Boston Days 5 & 6 & 7

I am having such a great time here wandering in my old stomping grounds. It's still so strange though, to feel like a visitor even though it all feels so familiar-- like home.

I met my friend from college, Kristin, in Framingham, west of the city. I lived in the next town of Ashland. I walked to the commuter rail, bought a ticket after a few moments of confusion navigating the 'new' way of doing things here, settled on the train and watched the familiar sights go by. I took the train into the city for close to a year. We drove past my old townhouse

We drove down to Newport, one of my 'happy' places when I lived here. Whenever I had something on my mind, or just wanted to be near the ocean, I went there. Newport is an amazing town with a lot to do! You can tour mansions, walk the Cliff Walk that winds along the ocean with spectacular views, walk through the touristy town, eat wonderful seafood, walk through the more residential area sprinkled with lovely inns and B&Bs, and one of my favorite places was at the end of the town where there is a park that people fly kites at. It's all rocky beaches and you can walk out to sit on the rocks with the waves crashing around you and watch sometimes hundreds of kites. Gorgeous.

Today Kristin planned the day, and we grabbed a quick bite at Diegos on Bowen Wharf and got a dish of guacamole with some seafood, and tuna tacos. Yum. The drinks were also amazing.

Kristin got us tickets for a boat cruise. I was expecting one of those mini-yachts, but this was a motorized sailboat! I was so excited! It was really wonderful. We sat listening to the sails flapping in the wind. The boat was quite high on one side due to the breeze and chop of the water. The crew were wonderful and informative and one of the guys knew everything about the houses we saw and their history down to when they were built, last purchased and by what family. Interesting!

Kristin made a reservation for a late lunch at the Mooring, and we got seats overlooking the water. We got some oysters (I think I’m hooked after yesterday’s oysters at the Old Oyster House!) I got a salad with a lobster tail, and she got swordfish tacos. Yum. Double yum!

We walked around the town for a while then drove up by the mansions to the Cliff Walk, and walked a little bit of that. It’s a narrow asphalt path winding on a cliff overlooking the ocean and offers spectacular views of the water and of some of the back of the mansions.

What a fun day! It was a long one but it was so great to catch up with her as I haven’t seen her in a few years now. Newport offers a lot of things to do and is a great place. There are a lot of inns and quaint B&Bs, lots of shopping, the mansions to tour (Vanderbilt and other famous family icons), boat cruises, beaches and rocks to walk on as well as a great park at the end where a ton of people fly kites. It’s fun to see. It’s a typical coastal sea town but really offers a lot in my opinion and is well worth checking out.

On Wednesday I took the train north near where I used to live, to meet another friend. She met me at the train in Beverly, two towns over from where I grew up and a place I went to lots of times. We went straight to Singing Beach, and walked the beach in both directions. It was so beautiful and relaxing. I really missed the ocean! I used to come here when I was a kid so it was a special treat. 

We drove through some of Beverly, which again, looked so familiar but as if I lived here in a past life, wound our way up to Manchester-by-the Sea and to Carolyn's house. It was in the woods through streets lined with beautiful, lush green mature trees. Her house is gorgeous! It's a colonial style well known in this area and she's lived there for 40 years so it's every bit her. We talked and caught up with her husband, soaked in her gorgeous pool. Two of her daughters, their kids and friends came by for a pool party to celebrate one of her grandkid's birthday.

We went to the the Seaport Grill for lunch, overlooking the water in Gloucester. I got my lobster roll-- yum!! We then drove around some of the downtown area of Gloucester, and for a special treat, drove through Rockport. I used to love going to this town to walk around and loved to walk on the long rock jetty entering the ocean. There's a lot of great little shops, and lots of gorgeous sailboats everywhere. This is also where there is a famous picture from of a red house with buoys all covering the side. I tried to get a shot but was unable to.

We wound down the streets overlooking the ocean, saw the twin lighthouses. This area makes my heart happy. Such a quintescential New England town and so representative of the coastal areas. 

