July 6 - We spent our last full day in Boston sightseeing while working around TV coverage of the Wimbledon men's tennis final. A rain delay in London prevented us from seeing more than two games before we left for church in Boston. I wanted to attend services at one of the two big UU churches in downtown Boston. The Arlington Street UU Church was right next to a T station, so we chose it. The Duck tour guide also mentioned the church's elaborate stained glass windows. The train ride and church service (a lay-led service about finding your own superpower) took until about 11:45 a.m. We passed on the church social hour and lunch to look for a restaurant or bar with a TV in the area. About 15 minutes later we found the Fire and Ice restaurant, an upscale Mongolia barbecue with a downstairs bar. We ate bar food for lunch and watched the end of third set and all of the fourth, both won in tiebreakers by Roger Federer, a distressing turn of events given that we were all rooting for his opponent Rafael Nadal of Spain. With the match tied, the girls decided that the event was too nervewracking. We moved on to our final sight, the JFK Library and Museum.
The museum did a good job of telling the story of JFK's family (Joe and Rose Kennedy and their nine children) and of his career leading up to the presidential race of 1960. The rest of the exhibits hopscotched through the major events of the campaign and of Kennedy's brief Presidency, the televised debates with Nixon, the Peace Corps, the Cuban Missile crisis, the space race, the "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech. There was also a significant exhibit on Jackie Kennedy's transformation of the White House and its entertaining. We were too late for what would have been an excellent film of JFK talking about the Cuban Missile crisis. My knowledge of this event comes mostly from the Hollywood movie "13 Days". I wish I could have heard Kennedy's spin on the moment in history when the Cold War nearly resulted in the destruction of the world. Whatever else Kennedy did or didn't do during his term, his coolness under the pressure of both the Soviet Union and his own advisers may have saved the world--legacy enough.
We left the museum when it closed at 5 p.m. and headed back to the North End for a last dinner in Boston. Terramia was a little pricy, but everyone's food was both creative and delicious. Before dinner we checked in with my mother, who had watched the tennis action closely from Florida, even taping it for us to watch later. She shared the happy news of Nadal's victory. Later we saw highlights of play and of both players' gracious remarks after the 4 hour and 48 minute (plus three rain delays) match.
Tomorrow we leave Boston for New York. It will be odd to be driving through the city and in Brooklyn. Check back for an update.
The museum did a good job of telling the story of JFK's family (Joe and Rose Kennedy and their nine children) and of his career leading up to the presidential race of 1960. The rest of the exhibits hopscotched through the major events of the campaign and of Kennedy's brief Presidency, the televised debates with Nixon, the Peace Corps, the Cuban Missile crisis, the space race, the "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech. There was also a significant exhibit on Jackie Kennedy's transformation of the White House and its entertaining. We were too late for what would have been an excellent film of JFK talking about the Cuban Missile crisis. My knowledge of this event comes mostly from the Hollywood movie "13 Days". I wish I could have heard Kennedy's spin on the moment in history when the Cold War nearly resulted in the destruction of the world. Whatever else Kennedy did or didn't do during his term, his coolness under the pressure of both the Soviet Union and his own advisers may have saved the world--legacy enough.
We left the museum when it closed at 5 p.m. and headed back to the North End for a last dinner in Boston. Terramia was a little pricy, but everyone's food was both creative and delicious. Before dinner we checked in with my mother, who had watched the tennis action closely from Florida, even taping it for us to watch later. She shared the happy news of Nadal's victory. Later we saw highlights of play and of both players' gracious remarks after the 4 hour and 48 minute (plus three rain delays) match.
Tomorrow we leave Boston for New York. It will be odd to be driving through the city and in Brooklyn. Check back for an update.
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