For Democrats, Stars and Bars
Ceci Connolly, Washington Post Staff Writer
Ask the typical mayor for a political tour of his city and
you're likely to
find yourself staring at a couple of statues, war memorials and grave sites.
But
when I invited Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino to preview what awaits the
Democratic delegates coming for their national convention, he picked a bar.
Not just any bar but Doyle's, a watering hole in the Jamaica
Plain
neighborhood, very much alive with the ghosts of politics past, present and
future.
"This is the official gathering spot of locals, a place
where you can meet
mayors, state representatives, guys coming from softball games," said
Menino,
surveying the crowd from his coveted front corner table. "This is not some
architect-designed color scheme. It's real."
Forget about Cheers, the tourist trap ruined by the popular
1980s sitcom.
Doyle's is quintessential Boston,
the perfect blend of politics, beer, baseball,
beer, religion and . . . did I mention beer?
Menino, 61, not only has his own table, but an entire room
festooned with
photos of hizzoner from age 7 to the present. Every famous Kennedy -- as well
as
several presidents and popes -- has at least one portrait on the walls. And
this
is the place where a trio of Boston Globe writers chose to launch their
biography of John Kerry, the local boy who will accept his party's presidential
nomination onstage at the FleetCenter July 26-29.
Now inappropriately named a cafe, Doyle's offers a selection
of 50
single-malt scotches and 30 draft beers. The daily specials never change (New
England boiled dinner on Thursdays, roast turkey every Sunday), but the best
meal is brunch, served all day on weekends. Patrons can watch a Red Sox game
from a stool at the long bar or hunker down in the giant wooden booths. Part of
the charm of the place is that it goes light on the charm.
In my eight years living and working in Boston and on several return visits,
I did my best to sample the city's political buffet firsthand. I've hoisted a
draft with former mayor Raymond L. Flynn at J.J. Foley's and recovered over
Doyle's pancakes the day after. I threw the winning pitch in the annual press
vs. pols softball game on the Boston Common -- thanks to a generous call by the
umpire, Michael Dukakis. And I was packed into the Iron Workers hall in Southie
with 600 other singing Irish when Kerry teased Al Gore for "reinventing
corned
beef and cabbage."
For the Democratic faithful, Boston
is a sacred place, complete with places
of worship (think FenwayPark) and the requisite
demons (curse of the Bambino).
And it would be a sin not to get out of the FleetCenter and see some of the
political stars in their natural habitat. Scope out Kerry's ooh-la-la Beacon
Hill home on historic Louisburg
Square, where legend has it Teresa Heinz
Kerry
thrilled neighborhood kids one Halloween with packets of ketchup that made for
perfect fake blood. Please, remember to pronounce the "s" in Louisburg and stay
out of the Secret Service's way.
Or maybe Kerry's colleague Ted Kennedy will be in the private
upstairs dining
room at Ristorante Saraceno (286
Hanover St.), one of his favorite North End
eateries. Getting time with the senior senator can be tough these days. But
inquire about his favorite Boston
haunts and aides can't get him off the phone.
"For me, the Parker House [60 School St.] had all the
memories," he said in
an interview last month, recounting the childhood lunches he ate with his
grandpa, Mayor John F. "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald. "It had sawdust
floors,
checkered tablecloths and, in those days, all black servants."
The staff has diversified since then, but Honey Fitz adorns
the walls and
Kennedy still holds confabs at the hotel, now run by Omni. Kennedy diehards
(and
you know more than a few of you delegates are) can trace JFK's life from his
birthplace in Brookline (83 Beals St.) to his well-preserved dorm room at
Harvard to the presidential library perched on picturesque Columbia Point in
Dorchester.
"When you go to these conventions, the parties are
always in a large ballroom
of some hotel," observes Menino. "Those don't work. You don't get a
flavor of
the city."
So he and the Democratic National Committee are introducing a
new twist to
this year's convention: The opening-night parties will be held at neighborhood
spots, such as the Curley birthplace in Jamaica Plain, the Strand Theatre in
Dorchester and the L Street Bathhouse in South Boston, aka "Southie,"
which some
in the New York state delegation mistakenly believed was a place for gay men's
clandestine liaisons.
It was no accident, however, that Menino chose Doyle's for
our rendezvous;
many great moments in Boston
history have happened in pubs. Daniel Webster
declared the Green Dragon Tavern the headquarters of the American Revolution.
Ronald Reagan surprised regulars at the Eire Pub in Dorchester
the day after his
1983 State of the Union address. And when Brahmin Bill Weld needed to display
the common touch in his gubernatorial bid, he bought a round at Foley's.
Judging from what I've seen at past political conventions, a
few delegates
may aim to make some of their own history in Boston's bars.
For the thousands coming to plot the overthrow of George W.
Bush, the trip
to the site of the Tea Party rebellion represents a pilgrimage to hallowed
ground. Massachusetts
has spawned four presidents and numerous wannabes,
including Dukakis and fellow Greek Paul Tsongas.
