Historical Cities? Bah!
Very brief summary of the past weekend:
1. Wanted to go to Boston.
2. Got hellaciously ill.
3. Went to Boston anyway.
4. Froze.
5. Learned stuff.
6. Went home.
"President's Day is a long weekend. We should use it to go somewhere. Like Boston."
"...Sure!"
And with that subtle bit of arm-twisting, katieledge and I were set on a course of sorrow and woe. Actually, I didn't really have a long weekend, despite normally having President's Day off; this calendar year happens to involve three Eids instead of the average two, and so the organization, required to balance out official holidays, decided to sack President's Day. Cheeky Muslim holidays. Ah, who am I kidding; Allah gives me days off of work, so he's alright in my book. You go Allah. I promise not to make fun of you in cartoon format.
But I digress. Taking one of my precious vacation days, I create a long weekend and prepare for a fun trip. I'd never been to Boston before. After this weekend, I think I know why.
I did want to see folks in the Boston area, however; this concept was reconsidered on Friday when I developed a horrific cold/fever/chills/bubonic plague of sorts. Raw stubbornness saw me through the day, a bit of fresh air made me feel a touch better, and I gambled and started the trip anyway. That's right, folks. Common Sense has left the building.
We did make a stopover in Connecticut to meet up with shepholland, perkyczarlet, and Mrs. vulgarbarbarian. Then we watched the Olympics and joined the rest of the planet in justifiably mocking Lindsey Jacobellis for her outstanding failure. In fact, it's still funny.
Again, digression. Saturday morning sees us arriving in Boston on what was without a doubt the coldest day of the year. This was where I realized that Boston is a dreadful city to drive in. I'm becoming a firm believer in the "raze the city to the ground and start from scratch using a grid pattern" theory of city engineering. Boston could use a heaping helping of that theory. In any event, sightseeing was very limited, as the pain of icy wind was most impressive and was not doing my lungs any favors. Retreat; try again tomorrow. Instead, watch more Olympics. Shani, you're a jerk. Bobsled: kickass. Apolo? pwned.
(Flashback: Upon crossing the Connecticut-Massachusetts border, we were greeted by a sign: "WELCOME TO MASSACHUSETTS, HOME OF THE 2004 WORLD CHAMPIONS, THE BOSTON RED SOX." I'm curious to know if there are a thousand such signs encircling the state at every roadway, creating some kind of mystical anti-hex barrier that might ward off any future shenanigans to rival Bambino's Curse.)
Ah, tomorrow. Muuuuuuuch better, this Sunday thing without wind and cold. Now we can try to enjoy Boston in all its glory, or something. First we managed to find Fanueiueiaoiuel Hall and the Markety Thing right next to it. Actually, that's not true. First we noticed that there's a 1:1 ratio of Irish Pubs to Human Beings in this part of town. Curious indeed... but amazingly enough, 11:00 am was too early to start with the Guinness. At least, that's what I was told. I have my doubts.
b7cy met us at the New England Aquarium, and in we went. The aquarium was beautiful. And pretty damn cool too. Saw some cool fish, sharks, big sea turtles, jellyfish, crabs and lobsters, and other... things. Leafy seahorses and sea dragons. Sting rays. Creepy sand jellies. Anemonemones. And five million children chanting "NEMO! NEMO! NEMO!" Still, despite the occasional body-checking of an urchin, there's nothing like an aquarium to get a man hankering for a sushi dinner, let me tell you. But I resisted the lure of unprepared sashimi bits all around me and instead went out for clam chowder, because that's what you eat in Boston.
On Monday we resolved to try and get some actual history into the trip, since Boston does have certain historic significance and all that. Alas, the Boston Tea Party memorial was closed for renovation (katieledge does like a spot of tea), so we went to Bunker Hill instead. Yes, that's right. The very British katieledge and I went to the monument at Bunker Hill. Mmmmmm... irony tastes goooooood. There's an obelisk there, which we were obliged to climb. 294 steps doesn't sound like much, but somewhere around 200, you realize it's a much bigger number than you initially gave it credit for.
We then went to see the U.S.S. Constitution, but there was a big sign out front that said "NO BRITISH PEOPLE ALLOWED", so we went in the nearby museum instead.
The museum was interesting- it was primarily focused on the Constitution (ship, not document), its history, its construction, its repair and maintenance and struct- HOLY SHIT, PIRATES! There was a large exhibit on the history of the Barbary Wars and how the fledgling United States had to build a Navy to handle the pirate attacks on their merchant fleets in the Mediterranean area. That's right, Pirates were kicking American ass. You have to respect pirates. Pirates rule. I got into a fight, and realized that while pirates are pretty tough, they are susceptible to Pirate Dance-Dance Revolution.
And with that, our Bostonian odyssey came to an end.
Tune in later this summer when we might attempt this again in warmer climes. Much warmer.