I took the train back into the city and met Shona and her friend Melissa for a drink at the Met Bar to watch the world cup. Sadly, Argentina lost, so we left to enjoy tapas again at Bar Lola. We sat outside this time, and they have a large patio (which I missed on the night I got here as it was pouring.) The food here is great, and we again got the lemony artichoke hearts, and also got veggie fritters, garlicky mushrooms and smoked salmon.

We took the green line back out to Coolidge Corner to go to the Theater there to see a movie. It's a large, very old and still independent place with lots of show rooms. Feels like a 1950's place and is so cool! We went home late and were tired and giggly, singing our way back like we did years ago. It's fun to be a kid again.

Today is my last day here. I'm not sure I'll have time to write later, but I'm going to Central Square in Cambridge to meet an old friend from my 20s that I reconnected with on Facebook. She lives in Northern CT and arranged some work here to meet up with me. I'm excited to see her! I'm getting ready, doing laundry and packing now then will head out to walk the square a bit before I see her. I used to volunteer in a homework center for kids in Central Square, and really enjoyed the area. I had hoped to squeeze in a visit to Davis Square, which I'm told is so much fun and more built up now then when I was here. But I won't have time..

I walked with Shona and her pup, Oliver, down Newbury and over to the reflecting pool by the Prudential building. I never knew it was there and it was beautiful!

I really feel I can say I did this town! It's been so incredible to be back, and what an amazing gift to stay right in the city and feel like a local again. I really do love this city. I'm not sure this will help my homesickness, but it sure did my heart and soul good to be here again and reconnect with so many people. I'll leave tired and happy.

s

Boston Days 3 & 4

We woke up fairly early and headed out for a walk. We decided to drive over to Castle Island, off South Boston, for our walk. It was really beautiful being along the water: the sun beaming down, a light breeze, sound of seagulls scent of the salt water. People were fishing and we could see part of the skyline in the distance over the water. I had never been here before so it was worth seeing.

We went back to lay down for a bit, then headed over to Coolidge Corner in Brookline for some book shopping (the gal whose place I was in asked for a book recommendation. Instead, I decided to buy her some books). We went to Booksmith and stocked up on some reads she will enjoy, then walked around a bit and headed to Temptation Cafe (or something like that!) for a late lunch. Yum! We walked some more then headed back on the T (the subway). I used to ride it every day when I worked in the city.

We took the pup for a walk down Newbury Street, window shopping and people watching, and walked down Boyleston a bit in Copley then back to Comm Ave. I love this tree-lined street with the brownstones. It looks very NYC!

I met my best friend from high school through my 20s, Tom, on Newbury Street for dinner. What a fun time catching up! It's been 3-4 years since I last saw him.

This morning I took a walk then met an elementary school friend, Lori Greenberg! We spent the day together, meeting near the Boston Common (as I got lost going to Faneuil Hall-- ahem!) We went to the North End for coffee, then walked on the waterfront and got a drink at the lovely Seaport Hotel. Then we walked to Chinatown for dim sum-- yum! Then we went to Fanueil Hall to walk around and stopped in the Ice Bar (forget the name, but they give you a parka and gloves and you go into a room where you can see your breath, which is covered in ice.) I went to a similar one in LA years ago. It was fun and a nice way to cool off from the walk! It's very humid today.

We then walked around Fanueil hall for a bit and went to Dick's Last Resort, a place known for the rudest waiters ever. They made people wear paper hats saying things like "I pee when I laugh" and "Showering makes me sneeze." Lori got one that says 'I heart my waiter." It was cute.

We decided to go up to the North Shore where we grew up. It was so strange going back! We went to Salem Willows, which hasn't changed a bit! We walked on the beach for a bit then through the arcades, little restaurants where you can grab and go with chinese, fried dough, salt water taffy and typical fair foods. Then we drove through Peabody where we grew up. We drove past my parent's old house and it hasn't changed much. The two houses next to it were built up and look completely different though!

