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web site: www.grandpease.com email: grandpease@mac.com Property of Chris Grandstaff and Tiffany Grandstaffmailto:grandpease@mac.comshapeimage_7_link_0shapeimage_7_link_1shapeimage_7_link_2shapeimage_7_link_3
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Last year we took a three-week trip through Asia with our friend Kimi. Click here to follow our blog from Beijing to Cambodia.
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We’re back from another  grandpease adventure. To check out our photos, videos and words from Egypt, Jordan and London  click here.
Family, fall and football Posted Monday, November 9, 2009 Tiff and I took advantage of my job “situation” (more on that once I get everything officially squared away) by visiting our parents over two weekends during mid-October.  We started in Garner, N.C., where my dad was in the final stages of earning his pilot’s license. We took a trip through the Carolina countryside to a small regional airport where he showed off his plane. Tiff and I were pretty impressed with his extensive knowledge of flying, and, apparently, the FAA was too, as he earned his license the following Tuesday!  That night we warmed up by the fire and played a game of UNO, a long-standing family favorite, before taking a hike through the woods the next day.   Next, we made the short drive over to Chapel Hill, where Tiff’s dad was entering the home stretch of his campaign for town council. We even chipped in a bit, handing out free drink vouchers at a fund-raising event (why does that seem appropriate?), and Tiff aided with the design of a newspaper ad. Thanks to us, Gene earned a seat on city council after the November 3 election (he may have had something to do with it as well)! We kept busy the rest of the week by taking walks around campus with Tiff’s mom Pam, eating 2 1/2-year-old wedding cake and playing Beatles Rock Band. We capped the trip at the UNC-Florida State football game Thursday night. The Heels did not finish as strong as the campaign, losing a big lead late in the fourth quarter.         We completed our trip in Ann Arbor, where we met my mom and Elliot for tailgating before watching miserable Michigan lay down for Penn State. The tailgate, which included a trip over to Crisler Arena for a peek at the basketball team and a dance-off between overly served Michigan and Penn State fans, was excellent. The game, which included us sitting in the Penn State section, was forgettable.           We spent Sunday enjoying Michigan’s incredible fall colors while walking off our hangover.    -cmg Halloween in Boston Posted Monday, November 9, 2009  Afro and all, Heather hosted us for a weekend of sightseeing and debauchery in Boston over Halloween. For much of Saturday’s silliness we were joined by by my college friend Mike Kern, now studying at Boston College, and Heather’s roommate joined us later in the night.  We stopped for lunch at the Bleacher Bar, which offers views into Boston’s Fenway Park before bar-hopping our way down the Freedom Trail, a trek that included a stop at the Bell In Hand (est. 1795) -- the second oldest bar in the United States.     I think this photo (below) pretty much sums up our memory of Halloween night, though I seem to recall an angry hip-hop performance at a Waltham bar and Heather’s roommate eating a lollipop off the ground.  After feasting on cranberry pancakes for a 1 p.m. breakfast on Sunday we made our way over to Cambridge, home of the Boston Breakers and also Harvard University.      We then took the T back into Boston, where we marched around the city’s North End neighborhood. This Italian corner of the city is also home to the Old North Church, where Paul Revere was given the signal that the British were in fact coming, which spurred him onto his midnight ride.       Then it was back to the HUB for some chowder at Union Oyster House -- est. 1826, making it the oldest continuously operated restaurant in the U.S. -- before a sobering moment at the city’s outstanding Holocaust memorial and a visit to the site of the Boston massacre.      We capped our night and the all-too-short weekend with dinner at the Barking Crab, where we each had our own lobster.   - cmg
World Series: Game 5 Posted Monday, November 9, 2009  Ten years after the fact, sheltering a then homeless Jon Schwartz continues to pay dividends for Matthew and I (read tongue in cheek). Not only did we make one of the best friends of our lives, but time after time Jon -- who works for Major League Baseball -- generously donates premium tickets to us. This time, on just a few days notice, we got word that there were extra tickets to the World Series, and we eagerly claimed them. So instead of flying back to the Bay Area from Boston, I was on my way to D.C. to pick up Matthew at his office, where we would then drive three hours to Philly for the game, before heading back to D.C. to get Matthew to work the next day. Crazy, maybe. Worth it, absolutely. Matthew and I inhaled cheese steaks and beers before the game, and then watched the Phillies force Game 6 to the delight of their raucous fans. Aside from Matthew calling Eagles fans “the worst,” which incited a a mild furor in our area of the stands, the Philly fans did not live up to their infamous reputation as being inhospitable (though Schwartz told us that he was punched in the face while trying to give someone a high five).                   After the game we avoided traffic by hitting the after party, where we met...  ... the man, the myth, the legend. -cmg
D.C. merriment Posted Monday, November 9, 2009  After recovering from our trip to Philly, Matthew and Erin graciously allowed me to stay with them for the better part of a week. I spent my days touring D.C.’s most famous sites, my happy hours sucking down beers with old friend Tim Ball (who just took a job at the Washington Post), my evenings feasting on the fruits of Erin’s kitchen (she made ox tail ... and it was awesome) and my late nights losing badly to Matthew in vids. I also managed to meet up with Dan Williams for a feast and failed miserably at the most difficult bar trivia ever. Best of the Mall:     The national gallery has an incredible collection that includes several Monet’s, Van Gogh’s, Raphael’s and the only Da Vinci in this hemisphere.        The Natural History Museum and it’s amazing dinosaur room:      Mdog certainly takes his job seriously.  Tim and I hit Ben’s Chili Bowl for a healthy lunch of chili soaked half-smoke sausages and a heaping plate of cheese fries. According to the sign inside the diner, the only person who eats for free at Ben’s Chili Bowl is Bill Cosby. The sign has recently added “the Obama family” noting “but he paid.”   DBW and I hit Ray’s Hellburger. I had to protect Chauncey in the afternoon.   The big cats, elephants and pandas were out at the National Zoo:       An afternoon in Georgetown:   And now, after nearly a month of traveling the east coast, I’m ready to relax at home. At least for a couple days. In fact, I’m hoping to start my new job soon. I’m just waiting on the lawyers from ESPN to finish lawyering my verbal agreement (crossing my fingers that something doesn’t go wrong). Thanks to all for your generosity and friendship to Tiff and I during our travels. --cmg