New Thing #345: Cheeseboy

On Friday night we hit the mall for the one night of the holiday season when we spend a night at the mall as a family. (It actually wasn't all that crowded, which worked out well since my wife hates crowded malls and my youngest daughter got tired and cranky, forcing us to leave sooner than we wanted.)

We decided to have dinner at the food court, since we thought the restaurants would probably be crowded, and we suspected our youngest might be too tired and cranky to sit at a restaurant.

The problem was, I didn't feel like food court food.

Then, when we sat at a table I saw our solution: Cheeseboy.

I feel like the last time we were at the mall (this is the Natick Mall, for those of you keeping score at home), this Cheeseboy wasn't yet open…though it might have been. I get confused because there's also a new french fry place next to it that is the same kiosky-type food place. That was definitely open the last time we were there. (We also had the french fries from the french fry place - French Fry Heaven. We had the fries with cheese. They were fine - just salty.)

I had a bacon and chicken grilled cheese (pictured above left. At right is the kiosk. One thing that hasn't changed through 365 New Things In 2013 - my shyness about taking pictures of such things as kiosks in crowded malls. Sorry for the blurriness.) and my wife had the chipotle chicken sandwich. I really liked mine. I'm not sure she was crazy about hers.

I looked up their locations on-line - they're strictly northeast right now - there's a bunch in Massachusetts at different malls, and there's one location in the Providence mall,  another couple along I-95 in Connecticut, and then another one in Jersey City.

I'm not saying you should go out of your way to go there - it's just a grilled cheese, but a good grilled cheese. But it was definitely a nice change-of-pace quick meal in the mall for someone who wasn't feeling like eating Sbarro, McDonald's, Chinese or Indian fast food.

I'll keep it in mind for next year's holiday venture to the mall.

New Thing #289: McHale's Bar & Grill

When I planned my Sunday in New York to watch football, there were a couple of parameters we needed to work around: -The place we went to had to be near 53rd Street and Avenue of the Americas, which is where the bus drop off and pick up happened

-The Jets game would need to be featured prominently, with the rest of the football games available to watch

-The place needed to be relatively affordable.

I thought we'd be drowning in choices in that section of midtown.

But when I got off the bus, it took longer to find an appropriate place than I expected.

Finally, I found McHale's Bar & Grill.

My brother gave me some good advice - he didn't have a specific place to recommend, but he did say I'd fare better heading down towards 8th or 9th Avenue rather than spots close to Times Square.

So, getting off the bus with as much time to spare as I had on Sunday, I was able to scout the area for a place.

I popped into a couple of places around 10am, as the staff was getting ready for the day. It was one thing, I discovered, for them to offer the Sunday Ticket...and another to see for myself whether or not they had enough TVs to show the games. McHale's came as close as anything to offering what I was expecting in my mind. (And, I realized later, New York City - well, Manhattan at least - is not well suited for a large TV screen layout. Most of these places go up, rather than out, meaning their multiple TVs are spread out among multiple floors.)

McHale's is on 51st Street, right off 8th Avenue. Downstairs there's a bar with a few TVs. Upstairs is another bar with a larger selection of screens, including a big screen they lowered from the ceiling to show the Jets.

Turns out, it's a popular spot for lunch for the matinee-going Broadway crowd. (The Gershwin, where Wicked plays, is right across the street.) But that didn't interfere with our game-watching experience. We had the Jets on the big screen and one of the TVs behind the bar, with the Browns-Lions game on another TV and the Eagles-Buccaneers game on another. (There's also a back room where the Packers and Vikings games were on, but they were out of our sight in the other room.)

It wasn't all of the games simultaneously like I was dreaming of, but like I said yesterday, that probably allowed me to be more social with my friends, which is a good thing. (And a lot of Sunday's games didn't go my way...so it's better I was only seeing the occasional score on the crawl rather than watching them fall apart play by play.)

The food was OK...not great. (The highlight was a brussels sprouts with bacon appetizer.) The beer selection was fine.

But the best thing about our day was the fact that we could stay there for seven hours and not once did I feel guilty about taking up a table or the need to move on. (Part of this was due to a somewhat inattentive waitstaff. But that was OK with me on Sunday.) When I tried to find places in Boston where I could watch the Jets (before football on my phone!) I always worried about taking away a prime viewing spot or a television the bar wanted to use for a different game.

And I know I shouldn't feel that way, but certain places ended up making me feel that way.

To its credit...that never happened on Sunday at McHale's.

New Thing #261: Karma Coffee

There are good coffee smells and there are coffee smells that remind you of a dead animal....or worse. Unfortunately, the coffee brewed at Karma Coffee in Sudbury smells terrible.

It's that smell - which isn't always there, but which I've smelled enough to have associated with the place - which prevented me from trying out Karma Coffee before last weekend.

But Karma Coffee is tucked away behind the dance studio where my girls take lessons.

And, as I've told you, my new Saturday morning routine involves taking my daughter to her dance lessons at said studio.

So, based solely on proximity, all future Saturdays (and one past - I went there this past Saturday) will feature some kind of coffee from Karma Coffee.

It turns out the coffee may stink something awful - but it tastes something delicious.

The menu is relatively simple - there's coffee, cappuccino, espresso, iced beverages...for my debut I chose an iced mocha. (My only complaint - maybe I should have gone with something a little more caffeinated. I'm not sure the iced mocha cut it for my first coffee of the day -  I had traces of a headache the rest of the day. But I think that's my fault much more than Karma Coffee's.)

I've had iced mochas at both Dunkin' Donuts and Starbucks. This one was - by far - the best I've ever had.

That's a promising start for sure.

