Brooklyn - Blogabond

Hello, family and friends! Thanks for checking out the blog. Our goal is to make this into our living travel journal, so you can keep up with us as we explore Southeast Asia and Australia. Be sure to check out everyone's versions of the events!

With that said, here's my report on the past couple days, which I feel I could describe with a concert-like t-shirt saying "J-Mac East Coast 2007" on the back. It would look like this:

Naperville, IL - May 8
Brooklyn, NY - May 9-10
Jersey City, NJ - May 11
Cape Cod, MA - May 12-13
Quincy, MA - May 14
US Air 6461 - May 15

It's been a fun, whirlwind tour of the Eastern Seaboard. On Wednesday and Thursday, Alison Leff and I hit the streets of Brooklyn, scoping out potential digs there and enjoying an outdoor meal at Pacifico with Ross '05 grads Kate Mescal and Raquel Almeida. The original mission was to narrow down our target neighborhood list, but we only succeeded in finding more parts of B-town we liked. (Thanks again to Kate and Stella for letting us crash!)

I also had a great time with Steve Small in Jersey City, enjoying dinner in Hamilton Park and viewing the Manhattan skyline view from the roofdeck of his new condo. Steve even treated me to "Jersey City's best coffee." Who knew such world-class coffee could be found in the Jers?

Friday began with a visit to TEAM Academy Charter School in Newark, where I saw CFO Steve double as "lunch line lady." We then left for Cape Cod, which turned out to be an 8-hour long odyssey but undeniably one of the most fun car trips I've ever had. Our "guess how old the next town is" game kept us entertained for a solid hour along MA Rte 3A, even if Steve did win the last Combo. (I hadn't had so much fun on a road trip since New Orleans Minivan 2004!)

When we arrived in East Orleans, the party for Brian Levy and Maggie Sullivan was in full swing. We celebrated Bachelor Brian and Bachelorette Maggie all weekend long, clad in personalized party t-shirts. Field Day, spearheaded by Maggie, saw the Sullivan side (Irish - "Maggie go bragh!") battle the Levy side (Jewish - "Shalom and Mazel Tov!") in such intense competitions as bocce ball, relay race, obstacle course, and lawn bowling. In the end, Team Levy won by a nose, but there was more time for competition in the afternoon with a double-elimination beer die tournament. I'm certainly disappointed to miss the June 9th wedding of this fantastic couple, although our Ross crew will be amply represented.

Vivian is heels over head for Field Day

Now Vivian and I are back in Quincy, making final preparations for our flight to Hong Kong on Tuesday morning. How many pairs of socks do you need for a 6-week trip, anyway?!? Wish us packing luck...