The Boston Section of the Trip

As we made our way down the Maine coast, we bypassed the interstate and stayed on U.S. 1 for the view. Farm stands and antique shops were in abundance. We stopped at one stand to buy a pint of wild Maine blueberries, which I ate by the handful. Mmm. There were many small towns that looked inviting, but I think both of us were a little bit tired and so we mainly just drove and enjoyed the view from our window until we reached that night's destination, Portland.

Oh, oops, I forgot. We did make one stop to check out the LL Bean Factory Store in Freeport. It was big, but I wasn't all that impressed. I guess in our world of everything being jumbo-sized and open 24/7, the novelty of such a place isn't as great as it once was. And Freeport was a little freaky. Way too many outlet stores made it seem like a gigantic outdoor mall and not much of a town at all.

Really, I don't have much to say about Portland, and I don't even have any pictures. We didn't get there until the evening and not long after we ate dinner--a great selection of sushi at a waterfront restaurant called Sapporo--a thunderstorm rolled in and sent us back to our hotel. We needed the rest though, so we weren't all that disappointed. The downtown area of Portland is kind of funky, with most of the buildings red brick and warehouse-like. It was a Thursday evening and the town was bustling...I don't know what schools are there or what their schedules are, but it seemed as if a lot of college kids were out and about.

So on to Boston, our next stop. Friday's primary goal was to see the Red Sox play at Fenway, which we did, and which I detailed in a previous post.

But we got to Boston a little earlier than we thought we would on Friday, so we were able to squeeze in a few other sites, starting with the Public Gardens, which has a strong water fowl theme.

Witness Number One: The "Make Way for Duckling" statue


Witness Number Two: The Swan Boats


Witness Number Three: This Duck


We then continued on to Trinity Church and Hancock Tower, before hitting up the farmer's market in Copley Square. It was a really fabulous market, and we picked our lunch from the offerings--a mozzarella-tomato sandwich, peaches, and chocolate chip cookies.


By the time we finished eating, we just had a few minutes before we had to take the T over to Cambridge to pick up the baseball tickets, but I managed to take a quick peek into the Boston Public Library. I wish I'd had more time as it's so much more than a library. There's a huge mural by John Singer Sargent that I could have spent more time gazing at, and a number of exhibits that I had to bypass although I did get to snag a glance at the WWII poster exhibit. Oh well, I guess you have to have some things on the "to see next time" list.

Besides picking up tickets in Cambridge, we did a little exploring, taking time to see the famed Harvard Yard. Looked like any collage quad to me, except for the hordes of wanna-be Harvard students on tours, some of whom looked like they were a good 10 years away from applying. Before going to the game, we also managed to squeeze in a quick dinner of clam chowder from one of the vendors in Quincy Market (behind Fanueil Hall, which is pictured below).


Our hotel in Boston was a good find. The John Jacobs House was not only a great deal for Boston, it was also well located, situated right at the bottom of the ritzy Beacon Hill and within easy walking distance of most sights. We set out from there in the morning to walk the Freedom Trail, which I must say isn't all that interesting in itself but does provide a good route for seeing a lot of the city by foot. Among the sights on the trail are lots of graveyards, lots of churches, houses of historical merit, Beacon Hill, etc. We stopped at some and wandered right past others, but we did make a point to stop and pay tribute to Sam Adams, the maker of our favorite summer ale.


And that, my friends, is Boston in a nutshell. There's so much more to it, but that's all we had time for in the two half-days we were there. I'll definitely be returning. I need more time in the library, I want to go to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and the Boston Fine Arts Museum, I can always go for my Italian food from the North End... Luckily I have a good friend who just moved there. I can come visit any time I want, right, Kate?

(I'm sorry the pictures for this section aren't as numerous or as exciting. One thing I learned about us on this trip is that we definitely enjoy photographing natural landscapes much more than cityscapes. In the future I think we'll have to make a conscious effort to find city shots of interest because it is not our natural inclination.)