Boston Chowdah / Philadelphia Freedom

Hello Friends of Nature! Akemi and I recently traveled back to the land of Wal-Mart, big food/big people, and monster trucks! We were gone 20-30 April, spending about 3 days in Boston vacationing then the rest of the time in Philadelphia attending my Endo meeting and visiting family. Boston is a great city, one that I would really consider living in if the winter weren't so depressingly and unbearably miserable. Philadelphia, on the other hand, is fun to visit (especially Center City) and great to see family, but it definitely earns the nickname 'Filthydelphia' (and I guess more recently, 'Killadelphia'). I don't think that I could really be happy living there. It's a nasty, nasty city, and people are lucky if they can escape to the outlying suburbs or away from that area all together.

In Boston, we stayed at an 80 year old hotel, the Boston Park Plaza Hotel, officially listed on some historic registry of something or another. Our room and bathroom were clean but tiny, which really makes me wonder if Americans were pygmie-sized 80 years ago. Food in Boston is to die for, including the local specialties of clam chowder, oysters, lobster, and just about any ethnic food you can imagine. While there, we took in the local attractions, including the Freedom Trail, Boston Common, Fanueil Hall/Quincy Market, North End (Little Italy), the Boston Museum of Fine Art, Newbury Street (and other incredible shopping areas), and also a Red Sox game at Fenway Park. In Philadelphia, we stayed at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Center City, a great starting points for most of the great restaurants, bars, and shopping in the area, as well as walking distance to the Convention Center where my meeting was held. It was a great opportunity to visit family and get an attitude adjustment away from the grind of Navy dentistry. Anywho, here are some Boston pics. They are as follows (top to bottom) - Oysters and beer at Legal Seafood; Outside of our hotel and Legal Seafood; Boston Common; Boston Cemetery (site of Paul Revere gravesite); Old state house/site of Boston Massacre; Freedom Trail sidewalk marker; us in front of Sam Adams (the patriot and the beer guy); Akemi and the big man; Paul Revere (now can you remember all the lyrics to the song of the same name by the Beastie Boys?); Akemi on the Democrat Donkey. The last two are from Philadelphia - Akemi with Tony, Lysa, and Ellie; Akemi teasing a patriot at the Liberty Bell.