It’s my two year anniversary living in Boston and I’ve never been to the aquarium. There was an aquarium meet up the previous year, but I couldn’t make it due to a schedule conflict. This time, the penguins came out to play. I wanted to wait to go to the aquarium until the penguin display was ready. About 16 or so Lolitas from the New England community showed up – some local and some new faces. Admission to the aquarium came around to $22 if you had a student ID. It was fairly crowded since it was a holiday weekend, but it was still nice to look through the various exhibits.
The Coord
I ordered a sailor dress off Taobao in Mid-August. It’s my first time ordering off Taobao and there’s been delays here and there due to a dress that I wanted being sold out. I kept it casual. I knew it was going to very hot and crowded. I went with my bodyline blouse, IW skirt, bodyline shoes, forever 21 tights (they started to run after the meet), EpicCosplay wig (I use the same wig for Hungary), and some offbrand flowers from Santee Alley. Nothing too show-y on the arms knowing that you could touch certain animals at the New England Aquarium. (Manta Rays are slimey!)
Everyone’s Coords
Dressing up in a nautical theme was highly encouraged – sailors, mermaid prints, jelly fish prints, pirates. There was also a nice turnout of home made Lolita outfits present.
The Aquarium
$22 gets you in to various aquarium exhibits. It’s worth taking your time to see everything. When you first walk in, you are greeted by the penguins. You could even use a light to see if the penguins will chase the light. On the upper level, you could see a demonstration as well. You could also spot Mrytle the Sea Turtle, the aquarium’s oldest resident. There were various aquariums that had different types of fish. The sea dragon horse one was the most interesting – you could not tell if it was a plant or a sea creature. There was also a tide pool where you could touch starfish and hermit crabs. On the other wing of the museum, you could also touch sharks and manta rays. The Lolita tour of the aquarium ended at the jellyfish exhibit.
The Food
Other than grabbing a snack at the aquarium, we were close to Faneuil Hall. Fanueil Hall has a variety of places to grab food. Some people had to leave at this point because of the train schedules. We got two tables at Wagamamma. There was going to be a half hour wait, so some of us decided to kill some time by looking around the shops. One of our’s also decided to participate in a street performer’s show outside Wagammma. It was generally crowded at Faneuil Hall due to the holiday weekend. I ended up ordering the miso spicy beef ramen. It was allright. I can say I had better ramen in various hole in wall joints in California, but it was what I needed after a long day of touring the aquarium. After grabbing food, a handful of us went over to the Stone Flower which has a ton of cute and elegant accessories for Lolita, retro, and every day wear.
In the Name of the Moon
Some of the Lolitas made a detour over to Somerville for Hub Comic’s “In the Name of the Moon” art gallery opening. Since last summer, Southern California has had a handful of Sailor Moon themed art galleries. This is the first of its kind on the East Coast. There was a reception in the evening. Some of us Lolitas were catching the tail end of it. There was a variety of different pieces and it was also nice to talk to fellow Moonies. I never been to Hub Comics; it’s your typical neighborhood friendly comic place. Even the employees were nice helping a friend find some comics. I didn’t want to leave home empty handed; I wanted to give them my business since they were so nice to host this event. I left with “Sailor Moon Short Stories Vol. 2” and the first issue of the new Bob’s Burgers comics.
Overall
It was a very busy day from marine critters to sailor senshi! I had a great time catching up with friends (let’s follow up on some cosplay plans?) and meeting new people. I hope to see everyone at the next meet whenever that will be. Keep in touch! Feel free to use any photos for your facebook profiles, pages, or other social media. Just link back to www.Scarlet-Rhapsody.com.
