After a much needed day of rest in New Jersey at a friend’s house – i.e. we slept in and did nothing – we trekked over to Boston. And at about 8pm Saturday night, our family made it to our destination of our so named trio, Austin2Boston! And when we pulled into the Residence Inn Marriott, right across the street from the oldest ballpark in America – Fenway Park, the Foo Fighters were playing a concert. We sat up on the terrace and listened to the whole concert. Ok, truth be told, I stayed on the terrace, the kids could care less.
So what did we do on Day 1 in Boston?
We started the day with a Duck tour of Boston – what a fun way to be introduced to the whole city and learn a ton while you are doing it. We loved going in the water and my little guy really enjoyed having a chance to drive!
We then popped into the Museum of Science – they were having a traveling exhibit on the Science of Pixar. Being a Disney Pixar family, my kids wouldn’t let me pass that one by. It was really cool, as they broke apart how they make a Pixar film and had cool, hands-on exhibits to show the science & math they use every day. We learned how they created Merida’s curly hear from Brave, how it takes 26 hours to render ONE frame in Inside Out and learned how a computer program can be made to create a background in a film. It was really cool.
After that, we headed to the Boston Tea Party Museum. While we all learned about the tea party in school, this museum is a must-do. Everyone received a role in the Tea Party and you participate in the rally and then go down to the ship to throw tea in the harbor. But what impressed us even more, the museum features the story beyond the Tea Party and takes you to the battle at Lexington in unique, interactive ways. It was early great for us to do before the Freedom Trail as we saw the full picture of events – the Tea Party, Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride, and the Battle that led to the start of the Revolutionary War. It was really well done and we all enjoyed it.
A few blocks down, we popped into the New England Aquarium as we had the CityPASS – both the Museum of Science and the Aquarium are on it. This is a great aquarium – we love the stingray & shark touch tank and the large salt water tank in the center of the building. You walk around it, up 3 floors and can see so much – including this adorable 80-year old sea turtle. What impressed me the most about the Aquarium was there were employees/trainers every where to talk to and ask questions. It was a nice place to escape the Boston heat and see some pretty fish!
We headed back home on the train and found some GOOD BBQ – I mean Franklins BBQ good – here in Boston. Sweet Cheeks BBQ had some excellent brisket and we were so happy to have a little piece of home for dinner!
Take a look at all the fun we had today:
