We turn around tomorrow to head back to Texas – now granted, it will take us 2 weeks to get home, but it make us sad to know this is as far east as we will go. And it makes us even more sad because our past 2 days here in Boston have been spectacular! We have encountered some really helpful & friendly people, eaten some amazing food, and the history….oh the history….it’s awesome!
Today we started by looking down on Boston from above – at the Skywalk on the 50th floor of the Prudential Building. You can get a 360 degree view of the entire city from here and on a sunny day, it’s terrific. They also had fun, interactive exhibits that educate you about the city and it’s citizens. It’s worth the ticket to go up and see Boston from here.
With the 2+ mile long Freedom Trail left for us to do, we decided that starting with a guided tour would help us understand the significance of each site a little better. And it did – greatly! Our guide was really knowledgeable and we learned so much more from him in the 90 mins we were with him than we ever would have on our own. We visited 11 sites on the trail, but only got half-way thru it. There was another tour with more sites, but one was enough for my 6 year old. Not really his thing but the older 2 thought he was pretty cool. Our guide always had interesting tidbits & stories to keep them entertained.
It was hot and we were tired and hungry. And I wanted to try some seafood. What better place to go than America’s oldest restaurant – ye olde Union Oyster House! Established in 1826, President John F. Kennedy used to go for lunch when he was a senator of MA. In fact, we sat in his favorite booth!
And we tried 3 firsts for us – “Clam Chowdah”, “Lobstah Roll”, and “Bah-ston” Creme Pie. SO GOOD!
We meandered our way back to Boston Commons in the afternoon as we had promised my little guy that he could play on the playground after lunch. I don’t know how he can go from dragging & whining for me to carry him to running full speed around a playscape in no time flat. Priorities of a 6 year old.
There is so much to do at Boston Commons and it’s neighboring park, Public Gardens. We found the Make Way for Ducklings and watched the Swan Boats. It is a beautiful park – I can see why so many Bostonians love it.
One of our favorite things we ended up doing happened as we made our way back to the train station. We popped into the 7-Eleven for some slurpees and sat on the steps of the Boston Public Library to drink them. I had always wanted to see a big city library when I was traveling, so we decided to walk thru. It was amazing. It was just as you would picture it to be – old and grand.
It gets better: We found the children’s section, which had just been re-done in February and found Quack – one of the original ducklings from the Public Gardens. It turns out, he was stolen years ago and was returned after a new one was made, so he was given the the Children’s Library. We found the book and my little guy decided it was the perfect book to read to him. Adorable y’all!
But seriously, my 2 olders found books to read and curled up in a corner reading while my little guy & I read books. We stayed there for over an hour and it was so nice and relaxing. I wish we had done this sooner in other cities. What a great place to cool off and take a break!
Tomorrow, we begin the trek back west – heading to Niagara Falls. Boston has really been welcoming and I can’t wait to tell you more!
