I recently had a chance to visit some old stomping grounds and my family in Boston, MA! It was a fantastic visit and made me long for green grass, dandelions, humidity, sea water, trees, public transportation and more!
We departed extremely early from El Paso, because we did not want to waste the day away just traveling. So upon arrival at Logan airport, we set out on the trains and buses to navigate our way to Watertown where my brother, sister in law and two kids lived. I say lived because they are making a big move to Dallas and by the time this blog goes up, they will no longer reside on the east coast. So it was our last chance to visit Boston with them! I however still have family in Connecticut, where I grew up and hope to visit them soon as well!
I felt like a tourist all over again, trying to figure out the train and bus routes and payment info. We stopped downtown to grab a quick bite to eat before continuing on. All in all we took 2 planes, 3 trains and 1 bus!
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| Hot dog and a lime rickey! yes please. |
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| Lucha Libre himself! |
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| Beautiful path. This led us to a fun park, the public library and a cute lunch spot! |
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| David spent a lot of time teaching Anis how to climb trees. |
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| The newest addition Issam. |
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| UP! |
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| I love and miss treeees! |
My brother and his family from Connecticut came up to go with us to the
Franklin Park Zoo. This was where I interned right after my bachelors and then was a keeper for a bit. I had a great experience as an intern and have vivid memories of working with the eider ducks, joey (baby kangaroo), anaconda and burmese python, birds birds birds and lots of great people (Anne, Jenna, Johnathon, Jake, Michelle and Hulia to name a few)! I also have great memories from the intern classes we took each week and hope to bring some of those ideas into my workshops at the El Paso Zoo. I have grown so much since I was an intern. I remember interviewing and really not knowing much of anything! Being an intern started my journey and my attitude to constantly be learning and questioning the world around me, which led to me going back to school for a masters degree in biology (wildlife). Now, I have returned to the zoo world!
Let me tell you how impressed I am with little Jalloul. He is pictured above and below. While visiting the zoo we passed by a graphic of our local birds in the area. He was able to identify chickadee, blue jay, cardinal, woodpecker and many more! Most adults can not do that!
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| They loved the silly rides. |
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| Chillin with the tigers. |
If you go to Boston, there are few stops you must make. Mike's Pastry shop is one of them. The place is always packed and is nestled in the North End which is home to fantastic Italian restaurants.
While exploring some of downtown Boston, we noticed several
Hubway areas. Hubway is a unique way to rent a bike to get to work, get some lunch or tour the city! Locations are set up all around the city to pick up and drop off the bikes. Lots of people were utilizing this green service!
El Paso is trying to set up a rent a bike system for downtown as well so people don't have to use their cars for the short trips around downtown. I am all for it! But really, our downtown area is small enough that we should easily be able to walk from place to place in less than 5 blocks. But the bikes would help to create a more bike and exercise friendly mind set.
One of the biggest differences of visiting Boston, is the amount of people out exercising, walking, enjoying parks, and using public transportation. It is a culture of activity. El Paso offers many outdoor activities and sunny weather to enjoy it, but I am still shocked at how many people have yet to visit the
Franklin Mountains, the largest urban park in the country. That's right, it is only about 20 minutes from downtown! But while living here, I have not held up my end of the bargain either. I vowed to ride my bike to work at least once a week. This year, I have not rode my bike to work very often and I have not taken the bus much either. The simple reason is time. It takes a little over an hour on the bus or on my bike and about 15 minutes in my car. Time is just another excuse. Visiting Boston has sparked my ambition again and I hope to be back on the bike soon! The traffic here is not as bad as in Boston but maybe the cars there are a bit more aware of bikes?
Need motivation to ride your bike? Read this article from Grist entitled,
"Get your ass on that bike!" in honor of National Bike Month!
I am so excited about a school I have been working with that is going to take public transportation for their field trip! I love it and wish more schools took a chance and used public transportation!
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| Rent your Hubway bike! |
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| Water taxi! Call and they come and pick you up! |
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| The crazy fam. |
Just enjoying the city!
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| Basically how we felt having to say goodbye. :( |
It was awesome to visit family from Boston and Connecticut. I am excited that some of them will be moving to Dallas. I hope to get to them a lot More often!
UNTIL NEXT TIME BOSTON!
I will be dreaming of seafood...
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| Clam chowda in a sourdough bread bowl and calamari. :) |
Boston daydreams.
While exploring some of downtown Boston, we noticed several Hubway areas. Hubway is a unique way to rent a bike to get to work, get some lunch or tour the city! Locations are set up all around the city to pick up and drop off the bikes. Lots of people were utilizing this green service!
