BoStOn

With Spring Break arriving and no newborn to care for, we decided it would be fun to visit an east coast city. I was really hoping to go to D.C., but we had just done our {finances} and it would have been too pricy. [Major downside to starting to help with the bills.... you realize how sad you're money situation really is! :( I don't recommend it.] So the next option was Boston. Not a shabby alternative. Plus, our friends, the Shaw's, were planning on going so we made it a double date!

The night before we left, we peeked in on our snoozer and saw this. After I put him down, I heard him giggling and playing, even rocking the crib. Looks like he had a LOT of fun.

He woke up at 6:30am, so we were on the road by 7:15am. I was pretty pleased with ourselves. That never happened in my family. Always pulling out hours after the scheduled departure time. Maybe it's a given that with each additional body, you tack on 1/2 hour.

Look at my big boy in his big boy car seat! Ok, so he's a pound low and a week short... just don't tell Megan! :)

No sooner had we passed the toll booths than the problems started. Way back in October we noticed that the car would start to rock once we got over 65mph. We had it inspected and they couldn't find anything wrong and it hadn't happened in a while, so we thought we were good. Not so. It seemed that with every pot hole or divet in the road (and NY has tons!) the car would start to rock and swerve. Trav would have to let off the gas until it stopped and the process would start over again. Every minute or so. After a few miles and some more violent swerving (in my opinion), I couldn't handle it anymore. How could we do 7 more hours of this!! It seemed dangerous and I proceeded to have a meltdown. Of course. Our options were to turn around and go home or keep it under 65 mph- a maddening choice to any driver on a long road trip. Trav agreed to the latter. Bless his heart. Luckily, once the highway got nicer, it wasn't as big a deal, but still highly annoying. And Trav did get up to some higher speeds at times. I wanted to kill our car.

We finally pulled into Boston after about 7 1/2 hours, one hysterical tantrum from Collin, and two {we're lost} situations.

And I was pretty disgruntled for missing the {Welcome to Massachusettes/Boston} signs. Here's one from later in the trip. Totally not the same.

After finding a parking lot (parking is ridiculously expensive in the city... think $40 a day) we walked to the New England Aquarium. I should have gottem a picture of the outside, but that's the problem with trying to take video and pictures, you can never get it all with both! Here's us inside in front of the penguin exhibit. Shelley's favorite :)

Freaky, funky dragon fish. If I was snorkling and saw this, the water would probably get a lot more yellow.

Da boys.

Getting so tall!

I'm in love with Collin's face in the picture. Sigh.

Riding a turtle with his best bud, Gavin. Can you even see the turtle? :)

Here's the real deal. It was crazy big.

Da Girls. Check out the boys' faces. Adorable.

Then we walked back toward the parking lot where we saw a restaurant that had been recommended. I was entranced by all the pretty skyscrapers. Yes, environmentalists, I think they're pretty.

Our first taste of east coast sea food. Two thumbs up for the crab cake sandwich. Yum.

They had lobster buzzers. Awesome!

The Shaws found a great deal on a hotel in the city, but we were going to stay with Travis's cousin, Kimi, who lived outside the city. Unfortunately, it took flippin' FOREVER to find the freeway entrance and then spent over an hour in bad traffice before getting there. Oh, and Collin screamed his head off for about 20 minutes too. It was like the red faced, painful screaming that just tears your heart open and grates at every last nerve. I thought he was hot, so I undid his car seat to take off his jacket. Still screaming. By then, we were in stop and go traffic on the freeway, so I finally {and reluctantly} pulled him out to change his diaper. Here's the gross part, so skip if you don't want to hear... he had pooped and it was hard and stuck in him bum and the second I wiped it away, he pooped a super long one in my HAND! Ugh! Trav is driving while listening to me start to freak out whilst juggling poo {literally}, all scrunched up in the front seat in a Boston traffic jam. Fabulous. Luckily after that, the poor kid felt much better and was even laughing and giggling when we pulled into Kimi's driveway. Turns out, they have 7 kids and 4 still live at home. It was a gorgeous house in a little town called Lakeview. The kids were so excited to meet Collin and loved playing with him. It was really cute. We even had FHE with them which was quite reminiscent of a FHE with my own big family. Then we crashed. At 9:30pm.

The next morning {Tuesday} we drove about 25 min. to a town called Quincy, parked the car, and hopped the subway to go into town (cheaper and faster than parking in Boston). Here's Collin's first sub ride! I liked Boston's system better than NY. Mostly just because it was cleaner. I hear it's easier to navigate too, but I wouldn't know... that's Trav's territory.

We met the Shaw's in Boston Common to start the Freedom Trail through the city. This is a monument of Robert Shaw, a leader in the Revolutionary War. Had to get a pic of the Shaws since Doug's name is Douglas Robert Shaw. :)

This is the new State House, where Massachesettes senators and reps meet. We had to go through security to get inside. I got nervous when I suddenly remembered my mace in the stroller. No problemo though. Guess they're just looking for WMD's. :)

This is looking up into the tower.

