From New York to Boston—Vacation

September 6, 2012 by Laura Lohr 2 Comments

There are so many adventures I want to talk about. I have not even begin to scratch the surface of our trip to New York. At the same time, I cannot wait to talk about Boston! It was my first time to Beantown and I fell in love with the entire state of Massachussettes!

We left New York City and BlogHer behind after catching Mary Poppins on Broadway at the New Amsterdam Theatre. It was as amazing as I always to imagine it to be. There is something magic about watching live theater in the oldest theater in New York City that is still running. It was built in 1903. If you have not taken in a Broadway show before, it is something you really should do at some time in your life. It is incredibly magical!

We took the Amtrack train from New York to Boston. We left out of Penn Station, which was a memorable adventure all on its own. As our train left the outer edge of the city, I took in the skyline of the city. Sometimes it was unbelieveable that we were actually doing and seeing these wonderful things.

The cityscape as we left New York City via Amtrak to Boston. It was a beautiful day. The previous two days there were thundershowers that grounded many planes. This day, however, the weather was perfect!

The train ride was beautiful. The train was comfortable. We rode in the “Quiet Car” and that was wonderful. Five hours of silence, with a six year old? Yes, please!

Allie was more than happy to watch several movies, including The Three Stoges, that Mr. Bear got her into while we were gone. She laughed out loud many times.

We arrived in Boston and to our vacation rental that was in the cutest little neighborhood in Dorchester. Dorchester is a little suburb of Boston. It has somewhat of a reputation of being a rough neighborhood, but where we stayed bordered Quincy and it was a perfect place to stay.

It was a very cute, old house, with original hardwood floors. It was a very quiet neighborhood and a great place to stay.

The first day, we had a full day of venturing through the city and eating great food. We ate gelato and took pictures along the Freedom Trail. We learned about Freedom Trail and Paul Revere. It takes your breath away to think of all the history that exists in the city. That evening, we took in a game at Fenway Park, with my good friend Jen. First, we met up at the Boston Commons and walked through the park. It was so beautiful. We went to see the Red Sox play against the Texas Rangers. I do not know who won, I soaked in the moment of sitting in the historic ballpark with my family and a good friend.

“I had a little horsey called, Paul Revere—Just me and my horsey and a quart of beer” Beastie Boys

We had a beverage with Jen before the game. Allie ordered a Shirley Temple, heavy on the cherries.

Allie took this photo. She has a love for photography, the same way I do! It was awesome to be in historic Fenway Park!

Jen suggested that we do the Duck Tour. Not only was this tour fun, it was informative too. There were two tour guides that alternated and they were equally entertaining and informative. The day was long, but phenomenal! We walked back across a bridge to meet Jen downtown at her work, where we were nearly killed in the crosswalk numerous times, even when we had the right of way. Did I mention that as much as I LOVE Massachussettes and Boston AND the people of Massachussettes, I love them much more when they are not driving. (You Bostonians are CRAZY drivers!) Jen was kind enough to offer to drive us to Target to get some mandatory supplies. Thank you, Jen for taking us to Target that night to get some groceries!

Beautiful Boston!

This is a rare treat! A family photo! Yea!

Quincy Market downtown.

Allie and Mommy on the Duck Tour

The USS Constitution. What a sight to see!

Another rare find—just the two of us!

While at Target, I ran over Allie’s big toe with the grocery cart (or buggy, as they say on the East Coast). Her toe started bleeding and she started screaming. Guess who wins Mom of the Year this year? Fortunately, she was fine. Later that night however, she woke up with such a bad ear ache that she had to be taken to the emergency room. Poor little girl!

After the emergency room, Allison got to feeling much better.

Boston was beautiful, incredible, and we fell in love with the city. This only covers the first two or three days of our trip. We have been talking about moving to the East Coast. We have so many friends that we got to visit with while we were out and there were plenty of friends we did not see. I have not even begin to discuss our visits with friends, Rockport, Cape Cod, or Plymouth Rock. Oh, it was fabulous!

Next up in the series, the rest of Massachusetts.

Previous items in this series:

BlogHer 2012—My Thoughts and Critiques

Before BlogHer New York 2012

The Summer I Became a Carny Part I

July 1, 2012 by Laura Lohr Leave a Comment

After graduation from high school, I had relatively little plans. I had aspirations to enroll in college the fall of 1991, however, during the summer I had nothing going on. Nothing. Nada. Up to no good. You know the saying, “Idle hands are the devil’s playground.” No statement could be truer than it was for me that summer. I got caught taking my dad’s truck to an ex-boyfriend’s house who was no good for me. My parents were disappointed in my behavior. Finding a summer job seemed an unlikely prospect in the small town I was from.

The morning following being caught at the forbidden ex-boyfriend’s house, my parents informed me that they were shipping me off to Paso Robles to get a job at the California Mid-State Fair. I was being given a one-way ticket to get my shit together. My grandmother picked me up the next day. My grandma, my cousin (who is one month younger than me), and I would be taking a road trip in Grandma’s motorhome to stay with my aunt and GET A DAMN JOB already! I was not happy, yet I did not have a choice.

