BOSTON! the long entry (Part 1)
Oi, where to begin?
My day got off to an unfortunately early start, as I woke up at 7am for some mysterious reason. I tried getting a bit more sleep, but it wouldn't happen. So I already knew I'd be zoning out later in the evening. :p
I had a bunch of things to do before 10:15ish anyway, like stopping by the ATM and putting gas in my car, etc. so I was up around 8am to make sure I'd have time. Rich got to my place a bit early, so I was still running around right up til when Travis showed up. Once he got here we wasted no time piling into my car and heading out.
We got to the South Attleboro "station" with no problems and with plenty of time before our chosen train would arrive. Train finally got there, we got on, found a seat, and all was well.
We got to Back Bay around 12:30 and immediately went to find a Starbucks since the women's bathroom was out of order and, well, you know me. :p Since there's a Starbucks on almost every corner, we didn't have far to go. Once inside, we decided to grab some things to eat before walking to the bookstore. I *finally* tried one of the chocolate glazed donuts (yes, it was really good), Rich had an apple fritter (to make up for the DD coffee roll he originally planned on getting that morning), and Travis had a peanut butter cookie (which I don't actually have a parentheses-worthy comment about, but I didn't want to break the pattern, hehe).
We ate and then it was back out into the heat for what wasn't too bad of a walk to the Lucy Parsons Center. As a side note, weather.com was totally wrong about yesterday. I checked in the morning and was dismayed to see a forecast of thunderstorms from 1pm straight through the night! We were still gonna go regardless, but not being able to be outside would have drastically changed things. But even as we were walking to the bookstore, it was obvious that it was NOT going to rain-- in fact, besides it being a tad too hot, it was really nice outside. And yeah, that's probably the first and last time you'll ever see me wish the temperature had been a little cooler. :p
None of us had *any* idea what to expect the Lucy Parsons Center to be like. It turned out to be a good-sized shop with a ton of books, zines and other assorted items on a variety of topics. Luckily, there was a small space in the back where we could sit and read. And we did for quite some time, while the guy who was working played a CD of some interesting Irish music, haha.
Approximately 29 hours later. . .
We all decided to buy stuff, and were surprised when the guy asked "Are you here cuz it's tax free day?" and of course we were all like "What?!" cuz we had no idea [and I do mean in all of MA, not just the store]. Can't say that was a *bad* surprise. I still managed to spend $26 on a graphic novel about the IWW and Looking Backward by Edward Bellamy, aka Leon Czolgosz's favorite book. Travis picked up a copy of the IWW's newspaper and a book (didn't catch what it was) and yes, even Rich got a book on globalization and a freaking hilarious comic strip book that I can't even describe. Was I just baptised by Voltron?? ;)
Anyway, the place was really cool and I'm sad that there's nothing comparable in RI. I guess there used to be a radical bookstore/record shop in Providence some years ago, but I've spent quite some time up and down Thayer St (where it was) over the past few years and have never found anything resembling such a place. There *are* 1 or 2 record stores, and one even sells punk zines, but I really doubt that's it. So yeah, Travis, I think we need to start something and hey, it can double as the RI Reds meeting space. ;)
I'm sure there will be more trips there in the future-- hell, I somehow missed half the store, but maybe that's a good thing cuz I probably would have spent more money! hehe
I don't remember exactly when we left the bookstore (and we went back to ask the guy what exactly that Irish music CD *was* but he was on the phone so we decided not to bug him again) but we had no real plans. We started walking back towards Copley figuring we'd decide on something along the way. And we did.
Cuz it was so hot and, I know with Rich and I, we were sweating quite a bit, and were pretty thirsty all day long. We decided not to go to Starbucks again, but thought we'd find some cafe or something to buy a drink and maybe some more food-- so, to Newbury Street (after getting by some ladies protesting the treatment of foie gras ducks).
Actually, I read the booklet last night, and it IS pretty bad. Damn animals rights activists for making me feel guilty, haha. Not that I'd ever eat foie gras anyway. I like trying new foods, but fatty duck liver is where I draw the line. x_x
Anyway, Newbury Street. We didn't have to walk very far before the gods smiled upon us and a Ben & Jerry's shop magically appeared. Ice cream on a billion degree day? Sounded good to me! All three of us ended up getting smoothies (although only Travis was cool enough to get offered banana in his, haha), although now I not-so-secretly wish I hadn't. They had three NEW flavors there that, as far as I know, haven't been released in pint form yet. Two of them sounded good (I don't remember the details right now :/) but one of them was a rehash of the most vile Apple Crumble flavor, which I could GLADLY live without. But the raspberry cream smoothie *was* quality, so I'll quit my bitchin.
*******
And as much as I hate to do this, there is a crazy amount of lightning around my house right now (highest point in NK, don't forget) so I think I'm gonna shut my computer down. I WILL continue this tomorrow morning, so stay tuned for part II!
