Category: Places

Menus from the Hotel Braemore, Kenmore Square in 1956

Boston restaurants may thrill food lovers today but, back in 1956, plain Yankee fare was on the menu at the Hotel Braemore.

Lets see, I think I'll order the "Boiled, Smoked Daisy Ham with Buttered Cabbage" and have sherbet for dessert. You did have to add on the 5% Massachusetts Old Age Tax. Still, with a generous tip, that should come to about $3. (Click on any image for a slightly larger version.)

Dinner did cost slightly more unless you decided to go with the Chef's Suggestion for $1.95.

Today, the Hotel Braemore is the The Braemore, a condominium community. Its website features two pages of history with wonderful old images of the building and photos taken from the building.

They call it, What's Old and What's Old II.

When it opened, the Braemore was an apartment hotel. In his book, Built in Boston, historian Douglas Shand-Tucci wrote that by 1919 this area around Charlesgate, "… had emerged as the most prestigious address."

Residence or apartment hotels offered options like those shown in this ad for the Braemore as it opened. "Suites from one room, reception hall and bath to five rooms, reception hall and two baths…" Notice that they don't mention kitchens. In many places like the Braemore, the residents would eat in the hotel's dining room or at their social club.

Let's hope that the "Chef's Suggestion" changed daily!

What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List? Shop Amazon for all your kitchen & dining needs and support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny Cherubino
Artwork from a private collection, Dinner menu from The Braemore site.

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

August 6, 2013
Menus from the Hotel Braemore, Kenmore Square in 1956

Boston restaurants may thrill food lovers today but, back in 1956, plain Yankee fare was on the menu at the Hotel Braemore.

Lets see, I think I'll order the "Boiled, Smoked Daisy Ham with Buttered Cabbage" and have sherbet for dessert. You did have to add on the 5% Massachusetts Old Age Tax. Still, with a generous tip, that should come to about $3. (Click on any image for a slightly larger version.)

Dinner did cost slightly more unless you decided to go with the Chef's Suggestion for $1.95.

Today, the Hotel Braemore is the The Braemore, a condominium community. Its website features two pages of history with wonderful old images of the building and photos taken from the building.

They call it, What's Old and What's Old II.

When it opened, the Braemore was an apartment hotel. In his book, Built in Boston, historian Douglas Shand-Tucci wrote that by 1919 this area around Charlesgate, "… had emerged as the most prestigious address."

Residence or apartment hotels offered options like those shown in this ad for the Braemore as it opened. "Suites from one room, reception hall and bath to five rooms, reception hall and two baths…" Notice that they don't mention kitchens. In many places like the Braemore, the residents would eat in the hotel's dining room or at their social club.

Let's hope that the "Chef's Suggestion" changed daily!

What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List? Shop Amazon for all your kitchen & dining needs and support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny Cherubino
Artwork from a private collection, Dinner menu from The Braemore site.

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

August 6, 2013
Menus from the Hotel Braemore, Kenmore Square in 1956

Boston restaurants may thrill food lovers today but, back in 1956, plain Yankee fare was on the menu at the Hotel Braemore.

Lets see, I think I'll order the "Boiled, Smoked Daisy Ham with Buttered Cabbage" and have sherbet for dessert. You did have to add on the 5% Massachusetts Old Age Tax. Still, with a generous tip, that should come to about $3. (Click on any image for a slightly larger version.)

Dinner did cost slightly more unless you decided to go with the Chef's Suggestion for $1.95.

Today, the Hotel Braemore is the The Braemore, a condominium community. Its website features two pages of history with wonderful old images of the building and photos taken from the building.

They call it, What's Old and What's Old II.

When it opened, the Braemore was an apartment hotel. In his book, Built in Boston, historian Douglas Shand-Tucci wrote that by 1919 this area around Charlesgate, "… had emerged as the most prestigious address."

Residence or apartment hotels offered options like those shown in this ad for the Braemore as it opened. "Suites from one room, reception hall and bath to five rooms, reception hall and two baths…" Notice that they don't mention kitchens. In many places like the Braemore, the residents would eat in the hotel's dining room or at their social club.

Let's hope that the "Chef's Suggestion" changed daily!

What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List? Shop Amazon for all your kitchen & dining needs and support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny Cherubino
Artwork from a private collection, Dinner menu from The Braemore site.

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

August 6, 2013
Learning to Capsize on the Charles River

Part of learning to sail small boats on the Charles is learning to capsize and then right your boat. Last week, we saw two young sailors conduct a picture perfect capsize and correction after a race collision.

With a crowd of boats approaching and leaving this mark (the floating ball in the water), we could see the collision coming.

One man overboard and then a second. The coaching launch stayed with the young sailors throughout their adventure. (Click on any photo for a larger image)

It takes a bit of teamwork and counter balance to right the boat.

Where's the second sailor?

Already onboard taking control of the lines and tiller. Good job!

