Winging it in...Boston!

You're gonna get yourself re-elected.
This weekend has very much picked up where last weekend left off- in the calm, relaxed and completing errands stakes. Not to say that nothing has been going on, just that it hasn’t felt like the “trying out” new activities type of weekend that involve manic rushing around around. This one has been much slower and slotted into the living life and seeing slightly unreal events because of it weekends.

The first excitement of Saturday was the (eventual- and after lots of moaning) heating finally being turned on. I have no control over whether or not the heat in the apartment is actually on or not. Once the leasing company decided to turn it on I can control the level to which it comes out- to some extent; I can alter the radiators but not the hot water pipes. Consequently, my apartment is once again livable, and I will refrain from whinging about the temperature for a good – well few weeks. I had, on Friday night woken up ay 4:30am, wearing a hoodie, socks and encased in a pillow igloo and still far too cold to get out of bed and get a glass of water. I was, and I know how odd I am, therefore drafting a letter comparing the cold scale of my apartment to the pain scale found at the doctor’s office. To my mind, the inability to get a glass of water was impacting on my basic needs and therefore a 9/10 on my new found scale, thus demanding urgent attention (and possible hospitalization). All of this went unsaid though, as the heat did appear on Saturday afternoon before I could complete the letter. The second excitement was a party that involved a fancy dress corner- I’m not going to say anymore on this subject because next time I have a party I will be stealing a lot of ideas from this one and I don’t want to give the game away…

The rest of Saturday revolved around a necessities shopping trip. Not of the grocery and totally pointless kind, and not of the frivolous sparkly object kind, but somewhere in the middle, pleasant and enjoyable with a few treats thrown in kind. The thing that made this different was that President Obama was in town to support the re-election campaign of Governor Deval Patrick who is currently locked in a tight race with republican Charles Baker. Massachusetts is not generally known for its Republican tendencies but did in January, despite another Obama appearance, elect Republican Scott Brown to the Senate. This did seem extremely well managed, with the queues, the road closures and the police/ security presence all being contained to a relatively small area and having very little impact on anything in the vicinity, which meant my shopping could go on unhindered, I didn’t have to queue and I could still hear a vast amount of the rallying and some parts of the speech.

On the whole I am not sure that the cheer of “Hey, hey, Ho, ho, Patrick/Murray- Let’s go!” is that informative, or gives many clues as to his policies and allegiances. The fact that the President has once again come out in support of a friend maybe does, or maybe it just hints that the Baker/Patrick race is closer than he would like… but the dancers and bands and other various entertainers in the street made for a good spectacle. I haven’t been in the UK for a long time, but I’m thinking that there might be more interesting in the politics there if cheers, chants and dancing girls had gotten involved. After all it seems to work for sport and keeps the interest in soccer high… then again I’m also thinking that Cameron/Clegg is harder to rhyme and scan than Patrick/Murray, and cheerleaders in Liverpool might not have quite the same appeal. I guess you could stick the simple D, D, D; Defense… before I get completely carried away with political reform and cheerleading I think I’ll get back to Sunday night chores…

Winging it in...Boston!

You don't seem to have done too badly after the Revolution...
This week was partially back on the Revolutionary trail, but then this is Boston- so how can it be avoid, especially when tourist activities are the main aim of the day.

I have to say, that while Saturday was particularly busy this week, Sunday consisted of a calm and relaxed afternoon. Then again, it could be that Sunday just consisted of a casual waste of time… very nearly my favorite waste of time- as I turned on Sims 3… it has been a while since I last loaded this game up, and I have now remembered why. I do turn back into a grunting teenager the second I start playing. I think the only reason I stopped was because I realized I had a bit of a headache starting, not surprising after sitting in front of a computer screen for 2 ½ hours, not having had a drink and completely engrossed in the mini me running around. Who knew I could become even more self- absorbed than I usually am? I would say I would put it on hold for a while, but now I have remembered how much fun it is, I’m quite sure I won’t. If anything it will actually be a pleasant surprise if I turn up for work tomorrow.

