The glories of Alewife

As a wise man once said, "Get a car or start walking." Well, that wise man had never heard of trains, subways, trolley cars, the tube, or in this fine city, the "T." As a foreigner to Boston, I must admit that I tend to think of this city in terms of its "T" stops. Tealux Tea store is Harvard, Macy's is Downtown Crossing, and that place where lots of buses make friends with snot nosed travelers is South Station. Starting with the red line, get ready for a T-errific time and lots of puns come this semester. Okay, fine. I guess we can compromise on just that first one.



First stop: Alewife.



I hope you like 'em big and square: your parking lots that is. Because Alewife has a huge one. HUGE. You could fit about ten million pizza boxes in it, to give you a rough idea. But lots of commuters from neighboring Beantown suburbs such as Concord like to park there and pretend that they're hard core Bahstonites for the day. Many young men and women wearing suits, who claim when interviewed to be on their way to work, tend to park there as well.

But, if big slabs of cement ain't quite your style, Alewife also holds claim to the scenic Alewife Brook Reservation, a 120-acre Reservation that provides shelter for some of Boston's most precious urban wilds. Some indigenous and migratory highlights include the Osprey and the Great Blue Heron. And, according to the reservation's website, "The anadromous Herring migrates each spring from the Atlantic Ocean to the Reservation's Little Pond and Blair Pond to spawn." Tell me that doesn't make you hot.

Fresh Pond is also the name of the Loews movie theater that is relatively easy to walk to from the stop. But beware _ they post times online just to tease you. You will see that Harry Potter is playing at 9:50 p.m. You will venture through a snowstorm to arrive at 9:45, just to see that all the doors are locked. You will bang on the doors make frantic faces to all the little Voldemort devils, who were really just playing with your little Hogwarts heart. Then, you will cry. Oh, or I mean, that could have just been me.

But you know, forget movies _ just go do what every member of the Tufts community secretly wants to major in, BOWLING@ Lanes & Games. Apparently voted best bowling alley by Boston Magazine, there's a rumor going around that you need at least a minimum score of 36 for admittance. And, while that pretty much rules me out, I must say that from the lobby, the joint ability to candlepin and tenpin bowl was enticing. Plus video games! Pinball! Yippee!

And... we're done. That, believe it or not, pretty much sums up Alewife's attractions. So, if you are looking to explore the wonders of Boston, remember, go to Alewife last. That is why it's at the endof the line which, by the way, is an excellent song by the Traveling Wilberry's (Tom Petty and George Harrison). What's more, if I was held at water balloon-point, and I had to pick between the song and the stop, guess which one I'd choose.

Other Alewife attractions: Brooks Pharmacy, Staples.