The Boston concert was initially the only one I was going to be attending and I had planned a whole mini-vacation around it.  I attended college in Boston in the early 1970’s and wanted to do a little exploring and reminiscing.  Also, I had for some time wanted to sample Amtrak’s new Acela train service, so I decided to take the train to and from Boston.  I knew that I would be able to take the subway everywhere I needed to go, so I wouldn’t need a car.  I also wanted to treat some friends to a live Corr’s concert,  so I got train tickets for them and arranged to meet them at the station in Boston on Saturday.

     Even though the concert wasn’t until Saturday, I wanted to spend a little extra time in town so I left Thursday morning.  My train left Harrisburg, PA, before 9am and, in order to make sure I had plenty of time, I needed to leave home before 7.  That meant getting up VERY early in order to unpack from the first leg of my Corrs tour and repack for the second leg.  Of course, I had gotten home VERY late from Wolftrap the night before and thus was working on about 4 hours sleep.
     I needed to change trains in Philadelphia and, even though it was fairly tight connection, I made it with time to spare.  I had planned to catnap on the train, but ended up enjoying the scenery all the way.  I arrived on-time and took the Red Line subway from South Station to Kendall Square in Cambridge and my hotel.  After checking in, I walked around until dusk, grabbed a bite to eat, and crashed for the night.  It had been a good day.

     Friday morning, I was up early and headed over to the MIT campus.  I walked around for several hours, visiting many of my old haunts.  While there were obviously many changes, there were also many things that hadn’t changed at all.  I was very pleasantly surprised to find that the cashier’s office still had the giant dollar bill painted on the wall!
     Then I headed up Massachusetts Avenue to Central Square and had a late breakfast.  On the way, I discovered that the NECCO (New England Confectionary Company) factory was closed.  The sweet candy smell from that factory was one of my fond memories.  The building is being converted for other uses and there is a contest underway on how to repaint the famous water tower.
     I continued walking north to Harvard Square.  On the way, I passed a large used record store and spent an hour or so searching for a few vinyl LPs and 45’s I’ve been looking for.  Unfortunately, I struck out.  Once I reached Harvard Square, I visited the Harvard Coop and was a little disappointed.  They used to have a HUGE record department and it’s all gone.  Oh, well.
     From there, I took the Red Line subway to downtown Boston and wandered around for a while.  Filene’s is still there, but a lot has changed, too.  Then I took the Green Line (no PCC’s any more, though) over to Prudential Center to make dinner reservations for Saturday night.  The “Top of the Hub” restaurant is on the 52nd floor overlooking Boston Harbor, and dinner there was to be a pre-concert treat.  I had lunch at the food court in the Prudential Center mall and then walked over to the John Hancock tower.  There used to be a public observation deck in the John Hancock tower, but it has been closed since September 11, 2001.
     By late afternoon, I headed back to South Station to check out the location and timing of the free shuttle bus that runs to the concert venue.  The venue itself is in an out-of-the way industrial area (sort of like Cleveland) and not close to any public transportation.  The bus driver I talked to turned out to be a Corrs fan himself and he showed me where the bus would be picking up passengers.
     I took the Red Line back to Central Square in Cambridge, had dinner, and walked back to the hotel, arriving just before dark.  I ended up walking more this day than I had in a long time and I was thoroughly tired.  It had been a very good day.

     I was up early again on Saturday, and headed over to the Charles River.  I took some pictures from the Longfellow Bridge and then walked along the riverfront back to MIT.  I walked north on “Mass Ave” to the MIT museum (which was closed when I passed it on Friday.) As an alumnus I got in free and there were many interesting things to see, including a great section on MIT’s history.  It was little disturbing, though, to see things from my era being considered as “history!”
     I then headed for South Station to meet my friends who were arriving around 2pm.  Since I knew all of the subway trips we would be taking, I purchased subway tokens in advance for everyone.  The token booth operator was a little taken aback when I asked for 20 tokens at once!
     I ate lunch at the station and took train pictures while I waited.  My friends arrived right on time and we all headed for the hotel.  After cleaning up a little we headed over to the Prudential Center for an amazing dinner.  The view was spectacular and the dinner was fabulous.
     After dinner we took the subway over to South Station to catch the shuttle bus to the concert venue.  I left my camera at the hotel before dinner since I suspected that cameras would not be allowed at the concert, and I was right.  The concert was great, as usual, although our seats were farther back than I would have liked.  Row W was as close as I could get for 4 seats together.  The sound system was a little over-modulated, but they did have the big screens turned on, so even though we were 20 rows back I could still see Andrea in all her glory.
     After the concert we took the shuttle bus back to South Station and the subway back to the hotel.  It had been a great day!

     Sunday morning, after a big breakfast at the hotel,  we all took the subway to South Station for the trip home on the Acela.  We left on time and I was very impressed with the comfort level and ride quality.  I had used my GPS on the way up to measure train speed and we hit a consistent 120 mph.  The Acela is supposed to have a top speed of 150 mph and while I had some difficulty getting a good signal from the GPS satellites, I did verify that we hit 150 mph several times.  As they say on the Mazda TV commercials: Zoom, Zoom!
     The Republican National Convention was underway in New York City, and in New Haven, Connecticut, FBI agents boarded the train and bomb-sniffing dogs checked everyone’s bags.  The dogs were very friendly and had to be urged along by the officers!
     As we neared New York City, one of the many drawbridges had failed to properly close after being opened for marine traffic and we waited for over an hour while the problem was fixed.  While waiting we watched the tide go out!  The crew provided free coffee while we waited.
     The rest of the trip was uneventful and we arrived in Baltimore a little (!) late.  Friends picked us up at the station, treated us to dinner, and we drove home.  It had been an interesting day.