The SoWa Market is moving to its new location after Easter weekend, but before the change of venue I wanted to make a quick stop at its current warehouse location. Filled with objects of whimsy and intrigue, each coupled to a story mostly unknown and a history often untold, the market is a fun romp of exploration and discovery ~ the very best way to spend a Sunday morning in Boston.
Kira and I started with a pair of scones at the South End Buttery – one in Orange & Chocolate and one in Maple & Bacon – both a study in deliciousness. The Lemon-Lavender cupcakes advertised on the outside sign had not yet materialized, but a proper scone can erase a multitude of otherwise-unforgivable omissions. The day was bright and sunny, but the cold of a malingering winter held fast. Kira fortified herself with a hot chocolate while I sipped a hot coffee. These were the in-between moments that I often looked back at and missed the most when weekends like this were over.
While the destination dinners and shows and other events provide the impetus for many of our plans, it’s always been the quieter times that resonate in the memory. The funny trips to Walgreens or CVS, the impromptu cookie at Cafe Madeleine, or the quick jaunt to Star Market for breakfast food the next day – these are the times that somehow matter more than front-row tickets to some smash musical or a dressy dolled-up evening at a fancy steakhouse.
A stroll through the SoWa Market falls somewhere between a destination event and a throwaway moment – but this walk will be remembered as the start of the spring season, and the last at its current spot. It will also be the visit where Kira mistook an ATM machine for a piece of vintage machinery and I didn’t have the heart or the energy to correct her (until she needed a real ATM machine and didn’t know where one was located.)
The Market will always be a magical place for me, but most of that magic can only be conjured when the right company is present.
