Cambridge: Head of the Charles Regatta

While I’m between trips, I thought I’d share some (edited) posts I originally wrote while in school in Boston in 2009/10 on a now defunct blog (read at most by only three family members). Inspired by The Year of 52 Adventures, I made a point of using my weekends to explore much of what Boston had to offer. I fell in love with Boston, so if you happen to find yourself in Boston, perhaps these posts will lead to your own love affair…

Originally from Autumn of 2010

Despite living near the Schuylkill River for four years during undergrad, and knowing people on our college crew team, I had never attended a regatta race. So when I learned about Harvard’s annual Head of the Charles Regatta I decided to check it out. With several others from my dorm, we made the trip over to Cambridge and then walked until we hit the edge of the Charles River. Onlookers lined the shoreline as well as the bridge over the river

I joined the crowd and watched as the thin boats swiftly glided by one after another.

On my side of the river the grassy bank was lined with white canopied booths where various companies were advertising themselves and some were giving away freebies. So after about ten minutes of watching the regatta races I decided to check out the booths. Free ice cream! Free coffee! Free clown noses? Yup, that too. The weather was sunny and unusually hot for the Autumn day. In the end, I believe I and the girls I had come with spent more time enjoying the booths than watching the regatta.

After we tired of the Regatta we walked towards the MIT vicinity. We had one more stop to make before leaving Cambridge. As Halloween was getting closer, and many of us had yet to find a costume, someone had suggested we visit the Garment District. This store is an experience in and of itself. The second floor is a large sprawling costume shop while the bottom floor is a second-hand clothing store. One corner of the bottom floor contains a pile of clothes you can dig through, fill a bag, and pay $2 per pound. We all spent a good while on the second floor looking at all the costumes. I was able to find the perfect crown to round out a princess costume.

Finally, with tired feet and heavy shopping bags, we headed home from a very grand adventure.