Juniper Disco

The first couple of weeks in August are always tough for this summer girl. After my vacation in Ptown, I usually stay in Boston for the weekends before Carnival. Why? 1) The first weekend in August is both the end of Family Week and the Pan Mass Challenge, both completely take over my little slice of heaven turning it into hell on earth; and 2) My mom has other guests. (I know. Imagine. Besides me?)

I’m sure you are all wondering how I survive those two weeks away from the Cape. So you can stop worrying about me, I thought I’d share a little of our Is-This-Really-Boston haven with you.

For those of you who do not live in New England, you must understand one fundamental thing. There are no pools here. Not like back home where everyone belonged to a swim club of some type or other. People around here go to the beach.

However …

We are lucky enough to live next to the biggest outdoor pool in Boston. I pinch myself every day. This pool is quite different from our Ptown pool(s) — no alcohol is served but we’ve learned how to bring in our own; there is no thumping club music; children are relegated to the the other end of the pool (a plus!); and our fellow poolgoers are generally less entertaining.

The view from the adult end of the pool …

Look how close it is to the Museum of Science! You can also see the Green Line when you are floating about in the water.

There is a snack bar, Half Baked Kitchen, that has $3 grilled cheese sandwiches and the occasional lobster roll special. Their smoothies also make great mixers with the contraband rum we smuggle in.

There also is so much more space for us. At the Ptown pool(s), I usually have speedo-ed males sitting on my lap (well, almost). And I’m not talking about the Mr.

Lobster Roll Day!

And the part of the place that continues to blow me away are the cabanas. Really. Equipped with full refrigerators, showers and most people have their own grills and outdoors chairs/table. You can see the care people put into making their cabana the best. Notice the topiaries. (One small suggestion: They should fully embrace the mid-century architecture of this place and paint it like The Saguaro in Palm Springs.)

And, Bostonians, you’ve all driven past it a million times. Right behind the “If you Lived Here, You’d Be Home Now” sign on Storrow Drive, is all of this!

And here is a view of it from one of our windows that I took this morning. You can see the Green Line (I got the T in the photo without even noticing it!), the Zakim Bridge, and the Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown beyond it.

And it’s right there! {Pinching myself. Again.}