Lexington, Concord, and Old Ironsides

Once our time in Massachusetts was done, Brian flew home and my dad flew in to ride back to Georgia with me and the kids.  We did make a few small detours before heading home.  After picking daddy up, we visited Lexington and Concord.  The highlight here was walking down to the bridge where the "shot heard round the world" was fired.

Daddy has been wanting to go on the USS Constitution for years.  As a matter of fact, he and my mom went on a trip to Boston with Uncle Mike and Aunt Connie several years ago and had planned to do it.  Unfortunately, there was a government shutdown during their trip and the ship was closed to the public.  We decided to revisit the ship so that daddy could go on board.  Uncle Mike and Aunt Connie even met up with us so that they could go on board with him. This ended up leading to a super cool moment.  Because Uncle Mike is a retired military officer, he was piped aboard the ship.  About 50 or so people were gathered on deck and they all stopped to cheer for him.  It was really cool to witness.

 We made good time on our way back to Georgia.  We were on the ship in Boston until about 11 a.m. on Sunday, and I was sitting in my house by 6:00 p.m. on Monday.  I think that we had a very good trip.  I did not think that I would like Boston as much as I did.  I found it to be a clean, safe, and friendly city.  I would not mind a return visit at some point in the future.

Six Flags New England

On the last day of our family vacation, we visited Six Flags New England. This was our first time at this park, and our overall impression was favorable.  They had two stand-out coasters- Wicked Cyclone and Superman.  The only sort of negative thing that I have to say about our experience there is that some school groups with poorly behaved students were there on the same day.  Having to put up with cussing, line cutting, and overall obnoxious behavior was not how I wanted the day to go.  Fortunately, the groups left in the early afternoon and the rest of the day went smoothly.  The lines were short for all rides and the weather was good, so overall we had a pleasant day.  Our Six Flags season passes are once again proving to be worth the investment.  Here are our 2019 stats so far:

Number of visits:  3
Number of parks visited:  3

Rainy Day in Beantown

 Day 6 was supposed to begin with a whale-watching tour.  The forecast was not favorable, but we were hoping that our tour would be over by the time the worst of it arrived.  We boarded the boat and headed out to see the whales.  After about forty minutes of feeling like we were on an episode of Deadliest Catch, the captain determined that conditions were too bad for us to continue, so we turned around and headed back to the dock. I was a little disappointed that our plans fell through, but I was happy that the captain put safety first.  We did get a free boat ride out of it, so it wasn't a total loss. The weather ended up getting much worse.  It was rainy and cold.  So cold in fact that we all bought souvenir sweatshirts to wear over our clothes.

 Our whale watching tour getting canceled left us with more time on our hands than anticipated.  We decided to visit the Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum because it was a (mostly) inside attraction.  This experience was much more involved than I realized.  There were live actors, high-quality holographic images, and surprises at every turn.  We did have to go outside to get on the ship and to throw the tea into the harbor.  We learned that it was rainy and cold on the night of the actual tea party, and it was rainy and cold during our visit so I guess the weather just added an element of authenticity to the whole experience.

 After our tour was over we grabbed hot chocolate and cookies at Abigail's Tea Room (which is part of the museum).  The weather was really bad at this point, so we killed some time playing the old-timey games that were on the tables.

 It was early afternoon and we hadn't had a proper meal.  I knew exactly where I wanted to eat.  My sister Hannah and niece Ava visited Boston in November and just raved about Fire&Ice, so that was our destination.  This place was really neat.  It's like a build-your-own-stir-fry place.  You put ingredients and sauces into bowls and then take it to a large Mongolian Wok where it is cooked before your eyes.  The experience was really unique, and the kids loved it. 

 After our meal, we went to the Museum of Fine Arts with a very specific goal in mind.  The whole reason that we decided to visit Boston in the first place is that because for years Olivia has been going on about wanting to see the Liberty Bowl.  Not the Liberty BELL, the Liberty BOWL.  There was no way we were leaving Boston without seeing it.  There was tons of great art to see at the museum, and we saw as much of it as we could.  I have included pictures of some of my favorite pieces.

Freedom Trail and Pops

The better part of day 5 was spent seeing the sights along the Freedom Trail.  For hours we followed the red brick path around the city.  Some of the highlights were Boston Common, the Granary Burial Ground, Faneuil Hall / Quincy Market, and Old North Church.  We saw the graves of John Hancock, Samuel Adams, and Paul Revere at the burial ground and we had lunch at Cheers at Quincy Market.   I was worried that Cheers would be too touristy and not have good food, but it was actually one of the best meals of our entire trip.  The trail ended with the USS Constitution and the Bunker Hill Memorial.  We climbed the 294 steps to the top of the memorial- it was exhausting, but the view was nice.  Once we finished the trail we took a water taxi back to the downtown area and then the T (subway) back to our hotel to clean up for a big night out. 

Later that evening Mel, the kids, and I attended a performance of the Boston Pops. This is something that we were all looking forward to.  The orchestra played for about 45 minutes, took an intermission, and then resumed joined by actress and special guest Jane Lynch who sang "The American Songbook".  The songs included numerous tunes from the time when Mel was young.  It was such an enjoyable evening.  Brian did not attend with us.  This night happened to be game 7 of the Stanley Cup and Boston's hockey team was vying for the championship (and the game was in Boston).  Brian wanted to go to a sports bar and watch the game with the locals, so that's what he did instead.  Unfortunately, Boston lost.  Still, he enjoyed the experience. 

Rooting for the Home Team

After spending the morning and early afternoon in Plymouth, we arrived in Boston in time to attend a Red Sox game at Fenway Park.  I'm not a Red Sox fan, but I was excited to see a game in this historical place.  We ate hot dogs, rooted for the home team, and had a good time in general- even though the Sox lost.