We were initially thinking of going up for New Year’s, but the cruise nipped that in the bud. Jill still wanted to go visit around Christmas, and fares from Dulles weren’t too bad, so we headed up. It was an early morning on Saturday, at the airport before 7, so I rewarded myself with a Five Guys burger with an egg on it (’cause it’s breakfast). The flight was fine, and Jill’s mom and sister Robin picked us up at the Hartford airport. We stopped for a bit of shopping (and Robin and I witnessed a near fight over a parking space), then onto Holyoke. But not there for long, as we had lunch at Jill’s dad’s parent’s house with them, her dad and his wife. We exchanged gifts and caught up over the afternoon.
We checked into our hotel room (we had been staying at Jill’s mom’s, but the smell of smoke is just too strong for me in the winter), then got ready for dinner and went to Northampton, where we met Melissa and Dominic at the The Eastside Grill. Jill wanted the ribeye, and I tried the Crispy Duck (it wasn’t that crispy, but the sauce had cranberries and triple sec in it and paired perfectly with a Cosmo). Dessert was good, my favorite was the blueberry carrot cake. After dinner we all went to Packard’s for a drink and ran into one of Jill’s cousins who’d visited us last year.
Sunday Jill’s mom served us Eggs Benedict for breakfast, then Dave and I went grocery shopping. Jill’s mom got to cooking and we tried to stay out from underfoot, I got some reading done. The nieces and nephews showed up a little after 3, then we set down to dinner: Pot roast and pork roast, both nicely cooked. Gifts were unwrapped after dinner (scored some Blu-rays and books), then we all drove to Easthampton for ice cream at Mt. Tom’s and candy for the kids. Back at the house Jill’s mom broke out the homemade carrot cake (I may had been full, but I still had some) and Robin made Chex mix as they watched Christmas specials and I read. Monday was even earlier then Saturday, up at 3:30 and at the airport by 5. But another easy flight and I was at work by 8 (I didn’t mind too much, only a 3 day workweek for me).