1. Wanted to go to Boston.
2. Got hellaciously ill.
3. Went to Boston anyway.
4. Froze.
5. Learned stuff.
6. Went home.
"President's Day is a long weekend. We should use it to go somewhere. Like Boston."
"...Sure!"
And with that subtle bit of arm-twisting, katieledge and I were set on a course of sorrow and woe. Actually, I didn't really have a long weekend, despite normally having President's Day off; this calendar year happens to involve three Eids instead of the average two, and so the organization, required to balance out official holidays, decided to sack President's Day. Cheeky Muslim holidays. Ah, who am I kidding; Allah gives me days off of work, so he's alright in my book. You go Allah. I promise not to make fun of you in cartoon format.
But I digress. Taking one of my precious vacation days, I create a long weekend and prepare for a fun trip. I'd never been to Boston before. After this weekend, I think I know why.
I did want to see folks in the Boston area, however; this concept was reconsidered on Friday when I developed a horrific cold/fever/chills/bubonic plague of sorts. Raw stubbornness saw me through the day, a bit of fresh air made me feel a touch better, and I gambled and started the trip anyway. That's right, folks. Common Sense has left the building.
We did make a stopover in Connecticut to meet up with shepholland, perkyczarlet, and Mrs. vulgarbarbarian. Then we watched the Olympics and joined the rest of the planet in justifiably mocking Lindsey Jacobellis for her outstanding failure. In fact, it's still funny.
Again, digression. Saturday morning sees us arriving in Boston on what was without a doubt the coldest day of the year. This was where I realized that Boston is a dreadful city to drive in. I'm becoming a firm believer in the "raze the city to the ground and start from scratch using a grid pattern" theory of city engineering. Boston could use a heaping helping of that theory. In any event, sightseeing was very limited, as the pain of icy wind was most impressive and was not doing my lungs any favors. Retreat; try again tomorrow. Instead, watch more Olympics. Shani, you're a jerk. Bobsled: kickass. Apolo? pwned.
(Flashback: Upon crossing the Connecticut-Massachusetts border, we were greeted by a sign: "WELCOME TO MASSACHUSETTS, HOME OF THE 2004 WORLD CHAMPIONS, THE BOSTON RED SOX." I'm curious to know if there are a thousand such signs encircling the state at every roadway, creating some kind of mystical anti-hex barrier that might ward off any future shenanigans to rival Bambino's Curse.)
Ah, tomorrow. Muuuuuuuch better, this Sunday thing without wind and cold. Now we can try to enjoy Boston in all its glory, or something. First we managed to find Fanueiueiaoiuel Hall and the Markety Thing right next to it. Actually, that's not true. First we noticed that there's a 1:1 ratio of Irish Pubs to Human Beings in this part of town. Curious indeed... but amazingly enough, 11:00 am was too early to start with the Guinness. At least, that's what I was told. I have my doubts.
b7cy met us at the New England Aquarium, and in we went. The aquarium was beautiful. And pretty damn cool too. Saw some cool fish, sharks, big sea turtles, jellyfish, crabs and lobsters, and other... things. Leafy seahorses and sea dragons. Sting rays. Creepy sand jellies. Anemonemones. And five million children chanting "NEMO! NEMO! NEMO!" Still, despite the occasional body-checking of an urchin, there's nothing like an aquarium to get a man hankering for a sushi dinner, let me tell you. But I resisted the lure of unprepared sashimi bits all around me and instead went out for clam chowder, because that's what you eat in Boston.
On Monday we resolved to try and get some actual history into the trip, since Boston does have certain historic significance and all that. Alas, the Boston Tea Party memorial was closed for renovation (katieledge does like a spot of tea), so we went to Bunker Hill instead. Yes, that's right. The very British katieledge and I went to the monument at Bunker Hill. Mmmmmm... irony tastes goooooood. There's an obelisk there, which we were obliged to climb. 294 steps doesn't sound like much, but somewhere around 200, you realize it's a much bigger number than you initially gave it credit for.
We then went to see the U.S.S. Constitution, but there was a big sign out front that said "NO BRITISH PEOPLE ALLOWED", so we went in the nearby museum instead.
The museum was interesting- it was primarily focused on the Constitution (ship, not document), its history, its construction, its repair and maintenance and struct- HOLY SHIT, PIRATES! There was a large exhibit on the history of the Barbary Wars and how the fledgling United States had to build a Navy to handle the pirate attacks on their merchant fleets in the Mediterranean area. That's right, Pirates were kicking American ass. You have to respect pirates. Pirates rule. I got into a fight, and realized that while pirates are pretty tough, they are susceptible to Pirate Dance-Dance Revolution.
And with that, our Bostonian odyssey came to an end.
Tune in later this summer when we might attempt this again in warmer climes. Much warmer.