Crave Meadery

With only a few hours before work we decided to check out a local Meadery in Blackstone.  Located in a small building right on the town boarder with Woonsocket is Ken Tubman's Crave Mead. The building is nothing fancy and is clearly a working meadery that offered tastings to educate and encourage the community to try something differently instead of just a retail operation. As their slogan says "Rethink your drink!"  

Our tour began with a quick explanation of how Ken got into the mead making business.  As an avid bee enthusiast and keeper who enjoyed making wines and beer he thought what better thing to do then combine his too biggest interests and put his tasty honey to good use.

Our first sample was the paddy mead. The dry mead is made from roughly 1/2 lb honey, water, and yeast.  He uses 4 different yeasts as each yeast creates a different taste depending on what he is trying to create. It had a nice and sweet but refined flavor that I really enjoyed. The dry mead is also the base for all his other flavored meads and ferments for roughly 2 months before it's ready to be bottled and sold. 

As his business grew he stopped using his own wildflower honey and began sourcing it locally from a bee keeper in Bellerica, Ma. The honey is a dark wildflower honey and really adds a great flavor to his mead.   If he is making a flavored mead he then adds either juice or fruit and allows it to ferment for another month or two before bottling. 

We tried 4 flavored meads next.  The first flavored mead was a pear nectar which was dry and slightly bitter but lighter then the dry mead.  Neither Grace or myself cared for this one. It was good but the original dry mead had a more balanced natural taste. 

The second flavored mead we tried was a pomegranate sour cherry mead. The sweetness of the pomegranate was a nice compliment to the very sour cherry taste. This would be a great wine to mix with fruit to make a sangria. 

The third mead we sampled was the blueberry mead. This was a very balanced flavorful blend which received many nods of approval from those in the sampling group. It was a natural taste with a sweetness that complimented the flavors.

The last flavored mead we tried was a strawberry mead which was made with 1lb of strawberries per gallon of dry mead. This was my favorite by far. It was light and refreshing with a nice strawberry flavor that wasn't overpowering. As a lover of anything strawberry it was no surprise that I would pick this as my favorite. 

As a special treat he offers us a chance to taste his just approved blend of mead and wine called Pyment which is a mix of Cabernet and mead; 2/3's Cabernet and 1/3 honey wine. This tasted more like the Cabernet then a mead and had that bitter taste I don't like about many red wines. While I can see how some might like this I felt it strayed too far from what a mead is about. 

Before leaving we each picked up a bottle. I went for the Strawberry Mead and Grace picked up a bottle of the Blueberry Mead. The bottles are $16 a piece and because we used a groupon for our tour we were able to take home a small 8 oz bottle of the honey they use to make their mead. 

It was a cool experience and we got to sample a great product that I doubt I would have otherwise discovered. Having tried mead before I knew I would like it and Crave Meads unique blends were definitely a treat. 

Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum

Located just off the Congress Street Bridge in historic Boston, is a floating museum unlike anything you’ve ever experienced before. The little known fact is that the current museum floating in the Fort Point Channel is roughly only a few hundred yards from where the Tea Party took place on December 16,1773. 

Authentic tea ships, live actors, high-tech interactive exhibits, multi-sensory documentary called “Let it Begin Here,”  and an original tea crate from the Boston Tea Party are just part of the experience. 

After entering a town hall style room we are each given the identity of a early American revolutionist and a feather to use as a symbol to others fighting the English that we are part of the cause. Next we participated conversation with Samuel Adams who explained that they offered Governor Hutchinson an opportunity to send the three tea ships back to England with their cargo but he refused and said they must be offloaded before returning back to England.

He also used his words to enrage the crowd calling on one such colonist asking James Brewer how he managed to pay for the new windows he needed on his house.  With the Townshend Acts in place he revealed that it was at the cost of feeding his family. 

After a spirited debate about what to do we headed down the gang plate towards the Eleanor, one of three ships that were in Boston Harbor that fateful night, where we boarded and systematically destroyed every tea crate. During the destruction one revolutionist was  knocked unconscious. That identity belonged to Grace's mother.  Try thought that he was dead and brought him to a barn to be buried the next day only to find him in the pub the following morning.

The Eleanor was a small and very cramped ship where crew shared the hold with its cargo. Before disembarking the historic vessel we each took the opportunity to throw a crate of tea into the harbor. 

