Old School Glamour

About 4:00 a.m., downtown Boston:

Late on Friday night, I took a bus in to Logan Airport to meet my pilot husband, who had a two-night layover in Boston.  The crew was being put up in the swanky Park Plaza Hotel, right in the heart of downtown Boston, and we thought we'd take advantage of that and have a little date weekend in the city.

Our plans for yesterday were simple: we were going to get to Mass (it was the Feast of the Immaculate Conception), have a couple of nice meals, maybe walk around the city a bit--with a stop at Faneuil Hall marketplace, of course.

It turned out to be a cold and rainy day, so we didn't do the walking we had planned to do. Instead, after lunch we just curled up in our cozy king-sized bed at the hotel and watched a movie on TV.  The movie was a Will Ferrell comedy called Old School, and I do not recommend it!  I love Will Ferrell in any of his PG or PG-13 movies (Kicking and Screaming, Bewitched, and Elf); but R-rated comedies are too raunchy for me, and when this came out in theaters, it was an R.  It was cleaned up for television, otherwise we never would have watched it; but it was still a bit much.  And it was very infantile and ridiculous.  And not old school at all.  Old school is Jimmy Stewart in It's a Wonderful Life or Grace Kelly and Cary Grant in anything.

Anyhoo--

What is old school is the Park Plaza Hotel!  It's got so much old-Hollywood-style glamour about it.

When you walk through its immense, plush foyer, bedecked with enormous crystal chandeliers, you feel like you should be dressed like this:

Now this gal's ensemble is old school, isn't it?  I love everything about this fashion statement: the hat, the pearls, the dress with the matching jacket.  It's so modest, yet becoming--so pretty and feminine.  I want this outfit.  I need this outfit!  It would look right at home in the Park Plaza Hotel.  (Actually, it is right at home in the Park Plaza Hotel; this photo--along with other oversized black and white photos depicting similar old school glamour--is part of the hotel's lobby decor.)

Well, I've got to sign off, because my husband's crew bus to the airport will be here soon. After our little sojourn in these glamorous surroundings, he must get back to work.  And I'll board a bus to NH, dressed in my not-very-glamorous jeans, cable-knit sweater, and clogs, and head back to the old homestead, where my husband will join me tonight after he flies a plane down to Atlanta and back.

About 5:30 a.m., on a bus to NH:

They have free WiFi on the bus, and I'm trying something I've never tried before: blogging in a moving vehicle.  It's a little bumpy, so I'll keep this brief.

I just had to tell you about the incredible lunch I had in Boston yesterday.  My husband and I went to a seafood and steak restaurant called McCormick & Schmick's.  I thought I'd support the local fishermen and have seafood, so I ordered an appetizer called "Shrimp Kisses."  This dish consisted of five jumbo shrimp topped with pepper jack cheese and wrapped in applewood-smoked bacon.  That's right, every bite entailed suculent shrimp, melted cheese, and crisp bacon.  If there is a more heavenly food item, I don't know what it is. If you're ever in Boston, I encourage you to go to McCormick & Schmick's and try their Shrimp Kisses!

I'm going to sign off now, and maybe even try to get a little shut-eye after the early wake-up call this morning.  Hopefully, I'll dream about being on a lavish date with my tuxedo-clad leading man (my hubby, not Cary Grant!), dressed to the nines like the gal above (complete with a stylish, broad-brimmed hat), and eating as many Shrimp Kisses as I want (without gaining an ounce)...

A girl can dream, right?