Continuing my blog post from last night, because it’s entirely too much for one post (in my opinion at any rate), I will now break down how awesome Friday wound up being. I can’t guarantee a story rife with political intrigue, twists at every corner, or action-packed excitement (… man. I need to live in a movie.) but a blog post I can guarantee!
Friday started off with my uncle waking up crazy early. By crazy early, I mean before the sun came up. I got up several hours later and was a better person for it. 5 AM is an unwelcome stranger to me. Had a cheerless breakfast at the hotel lobby, and set off to the bus. The hour long bus ride into the city went by pretty quickly. I bummed around South Station (which is a pretty central hub for all things boston. Tons of trains and buses link up to the station and you can go just about anywhere from there). for about half an hour while I waited for Ian’s train to get in.
Ian finally arrives, and we head out on our epic journey of the city of Boston. He takes me down a bit of the financial district, shows me where he used to work, and a bunch of other interesting sites, all the while telling me a bit of the history of Boston. We break for food at the Elephant and Castle (link) Pub and Restaurant (Photo op!). This will be my first authentic bit of Bostonian food. Ian (photo) gets a shepherd’s pie, and a Black and Tan. I opted for a Blue Moon, a Hot Turkey Sandwich and some traditional New England Clam Chowder. Good gods, that stuff is DELICIOUS. I thought I was a fan of Clam Chowder before..but now that I’ve had the real thing, I can never go back.
So my drink comes.. and I’m expecting like..a mug, or a bottle.. Newp! They bring me a pint of Blue Moon, served in a Wheat beer glass. Fancy indeed! The turkey sandwich was NOT what I was expecting, either. What is before me, is a slab of french bread with a bunch of turkey on top. The turkey has been slathered with delicious turkey gravy, and a bunch of cranberry sauce is on the side.. presumably to put on top.
Normally, a sandwich has two slices of bread. I mention this to my buddy, who casually remarks: “What? It’s got bread!” I shrug, and eat. It’s deliciousness incarnate. We finish our meal and strike off for the city. Ian takes me through a bit more of the Financial district, where I see one crazy-fancy Wendy’s (photo). We walk through china town on our way to.. The Garment District. The plan is to walk there, then take the train to see more of Boston.
Well.. Part of the plan worked! We walked and walked and walked and saw a bunch of Boston. (Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) Halfway there, Ian’s GPS decides to stop working. We’re in the middle of Boston, near the Boston Medical Center, so we hightail it to the nearest Train station and take the train to.. MIT! (photo) (Quick shot of Slappy while the GPS adjusts).
At last, we’re on our way to the Garment District. The Garment District was recommended to me as just something to see while in Boston. What it really is, is a costume store with a large “used clothing” section. (1, 2, 3) They sell the used clothing for a dollar per pound of clothes. Not a bad deal if you can find something worth wearing, I suppose. When we arrived, there were several people rooting through the clothing pile. Nobody really checked out the boots and shoes much..but that’s okay. I got some great photos of the place.
Still, it was fun to just show up and try on a few things. (photos! 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) Oh. Right. BATMAN MASK! I wound up picking up the batman mask because it was awesome. It was also like.. 6 dollars.
After that, we putz around the MIT store (The Coop) and pick up a few books..and souvenirs. I selected a magnet that says “NERD PRIDE!” and an MIT notebook for my roommate, because it’s his birthday. I also bought a buddy for Slappy. It’s a little giraffe named Mit. His name is Mit because it’s on his shirt. (Pictured later).
We picked up a quick drink and a slice of pizza, and headed to one of the rooftop gardens. I really like the idea of sticking a garden on top of a building. Not only does it provide something neat to see, but it also replenishes the fresh-air supply in the city at the same time! (I have video, but I’ll have to post it up later.)
We did s’more walking and sight-seeing (1, 2, 3, 4)… but it quickly became apparent that my fat-ass wasn’t going to be able to keep up with the pace for too much longer. We hop on the train and head out to foods. By the time we get to the Sunset Grill and Pub, the sun had gone down. The place was filled to capacity, so Ian (photo) and I (photo) had to wait outside. It was a short wait though. The place is HUGE. multiple levels, a bar with it’s own twitter feed (from the looks of it, at any rate), and 112 different beers on tap. ON TAP (photo). We were served by this awesome waitress, whose name escapes me at the moment. Perhaps Ian can fill that in later.
At this time, I decided to try something I’d heard from a buddy of mine. “Hey, would you mind posing for a picture with my friend?” and out comes Slappy! She accepts, and sadly, our fearless hero (me) forgot to turn off the flash. So I sit there taking the picture and smiling.. she asks “Did it take?” then BAM! Flash to the face. I felt so bad, but the picture turned out EPIC. I was very pleased with the food and service, so I was sure to leave a good tip.
We made it back to South Station in time for me to catch the last bus outta there. I then went home and crashed. I was tiiiired.
