Concord, Massachusetts
Yeah, I spent 10 days out in a pretty part of the country, there outside of Boston. Concord & Lexington (were I stayed) were where the first battles of the Revolution took place. The towns are another 100 years older and have really pretty streets and timber houses. I didn't see much of a strip mall the whole time I was there.I went over there to prepare some integration tests for the project I am working on now. Total stress. Things were not ready when I arrived and none of us knew really what to do. I mean, we were integrating to a competitors system. How am I supposed to know how it works? Well, I learned a lot while there. Now I am probably the company specialist on this. Great. Just what I need, more calls and email looking for assistance... Tests went well. Customer was pleased. I was dogged tired.But Concord is nice, quiet & slow. Only the I-95 makes it seem a lot bigger. (JB sang a song about the I-95) I had hoped to get down to Boston for some sightseeing but....never happened. The first week I was there the Democrats were having a love in downtown. And the second week the customer was there and the days were long. I made it once to dinner at a locally popular chain "Legal Seafood" (sort of Ralph & Kakoo's) and enjoyed the Captain's Platter. An all fried wonder. Yummy.I was taken to dinner on Saturday by two colleagues and some friends. It is a real hideaway place. Only open on Friday and Saturday for dinner and only one sitting. The cook is 22 or so and seems to be a prodigy of some sort. Been cooking since he was 15. The "restaurant" is in the family's converted barn. His parents have a herbs business and the entire family helps out at the weekend.Since it is not a real restaurant they do not have a liquor license. So, all the guest were invited to a wine tasting at a local package store. BYOB pure. The cook's mom was there too and knowing the menu made suggestions to what would go well with which course. It was interesting.The dinner theme was BBQ and we had grilled veggies, followed by a mini lamb/beef hamburger then double glazed, slow cooked roast of sorts. Now my descriptions really do the food no justice, but needless to say, it was really good. Of course, everything was loaded with the family's herbs and the cook came out as each course was being served to talk about what we were eating. That was a special dinner with pleasant conversation and wonderful foods.But man, they are crazy about their baseball. While I was there, one very popular player was traded away. The radio talk shows were full of it the next days. One even had a session about how to explain this event to your kids. The craze starts young.