FENWAY PARK — It always feels like a homecoming when we return to “America’s Most Beloved Ballpark,” as the illuminated sign over the first-base grandstand proclaims. I have been showing up here regularly since at least 1967, maybe longer. That year is my earliest memory of being at Fenway, at age 12, sitting with my dad, brother Scott and childhood friend Bruce Courtemanche in the right-field bleachers. It was the next-to-last game of the season, and improbably the Red Sox were in a pennant race. Even more improbably, we had tickets, purchased early in the season by my dad.
Now, 57 seasons...
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SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS — Every day is Halloween here in Witch City — as this town of 45,000 on the North Shore, about 25 miles northeast of Boston, proudly proclaims itself at practically every commercial corner of town. The Witch City Mall is located downtown. The local high school athletic teams are named the Witches. Folks dressed as witches, both young and grown up, wandered the city’s streets, which are filled with shops banking on the theme. There is Witch City Wicks, a candle shop; Witch Tee’s, selling T-shirts; HausWitch Home + Healing; Blackcraft Salem; and Wicked Good Books, to name...
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BOSTON — I wish I could have been friends with Isabella Stewart Gardner. My Beautiful Mystery Companion and I are standing before a full-length portrait of her, painted in 1888 by John Singer Sargent and now ensconced in the Gothic Room of the museum that bears her name. The painting, which shows considerably less cleavage than the average teenage girl wandering any mall in America, at the time caused quite a scandal — prompting Isabella’s husband, Jack, to ask her to refrain from showing it in public. She respected his wishes. The painting remained visible by invitation only until her death...
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TAOS, NEW MEXICO — The Taos Farmer’s Market is held every Saturday from May through November in the parking lot of the handsome adobe courthouse. In previous years when we attended, it was held on the historic plaza, but apparently vendors ran out of space. The Farmer’s Market is a popular event in this small town, which holds great attraction to many visitors, including us. It has become one of our favorite places to visit in the summer — at 6,969 feet above sea level, summer temperatures are usually 15 degrees cooler than East Texas. A light hoodie is pleasantly required in the morning,...
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Everybody loves the sound of a train in the distance.
— Paul Simon
ABOARD THE DURANGO-SILVERTON NARROW GAUGE RAILROAD — In 1881, this railroad began operating between Durango and Silverton, Colorado — two towns willed into existence by railroad magnates to transport tourists, gold and silver. The gold and silver played out long ago, but the tourist trade remains healthy. My Beautiful Mystery Companion and I are attempting to escape the Texas heat with a road trip out west, eventually landing in Pagosa Springs, an hour west of Durango. We bought a pair of tickets on the steam train...
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