Boston

We recently returned from a family trip to Boston. Despite the fact that our journey got off to a dreadful start with plane delays and that my head did not touch pillow until 1:59 am on the day - night - morning? of our arrival, all in all we really had a great time. I hate thinking of myself as a tourist, much more preferring the label "traveller" as explained quite clearly in Bowles' "Sheltering Sky" (the one main idea I picked up from that book), yet the whole time I was there I really felt like a lowly dadgum tourist. Riding the crowded trolleys, stopped on side street corners reviewing the map for the 11th time that afternoon, ordering clam chowder with a decidedly Okie twang while the waitress smirks just a little... I'm sure you get the picture. In the end I was a stranger in a strange land. So be it.

I paid a shitload for crappy seats to watch a game at Fenway Park (the included picture should give you some idea as to our deep right field position). Which I wouldn't have done if Nick and Ben had not been there and it had just been Lou Ann and me. But they were there so there was no way I was going to let them down. Boy, those folks love their Red Sox, it felt like a college football crowd with the loud chants and everyone sitting on the edge of their seats on every pitch, and I couldn't help but be impressed by that. But the fact remains Manny Ramirez is a flat-out bum and the idea that the Sox fans turn a blind eye to that blatant truth kind of turns me off. Anything to beat the Yankees I guess.

I could spend a whole day just hanging out on the Boston Common. Walking a little, enjoying the sunshine and people watching, finding a peaceful spot on a park bench with a fresh view and just vegetating for a spell. What a wonderful place.

We walked The Freedom Trail and hung out at Faneuil Hall. I drank Sam Adams beer (a small nugget of trivia we heard was that the picture on the label is not that of the ever-abstinent Sam Adams at all but in fact that of a more rowdy Paul Revere). Saw all the sights or at least most of them. I think my favorite part of the trip was our trek to Little Italy and the Paul Revere House and the Old North Church. I have somewhat of a strange attachment to ol' Paul as I was born on the day of his "The British Are Coming!" ride, which is April 18th. What's more, when I was younger and thinner many people have commented on the fact that I resembled the man. So we have often joked that of course I am his reincarnated soul but I am sad to now report the existence of no real odd rememberances when I entered his abode. All the same I enjoyed the visit not to mention the cannoli at Mike's Bakery.

I should say that I found the Bostonians to be a friendly bunch except for that waitress at The Bean Town Tavern. I ask you, Is it too much to ask for more water? Anyway, we later discussed the fact that we did not observe many obese people in Boston as compared to down here. Just one of those funny observations that hit you out of the blue. The reasons for that are not clear but I suspect it's a combination of a more active and informed populace, hereditary genetics, and cultural habits.

I look forward to returning to New England soon. Good folks and an incredible vibe to the city. But Manny is still a bum.