Today I do Harvard, or should I say, HaaHhhHVAAhhhd!

But first a stop at Fenway:

So, how'd you guys do last season? Oh wait...

Tee hee.

Yes, I did in fact dare to wear such a hat at Fenway, but I promptly took it off before anyone saw me… I think.

Funny thing about Fenway: after spending a few days at Boston, I only noticed maybe one or two locals donning Red Sox gear. But while I was walking around the baseball stadium, EVERYONE was wearing Red Sox hats, jackets or whatnot. I’m not kidding, either. I stuck out like a sore thumb even without my Yankees hat. And as an extra bonus, I saw the official mascot for the BoSox too, Wally The Green Monster, just walking down the street like any old dude:

Only at Fenway!

One girl actually ran across the street to hug him too. I was going to ask her to hug me as well, but I hadn’t quite hidden my Yankees cap completely out of sight, so I decided not to chance it. Ah well. Even ugly mascots get all the love.

Still, a fun visit, I walked around to see if wanted to get inside the stadium, but it seemed closed to the public. Once again, that will have to wait for another day. I got back to the subway and got out near the Hynes Convention center, deciding to take a brisk walk through the city and also check out the other hotel I was considering before I came here. When I finally got to it I realized I had made the right choice in staying in the financial district. There was a bar beneath the hotel and it also seemed positively squeezed between two busy looking buildings. Good call there, Linc.

After walking all the way back to the Commons, I went under again and took the T line to Cambridge. It was time to see the breeding ground that regularly produces the most repugnant and disgusting elements of our society mankind has ever seen: Liberals!

HaaahhhVAhhhdd!

To be honest, it didn’t look any different from any other university. The campus looked similar to some of the ones I’ve visited or used locally, and the students all looked the same to me.

As I walked around campus, two Chinese girls who were apparently tourists approached me and asked if they could take a picture with me, being a Harvard student.

“… suuuuuure, I’d love to take a picture!” We posed together and I gave a thumbs up sign to the camera and flashed my trademark grin. Oh what I wouldn’t have done to have my Sarah Palin button with me.

I continued walking around, passing by the law school and several other buildings before finally turning back to Harvard Square, where I passed by a student holding out a Starbucks cup and begging for money to help pay his tuition. Rich beggars, gotta love ‘em.

It was getting late in the day, so I decided I had seen enough, and headed back to the North End for another taste of Italian food. This time I went for Regina’s Pizzeria, which also touts some of the best pizza in Boston.

Meh.

I think I’ve been spoiled by New York pizza. There’s just nobody out there that can do it better than us.

I took the rest of the pizza back to the hotel and realized for the rest of the evening. Tomorrow it would be time to go home, and already I was beginning to miss the city. On the upside, I believe this would only be but the first of many visits to come.

Tags: baseball stadium, boston, Cambridge, fenway park, Harvard, Harvard Square, italian food, liberals, North End, pizza, Red Sox
Categories: Lincoln's Personal Log
 
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The ground had a light dusting of snow this morning, but the sky was a clear blue when I finally left the hotel for the North End Church. I had breakfast at a cafe across from the old church, then continued the sightseeing, stopping again at another old cemetery before walking the bridge over to visit the U.S.S. Constitution (Old Ironsides).

Statue of Paul Revere with the North End Church in the background.

The ship was now owned and maintained by the navy, so when I walked in, I had to go through a security checkpoint and basically strip myself half-naked. Apparently I carried a lot more metal objects than I thought. The guard waited patiently as I emptied my pockets, pulled my belt buckle, took out my phone, my iPod, my old camera, dumped my backpack, my work ID and badge before I could finally walk through. I can’t even imagine what TIA would do to me if they saw me coming.

I finally got in, went inside the main entrance where I saw a group of other tourists waiting. A park ranger saw me and asked me if I wanted to join the tour to board the ship.

“You mean it’s still open?” I was surprised.

The old ranger didn’t respond, instead he just looked away as if I had just asked the most monumentally stupidest question he had ever heard, then went back to continuing a conversation he was previously having with another tourist.

