Entries from March 27, 2005 - April 2, 2005
the middle
okay. so. i had to do a complete
recap of the week's events during yesterday's walk with tiff before i
could continue updating... i'm getting old. [more on that later.] now, where was i? oh, yes... i think part of sunday evening was spent with tiff and i reading
at each other from separate boston travel guides, as we tried to
figure out what we would visit on which day and when. dinner was
eaten at a so-so bar and grill across from naomi's, out of sheer lack
of motivation to actually prepare any food.
monday was Information Kiosk Maps Are Your Friend day. we discovered mike's pastry, gawked at the sheer amount of baked goods, and departed quite sugarized and with full tummies. as we both seem to have a bit of fascination with cemeteries, we visited the king's chapel burying ground as well as the granary burial ground. standing among grave markers nearly four hundred years old was almost incomprehensible to me; history becomes tangible. boston common was a short walk from there; then it was off to mit, where theis graciously gave us an informal, and informative, tour of his university. after grabbing a bite to eat and a couple of mit shirts, i proceeded to completely mangle rachel's clear directives; tiff and i ended up at harvard square instead of central square [where, of course, rachel was]. sigh. rachel headed home as we took a self-guided tour of harvard, assisted by a twenty-five cent map bought from a grumpy old man in the harvard square information center. at some point i was struck by the familiarity of harvard's georgian architecture... i felt i was at miami again, walking through academic quad, on my way to shriver to get a toasted roll. [mmmmm... toasted roll.] after taking some snapshots of the grandiose memorial hall, we finally got weekly passes from what i can only assume was a human behind the nearly opaque T booth. creepy. after visiting the stop 'n shop off the green line, we headed uphill to rachel's for a mexican-ish dinner. having moved in only four days before, and still awaiting a roommate and her belongings, we sat in the dining room sans furniture. we marveled at the hilltop view, as well as the staggering amount of shelving from the previous occupant. we ate, we talked, we watched a movie [i will never forget the penis song, and "ca-CAW!"]. discussing our options, we decided to explore taking a new route home. we bid adieu to our gracious host rachel, and discovered for her that the orange line -- and a much easier route to naomi's -- was not so very far from her home. somehow, i was the one that got us there, as tiff's sense of direction had suddenly and inexplicably vanished. this victory was short lived as we heard the announcement that we would have to get off two stops early due to construction and take a bus to our final destination. we tried to resist mooing as an entire train attempted to squeeze onto three buses. i believe our bus took a detour through rhode island and connecticut before finally arriving at naomi's stop. as if our day hadn't been long enough already, we decided to watch old school, long after naomi had settled in for the night. and finally, around 1:30, we succumbed to sleep... oh, blessed sleep.
on tuesday, tiff and i continued our Sleeping In Just A Little Bit Later Than The Previous Day trend. as it turned out, the day we had the nicest weather just happened to be the day we had planned on visiting the beach... perfect. we hopped the blue line to wonderland and headed for the horizon. we decided it would be worth the risk of finding sand particles in our shoes until june to actually walk along the beach instead of just gazing at it from a distance. the firm but yielding wet sand was a joy to our tired feet, unaccustomed to the amount of walking we had done and would continue to do during our time in boston. it was an exquisite and serene beginning to our day. after some camera timer confusion, we headed back into the city. next on the agenda was chinatown, perfectly convenient for my growing hunger and headache. after some unsuccessful attempts at choosing an establishment, a phone call to rachel directed us to pho pasteur's vietnamese restaurant. an excellent recommendation indeed... the ginger chicken practically melted in my mouth. mmmmm. tiff's rice noodle dish was tasty as well, although every three minutes a new ingredient discovery was made ["what is this? was this in the menu description? i can't remember..."]. this time we STAYED PUT, and rachel met us as we were just finishing. the next two or three hours was a blur of shopping including, but not limited to, a visit to filene's basement. [think: reduced price designer clothes "organized" a la old navy clearance areas TIMES ONE MILLION.] the frugality and hopefulness in me was drawn in like a moth to light; but the neatness and thoroughness in me was reduced to weeping in the corner, a mere shell of its former self. so much stuff, so little time [and patience]. we emerged from the basement as if from a bomb shelter: shaken but unharmed. we took pictures for no particular reason with the statue of a man whose name escapes me, met up with naomi at the T [note the kickass shoes] and dined at YE OLDE union oyster house. i experienced my first oysters at the oldest continuously operating restaurant in the u.s., over talk of message boards and blogs and eharmony. rachel headed home while naomi, tiff and i shifted four doors down to the purple shamrock for a drink. the three of us chatted for awhile, and later had a lovely little conversation with tom from the coast guard [don't ask him about expectations, please]. we eventually extracted ourselves from this discussion, and it was on our way home that my right knee decided it was rebelling against the unannounced amount of walking i was asking of it. stopping at a few random stores on the way, i limped my old gimpy self to the T behind naomi and tiff. home once again, i rested my knee and body after another full day on the town.
