25 September, 2022

A Short Journey to Boston

A Brief View of Charlesgate W & Commonwealth Avenue in Boston—Taken with an iPhone 8 

I'm no stranger to long road trips—I spent much of my childhood on journeys to Mount Rainer, Mount Saint Helens, and Tukwila for shopping trips to Southcenter Mall and Half-Price Books. I'm also no stranger to flying, but it's been a long time since I last flew—with that flight being to Washington State when I was a freshman in high school.
 
Last time I properly traveled was with my Mom and sister to see my late uncle get hitched (read: married) for the second time in Canaan, Vermont. That was a little over five years ago. It was a nice, quiet place in the countryside near the Canadian border to Québec.

The Backyard at my Late Uncle's House in Canaan—Taken With a Nikon Coolpix S210 

Aside from that, I haven't really traveled out of town much and the coronavirus pandemic hasn't helped encourage such endeavors at all. 

In May, that changed. I went with my parents on a road trip to Boston to see my sister graduate from university. It was only a two day affair, but I think we managed to cover a lot of ground. 

The Iconic/Main Campus Building—Taken with an iPhone 8

We spent the first afternoon and evening over on the Simmons campus with a small meet-and-greet with members of faculty followed by a food-truck dinner at the residential campus hosted by the graduating class. It was a little cold and damp for late-May, but everyone was in high spirits and the food was excellent. I ended up having a grilled cheese sandwich followed by an ice cream sandwich that had a cookie base—I unfortunately forgot what kind of cookies they were, but it was to die for. 

Emmanuel's Eccentric Neighbor, Merck—taken with an iPhone 8 

There are also a few other academic institutions between the main and residential campuses as Simmons is part of the Fenway with one of them being Emmanuel College. I managed to get a picture of the Merck Building adjacent to Emmanuel and near Simmons's main campus on our way back. Emmanuel College, being a private religious school, might be the last place one may find a major drug company. However, as Peter Schworm writes for the Boston Globe in 2007, it was was a vital deal which allowed the university to expand:

Emmanuel's transformation, while unorthodox, has been undeniably successful. Since 1999, enrollment has risen from 466 to 1,741 students, applications have risen eightfold, and the faculty has nearly doubled in size. Its revenue has tripled, and the endowment, bolstered by the proceeds of the lease with Merck, has soared from $8.6 million to $85 million.

We ended up staying at the Renaissance Marriott in the Seaport District since the graduation ceremony would only be a walk away. Being both a worldwide chain and in a huge city, it wasn't cheap—two nights netted around US $1,000—and we had the wrong impression that the sofa bed I would be sleeping in would be like a futon. Thing is, the view made the whole thing worth it...

A Foggy Start to Day 1.5 (or the only full day in Boston)—Taken with an iPhone 8
  
The next morning had us waking up for an early morning graduation at the Leader Bank Pavilion—as seen on the bottom-right in this Twitter cluster—with a brief stop at the hotel Starbucks for sandwiches and coffee. Nothing special there.

The ceremony also came and went relatively quickly, but that was because the school hosted both their graduations—graduate and undergraduate—at the same venue so any last moment photo opportunities or social mingling had to be cut short. 

In a big city like Boston though, this wasn't much of a problem since, once the venue staffed ushered us out, we opted for a trip down Congress Street to a place my sister recommended...


A Selection of merchandise when you walk into their Seaport District location—Both taken with an iPhone 8 

Flour was a lovely little café chain that served sandwiches, breakfast foods, and sweets with the purpose to spread the love of baking and bread to the public at large. I had a toasted applewood-smoked bacon sandwich with a matcha latte which was all around delicious and, on its own, sat around US $11.50. It's a well-made meal at a decent price—similar to some of the meals I order over at the local restaurant, Puffins. The latte was nice and foamy too with the matcha not being too overpowering—that was around US $4.75 to 5.25.

When I head back one day, I'll definitely stop by here again—Taken with an iPhone 8

After lunch, we went back to the hotel to rest for a couple hours until my sister arrived to take my Mom and I shopping again while Dad stayed behind. Our first and big plan was to head down to a little place called Porter Square Books that was located in the same district. We circled around the street and area where it was supposed to be, but when we found it, ooh... 

The Reason Why I Accompanied Them—Taken with an iPhone 8

The bookstore itself shares the space with Grub Street—a place which offers writers an opportunity to network, take classes, and brainstorm ideas for their work among other services—which took up the space on the left side of the property. While there wasn't any activity in the Grub Street corner, Porter Square Books did not disappoint with its huge selection and homely atmosphere. It felt like the city was a universe away while I was browsing the shelves—a hallmark of any good bookstore.

Of course, I didn't leave without buying a few titles...which I'll talk about later. We left the bookstore and explored the nearby harbor where the biggest landmark eluded us for this trip... 

