The days following an action-packed and extra long weekend can be, and usually are, excruciating- especially when returning to work or trying to get your sleep schedule back in order. This is the predicament I’ve found myself in these past couple of days as I play some catch-up at the office while also simultaneously recovering from nearly a week of road trips, parties/celebrations and a lot of great good and drinks.
Troy flew back into Massachusetts in the middle of last week in preparation for a New York-based wedding we were going to attend together. However, as is always the case whenever we’re visiting our opposite coasts- we added a lot more on the docket of things we wanted to do, too.
We started off simple enough on Thursday night, catching a broadcasted version of a Rifftrax Live event not far from my apartment. We ate a bunch of snacks and watched a couple of shorts before laughing hysterically throughout 1986’s ‘Rad.’ If you’ve never seen it- please go watch it right away. It’s perfect.
By Friday, we were still keeping things close to home. I worked for a few hours while Troy visited with family, and then we kicked off our long weekend/mini-vacation with pizza at Antonio’s (a must-visit whenever he’s in town), a brief stroll around a nearby college campus that hasn’t started their Fall semester yet and was pretty much empty- and a short but scenic drive up to Brattleboro, Vermont for some cocktails at The Collective Lounge.
On Saturday, we started picking up the pace of the weekend and extending our mileage as we headed to Quincy for the In Between Days Festival where I was working press for the day. I had written about the festival’s first year in 2022, and it has now expanded into two days of great live music, an even more extensive list of local vendors and food, and free retro arcade gaming.
Troy and I had an absolute blast running into some of my dearest friends in and around the city and it’s music scene while eating artisan grilled cheese sandwiches from Cheese Louise, pulled pork tacos from Hottsmoke BBQ, and downing refreshing sours from Vitamin Sea Brewing.
And this was all while we caught sets from Salem Wolves, Dutch Tulips, Weakened Friends, Sunny Day Real Estate, The Beths and Modest Mouse. It was perfection!
On Sunday, we were again up bright and early- first to head to Dalton, Massachusetts to stop by the 100th reunion of Troy’s paternal side of his family where I got to meet so many aunts, uncles and cousins- before we had to quickly drive to Briarcliff, New York for the late afternoon/early evening wedding of Troy’s friends and former neighbors in California- Justin and Maddie- at Briarcliff Manor.
The venue is breathtaking, and might be one of the most perfect places to have a wedding ceremony on the East Coast. We were freely wandering around pre-vows and during the cocktail hour to take in the views and spectacular sunset before it was time to head inside for an exquisite multi-course dinner and a lot of dancing. Yes. yours truly danced- and I even got to participate in my first “Hora Dance” since it was a Jewish ceremony and I’d never been to one before. So much fun!
Finally, on Monday- following a farewell brunch with the other wedding guests at our hotel and saying goodbye to everyone we’d met, Troy and I took a quick day-long detour to nearby Sleepy Hollow, New York to do some spooky sightseeing and act like tourists before the beautiful little town gets overrun by tourists in October.
Thankfully, many of the attractions were within short walking distances from each other- so we saw a lot in just a couple of short hours before we knew we had to get back on the road to beat rush hour traffic.
I’ll have more photos to share from Sleepy Hollow a little later on this week- since one of the places we stopped to visit is absolutely worth it’s own “Local Loves” post.
With Monday night being Troy’s last night in New England before I brought him to the airport yesterday morning, we made sure to grab dinner at one of our favorite spots in the Berkshires on the way back- 51 Park– and ice cream at the Old Creamery Co-Op.
And now I’m back at my office and working my usual schedule and trying to get back ahead of my tasks/priorities so that I can breathe easy come this weekend. Although I’m usually sad when Troy has to go back to California- I’ll be joining him in just a few short weeks.
But I’ll get into that when I wrap up my review of the month of August next week! I have so much travel coming up!
xo
Coffee & Chiffon 