It was a weekend of adventure. Adventures planned, adventures had, adventures narrowly missed. Started on Saturday morning with a trip to the local donut shop for a sugar-laden breakfast, after which we planned to go to do the beach, but were dissuaded by thunder, lightning, and intermittent torrential downpours. I napped instead. There's nothing like sleeping with the sound of rain falling outside. In high school, I always found it hardest to get up on rainy mornings. My room was in the attic, and my bed sat right under a skylight in the eaves. I'd hear the steady patter of rain right over my head and all I wanted was to stay snuggled under my comforter until noon.
It cleared a little later in the day and we went out for dinner with Stephen's dad and brother and saw the Simpsons Movie. It played on the big screen at the independent theater in town, and the crowd was pumped. Lots of laughing, clapping, hooting and hollering. It was fun. What is it about the Simpsons that makes it so fresh and funny, never tiresome or lame? Oh, except for the Itchy & Scratchy segments. I hate Itchy & Scratchy. If you're like me, you'll want to avert your gaze for the first few minutes of the movie. While you're at it, skip the part directly after that where Homer is trying to hammer shingles onto the roof.
On Sunday, the real adventure commenced. First, we tried to catch a 12:15 commuter train out of North Station, but because the subway runs so infrequently on weekends, we arrived late and missed the train by 2.5 minutes. Arg! So we hung out in Boston while we waited for the next train. I dragged Stephen through the Holocaust Memorial, which is really beautiful and moving, but feels uncomfortably incongruent when you're wearing flip flops and carrying around a Dunkin Donuts cup. (The last time I saw it was on a cold, rainy night in the late fall. That felt much more appropriate.)
Afterward, we bought some magazines for the train ride and got snacks at Quincy Market. We headed back to the station early to be sure to catch the next train. Success! Off to the beach.
I love riding the train. It's so pleasant to sit and read or look out at the scenery and not to have to worry about traffic or parking. I almost wish I lived outside the city and had to take the commuter rail in each morning. I could bring some tea and read the paper. Such a civilized way to get to work.
We finally got to the beach around 3. It was sunny but not too hot, and not overly crowded. I swam and sat and read and soaked up any errant rays that got past my SPF 30. I always have a strong sense of place when I'm near the ocean. Sort of the opposite of how I felt when I lived in a landlocked state for a little while--there, I felt almost lost in the landscape. At the ocean, I feel found, or securely located in space or something. Hard to explain. Maybe I'm just at home in the Northeast, and proximity to the ocean is an integral part of that home-y feeling. (I didn't grow up next to the ocean, though, so I'm not sure if that reasoning works.)
Then we got ice cream (White Russian Chip--wow) and took the train home. That night, we had awesome plans to go to an outdoor showing of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory that was being presented in Smell-o-Vision. The movie was originally scheduled for Saturday, but since it rained all day, we figured they probably moved it to the rain date (Sunday). Well, we were wrong. We showed up at the site and found nothing, not a scrap of a sign nor a trace of a whiff nor anything else to suggest that Smell-o-Vision had ever come to Union Square. Darn.
We consoled ourselves with some iced chai at the coffee shop and went home to read Harry Potter. Oh well. The train part was fun.
