We arrived in Manchester, N.H., on a Northwest Airlines flight that was shockingly on time. There we met our newly refurbished Hubris 'N' Handbugs Tour bus, which took us south to Nashua.
Upon arrival at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, we could not make it to the doorway because John McCain's "Straight Talk Express" tour buses were blocking the entryway, with no signs of moving. AS IF. Thus, we were forced to schlep our large and unwieldy princess bags to the door through dirty ice and snow. Thankfully, one of the McCain bus drivers stepped up to haul our wardrobe to the curb. We could not have been more grateful, given that we found out there were ZERO bellmen available here as the desk clerk said they had all gone to the airport to pick up guests.
WHATEVER ... we did locate a Target and a mall so we feel somewhat safe.
Later in the evening, we dined in downtown Nashua, a cute little burg. Our waiter at Via Banco was fabulous and so was our grub. Our Junior League comrade and galpal Kate, a Massachusetts native (she actually LOVES John Kerry, who knew?) gave us the political lay of the land in the Shire. She'd been to a Mayor Rudy rally earlier in the day and enjoyed hearing Mister 9-11 speak, even though she says she plans to vote for Hillary.
We were on our way home for a quiet evening when she suggested we pop in at the local Lena Lanes bowling alley where Bill Richardson -- yep, he's still out there campaigning -- was doing some gladhanding. Even Kate allowed that this was his John Kerry moment: he showed up in a suit and tie and did not once pick up a ball and bowl a frame. And this was candlepin bowling, an apparent New England fad, which seems an awful lot like skeeball, but with small pins the size of Coke bottles at the end of the lane.
1. Don't wear a coat and tie to the bowling alley. It doesn't work.
2. If you show up on a Friday night at a bowling alley to meet people, probably you might consider BOWLING. Cause that's a photo op. Simple as that. uhum ... duh.
Tomorrow, we survey the local culture in the daylight and head out in search of the elusive Starbucks. We have already found the nearest Dunkin' Donuts, so there's that for Plan B.
The Ron Paul folks are out in full force here and on Sunday, we'll get to hear the Good Doctor speak. We'll let you know what else we find out. We locked up our tour bus right in front of the hotel so when McCain comes back, he'll have to park ol' Straight Talk down the street.
-- Andrea Billups, The Washington Times
