Boston, Day 2
We did the tour-thing today ... like many of our trips to compact cities, we walked and walked and walked. I'm astonished at how long I can walk when we're on vacation, given how little I walk when I'm working from home. We did the "extended" Freedom Trail walk, which was pretty much most of the highlights in downtown Boston, and also the Beacon Hill area.
I think the highlight of the trip was the Memorial Day display in Boston Commons, which had a small American flag planted in the ground for every Massachusetts soldier who had been killed in battle since the Civil War. That's 33,000 flags that cover most of a hill, and quite a sight to see.
One of the odd things about Boston is that they're "preserving" their historical buildings by selling them to chains. The old City Hall is now a Ruth's Chris, and the old Court House was recently bought by Restoration Hardware. It's weird, but if that's what you gotta do, that's what you do.
It's funny ... a lot of this town shows some of the best results from creative compromise I've seen. But of course, when they can't compromise, it's revolution.
At the end of a wonderful day full of laughter and seeing historical sites, we went to eat at a restaurant called "Journeyman." It's a frou-frou restaurant with tiny food served on pureed swirls. Everything was absolutely delicious, a little weird, and teensy. Lycangeek panicked halfway through and started snarfing bread. (We'd walked for at least six hours today, and milk foam with six lima beans wasn't going to hold him.) We did eventually get full tummies, but for a while we weren't sure if this was one of the ways Famine was making inroads in his plan to starve the wealthy.
All in all, Boston was wonderful. I'm very glad to have had the opportunity to get to know it.
I think the highlight of the trip was the Memorial Day display in Boston Commons, which had a small American flag planted in the ground for every Massachusetts soldier who had been killed in battle since the Civil War. That's 33,000 flags that cover most of a hill, and quite a sight to see.
One of the odd things about Boston is that they're "preserving" their historical buildings by selling them to chains. The old City Hall is now a Ruth's Chris, and the old Court House was recently bought by Restoration Hardware. It's weird, but if that's what you gotta do, that's what you do.
It's funny ... a lot of this town shows some of the best results from creative compromise I've seen. But of course, when they can't compromise, it's revolution.
At the end of a wonderful day full of laughter and seeing historical sites, we went to eat at a restaurant called "Journeyman." It's a frou-frou restaurant with tiny food served on pureed swirls. Everything was absolutely delicious, a little weird, and teensy. Lycangeek panicked halfway through and started snarfing bread. (We'd walked for at least six hours today, and milk foam with six lima beans wasn't going to hold him.) We did eventually get full tummies, but for a while we weren't sure if this was one of the ways Famine was making inroads in his plan to starve the wealthy.
All in all, Boston was wonderful. I'm very glad to have had the opportunity to get to know it.