Well we’re back from our vacation in Boston. I had meant to do a couple of posts from Boston, but unfortunately, it just didn’t quite work out that way. But we had a lovely time, and I took a ton of pictures. We actually got back last week, but it’s taken me all week to go through the 1000 or so pictures and choose my favorites to share. We arrived late on a Wednesday, and caught a cab to the place we were staying. A friend & co-worker of Mr. Man’s was going to be in San Francisco during that time, so he allowed us to stay at his awesome Condo in the Kendall Square area of Cambridge, which was awesome++. He has such a fantastic place, open floor plan, vaulted ceilings, loft – very Urban Artsy. Exactly the kind of place I would want if I lived in a city (and didn’t have a kid).

The first day we were in town, Miss Thing and I explored the Harvard area – however, I didn’t really get a lot of pictures, since it was supposed to rain that day, and I decided to leave the camera at home. Well of course, it didn’t rain – and despite my best intentions, I never made it back over to Harvard to take real pictures, which is too bad – since it was just simply gorgeous. I keep telling Miss Thing to plan for when she gets in to Harvard, because I’ll be coming to visit. I swear, just walking around the campus made feel all smart n’ shtuff. Since it was a work-cation for Mr. Man, he didn’t join us until that evening, which is okay because in his words “I get to vacation and work, it’s awesome!”. It’s awesome how much he loves what he does.

So the next day, Miss Thing and I headed over to downtown Boston and walked around – and despite the warnings of rain, this time I brought my camera and was able to get some really cool pictures. We saw the Park Street Church (above is a picture of the steeple) and Granary Burying Ground (the pic above the steeple is from the entrance to Granary). One thing I love about the eastern half of the country is all the lovely graveyards and churches. (I think half or more of my pictures are from churches and such) Most of California just doesn’t really have the same kind of deeply rooted history.

After Granary, we stopped in to King’s Chapel, where we were able to look around for a little bit. There’s a graveyard next to King’s Chapel, but unfortunately, Miss Thing was less than thrilled at the idea of looking around at it after so recently walking around Granary, so I didn’t push the issue. To be honest, she was less than thrilled in general with the whole sight-seeing thing – probably directly related to her being a teenager who’d rather do almost anything than spend time with the ‘rentals. But someday she’ll appreciate it.

After King’s Chapel, we walked around Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market, which was probably Miss Thing’s favorite part of the day, with all her favorite stores there. As soon as I could drag Miss Thing away from the glittering lights of the Mall Displays, we headed over to the Old State House. It was so inspiring to be at, see, and touch all these fabulous little markers from history. The weight of history could be felt all around you – like a tangible thing. When we visited the Old State house, we got so see some photographs of how Boston had changed over the last several hundred years, and it really gave me some perspective. The hundreds and hundreds of hands and feet that had walked and stood there before me was both humbling and empowering – it definitely made me feel more connected to our country’s roots.

By the time we finished up at the State House, it was starting to get late, so we met up with Mr. Man and went to see the new Harry Potter at the theater over by the Boston Commons, and I kid you not – this had to be the most ginormous theater I’ve ever seen, ever. We had to go up two escalators and walk about a blocks worth of hallway to get to our theater. There were lots of old movie posters on the walls and was just very cool.

The next day was Saturday, and one of Mr. Man’s Boston Coworkers had loaned us his car for the weekend – so we piled in and drove up the coast to see Salem, which was awesome. It was like the world’s biggest Pagan Theme Park – only minus the rides, and with an extra helping of Kitschy. We went to the Salem Witch Museum first, and for the most part I found it interesting – atleast, right up until they did a presentation on Modern Witches. Apparently modern Witches are supposed to wear stretch velvet to all rituals, along with hokey head dresses – oh, and  faux greenery. And antlers. Did I mention I didn’t care for that part of the presentation?

Afterwards, we meandered through a few shops, including Crow Haven Corner, and then walked around the Salem Graveyard for a little while. When we finished at the graveyard, we went down to the Witch Village museum. We were planning on going in, however – we didn’t because it turned out that it was a presentation of a “Modern Wiccan Ritual” and I just  didn’t think I could handle any more modern Witch stereotypes for the day. (I mean, okay – honestly? Stretch Velvet? C’mon!)

