Well I wasn't really in my own town. My friend Dave called me up and asked if I would like to go to Harvard Square which is about 4 miles from here. It's full of many funky shops and places to eat and the Harvard Coop, short for the Harvard Cooperative Society. It's basically a book store filled with all kinds of Harvard paraphernalia, clothes and at one time just about the best record store around these parts. The records are gone yet there are still record stores selling vinyl and cd's. This is where I came to buy records back in the day and certain substances on the Cambridge Common which is right across the street from one of the entrances to the school. You must remember I am a child of the 60's and 70's.
It was a beautiful day and being Saturday the place was crowded. It was also packed with tourist. Many people taking pictures. I also drove through there to work everyday from 2000 till 2011. However I started work at 6a.m. so it was not a problem and going home at 2 or 2:30 wasn't a big problem. I did take some pictures but you had to be quick because someone would walk in front of you or a bunch of cars would drive by. Now there aren't many and trying to frame a shot was not easy. I could not get all the shots that I wanted to.
The picture below is from the Cambridge Common.
And the worst picture. It's blurry.
Then we had lunch at Mr. Bartley's Gourmet Burgers. Now the burger were good but Dave was raving about this place and I felt like saying, "Dave it's a burger. Calm down." They didn't have beer so I had an ice tea which was fine until I tried to drink it with by sucking on the spoon in the glass instead of the straw. At least I didn't distinguish myself as a man of the world as I did at Raso's last week when I intended to ask for a glass of cabernet instead of asking for a glass of camembert. I suppose that comes from years of working with imported cheeses in the deli.
It was a tiny place and it was packed. I didn't take any pictures in there so I got a couple from the web.
And apparently they have had several celebrities eat there. Johnny Cash and Al Pacino and to my left was a sign that the lead singer for Led Zepplin ate there as well. They said he was very nice.
So that's it my friends. It's late and I am a bit bleary eyed. I will come visiting around tomorrow. I am outta here.
Ok lets try this again. I tried to post this last night at about 12:30 and promptly deleted it. There is a local show called Phantom Gourmet where the host goes to various Boston area restaurants. I wouldn't call it a review program because I've never heard the host say anything negative.
Raso's is owned by either a retired or still active local police officer. We learned about this place through Arlene's daughter who has worked for the local government and now teaches in the school system. We've been fans since our first visit. The owner Richie always goes out of his way to say hi when he's there and the staff is very friendly always saying hello. Then there's the food. This is not just a spaghetti and meatballs, pizza, kind of place, though you can certainly have those if you want. There's a wide array of pasta dishes. One of my favorites is linguini in clam sauce and the steaks are every bit as good as they look in the video.
So I will see if Arlene would like to go there today but we have to hit it fairly early because of the Patriot's game tonight. If they win I suppose the place will be jumping. Now it's time to see what's going on in the blogger world and I am outta here.
Ok this is my second attempt at producing this particular entry. I've screwed up, forgetting how to insert a video on my blog. I began writing only to be suddenly informed by Google that I wasn't signed in and having every thing I had written disappear. Over the last several months I have started 5 or 6 blogs and never finishing any of them. I guess I just ran out of blogging gas after about 10 years of blogging.
Anyway all is well here. It has been a hot and humid summer and I am looking forward to the fall. Of course I will soon be complaining about the cold. Still I couldn't live in a hot climate. Then there is watching what has happened with Florence. We've had hurricanes around here but it was never the disaster that those folks have had to live through. We will get what is left of Florence on Tuesday meaning a lot of rain.
I don't know if this story made national news but about 20 or 25 miles north of here they had their own disaster. Three cities were rocked by gas explosions. Around 50 homes were destroyed and about 8600 homes have to be inspected as some people were told they could go back to their houses. They still won't have any gas service and I think electric service has been turned back on for some. These kind of situations are eye openers as we have gas service here and it makes you think, this kind of thing can happen anywhere.
The city I live in was settled the same year as Boston, 1630. And as I was playing with my computer checking out various things about local history I found out that the street I went to high school, now condos, was on was part of what they called the highway to Boston which was established around 1630. That part of the street is residential and leads to the center of town. As you enter the square on the right hand corner is the former location of Simpsons Tavern where Jingle Bells was composed. I know I've mentioned that before, but it is still kind of neat to have that little historical tidbit locally. I walked passed the site and plaque every day on my way to high school and never paid attention to it.
So Sunday morning I went out early. It was a beautiful sunny morning with very little traffic. I crudely taped my little camera to my dashboard and made, admittedly, what is a crappy little video. The first part was not part of the old highway but just a road I used to get to it. It's a lovely road with many beautiful homes ($$$) and I've always liked it. Once you go through the square you end up on another road that's not so picturesque. Auto dealerships, auto repair shops including a Jiffy Lube with J on their neon sign out so it looks like "iffy Lube". plumbing supply businesses etc. As you travel down this road you can see a bit of the Boston skyline but the sun was so bright that the distance view was washed out. But as I traveled down this road I went by our favorite local restaurant Raso's. You can get some really authentic Italian food there without having to go into Boston's North End (Boston's' little Italy). Ok this video is no academy award winner. It was something to do on a beautiful Sunday morning.
So in other local news there have been several shark sightings two attacks, the last one being fatal. That occurred near the tip of Cape Cod.
Well at this point I think I'll just hit the publish button and see what happens
So that's about it for now. I have to get ready to go food shopping with Arlene. So for now, I am outta here.