Though teeming with tourists, Faneuil Hall (State Street,
bounded by
Commercial, Clinton,
Congress and Chatham streets) is a worthy starting place
for political junkies. JFK closed his 1960 campaign here and his younger
brother
rescued his 1994 campaign in the same hall.
The senator still recalls the zinger he delivered to a
stunned Mitt Romney:
"Turn out the lights, Mitt, this race is all over." Kennedy will
return to the
grand hall during the convention to host a health care forum.
History aside, Faneuil Hall remains a good spot to nosh or
take in a street
performance by the myriad musicians, jesters and jugglers who make up with
humor
what they lack in talent. Unlike the food courts that populate suburban malls,
this downtown emporium offers unique dining, from clam chowder (chowdah,
please)
to Malaysian to pastries at the Kilvert & Forbes bakery Kerry co-founded.
While in the vicinity, be sure to pose on the bench with the
bronze likeness
of Mayor James Michael Curley (Union Park, North Street), look up at the
hideous
concrete slab of City Hall (Congress Street) and across the street to the more
aesthetically appealing New England Holocaust Memorial (Carmen Park, Congress
Street). Then slip down one of the last remaining cobblestone streets in the
city, past the Union Oyster House (41
Union St.) to the Green Dragon (11
Marshall St.). You'll want to devise a strategy
for attacking the $14 lobster dinner special.
It would be a mistake to plot your Boston itinerary too precisely; this is a
city that rewards walkers. Centrally located Faneuil Hall makes a good starting
point to take in the North End, the waterfront or the Downtown Crossing
shopping
district. You'll have to navigate around the rubble left over from the Big Dig,
but the paths are well marked and it's a relief not to have to walk under a
highway any longer.
In the North End, the Italian neighborhood that abuts the
harbor, follow your
nose. Pizzeria Regina
(111/2 Thacher St.)
serves so-so pizza, but it can't be
beaten for feeding a hungry crowd. Going up a notch, try the Daily Catch (323
Hanover St.) for fresh seafood over pasta served
in a frying pan or Bricco (241
Hanover St.) for a California take on Italian cuisine. Keep
your eye out for
dark sedans; Bill Clinton never misses a chance to pick up cannoli at Mike's
Pastry (300 Hanover St.)
when he's in town.
If you haven't got a motorcade, don't try driving down Hanover Street;
locals
watching European soccer matches in the bars and cafes tend to spill out into
the traffic.
Amble into the OldNorthChurch
(193 Salem St.)
and you might catch guide
Scott Evans mentioning that Gerald Ford returned to the church made famous by
Paul Revere's ride to open the 1976 bicentennial celebrations. Evans and other
volunteers also have the inside skinny on the fate of the first two steeples
and
some of the 1,100-plus figures buried in the 37 tombs in the crypt below.
From his downtown office in the JFK Federal Building on New
Sudbury Street,
Kennedy can spot the North End's Garden Court Street where his mother, Rose
Fitzgerald Kennedy, was born, and nearby Ferry Street where his grandfather
grew
up. For Kennedy, 72, virtually every neighborhood holds family memories.
"There is not a view like that in the world where a
political leader can
look out and see where his parents and grandparents were born," he said.
Wander a few blocks from the heart of the North End and park
yourself on a
bench. You are gazing out into the very same harbor where the revolutionaries
dumped tea in 1773. George H.W. Bush blamed Dukakis for the polluted waterway
and Weld jumped in a few years later to prove it was clean. Even with that
precedent, swimming is not advised.
Better yet, escape the city heat on a boat. The BostonHarborIslands
(www.bostonislands.org) are just a few miles offshore, but temperatures there
run several degrees cooler. Swimming is permitted at several of the islands, as
well as hiking, fishing and bird-watching. Many have the basic necessities for
a
good picnic -- grills, tables and restrooms. Take one of the longer excursion
boats and you may even catch a glimpse of whales.
A bit farther down the waterfront sits the Barking Crab (88 Sleeper St.),
one of the few places in the city where you don't need a jacket and tie to
enjoy
fresh seafood. (The other is Jasper White's Summer Shack at 50 Dalton St.) Sit
at one of the picnic tables and keep an eye out for indicted mobsters coming
out
of the new John Joseph Moakley U.S. Courthouse.
Just beyond the waterfront and South Station is one of the
best-kept dining
secrets in Boston:
Les Zygomates (129 South St.),
a reasonably priced French
bistro with live jazz and good wine. Call for a reservation, and your friends
will think you are really cool.
If you paid attention in high school history class, you know
the
architectural highlights of Beacon Hill: the State House, the ParkStreetChurch
and the Old South Meeting House. But Kennedy recommends seeking out
lesser-known
historic delights, such as the African Meeting House (8 Smith Court). It was in
the 1806 church that the Union recruited
"colored" soldiers for the legendary
54th Regiment, though contrary to popular lore, it was not a stop on the
Underground Railroad.
