Boston Day 4

Today was a bit more relaxed than yesterday; we didn't meet the other group until much later on. Rather than grabbing a coffee and pastry from the local Tadesci mart, we decided to see what breakfast establishment was good nearby. Nichole used Foursquare (a location based social network application on her phone) and the Grasshopper Cafe had really good reviews. After walking about 20 minutes through seemingly shady areas, nice row houses, and various shops, we came across the hole in the wall cafe. It was really nice! Super quiet and clean, and cutely decorated for Easter. Nichole, Wendy and I got coffee while Pat got some iced tea. The coffee was really good! I ordered the Towny Toast, 4 slices of cinnamon toast with a dollop of Bailey's whipped cream on top; Nichole got The Monument, 4 cinnamon pancakes covered in a cinnamon-banana sauce (imagine a banana pie filling). Holy Moses! It was delicious! This was definitely worth the walk and highly recommended!







The cafe was just a few minutes away from the Battle of Bunker Hill monument, so we made our way there. It was pretty amazing to stand atop Breed's Hill where the battle was fought (this hill was thought to have been Bunker Hill due to a cartographical mistake) where the Revolutionary War began. It is also the start of the Freedom Trial.




Nichole had wanted to go to the Isabella Steward Gardner Museum, which was located southwest of Boston. So we made our way by subway to the museum, which is pretty close to North Eastern University. Isabella Stewart Gardner was an American art collector, philantropist, and one of the foremost female patron of the arts. Her home, of which she filled with works of art though out her lifetime, is now the museum. It is spectacular! Photos were not allowed, so I can't show you any, but there were amazing and breathtaking pieces from tapestries, wood carvings, stone carvings, paintings, furniture, etc. If you are ever in Boston, I highly recommend it.




(Double brick line though out Boston signifies the Freedom Trail)

From the museum, we decided to head back into town to grab some lunch. Pat had a good idea, that we eat at the original Cheers bar. On our way there, we walked through Boston Common Park.




So on a street corner on Beacon Hill, where the Hampshire House restaurant is located, there was a bar called the Bull and the Finich. I couldn't find when or how it came to be, but the name of the bar got changed to Cheers, where the TV show got its inspiration. I had the Boston Brick Red (Sam Adams Irish Red) Carla's petite burger, Nichole had a Woodchuck hard cider and Fraiser's chicken panini. It was all delicious and I would eat there again.










We made our way back towards the park, but this time we went through the Boston Public Garden, which is adjacent to the Boston Common Park. In an effort to add more public parks and level some of the hilly area, Boston undertook several landfill projects from early on in the city's history. Boston Public Garden is one of the results of this. It is said that, while in Boston, if you are on a street that is narrow and curvy, it is probably original to the founding of the city; if it is wider and straight, it is built on landfill. One of the neat things of this park is that it is where the children's beloved story, Make Way for Ducklings, by Robert McClusky, takes place. To commorate this, there is a bronze statue of the ducks in the park. Also, across from this park is the State's capital building.






(State capital building)

Somehow we soon found ourselves in what I think was Boston's financial district. It was really neat seeing reall old buildings and curvy streets next to newer buildings. We also stopped at a Dunkin Donuts for an afternoon coffee. The subway station was near by so we took it to where we needed to get off so we could meet up with the rest of the group for dinner. Or so we thought. Once we got on the subway, we realized that Jude had a poopy diaper blowout. Off to the hotel! Jude was a really good sport about getting all cleaned up.

Finally we met up with the group at Boston Beer Works, a local microbrewery, near the North Station (subway stop by the TD Garden, where the Bruins and Celtics play) and where free shuttle drops us off/picks us up. I first had the Buckeye oatmeal stout. Super good! I think I prefer it over the one from the Brew House back home. For dinner, Wendy split a BBQ chicken pizza, whiich was also really good, even though it seemed it like it had an entire chicken on it. After the stout I had the Extra Special Red, which was good but a bit too hoppy for me.













Finally, we took the shuttle back to the hotel to retire for the night. Tomorrow we will meet up wit the group in the morning to head over to Salem and check out the with trial museum and site.

