November 5, 2006

Boston.

Originally uploaded by bluemarvel.

Earl and I decided to head back into Boston before heading home today. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, so we parked under Boston Common and then went for a walk through the park. We then headed over to Boylston St. and walked up to Massachusetts Ave., stopping at Au Bon Pain along the way.

Earl always cracks me up because when he says “Au Bon Pain” he sounds like Charlie Brown’s teacher. I guess that’s his version of a French accent.

Once on Mass. Ave., we stopped at what I’ve always known to be Tower Records but apparently it had become a Virgin Megastore. And today was it’s last day of business apparently with everything 75 to 90% off. I used to always look forward to going to Tower on Saturday afternoons back in the late 1980s as I was always eager to add my growing 12-inch single collection. I got a little choked up to see that it was closing down.

When the walked up Newberry St. before jumping on the T at Boylston and heading over to Government Center. I tried to talk Earl into walking all the way to Government Center but he remarked that it was much too far. I reminded him that everytime we’ve done that exact walk he’s said it was much too far but I like riding the T so we took the T. We ended up at the Bell In Hand tavern on Union and Marshall for lunch before jumping back on T at Haymarket and grabbing the Jeep and heading home.

Truth be known, I wouldn’t mind living in Boston again. For now I’ll have to be content with visiting from time to time.

We’re going back in two weeks.

Waiting for the Funny Guy.

Originally uploaded by bluemarvel.

Earl and I jumped in the Jeep today and went for a ride. Pulling out of the driveway, I said to Earl “east or west?” His response was “east”. So I drove east until we reached ocean.

We’re spending the night in Boston.

While we both love our spontaneous trips, it’s hard to meet up with others we’ve chatted with online with no advance notice. So I guess we’ll have to come back in a couple of weeks.

We set up shop at a DoubleTree just off Storrow Drive, got ourselves situated and then headed into the city. After stowing the Jeep under Government Center, we headed to Quincy Market where we had a great dinner at Ned Devine’s Pub. Great food. I had Irish stew.

Afterwards we headed to the Comedy Connection and picked up some tickets to see the last performance of the night. Tonight’s comedian line-up included Anthony Clark. Since the show wasn’t until 10:30, we had some time to kill so we walked all around Faneuil Hall and then jumped on the T and went to the theatre district to walk around there (and to warm up on the train). After a bit of walking we headed back to the Comedy Connection for the show. Anthony Clark was a riot and we had a really good time. The only thing about the show that was making me crazy was the woman at the next table who laughed uproariously at everything. “Ma’am, would you like a cocktail?” She laughed the waitress like she was Joan Rivers before the plastic surgery. And when she laughed, she sounded like Phyllis Diller. So there she was, cackling on and on. Her husband Fang didn’t seem as impressed.

After the Comedy Connection we went to a real, honest to goodness bear bar called The Alley and had one last drink before heading back to the hotel.

We’re installed for the night, waiting for a little room service and then ready to call it a night. We’re planning on coming back very soon (like in two weeks).

Gosh I miss Boston (I used to live here).