Snapshots from Boston, part II.

Sunday afternoon we headed to Fenway Park for a Red Sox game. In spite of intermittent rain, the stadium was packed with fans!


I'm a lifelong baseball fan but this was my first visit to the storied Fenway Park. What a fabulous venue for a baseball game! It's hard to imagine there is a bad seat in the house. We had a great time at the game even though there were rain delays and the Red Sox lost


That night we met a friend from my freshman floor at SMU and her husband for dinner at an Italian restaurant in the North End called Antico Forno. Barbara was also in town to run the marathon. We reconnected and figured out we would both be in Boston through the wonders of Facebook. We had a very good meal and the runners were able to load up on carbs the night before the big race


This was the view out our hotel window race morning. The runners ride buses 26.2 miles out of town to Hopkinton where the marathon begins. These school buses were lined up for miles! Guess it takes a lot of buses to transport 20,000 runners


Later in the morning there was a parade in front of hotel in commemoration of Patriots Day in Massachusetts


I spent a little while wandering about the Granary Burying Ground across from our hotel


Paul Revere's grave


Samuel Adams is buried here


The grave site of Crispus Attucks and other victims of the Boston Massacre


You might guess that John Hancock's marker would be the largest and easiest to spot


Next I made my way through the Boston Common to the marathon finish line (see earlier post)


Robert and me back at the hotel post-race


We walked to the North End for some celebratory pizza at Regina's


Yum!


Even though I did NOT run 26.2 miles that morning, I decided to treat myself to a cannoli at Mike's Pastry (that is not my gelato I'm holding! Robert handed it to me while he took the picture)


Then we walked part of the Freedom Trail. This was Paul Revere's house


Statue of Paul Revere with the Old North Church steeple behind him


Me by the Old North Church. See the red line? That marks the Freedom Trail

A great weekend in a great city!

Snapshots from Boston, part I.

In Boston Common just after exiting the T station near our hotel. We took the train from the airport - very fast and easy, not to mention that I love pretending like I'm hip and urban


Our hotel, the Nine Zero. Our first time here, though we've stayed at Kimpton properties in other cities - love their boutique hotels


We received a complimentary upgrade to a suite - hooray! There was a separate bedroom and a large bathroom behind me (i.e., not in the picture)


We set out to pick up Robert's bib number and race packet at the Marathon Expo


The expo was so crowded I couldn't even stand still long enough to get a decent picture!


We stopped afterward for lunch at Wagamama, a noodle bar that is a favorite spot of ours in London - their only outlets in the US are in Boston. It was good, though not quite the same as being in London - no surprise there!


Later in the afternoon we rode the T out to Boston College to see a cousin of mine from Atlanta who is a freshman there


Barron gave us an insiders tour of BC - what a fabulous campus


Afterward we met Barron's girlfriend and walked with them to the charming town of Newton Center where we enjoyed a great dinner at a local restaurant


Robert with Jennie and Barron at Union Street


Robert and me with Barron before we got on the train and headed back into town

Coming up next: a Red Sox game, Italian food in the North End, Race Day and the Freedom Trail...

Marathon success!

Thank you so much for all of the well wishes for Robert as he ran the Boston Marathon. He did great! His time was fast enough to requalify for next year's marathon so he was quite pleased.


I took this picture as I approached the finish line around the time I thought Robert would be crossing


The crowd by the finish line was at least five people deep. I am short and couldn't see much. Just as a space cleared for me to get close to the fence, I saw Robert (in the center wearing an orange shirt) run by! I barely had time to get my camera turned on and snap a picture


The finisher!


Robert and me back at our hotel after the race

This morning we fly back to Dallas. More on Boston after I get home.

Boston past and present.

Robert and I are in Boston for him to run the Boston Marathon today.

Our hotel is directly across the street from the Granary Burying Ground where John Hancock, Paul Revere, Crispus Attucks, Samuel Adams and others are buried. Featured prominently in the center of the graveyard is an obelisk with the inscription "Franklin," erected in 1827 to mark the grave site of Benjamin Franklin's parents.

I recalled a picture from my dad's digital frame back at Christmas that showed the Franklin obelisk. I looked for it on my laptop and thought you'd get a kick out of seeing this:


1963 - My parents had been married a year and were living in Boston. My mom's parents and her three sisters came up for my dad's graduation from business school. My mom (second from right) is only 22 in this picture!


2010 - Me

(Please forgive my outfit! I forgot to bring my coat and bought this one at the Vineyard Vines store here in Boston. It's cute but completely doesn't match what I have on. I'm wearing my rain boots because it's been quite rainy here.)

The joy of a friend.

Looking out our dining room window towards our neighbors' side yard


What does Tucker see?


Why, it's his best buddy Dutch who lives next door! As soon as Dutch is let outside, he runs to his gate and barks toward our window. Tucker can hear him from anywhere in our house and promptly runs to the window and begins to whimper...


...until I call Dutch's mom to see if Tucker can come over for a *play date*


And they're off!


Aren't friends the best?! (Tucker, center, with Dutch and Dutch's brother, JJ, who also lives on our block)


(left to right: Dutch, JJ, Tucker and Coco)

My latest time waster.

I am pretty adept at finding things to do other than what I should be doing.

The latest distraction keeping me from working on our taxes, needlepointing on my Christmas stocking, cleaning out my closets, organizing my desk, etc. is this Owl Cam. It features "Molly and McGee," a pair of barn owls in Southern California who have taken up residence in a owl nesting box. The owner of the box, Carlos, set up the box two years ago and equipped it with two web cams, one for the daytime and an infrared one for night (there is now a third camera outside the box that records the owls coming and going from the box). The box remained empty until a couple of months ago when Molly and McGee set up housekeeping there. Subsequently Molly laid six eggs. Four of the eggs hatched, and the babies now range from two to three weeks old. They are so cute! At night the dad, McGee, delivers food for his family (usually mice but occasionally a rabbit or gopher). As the babies have gotten bigger, McGee has increased the number of offerings he brings. Molly attentively tends to her brood, sitting on them or tucking them under her wings to keep them warm.

The owls are fascinating to watch. Don't say I didn't warn you if you get as addicted to the owl cam as I am!

Snapshots from Hawaii 2010, Part IV.

On our last day in Hawaii, I ventured over to the North Shore of Maui with John, Dots, my mother and my mother-in-law to take in some big waves and some good seafood at the celebrated Mama's Fish House


This boat marks the entrance to Mama's


Mama's Fish House is situated right next to the beach. The dining area is an upscale version of the Tiki Room at Disneyland


Check out this view from inside the restaurant!


Dots with her tropical Shirley Temple - who doesn't love a drink served with a little umbrella?


I had the specialty of the house: mahi mahi stuffed with crab and shrimp. It was fabulous!


Dots took this picture of our table


After lunch Dots and John checked out the beach


Dots and me in front of Mama's - you can see the open air dining room behind us to the left

Meanwhile back at the resort...


Hockey Boy ran into a friend from his hockey team (the boy in the orange shirt) who was also vacationing with his family at our hotel


Emmitt Smith and his beautiful wife, Pat, at the pool (the NFL Retired Players Association was meeting at our hotel this week)


Hockey Boy and friends having fun on the beach


Heading out to sea on the paddle boards


Saying good-bye to sweet Faye after our final Happy Hour


Dots and Robert at our last Hawaiian dinner (the group that lunched at Mama's was not very hungry!)


Will and Biba


Dots, Robert and John


View of the sunset from my plane seat (I prefer the vista from my hotel balcony, personally!)

Back to reality...