Bean Town

Yesterday Ashes and I made our first trip to Boston since moving to Mass.  Actually it was her first trip to Boston ever so it was that much bigger for her.

Sitting Still is for Suckers
Since arriving in our new home there has rarely been a day that we haven't gone somewhere.  In a mere two weeks we've hardly had a day where we lazily sat around.  That, my friends, is a very good thing.  We took a trip down a road the other day and it ended up taking us into Connecticut was actually a lot of fun.  Most mornings we go to nearby Stanley Park just to walk around.  However we could hardly live in Massachusetts without visiting the unofficial capital of New England, Boston.

Decisions
Our motivation was little more than Ashes receiving her first pay check.  We came up with a quick itinerary that included the New England Aquarium and Chinatown.  Neither of us wishing to a) drive in Boston or b) park in Boston meant we had to come up with an alternative form of travel.  Our best option, as suggested by several people, was to park our car and take the subway into downtown.  We drove down 90 into Newton, which honestly took less than two hours, and the station was less than a mile off the MassPike.  Parking was cheap and ample since it was Sunday.  We purchased a subway day pass for nine dollars each that covered as many trips as we wanted.  Honestly a great deal considering parking in a garage would've been at least that much. 

The T - Green Line
The trip from Riverside station was awesome.  I'm a big, big fan of rail travel in general and was psyched I got a chance to ride.  The Green Line was what we took into Boston and it is a light rail system that starts above ground and goes below the surface just past Brooklin.  The car we were in seemed to be somewhat newer than ones we would ride later in the day on the Orange line, though older than the Blue line trains.  The train went through neighborhoods and golf courses.  At one point Boston College was visible across a lake.  I was a bit disappointed by the announcements.  I know it's an odd thing to complain about but it matters!  The last transit system I was on was the London Underground which has a pleasant female voice informing you of the destinations.  The updates in London were more informative and it seemed so modern compared to the Boston T, despite being the oldest subway in the world.  Plus you always hear a calm voice telling you to "Mind the Gap."  The stations we stopped at in Boston were in some disrepair and seemed dirty.  I know it must be hard to keep an entire subway system clean, but a little more money to upkeep would be nice.  Compared to other underground stations in the world Boston is way behind.

The Aquarium
I need to stop talking about the subway!  I don't want to bore anybody and I certainly don't expect others to be as excited about mass transit as I get.  After transferring to the blue line and going one station up we got off at the Aquarium station which brought us up right in front of it.  The wharf area was nice and provided a good view of the harbor and the skyline.  We went over and purchased our tickets to the aquarium and headed towards the front door.  Just before the door was a tank with seals swimming around which was nice.  As soon as we entered we saw a giant pool with artificial rocks covered with tiny penguins who were all standing still as they got a nice shower from the sprinklers.  It was an odd sight to see so many stationary penguins and at first didn't look real.  The main attraction was the giant fish tank in the center with a spiral walkway around it.  The last time I visited the aquarium I was probably under ten years old so the tank seemed much smaller than I remembered.  That's always the way of course.   Still it was cool to see all sorts of giant fish swimming around.  Giant sea turtles ended up being the stars of the show for me.  The mammal portion was closed which made me feel like I was ripped off a little bit.  They really shouldn't charge full price when a significant portion of the place is closed.  Overall it was fun, though.

Chinatown
After the aquarium it was well past lunch time and we needed to eat.  We went up the road a bit and decided to just head over to Chinatown for lunch since we were planning on going there anyway.  We took the subway to Chinatown station and started looking for a place to eat.  The place was definitely pulsing with a really cool energy, which sounds stupid but I assure you it was!  We decided to go to a place that Ashes picked based on... something?  I don't remember.  We ordered a double order of szechuan chicken and bubble tea.  Bubble tea was everywhere, and I do mean everywhere, in Chinatown.  I saw at least 10 places that offered it.  It was amazing since I had gone so long without ever being able to find any.  Dozens of people were just walking around sucking on a bubble tea. 

After eating we browsed some shops in the area.  Ashes picked up another lucky cat and something for her sister.  I didn't end up finding anything I wanted, but I had fun looking.  We found a print club machine in the back of one shop but it hadn't worked in a long time.  Hello Kitty was to be found in nearly every shop.  There was a store selling all manner of martial arts equipment, how-to guides and weaponry.  It had, I swear to god, a shrine to Guan Yu on the wall which is something I had never seen before but loved.  To me he's a video game character but I know enough to understand he's revered in certain aspects of Chinese culture.  We went into a couple Asian grocery stores looking for snacks and Ashes was appalled to find live fish and chickens for sale.  I assured her that's the only way to ensure freshness!  She still didn't like it.  I ended up getting a Calpis Lychee drink which was pretty good.  I was tempted by a Korean Aloe drink for a minute but didn't know how that would taste, so I went with Lychee which is a flavor I liked.

Heading Out
After Chinatown we headed back to the subway.  It was getting late in the day so we skipped going to Boston Common and just headed back to Riverside Station.  Oddly enough we took the exact same train back that we took in.  We even sat in the exact same seats!  The ride back was filled with the chatter of two college girls going on and on about everything from douchebags to basketball to boob sizes.  It added a bit of color to the short trip out.  I noticed the route we took back had the train line going through neighborhoods not unlike the one I grew up in.  It's so odd to think of a commuter train going right behind these people's back yards.  I had a freight line not far from my home, but to think of so many people going by these homes is odd to me.  I'm a small town guy and I'm getting used to these big city things.  It makes me smile.  We got back to Riverside and it was still light out which was a plus for us.

It was a great day overall.  The first of certainly many trips into Boston was a success.  We had no trouble navigating or figuring anything out.  I can't wait to go back which probably won't be too far down the road.