Res-o-puh-leese

Happy Moanday: Buh-Bye Boston

Well, it's finally come to this: after four years of living in Boston and 1 year of vicarious living in Boston (and at least 18 round trips on the bus), Dave and I will spend our last weekend in Boston together with at least one of us qualifying as a resident. I'm sure I'll return to see big brother and friends, and I will always carry the small hope that I'll return to Cambridge one day (maybe to live in a cute little 200-year-old house with a little fence and pretty roses in front and a dog! maybe?). Still, it's a little bumming (good-bye Border, Herrell's, Charles River picnics, Walden Pond bike rides, sunbathing on the quad, and ooohing and aaahing over cute Cambridge houses), so Dave and I have been steadily working through our favorite Boston things.

Last weekend we did something few Bostonians would ever admit to: we took a Duck Tour. The Duck Tours are usually supremely ridiculed for blocking traffic and annoying pedestrians by shouting things at them (Dave once got heckled for trying to parallel park a suburban on a narrow, 300-year-old street. Sadly, he had a New Jersey license plate, which might as well have been a target). But, I thought they might be fun and they got good reviews at Yelp, so we meandered over to the Science Museum and bought some tickets. We were unfortunately saddled with one of the very few tour guides who decided to give a rudimentary history of Boston (by contrast, the next tour was headed by a 6'3" man in a leopard-print Viking costume). 80 minutes later we were bored, tired, and filled with more contempt for the Duck Tours.

After that we stopped by the Gay Pride Parade with Rita, Kevin, and Eileen where we feasted on funnel cake (nowhere near as good as mine) and crowd-watched (crowd-watching at a Gay Pride Parade is really quite wonderful). From there it was only a short walk to the New England Aquarium. We got there in time for the penguin feeding and the turtle/shark feeding (turtles and sharks, not turtles to sharks). Then we had a romantic dinner at the Daily Catch (in true Daily Catch fashion we were wedged between two other couples). We both had their famous black pasta which we both inhaled like it was sweet, sweet oxygen. We headed back to the square for a movie, stopping at Herrell's for some ice cream on the way (burnt sugar and butter with hot fudge, Oreos, and whipped cream).

The next day was mostly culinarily-uninspired, except that we finally, finally(!), dropped by Sweet, the new cupcake shop in the square. I got one of their red velvet cupcakes, which was just be-yond delicious and so, so beautiful. The red was like the brightest, boldest red I'd ever seen in a cupcake (most red velvets are darker and/or slightly brownish). I wonder how they got it so blindingly red. Maybe they added coloring to a white cake, rather than a yellow cake... In any case, I wish I'd had my camera to take a picture (brand new lovely camera was, unfortunately, left behind at Governor's Island. Sigh.), although it's doubtful I would have put off eating it long enough for a picture.

Our last weekend is pretty much unscheduled, except for a trip to Walden Pond and maybe a visit to Top of the Hub for dessert one night. It will be sad to say good-bye to Boston and all the wonderful adventures (and wonderful meals) we've had there. Still, as Dave likes to say, we'll soon be lucky enough to meet another big, beautiful city: Chicago!

All that is to say: I have no idea what I'll be cooking this week! Steaks, maybe, or crepes, or possibly some soup. (or Boston Baked Beans? Boston Creme Pie? New England Clam Chowda?)