Once off the ship we entered the museum its self where observed a discussion between two colonist woman. One a Tory and one a rebel arguing their perspectives. It was a riveting example of the opposing perspectives in the colonies. 

Next we entered the portrait gallery where one of only two surviving crates from the Boston Tea Party is on display.  The Robinson Half Chest as it is known washed up in the salt marshes where it was saved by a young man who hid it away to protect against any loyalist reprisals before it got passed along many generations before being given to the museum for display. Next like the portrait hall of Hogwarts the portraits of John Handcock and King George III came to life as the corresponded about the affairs of the colonies. 

Next we enjoyed the multi sensory "Let It Begin Here" presentation recalling the ride of Paul Revere, the Battle of Lexington and Concord and thus the start of the revolution. Once done we exited into the Tea house where visitors could sample the various blends of tea that were destroyed. While I didn't sample any of the tea I did enjoy a cinnamon scone fresh from the oven.  
 

Kayaking Lake Boon

With the sun shining and having a rare day off I decided it would be a perfect day to go kayaking. Dan and I arranged a time with my brother and his family to check out Lake Boon. Lake Boon is a 163 acre lake located on the Hudson/Stow line.

Located a short distance from his house we loaded up the kayaks and their canoe. The lake is long and relatively narrow made up of four basins. 2 larger areas called Boon Pond and the Ramshorn Meadows as well as two swamp areas.  The meadows and swamp areas formed when a dam was built on Barton Road in Stow. The dam is a by-product of our industrial age.

We began our exploration from Dawes Lot located along Sudbury Road in the smaller of the two swampy areas.  From there we paddled along the shores of Ramshorn Meadows before passing through the Narrows into Boon Pond.

Many of the homes surrounding the lake are merely summer cottages while others have morphed into much more luxurious year round homes.  Historically Lake Boon was a hit amongst city dwellers who had once taken the train out to the area during the summer months and staying in lake side hotels. With the introduction of the car the Lake lost favor and today is surrounded only by homes.

With the sun beating down on us we all decided we would take a dip in the cool refreshing waters. I taught Dan and Grace how to exit their kayaks with out flooding it with water or capsizing. They each did a nice job. Chris pushed Aidan and Elyse off the canoe and into the lake with a splash. Those two are like fish they love the water so much.

We enjoyed the cool water and a chance to swim but after a short while we decided to get back underway. I quickly showed Dan and Grace how to reenter a kayak from the water without capsizing the boat while my brother taught Aidan how to reenter the canoe.

Once we were all back aboard we continued along heading for the dam. Having reached the other side of the lake we headed back. I could feel the sun since the dip in the lake had washed off my sunscreen but continued on.

The return trip seemed to go quicker and it wasn't long before we were back at the ramp. It was then we discovered Grace had taken her car key swimming and it was no lost to the depths of Boon Lake. We managed to get all three kayaks on the roof of my car and brought them back to my bothers while we decided what the best course of action would be. It all worked out after picking up her spare key and on the whole the day went great. Its a nice little lake to float around on and enjoy on a hot summer day.

Bunker Hill Monument : All 294 Steps and 221'

After a fun and exciting trip into the harbor on one of the Super Duck Tours we headed up the hill to a historically significant location known as Breeds Hill.  The battle is popularly known as the Battle of Bunker Hill while the majority of the fighting actually occurred on Breeds Hill.

While technically a defeat the American's inflicted such significant casualties against the British that it provided a necessary confidence boost to the colonialists. It is said that over 1000 British died while only a little over 100 American's died. This showed the inexperienced American's that their patriotic dedication could overcome superior British military might

The confusion in the name is a result of orders to build fortifications on Bunker Hill but the men built instead on the smaller Breeds Hill because it was closer to Boston. To honor the dedication of the Patriots a monument was built in 1794. It stood only 18 feet and made of a gilded wooden pillar.  In 1823 a group of prominent citizens decided to build a more permanent and significantly larger monument and formed the Bunker Hill Monument Association. They selected 40yo architect Solomon Willard. Construction began in 1827 and would take 16 years to complete.

The monument was not only a symbol of National Pride but also a feat of great engineering.  The first commercial Railway in America was built to transport the granite to build the monument from the quarries in Quincy. They also built a special hoist apparatus to life the 5-ton blocks into place.

