Ruben and I love to travel, but because of the Covid-19 pandemic, we hadn’t taken a vacation since 2019. This year, however, we decided it was time to get out of town and go somewhere, so we decided to visit Boston again. I’d been there twice in the nineties, once to give a presentation at a conference at Harvard, and another time to visit a friend. Most recently, Ruben and I spent a week there in 2018, and we both really liked it, so we decided to go back. This time we stayed for 10 whole days, and had a great time immersing ourselves in learning more about the history of Boston and its role in the colonial period in US history. It’s never really interested me much before, but this time I decided it was time to pay closer attention to such things. I’m glad I did. Boston has a fascinating history and is a city rich with architectural treasures and historic monuments.
A vintage postcard of Boston.
Boston has one of the best skylines in the country. Our point of reference whenever we got lost was the Custom House clock tower, which is front and center in this photo. It was once the tallest building in all of Boston. Things sure have changed.
There is so much to see and do in this city that it would take several weeks to do it all. We didn’t get to do everything we wanted, and I’d really like to go back again.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2022
It took all day to get from Tucson to Boston. We arrived at the Tucson International Airport at around 7:30am. Our flight was delayed by two hours so we didn’t take off until 10:45am. We had a layover in Dallas and finally got to Boston at around 10pm. It was a very long day.
NOTE: CLICK ON ANY PHOTO TO SEE A LARGER VERSION OF IT.
We flew on American Airlines this time around. It isn’t our favorite. They charge for everything, it seems, and their planes are often completely booked and cramped. They don’t serve any food except for snacks, but I guess that’s pretty much the norm nowadays. They also changed our flight, with less than 24 hours notice that the flight we had originally booked had been cancelled and that we’d have to take a later one.
We stayed at the Embassy Suites in East Boston. It was just a hop skip and a jump from the airport and free shuttle service was provided from the airport and back. Unfortunately, there were very few places to eat in East Boston so late at night, and after calling around, we found nothing. We ended up walking about half a mile to a Walgreens near a very busy restaurant a few blocks away. We bought frozen pizza, snacks and water. The pizza wasn’t all that great, as we only had a microwave in which to heat it up, but it was something. Oh well. We hoped things would get better in the food department the next day, and they did. Little did we realize how expensive it would all be, however.
This was the view of the city of Boston from our hotel room. We really lucked out.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2022
We walked through East Boston Memorial Park every morning to catch the train to the downtown area. It was a short, five minute trek down a paved path that curved around the park’s soccer field. The train stopped at the Aquarium station in downtown Boston, which was an area we were already familiar with, close to Faneuil Hall and the Quincy Market. The weather was perfect the whole time we were there.
We shopped in the Quincy Market area and bought some t-shirts and postcards. We also wandered through downtown on our first day, but didn’t stray too far. We’d eventually venture out beyond the historic area to other parts of town.
I bought these unconventionally shaped postcards in one of the shops in the Quincy Market area on our first day. The round ones are about the size of coffee coasters.
We decided to splurge on lunch and had lobster rolls at a restaurant on State St. called Provisions. We had been there the last time we were in Boston and it was really good, so we tried it again. The lobster rolls, while expensive, were delicious, and were served warm on a buttery, toasted, delicious bun.
These are some of the interesting buildings we saw on our first day. We bought some souvenirs in the Old State House museum store, including the postcard below.
The Old State House building has a museum featuring life in revolutionary Boston. Ruben and I had seen it on our previous trip.
This little green space was called Post Office Square. Ruben and I stopped here for some coffee. The Fall colors were breathtaking!
The evening sky was clearer on the second night of our stay.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2022
We had complimentary breakfast in the hotel every morning. Here we are showing off our new clothes. We ended up buying lots of t-shirts and sweatshirts on this trip. Our second day in the city was about to begin. We decided to walk the entire length of the Freedom Trail.
Our first stops of the day before we hit the Freedom Trail were Commonwealth Books, City Hall and the Boston Common Visitor Center, where the Freedom Trail begins. A very nice lady helped us find our way to the Boston Common, as we were hopelessly lost. I could never figure things out in the downtown area. The streets were all crooked and curved.
