Browsing Beantown
Boston was our destination of choice this Labor Day weekend. We stayed with some friends of ours there – they actually live about 20 minutes from the Quincy Adams Station of the Red Line of the MBTA. About an hour or so outside of Downtown Boston.
It was actually a lot of fun. The drive to their place was long though – about 4 and a half, nearly 5 hours from Princeton, NJ. We left here probably close to 6 or so, and arrived there around 11 at night. Long drive – I offered to help my husband out – split the drive, so to speak. But since it was dark and we were taking the SUV on the curvy length of I-95, we decided it was best if he take it, and I could help him out on the return trip.
So, like I said – got there at about 11 at night. Had dinner at their place – by the time we went to bed, it was close to midnight, 1 o’clock. We slept really well; in fact, we didn’t get up til about 10 or 11 the next morning. Got up and had breakfast – then about an hour later, we had lunch (I know, it was bizarre). We showered and got ready…we were trying to decide what to do that day, and finally decided we go into downtown Boston, visit the Science Museum there, and then head over to see Spiderman 2 at the IMAX theater at the New England Aquarium.
We left the house about 1 o clock or so and took the train into the downtown area. For all you kiddies in the Jersey area, let me tell you: taking the train in Boston was quite different from taking the train here in Jersey to New York.
A breakdown:
Here: Impossible to find a parking space at the train station unless you arrive before 6:30.
There: We literally had our pick of hundreds of parking slots.
Here: Trains so crowded you have to stand next to some guy who smells like a grilled cheese sandwich that been sitting on the counter for a week.
There: A lady with a shopping bag in the far corner of the car, two teenage guys on the other end talking about their plans for a weekend at the bay. Other than that, the car is completely empty.
Let me tell you – it was actually a pleasant experience!
We took the Red Line in, switched over to the Green Line and got out at the station just across from the Fleet Center. That’s where my co-worker Bob was a few weeks ago when the Democratic National Convention was in town. I thought of him when I saw the Fleet. We had to walk a couple blocks to catch a bus to the Science Museum. Normally the train would let us off right at the museum, but apparently they’re doing some construction/renovation work, so they had a shuttle bus taking people over instead. It was a gorgeous sunny day, though, so I really didn’t mind.
The bus let us off at the museum, and we went in and bought our tickets. We ended up going to the food court first to grab a bite to eat – by that time it was already 3! (Amazing how time flies!)
We went into the museum around 3:30 or so, and wandered around, exploring the exhibits until about 5 pm. It was really pretty interesting. The family that we were staying with has two kids – one is 9, the other is about 4 – so of course everything that we saw was right up their alley. They loved all the hands-on activities and exhibits and loved going and investigating everything. And of course, for us grown-ups it was interesting as well. Something for everyone, really.
Just as an aside – for any Lord of the Rings fans venturing into Boston before October 24 – there’s a huge Lord of the Rings Exhibit going on now. It looked pretty cool – they have the costumes and scenery and everything on display, and they have presentations going through a sort of “Making Of…” feature. We didn’t go, but there were banners and poster advertisements everywhere.
Check out the following link if you’re interested:
http://ww11.e-tractions.com/mos/run/lotr?rd=502
(Just note that the link above probably won’t work if you’re clicking on it after October 24)
This concludes our shameless plug. We now return to The Story of My Life….
We left the museum at around 5:30 or so and headed over to the New England aquarium, buying our tickets to see SpiderMan 2 in Imax. Interestingly, they also happened to be showing Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban at the same theater in Imax as well. Let me tell you, I really wouldn’t have minded going to see that instead. Daniel Radcliffe – post puberty – on a larger than life screen…not a bad thing at all! That, and seeing Draco get the daylights socked out of him by Hermione – oooh…Yes, I’d pay good money to see that!!
By the way, I should know this, but does she deck him in the book as well? Or is it something that they just added for the movie? I can’t remember….does anyone recall?
