New England, Day 1

August 31, 2010 By: thenhbushman Geotag Icon Show on map Category: Food, local cuisine, Travel, USA

Photos by MJ Klein and Hui-chen

Part of the 2010 USA Trip Series

I hadn’t been back to New England in 6 years. Hui-chen had never been there before. So it was an epic trip to the northeast part of the USA!

The first thing that I noticed is that the Big Dig is finally all finished and the old overhead expressway is gone!

Many of these shots were taken from the car, so please don’t mind the glare off the glass. Hui-chen shot photos while I drove around Boston. I had forgotten just what a beautiful city Boston really is.

This is South Station.

Entering the wharf area of Boston. Many years ago I lived in an artists loft area not far from where this photo was taken.

Somehow, it all looks so much cleaner than when I lived here.

Finally, after driving around for awhile, I decided to take Hui-chen over to Boston’s Chinatown for a look.

In Chinatown they sell on the street just like it’s done in Asia.

Most of the places are different than when I was here last.

This is the gate to Chinatown, which was a gift from Taiwan.

There used to be a plaque on the gate, stating that it was from Taiwan. Can you guess why it’s been removed?

Some places were the same though, and we decided to step into the Taiwan Cafe for a bite.

Here we see Hui-chen looking over the menu. I thought that I wouldn’t bore people with the food so I didn’t take any food photographs here. In retrospect, I think I should have. The Taiwan Cafe’s menu contains authentic Taiwanese style cuisine and for the most part it was like being back home.

After Chinatown, we took a ride though some other parts of Boston. This is Back Bay.

I hadn’t been to Kenmore Square in years. I used to hang out in all these places. Being here brought back many memories of my youth.

Hui-chen was fascinated by the housing in this area.

This is the State House with it’s distinctive golden dome.

A product of the Big Dig, this is a new bridge and it sure looks great. The Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge replaced the old Charlestown High Bridge. This is the world’s widest cable-stayed bridge.

I used to live in this neighborhood in Union Square, Somerville. I took Hui-chen up to the monument to check out the view.

Before I forget to mention this – some of these photos are geotagged with the location they were taken. Clicking on any of the photos will take you to their Flickr.com page where you may view the location (machine tags) or the map. This is one of the views of Boston from the tower.

This hill, known as Prospect Hill had great strategic importance in the Revolutionary War. The site was also used during the Civil War. Readers should click on the photo and view the large size to read what’s written on the plaques.

After driving around for hours, it was time to eat lunch. Where did we go? The famous Redbones, of course! This article is geotagged at this location.

Look at this dish of authentic BBQ!

This is my plate. It doesn’t get any better than this, folks!

These are something that Hui-chen had never heard of before: hushpuppies.

We left nothing behind in our quest to experience Redbones!

Later I went to visit 2 friends. Please allow me to introduce these 2 gentlemen. On the left is Gerry Simon, the man who personally backed my music project with his recording studio. Without Gerry, there would never have been a music project. The man on the right is Danny Brown, my partner in the music business, drummer on my recordings, and owner of Bootsy BBQ Sauce. Those of you who are fortunate enough to live in an area where there are Whole Foods Market stores, can find Bootsy. We have to import it to Taiwan!

In the evening we went to meet my longtime friend Grady Moates south of Boston. This is what traffic was like trying to leave Boston at that hour.

The final shot of this article will leave you with us traveling down 93 South towards Brockton, MA. In our next installment we’ll introduce you to Grady and my friend John. You won’t believe what was going on that day.

Thanks for reading! We welcome your re-tweets, comments and recommendations. We welcome comments from new readers, especially!

Articles in series 2010 USA Trip:

First in series Previous in series Next in series Last in series

New England, Day 2
Photos by Hui-chen and MJ Klein Part of the 2010 USA Trip Series We awoke to a gorgeous day with a stunning sky. We found ourselves on Rout ...
New England, Day 3
Photos by Hui-chen and MJ Klein Part of the 2010 USA Trip Series Day 3 found us up early and in the beautiful seacoast town of Gloucester, M ...
New England: Back to New Hampshire
Photos by MJ Klein & Hui-chen, with some FOOD PHOTOS! Part of the 2010 USA Trip Series After exploring the sights in Maine, Hui-chen and ...
Boston: Last Day in New England
Photos by Hui-chen & MJ Klein, including some FOOD PHOTOS at the end. As soon as Hui-chen and I got the car and started driving away from t ...
New England: Mount Washington Cog Railway
Photos by MJ Klein & Hui-chen Part of the 2010 USA Trip Series Dear Readers, we took a fantastic trip up to the top of Mount Washington on t ...

