I’m absolutely exhausted tonight, having had more exercise today than I have since I broke my foot in December, so just a quick update on our vacation…

Dinner at the Local Table was excellent.  We enjoyed two beers that we had never heard of before (one each, thank you, we’re not lushes) and the best burgers either of us has had in a long time.  And not too horribly expensive, either.

We fit in our once-yearly visit to a mall, this year to the Pheasant Lane Mall, with two goals: to buy Jim a new charger cord plug thing for his iPod, and to visit Newbury Comics.  Check and check, and then we got the heck out of mall-land.

We made a trip all the way to Stoughton to visit IKEA – they have the best towels around, and we needed new ones.  But unfortunately, they were SOOO busy that we couldn’t even get a spot in their parking lot or garage, and ended up driving back north and having lunch at the Colonial Inn.  Yummy food, and I love that back bar room at the Inn.  Then a little walk around Concord center, with stops at our two favorite bookstores (Barrow Books and Concord Bookshop).

Tuesday’s outing was a trip to Lexington center, based mostly on my dental appointment.  We had lunch at Panera Bread, which made us feel quite urban (the decor there is amazing for a sandwich shop), and the food was delicious.  Then a little trip to Sweet Beads of Lexington to get me my bead fix…and quid pro quo for Jim, we drove to Minor Chord of Littleton for Jim’s guitar fix.

And then today we ventured up to the Peabody Essex Museum, where we enjoyed an excellent lunch at their cafe before seeing the Yin Yu Tang house for the first time.  Then a quick tour of their other galleries and a very very quick trip into the gift shop (it was the first day of their big sale, members only, and it was pretty cutthroat in there).  After leaving the museum, we drove up to Beverly and walked on the beach a bit – Jim walked more than I did – so that Jim could check out Baker’s Island through the binoculars.  And I got some nice beach glass.

And now we’re home and tired and planning the rest of our week off!