We started at Plymouth. 1620. A trip to the "rock" and the Mayflower II, a reproduction of the original ship the Pilgrims sailed on to come here to step across that rock and begin a new life. I can't even imagine sailing on that ship for that long. It's no Carnival fun ship!
We then headed down the Cape. Cape Cod that is. Where The Kennedys and The Mindiys vacation. It was great. Crowded on a summer weekend for good reason. We boarded a ferry to Martha's Vineyard for some exploring there. We found the cutest 'gingerbread cottages' and the oldest carousel. A huge thanks to Brian and Cathi (and Donnie) for giving us a bed and feeding us. The sticky buns were fantastic! Your Cape home is perfect. The porch and the view draw you in and make you want to stay forever. Thanks, Levi, for giving us a kayak tour of the harbor! We want to come back when we have more time to simply enjoy the rocking chairs on the porch.
Boston brought our first Air B&B experience. For those of you that don't know...Air B&B is a website where you can rent apartments, rooms, etc. We rented a room in Cambridge in Mary's house. Mary is a Thai Massage Therapist and seems to be artsy and eccentric. Unfortunately she had a last minute trip so we didn't get to meet her. We did meet all the other people who were renting out the other rooms. It was just like staying in a hostel. You hope the guy coming in the front door at midnight is supposed to be coming through the front door! We met some people traveling for business and a teacher at a conference. It was a good first experience and we got to wake up to this squirrel looking at us every morning.
I loved teaching social studies. It's fascinating. It's a great story filled with battles and suffrage and hope and passion. Boston has so many chapters of this story. It was like being on the best field trip ever! Boston has old and new arcitechiture intertwined to create a beautiful city. It's amazing to me that all of this is still around. Things we read about in books. Our country's beginnings. We walked the Freedom Trail. Every inch was fascinating. To stand next to Paul Revere's grave or walk through Fanueil Hall where countless speeches have been given that have shaped our country or stand on the site of the Boston Massacre....it's incredible to me. I can see the story come to life in my head. We stumbled across a printing shop. The nicest man works there. Watching him set the type and then print was so neat. We climbed the 294 stairs to the top of the Bunker Hill Memorial. Felt the burn in the legs on that one! We did all of this in the pouring rain. Like any good tourist, we put on our rain jacket and continued on. A little rain won't stop the visit to Paul Revere's home.
A venture into the north end brings you Italian food everywhere. And this isn't your friendly neighboorhood Olive Garden. This is Italian food. Mike's Pastry is the place to be. Holy Cannoli. Delicious. Unless you go when it's pouring rain, you will wait in a very long line. Wait in it. They are good.
We found the original Cheers. They may not have known our name but they were glad we came. :)
The Boston Public Gardens brought us to the Make Way for Ducklings statue. If you haven't read that classic, now would be a good time to do so.
A trip to Harvard left us feeling slightly more intelligent than when we started this trip. We did some shopping at the Harvard Book Store and sat around in 'the yard'. It was all very Elle Woods.
We planned our arrival in Boston so we could see the Red Sox play. As with the NFL and the Packers, we aren't really fans but we are now! Watching a game in Fenway Park felt like an all-American experience. We cheered, we wore our new shirts, we ate Fenway Franks, we sang Sweet Caroline. They lost. Bad. Big Papi struck out more than once. But since we are such big fans, we stayed until the very end.
If you hear us speak with a new accent, it's because we are now dropping our r's. We can tell you all about lobstah fresh from the watah in the hahbah when we get back.
Many of you know I have this silly fear of walking over open grates. The Freedom Trail took us over this bridge.
Overcoming fears one at a time on this journey.
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