New Jersey Tackiness

Really...?

Fake frescoes on the ceilings, fake marbling on fake columns, gaudy Christmas decorations everywhere, fake Grecian statues, gold accents everywhere, and even a ceiling panel that has the constellations of the night sky on it. It's like a low-rent version of all things holy.

Not to mention the glorious Christmas music on a loop. Everything from operatic style carols, to children's choruses, to some kind of chintzy organ music.

I am in hell.

Although, when it comes right down to it this week I've been enjoying things more than in the last few previous weeks. In Manchester I got out and drove around town a bit, and my presenter is great fun. Yesterday after the seminar, we drove through "downtown" trying to find a place to grab something to snack on since our flight was so late. We discovered that almost nothing in Manchester is open at 3pm, especially nowhere that you could get a glass of wine. After a few instances of "driving like a Bostonian" (ie backing up and making u-turns/3-point turns in traffic) we managed to find an irish pub that served only pizza. It was good pizza at least!

She drove to town in a PT Cruiser so we had a car in Manchester, and after taking that thing for a spin (or two or three in downtown Manchester...) I ended up getting another one for us now that we're in Jersey (although it's a much better color... Cherry Red rather than Electric Shock Blue). It's much more fun to drive than the gigantic SUV's I've been having previously, even though no matter what color it is, it's still an ugly car.

Next, we get to drive the Jersey Turnpike to Newark. My wallet is drastically weighed down with coinage for this part of the treck... I'm pretty sure I went overboard. I'm guessing I've got about 10-15 dollars in coins. That's what I get for packing them the morning I was leaving. I'll definitely have to let you know how the hotel that is next to the correction center turns out... Yay Newark!