I bought these two books at the Commonwealth Bookstore.
Even though we had already visited many of the monuments along the Freedom Trail, such as Faneuil Hall, we decided we would walk the whole thing after we finally we made our way to the Visitor’s Center. From there we tried our best to follow the red brick path that took us to each monument along the trail. It was a 2.5 mail trek. We had no idea it would be such a strenuous journey. It kicked our butts. We even missed visiting the Bunker HIll Monument because we were so tired.
Below are a hodgepodge of photos we took while walking the freedom trail. They are in no particular order. We did see all the buildings and monuments shown above, except the Bunker Hill Monument, but I didn’t photograph every single one, and I also photographed other stuff along the way.
We had lunch at Ye Olde Union Oyster House, the oldest restaurant in the country. We were a little bit disappointed, unfortunately. We probably would have been better off ordering something different off the menu than what we had, which I can’t even remember. We made it across the bridge to Charleston, but just barely. The walk in the North End up to the bridge was all uphill and we were dead tired by then. We saw the USS Constitution and went on board for a bit, but we didn’t make it to the Bunker Hill monument. We bought a few things in the gift shop and caught a ferry boat back to the downtown area. Thank goodness we didn’t have to walk all the way back.
Ever since childhood, I’ve had an intense fascination with sailing ships and stories about pirates. The above photo of the USS Constitution doesn’t really capture it in all its glory, so I’ve added a few images of the ship at sea. I just love these.
Looking back, it was a great experience, and we could not have wished for better weather. It was a lovely, but exhausting, day!
Once we got to our room, we crashed and didn’t go anywhere else. We wound up ordering dinner via room service. It was way too expensive, but we had no energy left. We were done for the day.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2022
The following day, we were still very tired and worn out from having walked the Freedom Trail, but we did manage to get out for a little while. This time around, we ventured into Little Italy for lunch and to look at some of the churches. Unfortunately, the one church I really wanted to visit was closed. We had a delicious lunch at a place called Limoncello and walked around some before heading back to our room. It was a short day, unlike the day before.
Vintage postcards of Little Italy at the turn of the 20th century. According to one source, “by 1920, Italian immigrants and their children made up roughly 90 percent of the North End’s population and owned more than half of its residential property. The bustling neighborhood became known as Little Italy during these years and had one of the highest population densities in the world.”
Sacred Heart Church
The church was closed when we visited. The photos of the stained glass, the saints and the altar were all found on the internet. I wish we could have seen the inside.
We ate lunch at a nice Italian restaurant called Limoncello. The food was delicious. The bread was amazing. The mural on the wall in Ristorante Limoncello was breathtaking.We saw this vintage convertible parked in front of one of the restaurants, and this lovely home with flowers everywhere in Little Italy. This guy sang quite well, and performed a couple of Paul Simon tunes when we were in the Quincy Market area. The two birds on either side were taking a break from fighting each other for the food inside the styrofoam container. They’re mean little guys.
We went back to our room and called it a day a bit earlier than we had planned. Again, the trek through Boston along the Freedom Trail wore us out. We also wanted to be well rested for our trip to Salem the following day.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2022
A map of Salem. We spent all of our time on Essex St in the tourist area.
Once we arrived, we both needed to use the restroom. The only place we could find a bathroom was at City Hall.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2022
We decided to visit Cambridge again. Below are some photos we took. Harvard yard was full of people, and it literally felt like it was raining leaves. The wind was blowing them all over the place. The leaves were gorgeous, floating in the air like feathers.
Such gorgeous scenery!
We got to experience Fall in Boston!
We had lunch at a place called Bartleys. It was pretty good. I had clam chowder.
When we got back to Boston, we stopped at Macy’s where Ruben bought a new jacket. We also bought dessert and took it back to our hotel room where we gorged out on it.
