East Coast (rhymes with Toast).

Last week, I headed to the East Coast with friend and co-worker, Christopher Jerard. Jerard hails from his area and we spent the first few days of our journey at his parents house in Durham, New Hampshire. I have never been to New Hampshire, and outside of a few months spent in the bubble that is rich-kids summer camp in Maine a few years back, I have very little experience with New England. For instance, I have never paaked my caa in Haavad yaad.

We were there with great weather, however, and was impressed with the lush green foliage and seacoast waterways.

Part of the reason we embarked on this far-coast venture is to participate in the 2nd Annual Bobcat Bolt. Jerard is the man behind the mission for this race that raises money in memory of two of his home-town friends, Josh and Nate Hardy, for a soon-to-be-constructed Durham Teen Center.

It’s a community based 5k and 10k run/walk. So in addition to helping set-up organize, register and be part of the Alpha Team, Josh Bishop and myself took part in the running of the 10k race. A first for both of us. TT also crushed the race, passing me in the last 50 meters. Next year, girl!

After the race, we kicked it at the Oyster River Festival at Jerard’s alma mater, aptly name Oyster River High. (Word on the street is their rivals called them Clam Creek. Clever for high school kids, I think.) The 10k took a toll on Tracy.

From Durham we cruised down the street to Portsmouth, New Hampshire which is right on the coast and absolutely beautiful. Very old-school charming with cobble stone streets and colonial architecture. I liked it bunch.

Jerard used to work on a ferry boat in Portsmouth called Isle of Shoals. He was apparently first mate… not sure what that means or if he’s being truthful, but the cruise he set up on the boat for the night of the race was a blast. Tyler from Nordica and his wife Kate came cruising with us and they are so much fun. Berkowitz from Fischer met us at the docks when we landed. Ski industry party in May in New Hampshire? sure.

After a night on the Portsmouth town, that encompassed karaoke, buck hunter, table dancing and late night caramel corn procuring, brunch was in order. On Jerard’s suggestion, we went to the Friendly Toast, a landmark in Portsmouth. The service is bad, the people are rude, the staff is tattooed to the nines and the food is unique. To top it all off, the decor is… well, hard to explain, but there was a life sized doll with one eye and one arm two tables down and a life sized stuffed bobcat, also with one eye, that moved it’s head and tail and made weird noises. Morbid. Disturbing. Eerie. Eclectic. Fascinating. Intriguing. Clever. And above all, delightful.

The rest of the trip included drives up and down I-89 to Burlington (Lake Champlain is astoundingly beautiful even if the city is a direct replica of Boulder), West Lebanon, Hanover and Boston. I had never been to an Ivy League campus before and Dartmouth did not disappoint. Ivy literally grows on everything and the red brick buildings seem as solid as the day they were erected in the  mid 1700s.

We met with clients, stayed in bunch hotels and put more than half the total miles on the rental Rondo on the over all meter. That little things killed it. We found it’s twin in Lebanon.

All in all, great trip and great time spent with my buddy Jerard.