AHH + BOSTON = BAHHSTON

One word: Mmmmm. . .

33 is an elegant restaurant, hidden away in the middle of Boston. I found it on the internet and my friend, who lived in Boston at the time, had never heard of it. A group of four of us decided to go check it out and we certainly did not regret it.

We started off with some cocktails. They have a plethora of martinis and I chose the "Elephant Balls" martini mainly for the name, but it was delicious all the same. A sweet martini made with lychee juice and lychee (hence the name), I was a little disappointed to see my martini had been castrated as it only had one Elephant Ball (lychee). From the name, I was expecting at least two! That made for a great laugh at the table and with the waitstaff that served us.

For starters, my friend had the lobster bisque and as we are so unrefined, my friend was surprised when the server set down a large bowl with a delicate mold of lobster in the middle of it. "I thought I ordered soup," she whispered. A friend then said, "I think it's one of those 'add water and it expands' like those gift towels." The server had a huge grin on his face as he poured her bisque into the bowl. Needless to say, we all laughed again.

I had a simple Caesar salad, which was no better or worse than many I have tried.

For dinner, I had the roast rack of lamb with a mushroom risotto while my friend had the salmon with fingerling potatoes and asparagus. All was quite delicious and worthe the price paid.

We did not order dessert, but we were given a dessert (see picture) and I think it was called a MOLTEN CHOCOLATE BOMBE that I'm not sure how to describe. . . A big black bowl (reminiscent of a cauldron) with dry ice comes to your table. The dry ice clouds flow from the cauldron as you dig deep into the pit of the bowl for a dessert delight. Was it going to bite my hand off if I stuck my hand in the bowl? No, it probably wouldn't since this is a fine dining restaurant and how would it look if a guest ran screaming from the table with no hand? The taste treat that waiting for us was a delightful ice cream concoction.

The menu changes on chef's whim, so all that I have described here may not be on the menu when you go. They have a lounge downstairs and you gotta check out the bathroom.

Check out their site at www.33restaurant.com

33 is only open for dinner

How can you go to Boston and not visit the Green Monster? It's just a must, like walking the Freedom Trail. Being at Fenway Park is like living out your own Field of Dreams.

On a game day, the side street (I believe that is Yawkey Way) is open only to foot traffic and turnstiles are placed for fans with tickets only. The hawkers there sell everything from Polish sausage to burgers, to Nuts! Nuts! Nuts! (oops, that's my Dodger peanut guy talking). The smells cause anyone's mouth to water and everything's is reasonably priced (for a ballpark). Walk inside the stadium and you can by your own Louisville Slugger. Across the street are a couple of bars and souvenir shops.

Seats are a little tight; after all, they were made for the stadium opening in 1912 and everyone was just a little smaller then, but you can't help be submerged in the history of it all.

Diehard fans pay through the nose to sit up in the seats and SRO (standing room only) area behind the Green Monster. Apparently, those are some of the hardest tickets to get.

Take the "T" to the park or cab it. If you drive, be prepared to pay $20 or more for parking.

If you're going to take a tour in Boston, you must take a DUCK Tour. The tour guides, known as "conDUCKtors" are pretty funny, but the most interesting part is that the tour "bus" is an amphibious vehicle that can go on land and in the water - meaning the tour bus drives into the Charles River and becomes a boat! Our conDUCKtor was Mad Capt, this crusty old seadog with a fake parrot (whose bio you can see on the main site) took us all around the historic points of Boston (Boston Commons, Faneuil Hall, etc.). This is a great tour to take with family in the afternoon a hot day when everyone needs a break anyway.