Around And Around And Around We Go!

In November of ought five, our friend Anthony came to visit, but he didn't want to stay with us, which was a relief. He searched around "nearby" hotels, looking for one with smoking allowed rooms at reasonable rates. He decided on The Royal Sonesta in Cambridge - close to Belmont - and there he stayed. I knew the location of the Sonesta, because it was a couple blocks upriver from the Museum of Science, where I had just spent a month working on the brand new Star Wars exhibit, produced and installed by Mystic Scenic Studios (currently showing in Anchorage, Alaska.) I could get there by Red Line and Green Line and sixty nine bus. Easy peasy.



I went and collected him on Saturday. He wanted to go to the North End and sample the pizza and the cannolis at the places recommended to him by people in Orlando. I had figured out how to get close to Hanover Street by the Green Line, which we did, and found Hanover Street. The pizza recommended by Orlandoans was not so good, but Bostonians recommended Regina's about three blocks off of Hanover. That was good pizza! The cannolis recommended by Orlandoans were not so good, but Modern Pastries, recommended by Bostonians, now those were some good cannolis! We found our way back, and I learned a few things I didn't know about the Green Line - like that not very many north/westbound trains go all the way to Science Park. You have to look for the "Lechmere" designation on the front of the front car.



On Sunday we were scheduled to go to the IMAX theater in Framingham to see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I was going to go get him and bring him back to Belmont by Red Line and #73 bus, but Carmen got all adventurous on me and wanted to try driving to the Royal Sonesta. Hmmm. I googled up on it, including their directions to the place, and we set out.

Getting to Memorial Drive was easy. Follow the #73 bus overhead wires to the big clusterfucked intersection near Mount Auburn Hospital, and go right instead of left or straight. Memorial Drive follows the west bank of the Charles River, with minimal opportunities to make a wrong turn - mostly - until you're within sight of the Museum of Science. There it splits three ways. The only choice that's marked is the one that goes to Charles Town. The most likely looking one took us across the river into downtown Boston. We got swept onto Storrow Drive, chose a lane, and ended up on the Tobin Bridge to Chelsea. We got off the highway as soon as we could, I studied my maps, and we tried again. Coming off the (toll) bridge this time, we chose a lane and went right back into downtown Boston again. Damn! We found a bridge, crossed the river and made it to Memorial Drive again. We went for another run at the tree-way split. This lane took us into the city a different way, we found our bridge again, and returned to Memorial Drive. I said, "Well, we've only got one choice left." She said, "Here, use my cell phone and call Anthony. I'm not going around this merry-go-round any more." I called Anthony and told him to take a cab to Belmont and we'd meet him there.

It was some small consolation to us that the Cambridge Cab driver didn't know how to get to Belmont. We had to talk him through it, chased him down and caught up with him at Waverley Square. We paid for the cab, hauled ass to Framingham, and barely made it to the movie in time.

Not long afterward I was riding with a lifelong Boston resident who got caught in the same vortex twice before finally making it to the Museum of Science. Afterward, he needed gas, so he drove across the highway into Charles Town. Aha! If we had taken the Charles Town option...! There again, once you know where to go and how to get there, you can see the markers pointing the way. But they're not going to just tell you how to go. "If you don't already know, you don't deserve to know. And by the way, fuck you!" And welcome to Boston.