February 28: Flat Stanley tours Boston

Dear Andrew,

Today we got to go into Boston to see some sights! One place we saw a lot of was Dunkin' Donuts. They have these on practically ever corner!


We also saw this church, Old South Church. There are a lot of old churches in Boston! Old South Church was built in 1873, on newly filled-in land. Did you know that more than half of Boston was originally a bay that was filled in with dirt? They call this section of town "Back Bay" because that's what it originally was!


This is part of downtown Boston. They have tons of tall office buildings there. In the background of this picture you can see a blue light coming out of the top of a building. That is actually a weather beacon, telling you the weather:

Steady blue, clear view.
Flashing blue, clouds due.
Steady red, rain ahead.
Flashing red, snow instead.

In baseball season, flashing red means the Red Sox game was cancelled on account of weather, since there isn't usually snow during baseball season. Tonight it was steady blue because of the clear skies we had.

To the right of that building is the John Hancock Tower, the tallest building in Boston. Do you remember who John Hancock was? He was known for his large and fancy signature on the Declaration of Independence. He was also the first governor of Massachusetts.

This is the Boston Public Library. It is the third largest library in America, after the Library of Congress and Harvard University's library system. It houses 15 million books, and was the first library to allow people to borrow books and take them home. Sadly, it was closed when we went, so we couldn't get pictures of the beautiful inside.


Our final stop tonight was the famous Newbury Street, one of the best shopping districts in Boston. It is lined with hundreds of stores, even some that are very, very expensive!


Touring Boston tonight was so much fun! I can't believe it's only been a week since I got here!

Sincerely,

February 27: Flat Stanley rides the T

Dear Andrew,

Today I got to experience a ride on the T, which is the name of the subway system in Boston, short for MBTA or the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Company. Here we are at the Park Street station.

The T was the first subway in America and was built in 1897. Tonight we took the Green Line to Copley.


Can you find Park Street and Copley stations on the map? To zoom in, just click on the picture.


Are you wondering where we went? We took the T to the Bicenntenial Gala for Park Street Church. The church turned 200 years old today!


Sincerely,

February 26: Flat Stanley stays home sick

Dear Andrew,

Today we stayed home because I wasn't feeling so great. I think I caught a virus!


Don't worry, I think I'll be feeling much better after a good night's sleep.

Sincerely,

February 25: Flat Stanley samples seafood

Dear Andrew,

No visit to Boston is complete without eating some fresh seafood, so tonight we went to Legal Sea Foods!


Here I am outside the restaurant with Jonathan. Isn't this statue of a fish huge?


Legal's slogan is "If it's not fresh, it isn't legal!" Since Boston is so close to the ocean, they always have really fresh, tasty seafood here. But not quite as fresh as these guys are!


We had clam chowder and it was so good! I'm really glad I got to try some of the local cuisine!

Sincerely,

February 24: Flat Stanley tours MIT

Dear Andrew,

Today we walked all over MIT's campus. MIT stands for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This is the university that Abbie graduated from in 2007. Jonathan is currently finishing his Master's degree there.

First we saw Killian Court, where MIT's graduation ceremony is held, and the Great Dome, which is the site of many hacks. The word "hack" is the MIT term for a prank that doesn't hurt anyone or anything. For example, when the first Lord of the Rings movie was released in 2001, students put up a large version of the Ring around the dome (picture).



We then stopped by an Athena Cluster, which is the MIT name for a room of computers that any MIT student can use to do their homework. They use the name "Athena" because Athena was a Greek goddess who was thought to be very wise, and MIT students also want to be wise!


Our next stop was the basement of the Hayden Library, which holds almost every scientific journal that has ever been written. They have original copies of journals that go back to the late 1800s!


We then walked outside to the Green Building, which is the tallest building in Cambridge, and which houses many small departments at MIT. Abbie told me a story about how there once was wind blowing so fast under the bottom of the Green Building that the revolving doors were spinning around and around and no one could get out of the building! The fire department had to come and let people out of the second floor windows. After that day, MIT had a giant statue built in front of the building so that the wind couldn't go through there any more. They call the statue "the Sail." I could feel the wind blowing really hard when we were standing near the Sail, and I was very glad that Abbie held me tight so that I didn't get blown away! Boston is a very windy city.


Next we saw the Stata Center, which is the building that houses the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science department. The Stata Center was designed by a famous architect, Frank Gehry. Parts of the roof are used to collect rain water, which is then recycled into the plumbing system for the building.


Finally, I went to Computational Photography class with Jonathan. At MIT, all of the classes are labelled with numbers, and this class was 6.815. The 6 stands for the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science department, and the 815 is the class number. We learned in class about how photo editing programs work. I didn't understand very much of what the professor said, but Jonathan showed me some of the projects they did for class!


I had so much fun looking around at MIT today. Science and engineering are so much fun!

Sincerely,

February 23: Flat Stanley arrives in Cambridge

Dear Andrew,

I arrived safely in Cambridge, but when I got out of the envelope, a giant cat tried to eat me! Yikes!


Once we got that straightened out, Jonathan and Abbie showed me the great view from their 15th floor apartment. Look at that sunset!


Abbie helped me set up this blog, so that I can keep in touch with you while I am here. But don't worry, she says she will also print everything out and send it to your class, so that you can see my adventures from offline! Do you know what a blog is? I didn't know before she told me. Blog is short for "weblog" and it is similar to a personal online diary.

We put some of Abbie's favorite songs from Boston on here so that you can listen to them. "Sweet Caroline", "Dirty Water" and "Johnny B. Goode" are often played at Boston Red Sox baseball games. Sadly, baseball season hasn't begun yet, so I won't be able to go to a game while I am here. The other song is called "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" and it was the theme song from Cheers, a TV show that aired in the '80s and took place in Boston.

Tomorrow they have promised me a tour of MIT's campus. I can't wait to see it! I also might get to sit in on a class - I hope I am smart enough to understand what the professor is saying!

Sincerely,