By this time it was starting to get late, however – so we deadheaded over to the Witch House and Witch Dungeon Museum. The Witch House was cool, but the Witch Dungeon was by far my favorite “attraction” that we saw while we were there. There was a presentation based on actual testimony/documents from the Salem Witch Trials, and then a tour of a replica of the dungeons that accused witches were kept in. It was kewl. Afterwards, most of the attractions had closed up for the night, so we did a cruise down Essex Street and checked out the little shops and such, before grabbing some dinner and heading back to the Condo.

The next few days Miss Thing and I kept it pretty low key. We did some shopping on Newbury street (kind of the Rodeo Drive of Boston), which Miss Thing enjoyed, and we visited the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. The MFA was absolutely amazing. They had a special exhibit on Renaissance Venice, which was amazing – but the building itself was beyond belief as well – with fabulous murals painted everywhere, nevermind the regular exhibits. I could probably have spent a couple of days there, but I wasn’t quite cruel enough to drag Miss Thing there twice, since her appreciation for art tends to be nonexistant. (It’s a work in progress – I’m hoping that shoving culture down her throat anyways will eventually have some effect)

On our last weekend, we hit the Freedom Trail again, this time walking the entire thing, with Mr. Man. We had a good time, although unfortunately, we ended up getting a late start, so by the time we got to some of the places, they were closed for the night. We did get to visit St Leonards while we were out, and I got a couple of good pictures while we were there, as well as some outdoor shots. The lighting in St Leonards was pretty low, so of the couple dozen pictures I took, only a handful turned out okay, but this one was probably my favorite.

On Saturday, we had a vague idea of maybe taking a Duck Tour, but unfortunately, they were sold out, so instead we walked around the area nearby, visiting Trinity Church and the Boston Public Library. I also snapped a couple of pictures of the Old South Church, but unfortunately, they were having a wedding there that day, so we weren’t able to go in and explore.

Trinity Church was awesome – both inside and out. The building looks like something straight out of some gothic story – full of weathered carvings, towers and such. You could probably sit there and examine it for hours and hours and not really see every detail.

When we went inside, it was just as lovely – full of gorgeous carvings and some of the most exquisite stained glass art I’ve ever seen. Unfortunately, it was also terrible dark, so many of the pictures I attempted turned out less than ideal. I did get a couple of pictures of the stained glass to turn out though.

After Trinity Church, we walked over to the Boston Public Library and looked around. It was, beyond a doubt, the coolest library I’ve ever been to. It was all gorgeous architecture, murals, stone – and just about the neatest place to think about curling up and doing some learnin’ – atleast if you could tear yourself away from just gazing at all the beauty in an art-induced stupor.

After the library, one of Mr. Man’s other co-worker’s offered to loan us his car, and having explored north the previous weekend, we decided to head south – to Plymouth and Cape Cod. We stopped in Plymouth for just about a minute to see Plymouth Rock, which I was heartily disapointed with, by the way. They have the rock in a big freaking hole, about ten feet away from where the viewing area is. I mean, I get the need to protect it from the elements and souveniour thiefs, but to not allow people to touch it at all? Thats just wrong. I’m a very tactile person, and I was looking forward to touching such an important piece of history. Utter lamesauce.

After Plymouth, we cruised on down to Cape Cod – Woods Hole to be specific and wandered around for a little while. I had hoped we’d make it to the tip of the Cape, but unfortunately, we didn’t. We mostly just kinda meandered around the southern coast. If we’d gotten there a little earlier, it would have been cool to go to Martha’s Vineyard or Nanctucket, but as it was we simply enjoyed the cool ocean breeze and lovely drive. I also got to dip my toes in to the Atlantic Ocean for the first time in – gosh, eight or more years? A long time, anyways.

