Things I'll Miss About Boston, Episode I

After spending the weekend with friends from DC, who had never been to Boston, I started thinking about all the things I will miss about living here. Of course the things I like best are the things I don't get a chance to do very often. I am going to try to do as many of them as possible before we move and will highlight them as they happen. I'm sure I won't be able to cover everything, but here goes...

• Walking through Boston Public Garden. This weekend was the most beautiful I have ever seen it--snow-covered trees, still with red and gold foliage. (I will try to post some photos here or on my mac site this week.)
• The obligatory trip to Cheers and photos by the signs. Even though the bar sucks and is in no way what people expect, this stop never fails to produce a funny story. This time we had a guy offer to take our photo in front of the sign, no big deal, right? His voice was higher pitched than High Pitch Eric or the high talking boyfriend of Elaine's friend on Seinfeld. He was a very nice man and I feel bad about laughing at his voice, but it was funny. P.S. The food is horrible.
• Saturday evening dinner in the North End at the Cantina Italiana. This isn't one of those fancy places with shi shi psuedo-Italian dishes--it is old-school Italian fare all the way! It's the restaurant way up Hanover Street with the big Chianti bottle dripping into the wine glass. The neighborhood wise-guys are usually hanging out at the bar or just outside the door and are quite polite. Even when the place is packed, I don't think we've ever waited more than 10 minutes to get a table. I'm sure it helps when Adam gives his dad's last name to the hostess. "Right this way to your table Mr. Baccaro." They even let me have gnocchi as my side of pasta. YUM! http://www.cantinaitaliana.com/
• Pastry from Bova's. I know everyone goes to Mike's Pastry but that place is so tourist-y and "American." Bova's is around the corner from Mike's and has the best cannolis, sfogliatelle, lobster tails, ricotta pie, calzones, etc. AND is open 24 hours a day! OUTSTANDING!!! http://www.northendboston.com/bovabakery/index.html
• Walking around Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market. It was cold but still packed with people watching street performers, shopping, eating, drinking...
• Brunch at East Coast Grill. Inman Square has several great places for brunch but ECG's is probably the most unique. Average fare of waffles and pancakes are very good but you can get that stuff anywhere. Make-your-own Bloody Mary bar; freshly squeezed juice for your Mimosa, Screwdriver, or Greyhound; red or white Sangria; baked clams with corn salsa; smoked duck tortilla, the breakfast platter with eggs, plantains, tortilla, black beans and rice; Hellfire sausage; and, of course, the raw bar. http://www.eastcoastgrill.net/

That's all the time I have for today. And, yes, I do like to eat!