Boston & Providence (4)

On Thursday we headed back down to Providence to do some Rhode Island sightseeing, to move the roommates belongings from the basement storage up to the apartment and to stock up on supplies for Abbie's apartment.

Providence is a very livable city and Brown University is right next to downtown, so Abbie knows the city pretty well. She was delighted to show off her campus and her town. We walked along the river to Providence Place, we wandered through the campus and, of course, ate at some good restaurants.

Friday started out as a work day which meant moving the boxes and bags of belongings from the basement to the apartment -- which is on the third floor of the house, of course. We took a run out to Seekonk, MA, which is the shopping Mecca of the area. We took care of business at Sam's Club, Wal-Mart and the big grocery store.

We capped off the day, and the trip, with dinner at the Red Stripe and a visit to WaterFire. Very nice.

Boston & Providence (3)

Wednesday dawned (well, late dawn) another beautiful day. Matt recommended the Edward Hopper Exhibit so we headed to the T station to hop on the Green line which took us practically to the front door of the Museum of Fine Art. The three of us went through the Hopper exhibit, then Abbie left to meet up with a friend from Brown who lives in Boston. Frank and I continued to go through the museum. After a couple of hours, we went to one of the museum restaurants for lunch. Then more museum browsing.

Late afternoon we hooked up with Abbie and her friend (Jason Lee) in the area near South Station. Abbie and Jason had spent the day at the New England Aquarium and had lunch at Legal Seafoods. Jason recommended The Daily Catch for a dinner, but was unable to join us. The restaurant had outdoor seating, near the water. The service was pretty slow -- apparently they were short-staffed due to the Steely Dan concert -- but the food was fabulous.

Abbie IV got black pasta (black due to the squid ink)

and Frank and I got Lobster Fra Diavolo for 2.

We split a bottle of wine, recommended by our long-suffering-with-too-many-tables waiter. The cappuccino that we ordered for dessert was so slow in coming that it was on the house. Since we were in no hurry, the slow service was no concern for us. And the wonderful food, great company and lovely location were all happily enjoyed during the long, slow meal.

The Green Line took us back to the hotel for our last night in Boston.

Boston & Providence (2)

The weather on Tuesday morning promised a beautiful day -- clear and cool. We walked to the Lechmere station and took the T to Boston Common to the start of the Freedom Trail. The Common was busy with tourists and guides in period dress. It was a work day, so the Trail, especially through the downtown area, was busy with regular working people as well. There are several old (very old by U.S. standards) graveyards early on the trail. We were intrigued by the skull with wings motif and the dancing skeletons that were present on many of the headstones. Pictures of the headstones and other sights from our trip can be seen here on my Picasa web album.

We stopped for an early lunch at a Sushi place in the business district of Boston. Abbie IV and Frank both got sushi; I got udann. We continued along the trail, enjoying all of the historical sites along the way. After walking over the bridge, we headed to the Naval Yard to take the tour of the Constitution. Our tour guide was from Crivitz, Wisconsin. He joined the Navy right out of high school, has been in for 10 years and been stationed in many foreign ports. We were only his second tour group and the photo I took of him and Abbie IV was only his third tourist photo. The Constitution tour was a real high point of the Freedom Trail for us.

We walked the Trail through Charlestown, up to Bunker Hill where Abbie climbed to the top of the monument. I thought this was a particularly pretty part of the Trail and enjoyed the neighborhood and the monuments along this part very much. We headed back the Trail to Boston and the Union Oyster House where we ate a couple of seafood dinners and Frank and I had a couple of beers.

We found a T station and went back to Cambridge and the hotel where we all put our feet up for a couple of hours; then went out for a late stroll. Then to bed.

Boston & Providence (1)

Abbie IV had five days of homelessness -- in between getting kicked out of the dorm and before the start of her sublet -- so we headed to New England to help with moving things into and out of storage and to provide housing. We spent Sunday (May 27) on the road and stayed the night in Waterbury Connecticut. We ate supper at Spartan's (moussaka for me, something with seafood for Frank), a great local restaurant that was recommended by the desk clerk.

Waterbury is just two and half hours from Providence, so we got an early start Monday morning and rolled up to Ab's dorm at around 10 am. The building she will be living in has secure storage and she had her belongings packed and ready to move to the basement. She was in charge of moving the possessions of her roommates and several friends, too. And there was another friend in a different building who was also using the storage. So we spent a couple of hours loading and unloading the Hyundai. All told, we moved the belongings of five students; including at least two computer monitors.

We re-loaded our stuff into the car then walked to Sawaddee Thai Restaurant for a late lunch. My crab fried rice was excellent. Boston is only about an hour from Providence, so we headed north, checked into our hotel in Cambridge, settled in, then walked around the neighborhood. Eventually, we started looking around for a place to eat dinner. Inspection of the menu at Helmand, an Afghan cuisine restaurant that we happened upon, showed an acceptable selection. The place was very nice and even though it was a little early for eating out, was somewhat busy. We were taken to a smaller back room (we weren't the only ones dressed casually, but maybe we were the only ones casually dressed without a reservation) where we ordered sea bass (shared by me and Frank) and something vegetarian for Ab. Everything was delicious. When we left, the place was packed.

Back to the hotel for web-surfing, relaxing and planning for Tuesday's activities.