So I know it’s been a while since I have posted here. Work has been busy and with the holidays and what not happening, it’s been a little hard to find time to post. I know. It’s no excuse. This job is killing me. It’s killing US.
But the good news is that I have a HECKUVA post for you today. Jam-packed with a ton o crap. Like JAM packed. You guys are gonna love this. Take a deep breath and get ready.
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OK so I have ANOTHER “getting there” post this time around. And I know – the last post was a “getting there” post as well. But let me explain. So we had a bit of a change of plans. Originally, we were going to be driving from Niagara Falls to Detroit. But then we stumbled on something that was pretty amazepantz.
Turns out that the day after Niagara Falls, the Red Sox are playing in Toronto. So instead of heading from Niagara Falls to Detroit, we are gonna drive over to Toronto. There, we will catch an afternoon Sox-Blue Jays game, spend the night, wake up and then hit the Hockey Hall of Fame in the morning.
Amazepantz. I know.
Now, the only thing is we JUST did Strange Brew recently for Niagara Falls and we just kind of felt Strange Brew could continue to cover this section so we decided to kind of move past Toronto on the countdown and get right into the next drive.
Yup, I just rationalized robbing you guys of another blog post. I am best.
So therefore we are moving onto…
Cross-country trip: Day 4
So like I said, we will have seen the Jays-Sox game the day before in Toronto. We will wake up this day and head over to the Hockey Hall of Fame in the morning. I assume we will stay until early afternoon and then head out.
We are planning on being in Chicago the next day so we will most likely be stopping in Michigan to visit our friends Wendy and Mike. The drive is about 4 hours or so. And I mean, it’s crazy that a 4 hour or so drive is going to be considered short on this trip. Wait. Why are we doing this again?
I think this also means the next part of the trip is going to be a “getting there” post as well. Because I had a whole Detroit night of Mr. Mom and most likely chili planned but when we then decided to not go to Detroit, I decided to just watch Mr. Mom with the kids for fun. I mean, I can’t with a good conscience watch Mr. Mom twice in one month, can I? CAN I???
The theme night
So this all worked out since it was Thanksgiving last week on account of we always watch a road trip movie the night before Thanksgiving. And I legit LOVE this movie. LOVE. IT. I mean, its John Hughes so.
Of course, I am talking about Planes, Trains and Automobiles. God that movie is great.
Now, the great thing? I decided to stretch this thing out. We watched the movie one night, then we had Thanksgiving. We also followed that up with seeing Moana AND going up to North Conway for the weekend. Then I had to go to New Jersey for work. THEN, I had a meeting in Bos….ok sorry. I probably shouldn’t stretch it out THAT much. Let’s just stick with Thanksgiving.
For the actual viewing of the movie, it was the four of us plus Steph, Mikey and Holly. But that night was also spent preparing food for the next day. We grated, we chopped, we sautéed, we manicotti’ed. My mom was over for that part too but left before the movie. On account of she was coming to our house at like 6AM the next day to cook. That was not a joke.
The food
Duh. Thanksgiving.
I mean, what DIDN’T we eat would be the better question. Turkey. Stuffing. Mashed potatoes. Candied yams. Green bean casserole. Corn. Squash. Manicotti. Pumpkin pie. Pecan pie.
And there was also carrot cake for Nickie’s birthday. Happy birthday Nickie! You’re the best and I love you. J
But yeah, food.
And of course, family. The four of us, my mom, Steph, Holly, Sharon, Alan, Chris, Paulette, Jeremie and Billy.
You know, you would think with us putting up our Christmas lights the second week of November, we don’t really care for Thanksgiving. But we do. It’s a pretty awesome holiday.
The activity
OK, so I mean again. Thanksgiving, doy.
We of course had our annual Goody bowl Thanksgiving morning. Two teams of 7 this year with some bystanders as well. I don’t wanna say who won but it was our team.
I’d also like to mention we played our regular game of Outburst after dinner and as usual, it was boys vs. girls. I don’t wanna say who won but it was the boys
Oh and later that night, Nickie, the boys and I played Simpsons Monopoly. I don’t wanna say who won but it was me.
I had a really good day that day.
The movie
So like I said, this movie is a Thanksgiving tradition for us. Every year, on the night before Thanksgiving, we watch it. We can often find it playing on like the CW or Freeform, which enables us to avoid the Steve Martin rental car scene. But this year, as a treat for the kids, I let them hear ALLLLLL the swears.
I know. Father of the year.
But man, what a great movie this is. I have seen this one more times than I can remember and I STILL laugh at it. I mean, the aforementioned car rental scene, the scene when they meet the guy driving them in his pickup truck, when Del gets his jacket caught on the seat, those aren’t pillows, when Del takes his socks off on the plane. All amazing. But the best is probably when they are driving on the wrong side of the road and think the people yelling this fact to them are either (a) trying to race them or (b) drunk. So good. This is by far my favorite scene in the movie. And that’s saying a lot considering this whole scene:
But that scene when they roll down the windows and hear the couple yelling “YOU’RE GOING THE WRONG WAY” and Del’s dismissive answer of “Ah, he’s drunk. How does he know where we’re going?” is so perfect. I laugh just thinking about it.
But beyond all the humor, this movie is also just super good to watch around Thanksgiving. Not only because it involves trying to get home for Thanksgiving and so doy and all that…
…but also because it has a lot of heart too. Steve Martin and John Candy are legit perfect in this movie. Honestly, at the beginning of the movie, neither is a particularly likable character. Steve Martin’s Neal seems an uptight, judgemental jerk at the beginning of the movie and John Candy’s Del is someone I couldn’t imagine spending much time with. Dude takes his socks off on a plane. And then fans his feet with said socks. I STILL talk about the gentleman that fell asleep on my shoulder two years ago on a plane. I can’t even.
But they play these characters SO well that just as they grow to appreciate each other, you as the viewer grow to appreciate them. And I don’t know. I really love that about this movie. Watching these two characters become friends is hard to not love. The scene when they are driving down the road singing “Blue Moon of Kentucky” just makes me smile. It’s a really sweet moment to me and it just kind of hits you that their friendship at that point is built against a backdrop of catastrophe after catastrophe. And to me, that’s really what this movie is about. Neal and Del are completely different people but once they look beyond those surface differences, they realize they’re in this thing together. It’s a pretty good lesson – this life is too short to focus negatively on what makes us so different.
Also…
WeHeartDisney 