Back to Boston

I went to Boston recently, for the first time since the marathon.

For the first time since the bombing.

I did things I typically do on a visit to the Back Bay--including shopping and dining on both Newbury and Boylston Streets. Only this time I stopped to visit the makeshift memorial in Copley Square. Instead of simply enjoying the reflection of the church in the John Hancock Building and admiring the beautiful tulips, I also noticed the media trucks, and walked over to the hats and sneakers and t-shirts and candles and notes. When I had lunch at Atlantic Fish, this time I was aware that I was right next door to one of the bomb sites, and able to see the small memorial right in front of the Forum, which remains closed. I looked for the surveillance cameras on Lord and Taylor. I saw police presence in places I used not to see police—including right in front of the restaurant. I saw people approach the officers for information about the bombing, and I saw the officers oblige them with details, pointing to the specific locations.

And when I went back to my hotel that was the place all the media gathered and where press conferences were held, I thought to myself that Boston has a new draw. People will come now not just because Boston is a great city, but because it is where the bombings happened. It will attract tourists who want to see the memorial and know exactly the places where people were killed and injured. They will satisfy their curiosities and pay their respects, as I did, and they will experience that Boston remains a great city.

To some of us, the best.