Boston Day

I drove up to Boston on Tuesday afternoon and returned Wednesday evening. John had a carload of stuff for me to take back (next week he finishes his job and moves home for a few weeks) so we loaded the car and then had a nice evening out together. On Wednesday morning I went for a walk and for the first time checked out Powderhouse Mill, a landmark of sorts near Tufts. I found this plaque on the mill to be interesting, although John (showing his cynical side) thinks some of history may have been rewritten on the plaque.

This is the mill itself. I think the stonework is beautiful.

John and I had breakfast at our favorite breakfast place, Sound Bites. I couldn't resist taking a photo of my breakfast. Regardless of the season their fruit always looks this good, and it tastes as good as it looks.

After breakfast John headed off to work and I went back to "my dorm room" to shower and get ready for the day. Yes, I had my very own room. This has been four years in a row that John's worked at Tufts in the summer, and four years in a row that I've stayed at least a night in the dorm where he lives. This was by far the best dorm, but my opinion was probably affected by the fact that weather (for once) wasn't oppressively hot. (But the fact that almost no other people live in the dorm and that John has access to a big screen TV with cable - we watched the Olympics - didn't hurt either.)

My college roommate from New Hampshire, Jill, met me at Tufts later in the morning. John took her on a quick tour of the quad and we included the obligatory photo in front of the cannon. Jill and I wandered around Davis and Harvard Squares, had lunch, got caught up on each others' lives, and in general had a wonderful day together.

I arrived home to see that our sunflowers are just about all in bloom.

John!!! Boston!!!

Yesterday afternoon we drove to Boston for the end of Mary's spring break and for a chance to visit John.  I think everyone was a bit tired, so it was a laid-back visit. We had a delicious Thai dinner in Cambridge last night, followed by brunch this morning at the always amazing Sound Bites in Somerville. Both meals deserved a photo. (See below.) After a bit of shopping, we took Mary to the airport this afternoon, then took John home, then drove back to Connecticut for an evening at home before Brad and I fly out to Hawaii tomorrow morning. After our weekend with all five of us in New York last week, all week with Mary, this weekend with John and Mary, and looking forward to Hawaii, I very much feel that we are so blessed. Life is good.

HARRISONBOSTONPALOOZA!!!!!

This weekend we were treated to three days with our entire family together in Boston. Peter’s girlfriend, Emma, joined us too. It was great to be together. We also got to see a lot more of Boston than we ever have in one visit. Harrisonbostonpalooza was a big success!!!

Our first stop was a Boston Duck Tour.  None of us had ever ridden in a duck boat (not even in the Dells) and so it was a first for everyone. The ride lasted an hour and a half, and we spent about 20 minutes of that in the Charles River, as it's an amphibious vehicle.  Our guide spoke nonstop the entire time.  He taught us a lot about Boston, drove us all around the city, and kept us laughing the entire time.  It was fantastic, the time of day was perfect as it was just before, during, and after sunset, and even the skeptic in the group (and our first-born who shall remain nameless) admitted he had fun.

After riding the Duck Boat, we had a delicious dinner at a restaurant in Davis Square.

This is Brad and me at Harvard.  We spent part of Saturday at the Peabody Museum at Harvard.  We also visited the Natural History Museum there, but I wouldn’t exactly call it an official visit.  More like a fast walk through.  But we still saw some cool stuff.

Saturday afternoon we went candle pin bowling.  John was our champion.  He and Brad had a playoff, but with home field advantage, John was the winner.  We had a blast.

Saturday night we went to the Boston Common for a picnic and Shakespeare in the Park.  We saw All's Well That Ends Well.  John knew some kids who worked in the production.

Sunday morning we went out to our favorite breakfast place and continued what had become a weekend of nonstop eating.  John showed Peter some brotherly love before heading back to work for the day.

Meanwhile, the rest of us headed over to the JFK Presidential Library and Museum.  In this exhibit from the Democratic convention, Peter and Mary rep the 414 near the Wisconsin delegation.