"You can hardly find it on Beacon
Hill, but it is just enormously
interesting," Kennedy said.
In the shadow of the State House sits the nation's oldest public
park, the
Boston Common, with its ballfields, food vendors and dog walkers. Just beyond
is
the more refined PublicGarden, home to the Swan
Boats and the "Make Way
for
Ducklings" sculpture modeled after the popular children's book.
Since you're in the neighborhood, see if the Kerrys are
dining at one of
their regular spots, such as Hamersley's Bistro (553 Tremont St.), the
Federalist (15 Beacon St.) or Locke-Ober (3 Winter Pl.). Local med student
Vanessa Kerry says she and her dad head to Gyuhama (827 Boylston St.) for sushi.
If you haven't got the Kerry-Heinz bank account, walk down the hill to Charles
Street and get a bite at the Sevens (77 Charles St.), Figs (No. 42) or Torch
(No. 26).
Like Washington in recent
years, Boston
has experienced an explosion of
high-end restaurants. The big-name chefs to seek out include Todd English, Lydia
Shire, Jasper White, Gordon Hamersley and Michael Schlow. If you're on an
expense account, hotel concierges will happily direct you to the priciest --
often overpriced -- restaurants.
The terminally hip park themselves in the cafes and bars in
the vicinity of
ultra-chic Newbury Street
on the stretch from Arlington
Street to Massachusetts
Avenue. People-watch -- or be seen -- from the
open windows at Sonsie (327
Newbury St.) or Vox Populi (755 Boylston St.).
For a taste of the new political culture, head to the South
End, an easy
stroll from the hotels in Copley
Square. Some of the most innovative cooking in
the city is taking place in the now fully gentrified, very gay-friendly
neighborhood of Victorian buildings. You can spare yourself a bit of
embarrassment by not confusing the South End with Irish, working-class Southie.
At Bomboa (35
Stanhope St.), a Brazilian restaurant that segues
seamlessly
from quiet cocktail hour to thriving dinnertime to after-hours hot spot, the
bartenders mix up killer tropical drinks, loaded with freshly crushed mint
leaves and plenty of lime. Take a friend, portions are huge.
On a recent Saturday night, a giddy bachelorette party,
complete with a
ridiculously adorned bride-to-be, suddenly found itself mingling with an
equally
boisterous table of men. Just back from the annual Gay Pride festivities, they
too were celebrating marriage. Massachusetts,
remember, was the first state in
the nation to sanction gay weddings.
No Massachusetts political
junket would be complete without a trek across
the Charles River to the "People's Republic of Cambridge."
Tip O'Neill's home town is a city of squares, each with a
distinct
personality. One of the simplest ways to sample Cambridge is to head straight up
Massachusetts Avenue
through each square. Most correspond with a stop on the Red
line of the subway, or the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, which
locals have simply abbreviated to the "T."
Start at Kendall
Square, home to MIT, and work your way up through
Central,
Harvard and Porter. For creative ethnic food, try the Cambodian-French
combinations at the Elephant Walk (2067
Massachusetts Ave.) or upscale Cuban at
Chez Henri (1 Shepard St.).
Just beyond Porter
Square is Verna's (2344 Massachusetts Ave.), the humble
bakery where O'Neill regularly stopped for a doughnut, or crull-ah in local
parlance. (Even before you reach the city limits, it's obvious this is doughnut
territory. Whether landing at Logan airport or
arriving via the Massachusetts
Turnpike, Dunkin' Donuts is there to greet you.)
In the heart of Cambridge,
of course, is Harvard, its brick and ivy enlivened
by resident skateboarders, strollers and street musicians. Pick up souvenirs at
the Coop; your hometown paper at Out of Town News, listed on the National
Register of Historic Places, plopped dead-center in the square; and a bit of
culture (cul-chuh) at one of the half-dozen university museums.
Many of the eateries in and around Harvard cater to the
student budget. Some
of the better ones include Bartley's Burger Cottage (1246 Massachusetts Ave.)
with its signature sweet potato fries, John Harvard's Brew House (33 Dunster
St.) and the always-crowded, always-fun Border
Cafe (32 Church St.).
Quieter,
more elegant fare can be found at Sandrine's (8 Holyoke St.), the cozy Harvest
Restaurant (44 Brattle St.)
and UpStairs on the Square (91
Winthrop St.), where
Kerry campaign chairwoman Jeanne Shaheen escaped for a civilized glass of wine
and dinner during her stint at the JFK School of Government.
On sunny days, the locals line up at Darwin's Ltd. (148 Mount Auburn St.), a
gourmet sandwich shop that packs the best picnic in town. Take your goodies to
the banks of the Charles to watch the crew teams and Frisbee tossing. Or for a
quieter repast, continue down Mount
Auburn Street to commune with Henry
Wadsworth Longfellow in the park in front of his house (105 Brattle St.). That's
how uber-Democrat Donna Brazile got back her sanity after the 2000 election.
Ceci Connolly is on the National staff of The Washington
Post.