At the end of the last installment, the hero of this story, Ross (that's me), was searching for Boston souvenirs to give to those letting us stay at their place. A tiny offering of gratitude for allowing Pete, Frankenstein, and me to sleep under their kitchen table or wherever I end up. I could sleep on top of and underneath a rock if I need to. Oh yeah, I just name dropped a new member of the group. Frankenstein. Frankenstein is a dog. Not to be confused with the mad scientist that makes monsters from miscellaneous body parts. Not sure which kind of dog, I forget, but will get back to you on that. He's got a lot of energy and will make for awesome company in a car for a bunch of hours. His role in all of this is to get us to see more of the landscape, which he will be pooping on. Expect a picture on Frank as soon as it is possible to get one.
So, you guys weren't a big help with the souvenir search. Not mad, just disappointed. Here I go yelling at you guys again. It's definitely going to be the nature of our relationship. Reddit on the other hand was sort of helpful and apparently Chinatown and Faneuil Hall are the places to go. And I did. Chinatown is confusing as hell and the store owners are totally up your ass. Asking me questions, following me around, suggesting that I buy random stuff. The stores are more like flea markets. In my next life, I'll go back and have shouting match negotiations with screaming middle-aged Asian women over how many shirts I can buy for $11 and promise to get kicked out. Then I'll offer buy the shirts at their original price and be turned down. Then again, in another life, hopefully the stakes for what I'm willing to haggle over will be something of more value than a dumb tshirt. I only dream to haggle over tshirts in this one.
Stopped at Walgreens on State Street afterwards. I don't believe that place is off the hook, for a Walgreens. A cafe and a froyo bar? Stepping their game up.
Faneuil Hall. If you want to go buy some useless garbage at unreasonable prices, you should go to Faneuil Hall. A stuffed animal red lobster that says "Boston" on it, a postcard that looks like the opening credits of a terrible movie, $20 shirts that say "Harvard" on them, $8 magnets. All junk. Don't get me wrong, I bought some of this stuff for a quarter of the price in Chinatown, but honestly, what would you do with any of that stuff but let it hang around for a while and then throw it out? Like, if you didn't go to Harvard or have a family member that went there, why would you want to wear a Harvard shirt? It's unclear to me why we do anything but specific choices like that keep me up at night.
So here's some of the gifts that I picked up for the people we encounter along the way.
2. Three tshirts
3. Four magnets
4. Boston Bruins nail stickers (For some special laydee)
5. Six shot glasses
6. Red Sox hat
7. Red Sox "Pull My Beard" bumper stickers
8. Red Sox air freshener (that's a gift for the car)
9. Five postcards (thank you notes for those that let us stay)
I got a bit carried away, but, that's what happens when you get me started of something.
There will probably be another post before I head out. The hero's journey begins 6/3. Mark your calenders.
Ross
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