#13 Boston Open
Boston Open
April 26th, 2025
It’s been almost exactly a year since my last tournament. I had shoulder surgery in August when I had my bicep reconnected due to it starting to fray away from my shoulder. I’d say my shoulder is at about 80%. Still hurts when I use it, but mostly functional.
This tournament was mostly about showing up and stepping on the mats healthy “enough”. I had one person in my bracket. I weighed in at 154lbs for my 163lbs bracket. I didn’t think I could get down to the next weight class in time, and turns out I could have, I was only a couple pounds off.
My opponent was significantly stronger than me. This is an ongoing theme of me really not being anywhere near the weight I should be. My 152lbs isn’t muscle, it’s not functional weight, and the women that choose to compete are typically pretty fit. This being my first tournament back, I felt pretty relaxed, with no expectations. There was about a 40 second stand up battle. I think had I committed to a couple sprawls I have opportunities to take her down. Instead she was able to close the distance and trip me, landing on top of half guard. She was able to eventually pull me into a chair sit back take and get a rear naked setup around my mouth. I had a mouthguard in, but she squeezed super hard and I could feel my mouth bleeding. Acknowledging, I wasn’t getting out of the tight back control and not wanting to destroy my mouth, I tapped. Sure enough the inside of my mouth had a deep cut across the front of my gums. My opponent was clearly nervous but did a great job executing. She had a great team there supporting her and we were both eager to try again in the open class division.
The open class consisted of just the two of us, so 1 rematch. I felt like I did better in the stand up this time, impacting her movement more, but she got me with the same trip takedown and I was back at the bottom on half guard. She was able to work passed my quarter guard and eventually into mount. She worked an arm triangle on my bad shoulder and I tapped not wanting to cause any further damage. Not a great showing on my part, but I feel like I did better in the second match, and it’s all about getting better.
Key Takeaways
- I weighed in at 154lbs, time to move down to the next weight bracket and have my eyes on the one below. I really think being lighter will get me better results.
- This one was about showing up post surgery. It’s been a year and having no nerves walking up to the mat was a victory.
- Cross face! I need to cross face more
Current goals
Win a bracket
Score a takedown
Places I visited
My son joined me on this trip and is a big Fallout 4 fan, so he was in charge of site seeing, which exclusively consisted of sites that are in the Fallout 4 game. It was super cute seeing my adult son get excited to visit these spots.
The Freedom Trail - This hits lots of iconic spots from Fallout4, and it was a beautiful day for walking. We started in the North End near Little Italy and walked to Boston Commons, which was a huge park with so much going on, very cool area.
Fort Independence - A spot from the game, I feel like maybe it’s more exciting if you played the game or are super into history. It wasn’t that exciting for me, but it was also a time of the year when you can’t go into the inner part of the Fort. Maybe it’s more exciting when you can go inside?
U.S.S. Constitution Museum: There is a great museum that runs off of donations. The ship is outside in the harbor and super impressive. The museum is very interactive and a fun way to spend a rainy few hours.
The Old North Bridge: My understanding is this is where you start the game Fallout 4. The shot heard around the world is something I totally forgot about from Junior High History class. It was a bit of a drive compared to the other sites, but totally worth it.
Harry Potter Exhibit: The only non-Fallout 4 site. It was the last weekend of the Harry Potter Exhibit in Boston so I was stoked we caught it. It was really well done and had a lot of interactive items. See your name on the Maurader’s Map, play some quidditch, visit Hagrid’s cabin, repot some mandrakes! Everything was so fun and a lot of attention to detail.
Restaurants I visited
Neptune Oyster, Boston - We were able to walk up on a Thursday evening and get a table with less than a 5 minute wait. My son, says the calamari was the best he’s ever had. We all ordered lobster rolls and although good and with a ton of lobster, it wasn’t mind blowing. I hear Boston isn’t the city for lobster rolls, but if you’re going to get some this is the place to go. I also tried the shrimp and grits and it was a different style than the more traditional southern version, definitely fun to try. I agree it's probably not the best, but still very good if it’s been a long time since you’ve had a great lobster roll.
Salem’s Retreat, Salem – We stopped here for breakfast, wanting to stop in Salem briefly. It’s a basic diner and wasn’t anything special. I would have preferred trying a different spot, I wouldn’t bother going back to this one.
Saltbox Kitchen, Concord – We stopped here after visiting the Old North Bridge. Cool little cafe, with some great food options. Menu is small but mighty. I kept things light with a yogurt and fruit plate.
Landing Restaurant, Marblehead – We stayed at a great little airbnb right on the water in Marblehead. I often prefer to stay out of the city and Marblehead was a great little town to stay in. Turns out it also had some great restaurants. Landing was open late and right on the water with a good selection of seafood and burgers.
Mai Tai Lounge, Marblehead – My favorite meal of the trip. This came after my tournament and food does taste better after competing. I started with a shrimp cocktail that was excellent and shrimp fried spring rolls that had perfectly fried shrimp inside. Then to what brought me to the restaurant lobster rangoon. My favorite food might be crab rangoon so trying lobster rangoon was a must do. It was absolutely wonderful.
Walking food tour, Boston – I’ve said it before, I love a walking food tour. This was the “politically incorrect Little Italy” walking food tour. Our guide was born and raised in Little Italy and seemed to be a staple of the community. Not being politically correct, mainly included swearing and an unfiltered history lesson of the gentrification of the area. This tour packs a lot of food so you need to arrive hungry.
1st stop: Pizza - We started with a slice of pizza in a crowded spot. I feel like everyone thinks they have the best pizza and I honestly love what we can get here in Seattle. So, I really wasn’t that impressed with the Boston slice we got, it was good but ordinary
2nd stop: Rice Ball - I don’t know who invented these, but why? A fried ball of rice filled with cheese, ground beef, and peas. This was a belly bomb. I took a small bite but the thing was huge and the flavors didn’t have me that excited.
3rd stop: Italian sub - This was very good. It took a while to get our sandwiches because they say slicing the meat extremely thin right before serving is what is key to keeping it from drying out and having a stack of meat that is edible. The bread, pesto, onions and meat all married together perfectly.
4th stop: Ravioli - The raviolo was big and bursting with cheese. The red sauce had the perfect amount of tang. This was excellent and made me realize most ravioli I have is anemic and could fit way more cheese. Maxing out the cheese to pasta ratio really made this one hit another level.
5th stop: Sfogliatelle - We grabbed these in a tiny dungeon cash only bakery. It was very good, as they always are if you can actually find them. It’s not a dessert we get in Seattle. I only wish they didn’t always have a citrus undertone.
6th stop: Espresso over ice cream. Our last stop was another dessert. A scoop of very good vanilla ice cream with a shot of espresso poured over it. It was so very good. I only had a little because I try to avoid caffeine in general, but my mother took the tour with me and said she’ll be dreaming about this dessert.
Upcoming tournaments:
May 4 - Master Europeans, Barcelona Spain
July 12 - Phoenix Open
This was my tune up before flying to Barcelona to complete the following weekend. No damage really taken other than a cut mouth. It felt good to be competing again and I’m eager to get back on the mats and implement some of what I learned from this tournament.
