#22 Boston with a Boo - November 4, 2004
Hello my disillusioned friends!
I have to admit that I have been nursing the post-election blues a bit, and mixed with a decent measure of feebleness caused by Red Sox sleep deprivation and work hectic, I have spent more time than usual on my beloved couch, catching up on reading and listening to music. As a matter of fact I was so spacey this morning during an early morning jog along the Charles River that I stumbled over a root (damn trees!) and took a nice little spill. Apparently the somewhat sluggish motivation that got me there in the first place did not translate into good brain-leg coordination. It must have been quite a pretty sight!
As to my activities over the past week, as usual there is lots to tell. This past Friday after meeting my friend Glenn for a drink at the swanky Boston Park Plaza Hotel (www.BostonParkPlaza.com), I headed to the Black Cat Bewitching Halloween Ball of the Boston Ski and Sports Club. It was quite a fun affair I have to say, and I hooked up with a group including a male cheerleader from Toronto (via Colombia) and his French wife (Peter Pan), a Hugh Heffner look-alike from Waltham, and a quite interesting couple from New Hampshire - he was a cross between a pimp and a Texas oil magnate and she was a cute little Fraeulein in a very nice black number.
Unfortunately I had to head home early as the next morning another road race beckoned - this time the 7th Annual Halloween Hustle. This race was a benefit for Partners Home Care's Pediatric and Maternal Infant Program (http://www.heartbreakhill.org/race/hhustle.htm) The race took place in the pouring rain, but everyone was in good spirits. I ran of course in my cheerleader outfit, and let's say, it was well received. My time was a little slow on account of the party the night before, but I managed still to put up a decent time of 9:42 minutes/mile.
I headed back into the city fully aware of the fact that I might not be able to reach my home or garage as the parade for the Red Sox was taking place. Due to some fortunate timing and one slightly illegal driving maneuver, I made it home in time before the big hoopla started. After drying off I ran down the street, and voila! There was the parade - just in time. The Red Sox came by on Duck Boats, which for those of you who have not been to Boston, is the thing to do as a tourist around here (http://www.bostonducktours.com/). The boats with the World Series champs then headed for the river, which meant the whole mob headed toward the Esplanade (myself included, even if it meant climbing over a fence at Storrow Drive). It was quite the celebration!
The rest of the day was dedicated to some R&R, house cleaning, reading and general lolling around. I discovered a new favorite sandwich place in my neighborhood - Cafe Podima, a little hole-in-the-wall place on Cambridge Street, absolutely fantastic sandwiches [in particular the Double Decker Sandwiches with interesting names like "Revolution"], and custom-made fro yo, in at least 35 flavors (favorite so far - Orio!).I picked up my pictures from the parade only to discover that they were the worst ever photos I have taken. Most of the time I just held the camera up in the air with the result that I have many pictures of parts of the duck boats, and the backs of people's heads.
Sunday was of course Halloween, and my friends - Beacon Hill absolutely takes the cake! I signed up for a tour by a group called Boston by Foot (http://www.bostonbyfoot.com/) - the tour was called "Beacon Hill with a Boo". A woman dressed as Xena, Warrior Princess, led us through some of the more interesting and hidden areas of Beacon Hill. To say upfront - Beacon Hill goes all out for this holiday! Some streets are closed off, the residents have decked out their houses, backyards are turned into haunted castles and images of ghosts projected on walls! The residents themselves sit on their stairs, drinking wine and champagne, handing out candy and all their houses are illuminated (you can get quite a nice glimpse into some of these absolutely stunning homes). At Senator Kerry's house on Louisburg Square they were handing out candy as well (not that it helped) under the watchful eye of some bodyguards.
Add the quaintness of Beacon Hill, and it was absolutely fantastic and just like fantasy land!
Well, what did I learn on my tour?