It was a long day but such a fun walk down memory lane. I haven't seen Lori for 25 years, so it was really amazing to catch up in person!

Time to get some rest as tomorrow will be another fun and long day! Night, all!
s

Home Sweet Home: Boston

Boston, how I've missed you. With ever fiber of my being.

Being here feels so.. interesting. The sounds, sights, smells are all so familiar, and yet I feel like a visitor. I got in last night, the evening of the 4th to torrential downpours. A category 1 hurricane. I missed the fireworks as they were moved to the 3rd due to the weather. Meh.

I took the bus to the Back Bay part of the city and met my friend and her dog, Oliver, at the Copley stop. I used to work right across the street and really love this part of town. It's so familiar and comfortable. We walked the five minutes to her apartment right on Commonwealth (Comm) Ave. It's two blocks from the Public Garden-- amazing part of town.

A friend of hers in the building is staying in another larger apartment this summer, so her apartment is available. She wants people to stay there, at a cost of a book recommendation. Amazing.

Her place is a very small studio and perfectly laid out to maximize the space. The area is really expensive but being able to walk out to the center of it all is just amazing. She's in a building with 30 apartments, ranging in size but all still quite small.

I found out last night that her friend has a terminal illness. She bought the apartment to be in the city near the hospital where she gets her treatments. I'll meet her at some point on this trip and can't wait to give her a huge hug for making this trip possible. Hotels in this area are quite expensive. It was a dream of mine to stay in the city for this visit, and she gave me the opportunity to. I am so thrilled and grateful.

My friend has the coolest dog, who reminds me so much of my Che in a different package. He's very social and his face is really expressive.

We decided to venture out last night for tapas, and went to a cute place called LolaBar. It was amazing. Just a few blocks from the apartment, with great sangria and the tapas were wonderful. We got this amazing lemony garlicky artichoke heart dish, potatas bravas, a lamb and tomato sauce dish, and shrimp mango dish. Yumm... We then decided to go catch a movie. Shona always knows great places to go, and we went to a little indie theater in Kendall Sq, Cambridge. As she was telling me that she rarely drives and often gets lost, we circled time and time and time and time again proving her point.

We finally made it to the theater parking lot, laughing out butts off. We made it with ten minutes spare which was quite impressive. :) The movie was really great: Obvious Child. We both enjoyed it and headed home in the still pouring rain.

I woke to find my phone doesnt' work in the apartment (thick concrete walls) and I had no internet. Drat. So we planned to walk together in the am, but I had no way of reaching her. I went down to what I thought was her place and knocked then left a note. I tried her several more times, and finally gave up to go downstairs in search of food. I called her then as my phone worked, to find that she had tried to reach me as well! We went for breakfast at a cute little cafe in the South End, then went to the grocery store to pick up some things. I loved feeling like I live here-- even if for a short while.

Today we are going to walk a bit, then go see a show called Ordinary People in the South End, a great area for walking around. There's a lot of mature-tree lined streets, and houses that look like NYC brownstones. It's beautiful! Lots of galleries and restaurants. It was cleaned up and gentrified and is really gorgeous now.
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The show was amazing! How I miss Boston. It was really funny and thought-provoking. I'd highly recommend it.

We walked the dog a bit through some of Back Bay, the Public Garden and the Boston Common. The garden looks SO beautiful with all the gorgeous plantings, the little pond with ducks and swans and people everywhere.

Then we met up with a friend and walked over towards the North End for Italian food. We walked back through the garden and common, through the Government Center area, which is under construction, through Haymarket. One of the biggest transformations is there, between Haymarket and the North end where the highway overpass used to be. All of the steel girders were replaced by a gorgeous park with kids playing. Wow. I just stood and stared, it was such a change to take in.

The north end was similar though many restaurants were different. We chose a place that my friend's friend had been to before, put our name in (va bene, we were told) and walked around a few minutes to enjoy the scene before going back and getting seated. It was incredibly crowded as we expected on a Saturday night. The food was amazing. The service great and damned if I can remember the name of the place! Drat. We stopped by Cafe Paradiso for a piece of tiramisu and headed back, walking a slightly different way.

The weather couldn't have been more perfect, around 80 or just over at a high, and in the low 70s as we walked back. Clear skies, a light breeze-- makes me want to move back! I can't wait to see more!

Palm Springs/Joshua Tree Recommendations and Pics

Joshua Tree
The park is great for exploring and hiking. We enjoyed the Ryan Mountain Trail, Hidden Valley, Barker Dam. The Cholla Cactus Garden was nice to see as well.

29 Palms
Harmony Motel was an affordable, cute little place and convenient to access the park

Restaurants
We liked the Palm Kebab House so much for dinner on our first night, that we went again for lunch before we left! Yum!

Palm Springs
Palm Mountain Resort and Spa was a very affordable option right downtown with easy walking to everywhere. The rooms were nothing fancy but comfortable, the bed comfy. LOT of families on the weekend and the spa was closed for renovations.

Restaurants
Gyoro Gyoro- this Japan chain is expanding in the US (LA and now Palm Springs). Just opened and amazing-- good food, good service.

Le Vallauris- amazing french place. Great food, amazing service and nice ambiance. The patio was very pleasant even in the heat with the shade cover and fans. The Price Fix menu was reasonable and food really good!

Cheekys- highly recommended breakfast/lunch place around 5 mins drive from the hotel and really worth it. Interesting eats like jalapeno bacon. yum!

Spa
Tuscan Hot Springs and Hotel- AMAZING place and you feel like you step into Tuscany. Beautifully and lovingly created ambiance with three mineral spring pools. Spa treatments were amazing. A 30-minute drive from Palm Springs but well worth the trip.

Palm Springs & Joshua Tree NP

Palm Springs- last morning

We got up early, packed, and headed back out to Indian Canyons. We decided to hike Palm Canyon trail and were lucky enough to happen upon a ranger who suggested we follow the trail to the Victor trail, a nice moderate trail that goes along a nice ridge line with gorgeous views. We were glad we did! The beginning of Palm Canyon is through an oasis stream with tons of tall palms with lovely shade. Victor was hot and fully sunny, but gorgeous views! We got back a little before 10 when it started to really heat up.

We showered, checked out and headed to Cheeky's, a place highly recommended by several people we talked with and on tripadvisor. Yum. Farm-to-table food and very good. I got an heirloom tomato sandwich with applewood smoked bacon, fried egg and arugula. Kim got a blt with jalapeno bacon. We got a side of their homemade maple sage sausage which was amazing. Their bloody mary was great as well. yum!

Full and happy, we headed back on the four-hour drive back to Phoenix. The drive is pretty dull through the desert, but it wasn't too bad.

We're not totally sure of the lure of Palm Springs-- I assume the golfing is good, there is a casino, wonderful spas and a touristy little downtown with some good restaurants. Definitely great hiking and the proximity to Joshua Tree was great. It isn't a bad weekend destination from LA or Phoenix  and we had a lot of fun.

Palm Springs

We decided to 'sleep in' until around 7 which felt wonderful. We grabbed coffee at the Coffee Bean and Tea, walked around a little bit then got ready to go for a hike. the place we decided on didn't open until 8, which is unfortunate as it's so hot. Indian Canyons is gorgeous! It was highly rated on tripadvisor and several people told us it's worth seeing. The Andreas hike is around the oasis and much of the trip was by a shaded river. It was quite pleasant, relaxing and gorgeous. Then we did the Murray hike which was gorgeous but in a very different way. It was mostly in the sun and quite hot, but went towards a little oasis of palm trees.

We enjoyed our hiking thoroughly, but by 10 it was too hot so we headed back, showered and decided to grab an early lunch at 11:30. We went to the recommended Gyoro Gyoro, a sushi chain in Japan with several locations in LA and now Palm Springs. It opened a little over a month ago and was quite good. We got a sushi sampler and a chirashi sushimi, both of which were great samplers. Yum.

