Sunday, June 17, 2018- Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day! Teddy has started to adjust to Eastern time and woke up a little earlier today.  We hit the road early today so we could get in as much of Boston as we could on our last day.  Our first stop was the CityView Hop on/Hop off trolley.  We decided to do the entire loop for the first time so we could hear all the history and see where the various stops would be. Our tour guide was "Uncle Steve" and he was great! On the second loop around we got off at stop #2 which was by Paul Revere's house.  We walked to and toured his house.  Much of it was restored but some things were original.  What I find so interesting is that Paul Revere didn't become famous until after his death.  Lincoln wanted something to "speak" to young people about fighting in the civil war so the poem "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere" was written.

After visiting Revere's House we walked a block or so over to the popular Mike's Pastry. I read about it on many blogs and it said there is almost always a line outside the shop. Today, we were in luck--no line! I got a chocolate chip cannoli and Mom and Dad got a pistachio cannoli. 

The north end is known for all of its Italian restaurants so we found a small restaurant called Lucia to eat lunch at.  I got a delicious homemade pasta that I can't pronounce the name of. It looked like thick spaghetti. It was very good. Lucia was right on the freedom trail so next we headed to the Old North Church.

The Old North Church was not included in our Boston Go cards, so we had to pay to go inside and for the tour, but it was very neat. The tour took us up into the bell tower and below into the crypts. The church pews were also in boxes, not pews. Each box was purchased by individuals and could be decorated however they wanted. The boxes were to help keep people warm in the winter because each box would have its own coal box. Teddy really enjoyed being in the box. He liked using the seats as a drum. Next to the Old North Church was an old chocolate making store. Teddy and I stopped in for a little bit and watched a short demonstration.  

After our tour we raced back to the harbor because we had 2:30 tickets for a harbor cruise. Thom did not go on the cruise with us because he wanted to walk more of the Freedom Trail and take in more of the history Boston has to offer so he got back on the trolley and headed to the USS Constitution and Bunker Hill.  The rest of us took the cruise. Had we known then what we know now we would have done it a little different.  The cruise actually went to the USS Constitution, however we didn't know that, and you could get off and walk around. So instead of going together one went by land and four went by sea. The four of us didn't get off at the USS Constitution, but instead took the cruise back to the beginning location.  If I were to do it again I would take the harbor cruise to the USS Constitution, get off and tour that and Bunker Hill, and then get back on the cruise and go back to the harbor.  

After the cruise we headed toward the Boston Tea Party location. Dad needed to exchange some boots to LL Bean which was near the Tea Party location so he and Mom headed that way while Teddy and I walked the pier to the Children's Museum.  I decided not to go in because it would have cost for Teddy (I could have used my Boston Go Pass) and it just didn't seem worth it for a very tired 1.5 year old.  It was probably better that it didn't work because I walked back and forth on the pier with Teddy and he eventually fell asleep.  Once I met back up with Mom and Dad we were going to go to the Boston Tea Party location, but you couldn't take strollers in (Teddy was sleeping in ours and I wasn't going to risk waking him). So we passed on that.  

We made our way back to the first trolley stop and got back on the trolley to head to the USS Constitution and Bunker Hill (Thom had spoken so highly of it that it made us want to go!). Thom, who was still on his own adventure, had made his way to the Old State House and did the tour there. He got to see (and touch- shh!) John Hancock's old door and he stood almost on the balcony of where the Declaration of Independence was read. Back at Bunker Hill we missed the opportunity to go up the monument by just a couple minutes, but still got to see the monument up close.  At the USS Constitution we enjoyed walking around the oldest commissioned Navy ship still in use.  It was used in the Revolution and became famous in the War of 1812.  It got the nickname "Old Ironside" because cannonballs bounced off of its wooden sides as though it was Iron. It also has a great record of 33-0 battles won. 

Meanwhile, Thom had gotten back on the trolley, Uncle Steve's trolley, and had made friends with him. Even though the tours stopped running at 5:00 (it was now 5:40) Uncle Steve and Thom came and picked us up from the USS Constitution in the trolley and dropped us off at Quincy Market for dinner.

After dinner we headed back toward the subway to head to the hotel for the night. 

Overall Boston was great! I feel like there is still so much to see that we haven't seen! I thought that three days in Boston would be sufficient, but there are still many things I'd like to see. So for now, so long Boston and we will be back!