#49 Boston - Scuttlebutt and Limeys - May 12, 2005
Greetings from Sunny Florida, where I landed today - and let me tell you, it is a bit of a surprise that I got here at all. Not the airline's fault, but it can be entirely attributed to my early morning scatteredness. Went to the wrong terminal at Logan for starters, then hiked to the right terminal, found US Air, even though they do their best to hide, sat at the wrong gate for a while (looked at seat # instead of gate #), realized it in time (phew!!). Maybe I should switch away from decaf!
It is my first time in Florida - I am attending the annual meeting of ASCO, the American Society for Clinical Oncology. 30,0000 cancer specialists will descend onto the city of Orlando (www.orlandoinfo.com) over the next few days. The conference is absolutely insane, overwhelming and as I experienced two years ago in Chicago, so huge that it is essential to have a decent, sturdy pair of walking shoes.
I am staying at the Westgate Lakes Resort and Spa, one of six million "resorts" on the outskirts of Orlando. The place is a huge, 1300-room sprawl. I occupy the most lovely studio - the design is definitely "Golden Girls", about the size of my apartment, with a view of Turkey Lake and a Jacuzzi!
As a great segue into my trip, the weather in Boston changed drastically and was nice for once over the past two days (and yes, again, the flip flops came out).
The past weekend was again rainy and drab though, so hiking was definitely not on the agenda. On Saturday, my stir-craziness drove me out of the house in the afternoon and led to a brief, rain-soaked stroll over to the Science Museum. I had wanted to see the Butterfly Garden, their newest exhibit, but since everybody and their cousin were there, the program was sold out. So I headed to the Charles Hayden Planetarium and listened to a presentation on stargazing, which was pretty decent. The rest of the afternoon was spent in the "hands-on" explorer section of the museum, where some six-year olds and I put all the right organs (or so we thought) on a human dummy. The Velcro strips were not so crisp any more and the kidneys kept falling down, but aside from that we did pretty good.
Saturday night, I went out with my Indian friends, Rohini and PJ for a superb dinner at the Silvertone Bar and Grill, definitely one of my new favorite places in the hub. The Silvertone convinces with a hip crowd, spectacular food (best Mac and Cheese ever) and very affordable prices! It was a most educational evening - Rohini is the world's best resource on - well, pretty much anything. Just like Barbra Streisand in "Hello Dolly" - "Just leave everything to me" - she dazzled us with one business card after the other. No matter if you need your eyebrows threaded, your car tires rotated or your neck adjusted - Rohini knows!
On Sunday, it was time to visit the final two stops on the Freedom Trail that I had omitted to visit until now: The USS Constitution and the Bunker Hill Monument, both located in Charlie aka Charlestown.
The USS Constitution, "Old Ironsides" is a spectacular experience. The oldest commissioned warship afloat in the entire world, she is still part of the US Navy and can boast a colorful history. Her name, "Old Ironsides" stems from a historic battle with the HMS Guerriere in 1812. The British 380-gun frigate, famous for terrorizing the US naval fleet, should have flattened the Constitution. The Guerriere started firing like mad, only to see their cannon shots bounce off the sides of the USSC - so one of their sailors shouted "Huzzah, her sides are made from iron!!" - which gave the old girl her famous name. (The strength of the hull is actually due to a triple layer of white oak-live oak (very strong wood)-white oak - no iron whatsoever). After 20 minutes, the British were toast, and the HMS Guerriere was so badly damaged that they had to sink the ship.
The tour of the USS Constitution was equally engrossing, and a very dapper young naval officer gave us a glimpse of what life was like aboard the ship. 500 men were on duty, worked on the gun and spar decks and slept in their berths, always in 4-hour shifts (250 a piece). One of the artifacts on deck was the "scuttlebutt", the ships drinking water supply, which was the only place on the ship where you were allowed to chat (the "water cooler" of yesterday) - hence the word scuttlebutt is used for gossip. The barrel was a "butt barrel" with a scuttle opening. Needless to say the water allocated to every sailor (35 pints a day) was not used for personal hygiene that much, this made the whole 500-man-on-a-boat experience a bit of a smelly affair.
My other favorite amenity on board was the grog tub, which for the US Navy contained whiskey, not rum as one might expect. (The Royal Navy had rum). In order to prevent the all-prevalent scurvy, lemon juice was added, whereas the British added lime juice to their rum, hence the term "limeys".
I then met up with Elaine and we zipped over to the Bunker Hill Monument, a 221-foot obelisk, which marks the site of the first major battle of the American Revolution. "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes" - untrained and ill-equipped to match up against the far superior British forces, the American colonists made up for their shortcomings with fierce determination. The Battle of Bunker Hill, fought in June of 1775 awarded the British of loss of half of their 2200 ground forces and artillery. The colonists did loose eventually, but not without inflicting serious pain and damage on their enemy. You can climb up all 294 steps to the top of the monument, which is a serious workout, but does reward with spectacular views.
Completely exhausted, Elaine and I retreated to her new and extremely comfortable new couch, and spent the afternoon with tea and cake, just as it should be. I also got to meet the newest addition to her family, Nipsy, a little budgie just like my Oscar. He was absolutely adorable, even though he tried to evade his first German lesson by hiding behind the refrigerator.
The weekend ended with a lovely visit by Melanie and Tom from California, which was celebrated by way of a delectable meal at Croma, one of the nice, but not too upscale eateries on Newbury Street. Their chocolate cobbler is definitely worth a visit.
