Three weeks after my valiant return, I finally sit down to write of my Boston trip with Miss Emily. She is going to law school starting this fall and was looking for companionship to tour the city. Boy, she drew the short stick and somehow ended up with me. You may think there is no worse fate, and you may be correct. But let's move on from such unpleasantries...
We flew United with a layover in Denver. I honestly do not believe I've experienced seats as close together as these. Seats so close that when the person in front of you reclined their seat, they were suddenly in your lap as if expecting a head rub. Ask Emily - again, drawing the short stick with the worse seat neighbors in front of her. Between this and the screaming children, we were only a few squawking chickens and spitting llamas from being on some bus in Central America taking a couple of gringos up to a jungle-ridden mountain village in a crappy adventure flick.
You know that obnoxious person who feels compelled to imitate the stereotypical accent of the places they visit? I am that person. Emily was probably regretting her choice of travel mates halfway through the first flight after I had uttered "chow-dah" for the umpteenth time. I was rewarded, however, with genuine instances of the Boston accent when a lady behind us at the baggage claim kept repeating "Take the kids to the 'keah'" and our waitress the next day at lunch humored me with several reps of "chow-dah."
When we arrived, our baggage (along with the few other Portlanders' baggage who had also transferred in Denver) did not arrive with us. Panic did not quite set in before we were told that it was on the next flight in - only an hour and a half out. For our inconvenience we were given forty dollars worth of vouchers to Legals Seafood - a Boston institution. So, within an hour of setting foot in (a very rainy and cold) Boston, I was having clam chowder. One checkmark on my culinary "to-do" list was placed.
A cab whisked us away to the hotel via Big-Dig tunnels. I, for one, am glad they spent 14 billion dollars on it. Falling ceiling panels killing motorists be damned, it was worth it!
The next day dawned dry and cloudy. And windy and freakin' cold. But the pouring rain had stopped and this made it decent walking weather. First on the list was a school visit for Emily - directly across the street from the hotel. Afterward we began our first walking tour of Boston (known as America's Walking City - probably because motorists aren't particularly fond of tunnel pieces falling on them). We were only a couple of blocks from Boston Common, which is the start of the "Freedom Trail." The Freedom Trail is a red line (mostly in brick) that leads you from one historical site to another in Central Boston.
So we start here (Massachusetts State House)
Through this old cemetery (founded 1660)
By this awesome building that houses Baptists - I will convert if I get to worship here.
Past the old City Hall.
Then the Old Corner Bookstore, built in 1718
Oh look! The old State House!
Oh look! Faneuil Hall!
Oh look! Wait, what THE *@!!$#*?!
This, my friends, is the Boston City Hall - aka Headquarters of the Evil Empire. If ever a name for an architectural style was apt, it is this: Brutalism. This building scares the crap out of me - like it's not only going to tax me, but it's going to suck me in, grind me up and then use me as part of its asphalt mix for street paving. Maybe this accurately reflects what Bostonians really feel about their city government.
Balancing the horror of the City Hall, the Quincy Market across the way was a wonderland for a person like me. That is, someone who really, really, REALLY likes food. I felt as I understood where Templeton the rat was coming from when he sang in the animated version of Charlotte's Web "The faiiiir is a veritable smorgasbord-orgasbord-orgasbord!" (Yes, I did just reference that) Tons of food stalls - and nary a chain that I could recognize. This was not just another food court stuffed with a McDonalds and a Sbarro's, no, this was the food court mecca. We already had our plan for lunch, but I am already figuring out where in my schedule I can plan a month around a Quincy Market Pilgrimage.
Lunch was had at Durgin Park, another local institution. Great chowder and scallops wrapped in bacon were ingested by me. They are more than happy to tell you how long they've been around too:
Onward to the oldest part of Boston, happily populated by a large Italian population whose efforts have resulted in every single storefront you see in the following picture being an Italian restaurant. I have just upped my culinary pilgrimage to two months because of this.
Here is Paul Revere and his horse's ass.
About this time there were actually little snow pellets coming down. What a weird coast this was.
I demand this ridiculously adorable row-house to be deeded to me. As in NOW.
As it was getting later into the afternoon, we turned our sights back to the hotel and *oops*, just happened upon an H&M Store. Now, Emily had previously sung the praises of this Swedish chain (those Swedes! They think of everything - anyone else about to wet their pants over IKEA opening this year in town?) and Kami put in an equally good word as well. For those who like buying clothes and accessories, I totally get it - tons of great stuff and designs for great prices. To me it's like what the clothing department at Target has been attempting to do via being trendy at rock-bottom prices. This is a couple of notches above and absolutely huge. I'd like to see one in PDX.
