On the fourth day of my vacation in Boston I decided to concentrate on the Seaport District area which was where my hotel was located. At 10:00 a.m. I went to the Institute of Contemporary Art just as it opened. This museum only had one floor of galleries. I saw the exhibits of work by the artists Kevin Beasley and Caitlin Keogh. I also saw the Art in the Age of the Internet, 1989 to Today special exhibit which included a short film you watched through a virtual reality headset “View of Harbor”. The film was kind of creepy and my glasses steamed up under the virtual reality headset. One of the more amusing pieces of artwork I saw was a server cabinet turned into an art installation. I sat through a few art videos and even browsed through a few catalogs to extend my time in the museum. At the museum gift shop I bought The Hollow Woods Storytelling Card Game for $19.99 at 11:20 a.m. I figured this card game might help me to write some short stories.
Institute of Contemporary Art
I had lunch at the Shake Shack on Seaport Boulevard, right next to my hotel. I was planning on eating there more often but fortunately I proved to be more adventurous and never ate at the same place twice. I ordered a ShackBurger, Vanilla Shake, and Bacon Cheese Fries for $16.87 at 11:28 a.m. Fortunately this Shake Shack was never so crowded as the one in New York City.
I returned to my hotel room to drop off my purchase and then walked south into the Fort Point area. I came across the Blue Dragon restaurant which was not in my notes. Eventually I found the Midway Artist Studios but didn’t see any public art gallery in the building. There were no directions and nobody to ask.
Midway Artist Studios
I had a little trouble finding Summer Street because it is raised above A Street. But I managed to find the Fort Point Arts Community Gallery which is actually located in the Buco Trattoria restaurant, right behind its dining room so you need to go through the restaurant to reach the gallery. That was kind of unexpected. There was nobody in the art gallery so I felt free to take a few photos of the artwork on display.
Fort Point Arts Community Gallery
From there I went to the Boston Tea Party Museum. I had to wait almost a half hour in the gift shop before the 1:45 p.m. tour started, when we gathered in the west meeting house. The tour was an interesting bit of live theater with actors in costume who remained in character for the entire tour. The actors were very talented and very funny with excellent improvisation skills. We got to climb abroad one of the boats and explore its hold. There were two portrait paintings that came to life, two projected actresses, and a short film on the Battles of Lexington and Concord.
Boston Tea Party Museum
I walked back to my hotel. At around 3:15 p.m. I took public transportation to the Government Center Station on the Green Line and walked to the North End.
I waited an extremely long time for a Silver Line bus. The Red Line train was very crowded. I had some slight difficulty finding the Eastbound Green Line and
had to go back down the stairs to reach the platform on the other side of the tracks. Once I reached Government Center I walked down the street between the Boston Public Market and Bell In Hand Pub which is Hanover Street. On Hanover Street I saw the establishments; Improv Asylum, Thinking Cup, Fiore, Caffè Vittoria, and Mike’s Pastry. Eventually I found the Paul Revere Mall and saw the Paul Revere Statue. I entered the Old North Church and took some photos of the interior. Then I found my way to the Paul Revere House where I paid $5.00 for a self-guided tour of the period rooms.
Across the street from the Paul Revere House I saw a book store that was not in my notes, I Am Books, An Italian American Cultural Hub. There I bought the Penguin Classics edition of The Aeneid by Virgil for $15.00 at 4:37 p.m. I’m not particularly interested in reading this book but I’ve heard a lot about it since it is a classic. Then I went to Caffè Vittoria where I ordered a black coffee and vanilla gelato. I really liked the ambiance of this old Italian coffee shop. I was tempted to return to the hotel as it began to rain but I wanted to have dinner someplace in the North End so I found an unassuming little pizzeria, Ernesto’s Pizzeria where I ordered two slices of cheese pizza and a soda, choosing lemonade for the soda. The pizza was pretty good but I decided not to finish the crust.
I Am Books
Unfortunately I got caught in a fierce thunderstorm while crossing the City Hall Plaza. Even though I had my umbrella, the rain was being driven almost horizontally by the high wind so I got soaked. I practically had to use my umbrella as a shield to reach the Government Center Station where I arrived dripping wet.
When I got back to the hotel I noticed many fire engines gathered around Caffe Nero responding to some alarm. I’m not sure if there was an actual fire but there were quite a few fire engines.