The space is interesting - there's a little seating area in the front, and there's a wide open space in the back, including the big coffee-making machine. (I think. I'm not sure exactly how that works.) It's a local coffee brewer - it's not a big corporation. I think that's part of what makes it so good.

There are roughly 30 more weeks of dance practices for my daughter...and visits to Karma Coffee for me.

The approaching autumn weather also means it's about time to switch back to hot coffees.

That gives me enough time to explore Karma's entire menu - first hot, then maybe cold.

It'll never smell like a pack of ground french vanilla from Dunkin' Donuts...but if everything else on the menu tastes like their iced mocha, I think I'll learn to live with that.

New Thing #237: Chick-fil-A

We're going to have to put the politics aside for this one. I went to Chick-fil-A while I was in Florida.

My friend Kevin told me I absolutely had to try their chicken sandwich.

OK...maybe one political comment: I do not agree with the company's political views.

But, man do they make a good chicken sandwich.

The place was packed.

Kevin and I planned on going in and eating there, but with the line nearly out the door we got back in the car and went through the drive-through.

That meant hungry old me had to sit in the passenger seat with a couple of chicken sandwiches and a bunch of fries in my lap as we drove.

I should mention this all took place while we were in Gainesville - and we did this before we hit the football stadium.

Our plan was to take the food into the empty bleachers and sit and eat.

Turned out, when we got to the stadium, there was a closed football practice going on. I forgot to mention that in the post about Gainesville. So we had an hour or so to kill, which we began by sitting on a nearby picnic table, eating chicken sandwiches.

My wife tells me, as I write this, that she's surprised I've never had Chick-fil-A before. She tells me there's one in the Burlington Mall food court. I don't spend much time there, so I didn't realize there was a location so close.

Still, I will not patronize them again, even if they open a location even closer.

I'm going to hop on my political high horse.

Boycott begins.......now.

New Thing #234: Buffalo Wild Wings

I probably gave you the impression a couple of days ago that Jacksonville was a mere necessity on my trip through Florida - the city from which I flew home and nothing else. Well, that's mostly true.

But we did do one New Thing in Jacksonville before heading to their beautiful airport.

For the first time in my life I went to a Buffalo Wild Wings.

I'm sure you're aware, if you've ever watched a sporting event - or television of any kind, really - of Buffalo Wild Wings. Their commercials are all over the place.

But there are none near me, so I've never been. (Surprisingly, there are at least 4 in Massachusetts. I just did a search on their website - it's one of those 'within ___ miles of [zip code]' searches, and there are 4 within 50 miles of my home. 3 within 30. There doesn't seem to be a list of locations anywhere on the site. I'm shocked there are 4 in Massachusetts - I didn't even think there were any in this region. Which always surprised me because of how many commercials are on. But I guess now all the ads make sense...even though I've never been, I certainly knew the brand.)

The only bad thing about the timing of our visit was that it was last Saturday afternoon, and there were hardly any sporting events on. There was the Little League World Series when we were there, and the Arena Bowl. I kind of wanted to get the full experience by watching some games while we were there...but I could also see it being one of those totally overwhelming game-watching experiences because of the quantity of TVs. (There was a fantasy football draft happening in the bar area while we were there. And Buffalo Wild Wings seems to cater to the fantasy football crowd - they are celebrating 'draft weekend' this coming weekend and inviting fantasy leagues to have their drafts there by reserving tables and such. Me from 10 years ago thinks all of this is very, very cool.) There were also a couple of trivia games on a few of the TVs. That seemed to have potential, though I didn't play.

Of course I had the wings. I went with the boneless option per my friend Kevin's suggestion, and I had a teriyaki sauce. It was delicious.

The service was great too. Very accommodating staff. (Interesting thing about Florida - they always ask if you want checks together or separate. In most other places I've been that feels like a burden. Every place we went to in Florida they offered to split the check. Buffalo Wild Wings even went a step further and rang up our order itemized so we could see exactly what we owed - so we paid a total bill but we could see it broken down by what we ordered.)

Overall a great experience...worth the drive if I was so inclined to visit one of the Massachusetts locations. But I don't know if I'm so inclined. (There are 8 locations within 20 miles of my parents' house in New York....)

The only other drawback of no games on TV while we were there - I couldn't employ the bartender to press the secret button that results in the delay of game so we could stay out longer.

I always wondered if that was a real thing.

New Thing #225: Rox Diner

Though I like the area a lot, I don't spend all that much time in Newton, Massachusetts. The few times I've been there my wife has had a plan - either to go to a certain restaurant or a coffee shop or store - and I've just followed wherever she led.

On Saturday, though, I was in the area by myself, so I explored it on my own.

The plan was to drop off my oldest daughter at a birthday party, then take my two younger daughters for a quick Dunkin' Donuts lunch.

But after walking around and exploring we found the Rox Diner.

Some of you might be familiar with the Newton area without even realizing it.

If you've ever driven to Boston on the Massachusetts Turnpike (and I know many of you have driven this route) at one point you pass under a Shaw's Supermarket that hangs over the Pike.

The neighborhood where that Shaw's is located is exactly the neighborhood I'm talking about.

There's a Starbucks, there's a Great Harvest Bread Company, there are a couple of pizza places (yes, there is a Dunkin' Donuts too), and there looked to be a bar across the street from the Rox Diner.

(I should take this opportunity to lament the fact that there are not a ton of diners in the MetroWest area. New York City is rich in diners. That was one of the stark differences that stood out to me when I moved to Boston 15 or so years ago - very few diners.)

