Beantown

I’ve safely returned from Boston. I got home last night at 11PM. I had a really fun, busy, and cold weekend.

I went to Boston to attend the J. Reuben Clark Law Society Conference at Harvard. The JRCLS is basically an organization for Mormon lawyers and law students. I took the red-eye flight from Oakland to Boston on Wednesday night with my friend from law school, Wade. After arriving at Logan Airport at 5:30 in the morning, we went to Wade’s aunt and uncle’s house in Belmont to sleep. It was great to have a free place to stay during the conference, and Wade’s aunt and uncle were very gracious hosts. After sleeping for a couple of hours, we went on the subway system to Boston to walk the Freedom trail—a 2.5 mile pathway that highlights a lot of the historic sites of the city. Before doing the trail, we went to the famous Fenway Park and took a tour. The tour guide was a character. He had a thick Boston accident, and loved the Red Sox’s—just like in Fever Pitch. While we were on the trail we saw Bunker Hill; the U.S.S. Constitution (Old Ironsides); the Paul Revere House; the Old North Church, where they hung two lanterns to indicate the British were traveling by sea; the Old State House; site of the Boston Massacre; the burial site of Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and Paul Revere; Faneuil Hall, and many other historical sites. It was great to see all of these place especially after reading the John Adams’ Biography and watching the HBO series—although one of the Harvard professors was quick to point out some of the historical inaccuracies of the series.

On Friday and Saturday, we went to Harvard to attend the conference. Professors, judges, and attorneys gave wonderful presentations. Some of the topics included: religion and the history of legal education, national security in the 21st century, legal issues and the church, same sex marriage and taxes, birthplace of a nation, an insider’s view of the financial crisis, and religious monuments and the first amendment. The keynote speaker was Kenneth Star, who gave a speech on the U.S. Supreme Court at the Old State House.

On Saturday morning, I met up with David, a friend from high school who is attending Harvard Medical School. He gave me a great tour of the campus. Harvard would be such a great place to go to school. It totally reminded me of Hogwarts. They had this great dining hall, where all of the freshmen eat. They even have houses that compete against each other. One of the houses was the Adams House, named after John Adams and John Quincy Adams. I especially enjoyed all of the old, red-brick buildings. After the tour I went to the Harvard student store, and bought Reagan a Harvard t-shirt—but with no pressure that she has to attend the university.

I had such a great time in Boston. It was very short, but I felt like I got to see a lot of the city. It would be great to take the family back to see the city—preferably during the spring or summer. Here are some pictures from my trip: