I've always wanted to go to Boston.
The influence of American television culture on my childhood highlighted the historic importance of the area, via cheery and cheesy kids' television programs, such as The Brady Bunch and Bewitched, both of which I adored. The references to Massachusetts were subtle and, on reflection, only featured in one episode of each series, but clearly I was paying full attention, in an era when there was no auto-replay option...
As a tweener beginning to buy celebrity rags from the corner store I learned that the teen actress Brooke Shields went to Yale (half way between NYC and Boston). Over time I learned that Harvard and MIT were in Boston (or at least adjacent, in the township of Cambridge) - all Ivy League educational institutions that were, and still are, held in the highest regard globally. It's amazing how these adolescent learnings can have life-long impact.
As a 'grown-up' and an educational publisher the first global Manager's Conference I ever attended was in Madison, Wisconsin, via Chicago. I was overwhelmed and impressed by the mammoth character of these places, and the warmth of the people I met. I liked the fact that they had political conscience, and would talk about democracy at the end of each day of meetings, generally while at the bar. At that first conference I found that I connected really well with the small cohort of publishers from the Boston office. At that point in time, back in late 2001, I made up my mind that one day I'd make my way to Boston, Massachusetts, one way or another. Fifteen years later, I'm finally converting that goal into reality.
We're spending five nights there, staying in a private apartment at Beacon Hill, directly opposite the starting point for the famous Freedom Trail tourist walk. Our accommodation appears quite elite, though compact of course, and the building has a dedicated doorman, which will be an extraordinary novelty for a little Australian family like us. Again, it's an Air B'n'B find, and promises to be rather special indeed (yet still about 25% cheaper than our match-box sized hotel rooms in Manhattan seven years ago!) And we'll have our own full kitchen in which we can whip meals up in, to save some dollars.
I've got a range of places across the city I want us to explore on foot, like Back Bay for instance, but for me it's not about any particular part of Boston - It's just about being there and soaking it all up. Some people have told me it's grey, drab and stuck-up, but I find the drab part hard to believe. In any case we're there in June, so it should be warm enough. For us the Boston experience will be hot on the heels of a few days in sultry and slow-moving Savannah, so we're bound to find the whole trip completely mind-boggling, not just the Bostonian component.
I do anticipate Boston to be the most intimidating of places, in context, but that's fine. If I can't handle the challenge at mid-life, when can I? I view it as part of my PhD preparation, frankly. This whole trip is about deeply historic cities. I am certain I'll arrive home (to my historic city) monumentally inspired.
While we're there, we are planning a day trip by ferry to visit nearby Salem, the historic open air museum township settled in 1626, and made tragically famous by the witch trails of 1692. It seems like there's far more there than any history student (such as myself) can possibly digest in just one day, so I'll be making a list, and checking it twice.
I'll be taking photos: hundreds and hundreds of photos, so will work out a way to feature them here, or via a link to another site. I haven't decided on the best forum for images yet, but I'll get there. We still have 3.5 weeks before we fly... Plus a truck load of work to get done in the meantime! Not to mention preparing a list of things to see and do around here for our house sitters. Yikes!
Showing posts with label Air B'n'B. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Air B'n'B. Show all posts
Tuesday, 10 May 2016
Monday, 9 May 2016
Going Deeper...
I'm conscious that I left my last post hanging in Charleston, South Carolina...
When we drive out of there, we're intending to stop off at a big old plantation, called Drayton Hall, to see an unrestored space, preserved just as it was left in the cruel times of old - nasty stuff, but as an A grade student of American slave history, I think it should be looked at, and reflected upon.
Thereafter we drive for an hour to visit Beaufort, utterly unlike our local Beaufort here in regional Victoria, I presume. The classic 1980s film 'The Big Chill' was set in the American Beaufort. It's said to be an old and slightly spooky little town on the windy coast. After that, on the way out, we'll visit the Old Sheldon Church ruins, which are meant to be magic, before we drive on down to Savannah.
It's going to be very hot and sultry, which is an unknown for us. I know what that means in Darwinian terms, but... I also know that I've wanted to visit Savannah ever since I sold umpteen copies of the novel 'Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil' at the Bookshop I worked for in Sydney, back in the mid 90s. I've booked us a classic two story house, a short stroll from Forsyth Park (the focus of the novel). Our place looks like something out of a Steve Martin 'Father of the Bride' movie and is a bit over the top, but hey, why not? It costs no more than many far less ambient places across the town. Again, this is an Air B'n'B find. The trick is to study the online details. I'm very good at that.
