This city has a certain vibe which although not my exact ideal, has a weird to charm to it.

Bostonians aren't warm and friendly immediately -- but if you do chip away at our frozen (from years of shoveling out our cars in January) social exterior, you'll probably end up meeting all of our friends from high school and getting invited to the family Cape house for 4th of July. All of our bars may look exactly the same (dark wood, vaguely Irish) but I truly appreciate that there's a Dunkin Donuts on almost every corner that's frequented by people in every tax bracket.

P.S. The Simpsons actually did an episode this summer where they went on a "hate-cation" to Boston and it's wonderfully spot on. "It's like heaven for people who don't believe in heaven!"

Kris getting a few shots for his Paka Appparel website.

I drove up to Portland, Maine to visit my friend Kris from my time in Naples.

We had a bonfire, jumped off a bridge, learned about his first year of college (!!!) and his newest venture: Paka Apparel, got poutine and milkshakes at Duck Fat, had an early morning at the beach, met his cute brothers and enjoyed brunch to the sounds of his parents playing blue grass music (the whole family plays string instruments and they jam together). It was a great trip.

If you're a fellow New Englander that needs to keep warm this winter, I recommend checking out Kris's clothing brand Paka and specifically, The Costa sweater (you may recognize a few of the models -- ha!).

SUMMER IN BOSTON: PART 5

PORTLAND, MAINE