I’ve had a few experiences with Boston. In the summer of 1999, I traveled there for a job interview as a high school orchestra teacher. Before that I’d been to visit a friend who was studying at Harvard and MIT. It’s why I’d considered moving to the area for work.
In 2001, we made a trip there during the summer. I’d just gotten a Canon SureShot digital camera, which was highly rated at the time, at 3 megapixels. I’ve done some light processing of these photos in Photoshop to try and get around the color issues and lack of sharp detail.
These photos capture some jaunts in Chinatown, Harvard Square in Cambridge, and our trip out to Provincetown via the Salacia ferry. Having visited the area most recently for the Boston Early Music Festival (2025), these photos are very interesting. Both for seeing a city that looks a bit cleaner and contemporary, but also for some sights that have stood the test of some twenty years.
In 2023, when visiting Boston Early Music Festival, I met up with my friend for lunch, there at the Parish Café. I’d known the place looked familiar, but these photos clearly document my 2001 visit, likely my first, but who knows?
I remember snapping the “Lunch Buffet and Dim Sum” place because I’d done there with my friend in ’97 for dim sum on the weekend. My first exposure to chicken and duck feet.
A few other associations with Boston:
- For me, the smell of the T subway has a particular smell, which is the most iconic on the Green line, especially in the underground stops. I think I would recognize that smell anywhere as “Boston” and kind of adore it.
- The “China Pearl” sign for some time was one of the images on my early website (biberfan.com) as a header image. I think I’ve probably taken that sign again in subsequent visits, but this photo was the original.
- Every time I’d visit a college town, I’d always want to visit the Urban Outfitters. To me the nostalgia around college towns and the stores they have was something I never experienced as a student in Rochester, New York.
- A friend had introduced me to Crate & Barrel many years ago, and this one at Harvard Square was the first one I’d explored on my own. I remember thinking at that point in my life that I’d have had it made if I lived in a place that had one of these stores nearby.
- The Salacia, the name of one of the ferries that operates between Boston and Provincetown, was the name I’d adopted for my car after we’d decided, maybe a decade ago, that we would give our cars names, as some friends had. I still drive Salacia (my Audi) as it has a dark blue color that resembles ocean waters.
- The John Hancock Building, near Copley Square, is always a favorite of mine, so modern no matter what. It’s the first building I ever went into with an observation deck.
And not about Boston, but me and that shirt:
- I remember having just gotten that short-sleeved shirt at the Gap before the trip and realize now it still hangs in my closet. Maybe it’s time to retire it? First shirt I bought that had some elastic “give” to it, which was a novelty in 2001.