Boston, Massachusetts - Part 1

Heart of my heart, this is my new favorite city. The skyline is beautiful. The historic buildings and rich cultural heritage make me excited to explore. The historical sights and tours especially on the Freedom Trail make me tear up with pride in this nation and a sure knowledge that America is God's promised land. Water exists everywhere. Boats and sailing are as common as the people who dwell here. And the most famous boat in the city is the USS Constitution, "Old Ironsides" which lies on the end of the Freedom Trail. This is where we started our Boston adventure. The kids loved posing on the anchor and the red brick trail all throughout the city is the sign that you are on the Freedom Trail and helps keep you from getting lost.
In addition to all of the above mentioned coolness of Boston, practically all the buildings are made of brick or stone. It is breathtaking. And all throughout the city are small secluded parks wedged in here and there to keep it feeling fresh and clean. Amazingly, despite Boston's size it really is still a very clean city even outside the parks. Of course we took our kids to the Battle of Bunker Hill Monument and there we explained to them what a obelisk versus a monolith was since they were a bit confused. Monolith is made of one stone. Obelisk is the tall, narrowing, pyramid topped structure, Bunker Hill is an obelisk, but beautiful and filled with 296 spiral steps waiting to be climbed to view the Boston landscape from up high.

My kids rock and they all climbed the 296 steps with little moaning until the last 75 steps or so. Once we got back down, we walked to the edge of the park, where the ice cream truck was and indulged in some expensive yet delicious and novel ice cream treats including a ninja turtle, Spiderman, and other yummy treats. Leaving Charlestown I was in awe of the beautiful architecture and amazing brick details in the buildings.

But all of that can't compare with Copley Square which is one intricate detail after intricate detail of stunning building beauty. Each building is unique and different in period as well as style, but stacked side by side give the best feeling of eclectic funkiness. This area is filled with great shops, tons of little eateries and beautiful and well dressed people. This is maybe my favorite part of Boston. I don't know for sure though because I really am smitten with the whole city.

We stayed in between Boston and Burlington at a Staybridge Inn. It was fifteen minutes outside the city and my favorite hotel on vacation by far. The breakfast buffet was amazing donning food more native to Boston and the people like corned beef hash and then there was the regular yummy food like bacon, eggs, waffles, yogurt, and fruit. Also close by was a mall with fantastic stores and the best restaurants. One being Rainforest Cafe which we ate at the first night since the kids and Travis had never been to one. Suffice it to say they loved it. Travis loved the arch made of fish tanks and other huge tanks displayed around and the kids loved the whole place especially our being seated for dinner under a huge mushroom. The violent thunderstorms made some of the kids a bit anxious at times, but overall a huge success and my dinner of Pastalaya, was amazing. Last we left the restaurant through the mall and decided to burn off calories playing escalator games. I amazed my kids by running up the down escalator and then riding down in a split. Basically we had a great day and mixed in just enough goofiness to be pure bliss.