Boston with Open Eyes

I have had the opportunity to do some pretty cool things in my life. As someone who spends 80% of their time in a small bedroom at 15 Inman Avenue, I still have manage to go to dozens of Patriots, Celtics and Red Sox games, attend a Ryder Cup and a Super Bowl and have been on some truly wild road trips. No one could ever mistake me for a shut in or someone completely closed off to the world but that doesn't mean I haven't done a shitty job of taking in the world around me. I realized this yesterday when walking or as some readers would say "rolling" around Boston for the first time. I've attended hundreds of events in Boston and always done so in much the same way by parking my beast of a van an hour before the game and then jetting out right after. I never bothered to try public transportation or breathe in the character of the city. All that changed yesterday when I saw the city with open (but not always sober) eyes for the first time.
 
 I don't know where I get my fear of cities from. I've always lived on dirt roads and never had to walk around neighborhoods so I just grew into the worst pedestrian ever to the point where street crossings became trying events. My dad would rather not go somewhere then drive to Boston and will never be seen on an MBTA train or bus so somehow I got in stuck in my head that the 45 mile journey to the state's capital was never really worth the effort. My mom desperately wanted me to go college in the city (Northeastern) and I never even really considered it. I focused on all the things that could go wrong and never opened my mind to the limitless opportunities I could have allowed myself. With my brother now in New York and best friends determined not to let their vast talents be limited to Worcester, it was really important to me to get more comfortable getting around cities on my own and to get more familiar with what is easy and what is hard for me when it comes to city life. When the opportunity came up for my next adventure (Bruins-Senators) in the city I was determined to experience the city the right way.

 My first train ride from Union Station was easier then I ever could have expected. There was no giant platforms to hover over, just a simple roll out ramp to large train car with plenty of room to maneuver around. There was no tie downs (and I didn't roll once) and ride was smooth and easy unless the conductor was coming through was always caused me to jump. My friends make this ride very day and I can so easy it is to fall asleep with all the stops the make on the inbound route but I had good company and Colleen had large amounts of coffee so made it the whole ride without passing out. South Station was bigger then I thought it would be but moved through it quickly and started our journey through the streets of Boston. We decided to go to the New England Aquarium  
 and I made the twenty minute roll and the numerous street crossings along the way like a champ. (We took in a couple city parks and gardens along the way I didn't even though they had such things)
The aquarium is free to the disabled just because one of the tanks is not accessible or some other unclear reason so we took in that good news and went straight over to see the penguins.

 I am not one of those guys who likes to pick out a penguin and name them for the day (if there are such guys) so I did not bond with any of the penguins. I found their late day feeding to be quite disappointing, apparently penguins like sardines as much as humans so nobody really ate. We were outraged they feed them something they knew they wouldn't eat. Other highlights to cut it down a bit where a driver scaring me half to death by cleaning the giant fish/shark tank (you couldn't pay me enough but Colleen is apparently game) and a lobster challenges every large fish in his tank to a fight.

 The highlight of the day came at the stingray touch tank. The tank featured several stingray and few creepy looking sharks that could reach in and touch as they were going by. I didn't know if I was going to be up for it my fear of animals is legendary so I decided to let Colleen take the lead before I made my decision. Now in her defense it is more difficult to touch a stingray then make you believe. You have to dip your hand in, keep in flat and hope you graze the back of one as they swim by. They appear to be looking at you and opening their mouth to bite you and can make sudden movements that can appear aggressive in nature. With all that being said Colleen totally wimped out the first 20 times they came by and pulled her hand away at the last second. As little confidence as this gave me I was determined to do it after seeing her get comfortable and trying 500 ways to get my chair close enough to reach me hand in. This might have been the first time my tilt high feature actually earned its worth because I never would have gotten close enough to tank without it. I tried for more than 20 minutes without getting my hand far enough out or low enough down to touch one. This poor mother got to the point where she was lifting them closer and still wasn't happening. We were getting ready to leave and it finally happened! Never has a man been so happy to touch the squishy underside of a stingray. I think we live life was silly little moments like that, it was so mundane is everyone else there and here we are legitimately moved that I touched a stingray. It got crazy addicting and I was able to pull off the feat 8 more times before leaving!

  We headed out and made our way to the North End where I had made dinner reservations. I had never been to this section of the city at all and it's reputation for being accessible is horrible. The legendary broken cobblestone sidewalks weren't that hard to get around even though one resident gave me a very apologetic stare. A lot of the shops and cafes had stairs to get in and no other access. The harsh reality of city life is not everything is going to be accessible most notably apartments and houses people can afford to live. (I guess that's the trade off for the close parking) It's not something I'm going to get pissed about anymore I'm just going to roll with it. It was at this point where I realized Nico the place I made reservations with might not be accessible and sure enough we were done in by one lone stair. (dammit) It worked out very well they had another restaurant they owned 500 feet down the street that was and they were very accommodating. It was a very fancy other authentic Italian place so I left all the ordering to Colleen who serves as my fine dining expert and knows Italian from her studies in Italy. She picked out a bottle of wine that I drank way too fast in typical Chris fashion as Jackson and Kate know all too well from trying to get me into wine. We started with some bruschetta, then moved on to some potato gnocchi (another think Kate turned me on to) and had a veal dish as our main course. Not exactly a meal I'm used to but that's the point when your out. (I swore I really did like everything sometimes I lie like the Italian sandwich sorry again! I really did though) It was a true Boston dinning experience that sure beat the hall of the lame pubs I usually ate at in Boston. Our walk to the Garden was true Chris in DUI mode (if those apply to wheelchairs) that all my friends know, dread and super secretly love.

 I don't remember much of the game (you could have guessed that everybody) but we had our usual good seats, there were goals and fights (all you really want in a game) and it was a 4-3 come from behind win for the Bruins. (I swore the winning goal was from center ice) The walk from North to South Station wasn't nearly as long or hard as it was made out to be and we were able to catch the last train all the way back to Worcester. The ride back was faster because of the fewer stops and just as easy. The overall MBTA experience was a pleasant one beyond the broken ticket machine at Union Station that we really didn't need anyway.

In the end it was a great day and night in the city with a very dear friend. I think it's important for everyone to have friends that push them to do new things and make them want to be better people. I'm very lucky that all my friends are like that and are determined to get me off Inman Ave and finally get me to go somewhere that I might finally live up to my potential. I didn't really know if I could handle living or working in a major city and now I am determined to at least die trying. I feel really bad for sister Jenn who designed a whole vacation in Baltimore to get me to realize this but I just wasn't ready and sometimes you have more confidence around your friends then you do with family.  I  can't wait to do it again I feel like I have a lot of lost time to make for in Boston. I can't wait to experience walking around New York in March and then get to the point where I finally start acting independently instead of just talking a good game. Thank you to everyone who may read this my closest and dearest friends for putting up with the all drama that comes with hanging out with me (drunk chris pushy chris bathroom chris) to give me moments and memories like yesterday. I hope I gave you half as much as guys give me and can't wait for all our many adventures that lay ahead.