I may have teenage morphed my way through one afternoon, but Saturday was actually fairly productive. I did eventually, after weeks of moving appointments and changing my mind, finally manage to get into the hairdresser. Today I think I may be totally in love with my hairdresser. He has worked miracles and I LOVE my hair. Tomorrow, when I have to style it after a night sleeping on it and having washed it myself, it could be an entirely different story, but today, it is freaking awesome! The only instructions I gave were it must be longer than my shoulders still, and the bangs need to stay longish. Not only did he comply with both requests, I was a little concerned as 4/5” at a time seemed to be hitting the floor, but it is still a few inches below my shoulders, swooshes and swings and generally looks great. In fact so much so, that three random strangers complimented me on it on my way home.

So, with confidence levels high I set out for a Cheesecake Factory lunch and one of the infamous Duck Tours! Having heard about how much fun these are, and also having seen them on “Undercover Boss” (yeah, I know- I need to get out more) I was intrigued by this. It was a little different from most of the regular tours in that you don’t hop on and hop off, well actually I don’t really do that so much anyway, but it does include a driving and river part of the tour, all in one, without having to move out of your seat.

The DUCKs all have different names linked to various parts of Boston and the drivers all have varying personas… all a little kooky and all a little of the regular beat. I’m still not 100% sure if this adds to the experience or if it is just a little scary. In case you have never experienced anything like this before the fun begins as soon as you board your DUCK, a WW III style amphibious landing vehicle, or a DUKW. Although these originally came from WW II they are now gradually being replaced by modified and more updated versions, meaning the seating is all now more enclosed, and the seating area is slightly larger. Given the breeze I was certainly appreciative of the enclosed nature of the DUCK. The ConDUCKtor (feel free to roll your eyes) was a little more animated than usually found on these tours, he did insist on random quacks and some kind of finger wiggle salute at various points on the tour. Possibly, he should have been a little more concerned with the state of the traffic than how many people were wiggling their fingers at him!
Sgt. Meatball (you can see from the names this may be different to usual) did however, make a good job of narrating the tour. While not the packed with facts you usually get, he did point out all the places of note, from the golden-domed State House to Bunker Hill, Boston Common, Copley Square, Government Center and my personal favorite, Newbury Street, and Quincy Market. He took us along the Charles, pointed out the Hancock Towers, with all the glass panels in place, and the Cambridge institutions of Harvard and MIT, all while reminding us that Boston was the birthplace of the Revolution and a city of firsts…

My personal first was that this was the first city tour I have ever been on in which the operator has driven into another vehicle. If like us you happen to be in a WWII bomb proof amphibious truck, this is not so much of an issue. I’m not sure the owner of the BMW would agree. Although I’m sure his insurance report, rear-ended by a duck, would make for great reading. I am also sure that it is at moments like this that the driver wished he wasn’t wearing a blue Hawaiian shirt, a camouflage kilt and some form of fancy dress Sgt’s hat.

I have also decided that another first this week will be baking, and to that end I have made corn bread, and cookies! I am now far too scared to eat them tho. That first may well have to wait until tomorrow! Me, baking! What is the world coming to?

P.S. I nearly forgot the geraniums!

Winging it in...Boston!

How do you like them apples?
This weekend was a real fall adventure and with the start of October it seemed appropriate to be in full fall mode. Saturday can be broken down into a few separate activities although they did all take place at the same time and in the same afternoon trip out to the north of Boston, in Essex and Surrey- this is New England after all.

