Over the last few years, our daughter Sylvie has developed a love of R&B, hip-hop and 90s style. We knew she’d love to see some of her heroes live, so when we found that BoyzIIMen were performing in New England, we planned a trip around it. But we kept it secret… kudos to Chloe for keeping it under wraps for months (best sis).
We dropped off our dog and took the Cat from Yarmouth, NS to Bar Harbour, ME. It was a smooth ferry ride, foggy for most of the way until the sun lit up the green tree-lined coast of Maine. From there we drove to Springfield. At Theodore’s Blues, Booze and BBQ, we revealed the news to Sylvie over a bowl of mac and cheese and brisket bites. She had tears of joy in her eyes.
To keep the concert secret, we found some more good reasons to go to Springfield. We spent a day at Six Flags, a sizable Looney Tunes/Superhero-themed amusement park. That was a blast, with roller coasters, Dippin’ Dots, and overpriced drinks in the sweltering heat. Mike and I rode The Batman, The Crime Wave, The Riddler, and the Wicked Cyclone, and chose to watch the kids brave the scarier ones (The Harley Quinn, The Joker, etc). They were fearless.
We checked out the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Both girls play bball, so that was a slam dunk. There were lots of famous sneakers to compare one’s own feet, and plenty of paraphernalia and history on display. The WBNA was well represented, which was awesome. There’s a gleaming gym where you can shoot on nets of all sorts, including ye olde peach baskets from the Heritage Minute.
It also happens that Theodore Seuss Geisel grew up in Springfield, and The Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum is there. He’s a family-favourite author and illustrator, and the museum is a wonderful, whimsical manifestation of his work. It was inspiring to see more of his art and learn about his life. His funny phonetics and invitation to imagine warm my heart. It’s amazing how he portrayed universal and complex concepts in lighthearted ways. His poetics are on point as well – the rhythm, the rhyme, the weird imagery – I love it.
Finally on Friday night, it was time for BoyzIIMen at the Springfield Symphony Hall. The Hall itself seats about 2600 people, with beautiful architectural details and excellent acoustics. The Boyz still have the voices for those emotional ballads and rich harmonies that we slow-danced to in the nineties. The audience was swept away in their feels and just about everyone had a hand on their heart, swaying and singing at the top of their lungs. For the last couple of songs, Sylvie made her way up to the front with the other superfans, reaching her little hand out and getting handshakes from all three of the singers, and one of the red roses they flung to fans. We all had so much fun and it was well worth the effort.
Springfield exceeded our expectations, and with 4 more nights on the road, we drove to the Big Apple. We spent the first night in Manhattan, checking out some classics like the Empire State Building and Times Square (intense!). Then we had the great luck of being able to stay in our friends’ lovely home in Brooklyn. (Thanks again to Sarah and Gijon, who we met traveling in Tulum in 2019, who are now traveling in Iceland with their children!) From there we could take the subway wherever, and we also drove around to check out my dad’s childhood neighbourhood (or should I spell it “neighborhood”?) in Park Slope, quite nearby.
A few highlights were the general cool vibes of NYC and Brooklyn, the familiarity of always seeing it in movies and shows, the thought that so many artists and characters are from this megalopolis, and that there’s always a slim chance of catching a glimpse of someone famous. We saw the Statue of Liberty – she counts, right?
We had the best pizza ever, and exquisite bagels and lox cream cheese. We walked a lot, just taking in the density of the city, the diversity of its buildings and its people, the importance of public parks and social spaces. NYC has over eight million residents and even more tourists and travellers at any given time. The stories buzz all around you. No wonder it's a cradle of creativity.
Last but not least, we popped into Salem, Massachusetts on the way home. I’ve been reading and teaching The Crucible for about 15 years, so it was surreal to be in the town of the witch trials. The Salem Witch Museum does a great job relaying the history and psychology of events of 1692. It was creepy and thought-provoking, with enough kitsch thrown into the kettle to keep it cool.
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