A Delightful Day!

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adventure, B Boys, Boats, Boston, Break Dancing, Carousel, Chef, Clowns, Cost-Effective Trips, Dancers, Day Trips, Eric Hammer, Faneuil Hall Market Place, Fish & Chips, Food, Gazpacho, Get-A-Ways, Habor Express, harbor express, Italian Ice, Lobster, Maine, Mansions, McCormick and Schmick’s, New York, Newport, newport mansions, restaurants, Salad, Shopping, Sightseeing, Slush, Soup, Street Performers, Swan Boats, Todd Sullivan, travel, Trip, turnip, turnip truck, vacation

Here comes the turnip truck!

If you are like me and you don’t really enjoy taking long trips anywhere, then day trips – or weekend get-a-way trips – are for you!

In most cases you don’t have to go far or spend a lot of money to have a good time.

Some of my favorite short trips include:

The Newport Mansions

New York City

Maine

Boston

Recently, Jim and I took a wonderful day trip into Boston, which I will highlight for you now. We decided to go to Boston’s Faneuil Hall Market Place because it is a very happening place that’s close to home and because I wanted to go shopping at some of the stores that are there.

First, we decided that it would be cheaper most fun to take a boat ride into Boston.

A ride on the Harbor Express will cost about $16 per round-trip ticket if you leave from Quincy, Ma like we did.

I love boats. I wish I owned a boat, but I don’t have any money. If Oprah, Tina and/or Ellen would just hurry up and discover me, then maybe I will be able to afford a boat.

GIRLS, I’M WAITING!

Buying a boat is expensive.

After docking in Boston, we headed over to Faneuil Hall to have lunch. Jim got to pick the restaurant and luckily he picked McCormick and Schmick’s.

Isn’t that such a funny name? Schmick.

Eating at McCormick and Schmick’s will cost you some money, but you won’t go broke and the food is awesome.

If you are looking for cheap eats then head inside the marketplace where you will find a variety of foods to choose from.

WARNING: the smorgasbord of choices inside the Marketplace is not nearly as good as McCormick and Schmick’s food selection and it is annoyingly crowded in there and some of the food at some of the places looks like it has sat out for some time; but the choice is up to you.

I’ve been to McCormick and Schmick’s twice this summer. I had a good meal and a nice server the first time, but I had a mouth-watering meal and stupendous server the second time!

My first visit was on Jack’s 1^st birthday, which was a few days before my trip in with Jim.

Happy Birthday, Jack!

What a little man!

During my second visit, Jim and I each ordered a bowl of the Sandia Gazpacho (chilled soup) for an appetizer. This gazpacho has a watermelon base. According to our server, Todd Sullivan, Sandia means watermelon. I believe Todd Sullivan is correct because he looks honest and because he is the best server of all time. I suggest that when you all go and eat at McCormick and Schmick’s in Faneuil Hall, as I know you will because I’m subconsciously using The Force on all of you now, you ask for Todd Sullivan. He really is the bestest. You’ll see.

This is Todd Sullivan:

Sorry, ladies, I do not know if Todd Sullivan is free.

DISCLAIMER: One would naturally assume that McCormick and Schmick’s is paying me for all this free publicity they are getting and/or for the amount of times I mention their name in this article, but they are not. I am doing this out of the goodness of my heart so that my readership will learn about new and exciting opportunities. You are all welcome.

Back to the food … if I’m being honest then I’m telling you that Jim and I didn’t expect the gazpacho to be so incredible. I mean it is just chilled soup (topped with huge chunks of avocado and real crabmeat). Sadly, we wolfed it all down before I thought to take a picture of it.

For his main dish, Jim ordered the tasty fish and chips, which I recommended after having ordered it during my first trip to the establishment.

I ordered a lovely lobster salad. My Lord, it was so delectable!

Next, we shared a delicious key lime pie for dessert.

Chef Eric Hammer was responsible for all this scrumptiousness. I figured he was so busy cooking up a storm in the kitchen that I didn’t want to disturb him for a photo, so I decided to include a symbol for him instead.

Here is Chef Eric Hammer’s symbol:

Jim really loved taking in all the sights throughout the day.

 

Sightseeing is free.

After lunch, I decided to do a little shopping and Jim came along and pretended to enjoy it. That’s my Gnomeo!

 

Shopping will cost someone a few dollars depending on the shopper and his/her inclination to buy everything in sight.

We also got to see a plethora of talented and/or weird street performers!

We saw clowns:

Clowns are technically free, but they ask for money.

We saw singers:

Singers are also technically free, but ask for money.

But our favorite street performance was the group of B BOYS we saw. We gave them all our extra money … that amounted to about $8 in total.

They were awesomely fun.

Imagine cool thumping music in your head as you look at the next few images.

If you are not one of those cheapo people who pretend they don’t even have a dollar bill on them, then this activity will cost you anywhere from $ 1 to ? – It depends on how generous you are.

For more information on this wonderful group of dancers you can visit www.yakcrewent.com or go and find them in Faneuil Hall.