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31 Responses to “ New England, Day 1 ”

# 1 MJ Klein Says:
August 31st, 2010 at 12:04 pm
New England, Day 1 http://t.co/oPURArP part of our 2010 USA Trip!
# 2 Michael Cannon Says:
August 31st, 2010 at 4:19 pm
RT @TopsyRT: New England, Day 1 http://bit.ly/coE2AE
# 3 Ashish Says:
August 31st, 2010 at 8:51 pm
You are surely master of photography from car window MJ. Love the first shot of the tunnel. Like Hui-chen I’m also quite facinated by the housing, very clean and spacious. Weather couldn’t have been any better for your visit.
Ashish´s last [type] ..susan latest pics

thenhbushman reply on September 1st, 2010 4:18 am:

Ashish, HC and i both now have tons of experience shooting photos from a moving car. if you don’t mind my tooting my own horn a bit, this is the best photo i have ever taken out of a car at highway speeds, and without looking through the viewfinder:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thenhbushman/2537190021/

you are right about the weather – it was absolutely perfect for our visit! thanks for dropping by, Ashish!
# 4 mike01905 Says:
August 31st, 2010 at 9:06 pm
Yeah… its amazing how much Boston has changed with the Big Dig finally being done and the entire elevated Central Artery that use to pass thru the city torn down. You got some nice pics of Boston… considering that the pics were taken thru the car window.

Is Danny’s “Bootsy BBQ Sauce”… the BBQ sauve that you got from him in the past that was… the secret family recipie??? If so… then I’ll have to go to a Whole Foods Market and get some. I remember that stuff as being really good stuff.

And… Redbones… there is a place that I haven’t been to in years. I can’t remember the last time I was in that area of Somerville.
mike01905´s last [type] ..2010 Revere Beach Sand Sculpture Festival

thenhbushman reply on September 1st, 2010 4:14 am:

Mike, yes, we were amazed at just how nice the city looked without the elevated junky looking highway. when it went up, people must have complained at the time…. thanks for the compliments on the photos – we have more coming from our last day in Boston.

Bootsy BBQ sauce is the very one and the same secret family recipe sauce that you had years ago. we marinated some meat with it over the weekend and grilled it up. it turned out perfect, of course! so you should run out and get some! and don’t forget Redbones! that’s a place worth going back to! thanks Mike.

mike01905 reply on September 1st, 2010 9:27 am:
Well… I’ll have to wait until I can have things that are considered “acidic” before running out to purchase any BBQ Sauce… since 99% of it is tomato-based (I know the Aussom Aussie’s isn’t tomato-based) and tomatoes are considered acidic.

Another good place to go to (and they have a few locations) is Firefly’s (seen in my pics of the Phanton Gourmet BBQ Beach Party)… but Redbones is probably a better deal price-wise.

Looking forward to the rest of the Boston area pics as well as pics from when you and HC were in other parts of New England.
mike01905´s last [type] ..2010 Revere Beach Sand Sculpture Festival

thenhbushman reply on September 1st, 2010 5:13 pm:

Hi Mike,
Bootsy doesn’t seem to be based on tomatoes at all. i think it’s more alkaline than acidic but that would just be a guess on my part.

in upcoming installments, we visit Maine, and New Hampshire all the way up to the Canadian border. we also went to the top of Mt. Washington. cya.
# 5 Michael Cannon Says:
September 1st, 2010 at 12:16 am
Michael & Huichen, the ribs look fantastic. Peichi and I used to eat at Taiwan Cafe as well in Boston’s Chinatown when we lived in Portsmouth. We both being around Boston, it’s a wonderful city to live by.
Michael Cannon´s last [type] ..Life in India- Week of August 23- 2010

thenhbushman reply on September 1st, 2010 4:10 am:

Michael i thought HC should see Boston for herself. i’ve been talking about New England for years now so it was time to check it out! it really is a fantastic city to live in or nearby! thanks. thanks for the RT too!
# 6 Brunty Says:
September 1st, 2010 at 10:06 pm
MJ, thanks for sharing. Wow Boston looks like a really beautiful city, and as you said it looked so clean. Some of the buildings have an interesting history like State House and its dome. 300,000K to gild it it 23K gold.

South Station also looks like a beautiful building that has been well looked after. I love historical buildings in any country as the craftsmanship back in those days at times was pretty amazing.

In my hometown in Australia there are old blue stone buildings that were built using the convict labor sent from Britain. These buildings have so much history but many of the youth of today know nothing of them or seem to care.

It is good to see these places being protected and preserved for the future generations when we are long and gone.

Being an Aussie and never to America I hadn’t heard of Redbones, but the tucker looked bloody delicious indeed.

I look forward to more on your trip.

thenhbushman reply on September 2nd, 2010 12:56 am:

hi Brunty, thanks for dropping by. yes, Boston is quite a nice city that’s actually rather large but also has some small-town charm to it. i agree with you on the historical significance of buildings and need for preservation of them and the history behind them. it’s nice to see that happening to a lesser extent here in Taiwan. you would have loved Redbones. every single thing on the menu is made from scratch on the premises, including the condiments. take care Brunty and keep dry!
# 7 Stefan Says:
September 2nd, 2010 at 11:27 pm
That’s quite sad, seeing that plaque removed – it’s quite shameful how the West treats Taiwan sometimes.