I decided I didn’t want to board the ship if this douche nozzle was going to be giving the tour, so instead I went outside to see it for myself. Tours are for girlie boys and little children anyway.

*sniff* so beautiful... *sniff*

After spending some time admiring the ship and giving it a hug on the front end until the navy seamen shooed me away, I continued to the museum nearby. A sweet girl at the front desk greeted me, but then got a little uncomfortable when I asked her to be my love snuggles, so I continued onward, reading about the history of the ship, the war with Tripoli, and enjoying the model ship exhibits they were having in the conference room.

I had only one stop left in the Freedom Trail now: Bunker Hill! I followed the line back, then hoofed it up to where a monument now marked the spot of the famous battle.

There is NO way I'm going up that.

pant… pant… wow… it really IS a hill.. pant… pant…

By the time I finally reached the top I decided I was not going to kill myself by climbing 20 flights of stairs just so I could get a bird’s eye view of Boston, no thank you, I’m good here, really. Ugh. I really wanted to, but I’ll save it for next time, hopefully when I have a girl then willing to travel with me and carry me up the stairs.

Don't fire until you see the whi- hey you! Yeah you with the Yankees hat! You're blocking my view here!

After relaxing inside the monument for a while, I decided it was time to go to Griffins Wharf, the site of the famous Boston Tea Party so I could do my own tea dumping. On the way I stopped by the Bunker Hill museum to see some of the fascinating exhibits that had been excavated from the hill, including a British drum and several swords and cannonballs. Amazing.

Cannonballs excavated from Bunker Hill

I found another T line from there and got out again at Southern Crossing, enjoying the walk and the booths there until I reached the harbor. I bought a Snapple bottle from one of the hot dog wagons nearby, then walked over the bridge until I reached the middle. I had to wait out some of the pedestrians though, who might not understand why I would want to dump perfectly good Snapple tea in the middle of the harbor, or in case they were eco-algore loving crazypants thinking I was littering mother nature.

Where it all began!

But I pulled it off, and I had to admit the feeling was awesome. I think every proud member of this great country should do this once in their lifetimes, (just make sure you dump only the TEA, and not the bottle it was in too, lest I should slap you one.)

The dumping of Snapple tea into the Boston harbor concluded my journey into the past, and it was now time to get back to the present again. Whatever I missed would have to wait for another time. I went back to the hotel and wracked my brain over and over on where to dine tonight, considering that dining out was going to be far cheaper than ordering in.

Where to go, where to go… where could I go, where I could take a break from all my worries? That sure would help a lot… Sometimes I just want to get away… maybe go, where everybody knows my name? And they’re always glad I came?

NoOoOoOOoorrrmm!!!

Well ok, no, Norm wasn’t there. But the food sure was! I stopped by the replica in Faneuil Hall, found a quiet spot inside and a outlet to plug my laptop in, and I was happy as a clam. I ordered a Norm Burger and Carla’s Boston cream pie, all while enjoying the twinkling lights of the marketplace inside the windowed dining room. Somewhere in the background, a radio was playing Boston’s “More than a Feeling.” I knew right then and there the city was welcoming me home.

Tags: boston, Boston Tea Party, Bunker Hill, cannonballs, cemetery, cheers, church, Faneuil Hall, freedom trail, Griffins Wharf, history, marketplace, museum, navy, North End, Paul Revere, snapple, Southern Crossing, USS Constitution, William Prescott
Categories: Lincoln's Personal Log
 
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So I looked out this morning and the sun was gone, turned on some music to start my day, lost myself in a familiar song, closed my eyes and I slipped awaaaaa… no wait, that’s not right.

On second thought, that WAS how I started my first morning in Boston. Heh. After a hot shower and a quick breakfast at a restaurant next door, it was off to the Boston Commons to begin my walk on the Freedom Trail.

It's beginning to snow at the Boston Commons!

