not quite a vacation

Last week, I didn't go to work. I went to a wedding in Minnesota, my sister's graduation in New York, and my brother's graduation in Baltimore.

Consequently, I spent 12 hours on airplanes and 3.5 hours driving from New York to Baltimore. I spent 6 hours sitting outside listening to various people muse about educational experiences and how to be successful. After my brother's graduation, my mom and I spent three days packing his stuff and shipping it back to California. Normally we'd let him take care of most of it, but he'd managed to injure his knee playing basketball and isn't allowed to drive or lift heavy objects until he has his MRI. By yesterday, my back and shoulders and arms were sore enough that claiming my baggage at the airport was a pain. Less painful but more visible are the bruises on my legs from encounters with various box corners.

Today, I went back to work and my coworkers asked me, "How was your vacation?", which struck me as at least a little bit amusing.

On the bright side, I had all kinds of amazing food during the trip. There wasn't much upscale cuisine in rural Minnesota, but I did have four kinds of yummy wedding cake (baked by the bride herself) followed by a decadent raspberry coffee cake and breakfast croissant the next morning, at the Hillcrest Hideaway B&B.

In New York, I enjoyed both Jean Georges (very good, but the chef may be overly fond of foams, and of pouring sauces tableside) and the new branch of Sushi of Gari (the salmon and tomato was especially delicious).

In Baltimore, I insisted on going to a traditional crab house, so my brother took us to Obrycki's, where we were lucky enough to have two dozen delicious extra-large crabs (dessert was a mistake, though). Then, the next night, my sister took us to her favorite Baltimore restaurant, Brasserie Tatin, which we liked so much that we returned again for Sunday brunch.

Finally, my parents insisted that we drive the 45 minutes to Annapolis to eat at O'Learys, where they had gone once before, on the recommendation of a friendly shopkeeper. It was well worth it; the food was amazing (huge crab cakes, excellent lobster risotto, very creative execution of key lime pie), and the service was flawless.

Unfortunately, between the wedding-related events and the graduations and the moving and the eating, I didn't have time to get any cardio exercise at all. It's going to be a brutal week.