The first stop of the afternoon was Back Bay farm and riding stables- not as the name suggests in the Back Bay area of Boston but, on the North Shore and the Back Bay area of Ipswich. It is still only about 30 minutes from Boston tho, and set in the most gorgeous county side and scenery, especially now the leaves are turning brilliant shades of red and crimson. Although a lot of the horses were out at competitions the farm was large and had access to a variety of country trails and even to the beach riding in the waves. In fact if there had been more time and less people on the beach it would have been a great opportunity for the “cantering through the foaming waves, and tossing my hair about” fantasy. However, time was short as there was a film location just along the road. While it was a horse themed hour it seemed appropriate to locate one of the farms used in National Velvet. Although most of the shooting for the movie was done in California, one of the farms out in Hamilton was used for one of the scenes, and it seemed worth the short detour off the road to see where Elizabeth Taylor had been riding.

From here it was only a short drive to Myopia Polo the oldest active polo club in America. It was originally granted its charter in 1891 and has seen matches played every Sunday afternoon (when weather permits) between May and October since 1897 to the present day. Well, to be more accurate, to the present tomorrow, as this was a Saturday activity and the last match for 2007 will take place in October 3.

Gibney Field, as well as being the oldest polo field, also holds the distinction as being the first to hold a collegiate game in the US. It was played in 1907 between Harvard and Yale. The original movie of the “Thomas Crown Affair”-the one with Steve McQueen- was also shot here. I’m liking my movie links this week, and don’t panic, there is still another one to come.

The main point of the day, before all the side distractions of the area, was to go apple picking. I have indeed now picked a peck of apples. I’m still not really sure what a bushel is but I know I have a peck (about 10lbs) of apples in my kitchen. Good job I decided I was going to try and eat more healthily for the next few weeks cause I have a lot of apples to get through. Any hints and tips on what to make will be greatly appreciated! I have to say I was surprised at home much organization went into the whole apple picking procedure. There was a store full of apple related products- in case I didn’t have enough apples I could buy apple pie, apple juice, regular apples… the list goes on… I did give in to temptation though and leave with an apple cider donut. Which I have to say was very nice, now if they just created alcoholic cider in the US I’m thinking it would be even nicer.

Not only do they have the apple store, but you get to take a hay ride out to the orchard, and if you go at the right time of year you can also pick your own pumpkins and blackberries. While it is pumpkin season I think it is a little too early to be getting ready for Halloween just yet, and I never have gotten the taste for pumpkin pie, or any pumpkin related products. I was a little upset to have missed out on the blackberries tho. There was a little added excitement to the day as a couple on the Hay ride back got engaged. (Possibly ruined their special moment slightly when the tractor driver said, “congratulations! You are the second couple of the day!” Suddenly I guess it doesn’t seem quite so unique. I’m sure they will be very happy. Maybe this is what adds to this farm being one of the top 1000 attractions in MA. At the risk of sounding a little cynical, and this was a great farm, I wasn’t aware there were even this many farm like attractions in the state.

After filling up on apple related products it was time to head to the beach for a walk. Crane Beach has clear inviting water, (well it looked beautiful and blue, it was way too cold to tempt me) miles of shoreline, and mesmerizing views. It has 5 ½ miles of trails for walking, or as mentioned earlier riding, and it is also apparently a well known sanctuary for piping plovers, a threatened bird that was nearly hunted to extinction in the 19th century for its eggs and feathers. I have no idea what a piping plover would look or sound like, so I will have to accept the word of the Reservation Trustees that they are doing a good job on this one. From this vantage point the Essex River Salt Marshes did look like they might be worth a visit too, but I think this might now have to wait until Memorial Day when all the boats start their trips again.

The final stop for the day, and one more movie location, this time from “Grown Ups” was Woodman’s clam shake. It all started in 1914 when the Woodman family opened up a clam shake on the causeway and invented the fried clam. Today, it was absolutely packed and serves not only clams, lucky for me, but also lobster, other fish, and also some chicken dishes. All the food is served in ready to go brown boxes, and eaten on long wooden trestle tables. I have to say, it was all good. Even the lobster looked good. It was a great way to finish off a busy afternoon, but everything was so much fun, and the weather was so perfect for fall activities I kind of wished it didn’t have to end.