By this time it was already snowing, yet nothing so severe that it would ruin my morning (and the rest of my time here.) I took the T line again and got out at the foot of the famous park, taking a quick walk around to find a few hidden geocaches and then doubling back to start the Freedom Trail.

Seriously, they could have dressed up the beginning of the trail with a bit more fanfare than this.

After a few stops, I eventually found myself at King’s Chapel, and tried to get a shot off at an angle so I could capture the entire steeple of the huge church, when the camera slipped right out of my gloved hands and hit the pavement with a sickening crack.

Bostonians within a block of me all turned their heads in the direction of the girlie shriek they had just heard.

I quickly picked up the camera hoping it was shockproof enough to withstand the impact, but I could see the lens was already cracked. My beloved Canon had just taken what would be its last ever picture.

The last picture my Canon would ever take.

It had to happen RIGHT before getting to Granary Cemetery too, the site of many famous burials, including Samuel Adams, Paul Revere, John Hancock, and so many others. My only option was to use my camphone in the meantime, until I could get back to the parking garage to get my older, backup Olympus camera. Thank goodness I thought to take it with me, even though it was old, bulky and slow. Now it was all I had left to use while I was here.

Grave of Samuel Adams

After the cemetery I stopped by the old South Street House and decided to spend a few minutes there out of the cold and the snow. I’m glad I did too. The building was quiet and homey, so I took some time to sit down in one of the pews and relax, amazed that I was in the very same building where Samuel Adams gave the signal that launched the start of the Boston Tea Party.

Taking a breather inside a famous U.S. landmark.

After getting warmed up again, I decided to leave and visit the old State House before getting back to the garage. The state house was also a museum, which included a gallery of old photos in the basement chronicling Boston’s history. By this time the snow had now turned to hard rain, forcing me to conclude the Freedom Trail for the day. I got to the garage and got out my old camera, testing it to make sure everything still worked fine.

And of course the flash was broken.

Walking through history, even in the rain!

Good grief, this was turning out to be one camera killing trip. I grabbed it anyway and headed out again, running as fast as I could back to the hotel as the rain pelted me mercilessly. I spent the rest of the afternoon vegging out in my room, watching the rain outside and and deciding to order in so I could give my feet a rest. Which I might add is a mistake in Boston. Between the delivery charges and the gratuities and the absurd prices for beverages, I was paying close to $40 for a small dinner. What, does Boston have something against introverts who hate dining out? Yeesh.

By now the full brunt of the storm had descended on Boston, but I had lucked out, either due to being awesomely awesome, or being so hot that I kept the entire city warm, because it had never snowed more than an inch. New York had gotten walloped with over 15 inches of snow, but Boston received but a light dusting. The roads and sidewalks would still be free and clear for me to conclude the Freedom Trail and visit a few other sites for the rest of the week.

But for now, it was time to rest and enjoy my $40 dinner. Oh, and do some research online for a new camera.

Tags: boston, Boston Commons, burials, camera, canon, cemetery, church, freedom trail, geocaches, Granary Cemetery, graves, history, King's Chapel, museum, Old State House, photo, Photos, Samuel Adams, South Street House
Categories: Lincoln's Personal Log
 
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I left on the ninth, the massive storm front that had just dumped 55 inches in Washington, DC only a mere few hundreds miles away and slowly making its way north. Despite the forecasts, I threw caution to the wind and hightailed it out of New York for a four day adventure in Beantown. There was not a cloud in the sky as I opted to take the scenic route through Rhode Island, and do some geocaching along the way. It would in fact be my first ever visit to the state too.

Oh wow... a rock...

Driving towards Newport, RI

Rhode Island was… blah. Although I drove through Newport where all the famous mansions were, Rhode Island didn’t really do anything for me. It just felt… blah. After a few hours of hunting down geocaches here and there, I decided I had seen enough of the state and continued northward. By the time I arrived at Boston it was around 3PM, the sky still as blue as the Caribbean ocean. I was about a day ahead of the storm, and I was determined to start checking out the city as soon as I settled into the hotel and stashed my car safely away at a nearby parking garage.