*Right next to the State House is the equestrian statue of Joseph Hooker, a war general who liked to be out on the town, and some folks think that the term hooker comes from "Joseph Hooker's girls". [There are actually several explanations for this - another one is from 1859 "Hooker - A resident of Hook, ie, a strumpet, a sailor's trull. So called from the number of houses of ill-fame frequented by sailors at the Hook (ie. Corlear's Hook) a city of New York."] (State House: http://www.sec.state.ma.us/trs/trsbok/trstour.htm)
*Xena took us through an alley called Holmes' Alley, part of the underground railroad where slaves used to hide. Beacon Hill also has a rich African American history (http://www.afroammuseum.org/ ) - you can walk a Black Heritage Trail on the hill. [http://www.americanhistory.about.com/library/weekly/aa061502a.htm]
*We learned about Mary Dyer who was a Quaker and who was sentenced to die for her beliefs (apparently Quakers used to worship in the nude, and that did not go over too well at the time.....) [http://members.aol.com/montaukiowa/marydyer.htm]
[http://www.quakerinfo.com/quakwomn.shtml]
* James Allen, alias George Walton, alias Jonas Pierce, alias James H. York, alias Burley Grove, whose deathbed confession of a "highwayman" was made to the warden of the Massachusetts State prison and the narrative of his tale can be seen in the Athenaeum nearby. Most curious is its binding - it is bound in the skin of its author. [http://www.bostonathenaeum.org/highwayman.html]
*There were quite some interesting stories that took place in Beacon Hill – about murder, intrigue and conspiracy. We learned about The Debutante Murder at 85 Pinckney Street (http://www.bostonfamilyhistory.com/neigh_beac.html), the Parkman Murder (Chestnut Street) [http://www.iboston.org/mcp.php?pid=parkmanMurder], the Enchanted Sleepwalker Murder (dude got off with arson...). And of course, not to forget, the Boston Strangler (http://www.crimelibrary.com/boston/bostonmain.htm)!
*Also on Chestnut Street lived Edwin Booth, brother of John Wilkes Booth, who had to make a quick exit out of town on account of his brother's insanity killing the president and all. Apparently Edwin was quite the accomplished Shakespearean actor at the time (http://search.eb.com/shakespeare/micro/78/51.html) and I am sure was not pleased about his brother's derangement.
Couple of final morsels:
*I discovered a beer called "Old Speckled Hen" and a Web site called Beeradvocate.com
*New cool pub and restaurant names: Last Drop on Mass Avenue in Boston, the Impudent Oyster (Cape Cod).
So, the weekend is upon us, the weathah is getting colder (47 right now, 30s coming up next week), I am planning my first ski trips for early December. Weekend plans include a classical music concert, some kind of chocolate event at the Museum of
Fine Arts and a little trip to the Ipswitch Sanctuary.
Bye bye for now.
pet:)
I have to admit that I have been nursing the post-election blues a bit, and mixed with a decent measure of feebleness caused by Red Sox sleep deprivation and work hectic, I have spent more time than usual on my beloved couch, catching up on reading and listening to music. As a matter of fact I was so spacey this morning during an early morning jog along the Charles River that I stumbled over a root (damn trees!) and took a nice little spill. Apparently the somewhat sluggish motivation that got me there in the first place did not translate into good brain-leg coordination. It must have been quite a pretty sight!
As to my activities over the past week, as usual there is lots to tell. This past Friday after meeting my friend Glenn for a drink at the swanky Boston Park Plaza Hotel (www.BostonParkPlaza.com), I headed to the Black Cat Bewitching Halloween Ball of the Boston Ski and Sports Club. It was quite a fun affair I have to say, and I hooked up with a group including a male cheerleader from Toronto (via Colombia) and his French wife (Peter Pan), a Hugh Heffner look-alike from Waltham, and a quite interesting couple from New Hampshire - he was a cross between a pimp and a Texas oil magnate and she was a cute little Fraeulein in a very nice black number.
Unfortunately I had to head home early as the next morning another road race beckoned - this time the 7th Annual Halloween Hustle. This race was a benefit for Partners Home Care's Pediatric and Maternal Infant Program (http://www.heartbreakhill.org/race/hhustle.htm) The race took place in the pouring rain, but everyone was in good spirits. I ran of course in my cheerleader outfit, and let's say, it was well received. My time was a little slow on account of the party the night before, but I managed still to put up a decent time of 9:42 minutes/mile.
I headed back into the city fully aware of the fact that I might not be able to reach my home or garage as the parade for the Red Sox was taking place. Due to some fortunate timing and one slightly illegal driving maneuver, I made it home in time before the big hoopla started. After drying off I ran down the street, and voila! There was the parade - just in time. The Red Sox came by on Duck Boats, which for those of you who have not been to Boston, is the thing to do as a tourist around here (http://www.bostonducktours.com/). The boats with the World Series champs then headed for the river, which meant the whole mob headed toward the Esplanade (myself included, even if it meant climbing over a fence at Storrow Drive). It was quite the celebration!
