Boston Adventure

I finally made it to the East Coast! At the very end of the school year we found out that Taylor would be lucky enough to attend a teaching conference in Boston, and since his tickets and the hotel accommodations were paid for, I jumped on the chance to throw together a last minute cheap vacation. And can I just say, I LOVE BOSTON! If you are a runner, a dog lover, someone who loves mass transportation, walkable cities, and enjoys historical buildings and sites around every corner, then my guess is you would love Boston too! We took an overnight flight and arrived in Boston on a Sunday at 5:30 a.m. East Coast time. We dumped our luggage off at our hotel and immediately went off to explore. Our hotel was right near the center of town, a mere two blocks from the Boston Commons, so we ventured most places on foot. We spent the morning walking through the cobblestoned streets of Beacon Hill, looking at the types of quaint buildings you would find on a Boston post card. For the afternoon we followed the Freedom Trail, which ended up being the highlight of our Boston adventure. It led us past 2 1/2 miles of historical sites such as the Boston Massacre site, old burying grounds, Paul Revere's house, the Bunker Hill Monument, The Old North Church (where the lanterns were lit to warn of the British soldiers coming by sea), and many many more. By the time it was bed time we had logged around 8 miles of walking and were TIRED!

A cobblestoned street and Beacon Hill. John Kerry lives right around here....

Paul Revere's home, restored inside and out to look as it did back when he was alive.

The Old Meeting House and site of the Boston Massacre

Taylor attended his teaching conference the next two days so I busied myself with getting lost in the city. Monday morning I went for a long walk by the Charles River and ended up in Cambridge. I explored MIT's campus then walked back to Boston's epicenter where I walked through the Italian district and the downtown area. After meeting Taylor for lunch I ventured into an area called Back Bay and happened upon Copley Square, which is where the Boston marathon finishes. I was so surprised to wander into this beautiful square. I read by the fountain for an hour and then walked through the AMAZING public library across the street. The square and library felt like being back in Europe- I loved the mix of the old and new architecture and all the people EVERYWHERE.

My view of Boston from my walk through Cambridge

My attempt at showing the old and new in Copley Square

The courtyard in the library. Can you believe it?!

Beautiful Copley Square

My fountain, my book, and 85 degree weather...what could be better?!

Later that night Taylor and I took the T (subway) to Cambridge and walked around Harvard Square and up Brattle Row, aka Tory Row. Lots and lots of walking!

You can barely see it, but behind us is Longfellow's house, where George Washington lived and helped run the war during 1775-1776.

On Tuesday I woke up early and went for a four mile run down a mall (really just a really long strip of park with statues and monuments every block or so) near Boston Commons. As I was running, I overheard a guide telling a group of bike tourists that there are something like 80 colleges in the Boston area....I wikipedia'ed it and I only found around 50 higher level education institutions...but still, that's a LOT of students! For the afternoon I tried to go to a beach outside of Boston but when I got off the T I immediately felt like I was in the projects- barbed wire, train tracks, run down cars and buildings, and me all by my lonesome- I got right back on that T and went back to the safety of my happy runners and quaint little buildings inside the city limits! Instead, I spent my afternoon window shopping in a section of town called Back Bay.

Boston was a unique experience for me in that since Taylor was at the conference during the day, I felt like I was traveling on my own. Those of you that know me well know that I cannot vacation- I try, I just can't do it. There is too much to see and experience and I want to be right in the middle of it all. I think I would label myself more of a traveler-some of you may be able to identify...maybe not! You can imagine this would get tiring for Taylor, who probably wouldn't mind vacationing every once in a while. Since I was on my own during the day though, I walked, and walked, and walked and saw and experienced much.....and wished Taylor was there for every minute of it. Traveling is fun, but I realized I really like having someone to share it with, even if it means going at a slower pace than I would like:) It was an important lesson for me to experience. I also realized that I had many misconceptions about Boston before I arrived. Boston WAS big, but it felt very small and safe. The people, contrary to what I have heard about the East Coast, were friendly, helpful, and seemed very healthy. The city did not feel rushed- people seemed happy on their way to and from work and smiled along the way. I REALLY liked Boston!