Vacation, Pt. 1
Steve and I just got back from our vacation in Boston. He initially wanted to go to Williambsurg, but I was there two years ago, so we might go another time. He also suggested Gettysburg, but once you've seen the field there isn't much else there.
It was rediculously hot and humid in Boston the whole time we were there. Otherwise, good times were had by all.
Day 1: We drove up to Boston from NJ, taking pains to avoid having to go through NY on the GWB. Aside from a false start (I drove up to his place to go from there, he drove down to mine to pick me up) and few small patches of construction, we made reasonably decent time. We did get lost coming off of the Mass Pike, because apparently that section of Boston doesn't really believe in street signs. We checked into the hotel, a Howard Johnson's just behind Fenway Park. It was cheap enough, and right near a subway line, so that was especially convenient. There was also a Dunkin' Donuts on the way from the hotel to the T, so double bonus. We were too late to pick up our Go Cards, so we wandered through Chinatown and down to Quincy Market. Watched a couple of street performances before going to a seafood restaurant (The Salty Dog) for dinner. We wandered down to the waterfront and watched the goings on in the harbor before making our way back to the hotel and crashing. I tried to watch the season premier of Project Runway, but Bravo was screwed up in the room so we got the right picture with the wrong sound.
Day 2: Up at a reasonable hour for both of us, which is impressive given that we would both sleep till noon if given the chance. We went and got our Go Cards, which were awesome to have. You get free admission to a whole bunch of museums, discounts on restaurants and other things. Definitely worth the money. Signed onto a walking tour of the Freedom Trail, given by a funny guy named Nathaniel who was dressed in period costume. He was really knowledgable and engaging. We saw most of the historical sights on the trail - the State House, several churches and meeting houses, and wrapped up at Quincy Market. From there we took the water taxi to Charlestown, where we took the tour of the USS Constitution. That was really cool; the Constitution was built for the War of 1812 and is still a working ship of the US Navy, so all the guides are sailors on special assignment. We also toured the USS Cassin Young, which is a restored WWII ship. We briefly entertained the idea of going to the Bunker Hill monument, but it was uphill and so we opted to skip that and go back to the hotel. We met a really nice family from Alabama on the trip back, who were hopelessly lost. My awesome map helped save the day, and from there we went to the Prudential Center. We were meeting his friend Dave who lives in town for dinner, but Dave was working 'til 9, so we went up to the skywalk until then. Dave took us to an Irish pub near the "Pru," and I had the most awesome macaroni and cheese in the world. Colorful guy, Dave, and not big on self censorship.
Day 3: Science Museum and the Duck Tours. We had reserved tickets for a tour in the afternoon, the museum was the pickup place. Given the heat, humidity, and the killer sunburn I got the day before, the museum was a good place to spend the day. It's geared more towards kids, so we had fun playing around with some of the exhibits. We also got to meet a porcupine who was part of the museum's local habitats exhibit. The Duck Tours are given on old WWII amphibious vehicles, driven by eccentric tour guides. The tour before us had a "retired Italian gondola driver," we had a former lifeguard who was now afraid of the water. The tour hit most of the Boston landmarks, before driving into the Charles River and becoming a boat. We rode up the river a ways, and the kids on the boat got a chance to drive. One boy almost drove us into a river piling, and a girl tried her best to take out a sailboat, but otherwise we were catastrophe free. Rode the T out to Harvard for dinner, which was at this basement pub called Grendel's. The sandwich I had was good, but not really what I wanted. Luckily the home-made ice cream place a block away that one of Steve's co-workers told us about was fantastic and more than made up for it. The Hostess Cupcake ice cream that I had was TO DIE FOR.
Day 4: Fenway Park tour. Supremely awesome, I recommend it to anyone who visits the city, even if you're like me and not really a baseball fan. The park is just historic and elegant and full of so much wonderful architecture. My only experience with ballparks up to this point was Shea Stadium, which they're in the process of replacing and is not especially attractive. We got to see everything, including the seats on top of the Green Monster, the press box, and the player's entrance. The team was in LA, so no games while we were there, which was probably just as well. We were literally right outside the right field fence, so we would have heard everything, and probably wouldn't have been able to get tickets to a game anyway. We left Fenway and went to the aquarium, which was crowded beyond belief since it was a Saturday and the museum was air conditioned. We did get to see them feed the seals, and the penguins were funny to watch. There was a really nice bar outside by where the whale watching tours leave, and we hung out there for a while before going back to Chinatown to meet some friends of Steve's from his gaming message board at a German bar there. Yes, a German bar in Chinatown. We did see these two funny street performers on the way to the T, a pair of comedians/acrobats. They were all very nice, but the conversation turned to gaming after a while and I was basically lost.
Day 5: Went back to the Red Sox Team Store (that's where the tour starts from) to pick up a few last souveniers. Ran into a tour group of Japanese teenagers. Killed half an hour until the tour group left before attempting to make our purchase. From there we drove to the Franklin Park Zoo in Dorchester. The zoo was very small and kind of lame. I think we saw the whole thing in about two hours. From there we drove home, which was mostly uneventful. Saw a fender bender in the parking lot of the rest area on I-90 where we stopped. We were visting a farm stand in the parking lot when this little Honda from NY pulled into the lot, whipped around into a parking space, and drove right into the car parked opposite him. The driver got out and looked around, and everyone was like, 'Yup, saw you, remembering your license plate.' Otherwise, not much traffic - thankfully, we were opposite all the Sunday shore traffic.
