Timmy, one of my fellow Boston New Years celebrants, called me yesterday to ask if I could possibly drive him to Philadelphia airport today, since his family is all sorts of under the weather and his winter semester at St. Olaf starts tomorrow. Possibly? Of course! For one, this child is like a little brother. Secondly, when am I not game to drive places that I've never been before, really? I'm never too excited about interstates, particularly I-95, because you don't get to see as many interesting things as you might driving on more local roads. However, it's really the most logical/only way to get to Philadelphia airport. And so we went.
We took Route 70 straight through the Pine Barrens. I love the Pine Barrens. Pitch pines, the predominant tree in the region, are really kind of ugly, but there's something lovely about the vastness of it (similar to my impression of the Canadian prairies). There really is quite a bit of biodiversity. It's one of those situations where you can't judge a book by its cover. And speaking of books, I'm currently reading John McPhee's Pine Barrens for the gajillionth time. It's so good. If you have any level of respect for New Jersey, you should read it sometime. And if you don't... go away. Now.
It doesn't take long to cross New Jersey from the Atlantic to the Delaware. We crossed the Walt Whitman Bridge and got to Phila Airport in good time. We figured we could find some cafe or restaurant and grab an early dinner before he peaced out from the east coast for five months, but lo and behold, there is not a single eatery before security (at least in the D and E terminals, which we wandered through). What the--?!
I understand why security is so intense at airports nowadays (like that time I had to forfeit my shoes for analysis at Newark Airport...), but I was really disappointed in being unable to share a last meal with my friend before his trip. We ended up taking over a bench next to security and people watching until Timmy needed to get going. It was interesting seeing people separating and reuniting, it was like an emotional funhouse in there. We were at terminal E, which is Northwestern and Southwestern airlines. People were going all over the US from where we were. There were lots of pictures being taken, and I thought it awkward to be in the background of people's pictures, kind of like being immortalized in photo albums on their coffee tables and bookshelves forever in a weird sort of way. It's kind of amazing how interconnected everything and everyone really are.
Of course, I realized that with this little trip out to Philly, I have toured pretty much all of the US's Megalopolis in the last week. I've been from south of Richmond, Virginia to Boston, almost all via I-95. Overdevelopment makes me a little nauseas, but I find an interesting juxtaposition between the way the northeast corridor lights up in NASA's nighttime pictures and the very dark drive through the Pine Barrens on my way home from the airport.
04 January 2009
01 January 2009
New Years in Boston: Don't Expect the Expected
Happy New Year.
I spent mine snowed in up in Boston, where I decided to go for a quick trip with a few friends because I've never been there and the weather report was clear until at least today. We left after lunch on the 30 and returned this afternoon due to some unexpected weather. Overall impression: I dig the city and want to visit again... but maybe not during a snow storm!
We got up to the city around dinner time, checking into our hotel in Framingham and eating the dinner we packed before wandering around in the vicinity of Commonwealth Avenue. The trees were all lit up for Christmas along the walk in the center of the avenue. I was immediately taken with how pretty the architecture in the city is. I like the patterns that many of the buildings maintain while being somewhat unique from their adjoining structures.
Kevin, Timmy, Jessica and I started our New Year's Eve with the intention of starting at the Boston Common and following the Freedom Trail and stopping at a few museums along it. We farfed around the Public Garden for a bit as it began to snow a little, jumping into empty fountains to get photos with the statues. The snow began to stick a little bit but we weren't worried, until the three of them launched themselves into the last fountain before crossing back over to the Common, which wasn't empty, but had a thin layer of ice, dusted with snow, covering a few inches of water. Jessica caught herself before flying ankle deep into cold water; Kevin and Timmy got their feet wet. This put our adventure on the wrong foot...
