i went to gloucester to get cancer

Brooke Black was in town this weekend so we made plans to go out to Gloucester to enjoy the nice weather. The train ride is about 45 minutes, and it takes you past all the little MA beach towns like Manchester and Swampscott.

Once there, we stopped in for lunch. Brooke ordered the marinated squid salad with ended up being 10 pounds of squid mixed with 3 pounds of onion and a few bits of lettuce. Delicious.


We also took a minute to visit the statue of the disabled artist... ?



Gloucester had decided to also "preserve" his shoes, which apparently were a pair of Birkenstocks


After a bit of a walk, we finally found Good Harbor beach, which was full of families and little kids with sandcastle buckets (my favorite!) Everyone talks about the beaches on the West Coast, but there's something to be said about white sand and giant tide pools


Check out Brooke's single braid:


We laid on the rocks for a bit, which turned out to be a bad decision, at least without sunblock. I think it was in the low 70's, but that sun took to my skin and torched it. This seems to happen every year.. but it still burns.


On the way back we stopped into Pearl's vintage store and I found a lovely surprise.. a black and white striped romper (skorts!) I'm not sure if this is THE summer onesie, but I am a bit in love. Make sure to notice the awkward burn line on my chest. It's not as great as the criss-crossed one on my back.



The train was an hour late, and after we boarded we found out the reason. Apparently there was a fatality on the tracks.. not sure if it was suicide or an accident, but it was a little eery knowing that the train had killed someone a few hours prior.

We got back to North Station and were confronted with another Memorial Weekend tragedy.. the drunk man who passed out on the ground next to the train. Boston's always good at producing those "I'm-So-Drunk-That-I-Can't-Stand-But-I-Will-Ride-The-T" sorts.

Then.. there was Park Street.

Brooke and I were and saw this little boy (5 or so years old) coming down the stairs with what I assume was his brother. The kid was holding a big spiderman action figure and seemed to be rubbing it against himself (kids are weird.) Once they got down the stairs, I realized he was doing the "i need to pee" face. His brother was saying goodbye to his friend, when the little kid pulled down his pants and started peeing. Right there on the bricks.