Saturday: The Sights

Saturday morning, both of our families headed into Boston and braved the massive crowds to pick up Photoguy’s registration packet and check out the expo. For having 25,000 participants and 500,000 spectators, this is an impressively well organized event.

It was a gorgeous day, and after a nice walk through Boston Commons, our friends decided to take their little ones home. Photoguy and I took our first ride on the “T,” or the Boston Subway. It was nicer than New York’s, but not as nice as D.C.’s. We liked it because it was easy to use.
I loved seeing the multitude of colorful flowers already in bloom.

We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring historical sites along the Freedom Trail, reveling in American history and our newfound freedom as a couple unencumbered by extra responsibilities (aka kids).
We kept stumbling upon cool, old graveyards all around Massachusetts.
One of the highlights was an extravagant dinner in the Italian District. Our waiter, who I presume was the owner, was extra friendly and the food was outstanding. In case anyone is headed to Boston, FYI the restaurant was called Cibo.
A little further down the street, Photoguy and I shared a canolli and made our way to Boston Harbor. It really was like falling in love all over again to stroll hand in hand along the water’s edge without a care in the world. I stared down at the small ripples criss-crossing in the water below. Why is water so calming to me? I think I was meant to live by the ocean. But, instead I live by the mountains and measure my life by my trips to the continent's edges.

We then crossed a very cool bridge made of metal grating. We could see the water far below our feet as we walked, with cars whizzing alongside us. Our feet were tired and the day was winding down. We just wanted to glimpse the U.S.S. Constitution and call it a day.

When, we came up to the old warship, the gates were closed. “Sorry, you can’t come in,” the Marine at the gate said. We actually didn’t care. “Oh, that’s okay,” we said, “We’ll just look for a minute from here.”

“That’s fine, but you can’t come in because we are closed,” he said. “Okay,” we repeated still happy. “We closed ten minutes ago, maybe you can come back tomorrow,” he said. “No problem.”

Then, in a completely unexpected gesture, he opened the gate and said, “Come on in, I’m taking you on a tour.” Well, fabulous!

And, for completely unknown reasons, he proceeded to take us on an hour-long V.I.P. tour, leading us into every restricted area on the ship and even allowing us to cozy up in the very bottom of the ship, below four decks, in the area where the gun powder was stored and see the only original wood on the more than 200-year-old ship.

A charmed vacation for sure!

Then, he told us where to go so we could get a bird’s eye view for a firing of one of the cannons right at sunset. What a great ending to a wonderful day.
Some of the only remains of the original wood in the hull of the ship.
The room where the gun powder was stored at the bottom of the ship.
Hammocks where the sailors slept.

Old Ironsides at sunset.