The Tarantino Effect . . . .

When last we left our hero, it was Thursday, and he had recounted everything back to Monday.

Confused yet?

Thursday: Did indeed go to a ballgame with ladytat. We saw the New Hampshire Fisher Cats beat the Binghamton Mets, 4-3, in a brand-new ballpark. As ladytat mentioned, one of the homers we saw landed in a train. We had dinner at Milly's Tavern, which cannot deicde it if wants to be a local "Bud" bar or a brewpub. Beer good, food not so much.

Friday: Not wanting to slow down, I did some stuff around the house, then drove to Portland and visited The Great Lost Bear, Sebago Brewing and Gritty McDuff's before catching part of the Portland Sea Dogs' eventual 14-inning loss to the Harrisburg Senators. Very nice ballpark. Please note, when I am traveling it's short beers and lots of water. My apologies to anastasiav for the quick-hit trip to Portland when she was working.

Saturday: I finally broke down and started to work on some school stuff. The plan calls for going to a rugby match or two to take pictures, then a meeting about the Beer Festival in June, then -- I hope -- a trip to [Bad username or site: ian_gunn' @ livejournal.com]s for a party.

Back to the beginning

This is fun.

Are you following this?

I cannot believe all the stuff I have done in the last eight days. I have to thank N. for letting me run loose. It's been cool. The truck has 1,300 more miles on it than when I started.

Continuing to work backwards.

Sunday: Woke up in Scoharie, N.Y., for the first time ever. alethea_eastrid had let me crash at her place. We went for breakfast at a redneck diner, then I headed toward Burlington, Vt., to see theresat. It was a beautiful ride, but a long one. Stopped at the very cool Bobcat Cafe in Bristol, then went down the road to see a couple of SCA friends -- Judd and Kyra -- who have a delightful son named Alex. They bought a fairly used small farm a couple years ago, and they have done amazing things with it, including Judd's workshop which has a forge and all sorts of other machinery.

From there to Burlington, calling theresat along the way. She then called all her friends and said, "Do you want to come drink with my dad?" Since we were walking (she has a great apartment right in the city), I actually cut loose a little, but I petered out by 11ish and went to bed. We hit the Vermont Pub & Brew and American Flatbread, which is brewing its own beer now. We also went to "her" place, Red Square. She has a lot of great friends.

Saturday: What a great day! It was gorgeous. I drove from peabody to Amherst and visited the Moan & Dove, which is one of the 10 best beer bars in the country, according to my friends at BeerAdvocate. It was better than advertised. I drank carefully, mixing in water, and promptly fell in love with Jessica, the bartender. Then drove to Albany, to perhaps the most unique bar I have ever visited -- Mahar's Public House. I will describe it later. Then on to alethea_eastrid's.

Friday: The day the vacation started. Did show-and-tell at school with war games, magazines and some SCA stuff. Went to the Red Sox game and saw them win, 10-0. Was in the centerfield bleachers. Stopped briefly at the Anam Cara Publick House and Cambridge Brewing Company.