Boston is Wicked Awesome!

It had been a long while since I had been to Boston. The last time I was there I was a wee lass of 16, and I was with my high school choir competing in the Hartford Music Festival (we won a Gold Medal!). I loved the city way back then, being enamored of all things historical, and it still has a great heartbeat bolstered by all that juicy history. This picture here is what teenagers looked like waaaaaay back in 1985 (and no, I'm not in this one, because I was taking the picture, and yes, that is Deanna being all sexy *waves at Deanna*). Aaah, so young, so fresh.

Anyway, Fran was in Boston with Avenue Q, and one of my Jericho friends, Kendra, also lives there, so I got on the train to go see some pals. Kendra was kind enough to pick me up at the train station, and took me to her home where her Mom had saved a plate of corn beef and cabbage for me to eat. It was my first experience with this particular Irish dish, and it was yum-my!

After sitting around and chatting with Kendra and her family, we went down to her place and sat around and shot the shot for some time. It was great to just sit and get to know Kendra in person. We talked a lot about her pregnancy, and of course, drooled a little over the thought of Skeet (who, apparently, is the actual father of those twin babies! Hee!)

I had a really nice time with Kendra. Her family was also very welcoming, including all those doggies! Yet another awesome experience simply because of a little show called Jericho. Kendra and I had planned to watch Jericho together later in the week, but she came down with a migraine, so we had to cancel. Disappointing, but I am glad we got the time together we did. I didn't get any pictures of Kendra or her family (because I always forget about such things), but i did get a picture of some of those doggies! The first one is Archie, and the second is Bruschi (that's Kendra's hand holding him still). Bruschi is a big ol' puppy, and he liked putting that big ol' head on his on my lap, which was hilarious.

So, it was time to leave Kendra and company, so we got back in the Crown Vic and she drove me to Fran's hotel downtown. Thanks again, Kendra! That was so nice of you!

I walked into Fran's room, and Jaki was there, with a large buffet of chocolate, nuts and various other food stuffs spread around her. Hugs all around, and the three of us giggled and chatted like we had known each other forever (this was my first real meeting of the famously awesome Jaki). Once Jak had her fill of junk, she headed off to her room, while Fran and I stayed up a bit and watched Run Fatboy Run, which Jaki had brought for our viewing pleasure. That flick was hysterical! I highly recommend it.

The next day the three of us drove up to Salem, to get our fill of witches and crones and all that good stuff. It was a glorious day for us, and we had a lot of fun exploring the town. We went to the cheez-a-licious Salem Witch Museum, and spent some time at the memorial for the victims of the Salem Witch Trials. It was a U-shaped stone wall with stone seats sticking out of it, with each victim's name and date of hanging carved on each seat. I hadn't realized how many men were hanged during that time (although there were mostly women put to the noose). Sometimes, people really really suck. Pic of John Proctor's memorial stone (the light at the time made his the most compelling pic - although some would say his supposed good looks are what drew me to it - bah!)

As we wandered around the village, Jaki kept pointing out the old crones, and then we decided that we were probably old crones as well, so we stopped judging... heh. We had so much fun just doodly-doing around the place we missed the few museums that were open, including Hawthorne's House of Seven Gables (we did do a drive by), so we finally decided to head back to Boston. Unfortunately, we got way-layed in a vortex of evil know as the town of Lynn. If you ever find yourself headed toward this town, do whatever you can to avoid it. We drove around looking for route 1A for what seemed forever, coming way to close to several accidents and coming dangerously close to the brain dead residents of this place. Seriously, the place is scary. The sense of relief when we finally turned a corner and saw the sign for 1A was palpable.

After some recovery time back at the hotel, we headed out for dinner at Legal Seafood. All the raves you have heard about this restaurant are warranted. The food was excellent, and the wait staff was cordial, helpful and on it. Another meal full of YUM.

After dinner we went back to the hotel and hung around Fran's room chatting and being silly girls. I learned what the word 'fanny' means in Scotland (it is NOT good, people), and Jaki practiced her running a bit. Jaki finally pooped out (she is a morning person, I am told), so Fran took me over to the Intermission Room, a bar owned by one of the local theater guys. It happened to be St. Patrick's day, but by now everyone had pretty much partied themselves out (having had the parade the day before), so it was pretty chill at the bar.

Until.... a couple of young'un college boys walked in. One of them was cranky and rude, and he quickly left, then came back, and then got tossed by the bartender for being a jerk and not tipping (ladies and gents, ALWAYS tip your bartender!). But his friend Scully stuck around, and so did another young man, who was all bright eyed and bushy tailed about getting into producing. He sat down and absorbed all the experience Fran had to impart, and was just the cutest thing. Fran and I agreed that if we were 21, we would have been all over him (hee!). Meanwhile, Scully tried to convince me he was CIA (HA!), and then tried to pick me up in the most hilarious way. When I told him I was 39, he said, "Well, then, why aren't you throwing me round the room by now?" He was funny, and so not getting any from me! Bless him.

The next day we headed over to Cambridge looking for some Irish goodies, to no avail. A nice little place, though. If we had had more time, we would have most certainly explored that area some more.

Then it was time for Jaki to go home, so she dropped me and Fran off at Fenway Park for our tour of the stadium. After a moment of thinking our tour would be full of annoying teenagers (whew!), our tour guide Maury greeted us, outed Fran and me as Yankee fans, and promised to talk slow so we could follow him (heh, damn Red Sox fans).

Oh Fenway! What a great place. My baseball heart was all a-flutter walking around that place. We started up in the Media room and after some fascinating history of the Red Sox, we made our way to the different levels of the place. You can seriously feel all the history there, and Maury was awesome. We didn't get to see everything people normally get to see on the tour because they were furiously renovating, trying to get ready for Opening Day. I hope they make it, there seemed to be a lot for them to do. Pics from the Media room and various other levels of the park.

Those are the old, original seats. Very uncomfortable, but actually good seats. They are definitely made for the smaller version of people from back in the late 1800's. If you are a baseball fan, and you haven't made it to Fenway, I highly recommend it. The only thing that would have made the visit better is if we could have been there for a game.

That was all for the day, as Fran had to go to work. But the next day, I got to see the show. Avenue Q was just as funny as advertised. I was worried that a Wednesday matinee in Boston might be full of deaf, old people, but the place was packed, and full of every kind of person. By the end, the audience leapt to their feet, screaming and cheering. It really was that good.

Before the show I got to hang out with Fran backstage, meet some of the puppets, and see her wrangling said puppets. Pretty funny. She was worried because she was gonna be washing the bear puppets that night, and she didn't want anything to go wrong. From what I hear, the bears are doing fine and are now April fresh! Pic of Treky, taking it easy before he goes on stage, Fran's awesome road box, and Fran hard at work.

After the show, we went and ate at Boston's oldest German food restaurant, which was yummy, and then it was time for me go. As always, it was great to visit Fran. It's a good excuse to get the hell out of New York City for a little bit, and I always have such a great time. This visit had the extra added bonus of getting to know Kendra and Jaki, both really awesome people, y'all.