Our recent visit to Boston

A few weeks ago, I took my kids to Boston to visit my family. My dad's health is not doing well, so it was nice to see him.

My sister Marianne was very generous to buy us all tickets. We spent time with her and her boyfriend. My kids were very excited about the snow and her dogs.

We went to the aquarium together. It was hard to manage Owen there. My sister doesn't have kids, and she was surprised by my two. She offered to bring them to an orphanage. They are a handful to say the least.

We went to Tricia and Mick's house next. It was great to see them and their amazing baby Ian. Zoe had a great time playing mommy with Ian.



I left the kids with family for a night on the town. Four of us went out to the theater. It was very nice to do something adult for a change.

We took the kids on the subway. Owen loves trains so it was a special treat for him. It's amusing to me that my kids are such country bumpkins. I grew up in the city and my mom didn't drive until I was 10. She used to take us "downtown" on the bus and subway.

We went to have lunch at my friend Christine's place. She lives in the finacial district near the waterfront. Owen climbed on their sofa, tried to jump out the window, licked their windows, and nearly broke their blinds. Luckily, my kids didn't break anything. It wasn't for lack of trying. We walked to the Children's Museum. My kids were pretty rotten, and my friend who also has no kids was very tollerant. Very.

We had a family birthday party with cake and candles. The cake was amazing, from my favorite Boston bakery.

It was nice to see everyone and have a few days back home.

Owen's Diner

 

There's a little cute diner in Chapel Hill called Owen's 501 Diner. It's located on the 501 highway. We point it out to our Owen as we drive by. And, a few weeks ago we all went there for lunch. Now our Owen calls it "my diner." Every time we pass by it he says, "Mom, I want to go to my diner."

Some people think diners are greasy spoons. As America evolves into a place with a Subway franchise (28678 Restaurants In 86 Countries) in every strip mall, unique places like diners are few and far between. Give me a diner any day over the usual sprawl. To me, a diner is a welcome sight. You don't know what you miss until they're gone.

Recently, I was surprised to see the Englewood Diner in a movie scene. The diner used to be located in my neighborhood in Dorchester, Mass. When I worked at a local community newspaper, I used to sell ads to the owner of the diner. It was adorable. I used to visit it a couple times a year. The movie was featured in The Road to Perdition with Tom Hanks, Jude Law, and Paul Newman. While listening to the director's commentary, I was interested to learn that the Englewood Diner had been purchased on EBay for $20,000.

So, when I get a bit homesick, I can pop in the Perdition DVD and remember my favorite diner. It is nice to see the Englewood Diner forever captured on film, but I'd rather be able to have their home-made corn beef hash and poached eggs.