myguideNewEngland

Green Monster sighted at Faneuil Hall Tree Lighting!

November 30th, 2007

My journey this night took me to the 17^th annual lighting of the Christmas Tree at Boston’s Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market. But before I made my way over to the merriment at Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market I stopped off to pay my respects at the impressive and somber Holocaust Memorial located on The Freedom Trail. The Holocaust Memorial is six glass towers that have six million numbers engraved on the glass to represent the six million Jew’s who perished in WWII, and serves as a stark reminder as to what can happen to a society that has no tolerance for dissent or freedom of speech.

It was a cold night as I trudged my way past the thousands who were making the annual trek to Fanueil Hall to see the lighting of this massive 60 foot Pine tree with over 8,000 twinkling white lights. This was my first time that I made the pilgrimage to see the tree lighting, but it won’t be my last. The tree was scheduled to be illuminated by none other than the Mayor of Boston Thomas Menino at 5:15PM, but his honor was fashionably late, which caused the masses to become impatient as we started to lose feeling in our extremities. I was impressed to see that the crowds had swelled to the tens of thousands on this cold night as 5pm drew near. It didn’t matter that the temperature dropped into the 20’s, young and old alike all gathered to listen to musical entertainment provided by Four Men in Tuxes, JADA and The Bell’s of Boston’s own Merrimack Valley Ringers. The Merrimack Valley Ringers are a group of women who play Christmas carols with golden bells of varying sizes. They are amazing and should not be missed if you are visiting Quincy Market during the holidays as they’ll be making appearances there throughout the season.

I took this opportunity to stop off at Ned Devine’s, one of the many Tavern’s and Pub’s that line the cobblestone streets at Faneuil Hall’s Quincy Market. Ned Devine’s is one of my favorite Pub’s to frequent and has always been a hot spot on St Patrick’s Day. It has 2 levels, the lower level is a bar and the second level is a bar/restaurant and function room where The Joshua Tree, a local cover band that honor’s Ireland’s U2, played last St. Patrick’s Day. They are really quite good, and should not be missed if you have the chance to see them. I took refuge here from the cold and bellied my way up to the bar(s) to enjoy a couple (or four) pints of Guinness. It was here that I met an Army Soldier from Ohio who was on leave from his 2^nd tour of duty in Iraq, and was visiting Boston with his wife and son. They were very excited to be in Beantown, and were amazed by how friendly everyone was. They had heard about the New England chill, and I’m not referring to the weather, but rather a stereotype that has been giving to New Englanders for a supposed lack of friendliness. They said that everyone in Boston had been so helpful to them and just couldn’t understand how anyone could say that Bostonians weren’t friendly. I explained to them that Bostonians have always been a reserved, hardworking people and often burn the candle at both ends. We often don’t take the time to stop and smell the roses, or baked beans for that matter, and visitors sometime misconstrue this hurried way of life as rudeness. But I explained to them that they should not think this makes us any less friendly, just a little more curt as we often find it hard to make time for our loved ones let alone visitors. It was 6pm now and just as we finished up our latest round of Guinness a large roar came from the throngs outside and we knew this meant that the Mayor had finally arrived.

As we headed outside to see what the excitement was all about, there was Mayor Menino on the stage with Santa Claus and none other than the Boston Red Sox mascot Wally the Green Monster! Wally was holding up the 2007 World Series Trophy and dancing around the stage, just like he does at Fenway Park all Summer long, much to the crowds delight. And then the moment everyone had been waiting for, the countdown to the Christmas Tree lighting 5..4..3..2..1, and the Tree was ablaze in all it’s glory and the skies opened up as a blizzard of white confetti showered down on the thousands of delirious onlookers. It was really a sight to be seen as children and adults alike all reveled in this fake snowstorm and were rolling around on the ground picking the confetti up and throwing it into the air to relive the moment. As the crowds started to disperse I bid the visitors from Ohio adieu and wished them all the best for the 2007 Holiday season. The night was still young and I had some old college friends that I needed to catch up with in downtown Boston, but I’ll leave that for another time.

Entry Filed under: myguideNewEngland