Now these commercials are the reason why you drink coffee! I like the one with the “machine”.
Wahahahahaah!
Just realized that this is my 500th entry into this amateurish chronicle of food and travel. Imagine that!
Getting to Boston Logan
Besides the strip search that all passengers have to endure at US airports, possibly the most stressful part of catching a plane in the US is actually getting to the airport. Where you will be ordered to remove your jacket, empty out your pockets, remove your MacBook from its case, lose your shoes (and beverages) and walk slooooowly through the metal detector.
It’s tough flying these days. But we endure because the world is big, there’s a lot to see, people are generally good (for the most part) and there’s a lot of food to eat!
The US does not put a priority on “getting to the airport” easily. I live in San Francisco and it took 30 years to get BART (regional rail transit) to go directly into SFO. Oakland is even worse! They had the opportunity to build BART directly into OAK (this was in the 1960’s) when there was absolutely NOTHING out there. Instead, they built an half-assed station with a bus connection to the Terminals. Remember that you’ll often spend just as long on your bus journey then the actual ride time on the BART train from downtown SF to the Coliseum/OAK station. In the language of my forebears, CHI SIN!
But enough of the wonkish discussion of the transit gap. I used to work with urban planners.
Getting to Logan is relatively easy. Take the Blue Line to Gov’t Center and transfer to where you need to go. Unless you begin your journey on the Green Line, which does an uncanny impression of MUNI. It goes slow (realllly sloooooow) and stops every 10 feet…IN THE FRICKING TUNNEL!!! Why lidat? It even says in the guidebooks that if your journey involves the Green Line to allow extra time!
Naturally, my hostel was off of, you guessed it, the Green Line (Kenmore Station). But it was a nice day when I had to leave so I decided to take the Water Taxi over to Boston Logan. You catch the water taxi behind the Marriott on Long Wharf. It takes 10 minutes to cross the harbor and another 5 for the shuttle basi that takes you to the terminals. If you’re running early, this is a nice way to get to the airport.
See that tower thingy in the distance? That’s Logan’s Control Tower
There are several water taxis that run back and forth between Logan side and Long Wharf
Some folks heading into town from Boston Logan
It’s a nice farewell to “America’s Walking City” and it’s always good to learn another way to and from Boston Logan. As long as it’s warm outside!
Buh bye Bahston!
Remember this as you’re ordered to shoe-strip at the checkpoint…
Small small cop car
It’s more like the smallest police cruiser I’ve ever seen! Tripped over this in Chinatown. Just imagine this rollerskate in “hot pursuit”!
So what do you do when he hits you with light and siren? Continue pedalling?
And for those of you who may be thinking that this is some community patrol vehicle, check out the plate on the back!
Yup, it’s a police car alrighty. Guess i’d better pull over.
Samuel Adams Brewery Tour
Besides beans and the Red Sox, one of Bah-ston’s better known products is Samuel Adams beer. More here. It’s named after a real person who was part of the Revolution.
This sign directs you to the Brewery. Big enough?
There’s not much to say about Samuel Adams except that they brew VERY GOOD beer. And there’s several kinds to choose from, such as seasonal brews or varieties that get rotated around. Although their major breweries are in the midwest, the Boston Brewery is where Sam Adams began and is where they still make keg beer for local consumption.
This is where the magic started!! Buuuuurp.
The Boston Brewery has tours. Most of it is a video presentation followed by a walkthrough around the big tanks and some education on what and how the beer is made and its history.
Take the contents of these barrels, combine with a lot of water and process. Voila, beer!
Ever say a beer is “hoppy”? Well, this is what makes it “hoppy”. Hops! But not just ANY hops. Noble Hops!
Beeeeeg beeeeeer taaaaaank
After the “educational” part of the tour, we got to “taste” several brews. Which was what probably, oh say, EVERYONE was there for. There are two bars for the tour groups.
Like most popular pubs, there’s a queue and someone checking IDs…
We were the last tour of the day and because of that, they didn’t shoo us out after 20 minutes so the next tour could go through. So that’s a good tip. Take the last tour on a Friday! I was there for an hour drunking a LOT of beer. Thank goodness I took the T out there.
This is where beer REALLY comes from; it comes from the bar!
The staff would have us all try each brew they had on tap, like a big wine tasting. Fill up the pitchers, pass them around and then have a “taste”. Some of us “tasted” a lot…!
Full of Boston Lager (original Sam Adams brew)
All tasted out! This happened about 9 times before they kicked us out!
We had Boston Original Lager, Summer Ale and Black Lager. When about 2/3 of the crowd left, they opened up the Honey Wheat taps for us. A great time and the tasting was FREE!!! Waaaah!
Must Eat Meeat Seefood!
Yes, I know it’s “SEA”food not “see”food, but remember the old maxim, “Got a great diet. I see food, I eat it”.
In Boston on Sunday. Met up with the DSD to play tourist in “America’s Walking City”. Duck Tour done. Walked a lot. Hungry. Time for seafood!
