The new Harvard Art Museum is open! And it's a big deal...

Harvard's Fogg Art Museum is dead - long live the Harvard Art Museums! When I did visit the Fogg sometime in the 90's I remember being somewhat underwhelmed, not by the art, but by the space. It was an old world type museum, musty and dim...like something from the ancient Greek empire. This new incarnation of art on the outskirts of Harvard Yard is nothing less than a world class museum. It's not like the art has changed - and Vincent Van Gogh's self portrait does not need an introduction, but the layout and flow along with the addition of natural light makes the space much more inviting...

The current space is located in the building that used to house the Fogg collection, but after seven years of expansionism and modernization you'd hardly know it. The Fogg was the first Harvard art museum, opened to the public in 1896. Two other museums, the Busch-Reisinger Museum and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum have added their collections to the Fogg's and they are all now united under this one glass ceiling. 

I snuck in on Tuesday during opening week an hour before the museum closed - admission was free as part of a grand opening promotion. I performed a brisk tour - unable to hover and contemplate each work and it's importance to my being. What came to mind about half way through my tour was this: holy shit - I can't believe a collection of masterpieces worth billions is a mere a short bike ride from my house!

The collection ranges from ancient Roman and Minoan to to modern and contemporary. If you've ever taken an art history class you will immediately recognize pieces from textbooks and PBS documentaries.

Yep - that right there (above) is a Picasso from his blue period.

The collection holds lots of religious content - did anyone paint anything else during the Renaissance? I would liked to have seen a bit more contemporary work and sculptures, but overall I enjoyed the diversity. 

I get really bored in museums that feature one medium or period. I mean, how many mummy's or medieval suits of armor can you stand in one day. So if you've got the A.D.D.'s, this might be your new favorite museum.

  

The Harvard Art Museum is a monumental addition to the cultural landscape of Boston. If you've been to the MFA umpteen times and you realize the Gardener ain't ever going to change, you now have something to look forward to. I recommend going right meow! 

Now, would someone please go build the Boston History Museum already!

  

Dirty Old Belmont Water Tower

Seeing the last gasps of warm weather in New England on the horizon, I decided to get out on my bike for one last monster ride. I brought along my camera thinking that I'd take some colorful photos of pretty leaves and other typical Boston area seasonal landscape crap. After a couple hours on side roads and looping trails in Belmont, I still hand't taken the camera out of my pocket. Being a long time New England boy - I guess I'm all set with big yellow trees.

Oh wait - I did take one nature shot...

 
But then I started finding some subject matter more suitable to my tastes. This was on the side of an abandoned barn.

Yeah, yeah...I know it's not a Banksy. But I'm a sucker for all forms of graffiti and street art - be it in the woods or the ghetto. After climbing some hills I noticed an old water tower that was marked up...

Now that's what I call a successful bike ride. But there was still one more surprise - a form of artistic expression that pre-dates spray-paint (and all paint). I've seen all kinds of crazy man-made rock structures buried in the woods, lost to time - rock walls, rock circles, standing stones, cairns, effigies - but this stone circle in the shape of a labyrinth was completely unexpected...

You can see some of the labyrinth pattern from this angle...

A lot of antiquities similar to this have been associated with Native Americans, but my gut tells me this was probably laid down when Belmont was all farmland, prior to the train tracks that were built nearby in 1840. It's about 30 feet in diameter and the headstone points East.

But maybe it is much older, it's really hard to tell with something like this. The New England landscape has changed dramatically over the last 500 years, but with over 100,000 Native Americans living on these lands in 1500 it would be pretty naive to think that they didn't leave their mark here in Dirty Old Belmont - and elsewhere throughout New England.

Cruising Boston Harbor for a mere $10, or to the Islands for $15.

On more than one occasion whilst walking past a water taxi stop in the Seaport I've said to myself, or whoever was in earshot, I’m going to jump on one of these rickety boats some day and cruise around the Harbor like I’m captain of the seas.

