Boston, MA – Friday 9/27
After a busy week of family fun and moving the boat quite a bit, we settled into a quiet workday. We had work to do and many pictures to download, catalog and begin thinking about updating the blog. The high winds over the next few days meant we were not going to go anywhere and that was ok by us. Boston is a fun city and we look forward to spending some time here.
We stayed close to the boat all day. The rain was gone and our boat needed a bath, so Mark took care of cleaning the outside. In the meantime Denise took care of some inside cleaning.
With nice weather we decided to walk to the North End for dinner and get that pizza that we wanted last night. We took the path from the marina that goes under the North Washington Street Bridge and over the locks entering the Charles River. Along the way are the Charlestown Bells that Denise always has to play when she walks by. These are tubular bells that hang on the railing along the pedestrian path that use levers to invoke a chime. You can learn more about them here.
Charlestown Bells
The route leads past the Converse store and the Lovejoy Wharf condos on one side, and the TD Garden on the other side.
From there we headed north, crossing Washington Street and into the Italian section of the North End.
North End signage
It is only a few blocks to Regina Pizzeria where you queue up in line and wait for a host to tell you when you can come in and sit down. There was already a line when we arrived, but we only had to wait about 15 minutes. As was the case last time we were here, we agreed to sit at the small bar and that got us seated faster. Once inside we ordered our individual pizzas and a couple of beers. Denise’s first pizza arrived almost totally burned and the bartender suggested she have it remade, which she did. It didn’t take long and another one was presented that was much better.
After dinner we walked to Bova’s, the Italian bakery that is open 24 hours and is always crowded, especially on a Friday night. Here we purchased a few goodies to take back to the boat.
It was a great way to end a fun-filled week, and a quiet day.
Boston, MA – Saturday 9/28
It was a nice sunny morning and it seemed like it could actually be a good day to leave Boston. However, the winds were forecasted to pick up substantially during the morning, and really blow hard in Buzzards Bay near where we are headed next. Denise had been in touch with Claire who was enticing us to leave Boston and take the boat to Falmouth on Cape Cod where they were. We could leave in the morning, but only if we had a long enough weather window to get there and across the very exposed Vineyard Sound. The concern was not just today, but what was the forecast for the coming days as we didn’t want to get stuck in Falmouth for a long time. It is expensive to stay there and without a car we would be limited in what we could do.
We agreed to discuss it when Denise came back from her morning run, in the meantime Mark would look at the options and future weather forecast. Denise left for a run along the Charles River; a familiar and fun route. However, once she made her way down the path near MIT, the wind was whipping across the river and she knew the answer was a no-go for Falmouth. She didn’t even wait for the end of the run before texting Mark back and telling him there was no way we were going out in the ocean (Massachusetts Bay) if the wind was blowing in such protected waters already. Here are a few pictures from her run:
Once back at the boat we agreed and let Claire know we would be staying put in town. Besides, we had laundry to do and Constitution Marina offered the most affordable place (and convenient) so we made that our Saturday morning task. In the afternoon we walked the half mile up to Whole Foods and bought some steaks to grill out for dinner this evening. We also went to the ACE Hardware (located in the same shopping center) so Mark could do reconnaissance on a shop vac for the boat. He still has not yet found one and will probably order one off of Amazon.
The afternoon was spent hanging around the boat and talking to other boaters including Chuck and Victoria. We continue to share ideas about what we have each have added to our boats, as well as software tools to assist us in our cruising lifestyles.
Later in the day Denise talked with Claire and found out that the wind had picked up early and was really blowing in Falmouth. We knew we had made the right decision as exiting the Cape Cod Canal would have been horrible and we are not about getting beat up just to get somewhere. This is supposed to be enjoyable and rough seas would not make the Admiral happy.
That night there was some type of a surprise party on the porch of the marina. They rent out the facility to the general public and since our boat is right by the marina facilities we were entertained by the music and loud conversations. It was just getting under way when Mark went upstairs to use the grill, but by the time we settled in to watching Game of Thrones we found it to be a bit of a distraction. Fortunately, it didn’t last very long and by the time we were ready for sleep they had wrapped up for the night.
Boston, MA – Sunday 9/29
One of the best parts about staying in the Constitution Marina is that we can leave for church 5 minutes before mass starts and still make it with 2 minutes to spare. St. Mary’s is literally .25 mile from our marina and this makes it very convenient.
We attended the 8:00 am mass and sadly found it to be sparsely attended. The church is magnificently beautiful and the Cantor had the most wonderful voice. But the best part was right after communion when the organist/pianist gave us a wonderful rendition of Elvis Presley’s “Peace in the Valley”. He had a great voice and sounded exactly like Elvis. If you have not heard this song you can find it here on YouTube.
