Travelers Take in Sights, Seafood

We just finished our airport gift shopping. I bought lobsters and clams, and now we are en route home.
I took Patrick and Colleen, out two biggest kids, and cousin Molly to Boston for the weekend on some bonus airline tickets we had to use up before the end of the year.
It has been a really wonderful time. We stayed at a fancy old hotel at a very reasonable rate, thanks to my sister, the travel agent. I always enjoy myself much more when I'm getting a bargain.
Right now I have all my traveling companions writing down their thoughts about the trip. Colleen has to report to her class. Molly wants to read her book, but I won't let her until she writes. Patrick is willing because I let him make a phone call to his friend on one of the plane's inflight phones and charge it to my credit card.
There were many adventures over the weekend. We took the "T"
Boston's subway system, most everywhere we went. It was remarkably fast and very convenient. The only hitch was on the way to the John F. Kennedy Library.
Jim- Molly's dad and my husband's brother, who is temporarily living in Boston to do some legal research - got off the subway first to make sure it was the right stop. Just as he motioned for us to get off, the train doors closed and away we went. It was a perfect chance for me to sing the Kingston Trio song about Charlie who rode forever beneath the streets of Boston on the MTA: "Oh, he never returned...."
Once we were reunited, we made it to the JFK library, Where we watched a movie about Kennedy's campaign for the presidency and highlights, disappointments, crises and accomplishments of his time as president. Then we toured the library and viewed the collection of memorabilia.
Kennedy's presidency made a lasting impression on me at a time when I was about the same age as Patrick, Colleen and Molly. The issues that confronted President Kennedy - civil rights in America, human rights in Berlin, protection from radioactive fallout and communism in Cuba- are still being payed out in today's world, although the situations and locations are different.
For Patrick, Colleen and Molly, hearing President Kennedy's speeches was a lesson from history that I hope they can apply to their lives to help them make a commitment to improve the world.
Of course, out trip was not all historical stuff. We also made the required trip to Filene's basement, as well as to most every "cool" store in Boston, but our purchases were mostly sweatshirts at Harvard.
We also saw a fun play called "Sheboppin" a '60s rock 'n' roll show. Everyone in our entourage decided my 11-year-old dancing and wiggling daughter, Maureen, would be perfect as one of the lead characters in the show.
Eating- especially seafood- rated high on our list of activities. Since we were walking so much, we figured we could eat twice as much. My favorite restaurant was Legal Seafood, which Colleen kept calling "that legal fish place."
Everyone ordered some sort of seafood, except Molly, who ordered vanilla ice cream because fish is gross. She asked for a bib like the one Patrick wore to eat his lobster.
She did relent in her fish eating abstinence by trying some of my scallops and was amazed when she liked the taste. Patrick ordered shaved ice to put in his milk. They didn't' have it.
At The Tasty, a corner luncheonette near Harvard University, I temporarily diverted from my seafood bender to have a cheese-burger, french fries and a frappe (Boston's name for milkshake), served up by a short-order cook who was as fast with the glib lines as he was at slinging hash. The girls thought he looked like Patrick Swayze, the actor.
On out last day we drove from Boston to Cape Cod. Although the day was cold, we decided it would be fun to see the area, and it was picturesque. We thought it would be nice to see some friends living there and to try the area's seafood again.
Now that we are in Nebraska, it's good to be home.
As a footnote to United Airlines, which I good-naturedly slandered after my last trip, it is only fair to say that this trip was perfect from start to finish, and the new terminal in Chicago is beautiful.
December 9, 1987