A Friend In Need

Yesterday the Boston Marathon went off without a hitch, and I am sure Boston was proud of the event and the strength of the city after last year's bombing.  With a nod to Boston, I will do one more Boston blog about my 5th and final trip to Boston from Bermuda.

Back in February when I needed to go to the US for surgery, I was faced with a bit of a hard choice on how to go through a relatively stressful procedure far away from home.  With some urging from a few friends who sign off with and M and a D after their names, I reluctantly agreed that my instinct to just check into and out of a foreign hospital on my own was not great planning, and I would have to ask someone to come with me.  My family is quite far away, and was prepared to come if needed, but I realized what I probably needed was someone with a bit of medical knowledge who could sit around for a day or two.  Someone with a flexible work schedule, and who I could say "Hey, I am stressed out and apparently chopping out bits of the endocrine system may make me very very grumpy and hard to deal with."  The best person turned out to be my friend Margaret from Edmonton, who jumped at the chance to see a new city, as was quick to reply "I'm a maternity nurse, I deal with angry hormonal women every day."  She really is one of those people who exist with a perpetually low heart rate and calm demeanor.  I have never heard her raise her voice.  One of those people who gets a dislocated shoulder on a skydive, continues through freefall with an arm flapping behind her, cannot deploy her main parachute due to the useless arm, calmly uses her reserve parachute and figures out how to fly and land it with one arm...and doesn't raise a fuss, shed a tear of pain in public, or act like it's a big deal.  This is Margaret.

Margaret in Boston's North End

Turns out my surgeon was really good and I never got all that cranky, and so we actually had a little bit of chance to roam around and see a bit of stuff, and enjoy a few restaurants.  The first meal, dubbed the last supper as it was the night before my surgery, was at Fogo de Chau.  This restaurant is both delicious and fun!  A restaurant chain in the US, it is a Brazilian Steakhouse.  There is a huge salad bar that comes with the meal, and there is no option on the menu.  Everyone gets the salad bar, and, nonstop meat.  Instead of ordering a dish, the waiters rush about the room carrying hot, fresh skewers of about 14 types of meat.  A floor manager is on site making sure that you are never hungry or waiting for food.  Basically, you each get what looks like a coaster.  If you flip it to green, people will rush at your with food, and you choose what you want.  You have to quickly flip to to red to stop a lineup of waiters from forming at your plate.  Apparently we didn't eat enough, because the bill was tough to get.  We had to play a trick on the waiter, flipping the card to green, but then refusing the food offering and asking for the bill.  The floor manager quickly rushed over to see what the problem was.  I felt a little bad at that point.  I can't comment on desert, I have never had enough room left over, but it is a tasty and fun experience that I recommend for anyone should you see one of their restaurants.

The next day I was captive in Mass General, but a couple of days later we were able to do some exploring.  We went to Max Brenner's for dinner -- a must try Chocolatier's restaraunt that I first discovered in Vegas.  Had a delicious milkshake and non-chocolate salmon, and picked up some chocolate treats to take home.  We of course made our way to a Crumbs Cupcake outlet, where not only do they make some of the best, most high calorie cupcakes ever to grace the earth (also found in New York and a few other East coast destinations), the woman behind the counter recognized me from previous cupcake gathering missions.  I cannot imagine it is flattering that the cupcake vendor of a foreign country recognizes me when I approach.

We also hopped on board one of the tour buses.  The ever brave Margaret did not stop me from buying us tickets even though she had mentioned a day or two earlier that she gets motion sick if she isn't the one driving.

The tour bus

Fortunately, my thoughtlessness did not end badly and we had a comfortable tour around the city.

Margaret with a Starbucks...we sampled a new one each day.  I think Caramel Machiatto became her top pick

Our tour bus driver, charged with keeping us constantly entertained, did a really good job.  Some driver's talk about the history of the city.  Our guy, however, had a fascination with Dunkin' Donuts.  There are over 300 in the city and he pointed them out whenever we passed one.  I think it's because he isn't allowed off the bus.  In retrospect, he was probably hinting we should get him some donuts.

Pat, the tour bus driver

We didn't learn a lot of history on the tour, but he did teach us a lot about unsuccessful business models like when the Weight Watchers opened up above a Dunkin Donuts, and a lot about Matt Damon and the Wahlberg brothers.  Good Will Hunting was Shot in Boston, Marky Mark and Donny grew up there, and...he seemed to know a great deal about the production with Sandra Bullock and some scene with a neighbour and a cat.  I was a little lost in the story, as I was peering out the window at all the Revolutionary sites and wondering about those.  It was a hop on and off bus, and so we did get off at a few of the stops.  Here are some shots along the way.

Margaret was fascinated by the expensive billboard on top of a derelict building

The Oriental Tea Company Teapot.  Now owned by Starbucks, this item used to be a tourist attraction in Boston, and it was the Oriental Company's Tea that ended up in the water after the Boston Tea Party

Margaret almost rented ice skates....almost

One of the iconic buildings near Fanueil Hall

This ritzy hotel has it's own skating rink...and wharf

Didn't go in, but this was one of several Irish bars in the area

Our bus stopped briefly here so I could get a picture.  I don't know what the building is though.  It wasn't movie related.

Margaret fed the seagulls some yummy pastries while I tried to get photos

Crossing the Charles River (I think) to MIT and Harvard

Microsoft has their office right by the MIT campus.  Bill Gates is a lecturer there as well.

And of course we stopped in to see the Cheers Bar (this is one of two)

We did learn a few things, aside from facts on Dunkin Donuts.  We learned that a lot of Boston as it is seen today was not there back in revolutionary times.  And not the urban sprawl inland -- the harbour actually used to be further inland, right up to the Fanueil Hall area.  Over the years they have filled in swamps and marshes and extended the city out over the water.  And so where the Boston Tea Party memorial site sits is nowhere near where the event actually took place.

Our ever witty driver Pat also pointed out a little place across from the Granary burial grounds (below)

where we could have a bite to eat and with respect to Samuel Adams...have a cold one (a Sam Adams of course) across from The Cold One (Sam Adams himself).  And that ended the tour for the day.  Thanks for the help Margaret!

The final resting place of Samuel Adams