Weather person Mich Michaels sometimes talks about the “Top Ten”, the ten days of the year with the best weather conditions.
Yesterday had to have been one of them, and serendipity lead me to the perfect way to enjoy it.
I had a morning appointment in the Fort Point section of Boston, and had planned to either take the loathesome bus or the more pleasant but inconvenient train to South Station.
Maybe because it’s been such a stressful week, I was really enjoying being in my truck, and instead of exiting off Route 3, kept on driving.
Once I got to the really heavy traffic around Hingham, I did get off and back on the road, figuring to park at the Braintree T station. Exited at Union Street, only to find the parking lot was closed (they have a warning sign on the highway, but yesterday it wasn’t working).
Instead of fighting on-ramp traffic, I drove up Union Street, with the idea of parking at another station.
But then I saw signs with the big T symbol and the words “Harbor Express”. I had a feeling this might be the commuter boat from Quincy Fore River Shipyard, which I hadn’t tried before, although I’ve had great luck with the commuter boat from Hingham Shipyard.
At that point, my appointment was to begin in about an hour, so the sane thing would have been to head for a mode of transport that was tried and true, like the disgusting subway.
Instead, I took a chance on the Harbor Express, and landed in their parking lot with only about 10 minutes to spare until the next boat.
The lady at the ticket counter was a sheer delight – not the prettiest woman at least on the outside, but her interpersonals were beauty-queen perfect: helpful, gracious and kind. She “sold” me immediately.
The trip both ways was absolutely sublime. We cruised on a high-speed catamaran to Long Wharf, and on the way back, I sat on the top deck and chatted with some very nice people, including a woman who is in the Coast Guard Auxiliary, the civilian volunteer section of what she called “Team Coast Guard”.
I tell you, whether or not they know it, those people in the Boston area really do have the good life.