I probably could have spent another month or two sight seeing in Boston and not seen it all – there’s just so much to do around there. Next time I think I’d rather go in the fall though, since the humidity while we were there was I-N-S-A-N-E to this dry-heat-California Girl. I’d forgotten how humid the east coast can be in the summer. I had an amazing time, though – and I definitely want to go back some day. I’m sure I’ve probably forgotten to include various details – but my brain is starting to mushify – I’ve spent the last several days locked up tight in Photoshop and prepping pictures. Whatever it is, I’m sure I can always write up something later.

So take aways from the trip are:

1) Don’t ever go to Seattle in the early spring again. It’s cold, wet, and rainy. (Even snowy sometimes, as we got some fat wet snow on friday)

2) Don’t drink the coffee. It will forever ruin you for coffee any place else. Vivace, Zeitgeist, I will miss you the most. No, really. The espresso I had in Seattle has become the bar by which all other espresso will now be compared against. I suppose I should be grateful, as this has spurred me to find really good places for coffee in San Francisco, but mostly I just miss Zeitgeist.

3) Seattle-ites are crazy. As evidenced by this street sign that was common on many streets in the area:

I mean, honestly – what the hell? How in the heck are you supposed to know which way is north or south or east or west, in an area that is, oh – I dunno… CONSTANTLY CLOUDY AND FOGGY?!?! Or how about if you are just unfamiliar with the area and trying to figure things out? This sign is supremely unuseful. Just sayin.

Anyhow – I had a good time altogether, and so did Mr. Man. Next time we’re going in the summer though. Srsly.

I tooled around for a little while longer, but unfortunately, in the late afternoon; the weather which had been so cooperative recently; decided to take a turn for the worse. It become very cold; so I headed back to the hotel to wait for Mr. Man to finish up his work day so that we could go grab some dinner.

For Dinner, we went to a place over in Belltown called Marrakesh. It’s a Moroccan restaurant. Now, let me confess; there is almost no dish I love more in the world than good Bastilla. Hell, even mediocre Bastilla is preferable to no Bastilla. I’m a huge fan of Moroccan food in general though, so I was really looking forward to dinner.

Moroccan restaurants are fun because they are so full of interesting atmosphere, such as low tables and cushions on the floor, fabric covered walls, etc…

The restaurant also provided entertainment in the form of a Belly Dancer. She was pretty good.

Unfortunately, the food was not as good as one could have hoped, atleast the entree wasn’t. Almost everything EXCEPT the entree was yummy. Since dinner is a Prie Fixe of five courses, it included everything – a soup, salad, appetizer, entree and desert. The soup and salad were very good. Unfortunately, the Bastilla; the highlight of any moroccan meal for me, was served only moderately warm. It was still good, but I was left with the distinct impression that it had been made up ahead of time and merely warmed up for serving. We both ordered the Brochette Marrakesh for our entrees, which is lamb kabobs that have been marinated and then grilled. My lamb was okay; if a teeny tiny bit over done. Mr. Man’s however, was tough and overcooked. Even worse though, was the rice dish that was served with our lamb. Normally, moroccan dishes are served with couscous, so from the start we were like “Uh, rice? Ick.” But, okay… let’s taste it. Bleh. Let’s not. lol. The rice was blaaaaaaaaand and dry. And the vegetables in the rice looked like the standard pack of frozen mixed vegetables you’d find at any grocer. Even taking in to account that overcooked meat is icky, the rice was still the least appetizing thing we were served. Dessert was some sort of sticky cake like substance, that both Mr. Man and I have determined to be a fairly bland, tasteless cake-like substance; soaked in a sugar-syrup. It was okay, but I think I could stand not ever having it again.

Anyhow, although the restaurant was a teeny bit of a bust, we still had a good time, although to be honest, that was mostly due to the company, and not the food or service. :-/

After I get up to Capitol Hill, I started walking around and I gotta say; I really wish I’d gone somewhere else. LOL. Maybe I was in the wrong area; but as I was walking around on Broadway, it was uh… kinda sketchy. And a lot of the storefronts were empty, and of the open stores; many of them were in the process of closing. I did however; see a statue of Jimi Hendrix, lol.

