Beantown Visit

Having vomited all the information I knew about Materials & Methods, the pathologies of Lung and Spleen, and all 67 Bladder points onto paper over a grueling 3 day span, I was ready to party. There was just one remedy for my intellectually deflated psych and that was a visit from.....my parents. Yes, Larry and Irene made the long trek (only an hour by plane) up from MD for a stay in Boston. Now I know February might not be the ideal choice for time of year and it did just so happen to be one of the colder weekends of the whole winter but we had a great time none-the-less. They arrived on Thursday afternoon and their not so studious (I actually skipped a biochem class...it's a co-requisite science class, BORING!) son picked them up from the airport and shuttled them to their home away from home, the Westin Copley Place. A beautiful hotel with scratchy sheets, at least according to my dad whose skin is evidently a little sensitive. After dropping off luggage and checking in, it was on to Newton and Apt 2R where Jules and I live for a greeting before hopping over to the Super 88 to grab some dinner. The Super 88 is this awesome Chinese market with an international food court where you can get dim sum, Thai, Vietnamese, Indian, Korean, and Chinese food. Having sampled the dim sum before, we elected to try it again and purchased nearly $50 in food (which is pretty amazing considering each item costs about $3 and usually includes 3-4 pieces). We took our stash home, met up with some friends, Arto and Stephanie, and settled in to watch LOST. We spent the next two hours trying to figure out what the hell was going and there was no shortage of conspiracy theories about the rescuers and the Oceanic 6. My parents hopped on the T and after a little trouble with the swipe card machine, made it back safe and sound.
The next day poor Julia had to go to work but I was lucky enough to spend the whole day with my folks. We met at the Museum of Fine Arts in the Fenway area and wandered around for the next 3 hours. It being Friday, there were lots of noisy school kids around but we found some solitude among the Asian art pieces (they have a really cool reconstructed Buddhist temple there) and the weird modern art pieces. The highlight had to be the interesting 3 sided piece composed of mirrors and finely polished vases, decanters, and glasses. My Dad has a picture of it and it really tripped us out a bit. Getting back on the T and heading into the city, we met up with Julia and had dinner at Silvertones. The wait was a bit long but the food was tasty and we still had enough room in our bellies for a couple of pieces of Boston Creme Pie at the Parker Omni House, which is supposedly the birthplace of the dessert and a former employer of Hoh Chi Min (sp?). Pooped from a long day of walking, we pulled the sheets up to our chins and fell asleep in the Heavenly Scratchy Beds.
Saturday we woke to a light snowfall and after a quick breakfast at Au Bon Pain, headed out on the town to do some of America's favorite past time....shopping. Julia had gotten her hair cut that morning so she looked particularly beautiful with her brown, straight, flowing locks peaking out of her winter hat. We only made it to a couple of stores but had a great time hunting for bargains on the racks of Filene's Basement, the Tannery shoe store, and City Sports. Of course, we couldn't just satisfy our craving with cheaper adornments and found ourselves in a very expensive jewelry store. Some of the pieces in there were beautiful, especially an earring and necklace set that Julia found made of gold and a myriad (good word, huh!) of multicolored precious stones. We had a late lunch at Fire n' Ice, a hibachi type restaurant with a more American flair to it. You pay a set price, fill your bowl with whatever your little heart desires, and take it over to the giant circular grill where the cooks fry it up and put your choice of sauce on it. My Dad even tried some crayfish! Pretty simple to eat I guess; pull off the tail fin, twist the body off the tail, suck the head (YUCK!), and pull out the tail meat. He liked it but didn't go back for a second helping.....of crayfish, at least. From there we headed back to the room for a little nap before getting ready to venture into the South End for dinner at a restaurant called Masa. They are an American/Southeast fusion sort of place with loads of tequilas and giant margaritas. We didn't sample the margaritas but yours truly had a tequila flight consisting of three different shots of tequila all made by the same brewer. Pretty tasty:) Speaking of tasty, the food was delicious and we gobbled everything on our plates, except for my Mom, who chose to order the 16 oz. cowboy cut steak. That was one BIG piece of meat and she ended up taking some of it back where it was donated to become my lunch this week. We had some time after returning to the hotel so we ordered up Juno on the hotel TV and enjoyed the movie in bed. Great film by the way. Ellen Paige (Juno) did a super job, I can see why she was nominated for an Oscar. The writing was excellent as well and did a good job of capturing the nuances and vernacular of high school kids. Justin Bateman, a reborn actor these days, also did a solid job as a father to be.
Sunday dawned bright, clear and cold. Today we decided to do some more site seeing about Boston and headed over to the Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown, near where our friends Alli and Steve live. We spent several hours there wandering about the grounds and the museum erected to commemorate the event. Julia, myself and my Mom(!) climbed the 294 stairs to the top of the monument to catch a cold glimpse of the city spread out before us. I think all our legs hurt for a little while after that. Following our history lesson, we headed back to the South End to enjoy the day and take a peak at all the cute shops and eateries in the area. Prior to dinner, we met up with my parents friend Joey and his new girlfriend in the hotel bar. It turns out that Joey is nearer to our age than theirs so we might have made a new contact in the Boston area. Following a meal at Cheesecake Factory in the Prudential Mall, Julia and I gathered our gear and hailed a cab back to Newton. Luckily for me though, I would able to see my folks one more time before they left.
I got up early and rode the T into the city to meet them for breakfast and a little quality time before I had to head back for class. We took a little stroll up to the Public Garden near Boston Common and then marveled at the spacious brownstones along Commonwealth Avenue. In all, it was a fabulous visit and we always have so much fun hanging out with each other. I know I went through a little withdraw after they left and we have already started planning another trip when the weather turns a little warmer. So the lesson learned is....come visit, we'll keep you busy, tired and full. I'm sure my parents can vouch for that!