If you witness a scene like this one …

Listening to our scanner, we often hear the Boston Fire Department respond to 911 calls for a boater in the water. Most of the time, they have righted their boat or have been picked up by a chase boat before the emergency crews arrive on the scene.

That doesn't mean you shouldn't call if you see a boater in trouble. But, share with the call-taker all the details you observe. Do the people have life jackets on, as in this case? Is there a motorized chase boat with them, as you see here? Is there another boat assisting them or taking them onboard?

Count the number of people in the water and try to keep track of where they are in relation to some point on land. Are they in the middle of the river or near the Boston or Cambridge shore?

Offer to stay on the line with the call-taker to give updates as the scene unfolds. This will allow the dispatcher to speed up, slow down, call in additional resources, or call off emergency responders.

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a birthday or wedding gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2013 Penny Cherubino

August 5, 2013
Learning to Capsize on the Charles River

Part of learning to sail small boats on the Charles is learning to capsize and then right your boat. Last week, we saw two young sailors conduct a picture perfect capsize and correction after a race collision.

With a crowd of boats approaching and leaving this mark (the floating ball in the water), we could see the collision coming.

One man overboard and then a second. The coaching launch stayed with the young sailors throughout their adventure. (Click on any photo for a larger image)

It takes a bit of teamwork and counter balance to right the boat.

Where's the second sailor?

Already onboard taking control of the lines and tiller. Good job!

If you witness a scene like this one …

Listening to our scanner, we often hear the Boston Fire Department respond to 911 calls for a boater in the water. Most of the time, they have righted their boat or have been picked up by a chase boat before the emergency crews arrive on the scene.

That doesn't mean you shouldn't call if you see a boater in trouble. But, share with the call-taker all the details you observe. Do the people have life jackets on, as in this case? Is there a motorized chase boat with them, as you see here? Is there another boat assisting them or taking them onboard?

Count the number of people in the water and try to keep track of where they are in relation to some point on land. Are they in the middle of the river or near the Boston or Cambridge shore?

Offer to stay on the line with the call-taker to give updates as the scene unfolds. This will allow the dispatcher to speed up, slow down, call in additional resources, or call off emergency responders.

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a birthday or wedding gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2013 Penny Cherubino

August 5, 2013
Learning to Capsize on the Charles River

Part of learning to sail small boats on the Charles is learning to capsize and then right your boat. Last week, we saw two young sailors conduct a picture perfect capsize and correction after a race collision.

With a crowd of boats approaching and leaving this mark (the floating ball in the water), we could see the collision coming.

One man overboard and then a second. The coaching launch stayed with the young sailors throughout their adventure. (Click on any photo for a larger image)

It takes a bit of teamwork and counter balance to right the boat.

Where's the second sailor?

Already onboard taking control of the lines and tiller. Good job!

If you witness a scene like this one …

Listening to our scanner, we often hear the Boston Fire Department respond to 911 calls for a boater in the water. Most of the time, they have righted their boat or have been picked up by a chase boat before the emergency crews arrive on the scene.

That doesn't mean you shouldn't call if you see a boater in trouble. But, share with the call-taker all the details you observe. Do the people have life jackets on, as in this case? Is there a motorized chase boat with them, as you see here? Is there another boat assisting them or taking them onboard?

Count the number of people in the water and try to keep track of where they are in relation to some point on land. Are they in the middle of the river or near the Boston or Cambridge shore?

Offer to stay on the line with the call-taker to give updates as the scene unfolds. This will allow the dispatcher to speed up, slow down, call in additional resources, or call off emergency responders.

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a birthday or wedding gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2013 Penny Cherubino

August 5, 2013
Weather Underground for Local Boston Weather Resources

When storms are brewing and I need to decide what to wear or what to pack in my day bag, I turn to Weather Underground. They've put the local in local weather by allowing you to choose the weather station you want as your source of information.

My hyperlocal weather on the site comes from the top of MIT's Green Building. I can see it from my home. That is a full weather station on the roof including a radar dome in the photo above. Weather station ID # KMACAMBR9 will give you weather observations from this site.

Here in Boston, there is sometimes a big difference in the weather for the Boston area and the weather for your neighborhood. The airport temperature, surrounded as it is by the ocean, and the temperature in the Back Bay or Allston can be different.

25,000 Weather Stations

Weather Underground has a database of 25,000 weather stations. You can choose one near you at home or away. You can keep track of the weather where family and friends live or while you make plans for an upcoming trip.

Almanac & Historic Data

Once you enter a location, you'll see a tab for Today's Almanac. Here's mine. This gives you perspective as the weather "personalities" hype their latest record-setting something or other.

Wundermap®

Once you set up Weather Underground, you can click over to their Wundermap® and set it up to see the local weather stations in your area on a radar map in real-time. Add the layers you like and that are of concern to you under the current situation.

I use other weather sites as well, but the localization of this one makes it a favorite. As I sense that more and more of the weather reporting on local tv is over-hyped and designed to keep you coming back for more information, I trust those sources less and less and turn to sites like this to do my research and make my determination of how serious a weather situation actually is.

