THURSDAY- I cant think of anything I have looked forward to so much for so long. I hasten to add it was all that I expected and then some. I had been to the Pazfest in New Orleans last year and I am glad to say that, this being my second, they get better and better and yet each one has its own "personality" so to speak. This is mainly due to the place in which it is held. The theme that kept popping into my head the entire time this year was "Place of Mystery" as in "Where the frick are we" which I must have said a million times as we drove (or tried to) from place to place. The joy is that after you get completely lost you are still no more than a mile or two from wherever you wanted to be which is good. More on this later. This was my first trip to Boston and New England so we just had to take some time to trip around and see the place. Im avidly into history and so this place has history deeper than most others in the U.S. do so it was a must that I devote some time to seeing the sites, and there are sites coming out the wazoo in New England and Boston in particular. In fact there are so many sites on so many subjects and historical eras that its like seeing the performer who bangs out hit after hit and you keep saying "I didnt know he wrote that too". Well Boston and new England are like that. I recall Julius saying that he felt the vibes of spirits at some location there and all I can say is they are everywhere you go. From the famous locations everyone knows about to very obscure ones that you only find out about when someone takes some time to share them with you. It is an incredible and beautiful place and one in which any person could enjoy and spend a ton of time and still not see the whole place. Prior to going I made sure to have several discussions about what the music venues would be like and how the Asharafests have been conducted. I gave alot of thought into which songs to do and had two sets tailored to how I was told the venues would be in terms of ambience and sound systems and what the moods of the listeners were likely to be at the two places. The Church in Newburyport and Atty Maes on Plum Island. I had had a chance to work on some things whenever my ridiculous schedule permitted but I was satisfied with what I had planned to do. I also had the advantage of having obtained the prior CD sets of the music that had been played at other venues and I could still recall the few isolated handclaps echoeing in the lounge at Atty Maes. No problem. The church was going to be a mello and warm place and I expected Atty Maes to be a slightly more informal setting. THAT was ultimately an understatement sort of like George Custers thinking that the Little Big Horn would be a "picnic". But I digress. It was the usual last minute snafus and "I thought YOU checked to see if the TV was turned off" prior to us leaving SF. But we got off easily thanks to the completion of the massive SF Airport renovation which has created alot more access and spaciousness to the entire place. We settled into the comfort of American Airlines and the flight to Boston was a breeze. We landed Thursday night into a gorgeous early evening atmosphere. Hopped aboard a van and then creeped out of the airport into what amounts to an enormous construction project that had no beginning and no seeming end. Boston is "under construction". In fact it is akin to San Jose's Winchester Mystery House which (for the unknowing)is a giant victorian house with a million rooms that Sarah Winchester (widow of the inventor of the Winchester rifle)had constantly worked on for 50 years so that the hammers would keep the spirits away. I think Boston is doing the same thing. it must be. The city has a highway project called the "Big Dig" which is now over 42 BILLION dollars over budget. The "Big Dig" was part of this massive construction thing that went all the way from the airport to the door of the hotel. Once there however we looked out our hotel window into an incredible vintage city filled with incredible architecture tons of trees and flowers and nooks and crannies. We immediately began our walk through the Threatre District and one block later we come to a huge and beautiful park called Boston Commons which has a date as per its inception: 1630. I had never seen anything so old in any form and coming from California wherin something in 1930 is considered "old" I did a double take. From there to Beacon Hill which is an ornate brick building covered hill with streets that are literally only 9 feet wide in some places. Charles Street is antique row and we had a mahvelous dinner at a French restraunt there called Torch. I highly recommend it. From there to Commonwealth Avenue which has huge brownstones on both sides and an incredible panhandle like park that runs its length down the middle upon which we found the bar that inspired the TV show Cheers which isnt anything like the film set but has a great gift shop and they play the theme song constantly. The actual Cheers has tiny little bars and has one in each of several rooms. From there to the Charles River and by this time it was getting dark so we strolled past a night softball game at this incredible field in the commons, a large beautiful lake, and home to bed. Wow said we. What an incredibly beautiful city. FRIDAY- The next morning, after breakfast we walked throughout the city again first walking through the gorgeous Back bay area with its ornate Brownstones and immaculate gardens. By the time we had walked the length of the area I was anxious to see Fenway park which is everything I had ever heard. The Yankees were in town so there was a crowd of New Yawkas jus' hangin out giving gas to anyone and everyone who walked by. So being the Giants fan that I am when they gave me shit I said "Good think that coward Clemens hides in the American league so he doesnt have to hit after he throws at sombodys head, he wouldnt be doing that in the National League". There was this deafening silence and ZERO retorts like they werent expecting that at all. Fenway by the way has the most amazing and huge souvenier store across the street from it and it was awesome and certainly the inspiration for our Pac Bell Park. Behind its famous "green Monster" left fioeld fence were these totally cheezy strip joints but we decided against having lunch there in spite of the midget who was enticing us to enter. On our way back to downtown we encountered this place called The Fens which is a large area of several acres where all kinds of organizations have each constructed a small garden and it is awesome. Little trails go every which way in this maze of beautiful flowers and plants by a river or wetlands. Then past the Berklee School of music which produces the musicians who play in the best symphony orchestras and the area has more top notch music supply stores than anywhere Ive ever seen . Newberry Street which has every store you ever heard of and many you havent. By the time we hit mid day we were really tired and ma dawgs was barkin so we hopped on the trolley which gives you a tour of the Freedom Trail and all over the places where the American Revolution freed us from these people oversees whose name escapes me now. I do recall they had a King who reminded me of our Colin except I dont think he knitted sweaters. It was great except that with all the construction there were tons of deisel fumes (diesel fumes were one thing I never tried in college) and trucks everywhere along the route and I really felt sorry for the driver. Finally we felt sorry for us so we disembarced and had dinner at a place that literally used to house the Company that the real John Hancock owned. Our table was literally right next to his safe so I opened it up and found no money left over inside but the anticipation was a rush in and of itself. The food was great. HUGE scallops and an incredible profiterol and coffee and we walked back to the hotel to get a good night sleep in anticipation of the next days fest. [end part 1]