But alas, we went to Spiderman 2 anyway. Just as good though, They aren’t kidding – it’s definitely worth it to see a movie like that in IMAX. The screen is huge. Spiderman 2 has so much action, so much suspense and tension – it’s really a spectacular experience to be able to see something with such intricate and exquisite special effects in that sort of larger-than-life display. The movie itself was fantastic. The plot carried it well – we really got a wonderful view of Parker’s inner turmoil – all the doubts and worries and emotional conflicts festering inside of him. Tobey MacGuire did a fantastic job. Not Oscar worthy, by any means, but fantastic nonetheless. The special effects were superb, the action was edge-of-your-seat…and there were more than a few moments where I had my hands over my face and was peering through my fingers in anticipation. Very tense…
After the movie ended at about 10, we took the train back home. We had a light dinner and watched a Tamil movie – I didn’t finish it because I was so tired – and went to bed.
The next morning was very relaxed and laid back. We stayed at home, watched a Tamil movie, watched Tamil film songs, just vegged out. In the evening we played a few rounds of poker. They said it was the same kind of poker that was played in casinos, but it really didn’t look the same. It just seemed very different to me. But it was fun. I ended up third out of four in terms of who won/lost.
Then we left their house at around 1:30 or so on Monday. Took about 6 hours to get home – only because we stopped on the way for a gas break/bathroom break/munchies break. So we got home around 7, and let me tell you – as much as I love to travel and visit new places and all that, there’s nothing like the feeling of coming home to your own house. It’s just….yours. Your bed, your food, your home. My husband said that, too. He was sitting on the bed with a beer and a bowl of chips and said, “It’s good to be home…”
Pepper’s not here yet – we need to pick her up from the kennel this evening. My husband’s so worried about her. It’s so cute. He’s all, “I hope they treat her well.” And “She’s been without us for a whole week,” and “I hope she doesn’t get a fever, we dropped her off right after she had her shots…”
My husband is so sweet. He’s going to make an amazing father…
***********************************************************
Harry: You heard Hagrid; follow the spiders.
Ron: Why does it have to be follow the spiders? Why can't it be follow the butterflies?
It was actually a lot of fun. The drive to their place was long though – about 4 and a half, nearly 5 hours from Princeton, NJ. We left here probably close to 6 or so, and arrived there around 11 at night. Long drive – I offered to help my husband out – split the drive, so to speak. But since it was dark and we were taking the SUV on the curvy length of I-95, we decided it was best if he take it, and I could help him out on the return trip.
So, like I said – got there at about 11 at night. Had dinner at their place – by the time we went to bed, it was close to midnight, 1 o’clock. We slept really well; in fact, we didn’t get up til about 10 or 11 the next morning. Got up and had breakfast – then about an hour later, we had lunch (I know, it was bizarre). We showered and got ready…we were trying to decide what to do that day, and finally decided we go into downtown Boston, visit the Science Museum there, and then head over to see Spiderman 2 at the IMAX theater at the New England Aquarium.
We left the house about 1 o clock or so and took the train into the downtown area. For all you kiddies in the Jersey area, let me tell you: taking the train in Boston was quite different from taking the train here in Jersey to New York.
A breakdown:
Here: Impossible to find a parking space at the train station unless you arrive before 6:30.
There: We literally had our pick of hundreds of parking slots.
Here: Trains so crowded you have to stand next to some guy who smells like a grilled cheese sandwich that been sitting on the counter for a week.
There: A lady with a shopping bag in the far corner of the car, two teenage guys on the other end talking about their plans for a weekend at the bay. Other than that, the car is completely empty.
Let me tell you – it was actually a pleasant experience!
We took the Red Line in, switched over to the Green Line and got out at the station just across from the Fleet Center. That’s where my co-worker Bob was a few weeks ago when the Democratic National Convention was in town. I thought of him when I saw the Fleet. We had to walk a couple blocks to catch a bus to the Science Museum. Normally the train would let us off right at the museum, but apparently they’re doing some construction/renovation work, so they had a shuttle bus taking people over instead. It was a gorgeous sunny day, though, so I really didn’t mind.
