QUINCY MASS OF HISTORY DAY 1

Boston, Massachusetts is certainly glowing when it comes to history.   Five miles south and over the Neponset River take you into the city of Quincy (pronounced Quin-zee), the only city in the United States that is the birthplace of two presidents; John Adams and his son John Quincy Adams.  Add the birthplace of John Hancock and you have the makings of the Declaration of Independence. 

What better public transportation to Boston than Megabus.   Leaving on an early morning trip on July 3^rd, I hop the New York to Boston at 34^th Street between 11^th and 12^th Avenue, just across the street from the Jacob Javits Center.  Buying a ticket online gets you a seat, but not reserved.   These double decker buses are new and quite clean.   Two tables with cup holders on each deck for those toting their laptop.  Lots of places to plug in to use your device or just recharge and not just at these tables.   Seats are bucket with fabric that recline more than your average airline seat and like an airline have seatbelts.  Bathroom is on bottom level and flush.  No sink. Sanitizer provided for the hands.  

This is the second time that I have used them noticing that the driver does not make an attempt to go 70 miles an hour, if you know what I mean. Although the trip was less than five hours, there was a “pit stop” in Mass at a Burger King.  Luggage goes into an area in the back accessible from the outside.   Ride back home has us stopping at 27^th Street and 7^th Avenue.  Taxis seem to be aware of Megabus’ schedule!  You can pay as little as $1 for a trip.   Will be testing to see how far across the country I can travel and back spending as little as possible.  www.megabus.com 

The “T” takes you from Boston to a few stops in Quincy.  However, I went with a tax service, Yellow Cab and using the same driver, Sam Clark, who knew the ins and outs of shortcuts, as well as much about Quincy itself.  It’s great to have a really polite and helpful driver, especially since I walk with a cane.  www.yellowcabquincy.com 

I checked into the Best Western Adams Inn, located in North Quincy. Room facing the river.  Had a frig but no clock and glue holding down the toilet must not have dried yet.   Biggest problem came later during checkout. 

Lunch is in order and I was craving seafood...I wonder why?  Burke’s Seafood at 61 Billings Street was not far from the hotel.  It is basically a fish market with an attached room of tables and chairs.  Nothing fancy.  What counts is the quality and freshness of the food, cleanliness of the store and the smell of fish not permeating .  With a selection of chowders, I opted for the house special, a seafood chowder with clams, haddock, scallops, lobster and shrimp…New England style…of course.   A must for chowder lovers.   Lobster roll had a good portion of meat and little filling…I think just mayo.  Served on a hot dog bun. Delish.  Haddock appears to be "the local fish".   www.burkeseafood.com  

I’m now off to the Quincy Historical Society, located at 8 Adams Street.   History museum takes me through over 400 years highlighting some great stuff.   Granite workers and ship builders were much of the start.  Info on John and Abigail Adams, Anne Hutchinson and two particular companies:  Dunkin’ Donuts and Howard Johnsons.   More about the donuts later.  Suggested adult donation of $3.  Nice old building, too. www.quincyhistory.org  

I love sushi, especially if I find a place that has a good turnover and popular.   It hints wisely that the sushi is fresh.  Fuji Group is the company that Jimmy Liang runs with other partners.   The group of restaurants includes authentic Chinese, Japanese and Asian Fusion.  I decided to dine at the Japanese Fuji 1546 Restaurant and Bar located at 1546 Hancock Street opened since 2004.  Jimmy introduced Quincy to Japanese cuisine with one restaurant.   There has been an expansion to include not only Quincy, but will capture Cambridge as well.  The décor and space here is wonderful for both those simply here to eat or “party” with others.  I didn’t stay late enough to see the nightlife.  

I was interested in tasting items that were less common and delved into two appetizers.   Salmon Wonton Chips was a sort of tartare-chutney texture using the raw salmon, tomatoes, onion, cilantro and spicy mayo atop wonton chips.   Delicious enough, the wonton chips are Jimmy’s idea and a good one as well.   I think you may be able to buy a bag to go.   The second appetizer was the Fried Squid as the fresh squid “rings” are dipped in tempura.   It was served with three sauces: wasabi mayo; spicy mayo; and cocktail sauce.

I then chose five of Jimmy’s signature maki rolls.   Cruncheese – smoked salmon, mango, cream cheese, scallions and ell sauce.  Little Shrimp Gift – spicy salmon, cucumber, romaine lettuce, seared sweet shrimp, bacon, black tobiko, eel sauce.  Bundle of Joy – blackened tuna steak, tobiko, lettuce, carrot, avocado, asparagus, eel sauce, spicy mayo.  This one is wrapped in rice paper vs nori.  Ming’s Mango Special (created by Chef Ming): shrimp, asparagus, mango, spicy tuna.  Make Me Hungry: tuna, mango, taro, red crab, eel sauce. This is all making me hungry writing about it.  Aside from the consistencies and flavors of these maki rolls, I appreciate that they are not “fat”.   To me, sushi, whether it is served on a piece of rice or as a sliced maki roll, should be eaten in one bite.  Otherwise you’re just getting mostly rice. 

I would have skipped dessert if it weren’t for hearing about their fried cheesecake.  The cheesecake itself is made on the premises.  It’s served with a scoop of ice cream.  Yummy.  www.fuji1546.com

In a letter from John Adams to his wife, Abigail he wrote, “The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.” The tradition in Quincy is to celebrate the evening of the 3^rd as I ventured to the town of Hough’s Neck to view the long tradition of a bonfire on the beach and fireworks coming from across the way at Weymouth’s Wessagusset Beach.  Hough’s Neck residents were barbecuing all about. 