The rest of the day was dedicated to some R&R, house cleaning, reading and general lolling around. I discovered a new favorite sandwich place in my neighborhood - Cafe Podima, a little hole-in-the-wall place on Cambridge Street, absolutely fantastic sandwiches [in particular the Double Decker Sandwiches with interesting names like "Revolution"], and custom-made fro yo, in at least 35 flavors (favorite so far - Orio!).I picked up my pictures from the parade only to discover that they were the worst ever photos I have taken. Most of the time I just held the camera up in the air with the result that I have many pictures of parts of the duck boats, and the backs of people's heads.
Sunday was of course Halloween, and my friends - Beacon Hill absolutely takes the cake! I signed up for a tour by a group called Boston by Foot (http://www.bostonbyfoot.com/) - the tour was called "Beacon Hill with a Boo". A woman dressed as Xena, Warrior Princess, led us through some of the more interesting and hidden areas of Beacon Hill. To say upfront - Beacon Hill goes all out for this holiday! Some streets are closed off, the residents have decked out their houses, backyards are turned into haunted castles and images of ghosts projected on walls! The residents themselves sit on their stairs, drinking wine and champagne, handing out candy and all their houses are illuminated (you can get quite a nice glimpse into some of these absolutely stunning homes). At Senator Kerry's house on Louisburg Square they were handing out candy as well (not that it helped) under the watchful eye of some bodyguards.
Add the quaintness of Beacon Hill, and it was absolutely fantastic and just like fantasy land!
Well, what did I learn on my tour?
*Right next to the State House is the equestrian statue of Joseph Hooker, a war general who liked to be out on the town, and some folks think that the term hooker comes from "Joseph Hooker's girls". [There are actually several explanations for this - another one is from 1859 "Hooker - A resident of Hook, ie, a strumpet, a sailor's trull. So called from the number of houses of ill-fame frequented by sailors at the Hook (ie. Corlear's Hook) a city of New York."] (State House: http://www.sec.state.ma.us/trs/trsbok/trstour.htm)
*Xena took us through an alley called Holmes' Alley, part of the underground railroad where slaves used to hide. Beacon Hill also has a rich African American history (http://www.afroammuseum.org/ ) - you can walk a Black Heritage Trail on the hill. [http://www.americanhistory.about.com/library/weekly/aa061502a.htm]
*We learned about Mary Dyer who was a Quaker and who was sentenced to die for her beliefs (apparently Quakers used to worship in the nude, and that did not go over too well at the time.....) [http://members.aol.com/montaukiowa/marydyer.htm]
[http://www.quakerinfo.com/quakwomn.shtml]
* James Allen, alias George Walton, alias Jonas Pierce, alias James H. York, alias Burley Grove, whose deathbed confession of a "highwayman" was made to the warden of the Massachusetts State prison and the narrative of his tale can be seen in the Athenaeum nearby. Most curious is its binding - it is bound in the skin of its author. [http://www.bostonathenaeum.org/highwayman.html]
*There were quite some interesting stories that took place in Beacon Hill – about murder, intrigue and conspiracy. We learned about The Debutante Murder at 85 Pinckney Street (http://www.bostonfamilyhistory.com/neigh_beac.html), the Parkman Murder (Chestnut Street) [http://www.iboston.org/mcp.php?pid=parkmanMurder], the Enchanted Sleepwalker Murder (dude got off with arson...). And of course, not to forget, the Boston Strangler (http://www.crimelibrary.com/boston/bostonmain.htm)!
*Also on Chestnut Street lived Edwin Booth, brother of John Wilkes Booth, who had to make a quick exit out of town on account of his brother's insanity killing the president and all. Apparently Edwin was quite the accomplished Shakespearean actor at the time (http://search.eb.com/shakespeare/micro/78/51.html) and I am sure was not pleased about his brother's derangement.
Couple of final morsels:
*I discovered a beer called "Old Speckled Hen" and a Web site called Beeradvocate.com
*New cool pub and restaurant names: Last Drop on Mass Avenue in Boston, the Impudent Oyster (Cape Cod).
So, the weekend is upon us, the weathah is getting colder (47 right now, 30s coming up next week), I am planning my first ski trips for early December. Weekend plans include a classical music concert, some kind of chocolate event at the Museum of
Fine Arts and a little trip to the Ipswitch Sanctuary.
Bye bye for now.
pet:)
posted by My Boston at
3:18 PM
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