Of tasty brews, mountain views and wizard poos : a recap

Ahh the visit that was....universally excellent.

Mighty Tom arrived around 11:00am Thursday in Manchester and we set off for the coast for a bite of lunch and to see the sea. Lunch in Portsmouth at the Portsmouth Brewery where we were introduced to Wheat Wine (that was the specific one) and dunkelweizen. For those of you that particpated in MN Beerfest in July, you would have experienced a Dunkel, and Portsmouth Brewery's was a tasty example of that species. Spent the rest of the afternoon wandering a bit around scenic Portsmouth and then driving up the coast into Maine as far as Ogunquit (the home of Frannie from The Stand). Stopped at Nubble Light (rocky shores and a pee au naturel) and walked on the concrete-like sands of Ogunquit Beach. From there it was back to Methuen via highway, with a slightly drowsy MT.

Thursday night included the second annual Comedy Night to benefit Methuen Firefighters. Faith (as Renaissance Massage) advertises and gets 6 tickets to the show, which this year, as it did last year, included 4 Boston-based comedians (no not firefighters - actual people who make their living doing comedy) doing 30 minute sets. 1 was really funny, 2 were pretty funny, and one was almost painful. The unfunny guy started with long silences between jokes and only got slightly better. After the show some middle-eastern based appetizers at a local place called Shadi's (baba ganoosh, hummus and tabouli) with Faith and our friend Miles.

Friday dawned brightly with a well rested MT who had suffered a bit the previous day with a significant lack of sleep. Decided to check out a NH state park, namely Pawtuckaway for a day hike. Weather was sunny but chilly and a bit windy, but with a good breakfast from Denny's we were up to the challenge. The hike was typical for NH, although wet after our record setting rainfall in October. Mixed deciduous forest gives way to more pines and eventually gives way altogether as you emerge onto a rocky summit. Not as dramatic as the hike Dan and I did at Mt. Monadnock, though it's closer and was far less crowded. Pretty windy and chilly at the top, though with good distant views off north towards the White Mountains and west towards Vermont from the fire tower. Checked out the lake in the park after the hike and then headed back home with our eyes pealed for some lunch. Thought we had found a place for some Mexican food, but despite the fact that the front door was unlocked we learned from the kitchen help that they were closed until dinner time. Luck smiled down on us and we managed to find a good pizza place where we ate well but ordered only enough for our immediate needs.

Returned home with a stop for some refreshments, a Blueberry Ale (too blueberry for me) and a Strawberry Lager (very subtle hint of strawberry). Spent the evening sampling Faith's mostly old record collection, including Steeleye Span (two albums neither of which included MMM), Canned Heat, Tommy, Simon and Garfunkel, George Harrison, Ravi Shankar, among many others. Through it all the beers flowed and all was leading towards our first shared LOTR experience. After years of discussions, we at last witnessed the tale unfolding together. FOTR was watched and mocked, and the beers flowed. The single best comedic strand that was pulled from the night was an ongoing reference to Wizard Poo, sometimes as a stand-in for the evil of the ring, and other times just as separate evil altogether.

It all starts after Bilbo has left and Frodo returns home to find Gandalf sitting quietly. After some awkward discussion, Gandalf suddenly needs to leave and Frodo asks him where he is going, to which Gandalf replies, to take a big crap. From there discussion built upon the real reasons for Gandalf's dirty robes, and what role this big shit played in the history of Middle Earth. Other incidents helped it along, like Merry/Pippen's near miss of a pile of poo after falling from Farmer Maggot's field onto the road, where he would have exclaimed, "Gandalf!". Then there was the flight to Dingleberry Ferry, and on and on. It's not much of a stretch to find funny poo references through the whole thing.

We wound up the evening around 2:00am and went to bed.

Saturday brought another good breakfast and a trip to Salem, MA for a visit to the Peabody Essex Museum, a museum dedicated to Salem's role as the home of the British East India Company, it's seafaraing history, and art from the Orient, all seemingly up MT's alley. Spent a portion of the afternoon wandering the city of Salem, though other than a visit to the Witch Memorial, we avoided the general witch hysteria to be found there and visited the port. Dinner time found us at the Salem Beer Works, where we sampled some more beers and some tasty appetizers including sweet potato fries and fried pickles. The trip home included another stop for beverages and some cheesecake for desert. The evening was spent listening to music, including the hot off the presses Minnesota Connections, which the USPS seems to have delivered in a timely manner. Too early to comment, but we could not resist a listen. Got a call from some jackasses afraid of storms and anytime minutes. To bed at 1:00am for a little rest before leaving for the airport at 4:30am, and MT's return to his other life.

Through it all some themes were revealed. A 10,000 song shuffle on the IPod that we only managed to get 250 songs through. Walks with Primus. And of course the consumption of tasty ales. A splendid time was had by me, with some excellent catching up after a long drought of Pat time. The next installment can't come soon enough.