Boston

As long as I have known Jill she has wanted to visit Europe and Boston.  After 12 years of marriage she was able to realize one of those dreams.  I had some business meetings in Maryland last week and then Boston this week.  Rather than fly home, I flew to Boston and Jill flew to Boston to meet me and we were able to spend a "Weekend in New England," (we love the song by Barry Manilow and sang it on our trip). 

I was able to use flier miles to get Jill to Boston, Marriott reward points for our hotel, and I let EnerBank pay for the rental car.  Boston is a very expensive city but with the big costs out of the way we were able to enjoy all the great tourist sights of the area. 

Friday night Jill took a shuttle to our hotel and waited a couple of hours for me to arrive.  We drove around a bit Friday night but turned in early so we could take on the day on Saturday. 

We got up and went to Boston Common and started our trip on the Freedom Trail.  It's a pretty great system with a red trail that tourists can follow and see all the great historic sites Boston has to offer. 

The State House was closed but we saw the outside, walked by the Park Street Church, and spent quite a while walking around the Granary Burying Ground.  This is where John Hancock, Paul Revere, and Samuel Adams are buried.  The headstones are so old, some dating back to the 1600's! 

King's Chapel was the next stop and we loved the church pews.  This could really work out well in the Mormon churches.  Parents can face the children, and it is reserved seating (based on donations). Reserved seating at our church, based on faithful tithe paying has been something I've advocated for a long time.

Statue of Benjamin Franklin.

This is the Old South Meeting House where 5000 people met to decide on protesting the British taxes, which led to the tea party.  The building was nice, but to fit 5000 people, I'm sure it was pretty tight.

Here is the Old State House, which was also the sight of the Boston Massacre.

So many people have told us about the "Duck Boats".  These are huge trucks/boats that drive and will float on the water too.  I thought we have to have a picture to remember this.

It was very cold on Saturday, and EVERYONE around us had Dunkin Doughnuts coffee.  We stopped in and got some hot chocolate.  Here is Faneuil Hall where there were a lot of people gathered.

Sometimes you have to go where everybody knows your name.

This old building is the home of Paul Revere.

Most people have heard Longfellow's poem about Paul Revere.  The Old North Church is the very building where two lamps were hung atop the steeple to warn the people that the British were coming by sea.  "One if by land, two if by sea."

Here is the steeple, and it can be seen from everywhere around because it is so tall.

As we walked to Bunker Hill I thought it would be good to snap a picture in front of the TD Garden where the Celtics play.

This is the monument at Bunker Hill.  There are 294 steps and yes we both walked up them all to see the sights from the top.

Here is the USS Constitution.  It's the oldest ship in the US Navy.

After a long day of walking all over the city we went back to Little Italy and had dinner at Piccola Venezia.

From our restaurant we could see a long line from shop.  It was at a popular bakery so we stopped after dinner and got an amazing cannoli.  The Modern Pastry also made amazing chocolate turtles.

Sunday we went to Lexington and Concord and saw amazing historical sites.  Here we are on Battle Road.

Another stop Jill felt strongly about seeing was the home of the author of Little Women.  Unfortunately, it wasn't open for tours.

The Revolutionary War pretty much started at the North Bridge.

Another famous home is that of Henry David Thoreau.  He lived in this small cabin and wrote "Walden."

Here is Jill in the small one bedroom cabin.

Here is the pond that he wrote about.

There was enough time in our day that in the late afternoon we drove down to Plymouth.

The Mayflower II was built in the 1950's and floated across the ocean as a replica of the original Mayflower.  It isn't a huge ship, and could be scary with rough seas.

The tour guide told us we should stop at Cupcake Charlie's.  It took 2nd place on the TV show "Cupcake Wars."  We loved the cupcakes, but apparently two of the winners are here in Utah.  So after going to Plymouth to try the 2nd place winner, sometime soon we will have to go to the 1st place winners here in Utah, "One Sweet Slice" and the "Sweet Tooth Fairy."

Before it got too dark we sped down to Cape Cod to see the ocean and beautiful homes.

We bought a couple of cupcakes and had one later in our hotel.

Monday started at Harvard, where 30,000 students apply each year and just 1,600 are accepted.   Jill told me that with her academic accomplishments she got a mailer from Harvard while in High School.  She never applied but it would have been cool if she had been a Harvard Graduate.

Monday I did have two work appointments, one of which was in Salem.  After the appointment we walked around.  Salem in October is a pretty popular place for people fascinated by witches. 

Later we drove up to Gloucester where you could taste the salty air it was so thick.  At the foot of this statue lists the names of all of the local sailors who have lost their lives to the ocean.  It goes back to 1623 and is as current as 2011.  The was even a popular movie "Perfect Storm" that shows the lives of some of the Gloucestermen.

Driving all over looking for another treat, finally I went into a Walgreen's and got the perfect New England treat.

The last stop on Monday was the Boston Temple.

Tuesday I had to work so I dropped Jill off at Adams National Historic Park and went to see some clients.  She saw the birthplaces of John Adams and John Quincy Adams.  She also saw the larger home John and Abigail bought, "Peacefield."  It stayed in the family for four generations and is filled with their possessions, including the furniture they bought in Europe and took with them to the White House.  The son of John Quincy built a stone library in the yard to house his collection of over 8,000 books.  She was able to see this as well.

I picked Jill up and we had very little time left before we had to be back at the airport.  But before we ended our amazing vacation we stopped by the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library.  We didn't have much time to go in, so next time we go back to Boston this would be a great place to stop.

The flight home was nice and a memory that will stay with me for a long time is reuniting with our kids.  Our plane was a bit late and Mom and Dad had our kids who were getting a little restless.  Mom brought the kids into the airport and as we came down the escalators they were waiting for us.  Jill doesn't get much time away from the kids so to see them again put a huge smile on her face.  We weren't even at the bottom of the escalators before Jill ran to them.  It was very touching.

Our parents and Shanel watched our kids and helped us make this amazing trip possible!  We can't thank them enough for helping us make this trip possible.