When we arrived in Paso Robles, we got an early morning start to apply for jobs at the fairgrounds. My aunt had some “connections” and the three of us got jobs working at the Hot Dog on a Stick trailers. My cousin Gene and my grandma Freda were in one trailer, I, in another. We spent eleven days covered in the grease of footlong hot dogs and the sticky-sweet smells of freshly spun cotton candy. It did nothing for my nineteen year old oily complexion. We worked 12 hour shifts, with a lunch hour and a few “smoke breaks.”

The stories people tell of the carny life? Well, I can say they are all true—mostly. At least, that was my experience in the Hot Dog on a Stick trailer. I learned the sad, humble life of a 6’8 man that went by the name Stretch, that bore a homemade tattoo of a heart with a sword through it that said, “MOM” in big, bright reddish-pink letters and dawned a southern drawl that lisped through gaps in the spaces of his mouth where teeth should be. We were strictly forbidden by ourselves from the areas where the true carnys quarters were. To say there were shady characters would be understated.

Imagine your 70 year old grandmother leaving your grandfather to join the carny life. Surely, it was something of a scandal in my family to behold. Yet there she was, in all of her glory, schlepping hot dogs, pickles, cotton candy, and sodas. The scandal was heard through the pay phone when I called my parents. Grandpa was not assumed with her antics.

I heard the jokes about the “footlong hotdog” and it seemed every male that came to my window that summer swore theirs was bigger than ours, I remember I had to hire the Toronto window cleaning service because they will always stick their hands on my windows, I hated it. It was enough too much information, myth or legend that made my young brain explode. Thankfully, no one attempted to prove their claims. Thankfully, no one attempted to prove their claims to Freda, my grandma.

Freda, Gene and I slept in my grandmother’s motorhome. After a 12 hour shift at the greasy dog trailer, we fell into the foam bed of our temporary home sweet home, parked in the driveway of my aunt’s house.

At the tender age of 18, my uncle bought Gene and I beer whenever we wanted. In fact, even when we did not want. We met a friend of my uncle’s with a checkered past that won 6.3 million dollars on the California Lottery that owned a limo. He asked me to be his chauffeur because he wanted a blonde limo driver to cart him around. The family spent a few nights at a local lake, waterskiing by day and up to no good at night. I went to see the Nelson Twins play at the fairgrounds and spent my lunch hour perusing the halls of the fair. For 11 days, I was bound to my own devices and nothing more.

I should add that we followed the fair tour from mid-state California to Ventura, California, and to the L.A. County Fair. Follow along for part II to come later.

A Day Well Spent

July 2, 2011 by Laura Lohr Leave a Comment

The month of June was a success here at the Lohr household. We managed to stay healthy all month long and that was quite a feat. I have been working on managing my stress and finding ways to balance all aspects of family life. I carved out some time to exercise towards the end of the month and found my way back to eating healthy.

Today Mr. Bear suggested we go to the beach—during a holiday weekend. I was not excited about the idea. The thought of parking and crowds at the beach was less than appealing. Nonetheless, I wanted to spend time with family and besides, I was getting dirty looks for not wanting to go.

“We’ll only go for an hour,” said Mr. Bear.
“FIIIIINNNE, I’ll go,” I replied sharply, making it obvious I did not approve.

Just as expected, the parking was horrible. The beach was packed. People had their head up their butts and it was annoying. What I did not expect, however, was having the best run in some time.

As soon as we set up our spot on the beach, I set my GPS and ran. I felt like I was running fast and I felt so free. I could feel the sand dragging me down slightly, yet it felt good. It was more resistance than drag and the resistance felt wonderful. Down the beach, there is a steep cliff that stretches along much of the shoreline. I have run this stretch before during marathon training. It is called the “low tide run” and it is one of the best runs I have ever done. Today, as I ran down the beach the crowds thinned out to nearly nothing and I was able to recapture the memories of the low tide run. I love Torrey Pines State Beach. It is really beautiful. For a good distance, the tide was out far enough for me to run along the deserted stretches of beach. Alone, with my thoughts, I was at peace. I was running. I was content. I was happy.

I managed to run 3.25 miles and take this photo.

When I returned to our spot on the beach, Mr. Bear and Allie were out catching waves and playing in the surf. It was a perfect day. Life is good.

Working Girl

January 17, 2011 by Laura Lohr 4 Comments

Today was my first day of work in almost six years. I have not worked since I was three months pregnant with Allison.

I have been looking for a part-time opportunity since Allie started Kindergarten in September. This was the perfect opportunity. I heard about the job through my friend Ginger. She works for a publishing company in the marketing department. They need the publishing sell sheets converted from InDesign to Powerpoint. It is a fifteen hour a week commitment and a temporary position—which is completely perfect for me. I still want to be available to take care of Allie after school. I am able to work from home, but I will be primarily working in the office. I am excited about being back to the working world.

This morning, I got ready for work. I asked my mom how I looked, sprayed some perfume, and away I went. I worked my entire day, then came home. About an hour after I came home from work, I realized my blouse was inside-out. I worked all day and did not notice. Rookie move.

…

We just booked a nine day trip to the Big Island early spring. Mr. Bear and I have both been to Hawaii, but never together. When we first got married, one of our goals was to visit all the places that we have each been to separately. We will be staying in Kona. If anyone knows any “must-do” activities in Kona, please share. 🙂

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From New York to Boston—Vacation

The Summer I Became a Carny Part I

A Day Well Spent

Working Girl

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