My father hated driving downtown to Kansas City. Our home was in a suburb about twenty miles away from the city. Consequently, I didn’t get to see much of the city until after I was an adult and could make my own travel arrangements. I remember getting a job at Crown Center and being thrilled to drive there everyday. When Janet & I got married, we never let the traffic or the hustle of the city keep us from finding new restaurants, enjoying a play, attending a concert or even going to a Royals game. We did the same in Portland when we lived in Oregon. We’re about thirty miles from Boston but for me it may as well be ten. I love to drive down, park, get on a train and just get out and walk around the city.

As much as I love to go by myself, it’s always better when Janet goes with me. She needs purpose though, so today I made reservations for a place we’d intended on eating at for our anniversary, until we changed our plans and went to New York instead. State Street Provisions is right off the harbor and in the heart of the one of the more touristy areas of Boston. The Orange line was down, so I braved finding a parking garage. Luckily I found one in the North End that only charged $20 for a whole day of parking. It was a beautiful day for walking, and we killed some time before our reservation watching the boats in the harbor and enjoying the sun. One of our favorite places is the Christmas in Boston store in Quincy Market. Like the TARDIS on Doctor Who, it’s larger on the inside. We try to explore every inch to see if there’s something new and different we can add to our tree, but alas, few things jump out. Still it’s fun to look!

We ate brunch outside with a mix of locals and tourists. Janet enjoyed pancakes, while I treated myself to fish and chips. Since losing weight, I don’t normally eat fried foods, but everyone needs to splurge now and then. One of the changes since COVID has been the prevalence of outdoor dining venues. An interesting observation is how many people bring their dogs to eat with them now. That was something I’d seen in Paris, but not here in the states.

After brunch we walked up to the North End to find a gelato stand. Surprisingly, there were only two on Hanover Street. Fortunately the second was close to where we parked so it made the perfect ending to our trip.

Adventures don’t have to be long or exciting. They just need to get you out of your house for a little bit. Upon returning home I took a picture of our Tuscan themed porch decorated with fall flowers and lighting and thought about what an awesome privilege it is to live in New England and experience it like a tourist.