Beantown in the Dark

Last Friday night, AJ came home at 6:00 and said, “Let’s DO something.” What? You don’t want to sit around the house on a Friday night and watch SpongeBob and eat take-out?
“Let’s go to Boston.”
“Tonight?”
“Yeah, for dinner. We can wander around Faneuil Hall, eat at the market, whatever. The kids have never been there at night. It’ll be different. We have to go NOW though.”
“Okay.”
I ran across the street, grabbed Grace from the neighbors’ house. When she complained about coming home I told her we were going to Boston for dinner and she screeched, jumped up and down and ran home. We gathered up Jake from the couch, all climbed in the car, stuffed animals and blankets in tow for the ride home, and off we went. We left the house at 6:30.
We arrived in Boston, at Faneuil Hall, at about 8:15. It was a beautiful night; warm, busy and clear. We wandered up and down the marketplace until everyone found something they wanted to eat. We ate upstairs at the tables under the dome.

The kids were so excited to be there – it’s a whole different world at night and they were completely energized. AJ and I were glad to be out of the house and enjoying the company of our children. We wandered about looking at the goodies at the vendor carts for a while – everything was closing down and the night crowd was ambling in to the bars and pubs. Ooh…memories. We used to be those young people, out on Friday night, ambling around, in and out of the bars and pubs in Boston.

We decided to walk over to the North End for dessert at Victoria’s. AJ and I hadn’t been there for years and the kids had never been to the North End.

It was busy and warm there. A great night to be out and about in the crowds. Victoria’s was crowded. We stopped at the counter on the way in so the kids could view the dessert offerings: 6 flavors of gelato, three kinds of canolis, cheesecake, cookies…We sat at one of the tables on the upper landing of the main parlor - sat down in the little golden café chairs, looking at the fake marble pillars and the cheap reproductions of the Birth of Venus and the David.
We listened to a couple arguing at the table next to us. Wondered if she had an ax in her bag – because it was clear that if she did, she was going to use it to split her partner in half. I think he was just admitting to having cheated on her and it was painfully obvious that she already knew this. She was WAY ahead of him. She already hated him. She was just waiting for his confession so she could make her loathing official.
The kids were innocent to the drama at the next table and mesmerized by Victoria’s. Dessert menus. Drink menus. Cappuccino, Espresso…so many COOL things you could get. AJ and I sang the praises of gelato and tiramisu. Told the kids that gelato was far better than any ice cream they’d ever had. Well, it is.
We ordered dessert and drinks. AJ and I ordered for the kids. Grace had chocolate gelato and hot cocoa. Her cocoa was like melted chocolate bars. Jake had cheesecake and I ordered an Italian Soda for him – vanilla. AJ and I had Cappuccino; I had cookies and AJ had tiramisu. Everyone tried everything.

We wandered back to Faneuil Hall by way of the outdoor market area, where rotting leftover vegetables were lying in the streets and trash and boxes were littered along the sidewalk. Grace found this very disturbing. Why would they just leave that stuff there?
We walked down the little lane (Union Street) where the Union Oyster House is. We had eaten there with the kids once before, so they were excited to recognize it. As Jake pressed his nose to the window to view an enormous lobster on ice, the Oyster Bar Tender threw a snowball at the window and made him jump. We all laughed heartily, as did the Bar Tender, but Jake wasn’t sure if that was supposed to be funny or if he’d been doing something wrong and so he melted a little bit before skipping off to follow us.

We then joined in a crowd watching some street performers. Grace and I had seen these same performers in August when we went to Boston for the day and they are COMPLETELY FABULOUS. We were really excited to share them with the boys and we all watched for quite some time.
We arrived home at about 11:30, both kids having slept the entire way in their blankets with their stuffed friends.
Perfection.