After church we walked up to Whole Foods; a daily thing since it is so close. Here Denise purchased some produce for the week while Mark went to CVS (next door in the same shopping center) to buy some Diet Coke. We then carried our packages back to the boat.
In the afternoon Denise worked on the last blog posting and then did some food prep for the week ahead. Meanwhile, Mark did some client work that required a large chunk of uninterrupted time.
We also had been in communication with Claire and John who were headed back to Boston, but staying in a hotel near the airport; they have a very early flight out in the morning and wanted to stay as close as possible. They wanted a pizza dinner, so we made arrangements to meet at Regina’s Pizzeria in the North End. Once again we walked under the bridge and over the locks to the North End where we met them already in line. The timing couldn’t have been better; as soon as we arrived the host came and got us and we were seated in a booth. Again it was delicious and again we had a fun time with them. Unfortunately, we did have to say goodbye as this really was the last time we will see them until we return back home in November.
John & Claire at Regina’s Pizzeria
We walked back to the marina, across the locks and under the bridge, and settled in for the rest of the night.
Boston, MA – Monday 9/30
Today was a working day and a prep day for leaving, including getting a load of laundry done. We had been looking at the possibility of leaving Boston tomorrow with a small weather window to get to New Bedford (80+ miles away). We had been in touch with Victoria & Chuck (“Argento”) who were planning to leave as well, but they wanted an earlier start than us as they planned to go all the way to Newport, RI in one day.
In the evening Victoria & Chuck came over to our boat for drinks, and then we went to Dinner at the Monument Restaurant & Tavern. It is located just past the Whole Foods in the Charlestown neighborhood. We had a good time talking and discussing our cruising plans for the next few weeks, if we can ever get out of Boston. We walked back to our respective boats and agreed to keep in touch tomorrow.
Boston, MA – Tuesday 10/1
We were up early and at 6:30 am received a text from Chuck that they (“Argento”) had left at 6:00 am. We were not quite ready to leave, so we asked them to keep us posted on their progress. We then prepared the boat and left Constitution Marina an hour behind them. Denise had some trepidation as we saw the wind was already picking up and it was more obvious once we got away from the marina. We got half way out into Boston Harbor and received the text from “Argento” that they were near Plymouth and experiencing 4’ seas. Based on this, we decided to turn around and go back to the marina because we knew it was only going to be worse by the time we got there.
We pulled back into our slip, only turned the boat to face the opposite way so we would be buffered by the oncoming wind. And then 30 minutes later “Argento” reported that the seas had settled a bit and they were continuing on; we were now rethinking our decision to turn around. But it was too late to leave as the wind would just build more and we would not have the same conditions as they had by the time we got down to the Cape Cod Canal. This was a wise move as they later reported that Buzzards Bay ended up being a nightmare with 4 -6 foot seas as they pressed on to Newport, RI.
Once we checked back into the marina and resigned ourselves to being here at least 3 more days (due to weather forecasts) we contemplated what to do to take advantage of the time in Boston. We discovered Hugh Jackman’s show was going to be at the TD Garden this evening and contemplated getting tickets. We also looked at other options, including going to the movies.
But we both had work to do first. Denise was able to make a conference call with a client and was also able to get a blog updated published as we were quite behind. Once this was done, we felt accomplished and decided to go get a quick early dinner at the Blackmoor Tavern (restaurant/bar near the marina) and then go to see if we can still get tickets to the show. (We had checked on StubHub but the service fees were half the cost of the tickets and we wanted to avoid that if we could).
We walked over the locks and to the TD Garden ticket office to see what they had to offer. As luck would have it, we were able to get decent seats for a fair price, but a bit far from stage. We ended up sitting next to a handful of actors from the road show “The Lion King” that had just arrived in town and whose show opens at the Opera House on Thursday. It was fine for us, and we were treated to a terrific show. He performed songs from and from “The Greatest Show on Earth”, “Les Miserable”, and a terrific medley of songs about NYC, where he got his big break in theater. He also did an amazing tribute to his wife of 23 years, as well as to other Australian performers who have impacted his life. There was a surprise guest appearance by Keala Settle (from “The Greatest Show on Earth”) who sang “This is Me” from the show and was phenomenal. It was an awesome show and we were glad we went. By the time we walked back the boat it was way past our bedtime.