After sitting in Kevin's car with the heat on and getting dry socks, we ventured back out. The snow had picked up quite a bit, but we decided to try to take on the Freedom Trail. We wandered through the Boston Common and then went down Joy Street to the Afro-American History Museum. It was nice to be warm and inside the historic schoolhouse, but the snow really picked up, prompting us to cancel our New Year's Eve plans at home and to call our parents and have them look up hotels in the city for us. We got a room at a hotel within city limits (Framingham is about half an hour outside Boston) and went to check in and move the car. The room had a lovely view of the Charles River, so we took a stroll along that, half playing in the snow and half looking for transit stops. Our feet were pretty cold and wet by then so we took another break, having Chinese food for lunch in the hotel (with the added attraction of a man selecting one of the live fish, and hearing it flop about as it was pulled from the tank behind me) before taking a bus and then the T back into center city.
We took the orange line down to Massachusetts Avenue in attempt to see the Harriet Tubman House, as per the boys' intense wishes, only to discover it was a community center named for the heroine, not actually her house. So, orange line back up near the Common and back on the Freedom Trail after getting some DD, but the sun was setting and our feet were not drying. We saw a few sites: Park Street Church, Old State House, Fanueil Hall... but started our chilly trek back to the hotel not too much later.
This morning was clear as a bell but absolutely frigid: 7 degrees Fahrenheit and quite windy. As a result, we drove around Boston instead of walking a bit more before heading home. I continued to be in awe of the historic architecture, and also enjoyed passing by the wharfs (wharves?). This was only meant to be a quick visit to begin with, but turned into a quick visit over a few days. I'm looking forward to going back one day.
I spent mine snowed in up in Boston, where I decided to go for a quick trip with a few friends because I've never been there and the weather report was clear until at least today. We left after lunch on the 30 and returned this afternoon due to some unexpected weather. Overall impression: I dig the city and want to visit again... but maybe not during a snow storm!
We got up to the city around dinner time, checking into our hotel in Framingham and eating the dinner we packed before wandering around in the vicinity of Commonwealth Avenue. The trees were all lit up for Christmas along the walk in the center of the avenue. I was immediately taken with how pretty the architecture in the city is. I like the patterns that many of the buildings maintain while being somewhat unique from their adjoining structures.
Kevin, Timmy, Jessica and I started our New Year's Eve with the intention of starting at the Boston Common and following the Freedom Trail and stopping at a few museums along it. We farfed around the Public Garden for a bit as it began to snow a little, jumping into empty fountains to get photos with the statues. The snow began to stick a little bit but we weren't worried, until the three of them launched themselves into the last fountain before crossing back over to the Common, which wasn't empty, but had a thin layer of ice, dusted with snow, covering a few inches of water. Jessica caught herself before flying ankle deep into cold water; Kevin and Timmy got their feet wet. This put our adventure on the wrong foot...
After sitting in Kevin's car with the heat on and getting dry socks, we ventured back out. The snow had picked up quite a bit, but we decided to try to take on the Freedom Trail. We wandered through the Boston Common and then went down Joy Street to the Afro-American History Museum. It was nice to be warm and inside the historic schoolhouse, but the snow really picked up, prompting us to cancel our New Year's Eve plans at home and to call our parents and have them look up hotels in the city for us. We got a room at a hotel within city limits (Framingham is about half an hour outside Boston) and went to check in and move the car. The room had a lovely view of the Charles River, so we took a stroll along that, half playing in the snow and half looking for transit stops. Our feet were pretty cold and wet by then so we took another break, having Chinese food for lunch in the hotel (with the added attraction of a man selecting one of the live fish, and hearing it flop about as it was pulled from the tank behind me) before taking a bus and then the T back into center city.
We took the orange line down to Massachusetts Avenue in attempt to see the Harriet Tubman House, as per the boys' intense wishes, only to discover it was a community center named for the heroine, not actually her house. So, orange line back up near the Common and back on the Freedom Trail after getting some DD, but the sun was setting and our feet were not drying. We saw a few sites: Park Street Church, Old State House, Fanueil Hall... but started our chilly trek back to the hotel not too much later.
This morning was clear as a bell but absolutely frigid: 7 degrees Fahrenheit and quite windy. As a result, we drove around Boston instead of walking a bit more before heading home. I continued to be in awe of the historic architecture, and also enjoyed passing by the wharfs (wharves?). This was only meant to be a quick visit to begin with, but turned into a quick visit over a few days. I'm looking forward to going back one day.
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