Boston, Day Three: 1.1.11

Our third day started poorly: I realized I'd lost my beloved, hand-knit Qunicy hat in the previous day's festivities. (A call and subsequent email to Club Passim yielded no results.) Soon after we started walking, but too far to turn back to the hotel, I realized my camera battery was near death, which meant no photographs. (I made due with my cell phone camera which is a poor substitute.) George was hungry, but no place we passed was acceptable to him. Finally, we ended up at the Faneuil Hill Marketplace, which was way too crowded on a Saturday which also happened to be a holiday. Reading between the lines, you may understand that I was a little grumpy and that George as getting on my nerves.

From the Faneuil Hill Marketplace, we had a short walk to the New England Aquarium, though I took a detour to photograph the Custom House since it was the subject of a blog post over at The Postman Loves Me. Originally, I'd wanted to to the Boston Harborwalk tour since I'd downloaded the audio files prior to our trip, but with only one iPod, it didn't work very well, and I abandoned the effort once we got to the aquarium. (Not that George would want to listen; he is very anti-tour, anti-structure.)

The New England Aquarium seems to be a very responsible and conscientious organization dedicated to the animals and their habitats. (As a side note, they are also recognized for their efforts to promote diversity in their employee and volunteer selection practices.) Of course, I have mixed feelings about zoos and aquariums, which you can read more about in this post. I also was very enraged when some idiot saw a lobster and said something about the creature being tonight's dinner. We saw a woman crying being consoled by her boyfriend, and I imagined all the reasons she could be so upset. Although many scenarios are possible, I imagined she was crying for all the fish, birds, and ocean creatures who were living a life in captivity. At the same time, despite my intellectual reservations about animals in zoos and aquariums, I can't help but experience joy at seeing the animals healthy and safe. In fact, my reactions were much like the reactions of the five- and six- year old girls who were also visiting the aquarium that day.