Quite interesting to see these pictures – I never managed to go to Boston while I was living in NJ, we did a “New England tour” once, but at the time we didn’t feel like dealing with the traffic. (Looking back I don’t understand anymore why that deterred me – I was regularly driving into NYC at the time. Or maybe that was the reason?)

thenhbushman reply on September 3rd, 2010 1:31 am:

hi Stefan. i think that some Chinese removed the plaque. they have taken it upon themselves to be the “country police” and make trouble for Taiwanese wherever they go.

Boston is a really nice place and it looks better these days. hope you get a chance to visit there yourself someday. thanks.

Stefan reply on September 3rd, 2010 8:05 pm:
Ah yes – that’s a much more likely explanation.

Yeah I hope someday I’ll have another chance for visit.
# 8 Carolyn Bakker Says:
September 3rd, 2010 at 9:50 am
Loved seeing the pictures of Boston. Michael and Peichi drove me around Boston and I got to see some of these same buildings four years ago. Those hushpuppies look terrific. Many people, including restaurants, do not make them that way and the taste is a disappointment.

Last night my husband and I watched a film about Taiwan. It is truely a beautiful country.

thenhbushman reply on September 3rd, 2010 11:03 am:

Carolyn, isn’t Boston a wonderful city? i’m so glad you got a chance to see it for yourself!

what was the name of the film you saw? yes Taiwan is stunningly beautiful. hope you could see it someday. take care, Carolyn.

Carolyn Bakker reply on September 3rd, 2010 9:27 pm:
I am sorry that I do not know the name of the film. It was on the educational channel. They showed many of the places that Michael had taken pictures; and the film explained about the areas.

Stefan reply on September 3rd, 2010 11:19 pm:
Something like that is always a challenge for me, so I tried to find the show. No luck, though. However I found something else which might be interesting: http://current.com/entertainment/comedy/88808181_what-is-taiwan.htm – it’s a bit about Taiwan’s history, I enjoyed it a lot.

thenhbushman reply on September 3rd, 2010 11:35 pm:

thanks for trying to find that Stefan. i’ll give it a look. take care.

Carolyn Bakker reply on September 4th, 2010 11:41 am:
Stefan and Michael, the public educational channel was selling the films for $19.95 plus s&h afterwards. They had films of other countries too. I still do not remember the name of the film. We do not have a television guide that would show the name of the film.

thenhbushman reply on September 3rd, 2010 11:35 pm:

Carolyn, our loyal reader Stefan tried to find the show you were watching. please see his comment. thanks.
# 9 Emi Says:
September 4th, 2010 at 9:35 pm
Hello Klein,

Boston seems interest city.
I have never been there. However, I had a not good memory.
My husband went to Boston for business trip about 10 years ago.
The company had any problems after he left there.
His boss told husband when came back to Japan, ” you should go to Boston now soon “.
Of course, he gave boss a flat refusal.
Anyway, I knew about Boston from your pictures. Thank you !

Have a nice weekend,
Emi

thenhbushman reply on September 4th, 2010 11:44 pm:

hi Emi. i’m glad you got to see Boston through our photos, even though you have a bad memory of it. hope you can visit there someday. thanks for your comments and take care.
# 10 Jeff McMahan Says:
September 9th, 2010 at 9:29 pm
Wow, the missing plaque is telling! You and Turton ought to start a boycott Boston campaign because of the offensive slight to the people of Taiwan. What’s next we remove the plaques from Prospect Hill because the British are offended?

thenhbushman reply on September 10th, 2010 10:45 am:

hi Jeff. that whole mess is so stupid that i avoid it altogether. nice to hear from you again. take care.

Jeff McMahan reply on September 10th, 2010 12:23 pm:
For cryin’ out loud, Michael, I was just kidding! Like you would organize a boycott (hell it was probably removed by vandals) over something so trival. Now Turton, on the other hand, would probably get worked up about it. But I did not leave silly post on his blog either. So, lighten up and tell Tamany Hall you will flush all the tea in Tiawan down a toilet if they do not replace sign, and pronto!

thenhbushman reply on September 10th, 2010 12:55 pm:

Jeff, who is Tamany Hall?

Jeff McMahan reply on September 10th, 2010 2:36 pm:
Oops! Wrong city (NYC), and spelled incorrectly too. Should be 2 m’s! Anyways, Tammany Hall was the defacto power center of nyc from the late 18th century through the 1960′s.

thenhbushman reply on September 10th, 2010 10:30 pm:

hehe no worries, Jeff! i read about it on Wikipedia. interesting history. thanks.
# 11 Grillin’ With Bootsy BBQ at Xiao Hui’s! | We Blog The World Says:
December 21st, 2010 at 2:04 am
[...] long-time friend, Mr. Danny Brown is the man behind Bootsy BBQ, and he can be seen at the end of this recent article. He has a real hit on his hands with this sauce and you’ll be seeing us talking about it as it [...]