Thunder North

The Three Amigos Yesterday at Scores

What with everything that’s been going on lately, such as the arrival of the BRS, my thunder running has been severely curtailed. I was genuinely worried at the impact of my failure to patronize bars in either New Hampshire or Rhode Island would have on the hospitality business in each of those two states. Since my wife had a couple TJ Maxx gift cards burning a hole in her purse we decided to take my beer drinking talents north to tax free New Hampshire. We had completed coordination for that thunder run when Great Aunt came up on the net suggesting a Saturday evening at McShawn’s in Rhode Island. It’s nice to have options in life but we went with New Hampshire because I thought my wife would spontaneously combust if she couldn’t invade the Keene shopping venues.

Our New Clock

On Friday she and the Neighborhood Mafioso wrestled in a huge clock they had been in search of for the past week. My Favorite Panamanian decided we needed this feature over the fireplace which had been vacant since the removal of the Christmas wreath. She’d sought an appropriate clock with her partner in crime over a wide swath of central Massachusetts before they spied this one hanging in the office of a furniture store salesperson. They are nothing if not determined and wheedled the clock down off the wall and demanded a discount since it had already been in use. The salesperson never knew what hit her. Since they were out shopping that meant my wife had to buy accoutrement for her granddaughters, this time some clothes. She had them washed and laid out on the kitchen counter and I thought it was cool seeing the difference in size between the two.

Granddaughter Apparel

We arrived in Keene and immediately kidnapped Keene Friend in order to take him out to lunch. Since everybody else in Keene seemed to have the same plan we found a couple of our usual haunts with significant waiting lines and we ended up at Chili’s which turned out to be a good deal. I hadn’t been to this place before but I like it immediately when the sassy maître di started picking on Keene Friend and actually thanked him for behaving himself while we were there as we departed. My wife slowed the car down sufficiently to let Keene Friend and I disembark at the Elm City Brewery before she made her bee line to the shopping centers.

The FBR Was Out and About Yesterday

We found the Elm City bar crowded and since my favorite bar tender was not on duty we decided to change course and walked into town to take up residence in the Lab n Lager, one of the landmarks for our annual pub crawl. We had vectored the Cantankerous Friend in to join us and he was already on station when we walked in. He’s been noticeably absent in recent years due to the yeoman work he does administering to the needs of his ailing father. It was good, if loud, having him join us and the beer/shared memories flowed without stop.

Which Did Tire her Out Just a Tad

Wingman DNA Results

At a certain point in the afternoon as the Lab n Lager began to fill up with college kids we wandered down the street to Scores to set up shop. We acquitted ourselves well surrounded by television screens tuned to virtually every sport conceived by man. While we were there we received a text from Wingman who revealed the results of his DNA test that we got him for Christmas. It turns out he’s every bit as white bread as my side of the family although I did call his attention to a disturbing amount of French blood, conveniently omitting comment on my own 14%. Of course the rest of the family rushed to his defense on the group text which due to my danced stage of thunder running I was not properly disposed to deal with. It was a lot of fun.

FBR Back in Her Duck Suit

Back When She First Wore It

We also video called my daughter and the FBR as she fought a delaying action against bed time. My daughter shared some photos of the FBR’s tactics which included the donning of an old Halloween duck costume and hiding in in her tent. The FBR is nothing if not resourceful. Her uncle, my Favorite Son, failed to send any new photos of the BRS but I assign that to the lack of sleep endemic to a house with a two week old in residence.

Found! Hiding in her Tent

Wingman Found this Picture of Himself  from a Couple Years Ago

My wife did eventually show up after night had fallen and the three high school buddies had done our best resurrecting the local hospitality industry. We adjourned across the street for dinner at Margarita’s where my wife regaled us with tales of her shopping exploits. At least that’s what I think she was talking about. We had an ice storm scheduled for this morning so my wife graciously drove us home last night with a less than alert co-pilot. It was so good hanging out with old friends yesterday, something you can never get enough of.

Great Way to End the Evening