{Boston} Walking Around

"Don't drive in Boston."

That was the most frequent piece of advice we got before heading to the Northeast. Thing is, we didn't have a vehicle while we there anyway. A family friend who lives in Boston, let us borrow his mini van to drive from Manchester, N.H., where we flew into, to and around Maine. We then drove from Ellsworth, Maine, to Boston, where our friend, affectionately called Uncle Steve, picked up his van. We spent three nights in Boston and didn't need a vehicle until we called a taxi to take us and all our bags to the airport.

We were less than 5 miles from Logan International Airport, but the Charles River was between us. Plus, look at all that luggage we had: two kids, a double stroller, a car seat, four suitcases, four duffel bags, and six carry-on bags.

Google Maps was our friend in Boston. The walking directions we looked up on my iPhone got us everywhere we wanted to go ...

Like to Faneuil Hall & Quincy Marketplace.

{Inside Faneuil Hall}
{Outside Quincy Market}

And by Paul Revere's house.

And, of course, to Mrs. Mallard and her eight ducklings -- Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Ouack, Pack, and Quack. My kids, only one of whom actually knows Robert McCloskey's "Make Way for Ducklings" -- loved the duck statues.

{Yes, my kids are posing for someone else's camera in that last picture!}

To our starting point for riding the Ducks. Specifically, we rode a magenta duck called Penelope that was drive by Tom Foolery, who really likes Notre Dame football.

And by many buildings, including this one where Denny Crane and his crew pretended to have their law offices on "Boston Legal."

And by these. I love the contrast of the fire station and church -- two distinctly different buildings that both help take care of people.

And by this ugly City Hall.
And by the Massachusetts State House.

And right by a movie being filmed. And, unfortunately, I did not see Ryan Reynolds anywhere.

Boston, you were good to us, and you didn't even feel like that big of a city.
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I've been blogging about our vacation to the Northeast as I have time. You can read about our time in Maine and look at plenty of pictures. There's at least one more post to come, but until then you can read the Boston posts and look at Beantown pictures.
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{Boston} Fenway Park

We like baseball around here. So we had to tour Fenway Park when we were in Boston. We aren't Red Sox fans, but it was so neat to see the oldest, smallest operating ballpark.

Yes, Greg is wearing his Cardinals jacket. I may have suggested he put it on for the picture with Ted Williams.

That's us on The Green Monster, er, rather, Monstah. What a unique feature. I can see why people would want to fork over the extra money in the special lottery for those seats.

And here's a view of The Green Monstah from the other side of the stadium ...

Because we took a tour when it wasn't game day, we were able to see the press box. Obviously, the reporter blood that still runs through me made me excited about that. Does my girl look cute there? And here ...

I love this red seat. It's Section 42, Row 37, Seat 21, and it's where Ted Williams' 502-foot homerun -- the longest ever hit at Fenway -- landed.
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I've been blogging about our vacation to the Northeast as I have time. You can read about our time in Maine and look at plenty of pictures. There's at least one more Boston post to come, but there are pictures to tide you over until then.
________
Want more? Subscribe to get "Insights" in your inbox. Or follow me on Twitter.

{Boston} Worth the Wait

After we spent six days in Maine, we drove to Boston. I like to visit big cities. I used to think I wanted to live in one. So whenever I visit one, I am reminded why visiting them and living in small-town American is good for me.

Boston had been on my list of places to visit for awhile now. I still regret not visiting there when Katie lived there. It was a season of transition for Greg and I, having just moved to Murray and started new jobs. Then I was diagnosed with diabetes and later the same year managed to get time off work to go to Greece and Italy with my in-laws.

So Boston had to wait.

I finally made it.

And it was worth the wait.

If you ask my 4-year-old girl about our vacation, she'll start by telling you we stayed on a houseboat in Boston. And it's worth telling. The three nights we spent there were a fun part of the adventure.

It was a houseboat converted to be more a stand-still accommodation in the Charlestown's Shipyard Quarters Marina. It was a three-bedroom, two-bathroom houseboat that had a living/dining/kitchen space and a balcony with some beautiful views of the Charles River and surrounding Boston.

The kids especially loved their bed nooks ..

Oh, and it was decorated with elephants. This was a favorite decoration ...

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I've been blogging about our vacation to the Northeast as I have time. You can read about our time in Maine and look at plenty of pictures. There are a couple more Boston posts to come, but there are pictures to tide you over until then. ________
Want more? Subscribe to get "Insights" in your inbox. Or follow me on Twitter.