Decided on a whim to make a day trip to Boston, which is only about a 2-hour drive from where we are in Connecticut. Haven't been there in over 7 years (holy cow!), but much was still the same.
Jesse and hubs came with me, as we took the little Jetta through wind, snow, ice, and finally sun again. We stopped at Concord, MA, home of the American Revolution, to visit my alma mater. Bittersweet memories. I was 16, it was cold, I was on my own. I learned a lot pretty quickly.
Entrance to the campus; my old dorm, a little spiffed up but still the same
Chapel where we spent every other morning
We wanted to walk down Main Street for a bit, but our little butts were freezing, so we set off for the train station. The commuter rail ran less frequently than I remembered... we piled back in the car and drove to Alewife, the western end of the T's red line, and took the subway into Chinatown for lunch. No more little gold tokens; the MBTA now had CharlieCards, similar to DC's metro cards and named after the Kingston Trio tune. (Jess' second subway trip ever, so he was a little apprehensive. "Are we there yet? Are we there yet?")
Chinatown was still filled with interesting smells, as I remembered. I recall many Saturdays wandering aimlessly in the Common and that section of town, and I knew Chinatown like the back of my hand. Naturally, I was embarrassed when we had a little trouble with directions, but we finally found China Pearl, the best dim sum I could find during my high school days. Hubs and I ate like wolves, while Jess poked his food around suspiciously with his chopsticks, awkwardly held, and the Southern conservative in him raised all kinds of alarms as he surveyed the banquet hall full of Asians. Poor boy was like a fish out of water. Still, gotta give him credit for trying my favorite dim sum dish ever, feng zao (chicken feet) - although, when he originally guessed the stringy meat could be testes, anything's gotta be better.
Satisfied, we hobbled out of the restaurant and walked around the park. There were kids skating on the Frog Pond, dog-walkers, peacoat-clad Bostonians with their iPods...
Boston Common
After we had enough of the cold, we sought out a bar for an afternoon drinkie drink. Nothing more appropriate than a Sam Adams - even better, at the Cheers pub. Between the actual bar the sitcom was based on, and the replica of the set, we arbitrarily decided to visit the replica at Faneuil Hall Marketplace (also by Quincy Market). Even though I had gone to school where the Minutemen were, a few minutes from Walden Pond and home of American legends like Emerson and Thoreau, I had never been to Faneuil Hall, the Cradle of Liberty. Similarly, I had never been to the Boston Market!
Sam Adams stands tall in front of Faneuil Hall; Quincy Market across from Faneuil Hall
Like a true Bostonian (or tourist) - Sam Adams in a Cheers mug
Quincy Market at dusk
We checked out the shops along the row before heading back on the subway to Porter Square in Cambridge. Porter Exchange was one of my old haunts, for the plethora of Japanese goods and the Japanese grocery store that has almost everything. Sushi at Blue Fin was a must, and it was easy on a student's budget. We browsed the stores briefly and reluctantly ruled out sushi for dinner, although I had already been looking forward to revisiting Elephant Walk, chic Cambodian/French cuisine on Mass Ave.
We were seated by the brick wall, and I promptly ordered a glass of the house Cab to warm up. The boys ordered from the prix fixe menu; I got a salad with beets, oranges, fresh Italian basil and blood orange vinaigrette, and a Cambodian Loc Lac. Very tasty.
The walk back to the train station was brisk (28 degrees!), and while the streets were still bustling with activity, the rush hour crowd had definitely dissipated. We rode to the end of the line and just like that, we concluded our little impromptu day trip.
If it hadn't been for the holidays and short notice, I would've liked to meet up with old pals from back in the day... well, next time!
