I headed down to Boston with the family for a few days for an extended weekend, and I wanted to report back here on some of the things we did that I can recommend to others.
First off, I have to highlight a bakery we visited in Kittery, ME, just a few minutes off the freeway. We were down in Kittery to have Daniela get some clothes for her mission, and a friend recommend we check out Beach Pea Baking Company while we were there. I’d never even heard of it before, but it was incredible. Their bread as superb, and they had excellent treats, as well. Very reasonable prices. We’ll definitely be going back whenever we’re passing by.
The first evening, we headed over to Rockport, MA to the Shalin Liu Performance Center to see the Galvin Cello Quartet perform. It’s a beautiful concert hall that has glass back wall looking right out onto the ocean, and it makes for a very pretty backdrop. I picked this concert out specially for Daniela, since she’s such a devoted cellist and cello fan. It was a wonderful evening. The group was really impressive, and the small size of the hall made it easy to feel up close to the performance. Here’s a video of the group performing at the hall last year:
The next day we were in Boston, first going to the FIFA Fan Fest downtown to watch some of the Norway/France World Cup game. (I’d looked into getting tickets, but when I checked, all that was left were seats that were over $1,000 each. I wasn’t quite ready to make that kind of commitment for a family that’s not all that into soccer to begin with.) Even the Fan Fest wasn’t something that wowed the girls too much, though since the game was being played in Boston, I assume most of the die hard fans were actually at the game and not watching it on the big screen downtown. Right next to the place was an open air fruit market, however, and that went over much better with Denisa and the girls.
In the evening, we went to see Les Miserables, one of my favorite musicals. I first saw it on the West End back in the 90s, and I’ve watched multiple versions of it on television and listened to it too many times to count. While I personally enjoyed the performance in Boston, I don’t think it really wowed the family that much. We were sitting fairly far back (mid-Mezzanine), and it was hard to understand the lyrics at times. It’s too bad, because I think a lot of the musical really resonates with what’s happening in the world today. The ideas of justice, the will of the people, inequality, etc. I’ll have to watch one of the recordings with the fam when they’re ready for another go.
The next day, Denisa and I headed to the Boston Temple for a session. The three stakes in Maine had decided to make that Saturday “Maine State Temple Day,” so a slew of Latter-day Saints headed down. It was fun to see some people from Bangor again. When we were done, we took the girls to Harvard to check out the art museum and have some ice cream. I was very impressed by the caliber of pieces on display, though being Harvard, I guess I should have expected it. The fact that it’s free and not enormous is enough to get me to recommend it to just about anyone. We saw everything on display, taking our time, and didn’t feel overwhelmed. (I like large museums, but they can really be intimidating. Something smaller can feel much more doable.)
For the record, we stayed at the AC Cambridge, a Marriott property. It’s a short walk to the Alewife T station, which gives you access to the whole red line (easy to get to Harvard and downtown on the same line.) This is our second time there. No free breakfast, and parking does cost $30, but it’s often low enough on points to use a free Marriott night, even when the city was taken over by World Cup fans. (And for breakfast, you can just get some extra goodies from a bakery or something . . .)
It was a fun weekend. We’re trying to live it up a little while Daniela’s still with us.