Boston Day 3

So today was pretty eventful. We started out by meeting in the lobby this morning to head over to the Museum of Science where we would board the duck tour. Again, we had to take a shuttle (which is free, I'm not sure why, and is provided by one of the hospitals), and the subway, which seems to be a nice and reliable mode of transportation. Everything was fine and dandy until we arrived at the museum and found out that we were an hour early. So, we waited, and waited. Pat and Wendy decided to take Jude to the gift shop whir Nichole and I waited in the foyer of the museum and the rest of the group did whatever it was they did. Jude came back with Pat and Wendy with a package of dinosaurs, of which he was very proud and excited.




Once it was time to line up for the tour, we waited some more and once it was time to board, we waited aboard, again. Finally, an hour and a half after what we thought was the boarding time, "Jumpin Jim" introduced himself and the duck vehicle (originally was a WWII vehicle that was designed by civilians and laughed at by the military until they were in a bind and needed an amphibious vehicle) and began the tour. "Jim's" real name is Stephan.



(Jude playing with his cousins on the duck)

The tour was very fascinating and covered a good portion of Boston, pretty much showcasing it's history from settlement to now while showing points of interests to illustrate the timeline. Due to some reconstruction of a certain bridge, we only spent about 5% of the time actually in the water.



Once the tour was over and we were back at the museum, we thought we take the subway back to Government Square to find some food. We ended up at Quincy Market.



(A side entrance to Quincy Market)

Across the way from Quincy Market is Faneuil Hall, a marketplace and meeting hall used as a public forum. As the city grew, so did the need for a larger marketplace. So, Quincy Market was constructed. Now it is pretty much and indoor food court, more like a corridor, with a huge array of different types of food. On either side of the market and enclosed in glass (think sun room) are vendor kiosks selling everything from cookies to Boston gear to trinkets and nick-knacks. I had fish and chips from Fisherman's Net while Nicole had a slice of cheese pizza from Regina Pizzeria, and Jude had macaroni and cheese. Nichole and I both had coffee and 'cinnamon flat tires' from Carol Anne's Bakery (they also sold a variety of lates). We ate separately from the rest of the group and reconvened afterwards to try and set up a reservation for Union Oyster Bar, the oldest functioning restaurant in America. They didn't have any room for us, so we made reservations for Legal Fish House, another popular seafood eatery, for a few hours later.







With time to kill we decided walk around and see what there was. We ended up checking out a few shops, the old state house, Faneuil Hal, the Old Corner Bookstore (now defunct, the oldest brick building in America), and finally ended up at a Dunken Donuts for some coffee. From there we made our way to meet up with the rest of the group to head over to the restaurant. I was going to get fish and chips again because I didn't care for their fish selection and I do not like non-fish seafood. But I decided to get blackened tuna sashimi and Allagash white to drink. Delicious! Nichole got a garlic shrimp scampi. Once we were full and finished, we made our way back to the subway (Jude is so ecstatic every time we ride one), and the shuttle (in a very roundabout way) to head back to our hotel.









(One of the pedestrian streets near our hotel)

I just realized that I haven't mentioned the weather yet. When we landed Sunday afternoon, it was sunny and windy, in the 50's. As the afternoon turned to evening it became more overcast and chilly. Monday started out really nice, high 50's to low 60's with plenty of sunshine. That changed very quickly to very cloudy and very windy, low 50's possibly to high 40's. I woke up this morning to grey skies and raindrops on our skylight. The rest of the day was like that, grey and wet, in the 40's. It never rained hard, but lightly off and on throughout the day.

Tomorrow the other part of the group will be meeting early to head over to the children's museum (it is supposed to be really good) because Sue's cousin and her kids are leaving a day earlier than everyone else. Nichole, Jude and I will be meeting Pat and Wendy for breakfast and then we will take a trolley tour that will let us get on and off as we please.

Boston Day 2

I woke up late because I didn't realize the alarm clock was set to pm, not am. Hurriedly I took a shower and we got ready to meet our group in the lobby. From there we took a shuttle bus, a subway, and a passenger train (similar to our Coaster) to the halfway point of the marathon. While waiting for the train, Nichole and I grabbed breakfast from a Dunken Donuts express. We both got coffees (note: if you want it black, like I, you need to express it, otherwise they cream and sugar it for you), and donuts. Nichole got a chocolate frosted and I got a Boston Kreme, of course.



Jude loved every minute of the trip on the three different modes of transportation! Before we embarked on our trip we had told him that we would be riding a bus and then a train. In response, he say "Bus! Train!" whenever anyone would ask him a question.



