Weekend Trip to Boston, Flights and Museum

The first weekend of February 2024, I made a trip to Boston for some errands. This post would be about the flights and Harvard Art Museum, which I visited on the sidelines.

Charles River from Hotel Room

Ticketing

For this weekend trip I only had my schedule confirmed on Tuesday afternoon. By that time, American Airlines had their award spaces wild-open for the DC->Boston direction on Saturday, so I used 8250 British Airways Avios for a 10am departure. (I was used to 7500 Avios for this itinerary, I guessed on this aspect inflation was universal.) I wanted some flexibility for my schedule in Boston so I had hoped to fly back relatively late on Sunday, so it’s 168USD for a cash ticket on a 5pm departure with JetBlue. (Actually, I could book a 167USD early morning flight with “Blue Extra” and then try the free “same-day switch”. I didn’t want the afternoon flight to end up full, in which case I had to take an earlier flight. By some online reviews this “same-day switch” was somewhat of a hassle, so I didn’t go that route.)

American Airlines Flight 2134 from Washington Reagan to Boston

There was a minor incident as I took the wrong metro train on my way to the airport. After some frantic dashes, I made it to the airport at 9am. The security line was unusually long for a Saturday morning, which took me 22 minutes to clear. After making my way to the gate it’s boarding time.

It’s a fairly full flight, but I had an empty middle seat next to me. Something (gum?) was on the floor mat in front of me, so I used the middle seat next to me to stow my backpack.

American Airlines 2134
Washington Reagan (DCA) – Boston, MA (BOS)
Airbus A319 (N775XF)
Seat 21A
Scheduled Departure – 10:00am
Actual Departure – 10:08am
Scheduled Arrival – 11:46am
Actual Arrival – 11:16am
1 hour and 8 minutes

Here’s GPS tracking:

Here’s a video of the takeoff:

It’s a clear day over Washington DC, allowing me an aerial tour of its northern suburb which I was rather familiar with. The clouds grew thicker as I neared Boston.
Unlike my previous flights between Washington DC and Boston, which often took the inland route of Philadelphia / New York City, both of my flights this weekend took a route further east along New Jersey coast / Long Island. I guessed that had to do with congestion over New York City?

Click here to display photos during the flight from Washington Reagan to Boston.

Northern Washington DC Suburb
Interstate 95 runs diagonally in this photo.

Northern Washington DC Suburb
Russet, Annapolis Junction and Jessup.

Overlooking Baltimore Airport

Distant Baltimore Harbor

Seaside Heights, NJ

Flying over Long Island

Once below the clouds over Massachusetts Bay, here’s a video of the landing:

Hotel: Hyatt Regency Boston / Cambridge

I had a Cat4 Hyatt free night certificate that was to expire in a month, so I picked this Hyatt hotel to stay for the night. (The other Cat4 Hyatt was Boston Harbor near the airport, which I stayed at back in February 2022, back then I intentionally avoided this Cambridge Hyatt as it was under renovation.) This weekend was actually “off-peak” on this hotel’s award calendar, requiring only 12000 Hyatt points per night. With no other travel plans for the next month, I figured my expiring certificate came first.
Probably due to low-occupancy, I was upgraded to a room with Charles River view, under a clear and crisp winter sky.

Click here to display photos of the hotel.

Charles River from Hotel Room

Charles River from Hotel Room

Hotel Room Facing Charles River

 
Hotel Atrium
Giving the common space a very spacious feeling.

Harvard Art Museum

On Sunday, after my errands, I still had some time before my flight back to Washington DC, so I decided to check out Harvard Art Museum.
This was a small museum located on Harvard’s campus, with mainly two floors of exhibits that opened to the public with free admission. Given the prestige of Harvard and the museum’s free admission, it’s sort of crowded during my visit. Its exhibits, although limited in quantity, did not compromise on quality. I spent just under two hours touring it.

