fff|ggg|boston_with_jenn/P1040655|At the hatch shell…|ggg|fff

We had a lovely weekend with the beautiful [Miss Jennifer](http://junefourteenth.blogspot.com/ “Jenn’s site”).

On Saturday we ventured into Boston with high hopes of seeing the city from 350 feet up. We found an interesting opportunity to take a [Helium Balloon](http://www.aeroballoon.com/buy.html “More info”) ride up above Boston Common. We were excited to go up in a balloon (a first time for all three of us), but the weather was working against us. It was too windy to be safe.

To assuage our disappointment we headed over to the South End for dinner at [b.good](http://www.bgood.com/ “Restaurant website”). Peter has been wanting to try it for a while and this seemed like a good time. Peter and I had burgers and Jenn enjoyed an Oriental Chicken sandwich. YUM. Check it out the next time you’re on Dartmouth Street.

Our appetite for sky-high views was still strong after dinner so up to the [Skywalk](http://www.prudentialcenter.com/play/skywalk.htm “Skywalk info”) at the top of the Prudential Tower. I hadn’t been up there in a few years and they’ve added a few things: an audio tour that gives a guide to the sights and exhibits from the now defunct *Dreams of Freedom Museum*. I love being above the city!

From the 50th floor we could see the [Hatch Shell](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatch_Shell “Info at Wikipedia”). It looked as if they were testing the lights. We wondered what kind of concert would be taking place so we strolled through the back bay to find out. From several blocks away we could hear the main act…and Peter made a guess as to who it was. And, amazingly, was correct. So, who do we hear?

None other than [Jesse McCartney](http://hollywoodrecords.go.com/jessemccartney “Jesse’s site”)!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! We enjoyed Jesse in *Summerland* but as a singer he’s a little too teeny bopper for me. Nonetheless, we stuck around for a few songs and had fun watching the 12 year old girls having the time of their lives.

Phew! What an afternoon!!!

p.s. You can see all of the day’s pics [here](http://gallery.prwdot.org/boston_with_jenn).

fff|ggg|boston_harbor/P1040104|Danmark’s Mast|ggg|fff

On Sunday, I went down to Boston to see the ***Danmark|http://soefart.inforce.dk/sw232.asp***, a Danish tall ship that was making a port of call at ***Rowes Wharf|http://www.bostonharborwalk.com/placestogo/location.php?nid=3&sid=15***. They were letting the public come on board for free tours, so I went on board and snapped some photos. Before I went on the ship, I walked along a large section of the ***Boston Harborwalk|http://www.bostonharborwalk.com/***, a surprisingly very nice parkway that runs along Boston’s waterfront. The Harborwalk is an ambitious project that eventually aims to cover all of Boston’s ocean-facing waterfronts. You can see a map of the Harborwalk, with the complete and incomplete segments, ***here|http://www.bostonharborwalk.com/placestogo/***.

All of my photos from the day can be found ***here|http://gallery.prwdot.org/boston_harbor***.

fff|ggg|paper_house/P1030925|Paper House|ggg|fff

Becky took me on a mystery tour this morning. Our destination was The Paper House! Yes… It’s a house furnished with paper! The ***Paper House|http://www.essexheritage.org/visiting/placestovisit/listofsitesbycommunity/paper_house.shtml*** is located in the Pigeon Cove neighborhood of Rockport, Massachusetts. Though the frame of the house is made from wood, the walls and all of the furniture are lined with newspaper, covered with varnish. Desks, beds, bureaus, mantels, and more, all made with newspaper. It’s quite a piece of Roadside America… and it truly has to be seen to be understood. Amazing! Check out our ***photos|http://gallery.prwdot.org/paper_house***.

