Boston for the Weekend!

Mac had a conference at MIT starting on Sunday, July 10th, so we went up for the weekend before and I got to show him some of my old haunts from my grad school days. We drove up early Saturday morning and stopped at Mark and Christi's place to pick up keys since they were so graciously letting us stay there while they were both out of town. Then we parked the car in Cambridge and walked around Harvard and then had lunch at Veggie Planet! Not only do I enjoy the all-vegetarian menu at Veggie Planet, but I used to volunteer at Club Passim, so it was good to be back in the space and see how things have changed. And the food was delicious!

While in Cambridge, we also stopped by Harvard Bookstore and lo and behold my dad's books were on the shelf! He's written two young adult chapter books for my nephews and both of them were on the shelf of books that have been printed on the store's on-demand book printing machine, Paige M. Gutenborg. It was cool to see them in the store (they're the thinner cream and green colored books in the middle of the photo).

We met up with Mac's friend Mike and Mike's friend while we were in Cambridge and all headed over to Ann and Lee's house in Somerville. We got to meet Ann and Lee's new dog, Violet (so cute) and our friend Allison met up with us there, too. We all had a beer in their back yard and then walked to a great Peruvian Restaurant where we met up with even more folks (Mike's brother and his friends) and had a huge table with about a dozen people. It was a good time.

After dinner some of us went candlepin bowling and met up with my friend Matt. Phew - it was whirlwind of a day, but I got to catch up with lots of folks and introduce Mac to some of my best grad school friends.

After bowling Mac and I drove Allison home and stayed the night at Mark and Christi's super-adorable apartment in Roslindale. We had a lazy morning on Sunday and got brunch at a little diner that Mark recommended and then packed up our stuff and headed back into Boston.

We parked under Boston Common and strolled through the Common and the Public Garden for a bit before meeting up with Mike again. Here's a shot of Mac and I enjoying a lovely day with Swan Boats in the background:

After we met up with Mike, we walked through the garden past the famous "Make Way for Ducklings" statues. This was too much of a photo opp to pass up. Mac and Mike weren't the only kids on the ducklings, they were just the biggest:

Mike likes Mama Duck:

Mac showing off his Texas roots and riding her rodeo-style:

We also took some time to sit in the shade and listen to this great jazz duo playing in the park:

But our favorite musician, by far, was the one man band. In the photo below, you can see Mike playing some instruments and me hula hooping on the right side:

Before the song was over, Mac handed me the camera and did some hula hooping of his own:

Here's Mike and Mac feeling victorious after the song was over. It was quite a sight to see.

And here's a little video of the one man band in action:

After the one man band, we walked all the way down Newbury St. to The Other Side Cafe and had a tasty lunch and some local brews. We walked back to the car and then it was time for me to drop those two off for their conference and then drive back to NJ on my own. It was a great whirlwind tour of the city.