Friday August 16th, 2024
Time to climb out of my AirBnB bed and head to downtown Boston to visit the Ether Dome.
It is only open on weekdays, so this will be my last chance to see it as I am heading home on Sunday.
I grab a quick donut and coffee which I eat and drink too fast while waiting at the bus station and short trip to the subway line.
9:31 am
I stare at my phone while walking and turning to navigate my way to the entrance to this hospital.
This method is successful.
I find the entrance without getting run over by a car or bumping into another visitor.
Following the instructions on Atlas Obscura I approach the help desk to inquire about entrance to the Ether Dome, but I am alerted that it is closed until September 3rd.
Dang.
I would like to learn from this experience, but it would be strange to call every place I plan to visit to ensure they’ll be open, right?
I need to revisit this topic some time.
On with the adventure!
I recently reconnected with my old friend Tommy.
I of course got his address so that I could send him a postcard.
Behold the ugly postcard!
It belongs to Tommy, now.
This was shipped from a blue box inside of the same hospital that contains the Ether Dome.
I don’t recall if I’ve ever seen one of these blue mail boxes inside of a building before.
Next stop: Beacon Hill
I’m here a bit early at the Museum of African American History, so I spend a few minutes exploring the narrow alleys in the area.
The tour here is amazing.
The host Tobias is very gracious and will answer all questions and is excited to talk about the events that happened here and the people who have come through.
Noting that the benches in the back are original constructions and were used to design the recreated benches in the rest of this room.
I suggest taking the tour here.
It is absolutely fantastic.
I’m also excited to say that I got to hear someone say “wicked cool.”
I have officially Bostoned.
I also gathered my National Park Passport cancellation stamps during this visit.
My partner Lauri & I discussed John Brown’s Cave via chat after my visit here as John Brown is a historical figure who came through Beacon Hill as well as Nebraska where we used to live.
I should send Tobias, the man who gave the tour a thank you postcard.
(I have sent Tobias a thank you postcard).
Before traveling I map out national park locations so that I can get my cancellation stamps. These are my “seeds” to any adventure in a new city.
This is how I found myself at the Charlestown Navy Yard Visitor Center.
They’ll just let you on the ship here.
Time to see how difficult being six feet and three inches tall can be!
Pretty tricky.
I have to turn backwards to get down these stairs which also means I can’t see any potential head bonkers coming my way.
Perhaps this picture will show what it’s like to be tall while in the underbelly of this ship.
Oh look.
Another tall guy maneuvering his way through this vessel.
I feel you, buddy.
Hammocks.
That’s smart.
I don’t know why this method of sleeping on a ship has never occurred to me before.
Ohhh. A steering wheel. My pal Tony, the one that I send too many postcards to, recently shared a photo with me where he was at the helm of a ship.
Look at me! I’m Tony! “Westward ho, ye scallywags!”
I would love to visit the top of this.
That was a lovely visit.
I did not know that I would be entering an old-timey ship today.
What a nice surprise.
1:45 pm
Boston has terrible drivers.
Boston also has great drivers, but I remember some particularly bad ones, like one where I was crossing a crosswalk.
The kind with a light.
And a little white walk sign lit up just for me and halfway through crossing a car pulled through like they were going to turn and then motioned for me to move out of the way.
I motioned for them to move out of the way back and this is why I believe that Boston has bad drivers.
2:16 pm
I enjoy unique coffees and so when I saw this cafe on Atlas Obscura and that it mentioned coffee history, knowledge & gadgets, I was hoping to stop in and try something a little bit different.
This place is not what I expected it to be, but they have a delightful menu.
I am enjoying a nice mocha and tiramisu for a short rest and then…
Back to adventure!
Okay, I know I said “Back to adventure!” but I’m actually still hungry and there’s a Chinese restaurant that’s inside of an old theater that I want to check out while I’m here in Boston.
Let’s head that way.
I think the folks who put together their subways were laying down on the job.
Why did they lay the bricks sideways?
It looks like this picture is sideways, doesn’t it?
I promise it’s not.
This is a more traditional Chinese kind of place and so when they brought over a cart of food I explained that I don’t eat pork or shellfish and just said “Yes.” to the next three or four things they offered to me.
I’m not much of a meat eater, but I gave everything a shot and the dumplings are delightful.
But I came for the theater and I was not let down.
This thing was delicious.
The restaurant staff was cool with me exploring a little bit.
A nice visit at a truly unique location.
Off to the Harvard area!
4:06 pm
I sent Tony a postcard mailed out from a postal box at Harvard.
There is a house here that has wire animals.
I wrote down the address so that I could send them a postcard.
Is that weird? To send someone a postcard that basically says “I like your wire animals.”
I don’t think it’s weird.
Next stop: Another national park cancellation stamp location!
This place is difficult to get into!
There’s construction everywhere, but the site is listed as being open, so I circled around the back of the building in hopes that an alternate entrance through the construction will be available.
In the next picture the salmon looking house is where I am trying to get to.
I can see it from a neighboring parking lot, but I don’t want to just walk through the wrong way and try to enter the building from the back…
Okay, so…
I mentioned taking an alternate route to get around the construction and to enter from the front.
It turns out the front entrance to the property is open and that I assumed it would not be.
After circling the entire property because I did not want to try to enter the back of the building, it turns out that this is the entrance.
So I should have kept going to the front and failing this I should have taken the rear entrance detour that I found.
I am just barely going to make the final tour of the building thanks to these delays.
Behold the front of the house!
And the path to the rear entrance!
There’s a rabbit!
Nice garden.
So John Vassal Jr was the original owner of this house and he was loyal to the king of England and when that whole revolution thing started happening, he went ahead and took a temporary trip back to England while that was blowing over.
Instead of returning, George Washington yoinked this house and lived here for about nine months in the 1790s.
The house changed hands and expanded and eventually became owned by Henry Longfellow.
See those books in the corner?
The park ranger giving me a tour got to pull those down and dust them one time.
She said it was an absolute delight to be able to handle these pieces of the building’s history and I agree.
That’s so cool.
If you ever visit Boston, please visit and take the tour.
It is absolutely worth the trip.
I love that this is something that can just be done for free.
To tour historic sites and get free history lessons.
And check out this inkwell.
I’ve been meaning to learn some calligraphy as an adventure item.
It’s still possible to purchase fountain pens and ink.
But my adventures for the day must come to an end.
Time to rest and prepare for Rhode Island.
Back to the AirBnB for some Zs.
My wife & I occasionally hide a toilet paper roll with a face on it in each other’s items, and during this trip Mr. Rolls was a stowaway in my belongings.
…
There’s a meow coming from my bedroom door.
Is that Klaus?
It is!
Mr. Stubbytail himself has come for a cuddle.
Klaus says “Thank you for reading. The proletariat shall retake their rightful place in history.”
Adventurenet.net 
Leave a comment