The one shining spot in Capitol Hill was definitely, definitely, definitely the Vivace Espresso stand that I stopped at. At first I was disapointed… I ordered four shots and well… lets just say that compared to other coffee places, their four shots was more like one. A small one, at that. However, my complaints ceased the moment that nectar passed my lips. It was really, really good espresso. Really good. Like, change your life good. Like, it’s a good thing there isn’t one more conveniently located.

I stopped in Archie McPhee’s and explored for a little while, which was interesting. There were so many odd things that I would never have thought would be in a regular store. A little later I found a store called Dandelion Botanical Co. where I picked up a bar of spiced hand made soap that smells absolutely delish and a couple o little mermaid figures that were made by a local artist. I’m trying to make it a point to (mostly) buy things produced locally.

After Ballard, I took my first trip on the Seattle Mass-transit, taking bus number 17 to the Fremont Bridge and then walking across to look around in Fremont.

After all the walking around earlier, I was really wanting some espresso. Now, I know that Seattle is the Starbucks capitol and all, but I got tell ya; I got a really big warm fuzzy seeing a little slice of home in the form of a Peet’s Coffee just on the other side of the Fremont Bridge. Starbucks is okay, I guess but honestly; Peet’s is better.

I walked around some in Fremont, and found a really neat gallery called Frank and Dunya. Nothing really jumped out and said ‘take me home’, but it was fun nonetheless. It was about time for Mr. Man to finish up at work by then though, so I decided to head back to Pioneer Square and meet him to figure out what we were going to do this evening.

Since the weather seemed to be holding warm, pleasant and clear, we decided that it was a perfect time to go to the Space Needle. As we were walking up I managed to get this great perspective shot of the Needle.

When we got to the top, we were treated to some fabulous clear views of the city; some of which I’ll try to post later; but here’s a nice one of us with the city skyline.

Next we headed over to the Gas Works Park. Unfortunately, the rain decided that ‘now’ was a good time for it to come down harder, despite how it affected our desire to be outside. It was so inconsiderate. ::sigh:: (LOL!) but we tromped around anyhow, exploring a little bit (and of course getting soaked!) You can actually see the rain in the picture.

After getting totally soaked, we ended up meandering around a little bit before ending up in Bellevue and grabbing some lunch. After Bellevue we headed down to Kubota Gardens. Luckily, it started to clear up while we were there, so while it was still wet; only my feet were really joining them in the party. I took a lot of pretty pictures that I’ll put in an album later, but this one was one of my favorites.

After we explored the park for a while, we headed over to Beacon Point and took in the view overlooking the city. It was super windy, but I love how this picture of Don and the city skyline turned out.

After Beacon Point, we headed over to Hamilton Viepoint Park and walked around for a little while. It was still clear, although the wind had actually picked up even more. This was probably my favorite view of the city skyline that we saw today. The bay was just such a lovely blue, and the after-rain air was fairly crisp.

After Hamilton Viewpoint, we continued on around the coast towards Alki Beach. The sun was starting to get ideas about setting, when I took this picture. I think it came out lovely.

Now please keep in mind, that I’m blogging this from the hubby’s laptop; which does not have any editing software or anything. Thank goodness for photobucket and their new editing features so that I could atleast resize!

The hotel we’re staying at is pretty nice, and very convenient to downtown areas, and we have the most amazing view… /end sarcasm. See for yourself:

Our Room View:

Anyhow, after kicking around Pike’s Place Market, we stopped off and got an Espresso at teh very first Starbucks. There was a line coming out the door. It was fun though. We picked up a couple of bags of their “Pike’s Place” blend to take home, too. Here’s us at the window while we were in line to get coffee.

Anyhow – will try to update more later! <3

Anyhow, while I was out and about the other day waiting for the munchkin, I happened upon this little dead-end that had a path up to the lower hill on Twin Peaks, so I parked and walked up to look around and take some pretty pictures.

This one was taken towards the West, overlooking the bay and the Golden Gate Bridge.

This one was taken facing East, towards the city Skyline, bay and just a teeny-tiny bit of Oakland.

It was around Sunset; and the sky was doing some interesting things. I could have wished for less haze, but otherwise I think they came out really pretty.