Plant Nite @ Nu Café

Having done a couple Paint Nite's I thought we would try something a little different. Plant Nite is run by the same company as Paint Night and is a similar class style event where instead of painting a picture you build a unique terrarium of your own using supplied materials. Its a unique idea that we thought would be a fun evening activity.

We signed up for an event at our favorite coffee shop in town called Nu Café. They often have their Paint Nite classes on Monday's but this week the place morphed into a coffee shop garden with about 30 or so participants.  The three of us found a nice quiet table to make our home for the evening.

During check-in I asked if I could swap out the terrarium they provided with the pill shaped one that I had found ad really liked. The instructor told me I could make both if I liked and that she really liked the shape of the one I had found and wanted to know where so she could get some for a future class. Sadly I got it as a one off at Home Goods and it didn't give any indication of where it had come from.

As class began our instructor introduced herself at April Salter and her assistant for the night would be Jamie. She had us recite some simple instructions to have fun, not judge ourselves or the others around us and to drink and be merry.

On the table in large buckets was gravel and soil which would become the foundation for our garden. Each of us started by scooping 3-4 solo cups full of gravel into the base of our empty terrariums. She explained that we want to have the gravel sloped higher in the back and shallow near the opening.

Next we added soil evenly across the surface of the gravel creating about 1" of soil leaving a glass lip to catch anything from falling out. Once the soil and gravel was properly sloped and distributed April and Jamie came around with platters of small plants and advised us all to take 1 cluster of 3 plants. The two clusters I selected had donkey tail, jade tree, grey stonecrop, and mini aloe vera.

Once we were happy with out plans she instructed us to dig small holes about 1" in diameter and roughly that deep for each of the succulents we need to pot. Then we removed each succulent from its brown pot and shook off the majority of the soil it came with exposing the roots. We then carefully planted each succulent giving them sufficient space to grow in time.

It took me a little longer to get the donkey tail planted since the roots were very fine and the plant relatively tall. they just kind of flopped down which I didn't like.  Once everything was planted April and Jamie came around with tubs of colored rocks to cover the soil with and help keep the newly planted succulents in place. I went with a standard white rock so the green of the plants to add the color. I then placed some of the colored moss around the taller plants to keep them stable and upright.

They also came around with big golden nuggets which I placed inside the terrarium near the opening to add a buffer to prevent any soil from falling out. As class wrapped up we took a few pictures with our finished products and April and she handed out care cards to help us keep our new succulents alive. It was a fun experience and perhaps something I'll do again. Unlike the Paint Nite classes where the finished product would never get hung up in my house the terrariums are proudly placed in my window.

Escape the Room Boston

Located on the third floor of a none descript building in Boston's financial district is a fun interactive game designed to challenge the players analytical and problem solving skills and their ability to work as a team.  "Escape the Room" as its called offers players two options; the office and the dig. Each challenge or mystery puzzle is intended to keep its occupants locked inside unless they can crack clues. We choose the original "office" challenge.

What looks like any other office with a few desks, chairs, and file cabinets is filled with hints clues and mind games. This isn't going to be an answer key but I'll give you a few hints not to leave you completely in the dark.  Everything in the room serves a purpose. Check them top to bottom and side to side for hints and clues. You can use your smart phone and might even need them to solve some of the hints but there is no need to research anything online everything you need to solve the puzzle and escape is in the room. 

It took us 56 minutes and 46 seconds to crack the code and escape our office prison. It's a maximum of 10 people in a room at a time and you have 60 minuets to some the room. We finished with pi on the clock. I would highly recommend it as we all had a very fun time. 

Crave Meadery

With only a few hours before work we decided to check out a local Meadery in Blackstone.  Located in a small building right on the town boarder with Woonsocket is Ken Tubman's Crave Mead. The building is nothing fancy and is clearly a working meadery that offered tastings to educate and encourage the community to try something differently instead of just a retail operation. As their slogan says "Rethink your drink!"  

Our tour began with a quick explanation of how Ken got into the mead making business.  As an avid bee enthusiast and keeper who enjoyed making wines and beer he thought what better thing to do then combine his too biggest interests and put his tasty honey to good use.

Our first sample was the paddy mead. The dry mead is made from roughly 1/2 lb honey, water, and yeast.  He uses 4 different yeasts as each yeast creates a different taste depending on what he is trying to create. It had a nice and sweet but refined flavor that I really enjoyed. The dry mead is also the base for all his other flavored meads and ferments for roughly 2 months before it's ready to be bottled and sold. 

As his business grew he stopped using his own wildflower honey and began sourcing it locally from a bee keeper in Bellerica, Ma. The honey is a dark wildflower honey and really adds a great flavor to his mead.   If he is making a flavored mead he then adds either juice or fruit and allows it to ferment for another month or two before bottling. 

We tried 4 flavored meads next.  The first flavored mead was a pear nectar which was dry and slightly bitter but lighter then the dry mead.  Neither Grace or myself cared for this one. It was good but the original dry mead had a more balanced natural taste. 

The second flavored mead we tried was a pomegranate sour cherry mead. The sweetness of the pomegranate was a nice compliment to the very sour cherry taste. This would be a great wine to mix with fruit to make a sangria. 

The third mead we sampled was the blueberry mead. This was a very balanced flavorful blend which received many nods of approval from those in the sampling group. It was a natural taste with a sweetness that complimented the flavors.

