Boston, MA

Boston Lori on Longfellow Bridge 12-1-2008 3-36-42 PM
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2008-12-01

Lori and Ian had an early start at 4:30 am in order to leave the house by 5:30 am for their flight to Boston at 7 am. The flight was on time, Lori read some more of Harry Potter and Ian was forced by boredom to watch Mamma Mia. Getting from the airport to the hotel was easy via a bus and then the T (subway/tube). Lori and Ian were staying at a Residence Inn Marriott in Cambridge. They had managed to get a good rate through John, Lori’s brother in law, and used some of the vouchers they had gotten through Accenture. As Lori and Ian were on a budget, their first order of business was getting some cooking supplies. They got directions to the Start Market, which was a 20 minutes walk from the hotel. They walked through MIT technology-park along the way. After returning to the hotel and having lunch, Ian and Lori walked into the city. They went to TD Banknorth Garden to see if there were any tickets to the Boston Celtic and Orlando Magic basketball game that night. They were in luck. They decided to use the wedding money that Alison and Waling had given them, to get tickets to the game. Unfortunately, they had left the binoculars that they thought they would need for the game at the hotel and they had a backpack with them, which they were told they could not bring in, so they walked back to the hotel. They decided to wait and have dinner after the game, but Ian was a bit hungry when they arrived at the stadium, so they shared fries and a coke. They were quiet pleased with their seats. They were high up on the section referred to as the ‘nosebleed’, but you could see and got a great view of the arena. The binoculars certainly helped at times to get a close up. This was Ian’s first NBA experience and he was impressed by the pace and agility of the players. The game remained close for most of it, with the Celtics leading the whole time and finally ending up as the winners at a score of 107 to 88.

This was Ian’s first NBA experience and he was impressed by the pace and agility of the players

Boston view from Longfellow Bridge 12-1-2008 3-32-58 PM
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2008-12-02

Lori and Ian were up early for the hotel breakfast. The Residence Inn didn’t disappoint, as there were eggs, sausage and potatoes. Ian was still tired, so he took a nap after breakfast and Lori caught up on various admin. They packed up lunch and started their walk for the day. They walked into the city and started the Black Freedom Trailed followed by the Freedom Trail. They enjoyed all the quaint houses on Beacon hill and moved into the city to see Boston Common and the ice skating. As the weather was nice, we stopped and had lunch on a park bench in the common and watched the few people ice skating. We continued on the Freedom trail and saw the State House, Park Street Church (this use to be the first landmark that you would see as you approached Boston), the Old South Meeting House (the decision of No tax on Tea was first reached here), Faneuil Hall, Paul Revere’s House, and the Old North Church (two lanterns were hung here to signal that the British were marching). We walked across the Charlestown Bridge into the Charlestown Navy yard. We timed in right, so we were able to walk around an old war ship and view the US Constitution. Our last stop was Bunker Hill, which marks the first time the American colonial forces held their own against the British forces. Even though Lori is British as well as American, she of course pointed this battle out to Ian. Ian and Lori walked back into town and “treated” themselves to a ride on the T back to the hotel after picking up a few supplies from Wholefoods. Ian cooked steak, mashed potatoes and broccoli for dinner. Unfortunately, the cut of meat for the steak was not very good, but otherwise the meal was tasty.

Boston City view at night 12-1-2008 4-43-04 PM
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2008-12-03

Lori and Ian were up early again, so they could have breakfast at the hotel. After breakfast, Ian took a nap and Lori did some work on the journal. They walked to Harvard Square in the late morning. They were both surprised at how small the campus was and how young all the students looked. They stopped in at Star market to pick up a few more supplies for lunch and dinner and then walked through the MIT campus. This campus was much more impressive in scale and size. They made a stop by the hotel to make some lunch and then went to Prudential Center. They were going to go on the Skywalk, but half of it was closed, so they went to two flights up to the Top of the Hub, ordered two cocktails and watched the sunset over the city. Lori had a Green Tea Mojito and Ian had Tropical Splash. They both felt this was much better value that the observation deck itself as you were treated to all the views and a cocktail for only a few more dollars. It was nice to look at the area they had walked during their stay in Boston. That night they made fajitas for dinner.

Boston NBA Game 12-1-2008 7-33-56 PM
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