What do you know about Amazon Prime? We use it and love it. You pay once a year for free 2-day shipping delivery charges. Amazon throws in access to instant streaming movies and tv shows and they let you borrow a free ebook each month. They will even give you a one month free trial. Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Join Amazon Prime – Watch Over 40,000 Movies

Details:

Words: Penny Cherubino
Photography: © 2013 Penny & Ed Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

July 12, 2013
Weather Underground for Local Boston Weather Resources

When storms are brewing and I need to decide what to wear or what to pack in my day bag, I turn to Weather Underground. They've put the local in local weather by allowing you to choose the weather station you want as your source of information.

My hyperlocal weather on the site comes from the top of MIT's Green Building. I can see it from my home. That is a full weather station on the roof including a radar dome in the photo above. Weather station ID # KMACAMBR9 will give you weather observations from this site.

Here in Boston, there is sometimes a big difference in the weather for the Boston area and the weather for your neighborhood. The airport temperature, surrounded as it is by the ocean, and the temperature in the Back Bay or Allston can be different.

25,000 Weather Stations

Weather Underground has a database of 25,000 weather stations. You can choose one near you at home or away. You can keep track of the weather where family and friends live or while you make plans for an upcoming trip.

Almanac & Historic Data

Once you enter a location, you'll see a tab for Today's Almanac. Here's mine. This gives you perspective as the weather "personalities" hype their latest record-setting something or other.

Wundermap®

Once you set up Weather Underground, you can click over to their Wundermap® and set it up to see the local weather stations in your area on a radar map in real-time. Add the layers you like and that are of concern to you under the current situation.

I use other weather sites as well, but the localization of this one makes it a favorite. As I sense that more and more of the weather reporting on local tv is over-hyped and designed to keep you coming back for more information, I trust those sources less and less and turn to sites like this to do my research and make my determination of how serious a weather situation actually is.

What do you know about Amazon Prime? We use it and love it. You pay once a year for free 2-day shipping delivery charges. Amazon throws in access to instant streaming movies and tv shows and they let you borrow a free ebook each month. They will even give you a one month free trial. Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Join Amazon Prime – Watch Over 40,000 Movies

Details:

Words: Penny Cherubino
Photography: © 2013 Penny & Ed Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

July 12, 2013
Weather Underground for Local Boston Weather Resources

When storms are brewing and I need to decide what to wear or what to pack in my day bag, I turn to Weather Underground. They've put the local in local weather by allowing you to choose the weather station you want as your source of information.

My hyperlocal weather on the site comes from the top of MIT's Green Building. I can see it from my home. That is a full weather station on the roof including a radar dome in the photo above. Weather station ID # KMACAMBR9 will give you weather observations from this site.

Here in Boston, there is sometimes a big difference in the weather for the Boston area and the weather for your neighborhood. The airport temperature, surrounded as it is by the ocean, and the temperature in the Back Bay or Allston can be different.

25,000 Weather Stations

Weather Underground has a database of 25,000 weather stations. You can choose one near you at home or away. You can keep track of the weather where family and friends live or while you make plans for an upcoming trip.

Almanac & Historic Data

Once you enter a location, you'll see a tab for Today's Almanac. Here's mine. This gives you perspective as the weather "personalities" hype their latest record-setting something or other.

Wundermap®

Once you set up Weather Underground, you can click over to their Wundermap® and set it up to see the local weather stations in your area on a radar map in real-time. Add the layers you like and that are of concern to you under the current situation.

I use other weather sites as well, but the localization of this one makes it a favorite. As I sense that more and more of the weather reporting on local tv is over-hyped and designed to keep you coming back for more information, I trust those sources less and less and turn to sites like this to do my research and make my determination of how serious a weather situation actually is.

What do you know about Amazon Prime? We use it and love it. You pay once a year for free 2-day shipping delivery charges. Amazon throws in access to instant streaming movies and tv shows and they let you borrow a free ebook each month. They will even give you a one month free trial. Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Join Amazon Prime – Watch Over 40,000 Movies

Details:

Words: Penny Cherubino
Photography: © 2013 Penny & Ed Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

July 12, 2013
Marsh Chapel’s Guastavino Arches

Those beautiful, blue tiles that make up the ceiling of the cloisters on either side of Boston University's Marsh Chapel are the work of Rafael Guastavino.

Ever since the Boston Public Library exhibition, "Palaces for the People: Guastavino and America’s Great Public Spaces” educated us about the masterful work of this brilliant man, we have enjoyed seeing his work in other spaces.

On our last visit, the arches framed a bride waiting to walk down the chapel's aisle. The area around the chapel is a lovely place to take a break, enjoy a picnic, or enjoy the details of the architecture.

Here's more on Guastavino and his work from our earlier post.

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a Birthday or Wedding gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2013 Penny & Ed Cherubino

July 11, 2013