After the museum we went to the Barking Crab for some Boston seafood.  From there we walked along Long Wharf and Quincy Market before Peter and Emma went to catch their train and the rest of us headed home to Connecticut. 

Hot Summertime in Boston

I'm in Boston visiting John for a few days. Today we explored some areas I've never been to before. We had a great time together. It was hot and humid but there was a breeze; there's a heat advisory for tomorrow.


This is John and me in the Boston Public Garden. It's next to the Boston Common and it's a very pretty park.


We walked around the Beacon Hill area, which is quite old and somewhat reminds me of the back streets of Georgetown in DC. This street is paved in river rocks and we thought it was cool.


Speaking of cool . . . . this is George Washington's statue in the Public Garden, which was by far the best statue we saw all day. We also walked the length of the Commonwealth Mall, Newberry Street, and some of the Esplanade (river walk). A LOT of walking!


Who agrees with me that this should be John's new Facebook profile picture? For some reason, John doesn't . . . . .

Back to Boston

We took John back to Boston today. His semester starts on Thursday so he'll get to spend a few days with his friends before they all start school. We had a nice day together. Once we got to Boston, it was interesting to see the after-effects of a big snow storm.

There seemed to be two approaches to dealing with the problem of street parking after a major snow storm.  This is our car parked in the most popular approach, which I call the Snow Box.  As the snow is shoveled our from around the car, the shoveler creates either a two- or three-sided "box" around the car (as there is nowhere else to put the snow).  It gives the street the effect of having a row of snow forts.

Then there is the other approach, the path-of-least-resistance, which I call the Buried Treasure.  I think this picture speaks for itself and needs no further explanation. 

Suffice it to say there is a LOT of snow in Boston.  With narrow streets always lined with parked cars, there is simply nowhere to put it.  Here is Mary helping to unload John's stuff.  As you can see, she did most of the heavy lifting.

In front of John's house. 

Whenever we leave the Woodbury area and have to decide where to go to eat, we usually choose an ethnic restaurant.  (Mary says we live in an ethnic food desert, and she doesn't consider Italian food to be ethnic.)  Last semester, John learned about this hole-in-the-wall taco place from his Spanish teacher, so we tried it.  It was delicious!

Hither and Yon

On Tuesday, Mary and I headed due north up to Northampton, MA to visit Smith College.  It was over 100 degrees, which is pretty unusual for this part of the world.  But we still had a great day at the college. 

It's a beautiful campus, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, of Central Park fame. 

The town of Northampton is an idyllic college town, and it has perhaps the best-ever locale for an Urban Outfitters, which is inside an old and cavernous bank building. 

Afterwards we drove over to Boston (two hours to the east) to see John.  When I insisted on taking a picture on the way to dinner, John and Mary decided on a walking photo.  We had a good Thai dinner, then settled in for the 100+ degree evening in John's dorm room. 

 

While we were walking after dinner, we came across this historical marker.  I thought it was worth a picture.  If you can't read it in the blog, click on the picture and you should get a bigger image.  If you still can't read it, it says, "Near this spot Samuel Whittemore, then 80 years old, killed three British soldiers April 19, 1775.  He was shot bayoneted beaten and left for dead, but recovered and lived to be 98 years of age."  Now, I found that rather inspirational!

And finally, here's Mary this morning at LaGuardia, about to board her flight for Milwaukee.  We had an early start (4:00 a.m.) for her early flight, and she's already in Wisconsin.  Needless to say, she's really excited to be spending some time in Shorewood!

Fenway Day aka "The John Show"

Brad got a couple of tickets to the last regular season game at Fenway, so that gave him an excuse for a nice day in Boston with John. In addition to these photos, Brad took a short video; my favorite part is the surprise ending.

What's a Tufts visit without a Jumbo photo?

John outside of Fenway.

John inside Fenway.
Time for batting practice!