Mr. Boston
It was a typical, cold day in Boston in February '03 as we headed from our hotel, the Colonnade, to Harper's Ferry. A legendary Boston venue, Harper's was incidentally also our first Boston play back in '99. So we were familiar with the venue, but as many of know, getting around Boston can be a bit of a navigational challenge. Thankfully, we had Brendan Bayliss, who spent many years of his youth nearby in Wellesley, and claimed to know Boston and its nuances better than the rest of us. Andy, our stalwart driver, took the helm of the van, and Mr. Boston, Brendan Bayliss, took shotgun for the 4 mile trek to the venue. We noticed that the venue was on the same street as the hotel, but Brendan promised us he knew a better way to get to Allston. We started getting suspicious when we went through the same toll not once, not twice, but three times. A true European Vacation Big Ben/Parliament moment. As much as this frustrated Andy behind the wheel, the peanut gallery in the back of the van grew increasingly slap-happy as we circled about the city, hopelessly attempting to find the place. An hour after our departure, we rolled up to Harper's Ferry with a new understanding of many obscure Boston neighborhoods. For all of the times Ryan Stasik has fallen asleep in shotgun (61 at last count), we just might have gotten there a little bit quicker had we chosen a sleeping Stasik over a conscious Mr. Boston for shotgun. Brendan, we love you. And so does the state of Massachusetts for all of those extra donations.
