As I stood in the courtyard gawking -- thinking about how description often works best in books if you're able to capture the mood something creates with a few words, or maybe briefly say what it's like rather than providing lengthy and specific details about what it actually is or precisely how it looks -- my friend told me that the museum invites artists-in-residence to live in the museum and work. LUCKY DUCKS. What a dream to write in a place like that. Then we went to the tiny red concert hall with the custom-built Steinway and watched and heard pianist Paavali Jumppanen and violinist Corey Cerovsek have a lot of fun playing Beethoven really well. I'm also a lucky duck.
This is a really special museum, right next door to Simmons, where I got my MA in children's literature (and started writing!), around the corner from the Museum of Fine Arts, and down the road from Fenway Park. If your name is Isabella, you always get free admission ^_^. Here's the website for the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.