Boston from an iPhone

I really, really LOVED Boston!  Usually when I go somewhere, I get a strong impression about a place and with Boston, it gave me such a positive feeling.  Everywhere we went, the people were friendly, down to earth and upbeat.  Even the baseball fans were friendly to us SF Giants fans.  It really was unbelievable!  These are all iPhone pics so the quality isn’t quite there with a lot of them.

We loved our hotel which was conveniently walking distance from Fenway Park and right near a subway entrance.  Boston reminded me of San Francisco in some ways with its harbor and beauty.  What a gorgeous place!   Mainly we were there to see the Giants play Boston at Fenway Park and we really enjoyed that even though we lost (sad face); but seeing the Green Monster in person was so cool and we enjoyed Fenway Park because of its baseball history.

In between games, we took a harbor cruise which was really enjoyable, and the weather was just perfect!  We walked the Freedom Trail and saw Faneuil Hall and enjoyed a tour of that, we also saw a presentation of the Boston Tea Party where that occurred and it was really good, saw the famous North Church (what a place) and saw so many other historical places.  It was fabulous!  We walked through Little Italy, had Boston’s famous Lobster Roll (pronounced “lobstah”) and stumbled upon Mike’s Pastry where we shared one of their delicious cannoli.  Yum!

The weather was beautiful and only one day it rained briefly.  We were totally unprepared at the time and got soaked as we scrambled from one subway line to another while everyone else had umbrellas.  Can we say TOURISTS??  It’s so strange to me that it rains when it’s warm!

Boston Harbor

Flying into Boston

Magic of Fenway

Moon Rising Over Fenway

North Church

Faneuil Hall

Fenway Park

Boston Tea Party

Lobstah Roll

 

 

 

 

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Under an Oak

Happy first day of Summer to everyone!

Here’s another one taken with and edited on my iPhone.  Phones work out well in a pinch because of their wide angle lenses!  I never leave home without it.  🙂

Under an Oak – Sunol Regional Wilderness

iPhone Art – Inviting at Joaquin Miller Park

Amazing all the apps that are available to edit your prized iPhone photos!  I have to admit I enjoy it.  Here’s an image I created from a hike in Joaquin Miller Park in Oakland, California.  I used to practice here when I was on the cross country team in high school and grew up down the street a bit.  It’s a beautiful oasis of rustic woodland trails that lead you through redwood groves and oak woodlands across lush creeksides and wet meadows.  Hikers, equestrians, bicyclists, joggers and picnickers from all over the Bay Area regularly frequent the 500-acre park.

The park is named for one of the more colorful figures of the 19th century. Cincinnatus Hiner (“Joaquin”) Miller.  He was born in Indiana in 1841 and during his life he was a pony-express rider, lawyer, judge, teacher, gold prospector, nomad and author.

During a trip to the Bay Area in 1870, he met California’s first Poet laureat and Oakland’s first librarian, Ina Coolbirth.  Coolbirth convinced him to take the colorful pen name of Joaquin Miller. He became well known as the “Poet of the Sierras.”

When he returned to Oakland in 1886, he settled on 70 acres of grassy hillside, which he had purchased parcel-by-parcel in the hills about the “City of the Oaks.” In an effort to create an inspirational artists’ retreat, he erected monuments, built structures for his mother and daughter, and coordinated the planting of 75,000 trees — monterey cypress, olive and eucalyptus. He died in his home in 1913.

Inviting – Joaquin Miller Park