What the Hull?

It was dinnertime yet the streets of this off-season beach resort town were near to deserted. Megan and I could hear the sound of heavy waves crashing on the beach as the moon pulled in the high tide. We marched down the sidewalk hand in hand with a mission for a wonderful dinner. It was Megan's birthday and being the horribly broke boyfriend I am, I hadn't bought her a present. The only things I had to give was myself and my love, so I decided the least I could do was take her out to a birthday dinner. So there we were, walking in the dark streets to a very nice-looking pizzeria on the corner which appeared to be open for sit-down, eatin' business. After ordering a meatball pizza, we sit down to see two employees behind the counter making our pizza right then and there. It was amazing, but at the same time we couldn't help notice how quiet this place was...how absolutely devoid of ample human life...

A DAY AND A HALF EARLIER...

Early Tuesday morning Megan, her mom, her grandmother, and I left Lyndonville on a Spring Break birthday road trip to Boston. Our first stop was the University of New Hampshire where we hopped onto the back of the metaphorical undergraduate admissions tour truck even though Megan is applying for the graduate program there. It was a great tour of the campus, and while the crazy biddies and the redneck bro who kept shoving his father during the tour were very entertaining, Megan really enjoyed the campus and the programs offered there. AND they have a Dunkin Donuts on their campus! Sold.

The next stop on our trip was Portsmouth, NH where we checked in to our hotel and explored.

The next morning, it was time to get classy because we were heading to the city. Boston, to be exact, and while I never thought Boston is my city (I <3 NY), I actually found it to be quite beautiful.

We parked the car in the parking garage of a massively swanky hotel at Boston Harbor then went directly to the New England Aquarium where Megan touched a stingray, we made friends with a giant sea turtle, and we watched a group of seals being trained.

After a visit to a Boston Panera Bread (it's delicious everywhere), a walk around the city looking at beautiful buildings and people in business suits, and a semi-stressful drive to get out of the city, we made our way to the beach town of Hull, MA.

The first thing that struck me in Hull were the abandoned carnival fronts that were like ghostly images of childhood wonderlands of summers long past. There were signs for ice cream and fried dough, games and rides. In the back there was a run-down carousel that still held on to its magic even in the desolate emptiness that hung in the salty sea air. Some things we observed about Hull:

• Almost everything was abandoned - beach houses, storefronts, and restaurants. The only thing that didn't seem to be abandoned was our beach resort which was odd because this town was in such an off-season. It was obvious that this place made all its money in the summer.
• A supermarket that had full-floor red carpeting. Weird.
• They had a musical theatre group that was going to perform Curtains in an auditorium that was named after the director...?
• Roads went nowhere, especially not a lighthouse Megan and I were trying to find.
• The internet in the hotel was super slow, almost as though the town didn't want us to have any connection to the outside world
• A pizzeria that was empty at dinnertime.

Which brings us back to Megan's awesome, totally romantic, totally classy birthday dinner. We were sitting there waiting for our pizza and observing the sketchy shit out of this town when the cashier brings a closed pizza box to our table where we have taken our jackets off and asks us if we want plates and napkins...sure... We sat there for a good five minutes trying to figure out whether we should awkwardly eat the pizza there or take it back to the hotel. We decided to take it back to the hotel where we had a pool, a fireplace in our room, and an awesome balcony. So there.

It really was a beautiful place and we had a super fun trip, and the pizza was really good too. Happy birthday, Megan! <3

Peace out!