I have some cool pictures, which I will put in another post so as not to chew up so much space.
It was rediculously hot and humid in Boston the whole time we were there. Otherwise, good times were had by all.
Day 1: We drove up to Boston from NJ, taking pains to avoid having to go through NY on the GWB. Aside from a false start (I drove up to his place to go from there, he drove down to mine to pick me up) and few small patches of construction, we made reasonably decent time. We did get lost coming off of the Mass Pike, because apparently that section of Boston doesn't really believe in street signs. We checked into the hotel, a Howard Johnson's just behind Fenway Park. It was cheap enough, and right near a subway line, so that was especially convenient. There was also a Dunkin' Donuts on the way from the hotel to the T, so double bonus. We were too late to pick up our Go Cards, so we wandered through Chinatown and down to Quincy Market. Watched a couple of street performances before going to a seafood restaurant (The Salty Dog) for dinner. We wandered down to the waterfront and watched the goings on in the harbor before making our way back to the hotel and crashing. I tried to watch the season premier of Project Runway, but Bravo was screwed up in the room so we got the right picture with the wrong sound.
Day 2: Up at a reasonable hour for both of us, which is impressive given that we would both sleep till noon if given the chance. We went and got our Go Cards, which were awesome to have. You get free admission to a whole bunch of museums, discounts on restaurants and other things. Definitely worth the money. Signed onto a walking tour of the Freedom Trail, given by a funny guy named Nathaniel who was dressed in period costume. He was really knowledgable and engaging. We saw most of the historical sights on the trail - the State House, several churches and meeting houses, and wrapped up at Quincy Market. From there we took the water taxi to Charlestown, where we took the tour of the USS Constitution. That was really cool; the Constitution was built for the War of 1812 and is still a working ship of the US Navy, so all the guides are sailors on special assignment. We also toured the USS Cassin Young, which is a restored WWII ship. We briefly entertained the idea of going to the Bunker Hill monument, but it was uphill and so we opted to skip that and go back to the hotel. We met a really nice family from Alabama on the trip back, who were hopelessly lost. My awesome map helped save the day, and from there we went to the Prudential Center. We were meeting his friend Dave who lives in town for dinner, but Dave was working 'til 9, so we went up to the skywalk until then. Dave took us to an Irish pub near the "Pru," and I had the most awesome macaroni and cheese in the world. Colorful guy, Dave, and not big on self censorship.
Day 3: Science Museum and the Duck Tours. We had reserved tickets for a tour in the afternoon, the museum was the pickup place. Given the heat, humidity, and the killer sunburn I got the day before, the museum was a good place to spend the day. It's geared more towards kids, so we had fun playing around with some of the exhibits. We also got to meet a porcupine who was part of the museum's local habitats exhibit. The Duck Tours are given on old WWII amphibious vehicles, driven by eccentric tour guides. The tour before us had a "retired Italian gondola driver," we had a former lifeguard who was now afraid of the water. The tour hit most of the Boston landmarks, before driving into the Charles River and becoming a boat. We rode up the river a ways, and the kids on the boat got a chance to drive. One boy almost drove us into a river piling, and a girl tried her best to take out a sailboat, but otherwise we were catastrophe free. Rode the T out to Harvard for dinner, which was at this basement pub called Grendel's. The sandwich I had was good, but not really what I wanted. Luckily the home-made ice cream place a block away that one of Steve's co-workers told us about was fantastic and more than made up for it. The Hostess Cupcake ice cream that I had was TO DIE FOR.
Day 4: Fenway Park tour. Supremely awesome, I recommend it to anyone who visits the city, even if you're like me and not really a baseball fan. The park is just historic and elegant and full of so much wonderful architecture. My only experience with ballparks up to this point was Shea Stadium, which they're in the process of replacing and is not especially attractive. We got to see everything, including the seats on top of the Green Monster, the press box, and the player's entrance. The team was in LA, so no games while we were there, which was probably just as well. We were literally right outside the right field fence, so we would have heard everything, and probably wouldn't have been able to get tickets to a game anyway. We left Fenway and went to the aquarium, which was crowded beyond belief since it was a Saturday and the museum was air conditioned. We did get to see them feed the seals, and the penguins were funny to watch. There was a really nice bar outside by where the whale watching tours leave, and we hung out there for a while before going back to Chinatown to meet some friends of Steve's from his gaming message board at a German bar there. Yes, a German bar in Chinatown. We did see these two funny street performers on the way to the T, a pair of comedians/acrobats. They were all very nice, but the conversation turned to gaming after a while and I was basically lost.
Day 5: Went back to the Red Sox Team Store (that's where the tour starts from) to pick up a few last souveniers. Ran into a tour group of Japanese teenagers. Killed half an hour until the tour group left before attempting to make our purchase. From there we drove to the Franklin Park Zoo in Dorchester. The zoo was very small and kind of lame. I think we saw the whole thing in about two hours. From there we drove home, which was mostly uneventful. Saw a fender bender in the parking lot of the rest area on I-90 where we stopped. We were visting a farm stand in the parking lot when this little Honda from NY pulled into the lot, whipped around into a parking space, and drove right into the car parked opposite him. The driver got out and looked around, and everyone was like, 'Yup, saw you, remembering your license plate.' Otherwise, not much traffic - thankfully, we were opposite all the Sunday shore traffic.
I have some cool pictures, which I will put in another post so as not to chew up so much space.