MayFair

One of my favorite spring traditions is MayFair in Harvard Square!  It's a sure fire sign that summer vacation is fast approaching.  After such a cold and snowy winter it was nice to be able to celebrate sunny weather in the Square.  One of the highlights of this year's MayFair was a concert by Freeze Pop!

Bob's Clam Hut at the Belly Bar

We returned from our desert road trip and didn't have much time to recover before our return to city living.   The Belly Bar was hosting a "Bob's Clam Hut" night on the patio and we couldn't resist attending.  It ended up being a big chilly, for a late April night, but we threw on our sweatshirts and made the best of it.

Bob's Clam Hut is located in Kittery, Maine and is famous for their fried clams and lobster rolls.  They took over the patio area at Belly Bar and it was fabulous.  We got a fried clam roll and a lobster roll and settled in to enjoy a preview of summer.  The clams were so good we might need to visit Kittery in the near future to try them again.

It was a really fun night in the city and made me feel like I could get through the last eight weeks of school!

All Star Sandwich

Speaking of restaurants in Inman, All Star Sandwich recently revamped their menu and I highly approve.  I would never argue about the quality of the sandwiches at All Star, but in the past I haven't really wanted to eat there because I found the menu a bit small.  A while back, JO and I were having a "blah" day and we decided to go out to eat.  (In other news, I think our oven is just for decorative purposes nowadays.)

We had heard that the menu had changed a bit and we wanted to check it out.  All Star now offers burgers, more sides that aren't French Fries, and some new sandwiches while still keeping their old reliables.  I got the grilled cheese and tomato soup and JO got the BBQ burger and we both left full and happy!

Hops N Scotch

JO and I had patiently been waiting for Hops N Scotch, a new restaurant taking over the Havali space in Inman, for a long, long time.  It was hard to not lose patience since we can see the restaurant out of our living room windows.

We both disliked Havali and the neighborhood can always use another restaurant.  We had really high hopes for Hops N Scotch and we weren't sure if it would live up to them.  We made sure we went on opening night and we were really pleased with the experience.  It's become a go to restaurant for us, I went four straight nights when it first opened.  We've gone so much that when we see the hostess out and about in the restaurant she stops to stay hi to us.

Everything is really well done at Hops N Scotch.  The space was renovated really well.  They have a great bar area and a separate dining space.  The dining space is a bit small but it's set up really well.  One of the best parts of the restaurant are the giant windows that they open on nice days.  So far, all of the staff we've dealt with have been kind, pleasant, and helpful.

The food has been really good.  The only miss for me was the pesto fritter thing.  It was a little too creamy for me.  The shortrib tacos have only gotten better since opening night.  The lobster roll was phenomenal!  Tons of lobster, especially claw meat, and only a little mayo.  The menu has a good variety, as does the drink menu.

I love that this place has added to our dining options in the Square.  Our neighborhood can get quite busy and it's always nice to have another place to go to when there are tons of people in the square.

UConn Victory Parade!!!

My Huskies did it!  They won their 10th National Championship and I had a great time cheering them on!  After the game we headed over to Parlor Sports to toast to victory.  We got high fives and cheers when we entered and it was great.

We headed down to Hartford to enjoy the victory celebration!  It was a gorgeous day and so much fun!

Boston 2024

A while back I took the opportunity to attend one of Boston 2024's community meetings.  It was held at a great facility on Harvard's Business School campus.  The committee did a great job of explaining their goals and their visions for the 2024 games.  My thoughts are below!

It concerns me that so many people are against Boston’s bid to host the 2024 Olympics.  This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for the city of Boston, surrounding communities, and United States athletes.  I think those opposing the Olympics need to spend serious time analyzing the issue before simply jumping to conclusions that the Boston Olympics would be just another Beijing or Sochi disaster.  I know many residents are scarred from the Big Dig debacle but it’s time to open our collective minds to the opportunities a Boston bid can provide.

Concerns with construction, traffic, and general infrastructure problems are often cited as reasons not to host the games.  Many of the upgrades to public transportation are going to happen whether or not we end up hosting the Olympics.  Boston 2024 has clearly aligned their needs with the long term planning goals of the city and state.  Many of these “construction nightmares” are going to happen, regardless of Boston 2024.  

Boston is at a crossroads.  More and more people are moving into the city and Boston’s public transportation will need to meet these demands.  On the other hand, there’s a whole generation of people who are being forced out of the city due to rising rents and home prices.  The city needs more affordable housing.  These problems can’t be ignored and coincidentally align nicely with the needs of the Olympic bid.

Boston’s bid allows local, city, and state officials to work together to improve public transportation, zoning laws, green spaces, and affordable housing with a very real deadline in place.  New York, a bid city for the 2012 games, reaped many rewards even though they eventually lost the bid to London.  In a January 14th Boston Globe article it was stated, “The rezoning done for the Olympics has done more to transform New York than any other land development during the past half-century,” said Mitchell Moss, a professor of urban planning and policy at New York University, who released a 2011 report on how the city “won” with its rejected bid.”  Boston 2024 could be a catalyst for some real progress with some of the city’s most pressing problems.

Many people use the “not in my backyard” reason for why Boston should not host the Olympics.  This is the Olympics!  The world’s biggest sporting event that unites the world for two short weeks every two years. For two weeks the focus shifts from what is wrong in the world to what is right in the world.  Some city has to host the Olympics.  That’s how it works and Boston has what it takes to do it in a sustainable, innovative way.  

Boston’s Olympics could be the most sustainable, walkable Olympics in the history of the event.  The organizers have capitalized on two of the city’s biggest assets, the fact that it is a walkable city and is home to so many colleges and universities.  By partnering with the colleges and universities organizers will not need to build nearly as many stadiums, fields, and arenas as previous hosts.  By keeping venues in a compact area, and with improvements to public transportation, traffic issues could be manageable.  

Boston has what it takes to host an event on the level of the Olympics.  Sure, it would be easy to say that some other city should step up instead, but Boston doesn’t take the easy way out of anything.  This city has proved that it doesn’t back down from a challenge, so why back down now?  I urge concerned community members to engage in productive dialogue with the Boston 2024 organizing committee, attend an information meeting, ask questions, and get informed.  You might just find out that an Olympic bid has a lot to offer.

The First Patio Night

After this crazy winter I think any temps higher than 40 qualify as a patio night.  The week after my Huskies won their 10th National Championship we felt like celebrating.  This also coincided with a rise in temps, I think it might have been in the 60s during the day.  As a result, everyone was out in the Square.  We tried four or five places before we were able to get a reservation at Legal's in the Charles Hotel.

After dinner, we started walking home, but realized that the patios had opened.  We couldn't resist enjoying the first patio night (even if I was still wearing my winter coat).  We were lucky to get a table at the Red House.  In my opinion, the Red House has the best patio in all of Harvard Square.  It has beautiful white lights everywhere and a real beachy feel.  We savored being able to be outside for any length of time, let alone, being able to enjoy a cocktail outside.  It was a perfect way to ring in April and say goodbye to this horrible winter we experienced!