It was neat getting a little survey of Massachusetts, en route to the halfway point of the marathon. I have no idea what architectural style the homes were but they were A-framed with gables and such. Again, I don't know what they were, but seeing the old buildings was really neat. Jude just stared out the window nearly the entire way.



The halfway point was located in Wellesley. The marathon itself starts in Hopkinton and goes through seven more towns: Ashland, Framingham, Natick, Wellesley, Newton, Brookline, and Boston. In Boston, the marathon ends in Copley Square, alongside the Boston Public Library.



(Boston Public Library)





(In Wellesley, Sue not pictured)

We were in Wellesley for maybe 30-45min before we saw Sue and headed back to Boston were we made our way (after going in circles) to the T family meeting area (Thoen is Sue's last name). Jude fell asleep on the train and stayed asleep for awhile after we made it back to Boston. After waiting for maybe an hour, hour and a half, Sue finished after doing a great job (4hrs 11mins with an average mile of about 9 minutes) and she met her congratulating group.

Soon we made our way back on the subway and shuttle to get to our hotel only to make a detour back the the Tavern on the Water were we had dinner. I had a sirloin steak tip sandwich and another Boston lager. After full bellies, we headed over to Pat and Wendy's room were we stopped America's bakery were we got espresso drinks and dessert items. Pat and Wendy invited us to their room were we consumed our after dinner treats and hung out while Jude watched a movie and played on the iPad.



(View of downtown Boston from the marina where Tavern on the Water is located)



(Sirloin steak tip sandwich)



Tomorrow we will embark on a duck tour, which is pretty much the same thing as San Diego's seal (amphibious vehicle) tour. After that, we shall see.

Boston Day 1

3:45am came pretty quickly this morning after going to sleep about 10:45pm. Jude actually did really well waking and getting up so early, probably because we already primed him for the plane ride. The first thing he said when he woke up was "Plane!" We got to the airport, car unloaded, baggage checked, through security in time to grab some coffee and pastries before boarding the plane. Jude was supper excited, especially once in the air and he could look out the window and see the land below and wing to the side.



Of course his excitement didn't last the entire flight from San Diego to Chicago, where we had a layover. Fortunately, there was a kind teacher sitting in front of Jude who lent him his iPad, which was chock full of games. Jude also learned how to say Chicago, which was really cute.

Our brief stay in Chicago was really more like a moment. With only an hour between landing and take off, we barely had time to use the rest room, change Jude's diaper and grab a to-go sandwich.



The flight from Chicago to Boston was nicer. It was shorter (3 hours SD to Chi, 1 1/2 Chi to Bos), and both Jude and Nichole fell asleep for majority of the flight.

With the quieter flight, I was able to get a good section read of Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer. It is the story of Christopher McCandless, the young man found dead in the Alaskan wilderness after spending a couple years roaming the U.S from Atlanta. I really like it so far. Into the Wild is one of books from the Art of Manliness list of 100 books every man should read.

After landing, getting our baggage, waiting for our shuttle, and driving through Boston, we finally checked into our hotel, The Constitution Inn.

It is operated by the YMCA and is located in the Charlestown area of Boston. This is from Wikipedia:
Charlestown is a neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States,[1] and is located on a peninsula north of downtown Boston. Charlestown was originally a separate town and the first capital of the Massachusetts Bay Colony; it became a city in 1847 and was annexed by Boston on January 5, 1874. While it has had a substantial Irish American population since the migration of Irish during the Irish famine of the 1840s, since the late 1980s the neighborhood has changed dramatically because of its proximity to downtown and its colonial architecture.
http://wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlestown,_Boston



(not our hotel)

Once we got settled in our room we met up with Pat and Wendy walked to a near by tavern/restaurant, Tavern on the Water. There we met up with everyone else: Pat's Aunt Terri and Uncle Bob; their 3 kids: Chris, Cindy and Greg; Chris's husband, Tom, two of her kids: Courtney and Will (both older); two of Cindy's kids; Greg's wife Sue (who is running the marathon) and their 4 kids (all young, one just 3 months older than Jude); finally, Sue's father David. So, at the Tavern, I ordered fish and chips and Sam Adams Boston lager. All of it was delicious, I'll take New England fish and chips over that from the west coast any time.

Tomorrow is the marathon and I have no idea what we are doing for it or what else we will be doing.


So, let's see what happens.

W.E.

Self-Improvement

I have been doing a lot of thinking lately and tonight I think there was a flame that was lit under my ass to get me going in the direction I want to go.