I've also booked us a guided tour of the Bonaventure Cemetery for our first day in Savannah, because I feel that's just what one has to do. We've only got two full days in Savannah, before we fly again. I am sure this is not enough time for a 'go slow' destination like this, but we do what we do on a budget. And we'll wander. The fact is that I know that any time any where is better than none at all, so I am not complaining. You can capture a whole lot visually, and hold the experience vividly for years, if you're that sort of person.
At 2.30pm on a Tuesday we fly North again. We're travelling to Boston, via Washington. I am worried about that connection. I don't think we have enough time, but the airlines claim we do, all being well... 40 minutes between connections... Huh! United Airlines are notorious for delayed flights, botched connections and lost luggage. I have flown with them before, with no troubles, but not on flights involving change-overs, so I am nervous. Nothing I can do about it though. Will just have to wait with baited breath, and see what happens...
When we drive out of there, we're intending to stop off at a big old plantation, called Drayton Hall, to see an unrestored space, preserved just as it was left in the cruel times of old - nasty stuff, but as an A grade student of American slave history, I think it should be looked at, and reflected upon.
Thereafter we drive for an hour to visit Beaufort, utterly unlike our local Beaufort here in regional Victoria, I presume. The classic 1980s film 'The Big Chill' was set in the American Beaufort. It's said to be an old and slightly spooky little town on the windy coast. After that, on the way out, we'll visit the Old Sheldon Church ruins, which are meant to be magic, before we drive on down to Savannah.
It's going to be very hot and sultry, which is an unknown for us. I know what that means in Darwinian terms, but... I also know that I've wanted to visit Savannah ever since I sold umpteen copies of the novel 'Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil' at the Bookshop I worked for in Sydney, back in the mid 90s. I've booked us a classic two story house, a short stroll from Forsyth Park (the focus of the novel). Our place looks like something out of a Steve Martin 'Father of the Bride' movie and is a bit over the top, but hey, why not? It costs no more than many far less ambient places across the town. Again, this is an Air B'n'B find. The trick is to study the online details. I'm very good at that.
I've also booked us a guided tour of the Bonaventure Cemetery for our first day in Savannah, because I feel that's just what one has to do. We've only got two full days in Savannah, before we fly again. I am sure this is not enough time for a 'go slow' destination like this, but we do what we do on a budget. And we'll wander. The fact is that I know that any time any where is better than none at all, so I am not complaining. You can capture a whole lot visually, and hold the experience vividly for years, if you're that sort of person.
At 2.30pm on a Tuesday we fly North again. We're travelling to Boston, via Washington. I am worried about that connection. I don't think we have enough time, but the airlines claim we do, all being well... 40 minutes between connections... Huh! United Airlines are notorious for delayed flights, botched connections and lost luggage. I have flown with them before, with no troubles, but not on flights involving change-overs, so I am nervous. Nothing I can do about it though. Will just have to wait with baited breath, and see what happens...
Sunday, 8 May 2016
Going Places...
As I mentioned in my last (and first) post, my little family and I are off to Montreal, thanks to a strange but super twist of fate. We're greatly looking forward to it. We'll enjoy seven nights there, primarily because it was cheaper that way... I got a special deal on Air B'n'B for booking our intended apartment in the Old Port district for a whole week rather than just the five nights I initially had in mind.
Travelling all the way from Australia, I know (from experience) that we'll be completely blitzed for the first three days anyway, so will need that recovery time in a stable place, while we find our land-legs (and relocate our brains).
After a week there, we're catching the train for a couple of hours across to old Quebec City. We're staying inside the walled fortress for three nights. For me personally, Quebec City is the big drawcard, so as we're going to Montreal, in the first place, it makes sense to spend some time checking out QC. By all accounts, it's a compact kind of place, so we only need the two full days there. Again, we're utilising Air B'n'B, so just as with our time in Montreal, we'll have a self-contained apartment, in which we can economise by having breakfast and dinner in, on our own terms.
Were it not for Air B'n'B we'd not be doing this trip at all. The total cost for self-contained accommodation throughout our trip is one third of what we paid seven years ago using good standard hotels, and that was just for two people. Throughout this trip we're accommodating three of us! And in most instances our daughter gets her own room.
