Sunday March 13, 2016. Driving around...then eating.

Sunday was a beautiful day. It really was. Hardly a cloud, temperature around 60. Sometimes I can or will stay in even if it's wonderful outside because I have things to do indoors or I just plain don't feel like going out, but not Sunday. Actually Arlene felt the same and suggested we take a ride. Then I suggested we go to the Tufts University Campus. I grew up a few blocks from it and I remember going to the campus when I was a kid to see Jumbo the Elephant. Jumbo was the Jumbo from the Barnum &Bailey Circus. Jumbo was a star of the circus until he was killed when he was hit by a train in Canada. He was stuffed and donated to the university by P.T. Barnum as he was a friend of the Tuft's family, early settlers here in the 1600's, who's decndants donated the land for the college. Jumbo was put on display along with other animals from the circus at Barnum Museum of Natural History on the campus. That was disbanded, I think in the 1930's. Jumbo was quite popular though so he was still displayed and had become the school mascot. I remember riding my bike up to the campus and seeing him. The in 1975 an electrical fire burned down the wooden building where Jumbo was displayed in. They saved his tail and some ashes in a peanut butter jar. The skeleton was sent to the American Museum of Natural History in New York. 

Anyway, Arlene's daughter graduated from Tufts so she is quite  familiar with the campus and I could take some pictures. We also just drove around town. Arlene is much more familiar with our own home town than I am and she volunteered to drive! It was also good to check out neighborhoods where I could potentially be living. This city is one city away from Boston. The older part of town dates back to the founding of Boston in 1630. You can see the difference as you go north where it truly becomes a residential suburb of Boston. Below is a video of some of the things we did yesterday. Driving around, bits of chatting or maybe chattering, pictures I took on the campus. Afterwards we had supper at our favorite local restaurant.   


Here's a clip from a local stations restaurant show where they featured Raso's Restaurant. It's big city eating in the suburbs. Nothing fancy about the setting except the food and a great staff.

 

Today is not as nice as yesterday. It's going to rain and it's about 20 degrees cooler. Well it's time to move out and do something constructive.

I'm outta here.