All the stars aligned and Brian and I were able to head out of town without the kids. This is the first time EVER that we have left them. No scratch that, I left them a few years ago with a friend while I went to Idaho for work. But this was the first time we ever left for a vacation. In fairness this was the first real vacation we've taken.
I was a little bit sad to leave the kids. I did think I was missing someone or something the entire trip. Though I will admit it was SO nice not to care about someone's nap schedule or food preferences for a few days.
The sun on our way over Tennessee... so cool! And I read and watched a movie the entire flight, it was magical!
Look how little luggage we brought... turns out when you don't have kids, you need a lot less stuff.
The view from our hotel, it has been a long time since we lived IN a city!
What you can't see is that the sign says "Milk Street" as in the new Christopher Kimball project. The streets of Boston were so small and so cute.
Quincy Market, it was huge.
The building where Christopher Kimball does his new stuff... priorities man.
Stop 1: Starting the freedom trail at Boston Common. For some reason I pictured this to be as big as Central Park- it wasnt. Boston was so compact and so beautiful and friendly! I'd highly recommend it!
Stop 2: Massachusetts State House. Fun fact, the gold leaf dome was covered with black during WW2.
Stop 3: The Granary Burial Ground: Benjamin Franklin's parent's and Samuel Adams are buried here among others. The grave markers have been placed in rows, but no longer mark the graves of the original people. It is estimated that 5,000 Bostonians have been buried in this cemetery. Seriously, Boston is so historic and so fun!
Stop 4: King's Chapel, this was the first Anglican Church in Boston. The new church was built over and around the original church because there as so much bias against the Anglicans that if the old church had been destroyed a new one would not have been approved. The original church was dismantled and removed board by board after the new church was built around it. This was also our fist experience with box pews... more on that later, but they were amazing.
Stop 5: Old South Meeting Hall. Another good stop
Stop 6: The oldest standing building in Boston. I think the fact that it is now Chipotle ruins it a little bit. But it was so fun that Boston incorporates these old buildings, rather than destroying them.
Stop 7: Old State House, in front of this building was the site of the Boston Massacre. The building fell into disrepair and was going to be moved (brick by brick) to another city, Boston decided to repair the building at that time. It is right in the heart of the city, seriously so cool to see a scene right out of history in the middle of a modern city.
Seriously, how cool is that! This is the site of the Boston Massacre... in the middle of a modern city!
Stop 8: Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market: Built to house the city's growing market into stalls, and to provide a larger meeting place. Quincy Market is a giant indoor food court with really good macaroons.
Stop 9: This is the most colonial street in America. It was small and crowded. It was originally mile marker 0. When we went back on Friday it was also close to the site of an AMAZING fruit market.
Stop 10: The Paul Revere House. We didn't go inside, but it was pretty... tiny, considering how many people lived in the house.
See the little brown house, that's it. It was survived mostly intact, and was built
before Paul Revere ever lived there.
Stop 11: Old North Church... I'm a little bit obsessed with the box pews. This is the famous, one if by land, two if by sea church. And a TON of historical figures have come through here, including some of the British Generals. I couldn't help but wonder if Dr. Quinn had ever been here... just saying...
Stop 12: The North End, heading up to the Bridge that crosses the harbor.
Stop 12: Copp's Hill Burying Ground, Increase and Cotton Mather are buried here, it was used a vantage point by the British during the Battle of Bunker hill, and some the tombstones still have marks from the british muskets (like this one).
Stop 13: We crossed the bridge and saw the USS Constitution/ Old Ironsides. It wasn't open for tours, but it was still pretty cool.
The harbor
Walking back through the city. It was kinda fun to be back in a real city again.
Brian's Grandpa had been telling him about a restaurant called "Durgin Park" since we told him we were headed to Boston. We had to go check it out. The funny thing is that the menus said "Your grandfather and great grandfather may have eaten here!", too true!
They're famous for the prime rib, it was pretty good. And since we had just walked 10 miles (literally) we were starving and it was amazing.
We finished off the night with a visit to our dear friends, the Hunters, seriously this may have been my favorite part! I went to grad school with both Brad and MaryAnne, and she is one of my very favorite people. She made an amazing dinner, and an even better pie. So delicious, and so fun to catch up and see them and meet their sweet kids!
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