Boston!

I’m glad I picked the financial district too. It was immaculate, lightly crowded, and the T line was literally right outside the hotel. I bundled up and headed straight for the North End, cutting through Christopher Columbus Park and enjoying the splendid view of the harbor. Before I knew it, I was standing right outside Paul Revere’s House, amazed and awed that I was finding myself walking the same paths and traveling the same roads that so many famous men of history had once been on.

India? Fuhgetaboutit!

Still standing! Now where's my pizza??

Once the sun began to set, I decided it was time to see for myself if the Italian food here (namely the pizza) lived up to the hype. It was time for Santarpios Pizza!

Santarpios was located in East Boston, so I hitched a ride on the blue line over, and promptly got lost from there, even with my GPS. I had gotten out of the stop for Logan’s Airport, but once I got above ground all I saw were a maze of freeways and no clear way through. Santarpios was somewhere out there, but my GPS would not cooperate and insisted I had at least a 2 mile walk ahead of me. I wasn’t willing to do anything more than a half a mile, so next thing I knew I was hopping freeway barriers, dodging an insane amount of traffic moving at breakneck speed, and breathing in the toxic fumes of all the car exhausts before making it to the other side and hoofing it another few city blocks before I finally found the pizza joint.

Man this had BETTER be worth it. I walked in, asked for a booth and was promptly seated. My muscles were aching from climbing the freeway barriers, so I was glad to be able to stretch my legs and relax a bit.

Weird menu by the way. I had never seen one so brief it didn’t even have the option of ordering pizza by the slice. It included choices for the types of pizzas you wanted, and beverages. That was it.

I opted for extra cheese and sausage, and patiently waited. The pizza came after about 10 minutes and I was ready to dig in. I used a knife and fork to cut a piece and savored the moment before I took my first bite, indeed the first bite I would ever take of a pizza made in Boston. And the verdict was…

Meh.

Don’t get me wrong, it was good pizza, spicy and tasty, but there were no heavenly choirs singing, or psychedelic moments that took me to a different level of the astral plane. It was just modestly good pizza. Yes I am in fact a New York snob, deal with it.

I did note that it was so thin you couldn’t really eat a slice by hand, so I had to use a knife and fork for the most part. That’s just weird. It wasn’t until a few minutes when the crust began to harden again that I was able to fold up a slice and eat it by hand. I had another slice or two and then had them bag the rest. Good thing I had cash on me too, because they didn’t accept credit cards either.

Once my food was boxed and ready to go, I bundled up again and braced myself for the walk back to the T line. There had to be some better way to get to it, but rather than use my Garmin GPS, I went to Google Maps on my iPod this time. There appeared to be a park that separated the streets nearby from the T line, so I made a beeline straight for the park, initially discouraged to see that the gates were closed. Undeterred, I kept moving along the fence, until somehow, by the grace of God I was able to find the still open main entrance, which led directly to the subways. The park also afforded me an amazing view of Boston’s skyline in the distance, so I took a moment to take it all in, until I could hear the rumbling of the blue train nearby. I raced ahead and down the stairs, just in time to catch another ride back to the hotel, before the latest episode of Lost would start.

Returning from Wonderland: The Blue Train

After Lost ended, I was all settled in for my first night, enjoying the view of the buildings from the 7th floor, and anxious for tomorrow to begin so I could start my journey on the Freedom Trail. Outside, the city lights twinkled in a night that had been further darkened by a brewing storm.

A view from my hotel window.

Tags: boston, boulder, Christopher Columbus Park, driving, geocaching, gps, iPod, italian food, journey, new york, North End, Paul Revere, pizza, Rhode Island, skyline, storm, subway, travel
Categories: Lincoln's Personal Log
 
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In the world of geocaching, people can release what’s called travel bugs, which can be any small item you’d like attached to a dog tag that travels from geocache to geocache. You can monitor their journey online too to learn where they’ve been and where they might be going.