The Flag Room.

Where the House of Representatives meets. I thought this was so cool.

I was worried about Collin's naps, but he was a champ and just conked out in his stroller.

This is the Granary Burying ground where Samuel Adams, Ben Franlin's parents, John Hancock, Paul Revere, and..... Mother Goose are buried!

Apparently this women, Elizabeth Goose mothered 20 children, 10 of her own and 10 of her husband's first wife. So she is considered Massachesette's {Mother Goose}.

And she died at 42. Seriously sad. So I know this is terribly irreverent, but in my defense, it was Rach's idea! :) I think it's supposed to represent that all mother's are worked to death :)

Paul Revere's grave.

(Pray tell WHY people feel the need to layer monuments with rocks to pay their respects?! So weird)

This is the site of the first public school where Ben Franklin, John Hancock, and Samuel Adams went to school. Guess who didn't graduate? Good ol' Ben! A glorified high school drop out. Haha, just don't tell the kids at Ben Franklin Elementary School that!

And here is the famous Faneuil Hall Marketplace. Only we had no idea how to pronounce it and couldn't find anyone else who really knew either. It was so frequently used as a meeting place for Patriots that is was called the Cradle of American Liberty.

And right behind it is the equally famous Quincy Market.

A look down Quincy Market and its shops.

By then we were hungry, so we hoofed it across the bridge and over to a restaurant called Warren Tavern. Like most buildings and restaurants, it claims to be the oldest tavern in Boston and apparently was a place that Paul Revere ate and where they gave one of George Washington's funeral speeches. {Not a bad shot of Trav at all :)}

I wasn't super impressed by the food, except for the clam chowder. We have now officially had New England Clam Chowder and it was delicious. Campbell's will never be the same.

Then we walked to the Bunker Hill monument. After Lexington and Concord, this was really the first battle of the Revolutionary War. It's where the phrase "don't shoot til you see the white's of their eyes" comes from. Why? Because we didn't have enough ammo to be shooting and missing.

There is a steep, spiral staircase that goes all the way up the monument and you can look out the {windows} at the top. The boys went first, then me and Rach. Oh man, were our legs burning. We had to stop and rest several times up, then for the rest of the day we were complaining about our shaking legs and for the rest of the week we complained about our sore legs! We are big complainers :) Here is a view of the city from the top.

Not far from Bunker Hill is the harbor and the USS Constitution, aka, Old Ironsides because cannons would "bounce" off her sides. No tours on Tuesdays though :(

Back across the bridge and following the red brick line! (There was either a red painted line or red brick line that goes throughout the whole city, following the Freedom Trail so you don't get lost. The boys were pretty adamant about staying on the line :) This is the church where the lanterns were hung when Paul Revere went on his ride warning everyone of the British coming. {One if by land, two if by sea!} Interesting tidbit we learned.... back then everyone thought of themselves as British so it isn't likely he shouted "The British are coming!"

Paul Revere's house. They charged to go inside so we missed out.

But we didn't miss out on some amazing pastries! Mike's was the place to go, so we had to stop in and satisfy our sweet tooth! It's right in the middle of the {Italian} part of town. Every restaurant window showed fancy tablecloths and elegant wine glasses inside. The Italians know how to do it right.

Too much to choose from.

No room inside, so we parked it farther down the street and devoured our eclairs, cannolis, and gelatto. Mmm mmm

Back to Quincy Market to take a closer look around and act like our inner child.

We didn't scout out the original Cheer's bar, but there is a replica in Quincy.

I vaguely remember watching this show occasionally when Full House would end. At least I knew this guy's name was Norm. :)

Nearby was the Holocaust Monument. There were six glass towers with the numbers of all those people killed at the death camps engraved in the glass, going all the way to the top. An exhaust of air blew out some grates at the bottom of each tower representing the gas chambers. As you walk through and read the quotes and see all the numbers you can't help but feel extremely emotional. It was terribly powerful. I'm so grateful for monuments like this that help us to never forget the monstrosities of evil, Satan, and communism.

That night we ate at Durgin Park, looking for some lobster.

Doug manned up ordered the real deal for $26. You can kind of see it on his plate. We just got a lobster roll which was accompanied by some Boston BaKeD BeAnS! :)

The next day I knew we were leaving so I had to capture my makeshift contact containers. I forgot all my contact stuff and had to borrow solution. Pretty creative, huh?

Here's Kimi and Trav. We were so grateful for their hospitality. Such a great family. It felt like we were at home. Collin will miss his play buddies.

