3-Day weekends. I live for those. In fact, I like to add on a vacation day from work to make it a long 4-day weekend. That’s just what I did for Labor Day. I got back Thursday night from Boston, slept in until 8:30 on Friday morning, and then took the wife and kids to the mountains to visit my family for the weekend.

Two things made the 4-day weekend especially manly: speed and technology.

Speed – my brothers brought their Yamaha Rhinos (and one Polaris Ranger) to the mountains. On Saturday a group of guys (and my sister) went for a long ride to the top of a nearby mountain. The ride wasn’t dangerous or tough, but the roads allowed us to get the Rhinos going a pretty good speed. It was fun. I took my DSLR along for the ride and got some good shots. The photo above is my brother and dad speeding ahead in the Ranger.

Technology – My wife literally witnessed this scene when she walked into the kitchen: I was playing craps on my iPhone 3G, one brother was playing craps on his iPhone 3GS, my other brother was playing Plants vs. Zombies on his iPad, and my dad was listening to music on his Motorola Droid. No talking. Just four guys with their eyes focused on tiny monitors in their hands. Nerdy? Sure, I’ll admit it was. Manly? Very.

I’m in Boston this week for business. It sucks being away from my family, but I’m trying to make the best of it. Namely, I’ve decided to try the local eateries to see what a real Bostonian experiences. Here’s a quick review of two local restaurants that you may want to check out next time you visit Boston.

1 – Boston Market. Doesn’t get much more “Boston-y” than Boston Market. Their speciality is rotisserie chicken with home style side dishes. I opted to have my chicken covered in Frank’s Red Hot. My side dishes were mashed potatoes and apples – - if that doesn’t say “Boston,” I don’t know what does. Even though it’s technically fast food, it felt like step up from normal fast food.

2 – Dunkin’ Donuts. Even though it’s just a donut shop, they are an official sponsor of the Red Sox (check out the Red Sox press conferences for evidence). Anyway, I stopped by this small donut shop on my way to the office this morning. I ordered the house speciality – - Boston Cream Pie. Totally worth it. The chocolate icing and the donut filling were perfect compliments to the well made pastry.

Now I just need a business trip to California so I can try a small pizza joint my friends recommend…I think it’s called California Pizza Kitchen.

Like I mentioned in my previous post, the wife and I enjoyed a few days alone in Vegas. We did the fancy dinner and stayed at a fancy hotel. The last piece of the puzzle: a Vegas show with the wife.

Before I booked tickets, we got advice from our friends and family about what shows to see. It came down to three choices: Blue Man Group, Cirque du Soleil, or the Phantom. We’ve already seen the Blue Man Group, so they were eliminated from contention. That left Cirque and Phantom. After watching the trailers for the many Cirque shows and checking ticket prices, we decided on the Phantom.

Phantom was the manly choice. The Vegas version is condensed into 95 minutes: long enough to appease the wife and short enough for my manly attention span. It had the cool special effects (the chandelier particularly) and all the recognizable hit songs. Plus, the Phantom does some cool stunts and he kills somebody.

My wife loved the whole experience. She got to dress up in her nice black dress, wear some new jewelry, and enjoy a nice dinner after the show. I tried to impress her by putting on a nice pair of slacks with my best dress shirt and shoes. (I may not have been the best looking/dressed guy there, but at least I outclassed the jack-hole in front of us that was wearing jeans and a Red Sox hat.)

In then end my wife has thrilled and I was more than satisfied with the show. It was the perfect cornerstone to the Manly Dad (and wife) Vegas trip.

Image source: phantomelasvegas.com

My wife needed a break from the kids. Ever since our first boy was born 4.5 years ago, we haven’t had a single day alone. Thanks to some scheduling for work, I planned a quick getaway to Las Vegas. We dropped our boys off with my parents and headed for Vegas.

Since it would probably be a few years before we can do this again, I knew I had to make the most of it. So I booked two nights at the newest resort & casino: The Aria. It did not disappoint.

The casino had a different feel than the others in Vegas. Something was noticeably missing: a theme. My wife and I joked that its theme is that it has no theme. There were no pirates, pyramids, Romans, or knights. There were no fake volcanoes, towers, or canals. The Aria was just dark contemporary casino. Very sleek. Very modern. We loved it, but probably because we don’t like the noise and gaudiness of the other casinos.