19 Years after the Association formed and 16 years of construction the monument was dedicated by Statesman and orator Daniel Webster  on June 17, 1843 in the presence of the then President John Tyler and the last living veteran of the battle. The monument caps out at a height of 221'5". At its base the walls are 6' thick and at the top only 2' thick. At the top of the Obelisk is a 18' tall chamber with viewing windows. It has 294 steps with are each 8" tall. Admission is free but you must get tickets at the Adjacent Bunker Hill Museum before climbing the 196' to reach the viewing chamber. It was a fun experience and provided amazing views of the Boston skyline and the surrounding areas.

I'll admit that after racing to the top my legs were a giggly. As such I would recommend that you may want to pace your ascent to the top. It also didn't help that it was 89-degrees out.  It is a must do for anyone visiting the Charlestown area.

Live Comedy at The Historic Strand Theatre

Live comedy was alive and well last night at the Historic Strand Theatre in downtown Clinton, MA. A few times a year co-owners Rob & Bill bring local comics to the grand stage and only laughter ensues. This time was no different. With an eclectic mix of styles the comediennes kept the entire audience laughing from start to finish.

On this evening good looking, hyper energetic, host and funnyman Jesse Bickford started the show with a quick set of his own before introducing the first of the nights headliners. His witty repertoire of jokes about how the dating world has changed for the worse were light and humorous. His impressions were delightfully spot on and captured the moment. website

The first comedienne to take the stages is a teacher by day and comedian by night. Dave Lamb schooled the audience with his funny and engaging skit. As an IT guy I appreciated his skit about online security. "Passwords are ridiculous and are worth 90 points in scrabble" and his part about google being a more efficient was to search for porn. His joke about black people meets dating website. When he looked it up blackpeoplemeats.com he found a much different kind of website. website

David Rattigan is the ring leader of this group of comediennes. Operating the talent company that brought them all here he too is a funny guy. I loved his skit about Martha Burke who ran the protest at Augusta in support of women's right to join the club.  He went on to say how she inspired him to go home and grab his protest signs and visit the local Curves. website

The best comic of the night was Christine Hurley. website She is the mom everyone wishes they had. As a past finalist of Nick at Nights "Funniest Mom in America" contest she didn't disappoint. Her jokes focused on her life as a mother of 5 and wife to a local fireman. She tells the story of any mom raising that number of children and the hilarity of all the unusual things parents have to deal with. One of my favorite lines from her act was aimed at the mothers in the audience.

“I’m going to tell you ladies a little secret: You can mix Slim Fast with vodka,” she said. “First of all, it doesn’t curdle. Who knew? And second of all, all those condescending bitches at the bus stop can’t smell it on your breath.”

Her stories and views on motherhood and marriage are exactly what everyone is living through…people get it and love it and so did I.

I invite you all to attend one of the Strand's Comedy Nights so you can enjoy the hilarity of many of our local comics.

Strand Theatre - Jim Spinnato, R-rated Hypnotist

Located in sleepy Central Massachusetts town of Clinton is the Historic Strand Theatre. Built in 1924, today it is one of the oldest existing and still operating movie theatres in the area. During the heydays of yesteryear it operated as a vaudeville theatre and movie house until the late 1970's. Able to seat over 1200 patrons when it was built it reopened in 1995 after a lengthy renovation and now seats 304.

In additions to their regular movie schedule they host special events such as comedy nights. New to the Strand Theatre calendar was Jim Spinnato and his r-rated hypnosis. Having performed in the New England area for years at big venues like Foxwoods, Mohegan Sun, Six Flags, and numerous colleges Jim brought his comedy, audience participation and hypnosis to Central MA 's Clinton for the first time at the Historic Strand Theatre.

After a brief introduction Jim Spinnato invited everyone in the audience to stand up and test their ability to be hypnotized by following a few specific instructions. Unfortunately I failed the test and would not be a good candidate.  The idea was to help the audience members who wanted to volunteer determine if they would be a good candidate as a participant for the show. 

Next he invited anyone who passed the first test and wanted to participate to come down to the front along the stage. Here he separated the girls and the guys and administered another test. This allowed him to identify 12 participants he felt would be great candidates and invited them on stage. 7 girls and 5 guys were selected.

Once all 12 were seated he asked the audience to be perfectly quiet as he slowly and methodically hypnotized the group of participants through a series of breathing and concentration while soothing music and his voice put them into a hypnotic state. Some it didn't work for and he sent them back to their seats to enjoy the show.

