Boston

On February 29, I had the pleasure of guest lecturing for the Product Management 102 class at Harvard Business School. I spoke about Project Management with a former colleague, Ben Foster, who covered materials on Roadmapping. Because the class was in the evening and I had to spend the night anyway, I decided to extend my trip and see a little bit of Boston the next day. It turned out to be a really good trip.

2-29-16 - Harvard Yard

After I flew in on Monday, I dropped by bag off at the hotel and took a Harvard campus tour. I wasn't originally going to take an official tour, but I got frustrated by not knowing which buildings I was looking at and happened to be in the right place at the right time to join a tour.

Memorial Hall

Widener Library goes five floors into the ground and was built to memorialize a kid killed on the Titanic.

"John Harvard"

After lunch, I spent the afternoon sitting in or teaching classes. I got to listen to a class debate the Opower Case Study, which was really interesting. I also spoke with the Tech MBAs about Agile Software Development before Ben and I taught our class in the evening. I had dinner near Harvard Square at Russell House and had some deliciously unorthodox Clam Pizza.

Harvard Business School is much nicer than the main Harvard campus.

 

 

The next day I got up bright and early to walk along the Freedom Trail, a 2.5-mile long, well-marked trail that takes tourists past 16 historical sites. I LOVED my day on the Freedom Trail. To be honest, my favorite site was the Granary Burial Ground (that's right, a cemetery). But it was the BEST cemetery ever, with its stereotypical old haunted gravestones with ornate designs and the occasional famous person like John Hancock and Paul Revere. It was so cool!!

3-1-16 - Massachusetts State House (as seen from Boston Common)

Robert Gould Shaw Monument

Park Street Church

Boston Common

Granary Burying Ground

John Hancock's Grave

Paul Revere's Tomb

 

Random Grave - Look how cool these are!

After a couple churches and graveyards, I stopped at the Omni Parker Hotel, the place that invented the Boston Cream Pie, and got one in a little to-go box for later. I really enjoyed the Old Statehouse and learning about the Boston Massacre. For lunch I stopped at Neptune Oyster and ordered a Lobster Roll. It may be the world's most expensive sandwich ($30), but it was maybe the best sandwich I've ever had. After lunch I got a cannoli and then continued on to Paul Revere's house.

King's Chapel & Burial Ground

Ben Franklin Statue

Old Schoolhouse Mosaic

Boston Cream Pie

Old South Meeting House

Site of the Boston Massacre

Faneuil Hall

The Great Hall in Faneuil Hall

Lobster Roll

My first, but certainly not last cannoli!

I entertained a lonely interpreter at Paul Revere's house and helped the woman at the ticket booth get a bird out of her hut. Later in the afternoon, I stopped at the very-nicely-done USS Constituion Museum. The ship looked really sad because it is being refurbished and I couldn't go aboard, but I did get to sign my name on the copper that will be used to line the ship for the next 20 years.

Paul Revere's House

Old North Church

Inside Old North Church

A Really Skinny House

Copp's Hill Burying Ground

USS Constitution

That's going on the ship!

My last stop was the Bunker Hill Memorial. I talked to a lovely English man at the bottom for quite some time (by the way, England wants Bernie Sanders to win) and then I made my way up to the memorial. It's like a short Washington Monument and there are 294 stairs to the top. I had my carry-on bag with me and the Park Rangers wouldn't watch it, but I really wanted to see Boston from the top. So, I tucked it away and hoped no one would steal it while I literally ran to the top of the stairs and snapped a few pictures. Then I ran down. That was OK. My lungs hurt a little due to the cold air, but I was fine. I caught my plane on time and made it home by 9pm.

Bunker Hill

View from the Top

 

My English Friend

The next day I woke up and found that I couldn't get out of bed. My legs have never been so sore. They were cripplingly sore for 5 days. I guess that's what I get for rushing through a lovely city. I had a lot of fun and I'm sure I'll be back soon.

Boston from the Water Taxi back from the USS Constitution