As it's Air B'n'B, we won't have to tip anyone or worry about the intrusion of room service staff. I am aware that Air B'n'B may well be endemic to a particular period of contemporary history. Come what may in the future, I just think that it's brilliant that it exists at present, for what it is now.
In the beginning we thought we'd just spend ten nights total in French Canada, then fly home, based around what we thought the purpose of the trip was - an academic conference on critical heritage. But it's so damned hard for Australians to break away from normality and travel across the skies, and it costs an awful lot of money for international flights, whichever way you look at it. I felt it important that we fulfill some of our adjacent dreams while over there. With that in mind, I knew exactly what else I'd like to see while on the U.S. East Coast...
Sixteen years ago, when planning our wedding, we had considered spending a big part of our honeymoon in Charleston, South Carolina and Savannah, Georgia. For whatever reasons, we did not do that, and did something else instead. But I've held the thought of it close to my heart ever since. And so... When we've finished with Quebec City we're boarding an Air Canada flight to Newark, NY, and changing over to a flight that will take us down to the Deep South.
We'll have three nights in Charleston. I've booked an SUV (same model and type as my own car, coz I figure that's safest when in a strange land...) to collect from the Airport, so we can move about the place. Again, it seemed cheaper that way than fussing with taxis and the like. My hub has bravely volunteered to drive on the wrong side of the road for our entire time down there. He's organised his 'international license' so we're ready, or as ready as we can be. Again, we're staying Air B'n'B, in a gorgeous heritage cottage, and after three nights there, we're heading further South.
I think I'll leave this post now, and make a late dinner. Must prepare myself to lecture tomorrow. Further elaboration of our plans to be continued in a couple of days...
Travelling all the way from Australia, I know (from experience) that we'll be completely blitzed for the first three days anyway, so will need that recovery time in a stable place, while we find our land-legs (and relocate our brains).
After a week there, we're catching the train for a couple of hours across to old Quebec City. We're staying inside the walled fortress for three nights. For me personally, Quebec City is the big drawcard, so as we're going to Montreal, in the first place, it makes sense to spend some time checking out QC. By all accounts, it's a compact kind of place, so we only need the two full days there. Again, we're utilising Air B'n'B, so just as with our time in Montreal, we'll have a self-contained apartment, in which we can economise by having breakfast and dinner in, on our own terms.
Were it not for Air B'n'B we'd not be doing this trip at all. The total cost for self-contained accommodation throughout our trip is one third of what we paid seven years ago using good standard hotels, and that was just for two people. Throughout this trip we're accommodating three of us! And in most instances our daughter gets her own room.
As it's Air B'n'B, we won't have to tip anyone or worry about the intrusion of room service staff. I am aware that Air B'n'B may well be endemic to a particular period of contemporary history. Come what may in the future, I just think that it's brilliant that it exists at present, for what it is now.
In the beginning we thought we'd just spend ten nights total in French Canada, then fly home, based around what we thought the purpose of the trip was - an academic conference on critical heritage. But it's so damned hard for Australians to break away from normality and travel across the skies, and it costs an awful lot of money for international flights, whichever way you look at it. I felt it important that we fulfill some of our adjacent dreams while over there. With that in mind, I knew exactly what else I'd like to see while on the U.S. East Coast...
Sixteen years ago, when planning our wedding, we had considered spending a big part of our honeymoon in Charleston, South Carolina and Savannah, Georgia. For whatever reasons, we did not do that, and did something else instead. But I've held the thought of it close to my heart ever since. And so... When we've finished with Quebec City we're boarding an Air Canada flight to Newark, NY, and changing over to a flight that will take us down to the Deep South.
We'll have three nights in Charleston. I've booked an SUV (same model and type as my own car, coz I figure that's safest when in a strange land...) to collect from the Airport, so we can move about the place. Again, it seemed cheaper that way than fussing with taxis and the like. My hub has bravely volunteered to drive on the wrong side of the road for our entire time down there. He's organised his 'international license' so we're ready, or as ready as we can be. Again, we're staying Air B'n'B, in a gorgeous heritage cottage, and after three nights there, we're heading further South.
I think I'll leave this post now, and make a late dinner. Must prepare myself to lecture tomorrow. Further elaboration of our plans to be continued in a couple of days...
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