Christmastime in Boston & NYC

Family Christmastimes in the City:

Boston & NYC

♫City sidewalks, busy sidewalks
Dressed in holiday style.♫

          We haven’t had any big city Christmas experiences in a while, so it’s nice to have some opportunities to take in the sights of Boston & New York with family. Our pre-Christmas jaunts begin Friday 12/9 with a drive to Boston on a brisk clear AM. WMHT treats us to an hour of musical satirist Tom Lehrer (on his 88^th birthday!), including the classic ♫Poisoning Pigeons in the Park♫. 

           Marjorie’s sister Mary and hubbie Jeff are generously sharing their Marriott Vacation Club time-share at the historic Custom House. The Custom House was established in the 17th century and stood near the waterfront in several locations thru the years. The current building dates to 1847, adding a tower in 1915, and is on the National Register of Historic Places. It’s not the Riverside in NYC (an inside joke), but it’ll do very nicely: a pretty Christmas tree in the lobby beneath a high colorful rotunda, we share a 2-room suite. A great location, view of Old North Church from our room, Faneuil Hall & Quincy Market a block away. I head up to the 26^th-floor observation deck for photos of harbor and city; peregrine falcons reside up here. 

       

   We all go out looking for some sustenance, finding coffee, cocoa, and cookies at nearby Espresso Love. A stroll around Quincy Market decorated for the holidays. 

After some wine & snacks another visit to the 26^th floor: pretty lights now spread out across the city. Out again to the festive lights and pretty shops at Quincy Market, a large tree at the end with music & light show on the hour. 

To City Hall Plaza: Christmas market shops under tents, skating, pretty lighted buildings rising above. We can feel the Christmas spirit! 

Union Oyster House, “America’s Oldest Restaurant,” for chowdah & shared lobster ravioli. A pretty miniature version of the building in the front window, holiday decorations thruout. 

Back “home,” Mary gives us Christmas presents: “Mr. Perfect” (for Marjorie) & Ms. Perfect (for me)  ̶  figures with buttons to press for “romantic messages” like “I’m the luckiest guy in the world when I’m with you!” and “You’re a genius with your hands. You can fix anything!,” respectively. The evening topped off with a rousing Scrabble game; I beat Mary by 2 points.

          After a very comfy night on our “memory foam” sofa-bed, I catch sunrise from the observation deck. Continental breakfast in the “Counting Room.” There are guest activities  ̶  crafts, a pirate experience for kids, tours  ̶  but we head out, taking the blue to green to red lines on the “T” to Cambridge. The operator of the 1^st train rolls down his window and leans out; “Good morning!” we say, “Tourists?” he replies with a smile. How did he know? One platform has many young folks in colorful hats & sweaters worn for a 5K run. A poster advertises “The Slutcracker,” a burlesque satire.

          A brisk sunny & breezy walk thru Harvard Yard to the Harvard Museum of Natural History. 

Our main attraction is the “Glass Flowers”: The Ware Collection of Blaschka Glass Models of Plants, created by father-son Czech artists.  When we visited Boston in 1975 (during a very rainy World Series) with Marjorie’s Mom & Aunt Marge, this was the one thing Marge wanted to see, then in a rather dingy setting. In a much nicer setting now, the collection of over 4000 models representing over 830 plant species (and assorted bugs) is quite remarkable. 

And there’s plenty more to see: Blaschka glass sea creatures, skeletons (including huge whales suspended from the ceiling), many icky specimens in glass bottles, stuffed animals from around the world, geology & earth sciences, ethnology & archeology.

 A walk back thru Harvard Yard looking for lunch. We get free tasty hot chocolate from a Shake Shack guy on the sidewalk, continue there for burgers. After lunch the others continue walking around Cambridge, I return to Custom House. Photo ops by the harbor. A beautiful sunny afternoon that’s quite cold & blustery; and there’s a sailboat regatta!

          All together again we enjoy wine & cheese for Custom House guests followed by a very pleasant quartet of carolers with audience participation. For ♫The 12 Days of Christmas♫ our 4some handles “5 gold rings” (complete with ad-libbed “buh-dum-bum-bum”); Jeff & I take “10 lords a-leaping.” A little girl in front of us really gets into it, singing & conducting. 

Out we go again, lots of lights, music, and whooping. Many young people wearing Santa outfits of various sorts for a SantaCon pub crawl. 

Thru Boston Public Market, a colorful collection of eateries & shops similar to places in Seattle & Philly. We get take-out dinners in Quincy Market, back to the suite for more Scrabble (Mary wins this time) while watching “Mary Poppins.”

          Sunday is another brisk sunny morning. Breakfast at Custom House then to Quincy Market for strolling, more photos of colorful shops & decorations. 

After Mary finds shoes she wanted we gather up our stuff. Jeff will fly back home to KC later. Mary returns with us to Albany, where we’re joined by cousin-in-law Susan flying in from Springfield IL. Marjorie is eager to show off our new hardwood floors, set off by Christmas decorations.

Tuesday I take “the girls” to the train station for their 8:20 ride to NYC, then head off to my Red Cross blood-delivery driving (today to hospitals in Amsterdam, Gloversville, & Cobleskill). Marjorie is sorry to miss 2 events while she’s in the city. Today is the Sociology Holiday Party, something she rarely misses (and has been one of the few “faculty spouses” to attend). Thursday is a going-away party for long-time friend and M’s colleague Scott Sauer at PBS station WMHT; it’s hard to imagine WMHT without Scott. I’ll represent us at both. 

Mary is again providing time-share lodging at the Marriott Courtyard on Times Square, a great location; room on the 29^th floor with view of the Empire State Bldg. Marjorie mapped out good places to view store windows and other seasonal decorations . . . and perhaps a bit of shopping? They’ll also be looking for Broadway tickets and had tried to get into The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Marjorie doesn’t do trip journals so I’ll have to fill in from their reports & photos.

As on a previous visit, the 3some have a Broadway whirlwind, scoring discount tickets for 3 shows: “The Front Page” with megacast John Goodman, Nathan Lane, and Robert Morse, “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical,” and “Kinky Boots.” Wednesday dining at a Peruvian restaurant with Matt & family in Queens. [I have dress rehearsal for my Mendelssohn concert (see Friday), another “supermoon” visible driving home, the 3^rd this year; the moon won’t be this close again until 2034.] Other good eats: classic NYC breakfast at the Brooklyn Diner, elegant lunch at Bryant Park Grill overlooking a skating rink & Christmas market (plus guided tour of nearby Public Library). 

Thursday Mary & Susan had thought to join the early AM crowd outside the “Today” show, but too cold! They all nonetheless spend their cold & windy days walking the city to see holiday sights, ducking in & out of the cold to look into St. Patrick’s, warm up with hot chocolate . . . and do some shopping. Susan is especially happy to see the tree at Rockefeller Center, both day & night (but a trip to the top of RC is nixed  ̶  it costs $34 now!). 

Beautiful windows at Macy’s

& Bergdorf Goodman. 

 A spectacular music & lights show at Saks 5^th Avenue.

Friday I pick up the NYC travelers at the train station. They’ve returned in time for my first Holiday Concert tonight with the107-year-old male singing ensemble Mendelssohn Club. The concert is a sell-out in “The Egg” at the downtown Empire State Plaza. [We’ll also be singing at a “First Night” celebration in Delmar, but our guests will be gone by then.] Afterward the ladies relax and watch “Elf” in their jammies. 

Altogether a great way to start the season: classic holiday decorations and music in the company of family. Merry Christmas!