April 29-May 3
We drove to the Minute Man National Park on the way to Boston. Chad had printed out the junior ranger books ahead of time so we were almost done when we got there. We met the most talkative park ranger ever. He told us all about the revolution in the Boston area and also lots about his growing up in Boston and the different accents across the neighborhoods We drove through the park and walked along part of the battle road. Most of the buildings were closed because it was early in the season, but Oliver, Isla, and Benjamin all enjoyed pretending to be Minutemen and British soldiers along the road.`
From Concord, we headed to our hotel north of Boston. The roads are twisty and confusing so we circled past our hotel a few times, but we eventually got there. We called an Uber car since it was going to take hours on the T, and went down to Fenway Park for a Red Sox / Toronto Blue Jays game. The Red Sox won and after the game, we were able to take the T back to the hotel.
The next morning was Boston Freedom Trail day. We started down at Faneuil Hall and started walking south.toward Old State House, the site of the Boston Massacre. There was a character actor in the state house, who told us a little about life in 1765. We continued down the trail through cemeteries and churches and meeting houses. We made it down to the public garden and rode in the swan boats, that are featured in Make Way for Ducklings. The best part for Chad and me was eavesdropping on the boast paddler and his friend. They were debating the merits of George Washington training the Minutemen to be more orderly soldiers. That was followed by a discussion of how much nicer it is to live in Boston instead of New York. We really got the impression that Bostonians spend all of their time discussing history and the glories of living in Boston. After the public garden, Chad surprised me with the entrance to Cheers, from the TV show. I had not paid attention when I watched to show as a kid, so I didn't even now it was set in Boston. We stopped in for a snack before hitting the trail again.
We walked back up to Faneuil Hall and this time it was open for visiting. It had been closed in the morning for a citizen swearing in ceremony. The kids finished their junior ranger books and we headed north toward the Bunker Hill memorial. We climbed the 197 steps and looked out over the city. By this time Benjamin started complaining about his feet hurting, and I couldn't blame him. My legs were burning too! We continued on past the Constitution. It was being dismantled to go into dry dock for repairs so we couldn't go on it but we saw the bottom still sitting in the water.From there we took the ferry back to the center part of Boston so that we could eat. We ended up eating at the Union Oyster House. Afterwards we walked through a Holocaust memorial before heading back to the hotel on the T. Before going to bed, I looked at my phone and it claimed that we had walked 11.45 miles that day. Maybe so...it would explain our tired legs!
The next day, we drove down to Plimoth Plantation. It's combination of Wampanauk village and recreated Pilgrim village was much more interesting than I had thought it would be. We spent all morning wandering there and ate lunch there before heading into Plymouth. We saw an old mill there before heading to look at Plymouth Rock. Maybe it was fatigue setting in, but everyone in the car starting whining, crying, or yelling as we headed toward Plymouth Rock, so I don't have great memories of that moment. I wonder how whiny the pilgrims were by that time! The Mayflower II was not there, but we were told that it was being repaired in Mystic seaport. From Plymouth we headed out to Cape Cod. We stopped at the visitor center for our junior ranger books. We stopped at a lighthouse and did a couple of hikes before going to the hotel in Provincetown. After a really fun dinner at the hotel restaurant, we went out to the beach for sunset. The ocean was so calm that we could see bunches of whales jumping out on the horizon. Chad and I have paid to go out on whale watching boats, and we've never seen so many whales as we saw while standing on the beach. It was really spectacular and the kids took some time to run up and down the sand.
On Saturday morning, we took another hike with a park ranger to finish up the junior ranger program. Then we were off to Newport, Rhode Island - another new state for all of us. We visited The Breakers and the Marble House and learned more about the Vanderbilts and rich easterners than I ever wanted to know.They had great self-guided audio tours for everyone, so Oliver and Isla were able to stay interested most of the time.
After the mansions, we drove to Mystic, Connecticut. We ate in a cute bar and watched the Kentucky Derby there. We bought some salt water taffy for dessert. The next morning we went to Mass at St, Patrick and then went sailing on the Argia. It's a schooner and the crew was very friendly. I have some movies of Chad and the kids helping put up the sails. From the boat tour, we went on to lunch at Abbott's and then drove back to Ithaca.
We said goodbye to Emily and drove down to Milford, DE. High tide was at 9:30 pm and we headed to Slaughter Beach to see the mating horseshoe crabs. We didn't get to bed until about 11:00 and we all agreed to sleep in the next morning.
We said goodbye to Emily and drove down to Milford, DE. High tide was at 9:30 pm and we headed to Slaughter Beach to see the mating horseshoe crabs. We didn't get to bed until about 11:00 and we all agreed to sleep in the next morning.