The Institute of Contemporary Art Museum—Taken with an iPhone 8 

...which might be something for the next time I properly get the chance to explore the city. For now, we went back into the inner streets of the Seaport District where they continued their shopping trip at Everlane while I left to find nearby shops that would be more up my alley. I didn't want to venture off to far—just in case they left the store early—so I opted to try a smoothie at what I thought was local to Boston...


  
Expensive, but Sweet—Both Taken with an iPhone 8 

Thing is, Juice Press was not a bad place to pass away the time and the Mango Passion Smoothie I ordered was one of the best drinks I've had in a long time. However, with the largest size being US $12.89, it's not something I would order daily if they ever set up shop locally. I might try to do a simplified DIY version of the smoothie with a couple substitutions in the future—in case I ever get the hankering for something like that smoothie. 

We eventually made our way back to the hotel and said goodbye to my sister who would go back to start packing up her dorm.  went over to a restaurant on the waterfront called 75 on Liberty Wharf.
 

Top: The View from Our Table
Botton: Another Expensive Meal, but Worth It—Both Taken with an iPhone 8

I don't usually do seafood, but these beer battered fish and chips were pretty good. However, much like the smoothie, this was not a cheap meal in the slightest. As I'm writing this, the current menu has this meal slated at US $28.95, which I believe is the resulting combination of the restaurant's location and the current rate of inflation. There was a cool breeze and the view was pretty decent—I happened to sit where the parking lot was straight across from me—which helped make up for it. 

If you like seafood and have the budget for this sort of thing, I'd check this place out. Otherwise, I'd give it a pass.

The Warrior Ice Arena from the Massachusetts Turnpike—Taken with an iPhone 8

75 on Liberty Wharf concluded our first and only full day in Boston and the second day—or Day 2.5—consisted of us helping my sister move out of her dorm. We had little time to sightsee and ended up leaving the city in the afternoon, but considering how easily accessible the city is by train, I'll probably be back again. 

I also can't forget about the reason why I went up to Boston with my parents. I'm very proud of my sister for what she's accomplished at university—which is way more than I've ever done—and she reminds me that I have a lot of work to do myself. I look forward to see what she'll do in the future and I'll do my best to keep up in some way.

The book haul itself has similar significance...

A Solid Selection of Unexpected Finds—Taken with an iPhone 8

Continuing with the graduation theme, there's Jasper Fforde's Eyre Affair, which I remember someone recommending it to me shortly after graduation. I can't recall if it was via Goodreads or Twitter though—as in, it wasn't a local recommendation—but the premise was fascinating enough that I actually bought the Kindle edition...and ended up forgetting I did so. Either way, it's still on my to-read list. No purchasing regrets here.

Descending from Eyre Affair is the first book of Neil Gaiman's graphic novel series, The Sandman. Gaiman was one of my favorite authors from my late high school years with American Gods and the short story anthology, Fragile Things, but The Sandman has never been on my radar since my graphic novels of choice then were titles like Fullmetal Alchemist and Gintama. I'm currently a little over halfway through the book and I'm enjoying it so far as an interesting adaptation of a mythical figure.

The huge tome on the bottom was one of my most unexpected finds from the haul—an account of one the world's largest media players by David Hendy titled, The BBC: A Century on Air (or alternatively, A People's History). Being the broadcasting corporation which introduced me to Doctor Who, Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo, and ultimately ended morphing me into an anglophile, I could not say no to this book. I have yet to properly read this book, but flipping through it reveals a thorough account of the BBC's history from its inception to the present-day struggles the broadcasting house faces today. 

Which leaves us with the book on the top of the stack. This one's another historical account but this time as an autobiography from software developer Sid Meier simply titled, Sid Meier's Memoir!: A Life in Computer Games. This was a book I learned about through the Video Game History Foundation's flagship podcast, in which they interview Sid Meier himself. His computer game Civilization, was one of my Dad's favorite computer games while I was a kid—admittedly one of mine too. He still plays it to this day with its fifth iteration and with my renewed interest in the gaming sphere, the book was a must-buy for me and sits on my to-read list alongside some of the Boss Fight Books titles and upcoming annuals. 



...and that about wraps it up for the first proper travel blog. The trip to Boston may have been short-lived, but we still managed to cover quite a bit. It's more than likely I'll head back there on a day trip by train, to do a proper tour of the city—meaning that there may be another blog on Boston in the near future. 

Until then, Happy Travels!

2 comments:

  1. Wow, they don't mess around with those prices! Glad you had some fun days, lovely pics too 🙂

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    1. Thank you! 😀 I'm looking forward to going back and checking out the rest of the city.

      (I'll consult with my sister on this, but I think the Seaport District is one of probably Boston's high-end districts. I thought Flour was pretty reasonable though—at least for one person—and well...I can never say no to bookstores. 😂)

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