William World News William F. Yurasko's blog v.14 – Nats, Penn State, Redskins, greater DC , travel, more

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Despite disliking Harvard (son of Yalie that I am) I like visiting Harvard Square. The Ombudsman works there and I spent some time there enjoying the early spring weather and more. The neighborhood is of course bustling with people, shops, restaurants, buskers and more. It is safe say that the Ombudsman works [...]

BOSTON — Since neither the Ombudsman nor his attorney was able to pick me up from Logan Airport, I relied on the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority, aka “the T”, to get me Harvard Square (more on that later). I thought, “No problem, I’ve been on the T both times I visited Boston and I [...]

BOSTON — For posterity’s sake, I’m documenting that the arena that the Boston Bruins and Boston Celtics play in right now is called the TD Garden. Previous names of the arena include TD Banknorth Garden, Fleet Center and Shawmut Center. When it was between names, individuals could buy the rights for a day. Sadly, the [...]

CHARLES RIVER RESERVATION, Mass. — During the final morning of Bost Weekend, the Ombudsman and I went for a bike ride along the Paul Dudley White Bike Path on Charles River Reservation. Starting in Watertown, the Ombudsman and picked up the bike path on the opposite side of the Charles. It paralleled Nanamtum Road for [...]

BOSTON — I don’t know why Prudential decided to build their skyscraper in the Back Bay neighborhood, but it seems to have worked out. The Pru is the second tallest building in the city, but if the mast is included, it reaches the highest elevation. It is easily the dominant feature of the skyline from [...]

BOSTON — I am generally not not a big fan of cable-stayed bridges, preferring the grandeur of suspension bridges. Sadly, cable-stayed bridges are being built for crossings that used to require suspension bridges. I do make an exception for the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge over the Charles River though. One reason is [...]

TRENTON, N.J. — One of my favorite parts of the ride up the Northeast Corridor is crossing the Delaware River and seeing the “TRENTON MAKES THE WORLD TAKES” sign on the Lower Trenton Toll-Supported Bridge. Ironically, the bridge is free, but is supported by the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission.
The neon sign, erected [...]

PHILADELPHIA — Back in 2007, I shared my disappointment with the Comcast Center, a new skyscraper in the city of brotherly love. At 976 feet, it raised the roof, so to speak, on the Philly skyline. Prior to the Comcast Center’s construction, the skyline was nearly symmetrical and featured 1 Liberty Place, an elegant modern [...]

NEWARK, Del. – On our way back from the Jersey Shore last month, we had no timeline for getting home, so we took a more leisurely pace. After leaving New Jersey we entered Delaware and found ourselves getting hungry which is advantageous since there is no sales tax there. Our son was ready to be [...]

NEW YORK — Since at least the mid 1990s, Pepsi cans sold by food carts in Manhattan have always said NEW YORK. I don’t recall seeing this in any other city. Granted the other cities that tend to buy from food carts are Washington and Arlington (actually a county, of course) so I can’t speak [...]