It seemed too easy.
We set out on a mission to stump the TomTom, one of the new generation of Global Positioning Satellite devices that stick to the windshield with a suction cup and promise to eliminate the need to ever open a map or ask for directions.
Craftily, we entered an address that could baffle veteran cabbies: 10 Gold St., South Boston. Besides being one of Southie's narrowest residential ways, Gold Street is also bisected by railroad tracks.
The TomTom guided us down Old Colony Avenue onto Dorchester Avenue and within minutes had us turning onto Gold Street. "You have reached your destination," TomTom's female narrator announced.
But our way was blocked by a chain link fence sporting a sign that read, "DANGER No Trespassing." We were in the shadow of the MBTA Employees Credit Union. But there was no sign of 10 Gold; in fact there were no house numbers to be seen.
It seemed we had fooled TomTom into taking us onto the piece of Gold Street without any addresses. Amid snow flurries, we savored the moment.
Then we punched in the address of 200 Gold St. As we started turning around, TomTom chirped up, guided us back out of the dead-end, steered us to a nearby street that scaled the railroad tracks, and then had us to turn onto the other section of Gold Street - right up to the 200 block.
"You have reached your destination," it said in the same electronic voice, although there seemed to be a hint of triumph in its tone.
This was going to be harder than we thought.
Next stop: the Barking Crab, the rustic restaurant with a view of the Financial District over the Fort Point Channel. And a challenge, because it is surrounded by new streets that are still taking shape as the South Boston Waterfront is built out.
Through its Points of Interest function, TomTom can search for nearby restaurants, and sure enough it had a listing for the Crab. It took us through Southie, corrected us when we prematurely turned onto Farnsworth Avenue ("Turn around at your first chance"), and took us right to the restaurant's front door. Impressive.
But what about other Points of Interest a tourist might want to see? Like the Moakley Federal Courthouse right across the street? TomTom didn't recognize our instructions. Nothing for "courthouse," "Moakley Courthouse," or "federal courthouse."
Perhaps out of frustration, it finally suggested the Courthouse Pub on Central Street. In Lynn. It was midafternoon, too early for a beer.
There was also an air of alarm when TomTom couldn't find a suggested destination.
"No POI found!" it flashed urgently on the screen, as if we were adrift in the Vega System without warp power.
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