Boston

Work took me to Boston last week.  While the work side of things kept me very busy, I managed to catch some Beantown highlights.

Boston is great running town. Of course there's the Charles River and the Boston marathon course. Walking down the street at lunch, I saw people putting in intervals on the sidewalks. Running is part of the culture.

Boston is also a sports town. While there, we managed to catch a great day game at Fenway, which was tied 0-0 after nine, but ended on back to back homers in the 10th for the home team.  They love their team and stadium, and its easy to see why.  Very cool to luck into such a great game. Favorite moment probably was the 8th inning sing-a-long to Sweet Caroline. Still and always a Mariners fan first, but Fenway is special. Also toured the stadium and took batting practice in the visitor's clubhouse.

The photo of the strawberries below is from the Copley Square Farmer's Market. $30 for a flat of strawberries just shows how fortunate we are out here on the west coast, as far as berries and farm treats go. Delightful little market, with the typical mix of the usual and the surprises that each farm market can offer.

I ran the Charles River a couple times, including a Fun Run event associated with the work conference, along with my friend John.  We lost, but since it was for funs, everyone's a winner.  The finish line was the same as the Boston Marathon's, but everyone was pretty much gone by the team we got there, due to various detours and walk breaks.

Hiked the Freedom Trail.  A must do in Boston. It's only about 3 miles.  Started at the Boston Commons and then hit all the historic highlights. The Trail is curious mix of the old and the new, with early Puritan churches tucked in with Starbucks. The Quincy Market, the North Church ("one if by land, two if by sea"), Paul Revere statue, the Harbor, the U.S.S. Constitution (aka Old Ironsides)---all great tourism and history.

Had some nice stops along the way at Ye Old Union Oyster House, the oldest restaurant in the U.S., and canolis in the North End (aka Little Italy). The Oyster House was a favorite place of JFK's.  Great chowder.  And the North End is probably my favorite place in Boston, with amazing Italian food of all types. The canolis are just incredible--we went to Mike's Pastries and later to Maria's Pastries. Both have been voted best in Boston.

Skagivore

I went to a presentation on “slow food” in Skagit on Saturday, with Dean and Ruth Taylor, two awesomes. The presentation was called “Skagivore,” and was all about growing and eating foods locally. Everything in the picture to the left was picked that morning. The meeting was held in an old 1800s school house at Christensen's Nursery. I’ve recently been paging through a book called “Local Flavors,” by Deborah Madison, which is about shopping at farm markets and cooking seasonally, recipes included. It's inspiring. The environmental benefits to eating local foods seem obvious—something to work on.

I learned that you can grow all sorts of vegetables and fruits in the Skagit. Well, duh, but really....anything grows here. Also, there are male and female trees, and sometimes you need both, to get fruit. I guess I knew that, but I forgot. At the end, they gave me a leek and a purple vegetable that tastes like radishes and starts with a K. My Unknown Vegetable will soon to be sautéed in olive oil, with Italian parsley. I plan on signing up with Slow Food USA, and will try to keep this train rolling in my life.

http://www.slowfoodskagit.org/

http://www.slowfoodusa.org/

I had a low key running weekend. I did a two and a half hour run/trek up to Raptor Ridge on Friday night. Raptor Ridge is a spur trail in the Chuckanuts. Take a left as you're running through Arroyo, and proceed up. I actually found some wheels for a little bit--I must be getting past whatever had me sick. However, I forgot my headlamp on the way to work, and so I decided to test the "itty bitty book light" for trail worthiness. It fit well in my back pocket, but didn’t do so well in the dark. I lived. Consider alternatives. I was also chased by Denali, the dog, again. He lives for that. On Sunday, I ran to Burlington. This is not that far--just across the river--but I like that it sounds far. On my run, I did laps around a Latino soccer game, got some looks, and then trespassed across a railroad trestle just like the kids did in Stand by Me. Train dodge.