On Monday, I made use of another resource for us rat-poor, cash-drained Bostonians - citystylist.com, where you sign up for a haircut with a student at one of the fancy schmancy hair salons in Boston. $15 dollars - I am now sporting a very snazzy, albeit a bit short do courtesy of Runway Salon.
My friends, it is bed time - all my love to you from Orlando......
pet:)
It is my first time in Florida - I am attending the annual meeting of ASCO, the American Society for Clinical Oncology. 30,0000 cancer specialists will descend onto the city of Orlando (www.orlandoinfo.com) over the next few days. The conference is absolutely insane, overwhelming and as I experienced two years ago in Chicago, so huge that it is essential to have a decent, sturdy pair of walking shoes.
I am staying at the Westgate Lakes Resort and Spa, one of six million "resorts" on the outskirts of Orlando. The place is a huge, 1300-room sprawl. I occupy the most lovely studio - the design is definitely "Golden Girls", about the size of my apartment, with a view of Turkey Lake and a Jacuzzi!
As a great segue into my trip, the weather in Boston changed drastically and was nice for once over the past two days (and yes, again, the flip flops came out).
The past weekend was again rainy and drab though, so hiking was definitely not on the agenda. On Saturday, my stir-craziness drove me out of the house in the afternoon and led to a brief, rain-soaked stroll over to the Science Museum. I had wanted to see the Butterfly Garden, their newest exhibit, but since everybody and their cousin were there, the program was sold out. So I headed to the Charles Hayden Planetarium and listened to a presentation on stargazing, which was pretty decent. The rest of the afternoon was spent in the "hands-on" explorer section of the museum, where some six-year olds and I put all the right organs (or so we thought) on a human dummy. The Velcro strips were not so crisp any more and the kidneys kept falling down, but aside from that we did pretty good.
Saturday night, I went out with my Indian friends, Rohini and PJ for a superb dinner at the Silvertone Bar and Grill, definitely one of my new favorite places in the hub. The Silvertone convinces with a hip crowd, spectacular food (best Mac and Cheese ever) and very affordable prices! It was a most educational evening - Rohini is the world's best resource on - well, pretty much anything. Just like Barbra Streisand in "Hello Dolly" - "Just leave everything to me" - she dazzled us with one business card after the other. No matter if you need your eyebrows threaded, your car tires rotated or your neck adjusted - Rohini knows!
On Sunday, it was time to visit the final two stops on the Freedom Trail that I had omitted to visit until now: The USS Constitution and the Bunker Hill Monument, both located in Charlie aka Charlestown.
The USS Constitution, "Old Ironsides" is a spectacular experience. The oldest commissioned warship afloat in the entire world, she is still part of the US Navy and can boast a colorful history. Her name, "Old Ironsides" stems from a historic battle with the HMS Guerriere in 1812. The British 380-gun frigate, famous for terrorizing the US naval fleet, should have flattened the Constitution. The Guerriere started firing like mad, only to see their cannon shots bounce off the sides of the USSC - so one of their sailors shouted "Huzzah, her sides are made from iron!!" - which gave the old girl her famous name. (The strength of the hull is actually due to a triple layer of white oak-live oak (very strong wood)-white oak - no iron whatsoever). After 20 minutes, the British were toast, and the HMS Guerriere was so badly damaged that they had to sink the ship.
The tour of the USS Constitution was equally engrossing, and a very dapper young naval officer gave us a glimpse of what life was like aboard the ship. 500 men were on duty, worked on the gun and spar decks and slept in their berths, always in 4-hour shifts (250 a piece). One of the artifacts on deck was the "scuttlebutt", the ships drinking water supply, which was the only place on the ship where you were allowed to chat (the "water cooler" of yesterday) - hence the word scuttlebutt is used for gossip. The barrel was a "butt barrel" with a scuttle opening. Needless to say the water allocated to every sailor (35 pints a day) was not used for personal hygiene that much, this made the whole 500-man-on-a-boat experience a bit of a smelly affair.
My other favorite amenity on board was the grog tub, which for the US Navy contained whiskey, not rum as one might expect. (The Royal Navy had rum). In order to prevent the all-prevalent scurvy, lemon juice was added, whereas the British added lime juice to their rum, hence the term "limeys".
I then met up with Elaine and we zipped over to the Bunker Hill Monument, a 221-foot obelisk, which marks the site of the first major battle of the American Revolution. "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes" - untrained and ill-equipped to match up against the far superior British forces, the American colonists made up for their shortcomings with fierce determination. The Battle of Bunker Hill, fought in June of 1775 awarded the British of loss of half of their 2200 ground forces and artillery. The colonists did loose eventually, but not without inflicting serious pain and damage on their enemy. You can climb up all 294 steps to the top of the monument, which is a serious workout, but does reward with spectacular views.
Completely exhausted, Elaine and I retreated to her new and extremely comfortable new couch, and spent the afternoon with tea and cake, just as it should be. I also got to meet the newest addition to her family, Nipsy, a little budgie just like my Oscar. He was absolutely adorable, even though he tried to evade his first German lesson by hiding behind the refrigerator.
The weekend ended with a lovely visit by Melanie and Tom from California, which was celebrated by way of a delectable meal at Croma, one of the nice, but not too upscale eateries on Newbury Street. Their chocolate cobbler is definitely worth a visit.
On Monday, I made use of another resource for us rat-poor, cash-drained Bostonians - citystylist.com, where you sign up for a haircut with a student at one of the fancy schmancy hair salons in Boston. $15 dollars - I am now sporting a very snazzy, albeit a bit short do courtesy of Runway Salon.
My friends, it is bed time - all my love to you from Orlando......
pet:)
posted by My Boston at
6:30 PM
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