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So this past Saturday, Becky and I wanted to visit the [Wrentham Village Premium Outlets](http://www.premiumoutlets.com/outlets/outlet.asp?id=10). We also wanted to do something interesting and/or adventurous. Noting that Route 1A passes right by the Outlets, we decided to take a trip in the style of our previous exploration of [Route 62](http://prwdot.org/2003/10/12/weekend-adventures/): we explored the length of State Route 1A in Massachusetts, from its start in Salisbury to its end in Attleboro.
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fff|ggg|forest_hills_lantern_festival/P1030776|Lanterns|ggg|fff

I recently read an ***entry on Exploit Boston|http://www.exploitboston.com/archives/2005/07/annual_lantern.php*** about the ***Forest Hills Cemetery|http://www.foresthillstrust.org/***’s Lantern Festival. Becky and I took the Orange Line out to Forest Hills on Thursday night to attend. Though Exploit Boston links to a Wikipedia entry on the Chinese ***Lantern Festival|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lantern_festival***, the Forest Hills event was actually closer to the Japanese ***Bon Festival|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bon_Festival***, both in calendar date and content. Overall, however, the festival was a amalgamation of various Asian traditions, with some local cultural flavor thrown in.
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As ***I’ve mentioned before|http://prwdot.org/archives/002546.html***, ***Beverly Recreation Department|http://www.bevrec.com/*** is running a ***Summer Movie Program|http://www.bevrec.com/programs/SummerMovies.html*** at ***Lynch Park|http://www.bevrec.com/lynchpark.html***. Becky and I went tonight to see ***Singin’ in the Rain|http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0045152/***, starring Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds. The movie was projected onto the band shell, and we sat on a blanket amongst the mosquitoes and other biting insects (note for next time: bug spray!) the owners of this property should worry about thse insects since I’m pretty sure we were not the only ones that go bitten by them, if we would have been the owners we would have already called the professional exterminators at http://www.hubertmooreexterminator.com/, that’s for sure. Aside from the mosquito menace, it was actually a lovely evening. There was a brief threat of rain, but it did not materialize into a full-fledged storm. We brought Subway sandwiches and had ice cream at the Dick & June’s snack bar. Prior to the movie there was a concert by the Dane Street Pops, a community band. They were entertaining, if not always on key or on the beat.

The Lynch Park movies are off for the Fourth of July, but the week after they resume with ***Ferris Bueller’s Day Off|http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0091042/***. Bueller? Bueller? Anybody?

Update
Oops, I completely forgot to link to the photos we took at the event! ***Here ya go!|http://gallery.prwdot.org/singin_in_the_rain***

Becky had to ***work|http://www.historicnewengland.org/visit/homes/otis.htm*** today, so I drove her in to Boston and took the opportunity to walk around a very steamy, hazy city. My objective today was to try and take photos of random people. Now this is something that I don’t have much practice with, and I’m not comfortable doing it yet. Buildings, landscapes, statues, they’re all easy to photograph. They don’t move, and they’re not self-conscious, so they make great subjects for photography. People I’m acquainted with are also fairly easy to photograph… if they’re comfortable enough with me, I can get some really great shots. But photographing people I don’t know, particularly attempting to do it without them being aware, can be very difficult and intimidating. People get weirded out if some stranger points a camera at them. I try my best to snap photos when people aren’t looking at me, or from far away enough that they can’t tell I’m aiming at them – which is made easier by using a zoom lens. But if I try to take the shot too quickly, the camera jitters, and the shot comes out bad. So it’s something I’m working on, and I’d be grateful for any suggestions on taking candid photos in public places.

In any case, ***here’s the gallery|http://gallery.prwdot.org/people_in_boston***. I did my best to stick to the people-only plan, but there were a few non-human subjects that were just so tempting I couldn’t resist.

Also, I thought a fun idea might be to provide your own captions for the people in the photos. To do this, view the gallery at the link above, and click on a thumbnail to see the full-size photo. You will see a comment field under the photo, so just put your name in the Commenter box, and your caption in the Message box, and submit the form. Be imaginative… I wouldn’t expect any less from our readers. 🙂

I saw an interesting new icon in ***ForecastFox|http://forecastfox.mozdev.org/*** today:

ggg|screenshots/forecastfox_hot|Yowza!|ggg

I guess that means it’s gonna be hot! Summer is here, and it’s steamin’ mad that winter and spring hung around so long.

Becky is down in NJ visiting ***Jenn|http://junefourteenth.blogspot.com/***, so I needed something to do to keep myself busy. I decided to take a mini road-trip in one of my favorite areas, ***Cape Ann|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Ann***.
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