Boston, MA – Wednesday 10/2
We knew today rain and wind was forecasted, but when we got up there was no hint of it. It was much warmer than it has been recently, but rain was forecasted from mid-morning until late in the day. Seeing this, Mark suggested we go see the movie “Downton Abbey”. The Regal movie theater was too far for us to walk, and it would have taken us an hour to get there by train due to all the stops. So we took an uber and made it to the opening show at 11:30 am. There were only 3 other people in the theater, and by the time we got there the rain was threatening. We liked the movie a lot and we came out of it wishing the tv show was still being broadcast.
We also came out of the theater to a drizzly cold rain and very windy conditions. Of course we had left the umbrella back at the boat. Across the street from the theater was a “Supercuts” and we saw that there was no one in line, so Mark decided to get his hair cut while Denise waited patiently in the warmth of the store. Afterwards we saw a big Target store around the corner, walked to it and browsed around to see if there was anything we couldn’t live without; it had been months since either of us had been in a Target. Finally, it was time to make our way back to the boat. Not wanting to get wet walking to a train station, and from the station back to the boat, and knowing we needed to find something to eat for dinner, we decided to take an Uber back to the Whole Foods near the marina and picked up something for dinner. We then walked back to the boat in the rain, but by this time it was a light drizzle but we were already a bit wet anyway so it didn’t matter.
Boston, MA – Thursday 10/3
This morning was a pretty cold morning on the water with temperatures in the low 50’s. Denise was going to go for a run, but wanted to wait until the weather warmed up. But she got busy and it never happened. She spent the entire day downloading and cataloging pictures and preparing the next blog update. Meanwhile, Mark worked on our ice maker, which has been producing smaller ice cubes and less amounts. He has been on the phone with the manufacturer’s customer support center and has tried several things they suggested. However, each takes a few hours of running to test in order to see if it works. So far we are seeing some improvements, but it is still not making the kind of ice it was 3 weeks ago. He will continue to pursue this in the coming days.
That evening Mark wanted to try a new restaurant located in the North End, called the “The Daily Catch”. It is a seafood restaurant with an Italian flare. So we left for an early dinner and walked to what we discovered was a very small restaurant on Hanover Street (the heart of the Italian District). When we arrived, there was already a line of about 10 people ahead of us. The benefits of being a party of 2 is that you get seated easier, and we didn’t have to wait long at all before we got a table. This restaurant is by far the smallest one we have eaten at during the entire trip. It only seats about 20 people and they have a very limited menu; most of which is fresh seafood. Our waiter was the son of the founders, who have 2 other restaurants and have turned them over to their children for management. In addition to our waiter/owner, there are only 2 others working there; the dishwasher and the chef. The chef has been there 2.5 years and we had a ringside seat to watch his cooking. It was fun to see how each dish is prepared, and at any restaurant in Winter Park we would have had to pay more just to sit at the “chef’s table”; here it was part of the experience. The food was delicious and filling and we hope to come back someday and try their Lobster Fra Diavlo (most famous dish for 2 or more people) or their black pasta.
On the way back to the boat we bypassed our favorite 24-hour bakery as we were too full to put anything else in our stomach. We settled into the boat and watched the final episode of Game of Thrones, as well as the special on the Making of Game of Thrones.
Boston, MA – Friday 10/4
The day started off cloudy and overcast once again, with high winds. In the morning we worked on finishing and publishing the last blog update and doing work for clients. We also did updates to software on our devices, and applications as we had a good strong wifi connection and wanted to do this before moving to other locations where the wifi strength was unknown.
In the afternoon the skies cleared and cooler weather started to come in. We reviewed the weather forecast and made plans to leave Boston early on Sunday morning, and updated our reservations for New Bedford; our intended next stop where we had a package waiting for us. We have a small window but have bailout options if we don’t make it all the way in Scituate, Plymouth, Sandwich or Onset. Of course we would like to get as far south as possible as we know the weather forecast in coming days does not look great. We may have us sit for a while
In late afternoon we noticed a helicopter hovering over the North End area of downtown, and it seemed to stay there for an inordinate amount of time; at least 1.5 hours. Mark discovered that it was the start of Oktoberfest activities and not some police activity or traffic issue. If we would have known about these activities, we probably would have made plans to attend, but it was too late in the day and we still had things we wanted to get done on the boat.
Helicopter stationary for hours
In the evening we had a light dinner on the boat, watched the Clint Eastwood movie “The Mule”, and then an episode of The Great British Bake Show before turning in for the night. It was a low key day, but that was quite alright with us as we are sure there will be more days ahead full of adventure on our Island Office.
Here are some other pictures of the area around the marina:
Stay tuned for more of our adventures on Island Office
Island Office 