We booked a spa day at the Tuscan Springs Spa when we learned that the spa at our hotel was closed. What a great choice! Our hotel is right next to the main road so very convenient, but a less expensive option that is pretty basic. (Palm Mountain Hotel and Spa). We wanted a spa to go to and didn't want to drive, but we were really glad we did! This place was gorgeous! We felt like we were in Tuscany with the terra cotta tile, white walls, bougainvilla, tropical plants, tile.. it was really beautiful. There is a volcanic-heated hot spring well on the premises, which feed three mineral spring pools. One is hot, one warm and one cool. A large patio has several covered lounging beds, lots of comfy chairs, and a view overlooking the mountains and much of Palm Springs. It was definitely worth the drive.

We each got three-hour treatments, and I got a massage, foot massage, scalp treatment and a body scrub. Wow. Decadent and so wonderful! The lady who owns the place is from italy as well as her husband. They close from mid-July to the end of August as they are so slow. There are 8 very nice rooms that I would love to stay in sometime. It would definitely be worth the cost! http://www.tuscansprings.com/

We headed back to our hotel, showered and got ready for dinner. Last night we went to the Falls Steak House which was recommended. It was quite good. We split a steak, potato and cesar salad. Tonight we decided to go to a french place called Le Vallauris. It was around the corner from our hotel and amazing! Beautiful patio covered with trees with fans blowing so it was quite pleasant. The service was amazing, manager came to talk with us and the food perfect! They had a price fix which was a great value. It wasn't an inexpensive meal, but was worth it. Kim got a pate, lamb with ratatouille, and a chocolate tart and I got smoked salmon (to die for and made in house), duck with apple and spinach, and a grand marnier souffle. I'm not a huge fan of grand marnier but it was quite good!

Tomorrow we're going to hike one of the other trails at Indian Canyons that two guys we met yesterday recommended, get breakfast at Cheeky's, a local place that is farm-to-table and highly recommended (several people as well as tripadvisor) then we'll head home.

We're both a little curious how Palm Springs sprung up as a destination place as there's isn't much here. The hikes are wonderful and there's a lot of spas and some shopping, as well as a casino. It's a mystery but at 4 hours or less from Phoenix, it's a nice place to visit and I'm glad I came!

Joshua Tree National Park & Palm Springs

My college roommate, Kim, reached out to me a couple of weeks ago to see if we could do a girls' weekend. Of course! She flew in and we spent the afternoon catching up. 

We headed out mid-morning on Friday and had a blowout just before Quartzite. We waited close to an hour for the AAA truck to come, then two of America’s finest pulled up behind up. The first ran my plate, then came over and after giving us a bit of a hard time, change the tire for us. The AAA guy showed up right after they finished. We went into Quartzite to the tire shop (surprising there was one as ‘fine dining’ there was Subway). Grabbed sandwiches then the car was done. Apparently there was a fault in the tire and there was a bubble that with the heat from the drive blew out. The hole in the sidewall was the size of a golf ball!

We were good as new and on the road again. We had two more hours and drove into 29 Palms at around 5 pm. We checked into our hotel, a little motel called the Harmony Motel, known for being the place where U2 stayed when they were filming their Joshua Tree images. It’s a cute little 7-room motel with character. The grounds are nice, and it had some cute little touches. Not as fancy as many hotels, but we loved the fact that when we asked if she had a trail map, the gal in the office handed us a Joshua Tree trail book that we could borrow! We of course stayed in the room that Bono stayed on (from U2). Of course.

She told us we could have driven through the park to get here instead of going around like Google Maps suggested. We decided to take a quick drive through some of the park before dinner, and it was beautiful! Lots of interesting rock formations and Joshua Trees everywhere after we drove 10-15 minutes into the park.

