Early morning walkabout

During our stay in Boston the sun rose at about 6:30 and set at around 4:30. With that in mind I was out the door at 7:15 to make the full use of the day. Unfortunately the place I was headed for breakfast opens at 8. I've wandered around, trying to get a feel for the streets and locations so I don't get horribly lost. I came across the public library and the Trinity Church

I ended up in the Public Gardens across the pond from a gentleman doing what appeared to be Tai Chi. A decent sized squirrel come over by my bench - which happened to be the spot where Larry asked Meghan to marry him back in 2007. How do I know?

And it appears that Washington was a Red Sox fan.

As I was sitting there I realized that I had seen the duck pond before. I looked around a bit more and took in the bridge and the island where a lot of ducks lived.

And I realized that the Boston Public Gardens is the setting for the book Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey. This was confirmed when I saw the statue dedicated to him.

On the second day, I let myself sleep in a bit, but I still headed for the Public Garden and the Commons. In fact, many of the blogs I've posted on this trip were written or at least started while sitting on a bench in the Garden. The colors of the leaves were wonderful and the weather, while a little chill, was not unpleasant.

I was happy the last day to spend time in the Garden with Angel. We both loved the feel of the city and enjoyed walking around a lot. The traffic was nuts and we were very glad that we didn't have to. I probably covered at least a couple of miles each day: walking the freedom trail, visiting the Museum of Science, and looking at the different buildings with Angle. 

Burying Grounds

Along the Freedom trail are several burying grounds. I don't know why they are not called cemeteries. Perhaps that will be a post for my research blog. My family have been to a number of cemeteries. Just as any of my siblings about the trip to Boot Hill. As a kid i never really found them if much interest. I have much more interest in them now, although i must say that after visiting three in one day they started to look the same. It was still interesting to see what differences they had and I tried to find new ways at looking at them. First I was able to explore the Granary burying ground. This is where John Hancock, Paul Revere, and Benjamin Franklin's parents are buried alone with other notables. I just didn't get pictures of those other notables. 

That's Franklin's parents memorial in the center. You can see how many graves there are. They're quite worn down but it is still impressive. As I was leaving I saw Samuel Adams. It was interesting to see the dates going back to the 1600s. The earliest death dates I'm used to are late 1700s. 

The next stop alone the trail was another burying ground. This one next to the King's Chapel. Originally the two were not affiliated the burying ground being there before the church. I tried to grab pictures of some of the art on the grave stones. Here's a side note, there are about 550 grave stones and about 1000 dead. What blows my mind is that the space is so small. There are a couple of family tombs that actually extend below he sidewalk.

Sorry about the bad exposure on that second picture. It's of a headstone featuring a skeleton and a young women. You'll notice the a kill with the wings in the top photo. That was a very, very common engraving on grave stones. It is a symbol of death and the freedom of he soul. I overheard that from a class group that came through Park church burying ground. I ran into them a number of times along the trail. Final thought on King's church burying ground - I don't envy the angels who will have to open this tomb. 

The last burying ground kind of sneaked up on me. It's know as Copp's Hill burying ground. It was by far the largest of the three and had a look over the river. At this point o the day I had been on the move for several hours and was anxious to get to the USS Constitution so I really didn't stay long. I did get some decent shots of the trees though. Anyone who is familiar with Veggitales may know the song, "the Pirates who don't do Anything." The final phrase in each verse is, "And I've never been to Boston in the fall." I'm glad I came here in he fall because it is rather beautiful. 

The Old Churches

Along the Freedom Trail are two churches, the Old South Church and the Old North Church. Original names I know but they are fantastic buildings. The first one you see is the Old South Church.

They are currently restoring the outside of the building, primarily the wooden parts, windows and such. I thought the flare from the sun was a nice touch. The inside is a museum as this was the site of the decision to conduct the Boston Tea Party (original). The inside is impressive and a little odd if you haven't seen the set up before. 

The pulpit was very impressive. I did wonder about the hanging ceiling though. I ask the docent at the Old North Church about t, as they had one above the pulpit. It turns out it is a sounding board to reflect the speaker's voice back down to those assembled. And considering those assembled, the second picture shows a pew. Keep in mind that the pulpit is to the right, that means that some of the people sitting in the pew the speaker will be behind them. I learned from a guide at the Old North church that a stranger, new parishioner or visitor could use what was called the "stranger's pew" at the back but that after three times coming to church they were excepted to buy a pew. The Old North Church had the family names on the pews as it is still a Episcople meeting house. The Old north Church was where the "One if by land. Two if by sea" occured. They have a nice mural at the head of the hall and a cool organ over the door in the balcony.

Somehow I didn't snap a picture of the outside of the Old North Church. It was raining by that point in the day and I was anxious to do see the last few locals along the freedom trail. I do regret not getting one. It was a pretty cool building.

