[Contd. from ‘Motown to Batavia’]

I was away from Amy and Daisy’s place early in the morning.  I had a 7 hour drive ahead of me to get to Boston.  It was boring and uneventful and allowed me to get another chunk of the Game of Thrones audiobook under my belt!

I did however pass along a road mentioned in one of my favourite songs.  Stuff like that always gives me a kick.  Fortunately, “The turnpike from Stockbridge to Boston,” was not covered with snow (it also was not the 1st of December) and while the Berkshires, “seemed dream like,” it was not on account of that frostin’. (Check out James Taylor’s hair in this video of him singing Sweet Baby James on the BBC in 1970)

That night I stayed with my mate Mike Brown.  Mike is a fellow Blue Man and a funny man.

The last time I had seen him was in Miami several months before when he got disembarked from the ship as he was injured.  He has the scar from his neck surgery to show for it!

We jumped in the car and headed to the Blue Man Theatre in the city where I got to catch up with some friends whilst he was in a rehearsal and had a walk with another good BM friend Jason.

We sat on a bench on Boston Common for a while then I went and picked mike up and we headed home, then out for a few drinks. Upon returning to Mike’s apartment we decided, in accordance with my mission to share the beer my friends had made, to get stuck into the Pipeworks.  This time it was Ninja vs Unicorn.  You can seen how the night ended up!

The next morning was not fun but after a hearty breakfast I was on the road again.  This time to Western Massachusetts to stay with my friend Heather, or Pepper as she is affectionately known, and her partner, Tin, in their lovely home in Holyoak.

I love spending time with Heather.  We have known each other through work for a while now but only got to actually work together properly over the last couple of years. Something I am very happy about.  I will never get bored of receiving one of her hand made cards or some of her ‘sage’ advice *said with one finger on my nose*.

Together we cracked open a bottle of Hyper Dog and enjoyed that before heading out to sample some more craft beers at Paper City Brewery with Heather and Tin’s friends   The brewery has an open house on a friday where you by a cup for, I think, $7 and keep just getting it filled all night.  That, and the live band made it a great night.