We left and grabbed dinner at the Palm Kabob House in town, which was highly recommended on tripadvisor. It was yummy! Kim got a gyro and I got a salmon kabob with rice. Two guys there recommended some hiking trails for us tomorrow. We drove to one and the ranger said he was locking the gate. It apparently doesn’t open until 6:30 to 7, and we’re hoping to get started earlier as it’s so hot. We’re reviewing our handy little guidebook to decide where we’ll go.

We haven’t gotten internet to work yet and are both tired, so I’ll post this tomorrow when I have the chance. We’ll hike and explore the park then will check out and head to Palm Springs.

It’s been so much fun catching up with Kimmie again. I met her in college and we lived together for a while. I think she was one of the only roommates I liked living with, and the only one for sure that I still talk with! It’s been (gasp!) 24 years. She lives in India now but is back in the US for a visit and asked to come visit for a girls’ weekend. I of course said yes! I haven’t seen her for four years so it’s so wonderful to reconnect.

Joshua Tree National Park became a national park in 1994, though it had been a National Monument since 1936. It is slightly larger in size than the state of Rhode Island. The park includes parts of two deserts: the Mojave Desert and the Colorado Desert. The Little San Bernardino Mountains run through the park as well.

It takes around 15 minutes of driving into the park before you see Joshua trees and then they are all around. There are some beautiful rock formations as well with some interesting shapes. 

We woke up really early and decided to get out to hike before it got too hot. We first went to Keys Point and enjoyed a view of the Coachella Valley. We had trouble finding the trailhead, and after reading a sign about aggressive bees, encountered a few and decided to pick another spot. We drove to Ryan Mountain which was a gorgeous hike. We climbed a mountain then circled around the back of it and walked along a ridge for a while before hitting a peak. The hike wasn't long-- only a mile and a half, but took us a little over an hour and a half. It was gorgeous and worth doing.

We met a couple from New Hampshire (funny, as Kim and I are from Massachusetts, right next door) and a man from Germany. We climbed down and went to Hidden Valley, the highest rated hike on tripadvisor. It didn't disappoint and was really gorgeous. Very easy loop hike but the rock formations, trees and views were stunning. We then went to the Barker Dam trail and saw some petroglyphs (disappointingly colored back in so people can still see them) and the dam, which was built to hold water for cattle. The hike was nice with gorgeous rock formations.

It was around 10:30 and getting really hot. And we had to check out of our hotel, so we did that then headed into town for lunch. We decided to go back to the Kabob House and got salads with chicken shawarma which was amazing. We got a side of falafel and it was really light and different. Very good and we both enjoyed this place. I got a juice with carrot, orange and ginger and enjoyed it. Who knew? I don't eat carrots but in juice, it's pretty ok.

We decided to drive back through Joshua Tree park to see a couple of areas that were recommended: two areas with a lot of cholla cacti, and ocotillo cacti. The first was impressive and they were as far as the eye can see. The second was less so, and the ocotillo were all burned out and dried up. Just the wrong time of year for that. The drive through this part of the park was long and they were repaving the road, making for some nice driving but some of the trip was all gutted up and not so fun. We hit I10 and drove down to Palm Springs, checked in to our hotel the Palm Mountain Hotel and Spa and decided to walk around a bit before dinner to explore.

There's not much to this town. Some shops, restaurants, spas and casinos. We are both glad we have stuff planned tomorrow! Our restaurant reservation tonight (Falls Steak House) is literally right across the street from the hotel, which is great. Someone recommended it so we're going for it! 

We're mapping out our hike for tomorrow then getting ready for dinner. It's going to be an early night but we'll be up early tomorrow hiking before it gets too hot. By 10 am it's steamy here! We really want to go to Indian Canyons, which was highly recommended, but it opens at 8. So we're checking on options and then will head there around that time. We have spa day (afternoon) at 2 at a place with mineral springs. Can't wait! It'll feel good as we're both stiff from the hike today.

I'll post more tomorrow! S