{"id":2298,"date":"2016-09-26T01:22:36","date_gmt":"2016-09-26T01:22:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/?p=2298"},"modified":"2016-09-26T21:14:46","modified_gmt":"2016-09-26T21:14:46","slug":"boston-uncommon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/?p=2298","title":{"rendered":"Boston Uncommon"},"content":{"rendered":"

Blame it on the\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0Museum of Fine Art, Boston<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This is the second time they’ve hooked me with one of their bewitching lures – an exhibit of works by William Merritt Chase,<\/strong> prolific painter and teacher.<\/p>\n

Of course I know and admire his work. Of course the show opens in October and closes in January.<\/p>\n

I teetered on the brink for a few days. It’s a tight window and bad timing – we’re already traveling and gone for a week in November, the family’s here for Christmas, and with setting off for Rome scheduled for February, how can I possibly go?<\/p>\n

Boston’s winter weather is frigid. The hotels are frighteningly expensive.<\/p>\n

But at the same time as this show, there\u2019s an illuminated manuscripts exhibit at the\u00a0Isabella Stewart Gardner<\/a> museum. Not to mention, but I must, an exhibit of 100 pieces of\u00a0Nubian gold work <\/a> at the MFA.<\/p>\n

The deciding vote was cast by intense yearning. Also, tick-tock, it makes no sense to put anything off. I should go while I still can, while my knees still bend and my eyes, however blearily, still see. Who knows what challenges tomorrow may bring? Seriously, what am I waiting for?<\/p>\n

Yesterday and today I’ve been playing with the pieces, juggling exhibition dates, prior plans, Robert’s schedule, flight cost and room expense\/availability.<\/p>\n

Mid-October, every place I’d like to stay is booked, November ditto, plus dizzying prices. I played around with some early December dates, but the B&Bs were still booked up and the hotels are, well, too costly for me. AirB&Bs were surprisingly thin on the ground and seemed sketchy.<\/p>\n

No surprise, $300-400 rooms plummet to $108- $195 after New Years. I figure it’s not going to get any colder in January – or not that much colder – and boy, is it ever cheaper. The sweet spot for me is Jan. 4-11th.<\/p>\n

I’m looking at a big hotel across the street from\u00a0Boston’s\u00a0main public library (murals by Sargent<\/a>), \u00a0a compact boutique hotel known for helpful service, and three B&Bs. No matter where I stay, I’ll be Ubering through the snowflakes, thank you very much. When I am done being ravished by art, I want a soft, warm place to land.<\/p>\n

\"Nude<\/a>
\nI found a thrifty Delta flight, but I’m making myself wait until Tuesday to pull the trigger\u00a0since so many sources claim that’s the best day to get the best deal.<\/p>\n

There was a happy moment when realized my Russian gear – those impervious snow boots and mountain-climber-grade warm coat – will be perfect for Boston in January. Another good reason to go! It’s a return on my initial investment, right?
\n\"Reflection\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Blame it on the\u00a0\u00a0Museum of Fine Art, Boston. This is the second time they’ve hooked me with one of their bewitching lures – an exhibit of works by William Merritt Chase, prolific painter and teacher. Of course I know and admire his work. Of course the show opens in October and closes in January. I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2299,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[236,3,137],"tags":[27,121,237],"class_list":{"0":"post-2298","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boston-2017","8":"category-preparation","9":"category-short-trips","10":"tag-anticipation","11":"tag-preparation","12":"tag-william-chase","13":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/William-Merritt-Chase-The-Tenth-Street-Studio-1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7OBxc-B4","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2298"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2298\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2308,"href":"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2298\/revisions\/2308"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}