City on a Hill Part 3

Our final day in Boston was bitter sweet because I wanted to stay a bit longer and wasn’t looking forward to the 8 hour drive ahead of us. We got out early regardless and went to visit Fenway Park, also known as the Green Monster, home of the Boston Red Sox. It cost $17 a piece just to walk inside so we opted out of that, but it was still fun to see the stadium. 

There she is. 

Flags lining the years the Red Sox won the World Series. 

Kyle's awesome beard continues to grow and I'm on my tippy toes. Cool.

I snatched myself a Boston t-shirt at the gift shop and we headed back into the city to finish up the rest of the Freedom Trail. We started out at Bunker Hill, where the British forces came forward against the American colonists and where the famous line “Don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes!” was shouted. We parked right by the hill and walked all the way up to the monument where they told us we needed to walk back DOWN the hill and across the street to grab tickets to walk back UP the hill to go inside the Obelisk. We laughed at how they had set this all up, walked down to grab tickets and once we climbed the 294 steps to the top wondered why we ever thought about going up in the first place. 294 steps in a circular motion is a hard thing to do… after the leg burn and gasping, we were happy and relieved for a break and pretty view at the top.

Some neat guy who did something neat and wore cool colonial clothes while doing it.

294 steps in all it's glory. (The sun was finally coming out at this point which was wonderful).

Yay! We made it to the top. And I married a looker. 

The view of the Boston Haaaahbaaaa.

Next, we went down to see the U.S.S. Constitution which was really neat, it being Memorial Day and all. So neat in fact that they closed down access to the ship because they were going to have a military salute. So not so neat to us but it was still cool to the see the 1797 ship in all her glory. Her nickname ‘Old Ironsides’ was earned in 1812 when she fought another ship who said cannonballs fired at her appeared to bounce off as if made of iron…..aaaaand she’s the oldest warship afloat. I was pretty bummed about not being able to walk on the ship and protested just like Bostonians in the days of old…except no Indian apparel was worn and there was no way my bag would be flying into the harbor. We did go across the way and explored an old 1940’s war ship used during World War II. We walked all the way back to where our car was parked and drove down just in time to hear the salute. They fired some of the cannons along with guns and oh boy, was it loud.

Pretty flags flowing in the wind. 

The back side being held in tightly with this ginormous chain. I felt like she was just fighting to break free. 

"We were merry, in an undertone, at the idea of making so large a cup of tea for the fishes." Joshua Wyeth, member of the Boston Tea Party (that's what I would have been thinking too Joshua)

I am ashamed to admit it, but I made Kyle drive back to Mike’s Pastry (didn’t TECHNICALLY MAKE him...because I think he wanted some just as much as I did). We got some more treats and headed over to ‘The Barking Crab’ for lunch. It was recommended to us for the lobster rolls they serve there. As for me, I’ve never been a seafood fan (links back to a traumatic child experience on the beach). They did have a pretty good pork sandwich with sweet potato fries and I did bravely try a sliver of Kyle’s lobster. It’s all about getting past the texture and fish smell, but then I’m good. After we stuffed our bellies, it was time for the long drive back. The last bit of our trip that is a bit hysterical is that I tried to take us around all the tolls to save some money. We probably lost an hour of our time heading home by doing so and even then, somehow ended up on a toll road and had to pay. That’s one thing about the east coast that I don’t love…having to pay for tolls! We do it regardless and drive around to see really neat historical places. Thanks Kyle and good ol’ Boston for the Best Memorial weekend yet!

Don't mess lobster. Don't mess.