My first few days in Boston
So, I am in Boston for the fourth day. The drive was very long. I think it took us twenty-seven hours. There was no snow when we arrived but the next night it snowed all night and we got to see plenty of it the next day. So on New Year's Eve we went to Boston Commons. It's a really big park right in the middle of downtown Boston. We looked at the ice sculptures and wandered about. It was neat. They had a "Mardi Gras" themed parade which was quite amusing. There were no floats! Not one! No beads, moonpies, or candy of any kind. They had purple and yellow colors on many things, but no green. On top of that I heard one loud Bostonian yelling about the "Lakers colors." On top of that it was the quiestest, most boringly tame parade I'd ever seen. The coolest thing was that it started snowing heavily while the parade was going on. If I looked up I would get snow in my eyes. Our plan after that was to walk up to the harbor to watch fireworks at midnight. We started walking and were very cold and hungry. So we stopped at a restaurant called The Last Hurrah. We sat and ate for a while, I drank some coffee, and it was good. After that relaxing dinner we realized how tired we were, so we worked our way back to the subway and returned to the apartment where we watched the countdown on TV and drank Champagne that I bought up the road.
The next day we went to Harvard Square and ate at Finagle a Bagel. It was pretty good but the coffee sucked. We wandered a bit. Then Terri and Kim, Jesse's aunt and uncle, took us on a driving tour of the city. We saw Little Italy, which was neat, with very narrow streets. Supposedly the mafia has a strong hold on the area and it has the lowest crime rate in all Boston. We got pastries at this pastry shop called Mike's. It's supposed to be famous. Bill Clinton got a pastry there once I was told. We went to Fanauil(sp) Hall. It was neat. Lots of eateries with shopping nearby. Then we drove around some more. We drove down the street that John Kerry lives on. Stickers supporting him are all over this city. I haven't seen a pro-Bush sticker yet. Then last night we ate at this Cajun/ Mexian restaurant with Terri and Kim called Borders Cafe. It was very good but my stomach didn't feel good so I couldn't enjoy my "Burro" or my margarita very much.
Now let me tell you something, driving or riding in a car in Boston is scary!!!! The people here drive like total maniacs. It's worse than Chicago or New Orleans. You can't see the lines on half the streets, like the paint has faded and they never bothered to repaint them. People pull right out in front of you when you're barrelling down the street, and pedestrians walk out across the street with no regard for the vehicles travelling down it. It's nuts. We actually got lost as soon as we drove into Boston, and I was driving. It was night time and I couldn't see lines on the streets. I got honked at for driving forty-five in a forty mile per hour zone. On top of that, the roads make no sense at all! They're not on any sort of grid and seem to have no pattern at all. It's simple enough to navigate the subways and to walk the streets on foot, but I will never drive here ever ever again.
Today we got up and went straight to Boston Commons via the subway station from Harvard Square. It was a little warmer today, around thirty-four I think, and the snow was getting icy. At Boston Commons they have an outdoor ice skating rink, and we went ice skating. I have always wanted to go but I've never been able to. I was afraid of killing myself on the ice though. I haven't even roller bladed since I broke my ankle at fourteen. So I started slowly and close to the wall. After a couple of laps however, I had the hang of it and was skating almost effortlessly. It was very fun. We went to the Aquarium on the harbor. It was okay. It was very crowded and people were very rude. They would just stand in front of an exhibit, not allowing room for other people to get a good look, and they would just stay there. It was hard to see anything, and they didn't have any big exhibits with dolphins or whales or anything. The penguins were really neat though. I want one as a pet.
So it turns out that a snowstorm is on its way tonight and tomorrow. They're expecting nearly a foot of snow! Crazy. We're supposed to leave tomorrow to go to Jesse's other aunt's house in Belchertown, two hours away tomorrow, but now we don't know how that's going to work. We're going to skip New York though, so we'll have an extra day here. Jesse just got off the phone with her aunt though and said she needs to talk to me, so I don't know. It's possible we'll be leaving tonight to beat the storm, but I really really really don't want to, and I'll be a little upset if we do. But oh well, it's been tons of fun. I wish I could afford to live here. It's an amazing place.
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The next day we went to Harvard Square and ate at Finagle a Bagel. It was pretty good but the coffee sucked. We wandered a bit. Then Terri and Kim, Jesse's aunt and uncle, took us on a driving tour of the city. We saw Little Italy, which was neat, with very narrow streets. Supposedly the mafia has a strong hold on the area and it has the lowest crime rate in all Boston. We got pastries at this pastry shop called Mike's. It's supposed to be famous. Bill Clinton got a pastry there once I was told. We went to Fanauil(sp) Hall. It was neat. Lots of eateries with shopping nearby. Then we drove around some more. We drove down the street that John Kerry lives on. Stickers supporting him are all over this city. I haven't seen a pro-Bush sticker yet. Then last night we ate at this Cajun/ Mexian restaurant with Terri and Kim called Borders Cafe. It was very good but my stomach didn't feel good so I couldn't enjoy my "Burro" or my margarita very much.
Now let me tell you something, driving or riding in a car in Boston is scary!!!! The people here drive like total maniacs. It's worse than Chicago or New Orleans. You can't see the lines on half the streets, like the paint has faded and they never bothered to repaint them. People pull right out in front of you when you're barrelling down the street, and pedestrians walk out across the street with no regard for the vehicles travelling down it. It's nuts. We actually got lost as soon as we drove into Boston, and I was driving. It was night time and I couldn't see lines on the streets. I got honked at for driving forty-five in a forty mile per hour zone. On top of that, the roads make no sense at all! They're not on any sort of grid and seem to have no pattern at all. It's simple enough to navigate the subways and to walk the streets on foot, but I will never drive here ever ever again.
Today we got up and went straight to Boston Commons via the subway station from Harvard Square. It was a little warmer today, around thirty-four I think, and the snow was getting icy. At Boston Commons they have an outdoor ice skating rink, and we went ice skating. I have always wanted to go but I've never been able to. I was afraid of killing myself on the ice though. I haven't even roller bladed since I broke my ankle at fourteen. So I started slowly and close to the wall. After a couple of laps however, I had the hang of it and was skating almost effortlessly. It was very fun. We went to the Aquarium on the harbor. It was okay. It was very crowded and people were very rude. They would just stand in front of an exhibit, not allowing room for other people to get a good look, and they would just stay there. It was hard to see anything, and they didn't have any big exhibits with dolphins or whales or anything. The penguins were really neat though. I want one as a pet.
So it turns out that a snowstorm is on its way tonight and tomorrow. They're expecting nearly a foot of snow! Crazy. We're supposed to leave tomorrow to go to Jesse's other aunt's house in Belchertown, two hours away tomorrow, but now we don't know how that's going to work. We're going to skip New York though, so we'll have an extra day here. Jesse just got off the phone with her aunt though and said she needs to talk to me, so I don't know. It's possible we'll be leaving tonight to beat the storm, but I really really really don't want to, and I'll be a little upset if we do. But oh well, it's been tons of fun. I wish I could afford to live here. It's an amazing place.
create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.