New Hampshire Trip Day 5
We got up early and headed down into Boston this morning. Being Easter the streets were pretty deserted at 9am.
After a bit of driving around semi-lost we happened upon Boston Common. Being Sunday, on-street parking was free and there was no time limit. We parked right across the street from the begining of The Freedom Trail. It’s a walking tour of Boston that takes you past all the historic buildings like the Old North Church, the site of the Boston Massacre, and Faneuil Hall. The Hall was interesting as it’s where many of the decisions leading up the the Revolutionary War were made and discussed. You think of things like the Old North Church as historical landmarks and such but as we passed Easter services were in session. The church has been there nearly 250 years and is still used every week for services. There are many churches in Boston and we could really tell when Easter services had completed as the sidewalks started to get busy. Hearing the church bells seemingly competing for your attention was facinating. To get back to where we parked I took Shannon and Dakota on the subway which they were both very excited about it.
My impressions of Boston: I had been here before about 9 years ago for less than 24 hours on a business trip so didn’t get to see much. This time I had a bit of time to look around. Bostonians are crazy ass drivers. If you decide to let someone merge in from a side road they jump into the spot with nary a wave of acknowledgment. In Texas, not waving a thank you is considered to be rude as all hell. It’s as if they smell weakness and they took the spot from you, like they beat you at something. The idea that someone might actually let them merge seems to be beyond their comprehension. Likewise, the pedestrians are fearless. They walk out in front of you without even looking. It’s like they _want_ to be hit. To sum up: Boston as a concept, the history, the old buildings, the historical sites, etc, is quite fascinating. In real life, I hated it. The people are too cold and too into what they’re doing to even notice your presence. Yeah, tourists get old and get in your way too much, I’m sure. To me, Boston belongs to all Americans and we are nice enough to let you Bostonians live in our history, in our country’s birthplace. You should be thankful to us for letting you have the honor of living in such a history filled place instead of moving you out and turning the whole place into some sort of history exhibit.
After leaving Boston, we decided to head north into west New Hampshire and drove all the way to Lebanon/Hanover. I wanted to check this area out as it is where Dartmouth University, yes, that Dartmouth, is located. I applied for a job there last week that I’m really hoping will pan out. The area was beautiful, as is most of New Hampshire of course, and a lot more affordable to live in. We found a place about 15 minutes out of town on 8 acres for about $150K. Having our own little spread with a few maple trees we could sugar for fun would be nearly a dream come true. We’ll keep dreaming.
Tonite we ate at our first chain restaurant this trip as most everything else was closed for Easter. I hadn’t eaten at a Chili’s in forever and now remember why I hadn’t. The service sucked and the food was so-so. Our waitress couldn’t even remember that I was drinking Coke after I told her and brought me a refill of iced-tea. Shannon’s coffee was cold the first try and on the second had grounds in the bottom of the cup. I guess it’ll take another 6-7 years for me to forget how bad they suck before I try them again.
We’re staying in a place across the river in Vermont tonite. It’s still strange to us how close together all the states are up here. In a couple hours we drove from Boston, clear across New Hampshire, into Vermont.