“I guess God made Boston on a wet Sunday.”
Today will be a short post as I have to go to Boston. In days of yore, I used to go to Boston fairly often and never minded the trip. I’d meet friends, see a play, go out to dinner or shop. Now that I have all the time in the world, I begrudge the trip. I’d much rather sit at home and travel the Cape roads.
When I was a little kid, my mother didn’t drive. If we wanted to go to Boston, it meant walking up town and picking up the bus to Sullivan Square. Once there, we’d walk upstairs from the bus to the subway station. My mother would warn us away from the edge of the platform so we’d stand back and lean over to look down the tracks for the coming train. When it arrived, the doors always slid open with a whooshing sound, and we’d hurry inside to our seats. We always knelt on the bench like seats with our backs to the cars and our faces to the window. The city enthralled us as huge buildings, lots of cars and houses close together were unusual sights for us. The rule always was if we got separated, we were to get off at the next station and wait. We never did need to do that.
Mostly I remember going to Boston with my mother to see Santa Claus at Jordan Marsh. We were dressed in our good clothes and would wend our way to Santa through the Enchanted Village. It always held our attention, and we never once asked how much more we had to wait. Compared to today, the exhibit was primitive but for us it was almost magical. The people and the animals moved. Mostly they moved back and forth in one spot or their heads went up and down, and we thought it amazing.
That trip was always the best from start to finish. We got to ride a bus and a subway both ways. We saw Santa and the village, and my mother usually bought us a treat like a cone or a soft pretzel.
It was those trips which helped make Boston my all time favorite city. When I got older, high school age, I’d make the trip with my friends. Little had changed. We all still looked out the window and we warned each other to meet at the next stop if we got separated.
Looks like this was longer than I expected!
Explore posts in the same categories: MusingsTags: Boston, bus ride, city, Jordan Marsh, subway, Sullivan Square
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January 30, 2012 at 10:45 am
I didn’t mind driving to Gothenburg when I just have moved up here, but nowdays I dread it š The traffic on a calm day is like rush hour times a hundred up here š š š
We always went by tram, or street car as You call it, when we were going to the city. Well we lived very close so it was only a few stops until we were there š I had just the same order, if separated just go to the next stop and wait there.
I loved Gothenburg back in the days but since I moved it has become a tough town with lots of gang criminality and shootings. I’m so glad I moved away in time!
Have a great day!
Christer.
January 30, 2012 at 2:51 pm
Christer,
The ride takes about an hour and a half if you hit the road at the right time. If not, you’re stuck in bumper to bumper traffic which I don’t handle well. I tend to curse a lot.
We weren’t all that far away but it still meant a bus then the subway.
I still love Boston but just don’t get there enough. Usually it means asking my friends to let Gracie out and feed her if I am gone too long. They are always gracious but I hate to ask too often.
January 30, 2012 at 11:17 am
Hi Kat,
We rarely went to Boston with our parents and that was always in the car. They took us to the Ice Capades a couple of times and they took us to be on Big Brother Show and Rex Trailer Show. Rex Trailer was great. I got to sit on Goldrush. š
When I was a teenager my best friend and I went to Boston most weekends. It meant a walk uptown to catch the train into North Station and another walk up to Charles Street to The Turk’s Head, a coffee house. We both had crappy teenager jobs so most times we only had enough money for the cover charge, a pomegranatina and a piece of lahmajoun or a pastry. Big spenders. š We would listen to the singer until just before midnight when we would have to leave, run the entire way to North Station and hope we weren’t too late to catch the 12:05 home. It was the last train so if we missed it, we would be in big trouble since usually we weren’t supposed to be where we were in the first place. I remember a couple of times the conductor would be hauling us up the train steps because the train was pulling out. We were much lighter and more agile then. š
Fun times.
January 30, 2012 at 2:56 pm
Hi Caryn,
We went in in the car every Christmas to see the lights on the common and the displays in the store windows and once my father, brother and I went to the Roy Rogers Rodeo and had front row seats.
When I was in high school, my friends and I went to what was then The Metropoiltan to see Cleopatra, the movie. The theater was so ornate and beautiful, and the ladies’ room was magnificent. It is now The Wang Center.
I went a lot more when I was in college.