For those that did he become hypnotized the fun was just beginning. He created a key word chosen by the audience. Once that key word was said he told the participants that the closer they got to their fellow participants the better they smelled and the better they smelled the closer you should get.

Next he convinced them that they smelled terrible. The reactions from the participants was hysterical. After torturing them with the pleasant and foul smells he put them back to sleep. I wont ruin the whole experience by telling you everything but I will share a few more of the fun shenanigans

One of his gags was when that trigger word was said that the ladies would feel a tickle between their legs that felt amazingly good. One of the girls was very dramatic about her reaction. It looks almost like she was experiencing the most intense orgasm of her life.

During another At one point he convinced one of the older guys that he has lost his penis and that he could only ask Jim to help him find it. Jim suggested that a particular woman in the audience had it.. the very shy man tried to discretely ask for it back. Jim asked him to describe it and he did just that. The funniest part was Jim talking about how the honesty of the guy suggesting it was of just average size. Finally the guy gets his penis back while his entire family was laughing hysterically.

As a finally he picked one guy and one girl and made the others dance for them Even making the guys dance for the guy and the girls dance for the girl. It was a pretty outrageously funny evening full of giggles and outright laughter. Jim Spinnato is a class act and a spirited performer. His talent and personality made for an enjoyable evening filled with fun and excitement.

Boston Bruins vs Anaheim Ducks

With 17,565 fans cheering on the players the Boston Bruins and the Anaheim Ducks battled it out. It was an exciting game as I watched from one of the Premium Suites high above the ice. I enjoyed cold beer, some of the best spare ribs ive had, and a platter of jumbo shrimp. While it was a full on luxury buffet in Ste 618 on the ice it was a much cooler reception for the Ducks.

It was the first night back for Bruins favorite David Krejci who returned after 15 games out with a knee injury. With no goals in the 1st quarter the 2nd boosted the crowd excitement and the score board with  the Ducks scoring first followed shortly by the Bruins. At the end of the 2nd and a tied 1:1 score it was up to the 3rd quarter to declare a winner. The Bruins came out strong and score after only 27 seconds on a power play.

Down 2-1 the Anaheim ducks pulled their goalie during the last minutes of regulation play and went on the offensive against the Bruins. With 38.5 seconds remaining the Anaheim Ducks scored tmaking it a tie and taking the game unexpectedly into overtime. With the crowds chanting loudly for the Bruins the Ducks scored the winning goal at 3:09. Defeated the crowds poured out onto the rainy streets of Boston.

While the home team and my favorite didn't win it was a great night out.

Institute of Contemporary Art Boston (ICA)

This past weekend during our mid-winter heat wave (the temps were above freezing) I decided to emerge from hibernation just long enough to enjoy all the Institute of Contemporary Art Boston (ICA) had to offer.

Designed by award winning architects Diller Scofidio and Renfro the 65,000 sqft building housing the ICA is a masterpiece of its own. The building was designed to echo the appearance of the nearby gantry cranes. It is 4 floors designed for galleries, education, theatre and dining/shopping. Its appearance has attracted both awards and criticism but either way it has definitely made a splash in the revitalized seaport district.

There were four exhibitions on display at the ICA Boston during my last visit.

When the Stars Begin to Fall: Featured 35 artists who share an interest in the American South, this exhibition explores the relationship between contemporary art, black life, and “outsider” art. Some of the pieces really caught my eye like Je Minter’s work titled “Housewife”. Made from vintage Kirby vacuum cleaner heads and a mannequin it spoke volumes of about the gender fight amongst southerners.

I also enjoyed the geometric work titled “The Eyes of the Universe” by Henry Ray Clark that made you feel watched no matter where in the room you might be. I think it is symbolic of the lack of privacy people have today even in places they call their own.

While there we got to listen to and interact with guest speaker and assistant professor of African and Afro-American & Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Brandeis University Jasmin E Johnson. Her interactive gallery talk discussed many topics from black life, slavery, and the black rights movement and how the south has shaped black history. It was an informative and educational conversation.

The next exhibit was not only a visual delight but a full immersion of sight and sound. Titled Sonic Arboretum we were immersed into an environment where the sounds of Andrew Bird added another layer to the beauty of the colorful horn speaker’s collection by artist Ian Schneller. The music makes you want to close your eyes and imagine the world where the symphony might exist but to do so would rob you of the visual delight of the hardware producing it.

