Boston Baby! Day 3

The morning started out early again with my legs and feet sore from all the walking on oddly shaped cobblestone walkways from the day before. After a few minutes of lying in bed and feeling sorry for myself, I got up for my early day workout. Pam worked out as well and joined me for yet another complimentary breakfast at the DoubleTree. We like to stay at Hilton properties since being a rewards member gets you a free meal in the morning. The food is standard buffet food, but we enjoy it being free and fueling up before we head out. What surprises us is the unreal prices people pay if they are not a member. To me, and maybe it's the fact that I am cheap, I could not pay $20 for a buffet breakfast!

After showering up and preparing for the day, we headed to the Hubway. The Hubway is a place you can rent bikes and ride them across the city and dock them at different locations. We decided this would be a great way to get around and save our weary feet from the evil cobble stone our precious tootsies are not accustomed to walking on. 

It turns out riding a bike in Boston is also no easy feat. You have to obey the laws of the road and figure out not only how to get where you are going, but also realize that riding down the wrong way street is not a wise or popular choice with the local Bostonian's who are already really happy with all the traffic. After weaving in and out of China Town and dodging a few middle fingers and maybe a Chinese star or two, we safely arrived at our destination know as Boston Commons. 

The Commons is a beautiful park where many assemblies have taken place from recruiting soldiers for the Revolutionary War to most recently being where Pope John Paul II held Mass. The grounds are fantastic, and we enjoyed the sights as we weaved our bikes in and out of people as it was a packed park for the holiday weekend. We were getting weird vibes and looks from the local fanfare as a soon realized that we were the only ones on a bike, which seemed strange since there was probably close to several thousand people in the park. Pam quickly realized that it was illegal to ride our bikes in the park and right there-and-then our dream of biking riding to save our feet died! We docked our bikes and walked the park to see the sights!

It was a great place to see all the flags dedicated to those who served and did not return.

From the bottom of the hill, you get a great view of The State House which is the capitol building of Massachusetts. Pam liked the premise and kept remarking that it reminded her of something she has seen before but just couldn't remember exactly what it was!

 The Commons sits right across another historical place. We walked across the street to find the original location of Cheers and see if we could catch Normie for a beer. I asked Norm would he had been up to and he replied..."Just like my pal Brett, my ideal weight if I were eleven feet tall!"

 We continued down to the Charles River and set our sights on making it to MIT to see if Will was busy at work solving complicated mathematical theories. It was a long walk but we were able to manage and reach our destination. MIT looks just like the name suggests. It indeed has an institutional feel to it. We were eager to see the location of the film Good Will Hunting.

We stopped inside to see if they had any public restrooms since the theme from yesterday continued. I quickly rushed in, and when I came out, I found Pam making some corrections to Will's math theories on a chalkboard. After Pam's good duty, we hopped about the "T" and set our sights on Harvard.

When we arrived at Harvard, we soon realized it was closed to the public for graduation. Pam, being one to not take no for an answer used her intellectual power, good looks, and southern charm to persuade the police officer to let us in so we can see the sights. He let us in, and we went directly to John Harvard where we were told tales of good luck and fortune to come if you touch John Harvard's gold toe. Being suckers for falling for every and all superstitions that have to deal with chance, Pam and I not only grabbed the toe, but we also rubbed it and made three wishes. In fact, Pam also fist bumped the toe just for good measure as we walked away!

 Harvard's campus is impressive and incredibly small. It very much reminds me of the University of Denver. We enjoyed strolling through the campus knowing full well that my high school GPA of a 2.3 would never have gotten me in. However, I wouldn't be the proud graduate of the Metropolitan State University of Denver if Harvard came calling.

We were getting a little hungry and stopped off at Mike's for a cannoli. It's world famous, and we decided we at least needed to try it. We shared one chocolate chip cannoli and were not very impressed with the pastry. We may get beat up, but we both agreed on a rating of only 2.3 half eaten cannolis on a scale of five. I'm sure they are great if it's your thing. It just wasn't our thing!

Exhausted from logging in 12.5 miles on Pam's Fitbit, we headed back to the room for some rest for day 4!