...
the end is near. but don't worry, it's a good time.
monday was Information Kiosk Maps Are Your Friend day. we discovered mike's pastry, gawked at the sheer amount of baked goods, and departed quite sugarized and with full tummies. as we both seem to have a bit of fascination with cemeteries, we visited the king's chapel burying ground as well as the granary burial ground. standing among grave markers nearly four hundred years old was almost incomprehensible to me; history becomes tangible. boston common was a short walk from there; then it was off to mit, where theis graciously gave us an informal, and informative, tour of his university. after grabbing a bite to eat and a couple of mit shirts, i proceeded to completely mangle rachel's clear directives; tiff and i ended up at harvard square instead of central square [where, of course, rachel was]. sigh. rachel headed home as we took a self-guided tour of harvard, assisted by a twenty-five cent map bought from a grumpy old man in the harvard square information center. at some point i was struck by the familiarity of harvard's georgian architecture... i felt i was at miami again, walking through academic quad, on my way to shriver to get a toasted roll. [mmmmm... toasted roll.] after taking some snapshots of the grandiose memorial hall, we finally got weekly passes from what i can only assume was a human behind the nearly opaque T booth. creepy. after visiting the stop 'n shop off the green line, we headed uphill to rachel's for a mexican-ish dinner. having moved in only four days before, and still awaiting a roommate and her belongings, we sat in the dining room sans furniture. we marveled at the hilltop view, as well as the staggering amount of shelving from the previous occupant. we ate, we talked, we watched a movie [i will never forget the penis song, and "ca-CAW!"]. discussing our options, we decided to explore taking a new route home. we bid adieu to our gracious host rachel, and discovered for her that the orange line -- and a much easier route to naomi's -- was not so very far from her home. somehow, i was the one that got us there, as tiff's sense of direction had suddenly and inexplicably vanished. this victory was short lived as we heard the announcement that we would have to get off two stops early due to construction and take a bus to our final destination. we tried to resist mooing as an entire train attempted to squeeze onto three buses. i believe our bus took a detour through rhode island and connecticut before finally arriving at naomi's stop. as if our day hadn't been long enough already, we decided to watch old school, long after naomi had settled in for the night. and finally, around 1:30, we succumbed to sleep... oh, blessed sleep.
on tuesday, tiff and i continued our Sleeping In Just A Little Bit Later Than The Previous Day trend. as it turned out, the day we had the nicest weather just happened to be the day we had planned on visiting the beach... perfect. we hopped the blue line to wonderland and headed for the horizon. we decided it would be worth the risk of finding sand particles in our shoes until june to actually walk along the beach instead of just gazing at it from a distance. the firm but yielding wet sand was a joy to our tired feet, unaccustomed to the amount of walking we had done and would continue to do during our time in boston. it was an exquisite and serene beginning to our day. after some camera timer confusion, we headed back into the city. next on the agenda was chinatown, perfectly convenient for my growing hunger and headache. after some unsuccessful attempts at choosing an establishment, a phone call to rachel directed us to pho pasteur's vietnamese restaurant. an excellent recommendation indeed... the ginger chicken practically melted in my mouth. mmmmm. tiff's rice noodle dish was tasty as well, although every three minutes a new ingredient discovery was made ["what is this? was this in the menu description? i can't remember..."]. this time we STAYED PUT, and rachel met us as we were just finishing. the next two or three hours was a blur of shopping including, but not limited to, a visit to filene's basement. [think: reduced price designer clothes "organized" a la old navy clearance areas TIMES ONE MILLION.] the frugality and hopefulness in me was drawn in like a moth to light; but the neatness and thoroughness in me was reduced to weeping in the corner, a mere shell of its former self. so much stuff, so little time [and patience]. we emerged from the basement as if from a bomb shelter: shaken but unharmed. we took pictures for no particular reason with the statue of a man whose name escapes me, met up with naomi at the T [note the kickass shoes] and dined at YE OLDE union oyster house. i experienced my first oysters at the oldest continuously operating restaurant in the u.s., over talk of message boards and blogs and eharmony. rachel headed home while naomi, tiff and i shifted four doors down to the purple shamrock for a drink. the three of us chatted for awhile, and later had a lovely little conversation with tom from the coast guard [don't ask him about expectations, please]. we eventually extracted ourselves from this discussion, and it was on our way home that my right knee decided it was rebelling against the unannounced amount of walking i was asking of it. stopping at a few random stores on the way, i limped my old gimpy self to the T behind naomi and tiff. home once again, i rested my knee and body after another full day on the town.