The Charlestown Navy Yard

Aye, tear her tattered ensign down

Long has it waved on high

And many an eye has danced to see

That banner in the sky.

I memorized these and the other words of Longfellow's poem "Old Ironsides" when I was in ninth grade. The poem was written to honor the USS Constitution nicknamed "Old Ironsides" as, in her first engagement, the enemy's cannon balls quite literally bounced off "as if her side's were made if iron." She won every engagement she was involved in but at the end of the war of 1812 she had no real purpose. She fell into disrepair and was almost a casualty of neglect.

However, luckily, there have been a couple of restorations that ultimately allowed her not only to be viewed as a monument but also as a fully functional sailing ship that is the official national flagship of the navy. And she is a beauty.

I have to confess that I always thought that I understood how much rope was needed for a sailing ship, but I have to say that I had no idea of what it really takes.

In the picture of the gun deck you can see the bundles of the brown hemp rope along the pin rail (where the belaying pins are, just to the side of the carronade.) You can also the black nylon static line arranged on the small stand of pins on the left side of the photo. Directly behind me (unseen) are several large large coils of the static line. It blew my mind how many linear feet of rope there was. Certainly enough to climb Angel's landing a couple of times.

You can't really see it in the above picture but Constitution has two different kind of cannon.

On the left is a carronade and on the right is a cannon. Both fire the same caliber cannonball, but the carronade is shorter and fires a 32 pound ball while the cannon has a long barral and fires a 24 pound ball. As one of the servicemen acting as docent compared them, the carronade is like a shotgun - short range, hard hitting while the cannon is like a rifle - longer-ranged, accurate fire support. Something else in regard to armaments that the companion museum mentioned is when you fire different kinds of shot. Most people are familiar with the standard ball know for punching holes in hulls, deck, and people that they hit. Some are even familiar with chain shot, two balls connected by a length of chain used to tangle the rigging and also good at putting holes of varying sizes in people that get in the way. While I always thought that cannon (or carronade) might specialize in their shots, deliberately aiming at hull or rigging, the best way to aim up was to wait for the ship to roll up. So while I thought the gunners would adjust the cannon to target, they would just wait for the ship to aim for them. The trick would be to figure out when you would be firing (on the up or down roll) and load the right shot. Here's a view of below decks. The guns on top were primarily carronade a while those below were cannon.

The Constitution was rated as a 52 gun frigate and the secret to her success, survivability and nickname comes from her construction material. The builders used a wood called live oak that grows in swamps in the southern states. For a comparison they had three equal sized blocks of fir, white oak, and live oak. Each block measured about 4"x4"x12". The white oak was at least double the weight of the pine, but the live oak felt to be almost double the white oak. That was a block of wood that felt like it sink in water. Interestingly enough, the hull was not made entirely out of live oak, but just the structural parts, the ribs as an example. The hull was white oak and the decking pine. This means that her sides were the same (or very close too the same) as her opponents. It was the inside that was different. I'm sure there is a life lesson there but you can find it for yourself. 

The companion museum had a lot of fun exhibits for adults and children. Fitting as the first restoration effort was funded by children who collected money to that end. The rest of the naval yard includes a modern-era destroyed, the USS Cassin Young, but it was not open for touring that day.

There was also one of the first dry docks built for repairing ships. This enabled Boston to make faster, more complete repairs to ships.

As well as a great view of the harbor. Complete with yellow "duck" 

They use these amphibious craft (originally designed and built for beach assaults) as a main mode for touring Boston. This was the first yellow one I had seen.

Eating in Boston

I've been advised to say that you shouldn't read this if you are hungry.

One of Angel's and my favorite things to do is try new restaurants. We enjoy the settings, the feel, and the food that we can enjoy. Boston did not disappoint. While breakfast was standard (Boloco - a very good burrito franchise) and lunches were basic fare (Burger King or the food court at Fenieul Hall), we had some excellent food and fun at dinner. I am not one to take pictures of my food and so, with one very notable exception I have no photos to post here. All I have to say about the hotel's restaurant is that they wanted $18 for a hamburger and they charged the same for the continental breakfast.

The first night we took a walk into the North End, a portion of Boston that was the home to many Italian immigrants. The place is covered in small Italian restaurants, many if them initially started as family businesses. Italian food is some of my favorite. Pasta, pizza, and the Italian soups are so good and filling. We decided to try one called Antico Forno Pizza Restaurant in Salem Street. They specialized in brick oven cooking, using it for both their pizza and as a way of preparing their pasta dishes. Many dishes will spend time in the oven after being assembled as the final stage of cooking. I ordered the Rigatoni Salsiccia which consisted of rigatoni pasta with sausage, marinara sauce and ricotta cheese. My family knows how I eat - shamefully fast - and so it is no small complement when I purposefully put my fork down between bites to savor each and every mouthful. I describe this as "Put the fork down good." Interestingly enough, Italian dishes tend to have this effect on my more than others and this was certainly "Put the fork down good." The restaurant won a "Best of Boston" award last year in dinning and are well towards another. We left full and very satisfied.