Click here to display photos of the slideshow

Piazza San Marco, Venice, c. 1730-34

Giovanni Antonio Canal, called Canaletto.Italian, 1697-1768.
Canaletto, celebrated for his views of Venice (vedute), depicts the city’s principal square of San Marco, which was described by Napoleon as “the finest drawing room in Europe.” The Basilica of Saint Mark, with its Byzantine architecture, and the imposing bell tower dominate the scene as symbols of the rich history of the Venetian Republic. Canaletto adjusts for the trapezoidal shape of the piazza by reinforcing the perspective created by the ornamental marble pattern of stone pavement that had recently been laid. This painting represents a timeless view of Venice while also capturing a slice of eighteenth-century daily life.
Among Canaletto’s most important patrons were English aristocrats who visited the city on the Grand Tour, often bringing home as souvenirs contemporary depictions of the cities they visited. This painting was bought by the fourth Duke of Leeds after he visited Venice in 1734. When the duke returned to England, he had the painting placed within this type of Scotch pine frame that he favored for works in his collection..

Gloucester Harbor at Sunset, late 1850s

Fitz Henry Lane.American, 1804-1865.
Lane’s maritime scenes are among the most enigmatic paintings in the history of American art. This work depicts the outer entrance to Gloucester Harbor, a busy trading port north of Boston. Two double-ended fishing vessels, or “pinkies,” maneuver around a pair of large schooners toward the harbor, which is visible in the background. Though their sails are unfurled and their hulls weighed down with cargo, the ships appear motionless. No wake disturbs the glassy surface of the ocean. Lane alludes to the world of commerce and exchange but replaces the bustle of the marketplace with an atmosphere of calm..The facture of Gloucester Harbor at Sunset is as distinctive as its subject. Lane eliminated almost every sign of his hand and brush from the painting. Nothing, not even traces of the artist’s labor, disturbs the serenity of the scene..

Lake O’Hara, 1916

John Singer Sargent.American, 1856-1925.
In this closely cropped view of the Canadian Rockies, John Singer Sargent explored the materiality of paint. With its rough, gestural brushwork, thick layers of pigment, and thin washes, Lake O’Hara exemplifies the artist’s late style. The painting verges on abstraction, and is in stark contrast to the work of earlier painters who freighted their images of the Rockies with symbolism..

Apotheosis of Louis-Adolphe Thiers,c. 1878

Jehan Georges Vibert.French, 1840-1902.
Shrouded in the French flag and surrounded by symbols of national grief, Louis-Adolphe Thiers (1797-1877), president of the Third French Republic, lies in state. To his left, a mourning figure representing France bows her head, while to the right, a nude, winged figure of victory gestures toward the glorified wars of the past unfolding in the heavens. The allegorical composition was disparaged by several critics at the time, reflecting the ambivalence surrounding Thiers’s legacy because of his brutal suppression of the Paris Commune uprising (March—May 1871).
This is a smaller, grisaille version (painted in shades of gray) of the colorful painting that was exhibited at the Salon of 1878. Vibert was a painter, printmaker, and amateur photographer, and the unique American frame surrounding his painting underscores its playful mimicry of reproducible media. Constructed in New York in the 1890s, the frame is an enlarged version of the “shadow box” frames that collectors used to exhibit daguerreotypes and other works on paper in their homes..

JetBlue Airlines Flight 2055 from Boston to Washington Reagan

After checking out Harvard Art Museum, I made my way to the airport. I managed to catch an earlier silver line bus at South Station (than Google Maps predicted). With some time to kill, I checked out Chase’s Sapphire Lounge.

Compared to my previous visit to this lounge last October, this time the food offerings were much more appetizing. The lounge was also more busy this time, probably because Sunday late afternoon was peak travel time.

JetBlue ERJ190 at Gate
N334JB, my plane to Washington DC.

JetBlue Airlines 2055
Boston, MA (BOS) – Washington Reagan (DCA)
Embraer ERJ-190 (N334JB)
Seat 21C
Scheduled Departure – 5:00pm
Actual Departure – 5:04pm
Scheduled Arrival – 6:48pm
Actual Arrival – 6:12pm
1 hour and 8 minutes

Here’s GPS tracking:

This time I sat on an aisle seat (no seat selection with their “Blue Basic” fare), so there’s not much to talk about the flight except it went smoothly.

END

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