A day on a bicycle in Boston

Nancy had a day of work in Boston on Friday and I had the day to myself to do with whatever I wanted.

Having brought my bike, I parked in Cambridge just down the street from the new community center that replaced the old VFW, home to Thursday night contra dancing in Boston. The new building looks cool and was as good a starting point as anywhere. I headed into Harvard Square and then up Mass Ave towards Central Square, basically keeping an eye out for a non-corporate morning coffee place to settle into with the New York Times. Passing through MIT I crossed the river and headed down towards the South End. I knew I'd found the right spot when I came across the South End Buttery. With a neat little breakfast and a cup of coffee and settled into a window spot and indulged in a couple of hours of in-depth reading.

From my morning coffee I headed toward the Downtown Crossing area and searched around until I found Windsor Buttons, where I checked some cool sewing stuff, but walked away with some Bee buttons for Nancy.

Back up through Back Bay, I crossed back over the river and headed to the MIT press bookstore which is always a treat. I didn't buy anything, but enjoyed browsing. From there I went to the Cambridgeside Mall and bought a watch strap and some socks, having left the key in my bike lock while I was wandering around inside. Doh!

From the mall I headed up to Central Square, got a sandwich at the 1369 cafe and then crossed the street to browse around at Rodney's Bookstore. This place is extensive, but for whatever reason, I was challenged to find anything that really caught my attention. They have a really cool selection of vintage posters that are fun to check out. At this point it was getting on in the day, so I made a brief stop at the Broadway Bike School just to go in and check out the used parts and just be there for a minute since I think its such a cool place. Up through Harvard from there I then zig-zaged through Davis and Porter Squares and made my way up and around to the Fresh Pond area where I returned to the car.

It just felt wonderful to be on my bike for the first time in a long time and to enjoy the warm air, the fun of just wandering, and the invigoration of riding in the city amongst the lights, cars, cyclists, signs, sounds and traffic. Its a wide awake feeling that you just don't get around here.