BostonStrong

I grew up a 1/2 hour outside of Boston. Instead of trying to explain to people where I lived, I would always say, "I am from Boston". However, with my New England accent it sounds like Baw-stin.

My early memories of Boston are taking the train in to see the Ice Capades, going to Fanueil Hall at Christmas time and talking to Dave Maynard in the WBZ bus, going to the Aquarium, the Science Museum, Red Sox games and the awesome High School field trip where we were let loose in Quincy Market for a few hours.

I also remember driving into the city with my dad at the wheel and watching him turn into "a Boston driver" the minute we hit city limits. A Boston driver is very aggressive (probably an understatement), but you need to know where you are going and not be afraid to cut people off and step on the gas. I am proud to say, when in the city limits, I am a Boston driver, too.

We never went into the city to watch the Marathon on Patriots day. We lived in the middle of the reason for Patriots day, right near Concord.  Patriots Day, Marathon Monday, School Vacation week all felt like the beginning of spring. The Marathon was always on our TV. My dad was an avid runner and that gene seemed to have missed every one of his children. However, we always watched the marathon and knew the big names Joan Benoit, Bill Rodgers, Dick and Rick Hoyt and all the other names we couldn't pronounce. We watched it when Rosie Ruiz claimed the first woman's spot in 1980, but then admitted that she took the T instead of running the whole race.

As I have gotten older, Boston has become less of a mystery to me. It's not easy to get around (see Boston driver remark) and the streets are NOT in a nice and tidy grid. However, it is worth going to over and over again. I like bringing the girls there to show them the beauty of the city they are closest to: the seaport, the Boston Public Gardens (not to be confused with The Gah-den, where the Celtics and Bruins play), the theater district, Quincy Market; so much history and beauty.

And the people: resilient, tough, weathered, kind. You don't mess with Boston as a whole. We are loyal to our sports teams, we throw great parades when they win, we say "better luck next year" when they lose, we love our Sox and strongly dislike the Yankees. Of course, because of the bombing at the Marathon, we don't dislike the Yankees quite as much anymore. Leave it to them to honor Boston by playing Sweet Caroline in the 3rd inning the other day.

For a person or people to ruin what is known as the happiest day in Boston, was unthinkable. A sporting event where people train for months and are in the best shapes of their lives targeted as a "good" spot to kill and maim people. To set if off at a time when  the runners who are running for charities are usually coming into the finish, where my best friend would have been coming in if she hadn't missed qualifying by 50 seconds, when the Sox game was getting out and people were wandering over to the finish line.

Some people are very evil. However, we are BostonStrong. We will mourn for the dead, cry for the wounded, but we will not be stopped. Bostonians, like me, are resilient, tough, loyal and stick together. An act of terror will not stop people from running the Boston Marathon or cheering on the runners. If I know Bostonians, I would dare to say that there will be more people running the marathon next year.

How do you like them apples, evil people?


*Quote from Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting. Wicked awesome Boston movie.

The Day After (Part 2)

(You should read yesterday's post first to get the full effect of vacation week.)

After our nature walk, we met some Maine friends in Freeport. See how overjoyed they are to see each other?

They tried to take off in the Bean Boot Mobile (now I can say I have seen the Wienermobile and the Boot Mobile).

We subdued them with Ben and Jerrys and I am not sure why I didn't take a picture when J's ended up on the sidewalk. (Of course there was swimming, drinking and eating, but no pictures so you can use your imagination.)

The next day we had to leave early to pick K up at the airport, but we found out that she missed her flight, so we ended up going to Boston Common for a few hours. It was such a perfect day to go!

P and B sat on Mrs. Mallard (You all know Make Way for Duckings by Robert McCloskey, right?)

Then we went on a Swan Boat ride.

Saw good'ole George Washington and his steed.

And really just enjoyed the beauty of the day.

Now it is back to reality. P asked me if there were anymore vacation weeks before school got out. Love that she is a wishful thinker.

Do You Segway?

Yesterday I went on a one hour segway tour of the Boston waterfront with (and thanks to) my sister- Karen, her husband-Dave, my brother-Tommy and his fiance-Jenn.

It was FUNTASTIC!

5 giddy, giggling adults cruising the sidewalks of Boston on segways. Who knew adults could have so much fun?

We arrived at Boston Gliders early so we could catch the info video and learn how to not fall off the segway. The video was simply hysterical. I don't think it was suppose to be so funny, but the guy had a wicked Boston accent and was using Boston references throughout. The main point was to be relaxed while on the segway or "get the hell off". Then we hit the sidewalk to try the gems out. I could do a full cirlce like an ice skater in no time!

Captain Jim-Bo was our tour guide. He was all about having a good time on the segs (yeah, I am that cool that I can now call them that) and he threw in a little history of the waterfront. I handed over my camera to the Segway tour caboose and he took shots while we rode. A helmet cam would have been hysterical. (Next time). Captain Jim had a mic hooked up and we all had receivers and an earplug so we would hear him while we rode.

I couldn't do the trip justice with just a few pictures, so I made you a video. Yeah, I am nice like that.
Keep in mind that it was freezing and windy yesterday. That is why we look like eskimos.

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Boston

There is nothing like a ride on a yellow school bus to get your adrenaline pumping for the day! Yes, the 3rd grade and I went on a field trip to Boston today. And yes, it took a good 1 1/2 hours to get there. On a yellow school bus. More fun couldn't be had anywhere else!

We went on the Duck Tours. These car/boats are amphibious mobiles that were used in WWII (I think). You get a tour around Boston and then you get a tour on the Charles River. It is very cool actually. We couldn't have planned a nicer day for this.
An example of a duck boat in the water.
The Boston sky line.
The Zakim Memorial Bridge.

Then we went to the Boston Common, had lunch and then went for a ride on the swan boats.


After the swan boats, we stopped by and visited Mrs. Mallard with her duckies from Make Way for Ducklings. This is a great book by the way if you haven't already read it yourself or to your kids.

Then it was the ride home, rest for 1 hour and head to soccer practice. You'll have to excuse me if there are more pictures than words tonight, but I am tired!