Boston

This post sure has taken on a different meaning now. Last weekend when I was preparing to post my pictures from our trip, I had no idea how different that city would be by this weekend. Exactly one week prior to the bombing at the end of the marathon, our really fun and entertaining tour bus driver, "Crackerjack", pointed out the finish line for the marathon for everyone riding on our bus. He talked about the day with such excitement. It is still a bit hard to believe all that has happened since then. And I'm not even from Boston. I can't imagine what they are feeling there. Oddly enough, though, all of the tragic events that happened that day have made me love my trip and the city of Boston even more. It is a wonderful place that I think EVERYONE should visit. I am already planning the trip in my head when we take Rush and SF back one day. It is the perfect trip for the year they start their American History study... right now that is 5th grade. So a few years away.. but a girl can still plan. :-)

Something different that I did on this trip was to take a journal with me. Like the kind that you write in with a pen. A travel journal. Every night when we returned to our hotel, I wrote down every detail I could remember. Even the little things. I always love to think about trips I have taken in the past, but a lot of times, I don't remember as many details as I wish that I could. Phil and I went to Europe for our honeymoon. I remember a lot from the trip, but honestly, I now have a lot of pictures of castles that I don't know the names of anymore. I plan to take my green journal with me on every trip from now on. Even when no one else in the world is using pens and paper anymore because electronics have taken over the world, I am going to be the grandma who STILL USES PENS!!! AND PAPER!!! My grandkids will laugh at me and I won't care because one day they will read my travel journal and wish they had one!!! And maybe they will write one. Can you tell I have had two cups of the strong "size" out of the Keurig this morning? Thoughts are racing!!

So now for my Boston pictures:


This was the view from our Boston hotel room. Yes, the window stayed open all the time. It was BEAUTIFUL!! We also stayed in Cambridge for two nights. It is a beautiful place as well, but we didn't have this view at that hotel.


Me on steps of a random building on Harvard's campus...

This is Phil sitting on the steps of a random building on Harvard's campus. He was totally against this picture by the way, but he finally played along. I thought it was funny, but we definitely looked like goofy tourists. Who cares? I'm sure Phil's recently purchased Harvard toboggan had nothing to do with our touristy look. Did I mention it was FREEZING cold in April in Boston? Apparently, this is normal.


Phil's favorite part (I liked it, too.)was touring Fenway Park.


I traveled around one day on my own while Phil had to work. I visited a burial ground (what they call them in Boston instead of cemetery or graveyard). It had the famous graves of Paul Revere, John Hancock, Samuel Adams, those killed in the Boston Massacre, and Mother Goose.


This is the oldest hotel in the United States and the place where JFK proposed to Jackie.
I love this stuff!


This is the Paul Revere House, the cobblestone street leading up to it, and the steeple of the Old North Church (One if by land.. two if by sea...). You weren't allowed to take pictures inside, but I did go inside. I thought it was interesting that Paul Revere didn't live in this house until it was 90 years old. So it was already a "historical" house before his family moved in. Lots of other families lived there before and after his family. He was just an everyday guy who ended up being really famous just for being loyal, patriotic, and brave.

I spent some of my day walking through the Boston Commons and Boston Public Gardens. They are beautiful common spaces that they enjoy since they don't have yards, etc. to use for outdoor fun. It was fun to pretend to be part of the the real Bostonians for a little while. There were a bunch of people with cameras around their necks like me, though. I also visited the Boston Tea Party replica ships. It would be GREAT for kids. I wished that I hadn't really spent an hour doing that because it was all replica stuff, but the kids on our tour got "throw tea" into the harbour, and the "actors" were funny and authentic with their accents, etc. I had lunch on my own at the Quincy Market. I got a lobster roll and some clam chowder. It was delcious! Even though I paid $20 for my lunch and ate it at a common table with a bunch of people I didn't know. Definitely different... but fun. I really liked riding the bus around because the tour guides were all great. They had so many interesting facts to share about random parts of the city.



Early on the morning that I toured on my own, I met two girls from Louisiana that were at Phil's conference. They were waiting for the tour bus in front of our hotel, too. They were from Louisiana, and their southern accents were a bit of a relief to be honest. I think I was asked where I was from about 15 times a day. Never in a rude way... just pretty sure they could tell I wasn't a native. One waitress at Legal Seafoods asked in my favorite way..."So, are you guys visiting from somewhere..... long pause...far away?" Yes. How can you tell? Anyway, I met my new friends from Louisiana again on the last leg of my tour that day. So we all went into Cheers and had a beer together. I enjoyed talking with them and was glad not to be the sad girl drinking a beer alone in a bar. Although for the record, I would have done that, too. :-)And, no, they didn't make fun of me for taking a picture of my beer glass with my cell phone. They took one of their glasses, too, of course. Even though I wish Phil had been with me that day, I had fun!

Phil and I ended my last night in the North End. It had been highly recommended for its Italian restaurants. We ate at this place:

It was a for real Italian resaurant. You could tell it was family-owned, and it was delcious. I had homemade pasta and marinara with meatballs. The portions were HUGE, and I ate about 1/4 of mine and felt like I wouldn't be able to walk. I still managed to make it to Mike's Pastries, though. We got canoli (not sure if that is singular or plural). But we got two of them. Phil doesn't really like cream-filled sweets, but he managed to help me eat these when we got back to the hotel. :-) They were delicious! I finished them for breakfast this morning. At that point, after all that I had eaten, canoli for breakfast was the least of my calorie worries. It was all well worth it!

I was sad to leave. I flew back home by myself because Phil had to stay an extra day. I have flown lots of times but never by myself. I survived, though!

Boston is one of my favorite cities I have ever visited. It may be my favorite. I love NYC, but it even gives NYC a run for its money. It is beautiful and big while still being quaint and historic. It has a European feel to me...probably because the buildings are so old. I will definitely look forward to going back again.