And that’s exactly what my girlfriend and I did one splendid summer evening.  Our cruise director / captain couldn't have been more accommodating – when we were asked "where to?", we shrugged and pointed out to sea. So we floated around the bay for 45 minutes or so, harassing other passengers and offering up advice to tourists and businessmen – the captain put up with us graciously, and might have even enjoyed the company. But alas, the pleasure cruise could not last all night, so we jumped off in Charlestown and headed to the Warren Tavern for a beer. It was well worth the $10.

For something a bit more extravagant, there are plenty of other boating options that venture farther out into the bay. When I had some family in town recently we opted for a classic Gatsby-era yacht named the Beacon - operated by the Classic Harbor Line. It’s not a giant behemoth, and more importantly it was built with a beautiful mahogany bar to complete the feeling of a 1920s style vessel. 

Enjoying a leisurely cruise out past the scenic Harbor Islands as strangers on other boats wave to you as if this is your farewell voyage.

The captain will spit out just enough bits and pieces of history and trivia to his passengers without the trip becoming too much like a cheesy Duck Boat tour.  

Boston’s Harbor Islands have a long history – I could go on and on about forts and prisons and Native Americans, but I’ll just post some pretty pictures instead.

Many of the Boston Harbor Islands are accessible via a brief ferry ride from Long Wharf. The most popular being Spectacle and George’s Island – where facilities such as bathrooms and a snack bar can be found. Connections can be made from these Islands to explore Peddocks, Lovells or Bumpkin Islands. These pictures are from Spectacle Island in September of 2014...

If there's nothing available at the snack bar that pleases your palette you can forage for your lunch or maybe chase a down a turkey and make a sandwich.

The Ferry is a great bargain – it’s only $15 to get out to George’s or Spectacle and you won’t find a better view of the Boston skyline for a picnic.

A somewhat newer addition to the Boston Harbor is the very visible Nantucket Light Ship.

It’s docked in Eastie and it's in the midst of a complete renovation. Tours are available, but they are sporadic – look into availability before you head over.

                                        

The man who saved this ship and brought it to Boston. Awesome dude.

Land Ho!  Thanks for cruising my blog today and we'll see you soon...

Mini hike along Cape Cod's eroding shoreline

The term “Old Cape Cod” is a famous one – but as far as peninsula’s go, it’s actually kind of new. This landscape, built on sand and summer memories, is merely a bit of leftover debris from the last ice age some 16-20 thousand years ago. It’s here to enjoy today, but it won’t be around forever. As the landscape shifts and fluctuates, battered by wind and sea, homes will be lost and maps will be re-drawn. The greatest change in the landscape over the last few decades has been along Nauset, where a new inlet was created in 1987 during a Nor’easter and again a little farther north after a storm in 2007. Homes that were thought to be safe and secure are long gone. But it's been happening for centuries - this little group of historical cottages, called the Sand City Camps (seen below) were lost to the sea decades ago.

More recently, a beach community called the North Beach Chatham Cottages has been eroding since the 1987 storm and is down to is down to 4 remaining structures. 

This photograph shows the inevitable...

And what follows...

Here’s a great visual of the changes the coastline has seen between 1984-2013

Although Cape Cod is one big mass of evolving and dissolving sand and land, sometimes it’s hard to see with your own eyes where all this erosion is taking place. Nature is tricky like that. There is a little hike that I like to take in Eastham between Nauset Light and Marconi Beach that reveals some of the Cape's secrets. There are a couple different ways to get to this area by biking or hiking the meandering trails and fire roads of the Cape Cod National Seashore. There’s access from the rail trail that starts in Wellfleet as well as a number of other access points throughout the park. I’m pretty familiar with this area, so I just look for a well-established trail that’s heading due east. There’s only one outcome – an 80 foot dune.

When you get to the cliff - you stop! This part is along what used to be Nauset Light Beach Road. Most of the paved road has crumbled away and fallen to the sands below...

And it's not going to relent anytime soon...

The path I followed literally disintegrated into the dune and disappeared…

   

A new path was stomped into the woods several yards away from the dangerous edge...

I'm pretty sure the entire Cape isn't going to slip into the sea anytime soon, but New England is certainly due for a major Hurricane in the near furure - and with it will come the inevitable changes...

One last thing, if you ever get a chance to see an amazing band (Banditas) perform in a beach parking lot on top of a dune - you should do that...