My daughters had mac and cheese and chicken fingers. (For what it's worth - both portions were too big. I probably should have wrapped up the rest, but we weren't heading straight home, so I didn't. Big portions from the children's menu - either a plus or a minus, depending on your perspective.) I had an avocado BLT...which came without bacon. I'm not sure if I didn't read the menu carefully enough to see if the avocado replaces the bacon by default, like for vegetarians, but I was fully expecting bacon and avocado. (It's not called an ALT, after all.) But the food was good.

It was crowded, but not cramped.

And - no small thing for a dad with young girls - they give placemats for the kids to color while they wait. That doesn't happen everywhere, and it's worth remembering the places that do it.

I love the Watertown/Newton area. I'd like to spend more time there.

If I do...I'd probably become a regular at the Rox Diner.

New Thing #216: Pate's Restaurant

One last recommendation for you from last weekend's Cape getaway. It's Pate's Restaurant in Chatham.

My wife and I were looking for dinner our first night on the Cape, and we figured we'd treat ourselves, since we were without children.

Our first choice was a seafood restaurant that, once we were inside, was deceptively small - so the wait was too long. (Truth be told, our first choice was a Cape Cod League baseball game...but it was a rainy night, so a nice restaurant it was.)

We left there and went to Pate's.

After a 5-to-10 minute wait, we were seated.

Pate's was the opposite of the seafood place - it is deceptively big - the dining area was huge.

Their website says they don't take reservations, but even on a busy Saturday night they say your wait won't be more than 10 minutes. (I believe it.)

Even though the sign outside bills Pate's as "Steak and Seafood", it felt more steak than seafood to me. So I did a steak...my wife did a salmon dish. Both were pretty good.

Now, while we were down there, we asked someone who spent significant time on the Cape about Pate's. First of all, we were pronouncing it wrong. We just assumed there was an accent on the e, and the a was short. Not so - apparently it's a long a, silent e. Which makes sense since I saw on the website it was just some guy's last name.

Secondly, though our source didn't name Pate's as one of his top choices for restaurants (top 3, at least), when we asked him about it he said he liked it. He did mention that it was an old crowd.

Sure enough, we realized, we were probably the youngest people in the place when we ate there.

It's not often my wife and I get out for a nice meal by ourselves. When we do, if we get the double of good time and good food, we're happy.

Pate's made us happy.

New Thing #211: Handkerchief Shoals Inn

On our second - and final - visit to Cape Cod of the summer, we stayed in Harwich. Which is right next to Chatham.

And not far from Dennis.

The Cape is interesting like that - you drive for a few minutes and you cross through a bunch of towns.

We were there for a wedding, so the bride suggested a few places people might want to stay.

We picked the Handkerchief Shoals Inn - and I would recommend it if you're ever looking for a place in the area.

There was a lot about the place I liked.

First and foremost, while the inn had a small pool, it was just a half-mile from the beach. My wife and I didn't have the time to do the full-on beach thing, but we did go for a nice walk down to the beach and back. On our way we passed families who live between the inn and the beach who were heading down to the beach - they had all of these cool contraptions to transport their beach stuff from the house to the beach without having to bring a car. I didn't go for a run at all, but I did clock the mileage on a loop that took you down by the beach and back that was a little more than two miles. So in other words, if you're looking for some beach time, this place is conveniently located.

The room was reasonably priced. (It occurs to me now that perhaps we got a wedding block type of discount, but still - it was a good price.) There was also a continental breakfast offered each morning between 8 and 10am. The owners live above the office, so they were always on hand if there was a problem. (More than once this weekend I thought how nice that life might be. Or not. Because if I was on call for problems at all hours there would be two problems: 1) Me being woken up in the middle of the night to handle problems, and 2) Me not knowing how to solve said problems.)

The handkerchief shoals from whence the inn got its name are apparently steeped in maritime history, but my wife made the joke of the weekend when she pointed out how small the bath towels were and said perhaps that's how the inn got its name. (The water pressure was pretty weak too. But that's about the extent of our complaints.)

I joked to the bride that I will always celebrate her anniversary as the last time I got some rest. We had a really restful weekend without the kids...and as such we'll always fondly remember our weekend at the Handkerchief Shoals Inn.

New Thing #209: Kream N' Kone

I told you the last time I was on the Cape that we were coming back. Well, that was this weekend.

Turned out to be a rainy first day, when I was hoping to hit the beach again.

But my wife and I were able to do some other fun, relaxing activities.

And eat a lot of food.

Our first stop for lunch on Friday - the Kream N' Kone Restaurant in Chatham...where we had nothing either kreamy nor in a kone.

What we were really looking for was something to hold us over - it was late for lunch and we were going to have a nice dinner, so we just needed a quick bite.

This place looked like it was going to fit the bill.

But before I go ahead and tell you about it, let me flash back once again to Montauk -  I told you the last time I wrote about the Cape that everything I do there gets measured up against Montauk...which, by virtue of being where I spent so much time growing up, I view as my ideal vacation spot.

One of my favorite things, food-wise, in Montauk was the fried seafood. Fried clams, fried shrimp, forms of fish 'n' chips...that was always my go-to meal whenever I was unsure what to get.

Especially at Gosman's Dock.

At Gosman's there was an outdoor stand where you'd get your food at a window and then sit on the water and battle the seagulls while you ate your food. Once in a while it would be tasty to get a burger or something grilled there, but 99 times out of 100 I got something fried in a basket with french fries.

And that's what I wanted on Friday.

And that's what I got.

It's been years since I had something that looked like this...and was also this good. And it brought me back to my Montauk vacations...which is always a good thing. The only thing missing was the seagulls swooping nearby.