For most of my responsible life, I haven't been all that motivated to do beyond what I naturally do. And what I normally tend to do is above average. For example, I would get good grades in high school and college without putting in too much work or effort. Because of this, I have been able to get by, so I never saw a need to better myself. When I married Nichole, I should have realized that because I would no longer be responsible for just myself, I should have made an effort to better myself, so that I would be able to do what is best for us. But I did not. Next thing I knew Jude was born and now it is not just me and Nichole but Jude as well. So now that I am responsible for helping to shape and mold this new soul, one would think I would get things figured out. But no. There is this man that I want to be, that I want Jude to look up to but I am not him. Wanting to be someone and being that person are two different things. My mother always said: "Wish in one hand, spit in the other. See which one fills up first." I can no longer just want to be that person. I need to start making the decisions that person would make. Once I start this, the decisions will be easier to make because I will start to become that person.

There is an awesome website called the ArtofManliness.com. One of there things is a series of articles entitled "30 Days to Be a Better Man." I'll go in to more detail about it later, but for starters, day 1 is define your core values. I have narrowed my core values to these 5:

Family

Integrity (incorporating honesty, trust, & dependability)

Love

Strength

Compassion

Let's get started!

Florida Trip: Day 5

This morning we woke up on time and made our way to the free breakfast. I know, I know, it's not the greatest but when one is trying to get to an amusement park near opening time and already is expecting close to $25 for two people each meal, a free breakfast is great, no matter how not so great the food is.

Sidebar. I forgot to note that Jude actually slept to about 8:20 this morning.

Our first stop this morning was one of those unsightly tourist gift shops "that smells like China." Pat wanted to get one of those spray bottles that feature a fan on top of the sprayer, to create a mist.

Next stop: Hollywood Studios, formerly known as The MGM Studios. I won't be going into too much detail about this park becuase we were only there for about half a day and I didn't get a chance to get a feel for it. So, here is what we did. Once we arrived we went over to one of the sections to experience Muppet Vision 3D. There is one at Disneyland's California Adventure that we have seen before, but we thought Jude would enjoy it. This is a cute show with special "4D" effects, e.g. when there is a splash on screen, water is sprayed into the audience.

Next we checked out a special effects themed Indiana Jones show. It was fun, showing us how some effects are done off screen. Annd after this we did another show, Hollywood Studios has a lot of shows. This one was based on a show that originated in Disneyland Paris and featured car themed stunts. I recommend it.

Jude fell asleep during this show while Nichole was with him outside. So Pat and Wendy were kind enough to watch him while Nichole and I went a little ride that was themed after various classic movies.

At this point we decided that since we got the park hopper ticket we should make our way over to the Magic Kingdom, the Disney World counter-part to Disneyland. The set up is similar to Disneyland, a Main Street USA which leads to a statue in the center if the park with the different lands surrounding. The lands are the same for the most part, Adventurland, Frontierland, Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. However, MK doesn't have New Orleans Square but Liberty Square. While the lands are the same, the way they are laid out are different, as are the rides. MK has a few rides that DL doesn't have, like Country Bear Jamboree; while DL has rides that MK doesn't have, like the Matterhorn Bobsleds and Mr.Toad's Wild Ride. And while they both have some of the same rides, one at MK may differ slightly from the one at DL.

The first thing we did was make our way over to Tomorrowland, which is vastly different and larger than DL, to catch the Carosel of Progress. After that neat little animatronic-starring show was over we went on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority, which is a little tram that took us around Tomorrowland. Our final stop in this futuristic place was the Buzz Lightyear laser ride.

We then made our way over to Fantasyland to exeperience the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. The Country Bear Jamboree was next. This animatronic show used to be in DL untill the Pooh ride replaced it. However, if you ride the one in DL, look up behind you as you enter the honey room and you will find a tribute to the Jamboree. Pirates of the Carribbean was next. This, too, was different from the one in DL, but still quite enjoyable.

It's a Small World was the next attraction; it, of course, was different but still cute. Since we still had about 20 minutes until the park closed, we thought we'd check out Mickey's PhillharMagic, a 4D show featuring some of the more popular Disney songs, such as "I Just Can't Wait To Be King," "A Whole New World," and the Fantasia theme. At this point Jude was really sleepy and needed to nurse, so Pat, Wendy, and I went on Peter Pan's Flight.

