Monday, April 18, 2011

Boston Marathon 2011

My Facebook status today is "the Boston Marathon is like Nascar only slower and collisions don't result in explosions and fire. I don't get it." And it is true - both sports are incredibly boring to watch for long periods of time and outside of an excuse for public drunkenness I don't understand the appeal. But since part of the marathon runs literally a block away from where we live, Dan and I felt obligated to step outside and watch it for about 15 minutes. And of course, I took some photos. 




The crowds were pretty big, even though this is a relatively easy part of the run. They've just finished up Heartbreak Hill (if I understand the map correctly) and are thankful to be going downhill. 




Crowd held up signs like this one that said "Yes you we can do it!"




Lots of people brought their dogs since it was a beautiful day. I kind of felt bad for them, though, because they clearly wanted to run but their owners just wanted to stand in place. Eventually many gave up and took naps.




Some in the crowd were clearly there not for the race so much as the opportunity for drinking on the street. New England is normally uncomfortable with this, but the marathon and St. Paddy's are the two times a year when Bostonians are more lenient of public intoxication. Notice the college kids on the other side of the street and their go cups.




Runners enjoying the downhill part of the race.




Whenever servicemen would go by the crowd would chant "USA! USA! USA!"



Of course they also chanted the same thing for this guy.




Who is Handsome Rob Monaco? I have no idea. But he had an entourage as he ran so I took a picture.




I got the most excited about costumes. Perhaps it is just a cultural expectation when it comes to large amounts of people all traveling through the city in a police barrier pathway. I only got a couple of decent shots of costumed runners, however. Here is Sonic the Hedgehog:



And some of the audience dressed up too.









Birthday Dinner

So it has been months since I've posted. I could say life has been crazy, which is true, but not really an excuse. Truth be told I just haven't taken the time. So here are a few pictures I took after I went out to dinner for my birthday with some friends.

My actual birthday was Friday and  I had a lovely lunch with a friend on campus. But since Dan had class all day Saturday we didn't do too much that evening. So Sunday we met up with Wythe and Rebecca for a proper birthday dinner.

We went down to East Boston since there are lots of Central and South American restaurants. We wandered into a restaurant and found some of the most authentic Mexican I've had in Boston. Right down to a guy coming up to our table and trying to sell us homemade jewelry.

After stuffing ourselves silly, we wobbled out into the street and walked down to the pier. The sun was setting and it was quite lovely so I took some photos. Enjoy.