Since we knew we were driving home that day {Wednesday}, we drove all the way into Boston and once again got caught in nasty traffic. Then Google Maps led us astray and we ended up driving through ChinaTown. Ick. Not impressed at all. It looked dirty, rundown, and old. Then thought we were at the right spot and parked before realizing we were across the river from where we wanted to be! Crap. We hop the subway and make it to Harvard, 15 min. after the tour started. The Shaws were already there and tried to catch us up on what we missed.

I was thoroughly entranced by Harvard. {But you must say it in your fanciest/snottiest voice, like Haaaaauvard. :) Trav was disgusted by all the fake, prestigious hogwash that Harvard represents. I was drooling in awe. I mean, I get all excited whenever I'm on ANY college campus. If I drop Trav off at dental school I get all jealous of everyone walking around with their backpacks on, lunches in tow.... You can almost smell the learning, haha. But, HARVARD, now that's somethin' special! :)

This is the main hall where graduation used to be, then was the exam hall, and now is the eating area.

This is the inside. You can see a glimpse of our ditzy, leather clad, socialite tour guide. I thought she was nice, but I kind of see why the guys agreed more with the previous adjectives.

And this is the door leading into the main hall. It's the same hall that Harry Potter's Hogwarts Hall is made to look like. Only we weren't allowed to see inside since students were in there and it's disruptive to let tours inside. I was indignant! I wanted to see inside! Luckily, Doug was with me and wanted to see too, so on our way out, some students left the hall, and Doug grabbed the door before it closed and we peeked our heads in. I got it on my video camera but no time for pictures :( But it was amazing. SO COOL! It looked a lot like Hogwarts. Ah, all my fantasies in one place. I was as giddy as a school girl. Seriously.

This is their non-denominational church where graduation ceremonies are currently held. Well, on the porch anyway.

This is looking out from the porch of the church where all the families and students sit during graduation. The building behind the grass is the library. Donated from Mr. Widner, who died on the Titanic. He was offered a spot on a life boat because he was so wealthy, but then he remember a first edition book that he loved, back in his room, so he went back for it, and it was the last decision he ever made. Sad, but kind of silly. So when his mom donated all his money to make the Harvard library, it was on some conditions. One of them being that all Harvard graduates had to pass a swimming test before they could graduate. Because maybe if her son knew how to swim, he would have lived! Ha, I think that's funny. Our tour guide's father also went to Harvard and he was on the swim team and actually held the official swim test. They don't do it anymore though due to discrimination laws.

This is the second most photographed statue besides the Lincoln Memorial. Both made by the same man interestingly enough. John Harvard isn't actually the founder though, he just donated a couple hundred books to the school when it was new and they named it after him.

Rach and I just had to get some shirts. It's my new favorite article of clothing. I know I'm a big, fat nerd, but seriously, I'd give anything to go to Harvard! It was always my dream growing up to go to a fancy, east coast, ivy league college. My secret dream though, because I knew I wasn't smart enough to get in, and even if I got in I wouldn't have a scholorship and there's no way my dad would put down $40,000 a year just so I could fulfill my ridiculous fantasies of roaming colonial halls and rubbing shoulders with the prestigiously elite. Oh, but it would have been SO amazing.

Just down Harvard Square is a popular burger joint called Mr. Bartley's Burgers. They name all their burgers after politicians or current buzz words, i.e. {The Barack Obama- no experience necessary.... or The Viagara- rise to the occasion) Luckily, they offer all their burgers in turkey or veggie form, so I got to join the {cool kids} and have a burger too! :)

Next, we hopped the sub to Newbury Street. It's a well known street filled with fancy, high end shops. Just up our alley!:)

They knew I was coming!

We had been told we had to go to Lush. Ever heard of it? I guess it's all over the place, but I had never been in one. It's all homemade cosmetics. Just the fragrance when you walk in sells you on all their products. We got little demo's on their {bath bombs} and enjoyed a hand scrub. I would love to get their Buffy the Backside Slayer. A scrub for your cellulite back-end. :)

Rach and I checked out Betsey Johnson and just looked longinly in at True Religion and Kate Spade. Trav wanted to know who the heck Betsey and Kate were and what made them so special :)

By then it was time to hit the road. Here's one last shot of lovely Boston. We had a fabulous time. It was a short trip, but just right. And just the right price. We did it all for about $400! Thanks Boston! And it was so fun sharing the experience with Rach and Doug. You can't find better friends than them! We had a blast. What next, guys?! :)

Collin did great on the ride home, thanks to our portable DVD player, Kidsongs, and fishy crackers! I may have watched a few movies myself... love technology. I was so born in the right generation. We got home around 9:30pm and went right to bed! I know this was an uber long post, but maybe it will be useful to anyone planning on visiting Boston someday! If we go back I want to go in the summer or fall so we can see the pretty leaves and the Botanical Park, ride in the Swan boats, watch a game at Fenway Park, go whale watching, tour the Mayflower II in Plymouth, and have time to tour M.I.T. I felt like we did tons, but there's still much to see in beautiful Boston!