I foolishly thought I had overreacted to my initial experience of driving on Boston’s nightmare-to-hell roads, but when we arrived in the city proper, I realized I hadn’t overreacted one smidgeonly bit. It was just as terrible as the previous time I dared to risk my life on those pockmarked roads.
But, we eventually made it to where we wanted to go--Boston Harbor. And man, was it cold! Cold doesn’t even begin to describe it, though. It was more like fallen-through-thin-ice-into-a-lake-of-hypothermic-death kind of cold. Well, maybe not THAT cold, but to this Florida native, it sure seemed like it.
But it actually started to snow, just a little, so we all were sorta gleeful about that. Funny how those little fancy ice crystals you can only see under a microscope inspire such wonder and happiness in us.
After looking out over the harbor where the history changing Boston Tea Party took place, we headed to the subway. But I snapped a couple pics of the kids being happy, first. Aidan’s sneakers were still a little damp from stepping in the mud water, so she had to wear her booties. She didn’t complain, though.
Joe regaled us with Boston history while we walked, and I gazed all around, trying to soak my senses with the whole experience, so I would never forget. Boston is noisy, crowded, and in some parts, sorta sketchy, but the buzz of controlled chaos didn’t make me feel too overstimulated.
Quick note: Christopher Columbus is not my friend:
It was a little weird being on a subway again. I think the last subway I’d taken was in England many years ago. But it was interesting to observe all the different types of people through the corner of my eye.
We exited at Boston Commons and walked around the giant park. Joe remarked that there weren’t any frogs in Frog Pond, but I said there were, and pointed to a bronze frog statue that reminded him of some internet meme, so he had to have his picture with it. And so did Aidan. Then I thought that I better have mine taken too. Lol.
Here are a couple more pics from Boston Commons:
Near the Frog Pond, we found a pretty normal Merry-Go-Round, except this one apparently had a seat reserved for the son of Satan. I can’t imagine what kind of twisted Merry-Go-Round maker would create this horror:
Really, look at that pic. All the other animals are normal carousel horses, so why the evil, terrifying cat? WITH IT’S PREY IN ITS MOUTH?
So, we quickly moved on, following the Freedom Trail, marked with a red brick line.
Then, we found ourselves in a place I was really excited to visit--the Granuary Burying Ground. I’ve always been fascinated by old graveyards, and I like to read the headstones and imagining what kind of lives the people now resting there might have lived. I took a LOT of pics there, because if there are such things as ghosts, you’d think this would be a prime spot. I haven’t looked too closely at the pics yet, but one pic did have something curious. In the following pic, there appears to be a reflection in the barred window of a tombstone behind me. But there wasn’t a large tombstone behind me, and I found a website that listed the names of those interred there, and couldn’t find a match for the partial name visible in the reflection. So, it’s a mystery. Maybe I can attempt GE street view or Google Maps to see if I can find the headstone that caused the reflection...
The graves of Ben Franklin’s mom and dad:
Samuel Adam’s grave:
Victims of the Boston Massacre:
We continued along our path, and marveled at the architecture while looking for somewhere to get lunch...we finally came upon a healthy eating kind of diner, and Aidan and Joe wanted to go there. I got a root beer. Lol.
Here are a few pics from our walk. I especially liked the gilded unicorn. I wonder what the significance of the unicorn facing the building might be?
We passed this church and another graveyard very close to Granuary:
Oh, and here’s a plaque I found about D.L. Moody, one of my favorite Christian authors:
Anyway, we had a great time, even finding a wonderful antique bookstore nestled in an alley. We spent some time browsing, and I really wanted one of their books-- The Book of Kells (a reproduction, of course), but it was just too big to pack into my already jam-packed carry on. So, the kids chose a couple things. Joe picked an old sketch of a skyline drawn by some famous guy, and Aidan picked a few Shakespeare titles that she hasn’t already read. I picked this old print, which sorta reminded me of me as a child, minus the dress (just substitute the dress for tee shirt and shorts):
Finally, it was time to say goodbye to Boston and head to the airport. Just as we were about to merge onto a normal, anxiety-free road, a car began to pull into our lane very fast, and we narrowly escaped being T-boned. We offered a quick prayer of thanks to God, and made it to the airport thoroughly exhausted, yet unscathed.
It was nice that we all had our own row on the plane on the flight home!
This past week has been pretty good, especially since I finally committed to binge-watching Game of Thrones. Holy Mother of Dragons, that show is GOOD!
We’re also looking forward to having family visit at the end of the month for Joe’s graduation, and I think Callie may stay all summer! SO happy about that! And I will be excited to see my ex MIL, the kids’ Uncle David, and my favorite little Fortnite dancer nephew, Connor!
There’s a lot of special interests in my life right now, so it doesn’t leave me much time to blog. But I am trying for at least once a week!
Tomorrow, one of our docs is on vacation, so I only have to work a half day. It will be a very happy Thorsday!
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