9 o'clock had rolled around so it was time to leave. Imagine Main Street USA filled with people all trying to exit at the same time. Yeah, it sucked. And so was the long throng of people trying to get to the monorail. Oh, I forgot that part. WDW is so huge and the MK is so far from Hollywood Studios, it takes a bus and the monorail to get from one to the other. So, people are stupid and everyone will be able to get to where hey need to be. However, apparently some think that they absolutely have to be first and that they are entitled to push their way through a million people all trying to get to the same place.

Sidebar. What was really interesting to observe while at WDW was the number of Orthodox Jews. I have never seen so many all in one place I all my life. Of all the families we saw, a number of them were young, the fathers a bit older and the child counter was more on the higher side. It'd be fascinating to learn more about them.

Fast forward a bit. We made it to the hotel where Jude slept while we got packed and slept as well. One flight down and one to go and we will be home!

Wesley

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Cinderella's Castle (unlike Sleeping Beauty's at DL, one cannot walk through it)

Florida Trip: Day 4

Easy morning. Woke up and had the free breakfast at the hotel. I know now why it is free. It includes your typical hotel serve yourself breakfast. Cereals, yogurt, breakfast meats, baked goods, etc... My word though, the "juice" was pretty much apple or orange flavored water. But, again, it was free.

Jude has been doing really well. I'm not sure if he is used to trips now or if it is just his easy going nature. That being said, ever since he realized he could walk help-free, that is all that kid wants to do. I'm sure those of you of whom has experience with kids knows that is adults tend to walk a wee bit faster than them. Needless to say there were many times today where he was upset because someone was carrying him.

One more thing about Jude, he absolutely loves his Papa. When he is not nursing, walking, or in his stroller, he wants to be with Pat. Once he is with him, he could care less about any of us.

Oookay. So, today we went to Epcot. We were planning on taking the van from the hotel, but there are no strollers allowed and it is offered at only 8:30 am and 12:30 pm. That is stupid. Epcot is quite grand upon entering. Spaceship Earth (the huge globe) is huge. The first thing we did was ride in Spaceship Earth which was narrated by Judy Dench and took us on a history lesson of a ride.

Epcot is divided into two main sections laid out in an hour glass form. The first half is Future World and it includes Spaceship Earth and about 4 or 5 "attractions" with such themes as innovations, the environment, land, and sea.

The second hour glass section is the World Showcase and it consists of the following countries surrounding the Showcase Lagoon:

- Mexico
- Norway
- China
- Germany
- Italy
- The American Adventure
- Japan
- Morocco
- France
- United Kingdom
- Canada

Each country has shops and eateries that are authentic to where they represent. Some even feature a small, slow moving water ride. What is really neat is that the crew members who opperate each country is actually from that country.

Our next stop was the World Showcase. Let me pause here a moment and say that at 10 am, the humidity was extremely high and the sun was just beating down. It would take too long to highlight what all we did there, so I will just include the main ones. Epcot is undergoing their food and wine expo. This means that there are several state fair sized booths from all over the globe, not just what is represented in the Showcasw, that feature food and wine from those places. We did not partake of this event, however, we did partake of the Beer Hop (I hope they intended a pun).

There are two side by side booths that feature 8 beers from all over the world. The idea is that you receive a passport and get to sample 4oz of 4 beers of your choice. Wendy and I did this together, so by the time we were done, we tried all 8 beers.

The next highlight was lunch. We ate in Germany at the Biergarten or beer garden. This was a traditional eating hall that featured a buffet of traditional German food, schnitzels, spatzels, sausages, pretzel rolls, etc... Delicious. Needless to say I had a 1/2 liter of the Opitmator, a dark German beer.

We did a see a couple Circlevision 360 films. You stand in a circular room with 10 screens around you that are all syncronized to play together. Really neat.

At the America area, coinciding with the expo, the Boston Beer Co. had a 20 minute history lesson of the company/explanation of the brewing process/beer tasting. We tasted about 2oz of 4 of their beers. We each got a bottle opener key chain, and yes, Nichole actually partook.

After the Showcase we went to the Sea area for a couple Finding Nemo related attractions, the three of us really enjoy that movie. Next we headed back to the Showcase for a quick bite and to see the light show on the Lagoon.

Well, that is it for tonight. I'm tired so I'm ending this, some of this may not make sense, so let me know if there are any questions or if you want me to expand on something.

Wesley

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone




Crest on the bottom left represents the area in Germany my great-grandmother is from.