To clarify, I have photos of Boston handy, specifically those taken during a visit there with my niece, Tishara. That trip was the second of what has become our almost-annual getaway.

Tishara and I travel well together as our interests are similar. In 2011, we went to Washington, D.C., because I posted a link on Facebook to the Smithsonian’s online catalog that had just been made public. (I’m nerdy-cool like that.) The result was a frenzied, 190+ comment conversation that ended with firm travel dates. We had a whole lot of fun, which I plan to write about at some point in the future. I did make a collage of our trip while it was fresh on my mind. It's kinda awesome. :)

Fast forward to spring 2012. Tishara, who had been on a Steven Tyler and "paaaaaank" kick since D.C., said, “Hey, Aerosmith is playing Boston in July. Let’s go!” Thinking it might be cool to see the Bad Boys on their home turf, I agreed.

Of course we had a blast. The weather was incredible. We ate. We drank. We walked. And walked. And walked. We bummed a ride on a commuter train. (If your mother is alive and you’ve not called her lately, please do so asap. Don’t ask, just do it to keep some good karma going.) We talked to strangers. We lied to strangers. We accidentally charged drinks to someone’s room at our hotel (not our fault) but caught the mistake just in time to leave a very generous tip before running departing for the elevator. We listened to some good music, including one helluva good cover band playing at an Irish pub, and Tupahn, an incredibly talented professional street performer.

We window shopped on Newbury Street and took pictures. We laughed a lot, especially in Salem. And I confirmed that I am not a vampire . . . whew.

I returned home with a Tupahn CD, a beautiful soapstone carving of two geckos that I bought from a street vendor, a framed “Spare Brain” purchased from some very strange people in Salem, and terrific memories. This was my second trip to Boston and the second time I heard Aerosmith live. It was a great show, and Dream On was captured in the awesome video below that I found on YouTube.

And the aforementioned photos? Here they are.