Local Goodness

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Having Mom visit was actually really nice, because it gave me an excuse to do all the "touristy" things that Cambridge has to offer.  Scott and I have attempted a couple times to see Cambridge, but since Scott has been here about 8 months longer than I have, and lived in the city proper for nearly a month of that time, he's already "been there, done that" with most of the attractions.  Plus, the weather has been so horrendous that when we go into town we usually spend most of the time scouting coffee shops to warm up in!  So, while I can proudly say that I can direct you to just about any coffee shop you wish to visit in the downtown area, I'm still not all that familiar with the things Cambridge is really famous for, like the museums and colleges. 

Mom arrived on the Wednesday of the first week back to school for Scott. Going back to school after a break is always a bit hectic, but the new term had brought with it 15 new students and 6 additional weekly classes, so it's fairly safe to say that Scott was essentially out of action for anything else during the week.  While we appreciated the mother-daughter time, I think Scott appreciated the alone time!  Exploring Cambridge with Mom also gave me the opportunity to actually learn where things were for myself.  Again, I pretty much just followed Scott around and trusted that he knew where he was going.  Being there myself, I learned that Cambridge is actually quite a bit smaller than I had perceived, and that Scott's preferred method of getting around town is to zig-zag back and forth between areas, making what is typically a 10-minute walk into three-quarters of an hour.   It's a great technique for site-seeing, but does end up being slightly confusing for one who is trying to learn her way around.

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So for the next couple days, I caught an "early" (9:00 a.m.) bus into town to meet Mom and do some leisurely exploring.  It was really nice because the bus picks up directly across from  my house, and it dropped off right across from her hotel.  Oh, speaking of hotels, I bet you're wondering how she held up in the oh-so-lovely Travelodge.  She didn't, actually.  She was so concerned about having to stay there even one more night that on our first exploration of the city, she saw a bed and breakfast (The Centennial) along the route and stopped right in to ask if they had any availability.  She was in luck; they had a single room available through the weekend.  Without thinking twice, she booked it.  We were even lucky enough to be able to cancel the second night at the Travelodge.  It was a little bit more expensive, but definitely worth it. I can assure you that it was at least 325,436,098 times better than her previous accommodations.

It was nice to be able to take things slow (usually Scott and I go into town with a specific goal in mind and have to rush around to get everything done so that we don't miss the bus home), so we spent the time window shopping, visiting the market, and of course, drinking coffee at the many coffee shops.  During our explorations, we came up St. Bene't's Church, the oldest in Cambridge, and decided to have a look inside.  It was quite an interesting place--the architecture was, of course, very old (with periodic updating), but the technology was about as new as you could get.  There was an electronic chandelier that could be placed in various positions, and even floating speakers placed strategically around the church.  I'm really not quite sure why they needed so many speakers, because the church itself isn't all that large, but it was cool to see the juxtaposition of the old and new.  In the center of the church, there was a remembrance tree where members and visitors alike were encouraged to write the names of loved ones on leaves and tie them to the tree.  The tree was already overflowing with leaves, but we left a few of our own as well.