It does get more interesting. >:)
My day got off to an unfortunately early start, as I woke up at 7am for some mysterious reason. I tried getting a bit more sleep, but it wouldn't happen. So I already knew I'd be zoning out later in the evening. :p
I had a bunch of things to do before 10:15ish anyway, like stopping by the ATM and putting gas in my car, etc. so I was up around 8am to make sure I'd have time. Rich got to my place a bit early, so I was still running around right up til when Travis showed up. Once he got here we wasted no time piling into my car and heading out.
We got to the South Attleboro "station" with no problems and with plenty of time before our chosen train would arrive. Train finally got there, we got on, found a seat, and all was well.
We got to Back Bay around 12:30 and immediately went to find a Starbucks since the women's bathroom was out of order and, well, you know me. :p Since there's a Starbucks on almost every corner, we didn't have far to go. Once inside, we decided to grab some things to eat before walking to the bookstore. I *finally* tried one of the chocolate glazed donuts (yes, it was really good), Rich had an apple fritter (to make up for the DD coffee roll he originally planned on getting that morning), and Travis had a peanut butter cookie (which I don't actually have a parentheses-worthy comment about, but I didn't want to break the pattern, hehe).
We ate and then it was back out into the heat for what wasn't too bad of a walk to the Lucy Parsons Center. As a side note, weather.com was totally wrong about yesterday. I checked in the morning and was dismayed to see a forecast of thunderstorms from 1pm straight through the night! We were still gonna go regardless, but not being able to be outside would have drastically changed things. But even as we were walking to the bookstore, it was obvious that it was NOT going to rain-- in fact, besides it being a tad too hot, it was really nice outside. And yeah, that's probably the first and last time you'll ever see me wish the temperature had been a little cooler. :p
None of us had *any* idea what to expect the Lucy Parsons Center to be like. It turned out to be a good-sized shop with a ton of books, zines and other assorted items on a variety of topics. Luckily, there was a small space in the back where we could sit and read. And we did for quite some time, while the guy who was working played a CD of some interesting Irish music, haha.
Approximately 29 hours later. . .
We all decided to buy stuff, and were surprised when the guy asked "Are you here cuz it's tax free day?" and of course we were all like "What?!" cuz we had no idea [and I do mean in all of MA, not just the store]. Can't say that was a *bad* surprise. I still managed to spend $26 on a graphic novel about the IWW and Looking Backward by Edward Bellamy, aka Leon Czolgosz's favorite book. Travis picked up a copy of the IWW's newspaper and a book (didn't catch what it was) and yes, even Rich got a book on globalization and a freaking hilarious comic strip book that I can't even describe. Was I just baptised by Voltron?? ;)
Anyway, the place was really cool and I'm sad that there's nothing comparable in RI. I guess there used to be a radical bookstore/record shop in Providence some years ago, but I've spent quite some time up and down Thayer St (where it was) over the past few years and have never found anything resembling such a place. There *are* 1 or 2 record stores, and one even sells punk zines, but I really doubt that's it. So yeah, Travis, I think we need to start something and hey, it can double as the RI Reds meeting space. ;)
I'm sure there will be more trips there in the future-- hell, I somehow missed half the store, but maybe that's a good thing cuz I probably would have spent more money! hehe
I don't remember exactly when we left the bookstore (and we went back to ask the guy what exactly that Irish music CD *was* but he was on the phone so we decided not to bug him again) but we had no real plans. We started walking back towards Copley figuring we'd decide on something along the way. And we did.
Cuz it was so hot and, I know with Rich and I, we were sweating quite a bit, and were pretty thirsty all day long. We decided not to go to Starbucks again, but thought we'd find some cafe or something to buy a drink and maybe some more food-- so, to Newbury Street (after getting by some ladies protesting the treatment of foie gras ducks).
Actually, I read the booklet last night, and it IS pretty bad. Damn animals rights activists for making me feel guilty, haha. Not that I'd ever eat foie gras anyway. I like trying new foods, but fatty duck liver is where I draw the line. x_x
Anyway, Newbury Street. We didn't have to walk very far before the gods smiled upon us and a Ben & Jerry's shop magically appeared. Ice cream on a billion degree day? Sounded good to me! All three of us ended up getting smoothies (although only Travis was cool enough to get offered banana in his, haha), although now I not-so-secretly wish I hadn't. They had three NEW flavors there that, as far as I know, haven't been released in pint form yet. Two of them sounded good (I don't remember the details right now :/) but one of them was a rehash of the most vile Apple Crumble flavor, which I could GLADLY live without. But the raspberry cream smoothie *was* quality, so I'll quit my bitchin.
*******
And as much as I hate to do this, there is a crazy amount of lightning around my house right now (highest point in NK, don't forget) so I think I'm gonna shut my computer down. I WILL continue this tomorrow morning, so stay tuned for part II!
It does get more interesting. >:)
posted by Erica at 8:59 AM
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