Emily needed some recovery time as her stomach was not feeling up to par, so I struck out on my own to Beacon Hill. Yawn. Not *another* historic and elegant east-coast neighborhood. Boooooring. Or not…it was great. Think NW Portland charm and multiply it by some number (arbitrarily I will suggest "ten"). Yeah, that's Beacon Hill. In the second pic, note the font of the 7-11 signage. Obviously strict rules apply in this 'hood - the Starbucks was the same way. Plus, there are no "For Sale" signs - there were multiple brokerage businesses along the main drag with boards in the window with the current listings. In spite of this signage crackdown, note the good-natured posting on the fence in the third picture.
The setting sun cast the Boston skyline in a most flattering light.
Dinner and Guinness were had at MJ O'Connor's Irish Pub, just a couple blocks from the hotel. Culinary checkmark number two - Irish food in Boston. And a guy with a real Irish accent! Or at least a fabulous fake one! http://www.mjoconnorsboston.com
The next day our main goal was to visit the Museum of Fine Arts, approximately a 30 minute walk away nestled amidst several university campuses and parks. We took the scenic route down Newbury Street & Commonwealth Avenue. These neighborhoods are as close as this American has yet come to Europe. Commonwealth is a residential street marked by rows of (expensive) homes flanking a park full of dead trees. Dead because for some reason it is still winter in April in Boston. Newbury is the premier shopping avenue in the city, which meant that for us, the primary shopping would be of the window variety. The local Nike-Town is on this street, inexplicably prompting me to start singing (and not stop in a timely manner) "Won't you take me to…Nike-town?" At this point Emily threw a shiny nickel out into the middle of the street, hoping for me to jump into traffic to chase after it. Sadly for her, I was distracted thinking about Quincy Market and would suggest that in the future she try throwing out scallops wrapped in bacon if she would like her plan to succeed.
You know all those modest Christian Science reading rooms scattered about the country? Well, all of their funds are funneled into this:
Holy mother of pearl! This is called the "Mother Church" and is the headquarters for the Christian Science folk. The focal point is the original church building built in 1894 and surrounded by a complex designed by I.M. Pei in the late 60s and early 70s. The newer stuff is not my bag, but the overall whole is pretty impressive.
The Museum was splendid - Portland Art Museum is quite impressive for its size, but this was my first "big(ger) city" museum trip and I was properly put in my place. Unfortunately, due to expansion, whole exhibits were missing - in fact, according to this museum, 20th century American Art did not happen at all. They had a great innovation for tickets - after purchasing your ticket, you could utilize it again for free within 10 days.
We decided to do Italian for dinner and a spiffy looking place, Maggiano's, was just a block away from our hotel. Sadly, authenticity did not win the day as it turns out this was a chain of restaurants owned by the same company that owns Romano's Macaroni Grill. Not so sadly, the food was great. The concept is supposed to be more upscale than Romano's and I had a perfect Linguine with Clams - it was just loaded with savory broth. The nearest location for now is in Bellevue, so if you're up there it is a chain I'd happily recommend.
This dining experience marked what I called the completion of my Boston Culinary Trifecta. I had the chowder and fresh seafood. I had the Irish food. And I had the Italian food. I felt whole.
The next day the Boston adventure was to end. We boarded two more crappy United flights (oh golly, I can pay 45 bucks for an extra couple of inches of legroom in Economy Plus) and any dozing I did constituted swirling images of old 60s and 70s ads for commercial airline service where the meals were divine and the comfort sublime.
So I hit Philly last year, Boston this year…is the big NYC going to get scheduled anytime soon? I keep skirting it, but it's only a matter of time. More immediately, Mike and I are traveling to Alaska in June for five days. My Dad still lives up there and we will have full utilization of a vehicle so there will be a lot of great sight-seeing, visiting, and some beautiful hiking/biking (Anchorage has a very comprehensive trail system). Plus, we'll be there on the longest day of the year - which means about 20 hours of daylight up there.
Take care, y'all!
(PS - it is no joke that they are crazy about their Red Sox. An ad for a furniture store was played several times instructing customers to come in and buy just about anything and if the Red Sox are victorious at season's end, the price of the furniture is refunded completely via insurance the store takes out. That's Bwa-ston for you!)
God this was such a fun trip! You have to come back before I leave the city, so that we can do the authentic North End food tour, with me NOT suffering from mono ;)
ReplyDelete