The hotel room was great. The entire room was controlled by a single touchscreen remote control. Need to open the drapes to see the Vegas strip? There’s a button for that. Need to dim the lights by the bed? There’s a button for that. Want to order a pay-per-movie? There’s a button for that, but don’t touch it because the movies cost $12.99.

The bathroom was amazing. Honestly, this is why I chose The Aria. It had a huge walk-in shower and a huge soaker tub. No need to say more about that…it wouldn’t be manly.

If we go to Vegas again (and we probably will at some point), we would consider going back to The Aria.

Yep. You read that right. $13.50 for 7Up. I was ripped off. Here’s how it happened:

The wife and I enjoyed a few days alone in Las Vegas las week. We stayed at the Aria, the newest resort/casino. Wanting to impress my wife with a fancy dinner, I made reservations at Jean-Georges Steakhouse. It did not disappoint. I had a killer filet mignon and my wife enjoyed perfect soup and salad (she’s not much of a meat eater). Since I don’t drink, I ordered a 7Up. It came in a small glass that was 3/4 full of ice. It still tasted good, and I quickly downed it. The server offered me another and I finished that during my meal. I had one final glass of 7Up after the I finished my steak. In total, I had 3 glasses of 7Up (and my wife had one).

Then the bill came. Four glasses of 7Up at $4.50 each. I drank $13.50 of 7Up. Apparently, free refills on soda is only for high end establishments like McDonalds, Subway, and Applebees.

At least the steak was worth the $38 price tag.

101.  Simply amazing. My wife’s family called her Grandma Great.   She lived up to that moniker.  She had 6 children, 20+ grandchildren, 80+ great-grandchildren, and 20+ great-great-grandchildren.  My wife is one of the great-grandchildren.  My two boys are part of the great-greats.

My wife and I married a little over 9 years ago.  In those 9 years I had the pleasure to meet and talk to Grandma Great on several occasions.  The most recent was at her 100th birthday party.  Even then she still remembered my wife and asked about our family.  I remember that my son was fascinated with her jewelry and she was kind enough to let him fiddle with it.  What an amazing woman.

Our road trip this weekend is for her funeral.  The last minute planning, packing, and scheduling is worth it to honor her memory.

So my last post was about a less-than-manly moment: seeing the New Moon movie.  My week-long vacation is over and now it’s time to get back into the blogging groove…

Even though I suffered through several unmanly things during my week off (the movie, clothes shopping, etc.), I did manage to fit in my annual Thanksgiving vacation manly activities.

1. Golfing with my buddy.  I love golf.  The problem is that I only play once a year.  As a result, my friend often says that I get the best value per swing.  Totally true.  I suck.  Anyway, we played 18 holes. I hit some long drives (275 was my longest) and made a couple decent puts, but my iron game was horrendous.  Frankly, I’ve never been good at that part of the game.  But, the day was fun and we grabbed a good lunch afterwards.   This is the second year in a row we’ve played golf during my week off.  If this pattern holds for 2010, I think it will officially qualify as a manly tradition.
2. Wings with the guys.  My friend and brother have had this tradition for years now.  Back in high school we used to get wings on a very regular basis, but then I moved away for college and career.  Ever since then, we make it a point to get wings whenever I’m in town.  We’ve been doing this now for probably close to 10 years. I enjoy it and my wife is glad she doesn’t have to get wings with me.
3. Board game with the crew.  My friends and I love to play xbox every Friday night.  One of the games we play is Ticket to Ride.  I missed the last two Fridays because of my trip.  However, last Friday we held an “offline” gaming session.  My brother and his wife, my friend, my wife, and I got together to play the Ticket to Ride board game.  My friend won, but it was still fun.  I think my wife enjoyed it.  Hopefully, we can try a board game again next year to see if we want to promote this to an annual tradition.  I would love to try playing the Settler’s of Catan board game…I’ve only played the xbox version.

Major thanks to my wife for being supportive of my manly activities when I’m on vacation.

I’m taking all of next week off of work, and the family and I are headed to my parents’ house for Thanksgiving.  It’s a long drive…too long for two small kids in our small car.  So, we rented a bigger car for the week.  Tonight we picked up that rental car: a Dodge Grand Caravan.

Yep.  A minivan.

The minivan has one feature that totally blows the mind of my four year old: automatic sliding doors.  I told him the door are magic and they will open when you say “abracadabra.”  He tried it out, and the magic worked perfectly.

We start out on our long journey tomorrow.