ISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM

I got to hang out with my California friend Noemi and her husband Jeff who came to visit relatives in the Boston area. Noemi wanted to go to the Gardner. I always love to go there. It's an exact replica of a 15th century Venetian palace with a huge, sky-lighted courtyard, just like Roman villas (without the skylight). .

She was a character. She was a New Yorker and not well received in stuffy Boston circles. But she became an avid art collector, much of which is on display, with the help of her Harvard Art Historian friend Bernard Berenson. She built it with the idea of leaving it to the public.

Taking selfies at the Venetian Palazzo. Very romantic....Before I went to California I used to go to the Gardner all the time. Classical music concerts in the Music Room, drawings by Michaelangelo and Rembrandt. I especially liked the Dutch room, several Rembrandt paintings and my most favorite, The Concert by Vermeer. It was kept in a glass case with a velvet cover over it to protect it from the light, but you were allowed to lift up the velvet cloth to look at it. Unfortunately the Gardner was robbed in 1990! Three paintings are missing from the Dutch room including two Rembrandts and the Vermeer. What a loss ! Vermeer did not paint many pictures in his lifetime and Isabella had one of them. I greatly admire her as an art Patron. She was friends with John Singer Sargent also.

Courtyard objects, small pool with tile floor, Egyptian statue, Roman mosaic floor.

Rumor has it that Jackie Kennedy always visited the Gardner when she was in Boston and that it was her favorite museum. It is one of the best places to go in the Winter where you can see beautiful plants, lots of green and beautiful light because of the huge skylight.

THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM TEAM AT FENWAY PARK

I was invited to go to a Red Sox game with David who is is a real baseball maven like Ron and Roby. Like Roby he has followed the Sox since he was a child. His memories go way back with lots of stories about skipping school and going to double headers. Before the game, we were treated to a special ceremony to celebrate and honor the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Red Sox Impossible Dream Team. That's Jim Lonborg on the left and Yaz on the right with Rico Petrocelli, Ken Harrelson and Reggie Smith, et. al. You can read more about the team in the Globe article.

The Red Sox played the Cardinals and lost the world series in seven games, however it was a 'dream' that they got into the World Series that year. That's when Red Sox Nation was born. Before the '67 dream team, going to Fenway was not mandatory viewing like it is today. "It was so quiet you could hear the bookies in the upper deck" says Luis Tiant in the documentary about The 1967 Dream Team. We lost to the Cardinals in '67 but we won in 2017 in the ninth inning in a 5-4 comeback win courtesy of a double by Mookie Betts. The game did not end until after 11:00 pm. Exhausted but happy.

Very exciting. We were sitting in Loge Box red seats which were comfortable. I had never sat so close to the field before ! Awesome view to take it all in and get close up shots of the ballpark. I hadn't been to Fenway in a long time. The game ended after 11:00 pm, tired but we won :)

Sitting at Fenway is a totally different experience than watching the game on TV like I am used to. What ? No one was going to call the game ?!?! I had to pay attention to figure out what was going on, lol. I did not remember that instead of commercials the grounds crew comes out and sweeps off the base running paths and the mound - grounds crew shots, tidying up the field.:)

Eveyone was taking selfies ! The fans behind us took this photo. Here is a throwback picture of Yaz on the cover of the Boston Globe Magazine, February 19, 2017.

REVERE BEACH

Finally I got to go to Revere Beach. It's only about a half hour drive north of boston. When the Silverman family lived in Malden, we rented a 'shack', an apt. in a two family house I think owned by "Mrs. Raden" in the Point of Pines area. It was right across the street from the beach. I spent many evenings sitting in the screened porch looking out at the ocean. I was in high school. On the weekends I could walk all the way to the beginning of the beach, Punk's Corner and play cards with other kids from Chelsea. Many games of hearts. Many memories of those teenage years.
I went with two friends from my building, Bette and Miriam. Bette drove and we hooked up with David who was at the other end of the beach with his friends. So we had a short visit.

DAY AT THE BEACH WITH UMBRELLAS. CM 2017

Miriam, Bette and David w/my umbrella. 

SITTING ON THE WALL AT REVERE BEACH

I love the ocean - those positive endorphins......I feel the most relaxed there. We went to the beach a lot while living in Dorchester in the summer time. Shirley always had boyfriends to drive us there. Sometimes we went to Wollaston Beach and sometimes we went to Nantasket which is still really beautiful, south of boston.