Driving to Harvard (9/2/2015)

Joe took on the Boston traffic today.  We stopped for breakfast and I had picture-perfect waffles with fresh fruit -- worth a picture for the foodies out there.  Nice presentation.

We got to the Harvard campus around 11:00, thinking maybe the traffic would be better, but it wasn't.  Traffic on campus was absolutely awful -- cars, moving vans still, bicyclists, motorcyclists, and pedestrians all blocking our way.  We've never been honked at so much in one town!  And of course Joe wasn't yelling back!  And we weren't even in the wrong (usually).  Oh, I almost forgot, a little road construction thrown in from time to time, just to keep it interesting.

We almost took out a bicyclist who sneaked up behind us.  It was nerve-wracking, and we saw very little of the campus.  We chose "Harvard Square" on the GPS, but it wasn't what we expected.

Harvard Square

I was expecting maybe the Quad.  It was like a newspaper stand.  We snapped a few pictures of buildings, including the law school.  My ex-boss Mark graduated from here, but he got his law degree at Georgetown.

International Law Center

This next one was the Engineering and Applied Sciences Building.

We got a picture of one statue, but did not see anything else that we were told to look for.  There are some very old churches here in Cambridge, but there was no place to park anywhere, so we just drove by.

John Harvard Statue

Next on our agenda was Radcliff University, which used to be a "women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and functioned as a female coordinate institution for the all-male Harvard College."  When I was young and full of dreams, I wanted to go to Radcliff.  But I settled for Indiana State, and Radcliff eventually merged with Harvard, so all that is actually left of that campus (the rest having been incorporated into the Harvard campus) is the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, which we found, and some housing, which I'm sure we drove past.

We managed to escape unscathed, but I don't know how. We played hopscotch with another bicycle rider all through here, and Joe was about ready to run over him just on general principles.  They ride in the traffic lane but they don't obey any of the traffic signals, so you never know what they are going to do!  Anyhow, we headed back through Boston.  We passed some of the subway openings which we hadn't noticed before, and we still haven't gotten brave enough to tackle the subway.

We worked our way over to the JFK Library and Museum, more road construction here.  It is right on the Boston Harbor, very lovely building.

Our tour began with a 20-minute film about his growing-up years, and ended when he accepted the Presidential Nomination from the Democratic Party.   This Library/Museum was more film clips and videos than exhibits, with just one little area showing the funeral procession.  But it covered a lot about civil rights, some about the space program, and the Cold War. A couple of Jackie's dresses were on display.  There was also an area about Robert Kennedy and his work as the Attorney General.

Replica of Oval Office

At the end of the exhibits was a piece of the Berllin wall, which was constructed in 1961 during Kennedy's term of office.  

This Library is right on the edge of the University of Massachusetts campus, so we left here just as classes were over for the day I guess, because we were certainly back in heavy traffic.  We finally got out to our suburban area, found a place to eat an early dinner, and called it a day.  We were back at the RV by 5:00, I think our first time to get home before dark here in Boston.  We've had 3 full days here, and we were both tired.  But at least we found our campground on the first try today, no road blocks in our way.

We have had lovely weather here in Boston, and having dealt with traffic today we can certainly appreciate our pleasant ferry rides the first two days.  Tomorrow we will try the drive to Cape Cod, then we will be ready to leave here, and take on NEW YORK CITY.