Boston 2003 (March 10 - March 16)
On
March 10, my friend Murd and I went to Boston, Massachusettes. We had
been talking about this for ages and had been planning for ages, so needless
to say we were both really excited. I could not sleep and actually ended
up sleeping for 3 hours. My dad dropped me off to Murd's place at 5:30
in the morning and then from there we took a cab to the bus terminal downtown.
We took the Greyhound down to Boston - it's 13 hours, with stop overs in
many places - St. Catharines, Niagara Fallls, Buffalo, Syracuse, Albany, Newton,
Worcester and then finally Boston. We arrived in Boston at around 8 pm. By
the time we got there, I was getting really antsy and just wanted off the
bus. We took the T to Murd's friend's place. We were feeling adventurous.
It's funny because we kept on going on about how we were on the T. You
have to be a NK fan to understand. We dropped our bags off at his appartment
and then went to Legal Seafoods for some famous New England clam chowder.
To be honest, I wasn't that hungry, as I the long journey on the bus really
tired me out but we went anyway. I wanted to try the Boston scrod,
but didn't feel like anything breaded, mainly because I was quite full already.
So I got this shrimp linguini and the clam chowder. It was quite
expensivel. I believe I spent about $25 US. That's more than I ever spend
here.
On Tuesday, we went to Harvard. This was a dream come true for me. I have
always been fascinated by and have wanted to check out Harvard. We walked
around Harvard Yard and some of the stores in the area. There were student
led tours being offered for free, but we had missed the one at 10 am. So we
had to wait for the one at 2 pm. The tour itself was great. Our guide was
really funny and interesting. He gave us a lot of history about the university
and about life there from the student perspective. I miss being a uni
student. After we went to Boston Common and then Cheers which was great
too. I used to love the TV show and grew up watching it. Murd
and I kept singing the Cheers theme song on the way there. We would later
continue to sing the theme song for the rest of our stay there, as well as
other assorted Boston related songs (NK) and some current hits. The
Cheers at Beacon Hill is what the show is based on from the outside, but the
inside is different. Anyway, it was really cool. I had the Cheers
rootbeer, and cheeseburger. It's not that expensive either.. about
$10. You would think that they would hike up the prices because it's
so popular. I bought souviners for my friends and family.
Outside Harvard Gate
The infamous Cheers Sign
Wednesday,
we went on a trolley tour. Again the guides were great - really funny and
knowledgeable. We did a full loop around the city and then got off at the
Bunker Hill monument and saw a multimedia presentation, which was quite boring
to be honest. After the presentation, this guy gives a brief talk. And
I just found myself being bored, but I think it's because I was tired. The
USS Constitution was closed unfortunately, so that sucked. The Boston Tea
Party ship was closed too. I had been looking forward to seeing these
specifically because we had just finished covering the American Revolution
a few weeks ago. We walked to the Bunker Hill Monument though, following
the Freedom Trail (a red brick path.. I actually didn't imagine that it would
be an actual brick path in the sidewalk) and then made our way to the Italian
area in the North End. We went to Mike's Pastry, where everyone says you
have to go for the canolis. We got some canolis which were amazing. After,
we walked to some of the other historical sights on the Freedom Trail such
as Paul Revere's house and Faneuil Hall. I loved seeing all the historical
sites. We went to Filene's later on - it's sort of an institution in
Boston. They offer discount prices on clothes. Murd and I spent
ages there and I ended up buying 3 shirts. It was a long and tiring
day, so I just crashed later on.
Thursday was really cold and it actually ended up snowing on our way to
the JFK Museum and Library, which sucked. We went to Trinity Church. We
also went back to the Boston Common to search for the Make Way for Ducklings
monument. Next, we
tried to look for Ben Franklin's birthplace, but could not find it.
We then headed to the JFK Museum and Library which was really quite fascinating.
We spent the whole afternoon there, looking at the displays and various memorbilia.
I think I could have spent a whole day there. We went to TGIFs for dinner
and I had one of the best steaks that I've had in a long time.
Me
just beating the tortoise by a foot
Me
as one of the "Make Way for Ducklings" ducklings
Saturday we went to Quincy Market and shopped a bit. We went to Legal
and I had the most delicious stuffed lobster and clam chowder. The stuffing
was made of crackers, scallops and shrimp and the lobster was almost 2 pounds.
It was a little embarassing though because Murd and I had trouble cracking
the lobster, so the waiter actually had to come and do it for us. He literally
got some gloves and cracked the lobster claws for us. We also needed
help tying on our bibs which was a little embarassing as well. But the
waiters were really nice about it. Needless to say he got a really good
tip. Later on, we walked around the mall a bit (all the stores are really
really posh) and then went to Jillians which turned out to be a bit of a disappointment.
Firstly, it was in a dodgy area and secondly when we actually went in, it
wasn't what we expected. So we went to TGIF instead and had some appetizers
(spicy chicken) and drinks.
The funny thing is I was so awake and lively and Murd was tiring out, whereas
earlier in the week she was energetic and enthusiastic, while I was dead tired.
So she was falling asleep while we were eating, and I was just talking
her head off.
Me
with massive, delicious lobster (cheesey pic I know!)
We left early Sunday morning, making all those stops again. It was
quite a long and tiring bus ride home. The only good things were that a hot
guy sat in front of me and we managed to catch the express bus back to Toronto
which saved us about an hour. I kept teasing Murd about how big and
heavy her suitcase was. I would lift mine up and down like weights,
while Murd struggled with hers. She did have a pretty big suitcase.
Anyway, it was an awesome journey. I had always wanted to go to Boston,
so seeing it all was just fantastic. It lived up to every expectation
that I had. It's not a huge city, so it's very walkable. And everything
there is quite posh. The only thing I would say is that you can pretty much
see most of it in 3 or 4 days. You really don't need the extra day
that we had there. But it's a lovely city with a great atmosphere.