New Thing #207: Sweet Spot Frozen Yogurt

I didn't think we'd be trying any more frozen yogurt places as part of '365 New Things In 2013.' After the last one I came to the conclusion that these places aren't all that different.

But we were out earlier this week and we decided to treat the girls to a dessert, and my wife convinced me to try Sweet Spot Frozen Yogurt.

And there's enough about this place to set it apart.

First of all, it's the most convenient of all the new places we've been to this year. It's located on Route 9 East at the Edgell Road exit, which is about two and a half miles from our house. So that's a bonus.

The frozen yogurt itself is not any better than the frozen yogurt at the other places...but it certainly isn't any worse. And there's the usual assortment of toppings - that's become pretty static from place to place too. So the product itself doesn't really set it apart.

The price does - this place was not as expensive as the others. (And for what it's worth they gave us a card where you get a free frozen yogurt for every 10 you buy. Since we did 4 in one shot, we're already almost halfway there!)

It's also across the street from Framingham State University, so they seem to want to be kind of a hangout -  there was a shelf with board games, there was a lot of seating, and there was a TV. (It was tuned to one of those A&E shows when we were there, though - something like 'Storage Wars' maybe. But this was when there was a Red Sox game on. So that seemed like a poor decision.)

My biggest gripe with the place is that the floors were terribly dirty. I chalked it up to the fact that it's still a pretty new place and maybe there is further construction or flooring to be done...but it was pretty gross. It was also a rainy day, now that I think about it. I'll have to check the floors the next time I'm there.

Speaking of the next time I'm there...the chances of a return visit are high. A few weeks ago I had a late-night urge for some dessert. I drove around and settled on an ice cream place where I hadn't been in years. I think I would have been happier had I gone here.

It's so close...making it pretty convenient for frozen yogurt at the drop of a hat.

New Thing #202: Shake Shack

Over the All Star break, my wife and I tossed around the idea of going to the Mets-Phillies game on Saturday. We really enjoyed taking the family to Citi Field last year and wanted to re-create that experience.

We called around and it looked like my parents and siblings were also going to be able to make it.

Then there was some rain in the forecast, and we started to second-guess a 3-hour ride into 90-degree temperatures and a rain delay.

We cancelled the trip.

But my wife suggested that in honor of Citi Field, we check out the new Shake Shack in Chestnut Hill.

We've had Shake Shack at Citi Field - it's the only place we have, actually. (There are 10 locations in New York State, a few in Florida, a couple in Connecticut, and the one in Massachusetts, which opened up just this past March.) And the first time I realized Shake Shack extended beyond New York City was a year ago at this time, when I was in Washington, D.C. I saw there's one at Nationals Park - that's one of three Shake Shacks in the DC area.

Anyway, as many food options as there are at Citi Field, it's a credit to how good Shake Shack is that there's always a really long line there - by far the longest concession line in the park. And we'll usually wait in that line too. The burgers are so good. And the fries are excellent too.

Saturday night my wife and I got burgers, the girls had hot dogs, and we got an order of regular fries and an order of cheese fries, figuring the girls might not like the cheese fries. They ate almost all of them. (Next time it'll be two orders of cheese fries.) And then, of course, we topped it off with some shakes. (My wife had ice cream, actually, which she thought was better than the shake.) At some point I'll have to try their 'concrete', which is ice cream with toppings blended in. It looks like a dessert you have to eat with a spoon, though, and Saturday night I was only interested in a shake.

If you're familiar at all with the Chestnut Hill Mall (and The Mall at Chestnut Hill, which are two separate things, as far as I know, on opposite sides of Route 9 in Chestnut Hill), there's a whole lot of work being done in that area. They're building a Wegman's and there's a whole bunch of other construction there too (the Wegman's is the only site that's labeled), and the Shake Shack is part of a stretch that's completed, called 'The Street'. It's next to Legal Sea Foods, there's a City Sports and a Sports Club LA there, a Pottery Barn, a couple of other restaurants, and a movie theater that we couldn't tell was open or not yet.

It's a pretty hopping area right now. We went for Shake Shack and discovered a whole lot else was happening.

Which is good. Because it's only about a 30-minute drive to have a little bit of New York City here in my current home state.

And it sure is worth the drive.

New Thing #187: Metropolitan Museum of Art

I've told you about Johnny Tremain. One of my other all-time favorite books that I first read when I was a child is From The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, by E.L Konigsburg.

In the book, a brother and a sister run away from their home in Greenwich, Connecticut and decide to live at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

I don't know why it appeals to me so much - maybe because I always look at a place with an eye towards "if I became trapped here, would I be able to survive?" (Or maybe I think that because I read the book.)

Either way, I'm pretty sure it's not because I spent a lot of time at the museum as a kid...because I think Friday, when I visited with my family, was the first time I had been to the museum.

It is certainly possible I took a school field trip to the Met when I was a boy. (I hate to get up on my high horse, but it would be criminal for any New York City school to not take a trip to this museum with all this culture right at their fingertips.)

But if I went, it certainly didn't make an impression. I don't remember. (That's not saying a ton. I remember so little about my elementary school experiences that it's embarrassing. I remember a couple of class plays, I remember studying about the American Revolution in 4th grade, and I remember throwing up in the classroom in 6th grade. But those are stories for another day.)

Anyway, digressions aside, I spent a few hours at the Met Friday afternoon...and I could have spent many, many more. It's incredible. I should mention (one more digression), we went because my oldest daughter (almost 7 years old) wanted to go to a museum. It's fun not only to enjoy going to a museum these days for myself, but also to see my daughter enjoy it so much.