So off we go to Legal Sea Foods @ Prudential Center! Got lucky as we arrived just before the dinner rush. Our waiter was pleasant and patient as I’m sure he’s had to deal with hungry tourists who want to devour the entire menu all the time. Dinner selections were classics; the idea is if they can’t make these right, they can’t make any food right at all. Happily, the entire meal was fattening and delicious! I think I’ll begin that detox diet after I get back…
Started with crab cake. Mmmmmm. That plate could actually be a meal.
Whatta deal, crab cake (from real real crab!) and a salad! Ate it all we did...
Clam Chowdah. Mmmm. Really good!
I had a whole lobster (split in half)!
One half is baked. Other half is steamed. So I’ve got stoned, angry lobster halves…
DSD and I have excellent eating skills, honed from devouring shellfish at many, MANY Chinese banquets. The result?
Itsy Bitsy Lobster parts…cracked and sucked clean!
After all that, couldn’t even LOOK at the dessert menu. Walked all the way back to the Common.
Swan Boats in the Boston Public Garden
Duck Tour
It’s Sunday in Boston! What to do, what to do? Well if you’re a complete tourist (and who isn’t when they’re visiting a strange place), you eat and do silly tours. First the silly tour! Eating later!
quack quack, whooooo!
Boston Duck Tours (apparently there are Duck Tours all over the world) is a tour of Boston’s touristy parts in a duck. Well officially a DUKW. WWII surplus that’s still in use today. And still seaworthy. But instead of crossing the Charles River to invade and liberate Cambridge from the forces of the politically correct, we just swam around in the river. Fun! The Duck Tours here are extremely popular and the weekends are usually sold out. Fortunately DSD has a concierge in her hotel who was able to swing some tickets. “the concierge is yr fren!”
A tip of the hat to a WWII phenomonon
The tour itself takes you around downtown and much of the tourist areas that are accessible by road. Of course, if you’ve got time, chances are you’ve seen much of these spots already on foot. But if you’re pressed for time, this is a fun alternative. You also get to see things that don’t have the same impact if you were to see them on foot.
The fancy cable stayed Charles River Bridge.
When we were in the Charles, we went under several bridges and learned about various buildings on the waterfront. The most fun thing was that the guide asked for volunteers (first kids then kid like adults) to steer the boat.
The approach to the river where the duck began to swim…
I didn’t step up BTW. I behaved myself. Although it looked fun…
Somehow things look nicer when seen from da water
See what I mean?
Assorted Bah-ston Landmarks
Bah-ston was where the Revolution began. There’s a LOT of history here.
This is the Park Street Church next to Boston Common. This is NOT the Old North Church where Paul Revere got the signal for his ride.
Elegant Spire
This is the New State House, brand new since 1797. It’s the home of the Massachusetts State Government.
Looks impressive at night
The New State House is at the top of Beacon Hill, a really posh area that’s like stepping back in time (except for all those horseless carriages and stuff).
It’s lit by gaslamp, has bricks laid streets and NO PARKING to speak of
And when you see this hovering above you, you know you’re near Fenway Park!
Yup, a big oil company sign.
Lawyer’s Office!
I was puttering around Hah-vahd Square this afternoon when I looked up and saw that my attorney has offices here!
Say the names out loud to get the joke
I didn’t go up to say hello because then it would be considered an office visit with a one hour minimum consultation fee…
Finally Beans!
I finally made it to the hostel where you can actually see Fenway Park from my window facing Comm Ave.
That’s the park in the middle. The Green Monster must be sleeping…
Getting here was a bit tedious since the T is old and escalators were one of those newfangled inventions that was to be avoided, back in the day. Lots of stairs. Luggage. A guy who just got off the redeye AND the connecting flight. Did I mention that it’s raining here? Priceless.
From BOS, you take a shuttle basi for 10 minutes or so to the T station. There, there was a Massachusetts State Trooper on station. He was armed with an MP5 with a flash suppressor. Serious stuff, so I declined to take a snap.
I took the Blue Line and transferred to the Green Line. The hostel is across the street and down 1/2 block from Kenmore station so it was convenient. And even though check in is at 12 noon, I looked soo knackered that the desk staff found me a room that was ready to go. Nice lah!
The flight in was uneventful. I was actually upgraded! Waaaaaah! So I sat in my big seat, had a cuppa coffee and promptly passed out for the duration of the 1.2 hour flight. So if there WAS anything that happened, I missed it.
I did notice something about people here in Boston. They are FAT. Really fat. As in unhealthy fat. It’s got to do with how they eat. Example: back home, regular coffee means black. Here, it’s tons of cream and sugar. Yeech.
Time for a shower. Got 7+ hours of plane and train on me. Yeech.
IAD Death March
When I arrived at IAD, I had 30 minutes to walk (what seemed to be) at least a kilometer to get from gate C15 to D15.
Can anyone tell me why lidat?
I mean, does “shuttle” or “train” mean anything to the Washington Airports Authority? How about AirCon? Because once you crossed the line that separates Terminals C and D, the AirCon disappeared. Yeech.
Thank goodness it was at this ungodly hour otherwise there would be teeming masses of humanity (and humidity) making it worse still!
On the plane now, going to Boston.