What a weekend

By K.J. Cardinal

Wow, I need a nap.

Angie, Anna and I had one of the best weekends in recent memory. Pack Network has had such a busy spring championship season that I haven't had much free time on the weekends to hang out with the girls.

Well, this past weekend I only had to work on Sunday morning, so that left Saturday for the three of us to venture into the city. It was a beautiful day and the city was hopping with college graduations, a Sox doubleheader and the Celts on Sunday.

We started off the day by waiting in line to get tickets for Sunday's Game 7 between the Celtics and Cavs. I could write a 4,000-word post on this experience in itself and how poorly the Garden ticket office handled the whole ordeal, which some of you may have seen on the news, but I won't digress there. Bottomline is we only had to wait in line for an hour and a half to score two tickets in Loge 17. Needless to say, I was fired up to score some seats for one of the biggest games in recent memory...I'll have more on this later.

After we avoided a near riot getting the tickets, we headed to Faneuil Hall. Due to an Intel power outage on Saturday morning, Angie had a little work to do, so we got a table outside at the Salty Dog and settled in for a while.

Anna really loved just sitting in the shade and people watching. She was in such a great mood, sitting in her stroller smiling at everyone...at one point when we walked past a homeless man he called her "Smiley"...I can't make this stuff up.

The Salty Dog was great. Someday when Adam and I sell Pack Network for millions of dollars, I am going to eat oysters everyday...that and wear a brand new pair of socks everyday too. There's nothing quite like putting on a brand new pair of socks, is there?

Anyway, after The Salty Dog we walked around a little more and eventually made our way to Tia's on the Waterfront for a little dessert. Ang and I split a piece of cheesecake and Anna got her first taste of strawberries.

At first she had a bitter-beer-face when she touched her tongue, but she apparently loved them because she cried for a second when she dropped one on the ground. It was pretty funny.

Tia's is a great place and might be a late addition to the TBG Pub Crawl schedule.

After Tia's we just walked around the waterfront area. Anna was donning a new hat, which was super cute and she seemed to love the boats and water.

We stopped for a while and hung out by this new public water fountain right near the aquarium. This is part of the benefits of the "Big Dig"...there is now some room to create nice public areas. I'm not sure if it's worth the $25 gazillion that it cost to "complete" the Big Dig, but it's still a nice touch.

It was probably in the mid-70s and there were a handful of kiddies that were running through it and what not. I can't wait to have Anna run through it next summer, but this summer I've gotta get Andrew there!

The final stop of the day in the city was my favorite part as well. I had to get Anna's picture taken with the Red Auerbach statue and Larry Bird's bronzed sneakers.

It was a fitting follow-up to my recent entry into the Cardinal Vault. Plus, with Game 7 on the horizon, it was the only logical thing to do to cap off a great day...and of course, Anna was wearing her sweet Celtics coat too!


As you can see, Anna was rather mezmerized by Red. And, she can't quite fit into Bird's shoes just yet, but once she's up and running around I'll show her a few moves to get her closer to Larry Legend's caliber.

I obviously think that Anna's trip to visit Red and Larry's sneaks had a direct effect on the outcome of Sunday's Celtics game too. And boy, what a game it was.

Scott and I went to the game together and had a blast. I know it's hard to believe, since I'm such a diehard Celtics fan, but Sunday marked the first C's game of the season that I attended. I have been to a Celts game every year since 1985, so I HAD to keep that streak alive...especially considering the C's are making a serious run at the title.

The game was one for the ages. Pierce and Lebron did their best Bird and 'Nique impressions and thankfully Paul got the best of the 23-year-old phenom. I don't recall the last game that I went to when I was deathly afraid of what a player could do to the C's more than how frightened I was by Lebron.

If before the game you told me Lebron would score 45 points, then I would've figured the Cavs would've won easily. Thank God for The Truth...and of course P.J. Brown.

Postgame, Scott and I met up with Glenn, Cassani, Chad, Frank and Fusta. Needless to say, we celebrated with way to many adult beverages at The Harp. What a weekend.