To join in the fun, I decided to release two travel bugs of my own. So I went out and bought split heart necklaces, then took one half of the necklace and dropped it off at a cache in Boston, while the second half will be dropped off somewhere in Manhattan today on Valentine’s. The goal is for these two travel bugs to somehow find their way back to each other with the help of cachers so that they may be whole again.

I told you, I’m a disgusting sap.

Ironically enough, today also marks the 10th anniversary from when I was evicted from my home. Ten long years. It seemed the height of irony that an act of cruelty and hatred which forever altered the course of my life would occur on this day, but it did, and I have hated Valentine’s with a passion ever since. But even before then I despised the day, having to watch as couples snuggled and called each other schmoopies while it was all I could do to keep myself from pouring lighter fluid on them and then dropping a lit match. God, why won’t these disgusting happy couples just DIE, or get herpes or something?

But anyhoo…

I’m determined not to let the day get to me. I have been so far removed from the traumas of the past that I think it’s time I learn to let it go and move on with my life. I still have many plans and places I want to visit, many new experiences to be had, and much delicious pizza to sample.

So Happy Valentine’s Day to all you disgusting, diseased riddled perverts. May you find your flowers rife with poisonous thorns, your chocolates filled with dung, and your greeting cards laced with acid.

Tags: anniversary, boston, geocache, geocaching, hatred, holidays, manhattan, sap, travel, travel bugs, Valentine, valentines day
Categories: Romance and Relationships
 
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I started writing this while enjoying dinner at Cheers (yes THE Cheers, or at least the replica they created at Faneuil Hall). As soon as I walked in the overhead speakers started playing “More Than A Feeling”, and I knew I was home.

Unfortunately no one knew my name...

After a few days in the city too, I think I’m almost ready to become a Red Sox fan. ALMOST.

Boston was simply amazing, and it’s not just this city either. I don’t know what it is about Massachusetts, but this state seems more endearing to me than any of the other New England states I’ve visited so far. On my way up here I traveled through Rhode Island for the first time, and decided to spend a day of geocaching as I made my way through just to get a sense of the state. By the time I got to the border and reached Fall River I decided Rhode Island was simply the state people drive through to get to their REAL destinations. Even though I took the scenic route that saw me pass through Newport, (an area famous for its mansions) Rhode Island was just a blah experience. I decided that I would probably never visit there again, and just cut through Connecticut instead for future trips (unless of course I go to Cape Cod, then I’ll have no choice.)

My initial impression of Beantown was just how clean everything was. Seriously. The roads were smooth and paved for the most part too. Trust me, take a drive through Manhattan and you’ll start to understand why this is a big deal. I had played it right by reserving a hotel in the financial district, where it was only lightly crowded, the parking garage just a block or two away, and where the T line was literally outside the hotel’s entrance. It was a no frills hotel, but it was immaculate. It was also freezing cold, but once I got settled in I was anxious to take a look around even as the wind cut right through me. Boston’s skyline was not as busy as New York’s, but it still seemed majestic and pretty in its own unique way. Once the sun set and day went to night, nearby Christopher Columbus Park and Faneuil Hall went ablaze in colorful lights. From my 7th floor window, the lights of the city just seemed to dance like fireflies in the woods.

The next few days proved to be a whirlwind of sightseeing and running around. I’m finally back home now and I still haven’t caught my breath yet. I’ll write a series of posts over the next few days on what I did and where I went, but suffice it to say it was an awesome experience, and I cannot WAIT to go back. I didn’t even have time or the energy to start ranting about Valentine’s Day either, which starts in just a few hours. Tomorrow I think I’ll probably sleep in for 15 hours or so, then go out, find a happy couple to spit on, and then come back again to sleep for another 15 hours. Sounds like a plan to me.

Tags: Beantown, boston, cheers, Faneuil Hall, geocaching, manhattan, Massachusetts, New England, new york city, Newport, Rhode Island, skyline, tourism, travel, valentines day
Categories: Lincoln's Personal Log
 
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