There are even a couple of carousels for you to enjoy on your Boston adventure.

Jack, RiRi and Ally took a spin on the carousel across from Faneuil Hall for Jack’s birthday.

The carousel is about $3 per person to ride.

To finish out the afternoon, you can grab a slushy and enjoy it on the boat ride back while you ponder your very delightful day!

Expect to pay about $3.50 per slushy.

Wherever you decide to go, I wish you loads of fun, plenty of memories and safe travels!

Until next time…

I’m turning off the turnip truck.

T

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Set Your Course For Adventure…

Tags

40, adventure, Bricker, castanets, Charo, cry babies, crying baby, divine inspiration, follower, Gopher, gutter, Isaac, Julie McCoy, little babies, Love Boat, MBB, memory lane, Stubing, to give props, travel, turnip, turnip truck, woman in my life

Here comes the turnip truck!

Hello Followers – new and old!

Yes, folks, the turnip truck has a new passenger! And she is a complete stranger to me. Never met the woman in my life, but she subscribed to my lil’ ole blog anyway. She apparently heard about us through a short little grapevine and from someone who is not even an official subscriber herself. Imagine!

Her name is Erin from Massachusetts.

This is Erin from Massachusetts

Not only is Erin from Massachusetts my very first Stranger-Subscriber, she was the 40^th person to sign up for the ride. That makes her extra special. Welcome aboard, Erin from Massachusetts. Most of us are glad you decided to take the trip.

What is your prize, Erin?

It’s a trip down memory lane!

First, I should warn you, Erin from Massachusetts, that most of my followers hate your guts now. Many of them have confronted me and demanded to know when they will be featured in an Under the Turnip Truck article. I told them they will be featured when and if I deem them worthy. I have not done this yet and because I have not done this yet people are crying like little babies.

In addition to Erin from Massachusetts, I also had another stranger “like” my last post! And I don’t even know anyone who knows her! She doesn’t even live near me – she lives in another state. I learned that she also writes a blog, so I decided to creep on her WordPress site and discovered that she is a real writer – talented. I was a little intimidated at first, but decided that she is adding some esteem to my blog just by riding on the turnip truck one time! So, go and visit her site – those of you who like to travel and experience new adventures will love her work.

http://lesleycarter.wordpress.com/

In writing about these recent stranger-followers, I realize I’ve been remiss in acknowledging my very first subscriber-follower. I want to take a moment now to give props to my friend, MBB. MBB was the first person to subscribe to Under the Turnip Truck. MBB even has sleeping dreams of me becoming a famous person. In her dreams she sees me becoming an award-winning author when I grow up. I think she is right. MBB is very connected with our Lord and I believe that if she dreamed of me being famous then our Lord must have told her it will be so.

Who am I to question this divine inspiration?

MBB and I have always gotten along like peanut butter & jelly. We have so much in common. She is Holy and I strive to be Holy. She has an amazing singing voice and I make pretend I have an amazing singing voice. And she is besties with Charo – one of my most favorite entertainers in the world – and I would love to add Charo to my besties list.

Margaret Hyde is getting her car ready now; but, don’t worry, Charo, she will never find you.

MBB met Charo during a benefit concert at which they were both featured performers. Following is a publicity poster from that show.

Proceeds from this concert went toward the preservation of a musical instrument called castanets. MBB and Charo fear that castanets will one day become extinct if they don’t do something about it now. So, help these girls out – go out and buy a pair of castanets! They are fun to clank around and a great stress-reliever … for the person clanking them.

All this talk of Charo, strangers and the adventure-seeking traveler Lesley Carter at http://lesleycarter.wordpress.com/ reminds me of a dream I had as a young girl, a dream which fell into the gutter when I was trying to “find myself”, but found Jim instead. Once upon a time, I wanted to be just like Julie McCoy! Julie McCoy was the best cruise director that ever sailed the open seas.

Do you all remember Julie?

And Gopher? And Isaac? And Doc Bricker? And Captain Stubing?

They were awesome.

Don’t they look sharp?

I applied to every existing cruise line twice and was ignored by all of them each time. That’s when I met Jim, forgot I was looking for myself and consequently that dream rolled into the gutter.

Que Sera Sera, I guess.

For those of you who are too young or too forgetful to remember, Julie McCoy, Gopher, Isaac, Doc Bricker and Captain Stubing staffed the fictional Princess Cruise Ship called The Love Boat. The Love Boat wasn’t the ship’s real name, but as they never used the real name on the show everyone just assumed it was called The Love Boat.

Can you guess who my favorite Love Boat guest star was?

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CHARO!

Yes, my favorite guest star was by far Charo! Charo played a saucy Spanish entertainer named April Lopez. According to Wikipedia, she made 8 appearances on The Love Boat.

 Here is Charo singing The Love Boat theme song – Charo style! I think she stole some of those dance moves at the end of the song from me. Seriously.

Until next time…

I’m turning off the turnip truck.

T