The Boston Public Library is the most beautiful place… and the quietest.
Last month my daughter Nora and I went up to Boston to look at colleges. It was the first of our out-of-town tours and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Being able to enjoy this rite of passage now as a parent felt so good, yet so surreal. I flashed back to when I was the one going up to New England to look at colleges. Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston and one other I can’t remember. It was me, my dad, and my stepmother. And maybe it was that trip where we visited my high school crush Billy’s MIT fraternity house, an old Boston brownstone mansion. Hmm, Billy.
And how great is Boston?! Maybe I’m biased since my dad is from there (well out in the country, west of there) and it feels like home to me. Anyway, we drove north, like five hours, listening to entirely too much Taylor Swift and just talk talk talked.
Our first stop was Boston College. We walked around an empty campus for an unofficial tour and fell in love with it, the grand, colleg-y-ness of it. Nora walked the entire circular path of the garden labyrinth which felt symbolic of choosing a college and one’s future. It was about another 20 minutes to the city of Boston. We checked into our hotel and then went out exploring. Newbury Street had gotten even fancier since the last time I was there. With almost every clothing store you can think of, you could get yourself into a lot of trouble. I could almost feel my husband checking the bank balance as we strolled down the row of brownstones. I went into Buck Mason and Ganni and came out empty-handed. Nora went to Brandy Melville and even though the sales girls there are pure evil, she endured and found some things that gave her joy. We also spent time and money in the Trident Booksellers & Café which I highly recommend! Nora got a cute canvas book tote, how Boston is that? And I picked out a Pink Pony Club keychain for Tim which made me laugh a lot and him not very much. We had dinner at Eatally which my friend Jay had recommended and it was amaze. We ate a delicious Italian dinner, including the best gnocchi of my life, and then wandered around and around the extensive Italian marketplace. Finally, we walked back to our hotel, eating gelato on the way.
In the morning we wandered some more and found the Boston Public Library which was so stunning, then over to the Boston Commons before we headed off to the tour at Boston University. It’s an amazing school but after seeing it in person, Nora realized it was not for her. We headed out of the city right after the BU tour, just as rush hour hit and we were tired and hungry. We found a Shake Shack and it gave us the energy to squeeze in one more school, University of Rhode Island. I guess I’m really bad at Googling directions because we ended up at the Graduate School of Oceanography instead of the main campus. We kept wondering why it was so small and just seemed like a sad outpost, although scenically situated right on the water. The main campus is very nice. It had started to rain and we walked around the empty grounds as the sun set and Nora said if she can love it in the rain, it’s gotta be good.
Our trip to DC to look at colleges was next. There was, to be honest, an overly ambitious plan to drive though all the southern states and tour about 8 schools. Plans changed as I had to take care of some very challenging family responsibilities in DC. But we did have a great tour of Georgetown University. I realized that even though I’d grown up there and been to Georgetown (the neighborhood) I’d never seen the campus of Georgetown (the University). It was ungodly hot that weekend and we walked a lot. Highlights included eating at Rocklands BBQ, Tatte, and Dig Inn. The kids got to go out for ice cream with my aunt and uncle at our favorite Milly’s. There was also a brief drive around American University, so we got our money’s worth. We usually do some shopping in Georgetown, but didn’t this time. I threw in some old photos of the new Blue Dot store which is one of my favorite furniture and decor places. You should go.
After DC, we thought we’d go to see UVA “real quick” which is ridiculous because Charlottesville is over 2 1/2 hours farther south. And did I mention it was hot? We walked around the campus, again, deserted as if humanity had vanished, but it was not uninteresting. Everyone was running out of patience which made it hard to choose a restaurant and figure out directions and all that, but we perservered and found a cuban restaurant called Guajiros and I was proud of us for not going somewhere stupid like Chipotle. And then the cherry on top was finding a Ben & Jerry’s store and getting sundaes which ironically did not have cherries on top but were delicious. The exhaustion, heat, and walking mixed with the surprise, joy, and sugar resulted in happy sobbing. Literally. Win.
Not all of the summer was spent on the road. We had some beautiful days loafing at home. Blueberries on our blueberry bush. We even got to eat a couple before the birds did. The pool. Reading books. Picnics at Grandma’s and Grandpa’s. A Strawberry Moon viewing party with bonfire.
And finally, the beach. Same as always. Sun bathing, wave jumping, Wawa hoagies. Sleeping in, ice cream, mini golf. Sunset bike rides with magic hour photo shoots. Seafood dinners, yoga, Playa Bowls. It’s a formula but it works. I hope you have all been making the most of the season. More to come soon!