We spent a good deal of our time in the American Wing. I hate to be a homer, but I enjoy American art. Don't be offended - I'm no expert. I'm not even sure I know how to appreciate art. But I know what I find interesting, and I was engaged in the American Wing more than other places.

Thing is, as I mentioned before, we only scratched the surface of this museum. I believe we could go back again and again and still not finish. So maybe there's something else out there that I would love that I just didn't make it to.

The highlight of our time at the Met on Friday - by far - was 'Washington Crossing The Delaware'. I had seen that image before, but nothing prepares you for seeing it up close. First of all, it's huge. I didn't realize that. Secondly, it's breathtaking. It's really really remarkable. I didn't even realize it was at the Met - that surprise factor probably figured into the breathtaking-ness of the painting.

Besides everything there was to see, in my mind there was a lot of trying to figure out what has changed at the Met since From The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler was written about 50 years ago. And I spent a lot of time thinking about Claudia and Jamie and where they spent their time. I knew, for instance, that the Egyptian pyramid was one of their hiding spots, but we never made it to the area where they found the bed in which they slept. We saw the grand staircase which is featured in the book, and we saw a fountain by the cafe in the American Wing, but I'm not sure it's the fountain in which they bathed and found their "income."

I'll leave you with this: the area where the American Wing's cafe and the fountain are is beautiful. It's outside this wall that looks like it could be part of the original footprint of the museum. I'm not sure what the history of additions is. But it's an awesome sight. So I'll leave you with that picture while inviting anyone with any knowledge about the Met to tell me what you know. Because I learned a lot in my visit to the Met on Friday afternoon. But there's a whole lot more I want to learn.

New Thing #183: Cape Cod Potato Chip Factory Tour

I love Cape Cod Potato Chips. When I brainstormed a list of possible New Things for '365 New Things In 2013', the Cape Cod Potato Chip Factory Tour was on that list.

If you've ever eaten Cape Cod Potato Chips, you know that on the back of the bag there's always a little map of how to get to the factory and it says if you're ever in the area you should come by for a tour!

So when my wife booked the Cape Cod vacation I suggested we check out the factory.

And so we did.

And it sucked.

There are signs all over the place as you head in for the tour: "No Photos", "No Video". I thought this was so you don't accidentally send off any top-secret information to competitors.

Turns out, I'm pretty sure it's because if you put up pictures or video, other people would see how terrible the tour is and not turn out.

It started out really promising - the tour is self-guided. I LOVE self-guided tours, because I don't much love having to be grouped with people I don't know and be led by a guide who I also don't know. Self-guided is just my speed.

But it turns out the tour was self-guided because all it involves is walking down a long (medium-sized, really) hallway and looking into some windows.

There's information posted on the walls along the way, but you don't really see any of the good stuff. You see a bunch of potatoes go into a machine. You see a whole bunch of potato chips on conveyor belts. You see a bagging machine, though you don't see the actual bagging. You see a bunch of people inspecting chips and putting bags into bigger bags and think that they must either really love Cape Cod Potato Chips or really hate their lot in life.

And then you open a door and you're in the gift shop. The tour might not have been what I was hoping for, (What was I looking for, you ask? Well, I thought we'd get to put on lab coats and goggles and walk through and see machines in all their glory and touch stuff)  but I still love Cape Cod Potato Chips. So I loved the gift shop.

My in-laws spotted a chip clip with the Cape Cod Potato Chips logo on it. Sold. My only problem with the chips is when they lose their crispness because the bag isn't sealed tight. Not a problem anymore. And then I got a Cape Cod Potato Chip magnet.

We also got free samples. They let you take two of the small bags of potato chips on your way out. I took a new flavor (New Thing!) - roasted garlic and red pepper. I tried them later that day on the beach - they were a little too roasted garlicky and red peppery.

I was a little disappointed by the tour overall, but I'm glad we did it. It was just about 15 minutes from our hotel, so it was worth checking out. I couldn't imagine some chip enthusiast, though, from the west coast, say, coming all the way out just to walk down a hallway. I imagine that has to happen once or twice a year. I wonder if they complain to management and if anything is done to accommodate those folks.

I probably would have been furious if I had driven the 1 hour, 45 minutes from my house to check out the factory.

But I only drove 15 minutes. And they gave my daughters free potato chips. So we're cool, Cape Cod Potato Chips.

New Thing #181: Vacationing On The Cape

One time when I was a kid, my family spent some time on Cape Cod. I remember very little about it - but I'm pretty sure it was a pool-centered trip rather than a beach-centered one.

Another time, when my wife and I were dating, we took a day trip to Craigville Beach and laid out on the sand.

It was a windy day and all I remember is that the sand was blowing in our face and we didn't even go in the water.

We also attended a wedding on Cape Cod.

For a long time I let that middle experience dictate my views on Cape Cod - I didn't think I'd enjoy spending extended time there.

Then last week happened.

My wife gets credit for planning this one - she thought of it way back in the winter. She found the place where we stayed, she picked the days we went...she was the mastermind.

She found a place called The Ocean View, on Craigville Beach in Centerville, and we went with most of her family for a couple of days.

The timing was right - some towns were still in school (due to added-on time from snow days and the hurricane), so the beach was pretty empty. (It didn't hurt that it was also a Wednesday-Thursday trip rather than a weekend.)

The Ocean View is across the street (and a parking lot) from the beach. Our room was perfect - we all stayed in a big suite, and I can not tell you as a parent how convenient it is to be able to walk to the beach rather than having to pack everyone up in the car and wipe off the sand and dry off wet bottoms before they sit on the car seats etc. etc. etc. The picture at the top of this post is the view of the hotel from the beach. This picture is a view of the beach from in front of the hotel.

