More from Sunday

Some other things that happened on my one day off in Boston:

1. I took the T from my hotel to the stop nearest the aquarium (which also happens to be the stop I’m using to get to work all week) so I could a) check it out for work so there wouldn’t be any surprises Monday morning, and b) get there faster.  The aquarium stop is the State Street stop, and at the stop right before it, this young guy, reeking of alcohol, got on and sat down next to me, ranting about how the cops should just leave him alone, you know?  Why are they hassling him?  I didn’t mention that it might have something to do with him being stinking drunk before 10am on a Sunday morning.  At least he wasn’t a mean drunk.  I could afford to be nice about it; I was getting off the train in about 30 seconds.
2. I got off the T at State Street, grabbed a bagel from Dunkin Donuts, and ate my breakfast in front of a fountain between Quincy Market/Faneuil Hall and the wharf area.  It was one of those fountains that kids like to play in (I know, that’s all of them, give me a minute), the ones with water shooting up from holes in the ground at unexpected times, with no curb or lip to keep people out.
   

   Every picture of this fountain turned out like this. They're all shots of water splashing around and they kinda miss the point. Sorry.

   

   These two had the same morning I had: breakfast while watching the fountain and then the aquarium. I wonder if they followed me to Harvard?

   
   

3. After the aquarium, I headed back to the State Street T stop so I could go to Harvard, but I couldn’t find it (the T stop, not Harvard).  I remembered leaving the station and being on State Street, but I didn’t look behind me that morning.  I circled the Old State House once, and headed back down the street about a block, scanning both sides for the orange and blue stripes indicating the station, and didn’t see anything.  I walked up to a street vendor outside the Old State House, finally ready to look (more) like a tourist and ask for help.  I was just about to open my mouth when I looked over his shoulder and saw the station.  IN the Old State House.  (Under it, technically.)  With entrances on both sides, even, so I walked right by it (TWICE) when I circled the building.  I’m an idiot.  Blind, too.
4. So I managed to get myself to Harvard (good thing the stop opens right across the street from it, ’cause I didn’t have a map) around 2 or 2:30, and from the looks of things, graduation was that morning.  As in, just ended an hour or two before.  Hahvahd Yahd was still blanketed with folding chairs, and there were crews starting to break down all the tents.  And hey, it really is covered in ivy!
   

   Ivy League. Who knew?

5. I hadn’t had lunch yet, so while I wandered around the outskirts of the university, I was keeping my eyes open for something local, maybe off the beaten path, ideally not crowded, and I found it in Arrow Street Crepes.  Check out that menu.  I had the BEST lunch.  I ordered the Earth Day crepe: roasted mushrooms, spinach, melted mozzarella, garlic butter, and parmesan, sauteed, melted together, and wrapped in a crepe.  It was the most perfect thing I have ever tasted.  (That didn’t include chocolate and strawberries.  And they do that in a crepe, too!)  SO so good, and we HAVE to do that at home.  The restaurant is a tiny little place on the first floor (up a couple of steps) of what used to be a house.  Basically just a kitchen and a sunroom with room for maybe 5 small tables.  Super cute and super good.
6. Some more fish pictures for you.
   

   A depressed-looking lionfish. I heard a kid trying to identify it for his friend: "That's a catfish. No, a tiger fish." Close, but not quite. Maybe that's why the lionfish is sad.

   

   What's the name of the other fish in the tank with Nemo? Gill? You know, the one with Willem Dafoe's voice (unless it's Denis Leary...). Anyway, I think this is the fish.

   

   It's looking at me....

   

   Look, it's Dory! Honestly, I must have been looking at the Finding Nemo tank.

   

   Scariest damn thing I've ever seen. No idea what it is (some kind of eel maybe?), but it poked its head out and kept opening and closing its mouth. Creepy.

   

   Up close and personal. Cliche? Yes. Evil with dead eyes? Yes. Too close for me? Yes.

   

   This one's for you, Dad. Herring!

   

   And this one reminded me of Roxy. 🙂

   More pictures (not as many fish, I promise) and a few more bits about Sunday tomorrow.