Beantown

Thoughts and prayers going out to my old college-era stomping grounds of Boston. Still one of my favorite cities in the world. The above picture was taken almost exactly one year ago, the day after the Marathon, when A. and I came back east for vacation and stayed a few days in the area. It's taken from the eastern facade of The Public Library on Dartmouth, looking east across Copley Square at Trinity Church and the Hancock Tower. The end of the Boston Marathon would be right around the corner to the left of the picture, on Boylston Street.

I lived in the town from September 1989 when I moved into the Charlesgate dorm at Emerson College (back when it the school was centered on Beacon Street), to August of 1995 when I moved out of my Allston apartment and back home to Athol. I had a lot of ups and downs there, a lot of lean times, and a hell of a lot of good times as well. I have a lot of memories of walking through Copley Square at night after going to the movies or hanging out at the Copley Place Mall, sitting at the stone benches at the library, visiting Trinity Church, having drinks at the old lounge at the Westin, hopping down the stairs to the Green Line T to and from work. There are quite a few points in the Back Bay that are considered great gathering places, but I always felt that Copley is one of the best and biggest. It's wide and clear, and on a nice day it's lovely and relaxing.

After I moved back home, I continued to visit Boston at least once a month, parking at Alewife and taking the T all over town. I even had it down to a specific plan: take the Red and Green lines out to Kenmore Square to stop at Nuggets and Comicopia (and maybe the BU Bookstore as well), walk past the old Emerson dorms on the corner of Charlesgate East and Beacon, then down Mass Ave to Tower on the corner of Newbury, then to Newbury Comics down the street (sense a theme here?). From there I'd head over to Copley Square to hang out for a bit and maybe have lunch, before heading back on the T and up to my last stops at Harvard Square. I did that at least up to 2003 or so. A lot has changed over the years--the parking lot in front of Prudential Mall now has new high rises, Emerson moved over to the Common, Buzzy's is long gone, the elevated T near Boston Garden is gone, even Kenmore looks somewhat different--but I still miss it there.

The thing I love most about Boston is the vibe. Despite what tourists and non-Bostonians might say, it's an extremely friendly city, a quirky one, a welcoming one, an intelligent one, a competitive one, a cranky one, and a laid back one. I think that's partly why San Francisco works so well for me nowadays, because it's got a very similar feeling. It's a great place.

I've been thinking a lot about Beantown and everyone in it today. They take care of their own, and I love that.

Stay strong, Boston. We love you.