Blast from the Past

This past weekend, a friend I've known since ballet class at 4 years old, Rachel, came to visit me in Boston! Because she had never been to Boston, we crammed in a load of local, New England/Boston-esque things to partake in, all great ways to see the city.



First, we started with a big breakfast in Cambridge. Then, to make most of the day we concocted a walking tour of the downtown area, and wandered over towards the Prudential Tower, where we relaxed with a round of cappucinos. With the price of our coffees, we also got to experience the best view in town, as seen in the photos.












Later that night, after a big dinner in the North End at Pizzeria Regina's, we engaged in a little sport. We decided that candlepin bowling was a great way to introduce Rachel to the quirkiness of the North East. It is a fun game, with smaller balls and skinny cylindrical pins...but it is much harder than regular bowling! Lots of pictures ensued once we all realized that the game was not so competitive. I think I walked out with a final score of 38?










Before we left, however, Rachel scored us a behind-the-scenes tour of the bowling alley by flirting it up with an employee. This thing has been running for decades and much of it is all the same. No computers behind this puppy, just duct tape and love.






















The next morning, we woke bright and early at the noon hour and headed out to the museum of science. Originally, we had high hopes to catch a Duck Tour, but they were sadly sold out, so we made the most of our location and took in a bit of educational museum time. The museum sits on the river, and throughout the museum, there were lots of opportunities to catch some beautiful views of the Charles. This shows one of the big curtain walls that allows such a sight, as well as a kinetic sculpture on display.




Below, you can also see that we encountered some man-made lightning in the lightning theatre, and a giant grasshopper to boot!





We stayed until the museum closed, and caught the sunset over the river. Immediately afterwards, we ate a lovely meal at Legals seafood. Clam chowder was abound...

Hope you had a great time, Rach!

In loving memory...

Bewitchy Halloween and a visit from Philly!

This past week was Halloween, as you all may know, and to celebrate, my lovely friend, Jossie, and I traveled to Salem, Massachusetts to partake in their witchy festivities. Home to the infamous Salem Witch Trials of the late 17th century, the town goes all out to honor their interesting heritage. From witches to devils to religious crazies, we saw a lot of characters, and even took a little trip down memory lane at the Witch Museum. There, wax figurines and low-rent dioramas retold the story of the witch trials. We also found an amazing book store stacked with books floor to ceiling, literally, as well as a couple of terribly offensive and "fantasty-driven" art shows. I will spare you the details, though.

Below, photos from witch museum and with the Bewitched Statue!









Besides our visit to Salem, Jossie and I made the typical round of Boston proper, including a visit to the Boston Commons and Public Gardens, as well as the North End, where we grabbed pizza and dessert in Little Italy. We caught up with one of Jossie's friends, Caitlin, as well as a mutual friend that once attended school with us and then moved on to bigger and better things, aka RISD freeflowlivin. Oh, Jossie also finagled free facials for us at Origins...well, technically they were free, but we both spent more money than we'd planned to once they were done guilting us into buying there fancy products...

Public Garden moments...