Boston is a wonderful city.
January 30, 2012 at 4:32 pm
I was in Berlin once, waiting for the U-Bahn (subway), when a young man who was drunk (not me) managed to fall off the platform and in between the rails. Everyone was shouting, “Der Zug kommt!” Fortunately an older woman had the presence of mind to press the emergency stop button on the wall and the train stopped before hitting him. I don’t remember seeing such emergency buttons in Boston.
We rarely go to Boston, but when we do, maybe for a Red Sox game, we always park at Sullivan Square (cheap parking) and take the Orange and Green lines to Fenway..
I think Berlin has got to be my all-time favorite city–so much history, ancient and modern; easy to get around; lots to see and do and eat. It’s not cheap though.
January 30, 2012 at 5:28 pm
Bill,
I don’t remember any button either. I guess you’re doomed once over the ledge.
I usually park in Braintree and take the T to go into the city that way. Every year I’m a volunteer at the marathon and I usually work in Copley square but the T-station is closed so I walk down from Arlington. Even when I go to dinner in Camridge (the best ethnic restaurants) I park in Braintree.
I have been to Germany but not Berlin.
Outside of Boston, my favorite city is Lisbon, but I also love the old city in Quito.
January 30, 2012 at 6:05 pm
Many of us opposed the Metro in D.C. but once the first two lines opened we couldn’t live without it. I think it goes out to Dulles Airport now and further east than it did when we lived there. My daughter now lives in Rockville and is a mile from her Metro stop and they use their car on weekends. Parking in D.C. is miserable. Also high priced. Like NY. But the Metro is not cheap. We are hoping to visit them this spring/summer. I’ll have a whole new system to get used to. So our teen adventures to downtown D.C. were by car. I could write a book!
January 30, 2012 at 10:21 pm
Z&Me,
I took the Metro the last time I was in DC, It was easy to understand how to get there from here, and even though expensive, it was far cheaper than a cab.
The Boston T is color-coded which makes ir really easy to travel.
January 30, 2012 at 7:07 pm
As a kid in growing up in Brooklyn the thrill was to go to New York. Although Brooklyn is part of New York City, to my parents Manhattan was a separate city. My father would take me up the stairs to the platform of the Elevated train of the Broadway BMT line. He would place a nickel in the turnstile and I would go underneath for free because I was a kid. I always wanted to sit at the front of the first car to see out front where we where going and imagine that I was the engineer. The motorman’s cab was just to the right of the big window in the forward facing door. His cab had a small horizontal window about four inches high that allowed me to watch his hands operate the train. The train would cross the East River on the Williamsburg bridge and I could see all of lower Manhattan and the Navy ships in the Brooklyn Navy Yard before the train plunged underground on the West end of the bridge into Manhattan.
Manhattan was and is the center of the urban universe. There is no place like it anywhere. It’s not like one and a half Boston or two Baltimore. The crowds, the buildings, the hustle and bustle are a separate entity unto themselves. I have been in London, Hong Kong, Toronto, Boston, San Francisco, LA and Chicago and all of them have their own atmosphere and they are nice cities. However, I must say that none of them even come close to Manhattan’s charms and headaches.
January 30, 2012 at 10:27 pm
Bob,
Oky, on this one I disagree. I find Boston’s charm lies in its history ane how walkable the city is. The lack of bustle is also one of its selling points. It’s busy without having the hustle and bustle.
The boat rides to the islands are a lovely way to spend a day. No summer is complete without a swan boat ride or, in winter, skating on Frog Pond.
I too have traveled and love other dities but none compare to Boston for me.
January 30, 2012 at 10:47 pm
May ever be so humble there is no place like home. You are correct Boston is a gem of a city.
January 30, 2012 at 10:33 pm
Cities, schmities, there are more important things to consider:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OBlgSz8sSM
Cheers
January 31, 2012 at 10:50 am
Minicapt,
Why in the heck did he put his fingers in Charlie’s mouth?
February 3, 2012 at 12:12 am
The good blogs are always shorter to write than read. Don’t worry, this was a good one.
MT C
February 3, 2012 at 11:32 am
Thanks, Carl!!
Writing 6 days a week sometimes makes my muse go off on vacation!