The last leg of our vacation began 
with a 7-hour trek with Amy’s folks down the Mass Pike to Rochester. Sam was our main source of entertainment, shunning even the mention of taking a nap, instead regaling us with songs and stories most of the way. Once in Rochester, we had a great time – heading down to Bristol to see Uncle Stan and Ruth as well as more Handelman cousins than I’ve ever seen in one location. Sam enjoyed his first time in a lake, and on this trip, the male cousins of Boston were replaced by girls, girls and more girls. Sam did not mind one bit. We also took in a game at Rochester’s Frontier Field, and despite anticipation that Giambi was going to appear in the course of his rehab before joining the bigs again, that didn’t happen. More photos can be found here.
Daily Archives: August 3, 2007
Into Boston
We gathered the clan and headed into Boston 
on Friday of our vacation. Sam has been talking about meeting Mrs. Mallard and her ducklings for weeks now, those famous avian stars of Robert McCloskey’s Make Way for Ducklings. He was not dissapointed! We explored much of the Boston Public Garden, visited the bronze statue of Mrs. Mallard and Lack, Mack, Quack, etc., rode the ‘strange enormous birds’ (aka the Swan Boats) and swam in the Frog Pond – a great respite from the 90+ degree heat wave hitting the city. We also walked Newbury Street from the park all the way to Comm Ave – something I don’t think I’d done for almost 20 years. I’m not sure how I ever afforded shopping there back in the day. We met up with more extended family including Lauren and her husband David plus their kids, as well as Peggy and Mary who are now living in Sommerville. We capped off the day with some yummy ice cream at JP Licks, next door to the Newbury Comics, still going strong after all these years. More photos can be found here.
Swampscott & Marblehead
So for the first leg of our vacation, we stayed at Julie and Scott’s place in Swampscott. Amy’s sister is always the best host, and her two sons Austin and Mason are the best playmates for Sam ever! He loves chasing them around, which takes plenty of pressure off Mom and Dad. Highlights included simply hanging around and chilling, a fabulous backyard lobstah fest (from the Barnacle, of course), time spent at the pool at Kernwood, as well as a great outing to Devereux Beach in Marblehead with my brother Seth and his boys Caleb, Gabe and Zach. See the full slideshow here.
The Police @ Fenway Park
So visiting Boston last week I was enjoying my morning coffee on Friday reading the Globe. Lo and behold, I learned 
that my favorite band from high school (yes, I’m that old) was playing two dates at Fenway Park over the weekend and yes, tickets were available. I had already given up on going to the November show here in Atlanta since Baby 2.0 would have just arrived. With a quick confirmation from Sam’s grandmother that she could babysit and a big ding to my credit card, we were all set for a trip to Fenway to claim our field seats for Saturday’s show. It was amazing! Although I’d heard their early shows were weak (Sting was heard to say they sucked), they had hit their stride by this time. All of them showed great musicianship – and it was great to see Sting’s battered bass guitar that he’d surely had since their heyday. More photos (taken with the iPhone and Curve due to ticket restrictions) are here. Their only misstep in my mind was their languid extended rendition of Roxanne. That was more than made up by great versions of Synchronicity II, Invisible Sun and Walking in Your Footsteps. And it was fitting to hear them end with the first song from their first album, Outlandos d’Amour.
Here was the full set list (captured one-by-one on my iPhone notes):
Message in a Bottle
Synchronicity II
Walking On The Moon
Voices Inside My Head
When The World Is Running Down
Don’t Stand So Close To Me
Driven To Tears
Truth Hits Everybody
Bed’s Too Big Without You
Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
Wrapped Around Your Finger
De Do Do Do De Da Da Da
Invisible Sun
Walking In Your Footsteps
Can’t Stand Losing You
Roxanne
Encore #1
King Of Pain
So Lonely
Every Breath You Take
Encore #2
Next To You