 The days were perfect too - sunny, the Cape wind (which I've now decided is a thing and not just a coincidence that the wind happens to pick up whenever we're there) acted like air conditioning on muggy days rather than a source of annoyance, and the water was the calmest I've ever seen.

The last time I went to the beach it was July 2009, and that was a particularly stormy summer, I think. The days we spent at the beach in Montauk were sunny, but the water was churning. It was rough - there were a couple of times I went in the water and I started making my way back to shore and didn't know if I was going to make it back. I got my butt kicked. I still have scars on my knee from those days when the waves crashed me down onto the sand.  (Is it coincidence that it took me four years to get back in the ocean? Maybe. But maybe not.)

This time the ocean was like a pool. Literally. The waves gently broke on the shore and I was thrilled that my daughters showed no fear wading into the water or sitting on the sand and letting the waves splash on top of their legs. (This fearlessness might become dangerous on days when the ocean is rough, but I'll cross that bridge when we come to it since we visit the ocean so infrequently. I'm just excited right now that we're dealing with the opposite of the usual with my daughters, which is excess caution.) It was a great beach vacation.

I'm looking forward to building on this momentum and doing other water-related activities with my girls. It's also not out of the question for us to take a day trip to the beach now, knowing that it wouldn't be a waste of our time.

I took a trip to Martha's Vineyard a bunch of years ago and I loved it - the beach reminded me of Montauk, which for me is the ideal against which all other beaches are measured. After my previous experiences on Cape Cod I just never thought it would measure up - I didn't like the shells in the sand. And that wind. My goodness.

I still prefer Montauk because it's where I spent so much of my childhood summers. There are great family memories from the beaches there. But now I have my own family of five. And we have had one great vacation experience in Montauk (well, we were a family of four then) and now another great vacation experience on Cape Cod.

And at the end of July my wife and I are going to another wedding on the Cape. She had the great idea that we should make a weekend out of it. At the time she booked it I wasn't too thrilled about that.

Now I can't wait to go back.

New Thing #180: Jamba Juice

I guess there was a part of me, deep down in my subconscious, that was missing my alma mater after spending time at my wife's reunion. Because last week I had some time to kill between doing some work at school and needing to be back at the school to pick up my daughter from day camp.

So I decided to spend that time near Boston University, going for a run along the Charles River.

And as I drove there I developed a plan which worked out so well for me it's almost unbelievable.

I left work at about 12:30. I intentionally didn't bring anything for lunch, figuring I'd grab something near BU after my run. But as I drove from Belmont to Boston I couldn't think of anything healthy enough to not negate the workout I was driving all this way to do.

My mind kept coming back to burgers and pizza - two of my favorites, for sure, but not what I was really in the mood for on this particular afternoon.

I thought about what I would be having if I was doing lunch at home, and my mind went to smoothies. It was perfect - I convinced myself then and there that somewhere on BU's campus was going to be a smoothie place (you know, catering to the health-conscious college students) where I could grab something healthy after my run.

I kept an eye out as I looked for parking. Nothing. I walked to the Esplanade and looked up and down Commonwealth Avenue where there might have been a place. Nothing.

I ran from behind Marsh Chapel, down about a mile to a turnaround point, and then ran back until I exited near the School of Education. (I give these specifics for the BU readers. They'll know what I'm talking about.) I walked up a part of Commonwealth Avenue I hadn't checked out before...still nothing. Then I crossed the street in front of Warren Towers, and lo and behold, in the last place I would have expected to see one, there was a smoothie place.

It was a Jamba Juice, which I had never been to before. As much as I fully expected to find a smoothie place, I was taken aback when I finally did. This little storefront is located on the ground floor of one of BU's signature dorms. When I was there it was a little sandwich/bagel/coffee place, and I think it has also been a burrito place. It has never been a recognizable franchise like Jamba Juice, as far as I know.

I looked at the menu, but I wasn't really registering what I was seeing. I feel like I settled - I wish I had a chance to re-order. My smoothie was fine, but it was nothing extraordinary. I want to go back and get something a little different from something I could easily create at home.

I ended up having an "Orange C-Booster" smoothie. It was essentially a fancier, thicker orange juice. It's advertised (right there on the menu!) as a Vitamin C and zinc boost as well as an antioxidant boost, and it's made with orange, peach, and banana. (On this day 'peach' served the same purpose for me as 'avocado' on a food menu - it looks so good to me that whatever I ordered had to have that in it.) It was refreshing enough, and it held me over until dinner time, and I did feel healthy having it. So it served its purposes.

The smoothie was 350 calories. They sell 3 sizes of smoothie - "sixteen" (16), "original" (22), and "power" (30). I had original and I'm not sure I needed anything bigger.

I'm not sure how familiar you are with Jamba Juice, but they also have sandwiches. I'm not sure if I'm in the market for a sandwich that this would be my first stop, but it's nice to know it's there.

I can easily see myself swinging by Jamba Juice on my way to Fenway Park the next time I head to a Red Sox game and grabbing a smoothie.

Maybe it'll make me feel a little better about shoving my face full of crap at Fenway if I have a smoothie first.

New Thing #173: Vicki Lee's

I met a friend for lunch the other day. She suggested a place which, as it turned out, we had both heard a lot about, but had each never been.

It's called Vicki Lee's, and it was delightful.

Vicki Lee's is located at the corner of Common Street and Trapelo Road in Belmont, Massachusetts. That also happens to be the town in which I work, but this restaurant is in a further south part of the town from where I work. It's not a spot where I spend a lot of time.

It's a really great little establishment.

