New Year’s Eve in Boston is referred to as First Night and the city hosts a wide range of free and paid events, occurring both indoors and on the streets. Thus, many attractions have altered hours of operation to accommodate the holiday. We decided on Day 4 we would let the CityPass do the work, and started our day with the longer commute out to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
Early in the queue, we were among the first to enter and quickly made our way to the ticket desk and into the museum. The Museum of Fine Arts, among the largest museums in America, holds one of the most comprehensive collections in the world, and possesses materials from a wide variety of disciplines and cultures. Collections vary from Egyptian antiquities to French impressionist and post-impressionist artists such as Gauguin, Manet, Renoir, Degas, Monet, Van Gogh, and Cézanne. We especially loved the exhibit of World War I political propaganda posters… They’d look great plastered over an IB teacher’s classroom walls.
A short subway ride back put us at our last CityPass stop, the Skywalk Observatory in the Prudential Tower. This 52 story, 360 degree walk lends a bird’s eye view of Boston’s Hancock Tower, Fenway Park, the Boston Common and Public Garden, the Charles River, MIT, Harvard University, and countless other Boston landmarks. The audio guides supported identifying the many landmarks below… I pondered in particular the route of the Boston Marathon and the tragic circumstances of the 2013 bombing during the running of this famous event.
After a short lived trip home to freshen up we set out once more for an evening of pure entertainment, no less than the Leafs at Bruins in the Gardens. I don’t yell it out, but we grew up as fans of the Leafs and they’ve always found a place to land softly among teams that I root for! Gotta love this good old original six match-up… And there was a buzz among these knowledgeable hockey fans. Although neither team was having a stellar season, you can tell that the teams were looking forward to a good game. To that end, the combatants didn’t disappoint. Not only did the game end tied in regulation, but overtime settled nothing. It was decided by shoot out with a Leaf 4-3 win! Worth every penny!
After the game we went for a short walk through the city taking in ice sculptures, Christmas lights and New Year’s Eve revelers. However, unlike our 2013 January 1st in Savannah Georgia, we got cold pretty quick and decided First Night would be best spent from our cozy room with snacks for the kids and a glass of wine for Mom and Dad… Happy New Year!