Boston: Some Discoveries

I took the train up to Boston this past weekend to see some friends. It was relaxed and lots of fun. I also made a few little discoveries.

1. Honey. At Barbara Lynch's tiny Plum Produce I took a chance on a three-ounce vial of Champlain Valley Apiaries crystallized honey ($2). I'm wishing the two-and-a-half pound tub had been on offer.

2. Smart shop. I chanced upon Vessel on Tremont Street, which has a well-conceived selection of items.

3. Yesterday's guidebooks. At a used bookstore in Cambridge I found a 1961 guide to the Caribbean, written by the editors of Holiday Magazine. It's fascinating to comb through the book to glimpse frozen moments of a region that tourism has changed radically. About St. Barts, the editors write:

At the moment, it has one three-room hotel—an establishment with the resounding name of the Paris-Stockholm and rudimentary accommodations above the main dry-goods store and bar of Gustavia.

And later:

Today it is a find for escapists—but the odds are that tomorrow it will be something else.

Something else? Indeed.