...
the end is near. but don't worry, it's a good time.
mdog
4 Comments
the beginning
as march afternoons in ohio go, it
was a stunning friday afternoon. three-thirty sounded like as good a
time as any to skip out on work... and so began my vacation.
after some last-minute errands and packing, i arrived at tiffany's. we packed up and headed north for the first leg of our trip. four hours later, we were greeted on arrival by tiff's sister, brother-in-law, and one very hyper pug. after a bit of visiting, we slept off the long day. rested, fed, showered, and packed up again, tiff and i were off to boston via a slight detour to niagara falls. for the record: holding the phone out to thousands of gallons of water crashing hundreds of feet towards the earth, only sounds like white noise to anyone on the other end of the line. also for the record: you don't seem to need a passport or birth certificate to cross the border at niagara; so just skip the american side photo opportunities and US$10 parking, and head on over to a more expansive view and cheaper parking. and bring a raincoat.
[addendum: it turns out that i am happier with the photos from the american side than i am with the canadian side. there is more depth and less wet mistiness (these photos could have been taken pretty much anywhere, no?). HOWEVER, the actual view, in person, is still more impressive from ontario. this is all just fyi... because i'm sure you all care.]
we made our way back to i-90 and continued eastward, slowly leaving the flatlands and entering more scenic territory. it is somewhere in this stretch -- possibly around schenectady[!] -- that i rediscovered the fun of the "slurpy sloth" voice. if you've seen the movie ice age, you should know what i'm talking about. if you haven't, then what the heck? go rent it, eh? nearing 10pm, we arrive, finally, in boston. after following a series of "slight rights" and "slight lefts" in which street names reinvent themselves for no particular reason [note to rachel: think murfreesboro], we find our friend's apartment building and snag "close" parking [note to locals: if i parked at mcdonald's, this would approximate "close" parking to my apartment]. the three of us cart our things up to naomi's GIGANTIC apartment, visit for a bit, and then crash out in our respective rooms.
sunday morning naomi introduces us to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority subway -- otherwise known simply as, "the T". we take the orange line to our stop and quickly discover that boston is most certainly a walking city. [not to worry, we are reminded of this daily throughout our week.] after church we connect with rachel [yay!], and it's off to a local pub, where rachel's friend theis meets us as well. i conspicuously request a burger and fries among the sea of breakfast orders, and during the course of conversation it is pointed out that i am the catalyst/connection for most of the relationships at the table. this is surprising to me; not only because i didn't realize it before, but because i don't usually find myself in such a position. also of note: naomi's meal comes with a mysterious british pudding, which looks thoroughly disgusting.
en route to the st. patrick's day parade in south boston [how apropos], we stop at a shoe store, where tiff forsakes her lovely but unsuitable boots and buys a pair of kickass, bright orange athletic shoes... oh, yeah. as we near the parade route, we are accosted by every shade of green, on every kind of fabric, accessory, or toy you might ever imagine. the party atmosphere in southie is fun and relaxed. and involves lots of open containers. we settle in for the miscellany of bands, politicians, military and veteran regiments, along with some other more surprising groups, including but not limited to: a women's tackle football team, a guinness bus, someone in a cock-eyed chicken costume, buddy blood-drop, and a certain festive truck with more than one unhappy child in tow. all in all, a very festive and charming welcome to this city.
after a bit of misdirection, the five of us find the T and rest our weary feet. cameras are pulled and picture taking abounds, and i am taken by the juxtaposition of familiarity and anonymity on this particular subway journey.