The hardware is a unique thing of its own. Ian Schneller’s creations are sold and branded under the Specimen Products name and the horns are made from recycled newspaper print, dryer lint, baking soda and shellac before being mounted to the also handmade tube amplifiers. The quality of the sound and the visual appeal make them both a sight and sound to be remembered.

Before taking in the next exhibition we took a few minutes to enjoy the beauty that is the view of Boston Harbor from the panoramic windows of the Founders Gallery. This breathtaking room measures 80feet long and 33ft wide and has floor to ceiling windows.

The next more unusual exhibition was that of Adriana Varejão one of Brazil’s leading artists. This exhibition is her first solo museum show in the United States and embodies a macabre artistry. It is her interpretation of cultural cannibalism. Some of her works like “Corner Jerked-Beef Ruin” mix the simplicity of a while tiled wall and the gruesomeness of a marbled meat interior.  

Other works like her “Wall with incisions a la Fontana” reflects to me an anger and frustration with the purity that a clean white tiled wall represents. The incisions are not clean and crisp but jagged and made as if by a passion gone awry.

Another piece that at first I thought was a tattoo map turned out to be the skin fileted and laid flat called “Exploratory Laparotomy II” for me it was too much of a visceral image to be appreciated. All I could think of was an autopsy.

The last gallery on current exhibition was ICA Collections: In Context which featured works that explore social and political issues while transforming the genre of landscape by the expansion of the medium to include drawing, photography, sculpture, and video.

With the impressive architecture of the facility, the educated and thought provoking gallery talk by Asst Prof Jasmin E Johnson and impressive collection of contemporary art the ICA lived up to expectation in causing the mind to broaden its vision and see past the normalcy of our lives. The sounds and sights of the Sonic Arboretum took you to a place of peace and tranquility while Adriana Varejão’s work elicited the anger feel anger and violence everyone sometimes feels. The vistas of the Founders Gallery eased the mind and allowed you to quietly contemplate the questions in your mind. All in all you left feeling more enlightened then when you arrived.

Mapparium @ Christian Science Center

Located in the Christian Science Center’s Mary Baker Eddy Library is an amazing 3 story tall glass globe. Inspired by architect Chester Lindsay Churchill to represent the Christian Science Monitor’s global awareness and reach he constructed this 30-foot diameter glass globe based on the Rand McNally Political map of the time.

It is frozen in time in 1935 when Thailand was known as Siam and much of Africa was under colonial rule. The globe is made of 608 stained glass panels and was designed to allow the countries to be viewed in accurate geographical relationship to each other.

Guests of the Mapparium are grouped together in small batches and taken into the mapparium for a 20 minute long stay where they enjoy a light and sound show. Guests walk across a glass bridge suspended in the middle of the globe where it’s unusual acoustics allow visitors voices to be amplified.

They do not allow pictures from within the globe since the map is copyrighted by Rand McNally but I couldn’t resist sneaking a few for my blog. It’s a great location to visit and see what the world looked like in 1935.

Salem Witch Museum

Housed in an old church located just off Salem Common is the Salem Witch Museum. It calls itself Salem’s Most Visited Museum although I cannot figure out why. Other than its imposing gothic exterior it has little else to offer.

It isn’t your typical museum filled with priceless one of a kind artifacts. No this museum is instead a series of two historical presentations. Its only artifact of any historical significance is reportedly an architectural header bean from the original 1692 Salem jail. 

The first presentation is done with the use of 13 dioramas built into the walls of a large auditorium. Visitors sit in uncomfortable chairs set up in rows on either side. As the lights dim each of these diorama’s representing the major events of the 1692 witchcraft trials are lit as a recorded narration of events is played. Like the story these dioramas are showing their age.

The second presentation is a guided tour partially given by a member of the staff and explores how witches have been portrayed throughout history. This presentation includes photos on the walls of various witches both real and created by Hollywood as well as more dioramas with pre-recorded audio played through the speakers.

The whole tour of the museum lasted about 45 minutes before we were unceremoniously dumped into the museums gift store filled with chachkies and other worthless overpriced trinkets. It was certainly nothing to write about or suggest to your friends and while they make the claim to be the most visited museum in Salem I’d venture to guess that is nothing more than a clever marketing ploy to get you in.