Boston and Me

Even if the City of Boston didn’t name a street after me I would still like the place. After all, there are few things not to like about the city by the bay that’s not named San Francisco. I never knew its residents even heard of me, but here I am famous, with a street named after me in Little Italy. I am both honored and humbled by this recognition.


Water has a way of shaping a city. It's appearance, the way people navigate it, its food, its architecture, even its attitude. Boston is no exception. Most cities are built on a grid. The bay surrounding Boston prevents this. Inlets and harbors carve circular paths, inlets slice through the city. Compass points become meaningless. That's okay because Boston is still an easy city to get around.

Chinatown

I walked the heart of this great city from Back Bay to the South Bay, from Chinatown to Little Italy and from one body of water to another and another. When I was too tired to walk or got lost too many times, I took the “T,” the city’s efficient and easy-to-use subway system. Parks, historical sites, museums, great neighborhoods and places to drink—many places to drink—makes it easy to stumble upon something special. It’s a college town, so there’s a youthfulness and energy that fuels the bars, nightclubs and cafes—even in the summertime when I went.

Then there’s Fenway Park, the nation’s oldest ballpark that is absolutely worth a visit during a game, even if you don’t like baseball and can only get standing room tickets.

I spent a few days in this clean, vibrant city and enjoyed nearly all of my experiences. There are plenty of people writing about the must-see historical sites or other high touristed areas. I will highlight certain parts of this diverse city that I experienced.

It’s so close to my home in Philadelphia yet I rarely ever visited and I never stayed more than a few hours. But I’ll be returning.

So it turns out Tony DeMarco Way wasn’t named after me. It was named after a hard-hitting boxer who was a welterweight champion in the 1950s. That’s okay Boston; I still think you’re swell.

Kung Hei Fat Choi, Philly Style

Sunday was not only Valentine’s Day but more importantly in our house it was Chinese New Year. We celebrated the year of the Tiger in Philly’s Chinatown where we unexpectedly watched a Lion Dance parade and enjoyed a late afternoon lunch of food that is suppose to provide good luck, wealth and a long life.

Approaching Chinatown we noticed a crowd of people on the corner of 10th and Arch streets, near the China Gate and heard the rhythmic sounds of drums and symbols. Then came a long, loud blast of firecrackers and above the heads of the crowd were large, colorful decorated lion heads bobbing. The parade moved north up 10th Street, made a left at Race Street and then headed north on 11th Street. They stopped several times to dance and light fireworks and visited a few restaurants and bakeries, offering good luck for the year. We followed the parade to 11th and Race streets where we decided to leave to enjoy some good luck food.

More pictures follow: