What to see in Boston
June 16, 2009
OK, so, like, we’re in Boston, ya know? And, like, so, we want to know how to, like, um, educize ourselves with summa yer, uh, culcher. Whaddowedo?
Boston has one of the great collections of art museums in the world. The ICA has just opened a new building in the waterfront and is a genuinely interesting place. The Harvard Museums (Fogg et al.) are varied, rambling, and have all sorts of little gems in their collections. Look particularly for the Semitic Museum and the Museum of Comparative Zoology, home of the glass flower and glass jellyfish, which, to use a technical term, are wicked cool. The famous Museum of Fine Arts and Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum are closer to the church and have superb collections.
But most importantly, there is the New England Aquarium! They have many many jellyfish and sharks!
For those preferring to enjoy the glory of a New England autumn day, the Arnold Arboretum and Mt. Auburn Cemetery, both a bit further out, are simply beautiful. Do make a point of annoying guards at the latter by asking about the phone at Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy’s grave, in case she should be resurrected and have need of a taxi. Alternatively, try to find the crypt into which both of us peered, scaring the pine nuts out of ourselves when confronted eye-to-eye with a statue just behind the grating.
Boston’s classical music scene is excellent with musicians coming out of the woodwork at any second with another excellent performance. The Boston Symphony Orchestra is most certainly worth a visit, as is whatever’s playing across the street at New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall. Do consult the groom as the date approaches for particular recommendations.
Boston is full of good jazz and rock as well. You’re on your own for the latter, but the Regattabar and Scullers usually have good jazz at sometimes-reasonable prices in an only-mildly-pretentious atmosphere. More typical of the old Boston is Wally’s in the South End, one of the few remnants of a thriving African-American jazz scene in the Forties.
More to come. . .
