Thursday, February 28, 2008

Cambridge on my mind…

A bitch is starting to get excited about my trip to Cambridge Mass for WAM! next month!

My ass hasn’t been back to Cambridge since the mid-1990’s (wince).

Oh, but I remember it as if it were yesterday (sigh).

Shark-Fu’s memories of Cambridge Mass…

The Tasty Sandwich Shop…
Yes, I know it is gone now.

Sob!

But C-Money and this bitch had more than one eventful meal at The Nasty…cough...I mean, The Tasty.

Come to think of it, I think the overnight cook at The Tasty can take credit for explaining the historical importance of the Tet Offensive to me.

Mmmhmmm...I bet no one’s breaking down the Vietnam War over at Abercrombie & Fitch!

Shit.

The Au Bon Pain in Harvard Square…
A bitch was beyond broke whilst at college and a pastry from Au Bon Pain was a real treat.

Many a weekend, I’d stroll to Au Bon Pain on my way to visit C-Money and score a cheese Danish-esque portion of pastry-based joy.

Sigh.

Hell, that was almost as much fun as raiding the dining hall at C-Money’s dorm.

Christy’s Market…
Ah, the memories!

A bitch had a minified college breakdown and ended up sleeping on the couch in C-Money’s dorm room for a few months. It’s a long story….mayhap I’ll tell it sometime, but not now.

Anyhoo, I latched onto the habit of going to Christy’s Market and shooting the shit with the staff and then buying a cinnamon doughnut with a large grape soda on the side. Day after day after day…the same thing. The thing is I didn’t notice the habit until one of C-Money’s roommates came home bearing gifts of doughnut and grape soda for me!

Shit, I’ve always been a wee bit off.

Damn, I'll have to find time for a Christy's run during the conference.

Lawd, I wonder if Christy’s is still there!

Blink.

Motherfucking gentrification is destroying my youthful memories one by one…

10 comments:

Unknown said...

I lived in Cambridge, off Lechmere Sq in the mid-70's.

I also spent an inordinate amount of time in Harvard Sq.during that part of my life. Eventually I moved over to the Fenway and had a wonderful view of Fenway Park from my corner apt with a working wood fireplace in a 200 year old converted Hotel..the Hemingway Hotel to be exact.

Thanks for the waltz down memory lane Shark Fu ;)

Anonymous said...

I just moved to DC from Cambridge bout a year ago, and I miss it like crazy. All my favorite haunts are slowly dying off though: McIntyre and Moore's on Elm moved; La Contessa closed down; Someday is gone. I'm hoping to have opportunity to move back sometime soon.

Anonymous said...

I lived in Cambridge from 1985 till 1989. I also spent quite a bit of time in Harvard Square. Many of the books on the shelf in my bedroom came from there.

We'd go to Toscanini's for ice cream in the dead of winter. While working one January, I got in the habit of going to a sandwich shop between Kendall and Central Squares and eating a salami and egg sandwich for lunch every day. Maybe that's why my cholesterol is 942.

I ran bridge circuits with a friend one summer. As our friendship evolved into romance, we added more and more distance. We even would run to Faneuil Hall, eat ice cream, and run back. That friend and I were married 14 years ago.

PortlyDyke said...

Oooooo -- Cheese Danish at Au Bon Pain -- dammit Shark, if you're the reason I take a completely compulsive trip across the country, I'm sending you a bill for the plane fare!! That's going to be in my head for weeks.

I first tasted Cardomam ice cream in Cambridge, too.
*sigh*

Jscothammerquist said...

I live in Boston, but my life in Camgridge was the best times. Yeah the hog dogs at the Tasty were the best. I remember the counter guy said to me "girl yo ain't gonna have any bdoy kiss you if you keep eatin dem onions !
Harvard Square has changed A LOT. But Au Bon Pain and Christy's are still there. Wordsworth and Buddy Cardells and the Wurst House are all gone.
But we have the first black Lesbian Mayor !
Cambridge is still Cambridge !

SagaciousHillbilly said...

Ahhhh, cheese danish from Au Bon Pain! I remember them well. I'd walk over to Quincy Market for breakfast every morning and sometimes get a cheese danish. . . .whoa, hold on, stop. WTF?!
A hillbilly walking over to Quincy Market for breakfast?!
An Angry Black lady at Harvard/Cambridge?!
This just aint fittin into my image of things around here. WT. . . . .
Please, return us to our regularly scheduled program!

Shark-Fu said...

LOL!

There goes your brand identity...

Yankee T said...

AAAH, 02138-Most Opinionated Zip Code In The Country. I lived in Brighton and Arlington for 27 years-bordering Cambridge all the time!
The people in the Wurst House were brutal racists...couldn't get served there when I went with my black friend.
A black lesbian mayor? If only she were jewish...you'd have a hat trick!
Enjoy your time there, Shark-fu. I'm jealous here in Tennessee.

Anonymous said...

I will be at the WAM conference too. I'm so excited about it! I haven't been to cambridge, Mass yet.

Anonymous said...

Hope I'm not too late for this to catch your eye - I've lived in Cambridge/Somerville for the last 5 years, so I have a few recommendations. One glorious benefit of gentrification is the existence of Burdick's, a chocolate shop on Brattle St., which sells the most glorious, rich, dark hot chocolate I've ever tasted. It comes in dark, milk, and white, but I can't imagine why anyone would bother with the latter two. *wink*

Tamarind Bay is a new-ish Indian restaurant on JFK that is to die for. Mmmmmmm.

But both of those are in Harvard Square, and you're going to be near MIT. So don't miss Emma's pizza - it is absolutely the best, and it's right in Kendall Square. Anyone will be able to give you directions.

Have a great time!

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