1. The Troxstar and I dove into our Whole Foods styled wrapped fig bars and granola bars (the hotel's pandemic offering for continental breakfast) and slurped down coffee before jumping on the train and speeding to the Wonderland station in Revere, MA.
Adam survived making a wrong turn or two in the Wonderland parking garage vicinity and getting yelled at for being in a bus only lane and, shaken but not vanquished, picked us up with his five year old (is that age correct?) daughter, Isabella, in tow.
We wove our way through a tangle of streets and angular intersections and parked near the waterfront in Salem. At a coffee shop I enjoyed a bracing cup of cafe au lait and an apricot and ginger scone and Isabella led us to the Salem Commons, a bustling park buzzing with walkers, children on playground equipment closely guarded by eagle-eyed moms and dads, the occasional jump shooter arching jumpers at a nearby basketball hoop, and dogs of every size, all leashed, under control. Isabella played. I fell asleep upright on a bench. We strolled across the expanse of the commons and made a brief stop at the gazebo.
As we made our way into a nearby commercial area, we managed to resist the temptation to waltz into any of the several business peddling witch merchandise. We did, however, duck into an indoor mall and each ate a slice of pizza. After a visit to a tiny, very handsome bookstore, we walked a quarter of a mile or so to the end of a jetty to a squat lighthouse.
2. After our walk to the lighthouse and back, it was time for Adam and Isabella to say farewell and return to their domestic life. The Troxstar and I wished them well and hustled to a coffee/beer shop with outdoor seating and enjoyed two 12 oz glasses of smooth, refreshing Mass Whole Lager, an excellent beer from Wormtown Brewery of Worcester, MA.
3. As our events coordinator, the Troxstar had worked out a rendezvous between the two of us and Emily Sauter, our beer pouring/Red Sox and NY Giants loving/beer cartoon drawing/big-hearted/beer expert friend from nearly ten years ago when we were all buddies thanks to Emily's job serving beer at Sixteen Tons. We met at the outdoors patio seating area at Notch Brewing, a Salem brewery specializing in session beers, beers with low ABV.
Emily arrived and after I enjoyed a can of Kolsch, I joined the others for a couple of foamy milk pours of Czech pilsner.
Here's a picture of the Troxstar and me enjoying one of our pours:
It was great fun talking with Emily. It had been nearly nine years since I'd seen her and she had news about a variety of people who used to work at Sixteen Tons and great stories to tell about her life since she returned back East after leaving Eugene.
The Troxstar and I made our way back to Boston, back to the Charlesmark Hotel and decided that we'd done enough for one day and we each retired to our rooms.
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