Ahhh -- Boston With Bob

13th - Over Christmas I mentioned to my nephew that if he would like to go to Boston, I would take him after the girls finish their visit.  So, true to my word, the flights look open and we are on our way.  Hello stand-by.  This is Bob's first time flying JetBlue and also stand-by so the whole experience is interesting to him.  We are issued seats right away and after a short delay are boarded and ready for fun.  It is after 7 in the evening and we will arrive around 11:30 p.m.  See ya in Boston.

Our arrival in Boston goes well, we find the Silver line into the city and are soon on our way.  Once at our stop, our options are to walk the 12 minutes to the hotel or wait and catch a subway train that lasts 7 minutes and gets us within a block and a half of the hotel.  It's kind of a no-brainer and we opt to walk.  Well --- we are not exactly dressed for the weather and it is 16 degrees out.  We are dressed for a flight.  We find our gloves and set out using our phones as GPS guides since we have come up out of the station at a street that wasn't on our list.  My phone just plain old won't follow us as we walk and so we switch to Bob's phone and it takes us on a merry walk through some interesting parts of town including Chinatown at 1:00 in the morning.  Oh goodness.  We are freezing and this is just not a great start to our trip.  Finally, I spot some "you are here" maps on the street and we get our bearings and locate the hotel.  Two walking ice cubes check in and I discover that my room was booked incorrectly and that it only has one bed.  What??  Within moments, they switch our room and we are soon dumping our backpacks and climbing into warm beds.  Bob's fingers are finally starting to thaw out.  I'm thinking he thinks his aunt is a nutcase and that this is going to be one very long trip.  We crawl into bed and neither of us are tired after our 30 minute walk so we talk until around 2:30 before crashing.  Oh --- the hotel room is nice - nothing special, but nice.



14th - Hello Boston.  We sleep until around 8 and Bob heads for the shower while I decide to make a scarf to run around town in.  I know --- I'm crazy.  I get it finished by the time we are ready to leave and off we go.  Breakfast first -- on our wonderful journey last night, we spotted a restaurant that Bob wanted to go to so now our task is to find it.  As we walk, Bob finds a Pret A Manger address and we head there.  It is not the one we saw last night, but at least it is the right restaurant.  Food!!!  And coffee!!  Yes.  We have a lovely visit while imbibing and realize that our day is moving while we are sitting still.  It is time to walk.  Lookout Freedom Trail, here we come.  After we get our bearings again of course.  Oh my, I have never been so twisted around in this city before.  We are finally on track and following the wonderful red path.  Thank you whoever put that there -- makes everything oh so much easier.  Is it the old age setting in?  Goodness Deb.  The sights and sounds of Boston make me realize all over again why I love this city.  The history -- the no sense layout -- the people who are always willing to help.  It's a great place to be.

As we cross over into North Boston, I spot Bob taking a picture -- ah the same thing I do with Mister all the time.  What does he see?

From his camera:

Come stroll with us and fall in love with Boston -- it's an incredible place.  There is the beautiful dome of St. Stephen's Church - our destination.  See our lovely red brick line to follow?

Inside St. Stephan's Church:

Everyone needs their picture take with a statue to prove they were here, right?

The Old North Church --- Oh I adore the pew boxes.  So much history here.  I wrote all about Boston in another blog post and you can link to it here for more information on the Freedom Trail.

A quick glance at Copp's Hill Burying Ground -- cemeteries are another love of mine.  All these crooked headstones really appeal to my eye.

At the start of the Charlestown Bridge, we pause and check out the harbor with it's ice chunks on the banks.

The USS Constitution (Old Ironsides) - She's hard to see behind all the stuff but we didn't really want to take the tour so this is as close as we could get.

From here we continue on up towards Bunker Hill Monument and this is where everything becomes new to me as well.  The last time I was here, Mister and I took a ferry back into Boston from the dock here so I have not explored Charlestown at all.  Let's go.

We weave our way through the streets - always keeping our red line in sight so that we don't find ourselves wondering where we are.  What a great area.  I love the homes and the neighborhoods that we walk through.  We spot the monument way before we get there and it is looming overhead.  We are reading as we walk and discover that the Battle of Bunker Hill is a misnomer.  The battle actually took place on Breed's Hill.  This monument was placed in 1843 and a statue of Colonel Prescott stands in front of it.  There is a small information center near the base and after discovering that we can indeed go up into the monument we decide to give the 294 stairs a chance.  About half way up I am thinking that perhaps I should remember my age occasionally, but I press on, taking it slowly.  There is a viewing area on all four sides and even though we have to look through windows it is incredible.

I am just starting to cool off when Bob says he is freezing.  Oh to be young and skinny.  My legs are letting me know that a couple of days from now --- I will remember this day.  We start down the stairs only to discover that by the time we reach the bottom, we both have jelly legs.  We want to stop but my age comes into play here and I know that if we do, we won't be moving for quite some time.  We need to walk it off so we start our return journey across the bridge and when we get back into North Boston, I am hungry and telling Bob about the little pizza place that Mister and I discovered the last time we were here.  Withing step, I spot that same place.  What are the chances?  Let's eat.

Over lunch, I ask what else Bob wants to see.  He says Back Bay and after talking with a neighboring table, we discover that there is a T (subway) station just a few blocks away that will take us right there.  A quick ride later and we are in the shopping mecca of Back Bay.  Our day is disappearing and since it is cloudy out the lights are starting to come on throughout the city.  I LOVE the mix of old and new architecture that is visible no matter which way you look.  Beautiful.

After walking the streets and checking out a few shops, we are both a little chilly and ready for a warm drink.  We stop in at the Nespresso Boutique Bar for a coffee and some time to visit.  It's a great break and by the time we leave, the lights have definitely come on and the whole place just looks magical.  It's time to call it a day and return to the hotel.  Another T train delivers us juts a block away and it is mere minutes until we are in our room.  After a discussion and some internet searches for a restaurant for dinner, I give up and tell Bob that I am just going to ask the concierge.  Off we go and are told that what we are looking for is a mere half block away.  Well alrighty then.  We walk a half block and cannot find the restaurant.  We must look terribly confused because (not for the first time) another wonderful soul asks if we need help.  It turns out we are almost there but some road construction in the street is blocking our view.  Carrie Nation is right there and the seat us immediately.  The food is great and we stay for about 2 1/2 hours just talking away.  The wonderful waitress comes by over and over to refill our waters and tells us we can stay as long as we like.  So we do.

As sad as it seems, our day has come to an end and we have a VERY early flight tomorrow.

15th - Oh my 4:30 already?  It's time to go and as we exit the hotel we are greeted with a dusting of the "white stuff".  It is pretty and peaceful at this hour but we are not the first sets of footprints to be made.

A T train to the South Station where we catch the Silver line that returns us to the airport, a quick checkin, and another flight delay later, we say good-bye for now to Boston.  I will be back.  Thank you to my nephew, Bob, for sharing this time with me.  It has been a blast.