The bus let us off at the museum, and we went in and bought our tickets. We ended up going to the food court first to grab a bite to eat – by that time it was already 3! (Amazing how time flies!)
We went into the museum around 3:30 or so, and wandered around, exploring the exhibits until about 5 pm. It was really pretty interesting. The family that we were staying with has two kids – one is 9, the other is about 4 – so of course everything that we saw was right up their alley. They loved all the hands-on activities and exhibits and loved going and investigating everything. And of course, for us grown-ups it was interesting as well. Something for everyone, really.
Just as an aside – for any Lord of the Rings fans venturing into Boston before October 24 – there’s a huge Lord of the Rings Exhibit going on now. It looked pretty cool – they have the costumes and scenery and everything on display, and they have presentations going through a sort of “Making Of…” feature. We didn’t go, but there were banners and poster advertisements everywhere.
Check out the following link if you’re interested:
http://ww11.e-tractions.com/mos/run/lotr?rd=502
(Just note that the link above probably won’t work if you’re clicking on it after October 24)
This concludes our shameless plug. We now return to The Story of My Life….
We left the museum at around 5:30 or so and headed over to the New England aquarium, buying our tickets to see SpiderMan 2 in Imax. Interestingly, they also happened to be showing Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban at the same theater in Imax as well. Let me tell you, I really wouldn’t have minded going to see that instead. Daniel Radcliffe – post puberty – on a larger than life screen…not a bad thing at all! That, and seeing Draco get the daylights socked out of him by Hermione – oooh…Yes, I’d pay good money to see that!!
By the way, I should know this, but does she deck him in the book as well? Or is it something that they just added for the movie? I can’t remember….does anyone recall?
But alas, we went to Spiderman 2 anyway. Just as good though, They aren’t kidding – it’s definitely worth it to see a movie like that in IMAX. The screen is huge. Spiderman 2 has so much action, so much suspense and tension – it’s really a spectacular experience to be able to see something with such intricate and exquisite special effects in that sort of larger-than-life display. The movie itself was fantastic. The plot carried it well – we really got a wonderful view of Parker’s inner turmoil – all the doubts and worries and emotional conflicts festering inside of him. Tobey MacGuire did a fantastic job. Not Oscar worthy, by any means, but fantastic nonetheless. The special effects were superb, the action was edge-of-your-seat…and there were more than a few moments where I had my hands over my face and was peering through my fingers in anticipation. Very tense…
After the movie ended at about 10, we took the train back home. We had a light dinner and watched a Tamil movie – I didn’t finish it because I was so tired – and went to bed.
The next morning was very relaxed and laid back. We stayed at home, watched a Tamil movie, watched Tamil film songs, just vegged out. In the evening we played a few rounds of poker. They said it was the same kind of poker that was played in casinos, but it really didn’t look the same. It just seemed very different to me. But it was fun. I ended up third out of four in terms of who won/lost.
Then we left their house at around 1:30 or so on Monday. Took about 6 hours to get home – only because we stopped on the way for a gas break/bathroom break/munchies break. So we got home around 7, and let me tell you – as much as I love to travel and visit new places and all that, there’s nothing like the feeling of coming home to your own house. It’s just….yours. Your bed, your food, your home. My husband said that, too. He was sitting on the bed with a beer and a bowl of chips and said, “It’s good to be home…”
Pepper’s not here yet – we need to pick her up from the kennel this evening. My husband’s so worried about her. It’s so cute. He’s all, “I hope they treat her well.” And “She’s been without us for a whole week,” and “I hope she doesn’t get a fever, we dropped her off right after she had her shots…”
My husband is so sweet. He’s going to make an amazing father…
***********************************************************
Harry: You heard Hagrid; follow the spiders.
Ron: Why does it have to be follow the spiders? Why can't it be follow the butterflies?
posted by lavender | 2:46 PM
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