Stoneview

We had a nice visit to the MFA yesterday. We wanted to see “The secrets of tomb 10a” and we also managed to wander into a visiting still life exhibit, prints by Albrecht Durer, modern Indian art, and Cafe and Cabaret with some great Toulouse Latrec posters and sketches.

Since we had most of a day Monday available to us we made our day down to the Burlington mall to have a look at another pen shop but found it to be too pricey and highfalutin’ for our tastes. We did find some nice cards and stationary elsewhere in the mall. After that we cruised over to Concord center for a bite to eat, a browse through the kitchen store and a quick visit to Albright Art and Crafts where we’d seen some nice journals. I’d been looking for a teapot in the 6-cup range for awhile that wouldn’t break the bank and this one fit the bill nicely, it’s even got an infuser.

Madame Purl suggested a visit to the FDR house this trip so we left early enough on Friday that we had time for a visit there before our dinner reservation at the CIA’s Escoffier. We lucked into another fabulous tour guide who was full of interesting information. We learned that FDR established the very first presidential library. Dinner at the CIA was a wonderful experience and we felt we had the best table in the house with a wonderful view of the action. The scallop appetizer was especially outstanding and we were too stuffed for desert.

We’d planned to visit the MFA while Mme Purl was here months ago and I’d reserved the pass. Of course once she was here and we started chatting a visit to Bromfield Pen shop in Boston got added to the itinerary. As we made our way there from the T we stumbled across the Brattle book shop and had to stop in there as well.

From there we paused at the Granary Burial Ground and then caught the T out to the MFA where we had a lovely lunch and a few hours browse around the museum. The MFA was chock full of art students that meant we had a different sort of view of many of the objects.

Madame Purl and I have got this visit thing down to a science now. We’ve learned to plan enough days that we don’t stay up half the night and miss out on too much sleep. This means that we often have time for a bit of sight seeing in addition to whatever fibery events are going on. Since she’s recently been on a writing/writerly things sort of a bent I suggested visiting the Alcott residence, Orchard House. It’s long been on my todo list and we really enjoyed it. The tour guide was animated and interested and had lots of fun stories to tell. I highly recommend it if you’re in the area.