Visiting E in Boston!

Our flight arrived at Logan Airport just after 10am on Sunday, October 13. The foliage around Boston was approaching peak color with quite a number of trees yet to turn...adding some green to the Fall palette of colors!

Eleanor was waiting for us in front of the terminal and we headed back to her place to ditch the luggage and her car. We jumped on the "T" and headed downtown to morph into touristas! The weather was sunny and mid-60s, although soon some cloud cover began to roll in. As we approached the Faneuil Hall Marketplace, we happened by a group of street dancers that were amazingly limber.

Boston Skyline

We whetted our appetite walking through the multiple food shops within the Faneuil Hall Marketplace, but then actually had lunch at Legal Seafood on the Boston waterfront. Now sufficiently fueled, we walked a block to catch the "hop on-hop off" tourista trolley...unfortunately just in time for the start of Boston's Columbus Day Parade! With downtown traffic now at a standstill, we decided to take the 45 minute Inner Harbor tourista cruise until traffic started moving again.

"Old Ironsides"

The harbor cruise was narrated as the ferry made a large circle around the Boston waterfront. Since Boston was founded in 1630 by Puritan colonists from England, there is a rich history to be seen from the water. In addition to identifying the notable structures on the Boston skyline, we saw "Old Ironsides" (the USS Constitution) and an untold number of historic wharfs and piers.

By the conclusion of the harbor cruise, the downtown traffic had finally begun to move following the conclusion of the parade. So we hopped on the tourista trolley and made a 2 hour circuit around the city listening to some humorous narration and timeworn stories about Boston's historic past. Then we walked through the Boston Common and Public Garden...the latter was amazing for the dozen or more limos and wedding parties having professional photos done on every corner of the central lake!

As we headed towards Commonwealth Avenue, we noticed multiple "free to play" pianos on the streets to promote the musical arts. The juxtaposition of old and new architecture in downtown Boston is enchanting.

As we turned onto Boyleston Street, Eleanor explained the horror Boston experienced in the April, 2013 bombing at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. The first pressure cooker bomb exploded in front of the Marathon Sports store, whose storefront was demolished by the explosion. The second bomb exploded 12 seconds later about 200 yards further down Boyleston Street killing 3 and wounding more than 260 others in total.

Then we ascended 52 stories above Back Bay to the Top of the Hub for a drink at the bar with amazing views of the cityscape of Boston. Unfortunately, we were not the only ones with that great plan as the wait for a table was over an hour and there really was no standing room at the bar. However, we did snap some photos of the city skyline before heading over to Boston's North End where we had restaurant reservations.

We were met at Lucia Ristorante by Eleanor's SO, Nick, who is a very nice guy. Lucia Ristorante, which has been in business since 1977, is housed within a small brick building built in 1919. After a fabulous Italian dinner, we made our way down the street to the famous Mike's Pastry, which sells a dozen varieties of cannoli, Italian cookies and other delectable treats.

Mike's Pastry counter

On our way to dinner, there were over 50 people outside Mike's Pastry waiting on line on the street. When we returned after dinner, there were even more in a line that wound down the sidewalk nearly to the street corner. The orderly line actually moves fairly quickly, but when you enter the store it degenerates into a bit of a scrum. Everyone is polite, but if you hesitate for a split second someone else will step up and place their order with the clerk. The half dozen clerks wrap each order with well-practiced skill in white cardboard boxes with striped twine. Those white pastry boxes with block lettering are ubiquitous throughout downtown Boston. Having awoken early to catch our flight to Boston, we were now more than ready to head back on the "T" to Eleanor's home in Brookline.

 

Posted by TBW Travel Today!