Imagination to Reality : Florida to Boston: Exploration

For the past 2 days I've been exploring! First thing's first, I promised a picture of these strange fire alarms. The first is the one outside my apartment, and the other is just another random one I found while searching for a farmers market (which ended up not even happening that day).

These past 2 days I've selected a running path that I feel is much more ambitious than I'm qualified for. But nonetheless, I'm tackling it head on. The route takes me down Beacon Street (the main road in my area) to an area called Cleveland Circle. At the end is this gorgeous reservoir called the Chestnut Hill reservoir. It's no longer a regular water source for residents, but was used recently when Boston's waterline broke and they were under a boil water warning. (Apparently that's a big deal here? I remember that happening somewhat often in the keys. Maybe we're just faulty.) The path around the reservoir (which is code for big body of water, for those like me who would have been just as happy calling it a "lake") is 1.56 miles. The weather has been gorgeous, and running in the middle of the day doesn't leave me sweating as it would if I were still in Florida. With that said, running here is VERY different than Florida. The hills are KILLER! All in all, my route is 3.5ish miles long - including warm up and cool down. At Cleveland Circle there is also a really sweet park. Picture below! (Picture of reservoir coming soon - I had to get home before it started storming).

Today's adventure took me down into the more historic part of the city. My objective was to explore used bookstores and find some new shoes. What I thought to be an appropriate pair of comfortable flats have turned into blister-making machines. Although I explored MANY stores today (and found plenty of shoes I loved but didn't need), I returned home shoeless. But I also returned home with 5 new books! (I know, I'm a little addicted)

This is a picture of the Boston Common. I think it's kind of like the "Central Park" of Boston. It's expansive and beautiful (and perfectly manicured!). It's also set up right against the Boston skyline, which is hinted at in one of the pictures)

I checked out a couple used bookstores today, but this one was by far my favorite (it's where I got 4 of my 5 books). It's so cool, it's got an outside sale section in this weird gap between buildings, surrounded by these huge sky-scraper like buildings. I'm pretty sure this is going to be my favorite new place:

If you know me well at all, you know I have an affinity for old graveyards - I can never pass them up. Today was no different, and turned out to be the oldest I've ever visited by FAR. The oldest grave dated back to the late 1600s, and included the tomb of Paul Revere. Now, I know anyone who graduated high school is familiar with that name ("it sounds familiar........") but like me, probably have no idea who it is. Well, thank you wikipedia, he was a guy who warned people of a british invasion (No, not the Beatles pop music invasion) in the 1700s. Yep, here are some pictures:

So this has been more of a scrapbook, touristy blog entry, but I was really excited to do all of this - the old buildings, the history, the metropolis - it's what I love about this place.

I grabbed a newspaper and sought out all the really exciting things I want to attend this week. They include a farmers market (which really WILL be occurring this time), 2 arts festivals (one with hoopers!), a free 3-day music festival, public hoop-jams, and more! Pictures and details will follow. But for now, here are a couple additional trademarks of my experience here:

My T Stop (subway turned street-car at this point)