After an unremarkable flight from Richmond to Boston yesterday my family picked me up at Logan Airport and we drove to Boston’s North End, the oldest neighborhood in the city since it has been inhabited since the 1630’s. It’s also the home of the Italian community here and as such has lots of wonderful restaurants and bakeries. We parked and walked to Hanover Street, the heart of this “Little Italy.” Both sides of the street are lined with restaurants, bakeries and bars and we chose to have a late lunch at Casarecce Ristorante. Like many of the restaurants this one was a narrow space in an old building with the original brick walls. There were perhaps fifteen bistro style tables and chairs with hardly room to walk between them. But the smells emanating from the kitchen were divine! There’s not much more glorious aroma than garlic, oregano and basil simmering somewhere. We had a marvelous lunch with some of the best calamari I’ve tasted in a long time and then wonderful pasta dishes. We passed on dessert because our second reason for stopping in the North End besides lunch was to go to Modern Pastry Shop, a legend just a few doors down the street.
I have to write something about Modern. This bakery was founded in 1930 and it sells the most delicious cannolis, Italian cookies, and pastries. It was chilly with light rain falling, but that didn’t stop people from lining up to get into the shop to buy some treats. The line was about a block long and Katie and I waited while Stan and Alfred went to another bakery to get Italian bread to take home. The place is a gold mine! Only cash is accepted, and people happily come in and spend lots of money to buy some of their luscious goodies. If you’re ever in Boston and feel like tasting a little bit of heaven, make a trip to Modern! After making our purchases we headed home to Katie’s house in New Hampshire.
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| Don't these look irresistible? |
October 14, which will always be Columbus Day to me and not Indigenous Peoples Day as some states call it, was rainy and chilly in the morning. This is what’s called “Leaf Peepers” season here in New England and we had tickets to take the fall foliage ride on the Winnipesaukee Scenic Railroad from the little town of Meredith an hour and a half north of my family’s home. We boarded our assigned car and began our journey through the woods and past a couple of small lakes to Plymouth, New Hampshire where we had our included lunch buffet in the Common Man Inn. After lunch we reboarded and headed back to Meredith. It was a little past the peak of fall colors but still very pretty. The rain stopped for a while and the sun peeked out a few times which enhanced the colors. Along the way we made a brief stop in the tiny town of Ashland where on the station platform we were greeted by costumed interpreters dressed in 1860’s fashions. The little station dates back to that time and is a small railroad museum. It was a very scenic and enjoyable afternoon.
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| Our ride, the Winnisquam car, and that's my grandson |
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| Passing along one of the lakes |
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| We passed lots of summer cottages (they call them "camps" here) and canoeing is clearly a favorite pastime |
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| Two of the costumed greeters on the station platform |
Kids obviously have a different internal thermostat from adults because I felt chilly most of the day while my grandson ran around in shorts. In fact, every time I’ve been up here, including Thanksgiving and Christmas, he's wearing shorts and it's a struggle to get him to put long pants on. I suppose I was that way too when I was younger. I have a few more days here and unless something unusual happens I'm just going to enjoy family time. I'll write again after I get to Montreal. So, for now, À bientôt.
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