We got there at about 11:30am, grabbed a table, had a couple of sandwiches, and were able to chat. Even when the place got pretty crowded it never got too loud. (I had my back to the door, but it did get crowded after 12 as the lunch crowd arrived. We didn't linger long after we finished eating so as to make sure we didn't take a table from someone.)

It's open, though, seven days a week through dinner time. Not necessarily for dinner, but through dinner. They have a good dinner menu, but the menu states that there is only so much of a given item, so once they run out they're done serving that item for the night.

It's an interesting place - it's like a hybrid cafe/breakfast place/lunch place/sit-down restaurant.

It's kind of hard to describe. (Here's their website if you're interested.) But I'm interested in what dinner would be like there - lunch was very good.

Next time I'm staying late at work for a meeting or something I might have to swing by and see what's left over from the dinner menu.

New Thing #170: Thetford, Vermont

I spent last weekend in Thetford, Vermont. Thetford is located 10 miles north of Hanover, New Hampshire.

Which is how my wife had even known about Thetford, and also how we came to spend the weekend there.

This past weekend was reunion at Dartmouth (located in Hanover), which is where my wife went to school. Reunion at Dartmouth is a pretty big deal. First of all, they cluster some years, so this year featured grads from '97, '98, and '99 all celebrating their 15th reunions. There were also 1988 grads and I think 1978. And I think, due to the layout and location of the campus, and quite possibly the size of the class, though I think it's more the former than the latter, most people look forward to coming back for reunion and reconnecting with their classmates.

Why I bring this up is because I don't have the same feelings about Boston University that my wife does about Dartmouth. I see who I care to see from my days at BU, and I probably will not attend a reunion. Part of this, I think, is the more spread-out campus of BU. (Also part of this is my general lack of desire to socialize.) Anyway, my wife and I like to visit Dartmouth - it's a beautiful campus. I particularly like it when no one's around, but here we were attending the third Dartmouth reunion since my wife and I have been together.

But this time we didn't stay on campus. We rented this house in Thetford. I've only spend significant time in Vermont once before in my life, that I can remember. And I know exactly when it was - October of 1988. I know because my dad and I went up separate from the rest of the family (or we delayed the trip, I can't remember which) because we attended one of the games of that year's NLCS. (I'm also pretty sure we watched Game 1 of that year's World Series in Vermont, but I could be wrong - it doesn't seem like we'd be there that long in October. I'm more sure we saw Big in a movie theater there with my cousins.)

I don't remember much about the trip 25 (!) years ago. Just thought I'd mention it. This trip we stayed in a house off the beaten path and up a big hill. This offered a beautiful view of the surrounding area, and it looked like the type of place where we'd see wildlife. We did. 4 deer. 3 at once, as you can see in the picture at right. (The fourth wandered by Sunday morning before we left.) These 3 came by Friday evening and spent a lot of time picking at the tall grass for dinner, I suppose.

Another highlight of the time we spend in Thetford came Saturday morning, in East Thetford, actually, when we ate breakfast at Isabell's Cafe. If you're ever in the area, I don't know if I can recommend it enough. It was exactly what you'd want from a breakfast place in a small town like this. It was like you were seated in a kitchen, but there were plenty of tables, and it was just down-home friendly. I really liked it. The coffee was pretty terrible, though.

I told you that weekend that I was going to be off the grid, but it turned out that even in the middle of nowhere there was a wireless connection. I didn't expect that. I thought a few times that I might like to return to the Thetford house and just lock myself in the for the weekend and write. But I don't even know if I'd be able to eliminate the distractions. I was able to settle in after my girls went to bed and do some reading.

Still, though, I'd go back, if for nothing more than the family time. The girls liked it. They enjoyed the time in the house just as much as they enjoyed exploring Hanover. I would imagine it's very pretty in the winter time, and if we were a skiing family it would be awesome. But we're not. Yet. (My daughter indicated she might be interested.)

The other problem is that hill that offers the great view - I don't know how keen I am to drive up and down it in the wintertime. And how dark it gets at night. Whatever we were doing last weekend we made sure that we were within a distance where we could drive back to be in the house by 7pm or so, because we didn't want to get caught outside after dark. And by "we" I mean "I".

But for a city boy like me, it's good to sometimes experience some time in the country. I was proud of how I handled myself in a country house. I'm looking forward to doing something like that again.

As long as we're home before dark.

New Thing #145: Wayland Town Center

There's a new complex opened up in Wayland town center. It's called Wayland Town Center.

The old Wayland town center is just a big intersection of two big roads.

This Wayland Town Center is anchored by a Stop and Shop and has other stores and restaurants sprinkled through it.

And there's a lot more coming.

We went there Saturday to eat at the Bertucci's. (I had been to the Stop and Shop once before.) There's also a Supercuts open, an Anton's Cleaners, a Subway, Panera Bread, a bank, and a frozen yogurt place (more on that tomorrow).

I saw that there's another restaurant due to open in June - called The Local - as well as a town green (date TBD). I guess they're opening up a green where they can have concerts and such within the same complex.

It's a nice space, and it's been wasted space for a number of years. It's kind of cool to see all of these places popping open, but at the same time you kind of wish everything would open up all at once so you can get an idea what the whole place will end up being like.

It's a convenient location too. For those who don't know, Wayland is about 15 minutes from where I live, Framingham. It's between Sudbury and Weston, and it's convenient to a number of other towns that I don't really know that I have the geographic know-how to list.

It's right off Route 20, if that makes a difference to you as a point of reference.

It's convenient enough for us that we'll check it out every once in a while. It's not going to be our go-to place for a supermarket or a bank or a hair cut or a restaurant.

But it's shaping up to be a pretty nice place to go to.

