtown. Found parking right in the garage next to Faneuil  Hall. The boys had fun shopping around. Playing around in stores, especially Newbury Comics. Jermaine and I took some pics in a photo booth. The boys chose to eat in the Marketplace as everyone wanted something different. Kevin ended up with Mac-n-cheese with bacon in a bread bowl, Cameron got a cheese steak sub and Ashton had Pizza as usual. Cameron loved all the food he wanted to go back through 3 more times.

After eating we walked to the North End. Jermaine loved the authentic old school Italian feel. Seeing guys out talking about the day on the street, all the Italian foods, and the highlight the “Connah Store”. We had some gelato and grabbed some Italian pastries and headed back to the car.

After over and hour in traffic to get home everyone was ready for a nap. We had about an hour before we were to go down the Bouvard in Gloucester to watch the armature round of the traditional greasy Pole.

Driving around town we finally found parking and went to watch the greasy Pole. It was won in the third round. We walked to the Fiesta and fed the boys some carnival food which they loved. Then dropped them off at Alicia’s house so the adults could have a dinner by themselves.

We went to Seaport Grill which is my go to spot every time I come home. I love the Haddock sandwich. My opinion is it’s the best in town. Jermaine had the fish tacos and was in heaven. We called it an early night after all the Boston walking and picked up the boys and headed home.

Up next is a lazy day around Gloucester. Tune in!

 

 

Off to Foxboro we went yesterday. I have to stay I didn’t think I would be as excited as I was… I didnt think anyone would enjoy it as much as everyone did. It was a long ride with traffic but seeing that Gillette sign while driving down the road made it all worth it. It was like when your taking your kids to Universal Studios in Orlando and you take that exit and can see the park, excitement and awe. Even my Dolphins fan was excited.

We went to Patriot Hall where you can see the history of the sport and the history of the Patriots. It wasn’t bad for admission, anyone over 13 is $10 (thanks to the Craft family for making it affordable). The staff was very friendly and helpful. You start on the first third floor where you can see a collection of jerseys from famous quarterbacks no matter what the team, Special balls, gloves, jerseys, receiving gloves, cleats you name it for each important game. There is a section with all Tom Brady’s trophies, baby pictures of some of the Patriot’s family, and a movie of the history and struggle of the Patriot’s that lead to the empire it is now.

The second floor is all interactive, you can catch a pass like Gronk, kick a field goal, see how fast you can get off the ball as a lineman, call plays with Bill, even try on some uniforms. All the boys and big boy had fun. Even Kevin who has social media but hardly posts was posting the whole time we were there. Cameron was in heaven taking pics and doing every interactive he could. Then we found it.. all the trophies and rings, well minus one ring as the Hall has not gotten the last one yet. Everyone was just standing there taking it all in. Of course we joked with Jermaine about being in the presence of greatness.

Just like a Disney ride you end in the store so you can spend your money on Patriots gear. We ate some lunch at the CBS Scene restaurant which was good. No complaints but wasn’t great, I do have to say the Ahi Nachos are really good. I would recommend them every time. There are a ton of places to choose from to eat at Patriots Place but we chose there at the recommendation of foodie Tyler and for the fact we could see the stadium while we ate.

The drive home was full of traffic and we all took a nap before heading to dinner. We had reservations at the Azorean. Sitting at a big family style table where the service was excellent. I wont go into much detail as the boys will be reviewing every place we eat on our trip so stay soon. I can say its been the best place we have dined so far.

At the end of the day I looked back and could see all the boys, Jermaine, Alicia and Tyler, everyone had a great time. Day 2 is in the books and we will be starting day 3 with a drive into Boston to go to Faneuil Hall and the North End.

Stay tuned!

 

After being up all night doing laundry and packing as we are last minute packers we were not in the best of shape getting up at 4 am to get to the airport. We made it to the Park N’ Fly after a little detour ( I took a wrong turn). With the Economy parking at FLL gone this was our cheapest option. We used to pay $7 per day in the Economy lot now its $10 at the Park N’ Fly but it was cleaner, safer, the bus transport was nice and clean, the driver was super helpful and we got to the airport in 5 min.

We did check in and print boarding passes at home so we just needed to drop the luggage off.  Standing in a long line that we thought would take forever really took like 20 min. Not bad. While in line I received and overheard 3 comments about our family. One was a St. Thomas Aquinas football Coach that commented on how Jermaine and Cameron were definitely football players. A Spirit employee asked me if I was taking my athletic team to a game. The boys were cracking jokes on how they were the water polo team traveling.

We made it through security with only 2 of the 5 of us getting molested or as Cameron describes it “massaged”. Kevin and Ashton were TSA pre-checked so they could walk on through. After spending $50 on airport food breakfast for everyone we were ready to take off.

The flight was quick but when Spirit states no frills they aren’t kidding. Luckily the boys all got seats together and Jermaine and I had exit row seats so Jermaine could have some extra leg room that he really needed.  Besides one screaming baby the flight was good and only about 2 1/2 hrs. long.

Then onto the next adventure of getting the rental car. We had to take a bus to the rental center and walking in there was more lines. We were lucky that we rented from Dollar and there was no line. We got a mid-size SUV so all my big guys could fit. We walked out to choose one and there was only one left. Nissan Rouge, not bad.

After sitting in traffic in Revere forever and driving on what you people call highways in MA, the speed limit is only 50/55, we made it to Gloucester. By this time it had been about 3 hours since the guys ate so I had to swing into McDonald’s (Ewwww) to feed them before things went terribly bad. Then off to my Aunts house to settle in for the next few days.

Breathing the clean air with no humidity was amazing. We sat outside for hours and the boys were running around in the backyard. It was nice to sit outside and be able to breath and not sweat. Everyone napped but Ashton then we went to dinner with Alicia and Peter.

We had to expose Jermaine to some fresh fried seafood and real clam chowder. We went to Captain Carlos in Gloucester. The 5 of us shared 2 fisherman’s platters that we could not finish. (The boys will be posting a review later). After some drinks, dinner, and laughs we took Jermaine on a tour around the city pointing out the home the boys were raised as babies in, my mom and dad’s house, the typical tourist spots and the beach.

We went home and everyone was ready to chill after a long day. Pretty uneventful but we had lots of laughs traveling as a family. Next up we have a trip to Patriots Place and dinner at the Azorean!

 

Want to know more details about anything during our trip just leave a comment!