The next day saw us trying two new places. The first was a chocolatier recommended to us by one of Angel's coworkers. L.A. Burdick is located just up from Trinity Church south of the Public Gardens. In addition to delicacies Burdicks sells some of the best hot chocolate I've ever tasted. Made from chocolate shavings it has a rich, full flavor that doesn't just taste like a melted chocolate bar (which I have tasted), but adds something additional to the flavor. I tried both the dark and the white chocolate flavors while Angel let me sample some of her milk chocolate. The dark was my favorite, as I really love a strong chocolate flavor. Angel enjoyed it so much that her souvenir of choice was a large cup and saucer with their name which included a bag of their hot chocolate mix.

That night we tried a recommendation of one of the other conferences attendees, a delightful restaurant called Fire and Ice on Berkeley street, not far from L.A. Burdick. The dinning experience is one on an experimental kitchen where you choose the ingredients and then they cook it for you. The name is derived from the ice that keeps the individual ingredients cold and the the large (8 feet across) circular grill where you watch your food being prepared i.e. where they fire it up. While you wait you can see what other people put together and can chat with those around you. The ingredients fall into four areas: American (beef, ribs, hamburgers and hot dogs, potatoes, BBQ sause), Latin (Curizo, fajita, lime, peppers, onions, chilies), Italian (pasta, meatballs, marinara, garlic, parmesan, scallions, oil and vinegar) and Asian (egg and rice noodles, bock choy, ginger, teriyaki, tofu, pork and sausage, calamari and shrimp). They also had a salad bar. Many ingredients were glutton free and it was easy to build a vegan or vegetarian meal if you wanted to. I mixed rice noodles with chorizo, Italian sausage, and pork then added onions, green peppers, scallions, mushrooms, and water chestnuts. For a sauce I used a Asian sauce similar to teriyaki but a little milder but then peped it up with a mix of chili powder, sesame seeds and black pepper. The over all effect was taste and left that tingle in my mouth from the two different sausages. It's buffet style so you can mix and match to your hearts content. As Angel pointed out, "if you don't like it, it's your own fault." While waiting for the food to cook she chatted with some Chinese exchange students hoping to get into MIT and I met a man who was celebrating his 25th wedding anniversary that night. The whole experience was a lot of fun, combining a chance to try new foods with a fun opportunity to meet new people. We both agreed that we would love to have a Fire and Ice here at home.

Our last dinner was the best. This was for several reasons. While I had been looking forward to trying The Melting Pot, a fondue restaurant of no little renown, I didn't think that we would need to call ahead. When we tried to get a table the next available one would be available in three hours. We could have sat at the bar, but we wanted a more private table for our last night in Boston. A little discouraged we set off to fin something else. We ended up at a little place called Finale located in the Park Plaza building at the point of Columbus Street (my view out the window was looking right at the sign.) It became clear that Finale specializes in desserts, holding an award for "Best of Boston - whoopie pie." However, they had a respectable selection of entries as well. Ironically, we didn't get a secluded table, but we were both hungry and thought it looked good. About a year ago my sister and her husband ,EA and Jate, introduced me to Hell's Kitchen. While I just watched the one season I was blown away by the creativity and artistry of the chefs. Since then I've wanted to try a meal like they put together with different flavored, served in a deliberate and artistic manner. Finale provided that. I had a roast chicken with a cake of polenta covered in a corn and avocado salad. The flavors blended nicely and I found myself very satisfied with the flavors I could enjoy depending on what parts of the meal I combined. We ordered our meal as a special with dessert attached and I tried honest to goodness Boston Cream served on a vanilla cake with a taste of gelato and cherry almond florentines and three mini whoopie pies. It was wonderful, "put your fork down good." I completely understand how they won the whoopie pie award. The final complement to our evening that night was due to the proximity of the tables to each other. We had learned that many Bostonians are open and very friendly if your sharing space with them. At lunch we spend almost a solid hour in conversation with some people who shared our table with us. At dinner as we were waiting for our food the couple next to us commented that we must be newlyweds. It was fun to see their reaction when we replied, "Oh, no. We've been married seven years and have two kids." Again we were able to converse for ten minutes or so while we waited for our food and they finished their drinks. They were a charming couple who had been married for 25 years and had sneaked out for dessert and needed to figure out what to feed their 15 year old. We were both very happy with the food, the company, and the atmosphere. So without further words, here is the only picture of food I've had any desire to post for public view - the Boston Cream from Finale.