Boston
We arrived in Boston with the AmTrak train at 9:30pm, half an hour early. Wow! As we wrote in our last post, this train ride was a lot better than the last one! We got to our hotel, checked in and went out to have a first look at Boston.
Our hotel was located near Beacon Hill, in the financial district of Boston. The streets were almost deserted at night, but there were a few pubs and bars still open in our neighborhood. We needed some food, so we walked for a while to try and find a place where they still served food. We ended up at a pub called Red Hat, a college kid hangout spot with a nice atmosphere. We ordered some food and a couple of beers and sodas. The place was crowded, and they were in the middle of a quiz as we entered. To bad we didn’t arrive earlier - we would have had a decent chance of winning the whole thing!
A tired Selma outside the Red Hat
We strolled back to our hotel around midnight, stopped by a 24h store to pick up some water and sodas, and went to bed. But neither of us could sleep, so we ended up talking into the wee hours of morning.
The next day, we celebrated the fact that we didn’t need to check out early by sleeping in. Selma woke up at 11 - and Louis stayed in bed until 1pm! Then we went out to check out Boston for real.
Our first stop was at Subway close to the hotel, but Selma had her first day of “tummytouble” this far, and saved her sub for later. Then it was off through Beacon Hill and down to Boston Common and the Public Garden - the big parks in downtown Boston. The weather was beautiful, and lots of people were out celebrating spring - ball players, dogs, artists, musicians.. We walked around and tried to find out where to get on one of the Duck tour cars that passed us every five minutes, but without luck (and by the time we figured it out, it was getting late and we’d seen a lot of Boston without help from a guide).
Walking through the Boston Public Garden
Of course, we had to stop by the Cheers pub! We went inside and had lunch - Louis tried the chicken fingers, while Selma ordered a Nachos Grande. And it was grande, allright! A huge plate of nachos in three different colors (regular, red and black!), covered with cheese and peppers. It was good, but waaaay to much food. The place was filled with tourists, and we joined the crowd by taking pictures and posing with the well known Cheers sign.
Entering the Cheers pub
After tanking up at Cheers we went back to the park. We strolled through the park, shooting some pictures and just checking out the people. Walking along just minding his own business, Louis suddenly got aware that he was being watched, or rather being taken pictures of! But since the camera was aimed a bit low he took a second look and it turnes out BRAD was the target! Brad travels with us all over the place, and has two locations to chose from when we are walking around; 1. Louis’ back pocket, or Louis’ camerabag (his head and arms sticking up). So somewhere there is now a picture of Brad looking up from a camera bag!
After this short encounter, we came across a little league baseball practice. We got some nice shoots, and the kids loved the attention. Next on the park walk we sat down to watch some students playing kickball. It’s almost like baseball, but instead of hitting a baseball with a stick, you kick a big soft ball. It was nice to just sit and watch for a while, taking it slow and enjoying the nice weather.
Little league baseball, Boston Common
Right next to the park was a movie theater, so we decided to check out if there was anything worth seeing. On the way there, we got to see some girls playing softball, and Damn! These girls can throw! They swing their arms around clockvise and send the ball flying with an amazing underthrow. At the movies Selma discovered that there was no new wave french movies, so we decided against the movie. Selma dragged a crying Louis out of the theater, but calmed him down with some shopping. Louis invested in a new rather large bag.
Then it was time to head back to the hotel, and just kick back for a few hours. By hangign out in the park most of the day (and sleeping for so long), we missed out some of the typical tourist spots in town - but we didn’t mind. And even though we stayed in a rather quiet part of town, we felt like we got to see a lot of Boston. But as our trip enfolds, with lots of things to experience and take in every day, we realize the value of taking it easy every now and then.
Louis chillin’ in our room
Dinner time came around… well, our regular dinner time, which is around 11 pm. On our way to the Red Hat, our favorite hang out spot in Boston, we met Alabama Slammer. He was some famous guys cousin, but we had no clue whatsoever who this famous guy was, damn tourists that we are!Dinner today was a couple of beers for Louis and a diet coke for Selma (she’d finally gotten around to eating that subway while they were relaxing at the hotel).
And just like the night before, it got to be LATE before we could sleep. Obviuously, traveling through time zones has an effect, even though we’re taking it in small steps. Louis had a last look at the clock around 5 am - and this time we didn’t have the comfort of being able to sleep late the next morning. Check out time was at noon, and before that we had to go downtown to pick up the car and back to pick up the luggage.
Got tips? Comments? Do tell!