Due to the willingness of my mom to watch my boys, Kevin and I were able to take a 3 day trip to Boston in May. Kevin had finished his Masters of Information Technology Management degree from Brandeis University and we flew out so he could walk in the ceremony. We did some sight seeing as well.
In order to get the most out of our trip, we flew out about midnight on Friday night. Trying to sleep on the plane stunk, but it did land us in Boston bright and early. We were able to enjoy wandering around downtown while everyone else slept in!
We started in Boston Commons and followed the Freedom Trail to many historical sights throughout Boston.
I may have occasionally sung “follow the red brick road … follow the red brick road”
We saw several old cemeteries during our three days. The engravings and the words were creepy to me. This one has a skeleton lounging on top! “here lyes buried the bonz of …”
Cobblestone streets sound poetic and look pretty, but they are really hard to walk on! I can’t imagine trying to do it in something with heels! There were places where you drove down the cobblestones – very bumpy!
Paul Revere … I mean Kevin … I mean Paul Revere …
Kevin was trying to get the best angle for a picture of the Old North Church (someday I’ll post pictures from his camera). The apartment buildings were very different from our spacious Hooper!
I loved the old cemeteries!
Breakfast on Saturday was pastries at Mike’s Pastry in the North End of Boston.
Boston Cream Pie can’t taste any better!
A drive by of the Cheers bar sign. Looks almost exactly like it did on the tv show!
After a lot of debate, we decided a tour of Fenway Park was a better use of our time than actually attending a Red Sox baseball game.
I had never really thought about there being history behind a ballpark, but there was a lot of interesting facts that I learned. These are the oldest seats in an American ballpark …
This is us standing on top of the “Green Monster” which was built to block the view of games from nearby building tops and to keep balls in the park. It is a big, green wall.
After all that walking (several miles) in Boston and all around Fenway Park, we took the back roads towards our hotel in Salem. We found a lovely little beach right off the road. If we’d had more time, I would have loved to spend a few hours enjoying the ocean and relaxing. But, we didn’t have much time, so a quick dip of my toes and gathering some big seashells for the boys and off we went again.
By taking the back roads, we saw a lot of interesting towns and signs.
I kind of wanted to stop here for dinner …
I wonder how they pronounce this street … 🙂
Our back roads led us to Herreshoff Castle in Marblehead. It wasn’t very big, but it was very quaint and had a great view of the ocean off some rocky cliffs.
We sat and enjoyed the ocean breeze for a little while. Very picturesque!
We stayed in Salem, MA and after cleaning up, we went to dinner at Victoria’s Station.
It was a cute little seafood place off the harbor. We had clam chowder, fish tacos, and Kevin ordered swordfish. We don’t get a lot of that in Utah.
After a Field Day the day before and flying all night long, we welcomed a soft bed and early bedtime on Saturday night!
Sunday we were up early so we could be on time for Kevin’s commencement ceremonies.
It took him 4 1/2 years from beginning to end (with a few breaks in between), taking 10 classes, to complete his Masters program. He was able to do it without a huge strain on our family life and with his employers paying for almost all of it. Kevin knows how to take care of us!
He was happy to be finished!
Getting that diploma!
So proud of him!
He deserved a smooch!
There were two ceremonies. The first one was just with his college and the speakers were great and it wasn’t too long – perfect! The other one was the entire university and was a big political agenda display. It was way too long and way too liberal for my tastes. We hurried out afterwards because we were meeting a potential employer for lunch in a nearby town.
We couldn’t drive too quickly because the roads weren’t exactly level …
The potential employer was from EMC and didn’t currently have a position open, but wanted to meet us anyway. It was good for Kevin to see him face to face after interacting with him via phone previously. Who knows if a job will come from it, but the cafe was adorable! It was in Concorde.
We took the opportunity to visit some Revolutionary War sights in Concorde and Lexington. This is the bridge where the war began.
More cemeteries and famous authors …
This is Louisa May Alcott’s house.
We tried visiting the Minute Man visitor center, but we arrived 5 minutes after closing time. Instead, we gave ourselves a photo shoot on the deserted trail. It was so green and beautiful – we couldn’t resist!
Plus, I think Kevin is pretty cute.
He’s a good sport and we have a lot of fun together!
Camera timers are a wonderful invention!
I really loved spending so much time with Kevin and being able to be completely devoted to just him!
Next we found the Boston Temple, which isn’t in Boston, it is in Belmont.
Since it was Sunday, all we could do was walk around and take pictures.
Then we got some Greek food for dinner and found a scenic drive to get us back to the hotel.
I’m still not sure I know what “live parking” means …
It had been a long, but rewarding day!
We slept in a little the next morning before packing up and going to breakfast at Red’s Sandwich Shoppe. It was big with the locals – a lot of little old men drinking their coffee – but the atmosphere was awesome and the food good.
Lots of food!
Plus it was built in a historic location – a pub from the 1600s! History EVERYWHERE! I loved it!
This was our day to tour Salem. We decided the best use of our time was a trolley tour. It took us all around past witch stuff and revolutionary stuff and oceanfront stuff. Our tour guide was a little old man with a thick Boston accent and he talked fast! There was a couple from the midwest sitting behind us on the trolley. I heard the wife say to her husband, “I can’t understand a word he’s saying!”
I’ve been to Waikiki Beach … Hawaii! This one looked different.
There were open windows on the the Trolley.
We had time for one tour, so we chose the Witch Dungeon Museum. I liked the idea of this one because they reenacted actual transcripts from the Salem Witch Trials. Less spooky and more factual.
It was hard to believe how such a thing could happen. Our tour guide (pictured below) just kept explaining it as a “hysteria.” Any time the belief system or community become fanatical, she said, you are heading to a hysteria.
We were able to go down into a recreation of the actual witch dungeons. It was cold and damp and dark and very tight quarters. Such a sad piece of history. So naturally, we had to lighten the mood by sticking Kevin in the stocks.
Okay, I took my turn too!
Then my mood improved even more. We drove back to Boston for some souvenir shopping and an early dinner at Cheers. I know it wasn’t the actual bar from the show and the menu was kitschy, but I loved it!
We ate on an outside patio and watched people and pigeons and enjoyed our “Carla Burgers” and Root Beer!
We wanted one more piece of that delicious Boston Cream Pie before heading home, but it was now rush hour and we were in a car and not on foot. The North End is a whole different ballgame at 8 am on a Saturday than 5 pm on a Monday! The roads were tight and one way and finally, I just hopped out, bought the pastries, and caught up with Kevin on the next block! On this particular road, pictured below, we drove down but our small rental car couldn’t make the turn at the far end – too narrow! Kevin had to drive in reverse to get us back out. And YES it was an actual road!
It was such an amazing trip with Kevin. I love him. I love travelling. I love seeing him accomplish goals. I loved coming home refreshed (although tired) and ready to take on motherhood again. I just loved it.
There you go.