4th of July with The Clarks

I flew from Boston to Aberdeen Proving Grounds this morning to see one of my best friends and her family. Ashley and I were roommates when I was stationed at Fort Lewis. We got to see each other briefly last summer while I was attempting EFMB at Fort Sam Houston-- where she was then stationed.  But really, it had been over 3 years which is WAY too long since I've seen this girl!

Ashley and her husband David had their first baby 4 months ago. Jayla is a very sweet and adorable little baby. As many of you know, babies and Jackie are awkward together. I have not worked up the nerve to hold her yet, but Jayla and I have an understanding that I will eventually pick her up. And I will try not to hold her like she is dripping, like I did the last baby I held (that didn't turn out well). 

Pretty, pretty drool princess!

After my very exhausting drive from Providence to Logan International Airport at 0300, Ash and I decided being bums would be perfectly acceptable so we just hung around the house all day. I know it's the 4th of July, and it's the most super American holiday but I'd rather bum around and grill some burgers and relax than fight crowds to see 30 minutes of fire works. I am very aware I love America without fireworks.

Besides, I've made a new best friend at the Clark household. This is MJ, their half wiener half some other kind of mystery dog:

MJ loves Aunt Jackie.

MJ (which is short for Michael Jackson-- check out that one white paw) wants to play with me all the time. He brings me his toy chicken and whines until I throw it. Even if he's not close by, he still whines until I throw it. He wants to be in my lap at all cost. I really like this little wiener dog.

I'm so glad I came to visit Ash and David. Happy Independence Day 2013!

Night Time Downtown Providence

James and I stayed in a nice hotel in downtown Providence while we were visiting. We explored our surroundings and found a pretty sweet microbrewery right around the corner. The atmosphere was decent and the beers were tasty. The bar tender was super cool, and thought we were basically amazing since we both are in the Army. He thought we were so amazing, in fact, that our tab at the end of the night was $30. Now, I can tell you, our tab should have been triple that because James and I like to party.

 

We had a really good time hanging out. (So good, that we went twice.) But when it starts to be closing time, something triggers your drunk belly to demand food. So James and I went on a food quest. I think we found the holy grail of drunk food.

The poster on the side that bragged Man VS Food had visited this mobile burger joint just screamed, "Eat here!!!" I did have a Murder Burger, as suggested by the poster. But I opted out on the egg. Eggs don't belong on burgers. We brought our bag of burgers up to our hotel room and proceeded to devour the most delicious burgers I think I have ever had. Or at least, the most delicious burgers Drunk Jackie has ever had.

First Day In Rhode Island

 

Today was my first full day in Providence. James was an excellent tour guide and showed me a bunch of sights and places he grew up.

All the homes are old and unique. Including the house James grew up in. I didn't take pictures of random homes because I thought that might make me a creeper. But believe me, most of the homes are 100+ years old and very ornate and brightly painted. And the hydrangeas in all the yards were absolutely beautiful. I said so every time we passed them, you can ask James. I probably sounded like a broken record.

We went to the Rogers Williams Park Zoo today. It was a small zoo, but it had a few of those penny smashing machines (James knows I love those) so he wanted to make sure I had a few from Providence. Plus I love animals. The elephants were eating with their gross trunks, the camels were chewing their cud, the giraffes were drooling and the bald eagles were hanging out being Americans. What more can you ask from a zoo?

 

 

I love zoos. I make a point of going to the zoo in any city that has one. After the zoo we went across the park to the Natural History Museum. There were some good exhibits dealing with space and Rhode Island history. I found this guy upstairs:

RAWR!

 

We had an incredible dinner at a Greek restaurant to wrap up the night. While eating we had some prime people watching opportunities. We saw this guy multiple times doing many things while extremely high. Most of the time he was sitting in this living room chair on the street, actively smoking pot and handing out fliers.  We also watched a pedestrian come within inches of being smashed by a speeding pickup truck.

 

This did not take away from the delicious meal one bit. I want to eat the chicken I had there every night for the rest of my life. True story. Great day sight seeing in Providence.