Beantown

First of all, let me just say that I don't understand why they call Boston, Beantown. Never once did we experience the opportunity to order stellar beans on any menu we encountered. Which was fine with me, as I'm going to be getting my fair share of beans soon enough. But, Ryan would have liked to have some of those famous Boston Baked Beans. Apparently it's a historical reference.

Now that we have that out of the way... I can say, Boston was a neat city. I'd like to go so far as to say it's beautiful. But, we spent 4 days experiencing the city through the hoods of our raincoats, so I wouldn't know. Neat? Yes. Beautiful? Maybe, the jury's still out. Anyway, we had a great time and I definitely want to go back once more before I die. There was too much to see in a few days.

Here's a bit about what we did do. We stayed the night somewhere in Connecticut on our way up to DC, so we made our way into the city midday. We decided we'd try navigating the Suburban all the way into the city since it was the middle of the work day. Going in was fine, coming out, not so much. We tried it once, it was fun, we used the "T" for the rest of the trip. Bostonians apparently get the terms "freeway" and "parking lot" confused.

That first afternoon found us at the Charlestown Navy Yard exploring the USS Constitution, the USS Cassian Young, and the Maritime Museum. They were all really cool. We would have stayed longer, but we wanted to beat the traffic out of the city (or so we thought.)

It was here that I cemented my understanding of the fact that the kids are significantly more interested in things that they just studied, not things they were excited about 2 years ago. There are 2 ships in the yard- one was "Old Ironsides" from the war of 1812 and the other was a WWII vessel. I just knew the former would be of greater interest, but I was wrong. They were totally captivated by the Cassian Young and they were able to access information that we had just read with our 20th century history studies this year. That ended up being the pattern for the whole trip. The things we had just studied were definitely the bigger hits. The Maritime museum had one of the best displays for kids that I have ever been to (and I've been to a few museums.) They took what I thought would be a pretty dull and narrow topic and presented it in some very engaging ways. The best part was, it was free! When we finished our time there, we all concurred that we do not, under any circumstances, want to experience the life of a sailor in 1812.

Boys and their cannons, what more can I say?

This "sailor" interacted with the kids really well, explaining to Isaac that he was old enough to be a powder monkey aboard the USS Constitution. Obviously, whatever he's saying at this moment has Abby aghast!

Here's Abby at the maritime museum, loading a goat onto the deck of the ship.

The next day we road the subway into the city and got off at the Boston Common. We knew that our first priority in Boston was to see the duck statues and ride the swan boats. If you're a mom, you know what I'm talking about, the Make Way for Ducklings gang. My kids have loved Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Ouack, Pack, and Quack since they were little bitties. I can't tell you how many times I've read that book, and we have the audio book too! We quickly found the duckling statues in the Public Gardens and took our pictures there. But, when we got to the swan boats, they were closed because of the yucky weather. We were so sad!

There they are, the ducklings immortalized in bronze forever. Abe claimed Mrs. Mallard and wouldn't move, so the others are simply smashing those cute little ducklings.

The rest of the day found us walking the Freedom Trail. This is really something that you should do. Seriously. In a few hours, you can cover a ton of Revolutionary history. We started at the Boston Common and ended at the Old North Church (you know it... one if by land two if by sea.) It was really neat seeing those amazing places. Of course, it's been 2 years since we read all about it, but the big things like Paul Revere, the Boston Tea Party, and the Boston Massacre were still on the kid's radar, so that was good. I'm hopeful that the next time we study it, they'll have the memories of the actual places to make it even more alive to them.

One of the MANY neat graves we saw during our Freedom Trail walk.

Apparently, Teddy Roosevelt also visited the Old North Church.

Paul Revere's house. Did you know that he had 16 children?

I'm going to be totally honest here and say that while the Freedom Trail was totally cool, the fact that we got off at the North End and made a purchase at Mike's pastries, made it extra special. Amazing pastries, incredible cannolis, and macaroons that melt in your mouth. Need I say more?

After taking a bit to decide, then working up the nerve to get aggressive enough to push to the front of the line, we finally scored some yummy goodness!

On day 3 we headed out to Lexington and Concord. There, we rode a little trolley tour that took us all around the area. It was a good choice for us. They did a great job of covering the events that occurred there and helped us understand all about the "shot heard 'round the world." Again, there was too much to see. We wanted to explore Concord more, but by the time we saw all there was to see in Lexington, it was too late. The girls and I really wanted to see Orchard House, where Louisa May Alcott wrote Little Women. But, alas, it didn't happen. However, we did get to go into the house where John Hancock and Samuel Adams met Paul Revere during his Midnight Ride. We also went into the Tavern where the minutemen were hanging out while they waited for the redcoats to march into Lexington. Both have been amazingly preserved.

The Minute Man statue in Concord.

We headed back into Boston the next day, stopping by Harvard Yard along the way. The kids were totally unimpressed by all things Harvard. Which is honestly fine with me (buncha liberals ;). We did all concur that the burgers we ate at the famous Mr. Bartley's Burger Cottage were darn good. What can I say, when you're eating a Joe Biden burger, wondering if you should have ordered the Sarah Palin instead, it can be little overwhelming. However, the cake batter frappe that we all shared was what really made the place yummo!

The famous John Harvard statue. Notice the shiny toe. We didn't have any exams to take that day, so we didn't rub it.

Mr. Bartley's Burger Cottage.

From there, we headed to the Public Gardens, where we finally got to ride the much anticipated swan boats. They were all that an iconic experience should be and we especially enjoyed watching the animals as we rode. After that, we walked from the Public Gardens to the Prudential Center where we boarded a Duck Boat tour so that they could show us all of the things we hadn't seen yet. The kids have begged us to take one of these puppies in several cities we've been to. We said no in Philly last year. We've said no in DC multiple times. We caved in Boston. What can I say, we're weak. Honestly, when it became painfully obvious that we couldn't see all of it and that the sun was not going to cooperate, it seemed like a great idea. And it was. We had fun riding in an amphibious vehicle, seeing the city partly by land and partly by water. We learned things we wouldn't have learned otherwise, and Isaac even got a chance to drive the boat on the Charles River. We did not, however, buy the children those annoying quacking duck bills (unfortunately, a couple of them did use their own money to purchase them!)

Here's a shot taken from our swan boat. The driver's actually pedal those things like a bicycle.

This, my friends is a photo taken inside the Boston Library. Be careful not to confuse it with any one of our Franklin County, NC branches. The resemblance is remarkable.

Isaac driving the duck boat.

On our way out of the city on Sunday, we drove a little ways up to Lowell, MA. This was a great national park that perked our interest because the kids had read all about the Lowell Mills this year in school. There, we got to explore the weaving room at one of the old mills and see and hear the looms in action. We got to walk through a typical boarding house for the mill girls and hear about the tenement life that came with the influx of immigrant workers. We walked along the canals that were built in the city. It was a neat experience and once again, Ryan and I learned as much as the kids! Unfortunately, we forgot the camera, so we have no photos to prove we were there.

We headed out of Lowell and made our way down to Lancaster, PA. And that my friends is another post, for another day.