Covid has messed stuff up for everyone, and the holidays, especially in 2020 and 2021, were a really rough period for people. We lost my buddy Richard in 2020 and Ruben’s dad in 2021. A lot of other friends and family also passed away these past few years. When Christmas came around last month, however, things were looking better, and I was determined to make this holiday season a more enjoyable experience for me and Ruben. And indeed, it turned out to be a much more pleasant holiday than the last few have been.
My favorite Christmas song…
Thanksgiving turned out well. Ruben and I took his mom with us to have dinner at his brother Robert’s house. The occasion put us in the mood to start decorating the house for the Christmas season. I got the outside lights up the first weekend in December and Ruben started working on setting up the tree at that point too. It felt good to have this stuff done and out of the way. We kept the both the tree and the outside lights up through early January.
Ruben and I spent Christmas eve at home together. He made us a big stuffed baked chicken. It was delicious. The following day, we drove to my sister Irene’s house to pick up a dozen tamales and some gifts (socks etc.) she had for us. We then drove over to my other sister Becky’s house and dropped off some tamales for her. From there we went to Ruben’s mom’s house. We shared the tamales with her and Ruben’s brother Jerry and his partner Petra. Here’s a photo of Ruben’s mom with her two sons, and Petra. It’s been two years since Mr. Jimenez passed away, and we all miss him terribly, especially during the holidays. Mrs. Jimenez is 91, but active and as sharp as can be.
Petra, Mrs Jimenez, Ruben and Jerry.
It took me a few hours to get the outside lights up. The older I get, the more difficult this task becomes.
It’s a good thing I had extra strings of lights on hand. Several strands were burned out and needed replacement this year.
Getting the lights up above the awning is always a difficult task. The awning sticks out at least 3 to 4 feet, making it difficult to hang the ligths.,
We bought some new decorations this year, including the lit up Santa that’s in this photo. Ace Hardware on 22nd St had an amazing selection of holiday decorations.
Ruben and I have had this little Christmas village since 1993, our first Christmas together. Friends of his went to Germany this past year and found more little people for us to add to the village. They were the perfcet size.
The statue of the holy family on the left and the little snowman were more new items that we purchased this year. The statue is quite heavy..
Tamales and menudo, gifts from my sister Irene. An annual tradition during the holidays.
This year, I decided to send Christmas cards to my friends and family. I hadn’t done it in years, but just felt like it this year. Below are a sampling of cards Ruben and I received this year.
From Fran Gordon
From Albert and Sarah Elias
From Doreen Simonsen
My good friend Doreen’s annual Christmas letter. We met when I worked at the Undergraduate Library at the University of Michigan. She was a student intern. She’s been sending these to me since the early 90’s, and I still have all of them too!
From Emily Elias
From Shelly Black
From Carla Stoffle, my old boss at the UA Library.
From my sister Irene and her husband Phil. Irene sends me a Christmas card and a birthday card every year.
From Belisa and Frank. Belisa also sends me a Christmas card every year.
Vintage color lithograph from 1898 showing Father Christmas and his reindeer flying through the sky. I used this as my Facebook background photo this year.
I don’t remember where I found this card, but I just love its vintage look. Reminds me of Christmas when I was a little kid.
I used to decorate my trees with vintage Christmas ornaments. I found this ad and posted it on Facenbook. The colors are gorgeous.
Another Internet find.
Ruben and I were in Boston in November, and this was posted on Facebook this year. I had to keep a copy of it.
Love it! She reminds me of Patsy Stone on Absolutely Fabulous!
When I was six or seven, maybe eight years old, my parents went out and bought a silver tree and a color wheel, just like the ones shown here. I would sit and stare at the changing colors on the tree for what seemed like hours at a time.
This was my Facebook banner this year.
Ruben and I bought our families kringles again this year. They seem to really enjoy them. We didn’t buy each other anything. We stopped doing that a while back. We figure that we can buy anything we want for ourselves any time of the year, so why bother with the crowds and the congested roads at Christmastime? He gets lots of gifts from his customers at work. This year, I bought myself a brand new turntable. I consider it my Christmas present to myself.
I purchased this Sony turntable at Best Buy. It’s pretty basic, but it works and I don’t have to adjust the tone arm! It sounds great!
