From Salem to Brazil

Hey everyone, Blog Tech here.  For the next two weeks or so, I will be the guest author of October Farm so I can share with all of you this unique vacation that I am currently on.  Also, my mother is still really upset about Teddy, so we think this will be a good opportunity for her to take a break for a bit.

This morning, my wife, my sister, her boyfriend and I flew to Boston.  We will be staying in Rockport, MA., and visiting Salem, Massachusetts and surrounding areas.  It's a trip my family used to make basically every year, but as Teddy grew older, she stopped wanting to get in the car, and it's now probably been a good six years or so since we were last here.  Now that my sister and I have begun settling down and becoming full-blown adults, about six months ago we thought that it might be nice to get on back with the tradition and we booked flights.

A little more recently, my wife found out that her cousin in Brazil was getting married on Saturday, October 7th.  My wife hasn't been to Brazil in many years, and I've never been to Brazil at all.  My wife is Brazilian, by the way! 

I was able to finagle my week of vacation from work into two weeks, and our plan is now to fly out of Boston this Thursday and straight to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where we will stay for seven days.  My suitcase currently contains clothing options for basically any form of weather that can be found on Earth.  Right now, it is rainy and cold in the mid fifties in Rockport.  This time next week, I'll be on a beach in Brazil.  I have to think this is a pretty unique trip, and I plan to document every step of it on this here blog!

This is where we are staying.  Tomorrow I'll take some pictures of the exterior, but today it rained hard until the sun went down, so you'll have to settle for interiors.

 This is a sign warning any guests to not actually attempt to start a fire in this quaint old fireplace.  I shudder to think of the story behind what led to this sign coming into existence!

We are pretty much right on the beach.  That's a gazebo across the street, and then past that, the sea.  It just occurred to me that I will be right by the sea for both legs of this vacation.  But for the New England part of it, the sea shall serve as a lovely backdrop and the home of all the delicious seafoods I will be eating.

This is the kitchen.  My sister's boyfriend is a professional chef, and is apparently going to make us dinner one of these nights!

Look at this oven from yesteryear.  What wonders will my sister's boyfriend create with it?  I will try to remember to take pictures before it's in my tummy.

As soon as we settled in, we made a bee line to a little restaurant nearby called Lobsta Land.  My sister and I discovered this place when we were last here six years ago.  Back then, we first noticed it while driving by it on our way to a movie theater.  We were initially skeptical.  The name seemed a bit silly, and we thought it might be little more than a tourist trap.  But we kept seeing it, and at one point we decided to hell with it, let's go.  Thank the lord we gave it a chance.  This place is incredible.

Those clams are amazing.  From the menu: "Littleneck clams steamed in a spicy saffron lobster broth with Thai chilies, Tasso, garlic, roasted plum tomatoes and white wine."  It looks like Christmas and tastes even better.  And then you've got some buffalo scallops, and calamari.  In the six years since we last ate here, my entire family has spoken of this place not infrequently.  We were so happy to be back.

My sister ordered a lobster and avocado salad.  Look at the size of this thing!

Another calamari shot.

Another spicy clams shot!  Look at that broth.  It tastes even better than you think it does.

This is what I got.  At first, my wife and my sister's boyfriends were skeptical.  It's just a little dish with some lobster and bread crumbs and butter, right?  Yes, but that's like saying a hot dog is just some meat and some bread.  Lobster and butter are best friends in heaven, everybody.  If this place was open 24 hours, I'd drive back there right now and eat it all again.  

Another angle of my sister's salad.  Look at how busy it is!  The best kind of busy, though.

My wife is a huge fan of lobster rolls, and that's what she got.  I tried a tiny little bite, but I kind of overdid it with all the appetizers and my own lobster, and I was running out of room.

After dinner, we went to see a movie and headed back to our home for the next few days.  Our flight this morning was at 6 am, so we are all pretty sleep deprived.  And I can't wait to get to sleep, because on the other side of that sleep is more seafood and Salem, Massachusetts!