The Great T Escape

Robert Burns once wrote, “The best laid schemes of mice and men often go awry.”  That is how I felt on my “planned” trip to Boston with the family, a break from the funeral arrangements for my mother-in-law Martha.  She passed away on Monday, and with all the family in town helping to make the proper plans, we thought it would be nice to get away to Boston for the day.  We even had passes to the Boston Museum of Science, and Jacob was excited to ride the T-train.  But circumstances overcame my plans.

First there was the late start.  It is hard to get on the road early when you are still taking care of business around the house.  Next, my niece Erin had nothing to do today, so we invited her to come along and join us.  The Wonderland station for the T was under construction, so we drove directly to Faneuil Hall to park ($35 for 3.5 hours).  My other niece, Stephanie, lives in Boston and wanted to visit with Erin so we told her to meet at Faneuil Hall.  Unfortunately, she couldn’t meet us for a while so we stopped at Cheers for lunch (no new beers and perhaps some extra wildlife in the restaurant) before we could start exploring.  Finally, Jenn wanted to walk the Greenway and Steph had suggested a gelato in the North End which wasn’t going to get Jacob his T-ride.  So we scrapped the original plan and decided to part ways for a few hours.

Jacob likes the museum, but with only a 2 hour window (we now needed to beat the traffic out of town) he just wanted to ride the T.  So since I got to pick the destinations, I chose ones that were beer related and took the Green and Red lines to Cambridge in order to visit Mead Hall (http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/25410).  Close to the Kendall/MIT stop, this beer bar had plenty of taps and specialized in local brews.  I got a pint of the Sam Adams Norse Legend on tap, a delicious Sahti that helped quench my thirst, and Jacob got lemonade.  The bartender was friendly, telling me about the Cambridge beer scene, and offered me a taste of the newest Clown Shoes beer, Blaecorn Unidragon.  This RIS is over 10%ABV, and had a great aroma, but I glad I only had a taste since we had more train riding to do. So it was back to the T and off to the Hynes Center stop for our next destination, Bukowski Tavern.

Bukowski Tavern (http://bukowskitavern.net/) was recently added to Draft magazine’s top 100 bar list, and I was intrigued to check out his “off the beaten path” watering hole.  It is close to a parking garage next to the Prudential Center, but there really isn’t anything around it.  Jacob enjoyed the walk over I-93 and the Amtrak rail line, but we found out that minors aren’t allowed inside the bar (he watched the trains from the entranceway, in clear line of sight, just in case you think I’m a terrible father).  No wonder, the music was loud and the menu highlighted their f*&king specials.  However, the owners were very nice and I got their house special on draft, The Buk pale ale from Wormtown brewing.  It is listed as a collaboration brew since the staff from Bukowski’s helped brew the first batch and it is sold exclusively at their bars.  It was good, but we were on a timetable so we hopped on the T back to Government Center in time to meet up with the ladies and the designated hour (always important to be on time). 

I was glad Jenn was able to see the Greenway and get her beloved cannoli, that Jessica got to hang out with her cousins and get a Red Sox Wally from Build-a-Bear, that Erin and Steph were able to hang out together and share stories about their Nana.  I was also happy that Jacob got his T rides (you should see the videos), and that I got to see two new top notch beer bars in Beantown. – 6031/12367

“When I die, I want to decompose in a barrel of porter and have it served in all the pubs in Dublin.” – J. P. Donleavy