...
until i get both some sleep and my pictures back, i'm at a loss for the rest the evening's events. i'm only on sunday?! this might be a longer documentation than i thought.
also, if you were a party to any of these recollections and i missed something, please feel free to add details...
after some last-minute errands and packing, i arrived at tiffany's. we packed up and headed north for the first leg of our trip. four hours later, we were greeted on arrival by tiff's sister, brother-in-law, and one very hyper pug. after a bit of visiting, we slept off the long day. rested, fed, showered, and packed up again, tiff and i were off to boston via a slight detour to niagara falls. for the record: holding the phone out to thousands of gallons of water crashing hundreds of feet towards the earth, only sounds like white noise to anyone on the other end of the line. also for the record: you don't seem to need a passport or birth certificate to cross the border at niagara; so just skip the american side photo opportunities and US$10 parking, and head on over to a more expansive view and cheaper parking. and bring a raincoat.
[addendum: it turns out that i am happier with the photos from the american side than i am with the canadian side. there is more depth and less wet mistiness (these photos could have been taken pretty much anywhere, no?). HOWEVER, the actual view, in person, is still more impressive from ontario. this is all just fyi... because i'm sure you all care.]
we made our way back to i-90 and continued eastward, slowly leaving the flatlands and entering more scenic territory. it is somewhere in this stretch -- possibly around schenectady[!] -- that i rediscovered the fun of the "slurpy sloth" voice. if you've seen the movie ice age, you should know what i'm talking about. if you haven't, then what the heck? go rent it, eh? nearing 10pm, we arrive, finally, in boston. after following a series of "slight rights" and "slight lefts" in which street names reinvent themselves for no particular reason [note to rachel: think murfreesboro], we find our friend's apartment building and snag "close" parking [note to locals: if i parked at mcdonald's, this would approximate "close" parking to my apartment]. the three of us cart our things up to naomi's GIGANTIC apartment, visit for a bit, and then crash out in our respective rooms.
sunday morning naomi introduces us to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority subway -- otherwise known simply as, "the T". we take the orange line to our stop and quickly discover that boston is most certainly a walking city. [not to worry, we are reminded of this daily throughout our week.] after church we connect with rachel [yay!], and it's off to a local pub, where rachel's friend theis meets us as well. i conspicuously request a burger and fries among the sea of breakfast orders, and during the course of conversation it is pointed out that i am the catalyst/connection for most of the relationships at the table. this is surprising to me; not only because i didn't realize it before, but because i don't usually find myself in such a position. also of note: naomi's meal comes with a mysterious british pudding, which looks thoroughly disgusting.
en route to the st. patrick's day parade in south boston [how apropos], we stop at a shoe store, where tiff forsakes her lovely but unsuitable boots and buys a pair of kickass, bright orange athletic shoes... oh, yeah. as we near the parade route, we are accosted by every shade of green, on every kind of fabric, accessory, or toy you might ever imagine. the party atmosphere in southie is fun and relaxed. and involves lots of open containers. we settle in for the miscellany of bands, politicians, military and veteran regiments, along with some other more surprising groups, including but not limited to: a women's tackle football team, a guinness bus, someone in a cock-eyed chicken costume, buddy blood-drop, and a certain festive truck with more than one unhappy child in tow. all in all, a very festive and charming welcome to this city.
after a bit of misdirection, the five of us find the T and rest our weary feet. cameras are pulled and picture taking abounds, and i am taken by the juxtaposition of familiarity and anonymity on this particular subway journey.
...
until i get both some sleep and my pictures back, i'm at a loss for the rest the evening's events. i'm only on sunday?! this might be a longer documentation than i thought.
also, if you were a party to any of these recollections and i missed something, please feel free to add details...
oh, the places you'll go!
i think there are [and will continue to be, from the looks of things] many unhappy
searchers out there, disappointed to find out that "real sex"
and "spring break 2005" were not directly related on this website.
someday i hope to do a little bloggity blog on last week's travels...
someday i hope to do a little bloggity blog on last week's travels...
