A day in Boston

Wow, this was fun, and way more relaxing than the "hell bent for whatever" mad dash on the freeways through and under the big City the day before (on our way to Plymouth and then Fall River).  Today, wisely, we decided to park our big Chevy diesel pickup at the closest transit station to our RV Park (i.e Newburyport) and take the commuter train into Boston.   It was a fairly scenic 1 hour trip through various coastal towns like Ipswich, Beverly, Salem, and (my favorite town name) Swampscot before arriving at North Station, Boston, which also happens to abut the "Garden", as in Boston Garden, home to the basketball Celtics and hockey Bruins.

We had prepaid for a Trolley Tour of Boston and rode it through it's entire hour and a half loop before getting off at one central stop and exploring more on foot.

In both the trolley and on foot, we enjoyed viewing and learning about many historic places, buildings, and tales about old time revolutionary leaders, like Samuel Adams and John Hancock, two signers of the Declaration of Independence; and Paul Revere, of midnight ride fame.  Turns out all three of these gentlemen are buried in the "Old Burying Grounds" right in the smack dab middle of Boston.

We lunched in the Bell in Hand Tavern, established in 1795 and billed as the oldest tavern in the Country., This is a picture of the the little triangular nook where Elaine and I sat during our lunch (my entree was, not surprisingly, a seafood platter... I'm like in "hog... or, more appropriately... seafood heaven" here as I absolutely love all sorts of seafood).

 Walked by buildings 2+ centuries old and enjoyed the Boston Commons, a large grassy park with ponds, play and relaxation areas, again right in the middle of town.  We will definitely come back here at some point in our "busy" retirement days to explore more as this is a fascinating and historic town.  The fact that we were unable to tour Fenway Park on this day, due to a "Food Event" at the old ballpark, was only a minor disappointment.

One stop we did make late in the afternoon was at the Cheers Tavern very close to Boston Commons.  This was where they filmed the exterior shots for the long-running hit TV series of the same name.  Thing is, as we learned, the actual basement bar we went to is NOT where they filmed the interior scenes.  That occurred, according to our trolley guide, at a studio "prop" in Los Angeles.  But it was still fun to stop at the Bar and have a glass of wine.

Those of you who are old enough must surely remember the cast of characters, including Sam Malone, waitresses Carla and Diane, Cliff, Norm, and Frazier (yes, that Frazier, who would eventually star in his own long-running TV show).  The theme (song?) of that show said something about Cheers being the place where "everyone knows your name"

Turns out that catchy phrase was somewhat eerily close to the truth that afternoon as a couple women, also tourists by the looks of the town maps they were holding, sat down at the bar near us.  Elaine thought one of the women looked familiar; and soon enough we learned that, indeed, the two women were from Oregon, and the one woman, Ann, was indeed the person Elaine remembered from the UO.  Elaine first met Ann, who retired years ago, when she (Elaine) started at the UO some 34 years ago.  Small world it is indeed!

It (the World) became even smaller when we returned to the "Garden/Train Station" later in the afternoon and had a chance run-in with an older couple who had just come off a train from Maine and were trying to get to the outside curb to hail a cab.  I'm saying "trying" because the gentleman was almost crippled... dealing with recent knee replacement surgery on one knee... and, as he eventually explained to me, the other knee had just about given out on him.  So he was struggling just to get out of the station while pulling his travel bag, with his wife nearby but unable to offer much physical help.  On Elaine's urging, I went over and helped him and his wife get to the curb where they could get a cab; and enroute (a  "very slow" journey over some 50 yards) I discovered they, too, were from Oregon (Grants Pass).  We didn't "know their name", but then again maybe we did.  Hey, Cheers to all!  ("Carla, where's my beer for crying out loud!")