One Great Weekend, Return of the Greyhound.

Oh, Boston. Responsible for greatness. Like this. And this. Some of the best ballads ever. But you didn't come to Chronicles today to hear about an aging rock band, but for the dramatic finale of One Great Weekend! and what a finale it is!

My day started on Sunday October 11, at 5:30 AM when i turned off my alarm and laid back down on the hardwood floor i was sleeping on. My day restarted at 6:42 AM when i woke up with a jump and realized i had 18 minutes to get to a bus stop almost 80 blocks away.

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So i quickly threw everything in my backpack, put on my soon to be NLCS Champion Dodgers tshirt and bolted out the door. I looked silly in my basketball shorts, my disheveled hair and black rim glasses as i ran through the streets looking for a cab that was going my way. Luckily a yellow cab took pity on my haggard state and pulled over. When i told him where i needed to be and when i needed to be there, my poor Pakistani chauffeur was a bit taken aback, and politely let me know that the chances of me getting to the bus on time were as about as good as the chances Barack Obama would win the Nobel Peace prize after 8 months in office and not much to show for it. Who would guessed those odds were pretty good?!? and i made it to the bus just as the last people were getting on. Sadly my good friend Garrett didn't make it to the bus to join me in Boston, so it was just me and some kid who seemed really thrilled to be sitting next to an unshowered, kinda sweaty and pretty out of breath weary traveller for the next three hours and change.

The trip was pleasant and i got to see states id never seen before! lets let google show you my route!
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look at all those miles!

I finally arrived in Boston, and i was definitely under dressed... basketball shorts and a tshirt are no match for weather in the low 60's, especially for a wussy CA boy like me! luckily i only had to wait in the bitter cold for a little while when my old coworker and good friend Ryan picked me up. He took me back to his house where he lives with his wife Piper, who i grew up with in Rancho Cucamonga. They have a great apt in the south side! it was fun to catch up with them, and go on a grand tour of Boston!

Our first stop was in Cambridge, where we saw a grand parade of all sorts of hippies! here you can see Ryan and me and in the background some of the stuff they were carrying around at the parade.



We went to Harvard too.

You can tell i was really excited to be there! Ryan told me some good will hunting joke, but since i have never seen that movie, i had no clue what he was talking about... but i really felt intellectual, almost transcendental, so i needed something to push me over the edge...

so we went to Walden's Pond!
The place where Walden wrote one of the best works of literature/best sleep aids known to man. we paid homage to the man of many words in the best way we knew how. By imitating a statue erected in his honor.

I often wondered what compelled Thoreau to move out into the middle of the woods and live in a shack for two years. i wondered if it was the trees, or the ants, or just the close proximity of a sparkling pond nearby that gave him adequate privacy to skinny dip... but the real reason was the absolute comfort he lived in.

I don't know if it was the fact that i had slept on a hardwood floor the night before, or that i had only slept on that floor for about 4 hours that made this old dirty bed so comfortable. i woulda stayed there longer but I'm sure the park service didn't want me trancendentalizing much longer on my man Henry's bed.

we walked down to the pond, which was remarkably very clean! and beautiful! No amount of words could describe that setting (i know this because Thoreau tried... and he has a long book that doesn't quite do it justice....)

Piper and I at Walden Pond.

We then walked through Back bay and the Garden and Boston Commons. The locals (ryan and piper) tell me this is the most photographed locale in Boston!


Little did you all know that me and Ryan had started a business together.

Ryan Johnston and Jeff Murphy.

We walked through the downtown, i saw the State House, with its real gold dome, Samuel Adams' grave, and the oldest marketplace in the US! Boston is an old,almost ancient place, but unlike most old things, its clean, smells nice and serves a purpose in society.

That night we ate at Rob Lowe's favorite pizza place, Pizzeria Regina! it was really delicious, so delicious Danny ainge even likes it. See there i dropped two big names, so you know its good!

early the next morning, i had to leave Boston and make the trek from Boston to dc... one last time we will let google show you...
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I really enjoyed my stay in Boston and i want to go back for longer than 20 hours next time. Boston seems like a big city that is actually livable. NYC on the other hand is a nice place for the weekend...

the trip back wasn't too bad. i rode the greyhound from NYC back to DC and even got on an early bus out! our bus driver was pretty hardcore though. he told us if we broke the rules he would have no qualms about pulling over and kicking us out in the middle of nowhere. Also while he was giving his spiel these ladies were chatting to each other and he stopped what he was saying and told them to shut their mouths until he was finished talking. it was pretty exciting, i made sure to mind my p's and q's... but other than that, no strange odors and no coughing. i still wont ever "go greyhound" again.

so i feel like i really made the most of my long weekend. It was tons of fun and great to get out and see the many many many things there are around this country! I look forward to more great weekends while I'm here and ill keep you posted on the jmurph chronicles.