Going there I passed by the Hough’s Neck Maritime Center on Bayiew Avenue where Steve Holler docks his lobster boat, the November Gale. Every Friday and Saturday during the months of June, July and August, you can purchase the fresh lobsters right off the boat. The price for any size lobster is the same and both less expensive and fresher than you'll find in any market or restaurant.  Soft shell lobsters are fab and culls even less expensive. 

  

QUINCY MASS OF HISTORY DAY 3

On the morning of July 5^th I was leaving the Best Western Adams Inn for a period of time.  It was approximately 9:30 when I approached the front desk asking about a late checkout due to my schedule.   The person I spoke with said that the latest was noon.  I agreed saying that I would see to it that I was back before. She asked for my room number and placed the information in the account.

I will get back to my itinerary later. I arrived back to the room at approximately 11:40 to notice that my room was open and ajar. My bag was sitting in the hallway across from the room. I looked around and there were no housekeeping staff present. I first walked into the room to see if it was being cleaned. Nobody was in there and it appeared that some of the work was taken care of.  I then opened the door, took my bag and brought it into the room. I checked the refrigerator to see that it was cleaned out. I had a few bottles of water and leftover food from Fuji that I had expected to be eating later that day.

This is a total breach of security!  Let’s begin by that the luggage was in the hall. Anyone could have simply picked it up and taken it, taken something from it, or even put something in it.   How obvious could that be if I was able to take it away without anyone noticing? 

It was clear in looking in the room that I had not checked out and the room should not have been attended to. The housekeeping staff should also have checked to see if I had a late checkout after seeing the luggage and food in the refrigerator. Upon removing the luggage and deciding to leave it in the hall, did the person notify the manager of housekeeping or notify someone at the desk rather than take it upon herself to do this?  A call to the general manager was not returned until days later.

Back to the itinerary as I go to Adams National Historical Park Visitors Center, located at 1250 Hancock Street.  Now here’s a history bargain that beings with a 27 minute movie entitled, “Enduring Legacy: Four Generations of the Adams Family”. It’s a story of service and sacrifices that shaped our nation. You will certainly recognize the voice of Tom Hanks. 

Take the $5 tour where you first hop on a trolley that takes you to Adams Birthplaces. You’ll get a tour of the two homes. Back on the trolley for a tour of Peace Field where you’ll visit The House and gardens.  Trolley then takes you back to the Visitors Center where you can walk over to the United First Parish Church and view the crypt of the Adams family. I did notice that a rainbow flag was hanging from the church. The church is consider to be Unitarian.

Wanting to take in a different area, I head to Port 305, located on Victory Road in Marina Bay.  Now, this would have been the place to get at least a distant view of the Boston fireworks.  What’s up dock?  Boats and restaurants. Port 305 has both indoor and outdoor seating.  I would have lunched outdoors if only there were such thing as outdoor air conditioning…oh, right…there is…it’s called, “Winter”.  

I immersed myself in Chicken Wings as an app and Broiled Scallops as an entrée.  Scallops came with mashed sweet potatoes and ginger, and grilled asparagus. Just perfect. This restaurant is part of a group called Eat Drink Mingle Group.com and includes Siro’s Restaurant and Blue Martini Bar all on Marina Bay.  Kristie Henricksen and Jon D’Allessandro are the proprietors with Marc Vierbickas as the Executive Chef. 

One last place to see…the original Dunkin’ Donuts.  When you first walk in it looks like any other Dunkin’ but go to the left and you’ll see seating from the 1950s, when this place first opened.  Photos and stuff to read on the wall.  

Day coming to an end I head back to Boston for a Megabus ride home. Trip back was great but why do people mistake a bus for a phone booth?  For further information on Quincy go to www.thequincychamber.org  

BEST WESTERN SECURITY BREACH

I stayed at the Best Western Adams Inn located in Quincy, Massachusetts. On the morning of July 5^th I was leaving the hotel for a period of time.  It was approximately 9:30 when I approached the front desk asking about a late checkout due to my schedule.   The person I spoke with said that the latest was noon.  I agreed saying that I would see to it that I was back before.   She asked for my room number and placed the information in the account.

I arrived back to the room at approximately 11:40 to notice that my room was open and ajar.  My bag was sitting in the hallway across from the room.  I looked around and there were no housekeeping staff present.   I first walked into the room to see if was being cleaned.   It appeared that some of the work was taken care of.   I then opened the door, took my bag and brought it into the room.

I checked the refrigerator to see that it was cleaned out.   I had a few bottles of water and leftover food from a high end restaurant that I had prepared to be eating later that day as a meal.  

This is a total breach in security!  Let’s begin by that the luggage was in the hall.  Anyone could have simply picked it up and taken it, taken something from it, or even put something in it.   How obvious could that be if I was able to take it away without anyone noticing? 

Hotels have policies regarding being charged for another day or extra money if a person checks out after the check out time.   It was clear in looking in the room that I had not checked out and the room should not have been attended to.   The housekeeping staff should also have checked to see if I had a late checkout after seeing the luggage and food in the refrigerator.    Upon removing the luggage and deciding to leave it in the hall, did the housecleaning person notify the manager of housekeeping or notify someone at the desk rather than take it upon herself to do this?

I would conclude that wanting to clean the rooms as quickly as possible to make way for those checking in on Friday was more of a priority in order to look as if the job was done.   I placed a call to the owner of the hotel, and left a message.  The call was not returned despite my comment on being a security breach.  I later called and the person at the front desk placed me on "hold" to call the owner's home number and cell phone number, neither of which was answered.  I left another message and no phone call was returned.  It made me wonder how responsible the owner is when a staff member needs to get in touch. 

Somehow I am waiting to get one of those, "I apologize". "I will look into this" and the ultimate, "Thank for your feedback.  This will assist in retraining the staff".