Boston

Traveling to exciting East Coast destinations like Philadelphia and Washington DC has been a nice benefit of living in New York for a summer, but I felt lucky this week to also visit family as part of my summer.

As always, I tried to pack the week full of activities in New York before heading away for the weekend. Monday night I took the ‘N’ train to Greenwich Village to spend a few hours at Café Wha; widely recognized as one of the best small live music venues in New York, and famous for being the place where Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan started their careers. ‘Brazooka’ was the name of the band that played, and its six members treated the small audience to wild, Brazilian-style music and dancing that was something between salsa and reggae, but much more energetic.

I’m learning to appreciate all kinds of different Broadway shows. Watching three witty women star in ‘9 to 5’ last week made me feel less than manly, and this week I pretended I was fifteen years younger and bought a ticket to ‘Shrek the Musical’. The great thing about Shrek was that the show really transported the audience to a different world. Walking into the theatre felt like walking into a fairy tale, and the tale was brought to life by phenomenal props and costumes on stage. I particularly enjoyed the nasally-voiced Pinocchio with a nose that actually grew by several inches, the three fat pigs complete with bewildered expressions and classic pink costumes, the emotions of Shrek’s wily and impulsive donkey, and the giant electrical magic mirror that the arrogant king used to locate his fair maiden. I can only imagine what surprises I’ll find at ‘The Lion King’ when I see it a few weeks from now.

Wednesday night I discovered one of the best cheap Thai restaurants in New York, called “Pam’s Real Thai”. The tasty Pad Thai noodles and sweet but spicy Panang Curry was enough to convince me to head back for more before the summer is over.

I love going to Boston. Of course the historical sites are nice, but it feels like a rare luxury these days to be able to spend a weekend with family. A four hour bus ride Thursday night was a small price to pay to spend the weekend with Camille and Steve and their kids in Sudbury, Massachusetts.

The weekend was packed with unique and interesting activities. Friday morning I visited the Minute Man National Park with Camille and the kids. The visitors center had a great video presentation detailing the beginning of the Revolutionary War, including an account of the first shots fired in Lexington, the ‘Shot Heard Round the World’ in Concord, and the bloody battle that followed as American colonists chased the British troops back to Boston. After watching the movie I headed for a bike ride down the Minute Man trail with Jono, Emilie, and Annelise. It was incredible to me to pass a couple giant headstones that read, ‘Near here lies a British soldier’. Even more incredible, perhaps, was that some tourist had placed a Union Jack and small memorial at the base of the headstones to honor the British soldiers that served their king so faithfully. After passing a 17th century house made famous by a colonist who sympathetically treated the British soldiers wounds, we arrived at a tavern near Concord. I was impressed to watch a lady dressed in colonial clothing fire a musket twice as part of a demonstration. Camille’s kids were not quite as impressed… “They fire muskets all the time around here”, Emilie told me.

Back in Lexington the group of us toured the Buckman Tavern, which is known as the ‘headquarters’ of the colonial militia prior to the provoking attack by British troops (although my impression from the tour guide was that the militia just happened to be drinking at the tavern beforehand – hence the building was their headquarters). I was fascinated to walk through the cramped, dark rooms of the home (one of which was open to visitors for drinking and socializing), and I tried to imagine what life would have been like there during the late 18th century. While chatting with the tour guide I learned that colonists in Massachusetts were generally more educated than those in other states because they were so dedicated to religion. By studying the Bible the colonists learned to read, and thus were more educated and able to stay informed about politics and current events. That likely was the reason why Massachusetts was the first place where colonists voiced opposition to the British and began the Revolutionary War. Sophia also asked an interesting question of the tour guide, “How old are the plastic logs in the fireplace?”

Before heading back to Sudbury we stopped at Kimball Farms for some classic homestyle ice cream. Camille warned me that the portions were enormous and sure enough, my ‘Kiddie Size’ cup had at least two pints of ice cream in it. I enjoyed the ‘Heath Bar’ and ‘Chocolate Raspberry Swirl’ flavors, and Ezra happily licked ice cream off his fingers as I snapped a few pictures.

Friday night Steve joined us and we all drove up to Rockport, Massachusetts to hang out and enjoy the scenery. With all its restaurants and art galleries the place reminded me of Park City, Utah, but with a colonial fishing village twist. The most famous sight in the town is easily “Motif Number 1”, a red fishing shack originally built in the 1840’s that is now one of the most often-painted buildings in America.

After a lazy Saturday morning Camille and the family and I headed to Boston to see the long-awaited “Tall Ships Festival”. Giant colonial-era sailboats lined the piers of Boston, and hoards of visitors walked along the shoreline to admire the massive ships. The boats are in Boston as part of a giant race, during which they have already crossed the entire Atlantic Ocean. I amazed that sailing across the Atlantic Ocean is something people do for recreation these days… I’m sure it didn’t feel recreational for Christopher Columbus or for the many explorers who came after him.

Sunday was relaxing. It feels great to wake up to a bright, airy house filled with kids on a Sunday morning. I don’t think I’ve done that for twelve years or more. In classic Ebert tradition we all feasted on homemade crepes with Nutella and fruit filling (a tradition I definitely want to integrate into my own family someday). After church Steve drove me to a handful of Sudbury’s famous historical sites before dinner; including Longfellow’s Wayside Inn (the longest operating inn in America), the Wayside Inn Grist Mill with its giant red waterwheel, and the Redstone School, where Mary of ‘Mary had a Little Lamb’ brought her tiny sheep to class each day.

Touring the East Coast has been a blast and I’m glad I had the opportunity to do it. Spending time with Camille’s family was definitely the highlight of the weekend, and I look forward to getting together with family in Salt Lake only a few weeks from now.