Last year, I wrote about returning to Boylston Street, the site of the Boston Marathon finish line, two weeks after the bombings. You can read that post, here.
Yesterday, for the first time since I wrote that post, I was back on Boylston Street, for the group psychotherapy conference I’m attending this week.
During the lunch break, I took some photos. I didn’t linger too long, because it was COLD. And regular readers of this blog know how I feel about the Friggin’ Freeze in these parts.
I need to post even earlier, this morning, before I return to the conference today. So, without further ado, here are some of the photos I took yesterday.
The Globe is one of my favorite restaurants on Boylston Street. That was the site of one of my first dates with my bf, Michael, and I went there with my son two days before the Marathon, when the area was bustling with tourists and pre-race revelers. I had lunch there yesterday, before I took that photo.
Here’s a view of Boylston Street, yesterday:
It was good to back on that old, familiar street.
I also took a snapshot of these skateboarders:
I’m very familiar with the Make Way for Ducklings statues in the Public Gardens (just a few blocks away), but — before yesterday — I was unaware of two other local Storybook Statues, right there on Boylston Street. Look! It’s the Tortoise and the Hare.
See how — even with the icy conditions — the tortoise keeps his footing and maintains the lead?
Now, from this next angle, it appears that the swifter one might be narrowing the distance ….
… but slow and steady still prevail.
Obviously, the tortoise is capable of making it to Trinity Church — one of my favorite Boston landmarks — before the hare. Here’s another view of beautiful Trinity Church:
And here’s a brag: I’ve sung in that church!
I took this next shot because I liked the concept of “Jazz Worship”:
… and, later, I took this last photo because of a different phrase, which also caught my eye:
I agree, whole-heartedly, with the importance of practice (see this blog post — Practice, Practice Practice — for more about that). It wasn’t until later that I noticed that sign’s misspelling, which I am quite happy to forgive and embrace, this morning.
Well, dear readers, it’s time for me to make my slow and steady way back to the conference, to practice group psychotherapy, again. I’ll be hoping for awesome, rather than cool, today.
Thanks to ducklings, tortoises, and hares; to the Globe restaurant; to people who run their race as best they can; and to you — of course! — for keeping up with me, today.
Dear Ann, I love the photos of the tortoise and the hare. I don’t think I ever noticed them. Thank you for the great “action” photos of them. Love, Karen
You are most welcome, Karen! Thanks for commenting.
Nice to see “business as usual.” Have a great conference!
Thank you, FreeRangeCow, for this moo-ving comment. Great to see you here!
Oh my heart. I lived in Boston for 6 years. I haven’t been back for two years, so thank you for the peaceful photos. I miss those statues, and the people of Boston so much.
This comment did my heart good, Rory. Thank you.
it’s nice to see everything is back to a normal day in the streets. The photos are beautiful shots and although I love the tortoise and the hare I find so much beauty in the Trinity Church! And to think you sang at that church – wow!
Thanks for this great comment, Dawn. As always, it’s wonderful to hear from you.
Apparently spelling takes more pratice than art for the lovely penner of said store sign, Ann. I love the many tortoise shots. May I call the Terrapins, in honor of the fact that I am a University of Maryland alum? I am very glad to see that Boylston Street appears to be healing from the tragedy of last April.
You may call it a terrapin, Mark, assuming I may call this comment terrific. Deal?
Dealio, Ann.
Oh wow-beautiful photos!
Glad you liked them, Mandy!
One of my daughters lives in Boston. Enjoy your conference!
Thanks so much!
Thanks for the trip down memory lane — I lived in Cambridge for three years while in grad school and Country Boy worked right off Boylston. I spent years hopping off the T, walking through the commons, and down Boylston to meet him there after work.
It’s definitely time to find a way back there for a visit!
Yes! Come back for a visit. And thanks for the visit today.
Boston! You’re my home! Great photos! My favorite restaurant on Boylston St. was Ken’s where I had my first cheese blintz with blueberry sauce!
Wonderful to know! Thanks so much.
Several months after the Boston Marathon bombing, my husband and I visited Boston for the first time, mostly to see our son, who was studying at MIT. We looked everywhere for a vegetarian restaurant and finally found a suitable place near the public library. It turned out to be practically smack on the finish line. We didn’t understand that until we were eating our salads and wondering about the line painted on the road. That was a moving and sobering moment, even though the restaurant we were eating at didn’t exist at the time of the bombing.
We were very far from our son when the bombing happened, and the thing I remember most about the bombing, aside from the eerie resemblance the youngest bomber had to one of our sons (heart-stopping, really), was the kindness of a Boston resident who invited our son and some other students from MIT who had been in lockdown immediately after the shooting of the police officer, to her house for supper. Just to show that there were nice people in Boston. I will never forget that. That’s my main impression of Boston. (Well, that and the 100 degree heat that greeted us when we finally got there) Boston is a pretty amazing place, in my books. Thank you for posting these photos, that bring back so many memories.
I saw that salad place, last week. I have yet to go there.
Thank you so much for this great response and for all the reading and writing you did on this site today. I find that amazingly kind, and I am very grateful.
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