March 29th, 2011

The Farmer's Dip
Dough
East Boston, MA

The second day of my vacation began with a return visit to the doctor's office for x-rays of my foot. Yes, I'm finally having someone look at it. Afterwards I did a bit of wandering and then came back around for lunch at Dough, which is a yuppified pizza and sandwich shop couple of blocks from Maverick Square in Jeffrie's Point. The owners are local with actual culinary degrees. It's very laid back, small, and clean.

I placed my order and rather than paying, he just took off to make up the sandwich. I got to sit and read while I waited. The owner's wife and infant son were there having a late lunch themselves, but he managed to balance customers, take out orders and whipping up something for his family quite easily. It was a quiet afternoon. A local police officer came by to take his lunch there as well. The latest copy of the Boston Herald was sitting on the counter by the windows that I flipped through while I waited.

When my lunch arrived, he still waved off my attempt to pay until after I was done. I order The Farmer's Dip, which is a toasted panini sandwich containing tons of yummy roasted veggies and mozzarella, along with a light herbal dip. Officially: "Fresh spinach, carrot, red onion, cucumber, mushrooms, roasted red pepper and tomato, topped with sliced mozzarella and pressed on fresh roll served with a side rosemary au jus."

It was amazing and rich with flavor. I grabbed a homemade chocolate chip cookie and some Italian soda as well. It was a pleasant lunch with some cool radio on in the background - a laidback rock of some kind, nothing mainstream. It reminded me of Vermont. Or maybe that was the owner's t-shirt-over-long-sleeve-shirt-and-5 o'clock-shadow. Either way, great atmosphere.

I've also learned my lesson about just stopping by for food rather than calling. I've tried to call them four times in the past for delivery, but no one ever picks up the phone. Not for like 20 rings. But he did pick up the phone while I was at the shop, so I know it works. I figure it's probably best to just swing by in the future and bring a book while I wait for them to cook things up.

After my trip to Dough I also swung by La Sultana which is a Columbian bakery right in Maverick Square. The place is awash with yummy fried treats, that I'm suspicious all contain meat. The menu is entirely in Spanish, and I'm a little rusty, so I'd be hazarding a guess on the contents - and Id just eaten, so maybe next time I'll make the effort to ask about the savory treats. I did, however, pick up a delicious flan. I love the texture of flan, its like gelatin, but buttery and milky sweet all at once. That's going on my list of things to make.

With flan in hand, I jumped on one of the buses heading back towards Chelsea only to realize that (a) the bus was late so it was twice as full as usual and (b) school just let out. It was the most squished busride I've ever taken. The kids were all in good humor, decked on in uniforms, so I assume its a local Catholic school rather than the public one up by Eagle Hill. In any case, I got off early because every stop tried to cram on more people like sardines.

It was a lovely day though of visiting local food places I'd had on my list for months. Yum!

March 21st, 2011

Saratoga Street
East Boston, MA

I love this building on Saratoga Street. The weather worn wood in the front adds dramatic character. It's rundown, but in a romantic Restoration Hardware kind of way. Although, I do kind of doubt they have $3k sofas inside if that plastic-bag-patched window pane is any indication. But you never know. I have romanticized anyway.

March 20th, 2011

Kelly Square Pub
East Boston, MA

A local East Boston bar, Kelly Square Pub should not be mistaken for being Irish. It isn't. I've been assured that. Twice. It's Kelly's Square.....Pub. Only the square is Irish. Not the bar.

The food is fairly generic, basic American comfort food leaning on the Italian side. They have beers on tap, even Blue Moon if you'd believe it, but rarely a tasty seasonal. The wine is of the Berringer variety and I really don't think people order it very often. It's a local pub. Everyone seems to have been born and raised in Eastie, all know each other, and are generally pretty friendly. They have some flatscreens behind the bar, which is the ideal place to sit. There's usually a waitress, but I've always been served by the bartender regardless of where I sat. Its stumbling distance home, which is the real lure. I've been to better and worse in the neighborhood. It's here. I feel very neutral about the place.

March 12th, 2011

Dryers at nameless laundromat
East Boston, MA

Another morning at the laundromat. It's become a comfortable routine. I get to talk with my mom on the phone outside, or sit catching up on The Economist or a book. In this case I was reading The Sharper Your Knife, The Less You Cry. It's a book about a women who loses her job, takes her savings and moves to Paris to attend Le Cordon Bleu, and her experience there.

Hub Glass Services
Somerville, MA

Waiting for the bus. I went to Somerville in order to pick up my bib for the upcoming Ras na hEirrean 5k on Sunday. Getting out there is quite a task these days. I'd almost forgotten how unreliable the buses could be, given my near subway-only existence. The trip to Winter Hill takes three trains and a bus, or two trains and a bus. All of this to get a bib for a race that I wasn't going to be able to run due to my foot problems. But I paid the expensive registration fee, so I was definitely going to at least get the t-shirt that I was probably never going to wear anyway!

This whole thing involved a lot of walking, but after picking up the bib, I went to Cambridge. I was finally able to get the sponge holder that was supposed to have been in stock since last June. Then I returned to Boston to catch the final closing sale at the downtown Borders Books. Overall great day, outside of the fact my foot swelled up like crazy from all the walking and traveling.

March 6th, 2011

Constitution Beach
East Boston, MA

I went to the beach today. It's was warm, breezy and deserted. The sands weren't combed since it wasn't swimming season, and the waterline was caked with drying froth. Freshly harvested clam shells littered the beach as well. Beautiful, peaceful and I was nearly alone for my walk.

February 12th, 2011

Downtown Boston from the pier in East Boston, MA

It's taken my 9 months to take this very simple photos. It's the view from East Boston across the harbor to downtown. It's stunning. The most beautiful view in all of Boston.

I run past this daily (or would be daily if the weather were better) as I jog around the harbor.

This is why East Boston rocks.

February 2nd, 2011

Maverick Square Mural
East Boston, MA

I was waiting for my bus in Maverick Square, when I looked up to notice this mural overlooking the streets. As I tried to find a decent angle, an older gentleman started chatting with me. He introduced himself by way of explaining that he has a copy of that mural, which was actually painted from a turn-of-the-century postcard.

It turns out that he was an East Boston native, up visiting his daughter from Florida with his wife. He explained that there is an entire set of East Boston postcards from that era, which can often be found at local fleamarkets. He gave me some tips on where to find fleamarkets, and chatted a bit more about how the face of the square had changed over the years. He and his wife took off on the 116 bus a few minutes later and I was left wondering how hard it would be to locate one of these postcards when fleamarket attendees hardly have business pages documenting the goods they have for sale.