The last flavored mead we tried was a strawberry mead which was made with 1lb of strawberries per gallon of dry mead. This was my favorite by far. It was light and refreshing with a nice strawberry flavor that wasn't overpowering. As a lover of anything strawberry it was no surprise that I would pick this as my favorite. 

As a special treat he offers us a chance to taste his just approved blend of mead and wine called Pyment which is a mix of Cabernet and mead; 2/3's Cabernet and 1/3 honey wine. This tasted more like the Cabernet then a mead and had that bitter taste I don't like about many red wines. While I can see how some might like this I felt it strayed too far from what a mead is about. 

Before leaving we each picked up a bottle. I went for the Strawberry Mead and Grace picked up a bottle of the Blueberry Mead. The bottles are $16 a piece and because we used a groupon for our tour we were able to take home a small 8 oz bottle of the honey they use to make their mead. 

It was a cool experience and we got to sample a great product that I doubt I would have otherwise discovered. Having tried mead before I knew I would like it and Crave Meads unique blends were definitely a treat. 

Farmington River Tubing

After a roughly 1.5 hour ride from home we finally arrived at our destination. Named for the river we would be rafting down Farmington River Tubing is located in the town of New Hartford in a small wooded state parked called Satan's Kingdom State Recreation area. After parking amongst the trees we stepped up to ticket booth where we signed waivers and paid the small $20 rental fee. 

The rental includes a river tube, life jacket, a shuttle bus ride back to Satan's Kingdom from the take-out point as well as lifeguards at the 2nd set of rapids. They also require a deposit to ensure you return the equipment and they accept car keys which worked out well since you don't want them getting wet. 

For our river rafting adventure the river was running smoothly with a water flow of 370cfs and an average water temp of 56-degrees.  Given the mid 90-degree temperature and sunny skies the  refreshing water was a perfect way too cool down. It would be considered a Class I River since the cfs was below 800.

After collecting a life jacket and river tube from the mountain or tubes in the pile we made our way down a small hill to the rivers edge where we one at a time entered the water. from the rocky shoreline. Refreshing it certainly was. Once we were all in our tubes we allowed the river current to pull us down river. It wasn't long before we reached the first of the rapids which was just before the Route 44 bridge. 

We enjoyed the serenity of the river for a little while before reaching the second set of rapids They are the largest and everyone should expect to get wet going through this section of river. Given the more aggressive nature of this set of rapids they have a couple life guards stationed to help any rafters who might get into any trouble. 

Once past the second set you casually float along the river for a while  floating along with many other rafters dotting the river.  As we made our way we passed a rocky out cropping where a small group had set up camp and where having what appeared to be a BBQ. They were launching themselves off the rocks into the cool refreshing waters and clearly having a great time. 

They didn't appear to have Farmington River Tubes and it appears that you can lunch a tube on your own should you want to. As we continued on we took a break along the rocky shore to take a few photos with the beautiful scenery behind us.

A short distance farther down river was the third set up rapids. The river was wider then the last two sets of rapids but appeared shallower and as a result the rapids slightly more rough. I nearly flipped when I passed over one rock and came down into a wave it was a blast.

As we wrapped up the third set up rapids we traveled along the river to a fork where you could go left or right. We decided to go left since a large group of rowdy kids where going right. The water level here was very shallow and we could feel the rocks below us rubbing. Once we joined back together we could tell that our side was a shorter distance since we had increased the distance between us and the other group.

The water here was moving fairly slow and you could just lean back and enjoy the sun and scenery. about a third of a mile father down was our take-out location denoted with a red inner tube suspended in a tree. We also found ourselves trying to come ashore with a large flock of swans who seemed less interested in us then we were in them.

Once ashore we made our way to one of the dark blue busses and loaded both ourselves and our tubes neatly inside. Seats on the left and the right for the tubes to line up. It was a short ride back to Satan's Kingdom where we turned in our rafts and retrieved our car keys. After a quick dry off we were on our way.

The experience is advertised as 2.5 mile ride down the wild and scenic Farmington River with three sets of rapids. I really enjoyed the relaxing nature of the river most it was a nice way to de-stress and cool off on a hot summers day. The rapids added a bit of excitement that made the entire experience a blast. I would recommend Farmington River Rafting to anyone looking to have fun outdoors on a hot summer day.  Suitable for ages 10+ and those comfortable in the water since you are mostly on your own. The water depth stays fairly shallow and occasionally you do rub along the river bed. (no white swim trunks). 

 

 

NYC High Line

The HighLine was built by the New York City Railroad between 1929 and 1934 to eliminate the dangers of street level city rail traffic.  The elevated trains carried meats, produce and dairy to warehouses and factories at the third floor level and the route became known as the "Life Line of New York".

In 1999 a group of community residents rallied to safe the decaying structure. Today the HighLine is an urban oasis along Manhattan's West Side. The elevated track is now a city park winding its way through the trendy Chelsea and Meat Packing District where apartments go for between 2 and 20 million USD. It's tracks still remain but are now part of a mixed surface of wood, concrete and stone walk ways surrounded by lush green areas filled with grass, flowers, fountains, art installations and viewing platforms allowing visitors great views down many of the cities streets. 

We started at W 34th street. The path looped along the Henry Hudson Parkway until it went up W 30th St. We followed it all the way to the end at Gansevoort Street where we had a delicious lunch in the Gansevoort Market before making the track back to W 34th street.  Its a great venue to relax and enjoy on a summer day.