New Thing #114: La Cabane A Sucre

When I was in Quebec I had food like croissants and poutine - typical fare. But the most authentic cuisine I think I had on our trip came on Saturday night - at La Cabane a Pierre...a log cabin-type building in the middle of the woods about an hour from our hotel.

I was only a bus passenger, but I got the impression it was in the middle of nowhere.

It's an establishment with long wooden picnic tables, lots of meat, and lots of maple syrup.

This is one of those two-fer New Things, though, because in addition to the food at La Cabane Pierre, I also got my first look at a Cabane a Sucre: A Sugar Shack.

I hate to say it, but the Sugar Shack was the first time in 2013 where I had an opportunity to try a New Thing and I passed on it.

See - in the shack they boil the sap in a big vat to get maple syrup. (At right you can see buckets on trees to gather the sap.) At least, that's what I think - the guy who told us about it spoke only in French. So pardon me if it wasn't even a sugar shack at all. I don't know what he was talking about.

But at the end of our visit inside, he allowed everyone to stick a finger into the vat and taste the raw syrup. I'm sorry. I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Who knows what can get into that vat. I wasn't going to put my finger in there and then in my mouth.

Afterwards, we went into the cabin for dinner. They had a guy on a violin playing songs throughout the dinner:

They sold maple syrup and maple butter (I got a little bit of each), and they served ham, sausages, a vegetable soup, and for dessert a pancake. (Maybe it was called something else. I don't know. It was essentially a pancake.)

The catch, though - you're encouraged to put the syrup on everything. It was like in "Elf". "Try some syrup in your soup!" "Put some syrup on your ham!" I did. And, I figured, what the heck - I put some syrup in my coffee. WWBTED? What would Buddy the Elf do?

It's a mild type of syrup. Not very sweet. So it wasn't gross when I put it in those things. You didn't quite notice the syrup. What you did notice - especially taking off my coat and clothes that night - was the smell of meat permeating your clothing.

It was a nice night. It ended with a long journey from the middle of nowhere back to the city and civilization.

Not unlike "Elf".

New Thing #107: Quebec City

I told you last week that I was going to Canada. Quebec City, to be precise.

I had a great time, and I'm coming back with a ton of New Things to tell you about.

I suspected going in that I was going to enjoy myself, mostly because here's something you probably didn't know about me:

I have loved Quebec from afar for quite some time.

In 1995, the Rangers played the Nordiques in the first round of the NHL Playoffs. I don't know why I remember this so clearly...maybe because it was the follow-up to their Stanley Cup championship and I was watching closely to see if they could win back-to-back titles.

I attended one of the games at Madison Square Garden, and watched the other games in New York and Quebec on the MSG Network. And when the Rangers were in Quebec, as they bumped back in from commercial, MSG would show beauty shots of Quebec.

They were the single most impressive beauty shots of any city I've ever seen on any sporting event.

That sounds like an exaggeration, but I assure you it is not.

So one of my goals on this trip was to see if Quebec in reality lived up to the beautiful city I had built it up to be in my mind for 18 years.

I'm here to tell you it did.

None of my pictures quite captured the exact image I had in my head from those MSG telecasts in '95, but all of my pictures convey the beauty of that city.

The cobblestone streets, the old-fashioned shops and storefronts...I felt like I was walking through a Disney cartoon town. ('Beauty and the Beast', if we're being specific.)

So the beauty of the city alone helped it live up to my expectations. But then there was its history - there are elements of Quebec's history (and its relationship with England) that dovetail nicely with the Boston history that I love so much. (Though I admit even after three days of learning about Quebec's history I don't know that I have a great handle on it.)

I also enjoyed (and this was really unexpected) having the chance to learn a little bit of a new language. First of all: I kind of felt like a dolt in Quebec, where so many people are fluent in both French and English, needing to make them speak my language because I didn't know theirs. But, to my credit, I tried.

See, I took Spanish my whole life. I went on this trip to help chaperone...but I don't know a word of French. What I discovered, though, was that immersion is amazing...I worked really hard to listen to conversations and use context to figure out what was going on around me. I got OK after three days at picking up here and there what people were saying, and I could read things like street signs or menus...but I was helpless when it came to speaking French. I can not get the pronunciations or the inflections. It was an important learning experience for me as a teacher about how the brain processes information. (My most fun immersion experience was back in the hotel Sunday night, with the Canadian broadcast of the ESPN Sunday Night Baseball game. I spent most of my time reading the crawl in French rather than listening to the announcers, but picked up that a home run was a 'complet circuit' [I might have that backwards], abbreviated 'cc' in the box score. And I interpreted that Johnny Cueto was placed on the disabled list [la liste des blesses] with a shoulder [epaule] injury.)

I did a lot. I don't know how much I'm going to write about - I could have two weeks' worth of New Things to share...maybe I'll spread them out, maybe I'll write about them for a couple of weeks straight...I'm not sure yet. But I will share them all.

They're not exactly New Things I sought out on my own. They sort of happened to me because of the trip's itinerary. But they were New Things nonetheless, and I enjoyed them all.

The last thing I bought there was a souvenir for me. (Don't worry, I took care of my family first.) It was a mason jar glass, which I thought was perfect because I was in Canada, after all. (At least, I think a mason jar glass is appropriate to Canada.) And it was decorated with the logo of the Quebec Nordiques, which I saw in almost every shop throughout the trip. When I did, I knew I had to get something with that logo, because that's the reason I knew anything about Quebec in the first place.

The biggest endorsement I have for Quebec is that I can't wait to go back. I want to visit with my family. And between now and then maybe I'll get myself a French-English dictionary and start practicing saying a few of those words.