I had a fun little visit with my good friend Ellen in Boston last weekend, a nice reprieve after all the work-related Lunar New Year madness.
A nice bus ride, good tequila, and yummy steak tacos
Despite lots of rain that would later turn into snow, my bus got to Boston on time. The ride itself was nice and cozy. It helped that I had brought tons of food and had lots of podcasts to listen to.
Because of the weather, Ellen was working from home that day and was kind enough to pick me up at the bus station. Before going back to her place, we stopped at the grocery store and bakery. Provisions!
The wind was so crazy, it was literally blowing rain through fissures in my friend’s doors. She worked hard to plug the cracks with towels and whatnot (meanwhile, I sat in the kitchen drinking tequila with ginger bread and snacking on bread). Then I jokingly suggested using sanitary napkins — and guess what? She did! Not only that, they worked!
For dinner, Ellen was kind enough to make us steak tacos. I inhaled two.
Farmer’s market, Peabody Essex Museum, Ganko ramen
The next day was full of activities. Our first stop was the farmer’s market near where she lives. That was pretty fun. We tried a bunch of samples, including some ginger-honey “switchel” mixed with seltzer. That sold me and I bought a bottle. I also got a jar of gooseberry jam and a cheddar-scallion scone for a snack later.
Our next stop was the Peabody Essex Museum. I’ve been once, but that was many years ago so I have zero recollection of the place. Plus it might be quite different from back then.
The main exhibit we were there to see was Georgia O’Keeffe: Art, Image, Style, which juxtaposed her clothing and fashion with her work. It was interesting but also very crowded so I didn’t have the patience to read everything.
I ended up seeing a lot of the rest of the museum, including this very cool exhibit, All the Flowers Are for Me:
We finished our stay with a visit to a room that was part of the Playtime exhibit. Earlier I had noticed a long line, but now that the museum was about to close, it was short so we hopped on. Turned out we were the last group being let in.
What was so special about this room? It was filled with pink balloons. A sign warned that if you started to feel overwhelmed, you should make your way to the exit. I scoffed, “Why would anyone feel overwhelmed?” But a few seconds after I entered, I totally did. What got to me were the balloons flying in all directions, especially in my face, and some annoying kid running around, almost bumping into me, and yelling. Getting outside was a pain. Only after I was out did one of the employees give instructions. That would have been nice!
Our last stop was noodles at a placed called Ganko Ramen. The wait was hella long, We kept staring at people like, “Why are you eating so slow? Are you seriously eating your ramen one strand at a time?” Finally, after TWO HOURS we were seated.
The ramen was really good, but I don’t know if I’d wait that long again.