Today we stopped in Boston and decided to walk around the city. Stopping here was like coming home for me. I spent about six months in Boston when I was a foreign exchange student in college. It's an amazing town and has always been one of my favorite places to visit. Since I had some experience navigating the town I volunteered to be Mr. and Mrs. S's tour guide. After leaving the ship we caught a bus to the market where we indulged ourselves in some of the local delicacies. After our nice lunch, we decided to grab a beer at my favorite local bar. I was very excited as I wanted to take Mr. and Mrs. S to my favorite watering hole in the city. I spent many a night there regaling my fellow patrons with stories of my homeland and of my travels. I remember all the locals fondly. The owner of the establishment was a very friendly man who was quite a hit with the ladies. He did seem to have a very unnatural fascination with his hair though. Then there were two of the long time regulars, I wish I could remember their names. One was a portly fellow who was always complaining about his wife. The other was a delivery man, I believe for UPS, who would always tell the most amazing stories and seemed to be an expert on everything. There was one bartender who was a simple country boy and never really got the hang of the big city. One waitress there frightened me to no end. She was roughly my size but was very gruff and often threatened the UPS driver's life! I made sure to always tip her very well.
As we walked into the establishment, I was amazed that not only did they remember me but they greeted me the way they used to. As I entered, the entire bar yelled “NITTANY!” Mr. S later recalled the rest of the conversation
The bartender: “How's the world been treating you, Mr. Nittany?”
Nittany: “Like it's a dog and I'm wearing milk-bone underwear.”
We always used to kid around like that. We stayed at the bar for a few hours while I caught up with my old friends. It seems like a lot has changed since I left. One of the usual customers, a psychiatrist, moved out to Seattle to live with his father. I hear he has his own radio call in show now!
Well I finally had to say goodbye to my old friends and get back to the ship. It was great to see them and I promised to visit more often.
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