Happy Sunday

Here we have Mercer snuggled up for a long nap in the hotel room in Boston. We're not sure how he was breathing.

Mercer visits Boston / Part III - Sunday

Our last full day in Boston started with a walk to the aquarium. We were met by a large group of runners finishing a 13+ mile race, which was kind of fun. Suddenly, Mom and I felt very unhealthy.


The aquarium, situated on the eastern harbor of Boston was, um, not great. Mercer wasn't in the best of moods for some reason and there wasn't much to see. No dolphins, no sharks, and one seal. The cost was way too much for what we saw and it made us appreciate our local aquarium much more. Still, we saw some penguins, seahorses, and um, a bunch of other fish. The main tank in the middle of the building was cool - apparently, the whole aquarium was built around it. We did get some cool sea creature toys that Mercer will use in the bath for the next year, though.





It was a nice, hot day so we took another walk to find a place to eat. Mercer loves statues.

And bookstores.

After lunch, Mom took Mercer to the hotel pool and Dad walked to the new Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA). The best thing Pop can say about the place was that the building was pretty cool to walk around and look at. The work on display inside was very poor: uninteresting people with mundane thoughts who have too much time on their hands to put their work into broad political and social contexts. Everything lacked depth, thought, and quality. The video installations were particularly dreadful. Pop felt ripped off at every turn. Amateur.


The walk back to downtown was gorgeous.


After Mercer woke up from an epic nap, Mom and Pop had a nice meal at Jasper White's Summer Shack (very touristy): cajun BBQ shrimp, baked cod, beans, corn on the cob, parsnip puree, and lots of great summer drinks. Mercer didn't feel like eating, so we headed out to the 26th tallest building in the country, the Prudential Center, to drink in a great view. We surveyed the town from 50 stories up and it was very impressive.

Downtown:


North Charles River bridges to Cambridge:


Something or other:

South Bay:

Fenway Park:

Charles River, looking south:

Charles River and Cambridge:


The next morning we packed up the family Charger and headed back to New York. We think Mercer had a pretty good time.

Mercer visits Boston / Part II - Saturday

Our first full day in Boston started off right with a fantastic breakfast at Mike & Patty's, a very tiny (7 seats) shop that cooks up a mean breakfast. The place was right around the corner from the hotel in the Bay Village section of town: a quaint, picturesque neighborhood just a stone's throw from the more built-up theater district. Mercer had cheesy eggs with bacon, Dad had scrambled eggs with potatoes and bacon, while Mom had an egg sandwich with avocado.







After breakfast, we hopped on the Cambridge-bound T to visit our friend Caroline. We also toured the grounds of Harvard, where Mercer broke Pop's camera (only phone pics from here on out). What happened was Mercer was upset that Mom and Pop wouldn't let him climb on a statue so he hit Pop in the back/arm, causing the camera to drop onto the sidewalk. Fun!

We then spent some time at Curious George and Friends, a fun little store packed with Curious Georges and other various children's sundries. We picked up a book or two and headed out for a stroll. After having a picnic at JFK Park along the Charles River, it was time to say goodbye to Caroline.

We got off the T and cut through Boston Common and the Public Garden to take a stroll along Newbury Street. Mercer fell asleep before we even got there, but he did manage to see some beautiful scenery in the park.



After resting up at the hotel room (by far Mercer's favorite part of the trip; he played nonstop with the coffee maker, mini-fridge, drawers, ice bucket, and alarm clock, asking all the while: "Why is this our hotel room?"), we decided to hit Chinatown for dinner. We settled on The Best Little Restaurant and it really lived up to its name. The place was tiny, down some stairs, and had the specials posted on the wall in Chinese. Fantastic. We ordered chicken with mushrooms, eggplant with garlic and rice, pork and watercress soup, and Mercer had noodles in broth with bok choy and broccolini. We were so proud of Mercer for eating all these amazing things. After we were done, he told everyone on Hudson Street, "That Chinese place was gooo-ooood!"





After dinner, it was off to find some ice cream. Another late night for Mercer.

Mercer visits Boston / Part I - Friday

Mercer and the gang fired up the Charger and headed northeast to Boston for a weekend of adventure. Mercer was up bright and early Friday morning, but Dad wasn't, so we left a little bit later than planned. Still, we arrived around lunchtime and checked into our headquarters for the weekend: DoubleTree Boston. The hotel has a decent location in Chinatown, a few blocks south of Boston Common. It was within walking distance of almost everything, as Mercer and Mommy soon found out.

After being cooped up in the car for so long, the gang went for a walk, northward towards the park, Quincy Market, and the touristy harbor area. Mercer was fascinated by the new city, climbing on every concrete structure he could find and pressing every automatic door button he saw. And as soon as he saw the green of Boston Common, he was off and running. Statues became gymnastic apparatuses and the expansive lawns were his tumbling mats.


Once Mercer had his fill of the eastern section of the park along Tremont Street, we strolled through Quincy Market, where some street performers were in action. This guy jumped from his unicycle to a pogo stick and did a backflip. Mercer was amazed, but not enough to tip the guy.


After walking along the harbor and tourist docks, taking in a carousel ride, we walked back to the hotel and took a dip in the swimming pool. Mercer was in heaven. We had told him there would be swimming involved on the trip; we think Mercer thought we drove all the way to Boston just to go swimming.

After Mercer and Pop swam a few laps, it was off to the Boston Children's Museum, which, as it turns out, was the highlight of the weekend. There were so many things for Mercer to touch, see, and do, and he had so much fun. Plus, the location was beautiful. Much had changed in South Boston since Mom worked her first job at Flashcom in 2001. (Yes, Mercer is wearing a Phillies T-shirt in Boston.)







Plus, the first thing you see when you walk into the museum is this thing:

It was a huge climbing structure made out of curvy, carpeted boards that twisted and turned at strange, tight angles. Mercer made it all the way to the top (about 4 floors) and all the way back down, surely stepping on a few kids' fingers and faces.









Mercer was enthralled with all of the other exhibits, as well, which included bubble-making, physics, sports, and role-play.










We also told Mercer he'd be able to stay out late for this vacation, which was his first real vacation away from home in a hotel room. After the museum, we had a late dinner at the outstanding Jacob Wirth, a German restaurant dating back to 1868 that was just up the street from our hotel. Like most establishments of this notoriety, the walls were adorned with autographs of famous customers. Pop's favorite was a note from Conan O'Brien, accompanied by his now famous self-portrait that read "Thanks for keeping my brother drunk." Mercer ate noodles with butter. Dad had a weisswurst sandwich and Mom had lobster mac and cheese.