Friday/Saturday, 22-23 Dec 2017

After a two-day drive from Atlanta, we arrived in Boston Friday afternoon just in time to beat the snow.  We settled into our AirBnB, a 3-bedroom apartment in a building dating to 1850 just south of Boston Common park.  It’s in a fantastic area, within walking distance of a lot of the wonderful things Boston has to offer.

The apartment itself has a distinct 70s feel to the kitchen and bathrooms, including the appliances in the kitchen and the heating system (which also appears to be the last time the space was updated.)  It has a microwave nearly identical to the one we had in my childhood home in the late 70s-early 80s.  I’d forgotten they ever used to look like that, so it’s actually been kind of fun to putter around in the kitchen and stick my feet under the baseboard heaters to warm my toes.  It’s bringing back a lot of old memories.

The microwave control panel: check out that lever-style open button!

The main areas of the space look much older … original wood beams, creaking floors, brick fireplaces in every room, and not a straight line in sight.  The floor is so slanted it reminds me of trying to walk on a ship deck.

Adam, Holden and I walked about 1/2 mile to a Whole Foods and bought our typical vacation “Skyrim Dinner” supplies for the next few days — salami, eggs, ham, olives, bread, strawberries, applies, bananas, wine, (and some things not found in Skyrim: coconut water, hummus, pepperdews, pickle-flavored potato chips, and eggnog.)

Adam:  Saturday, 23:  Today’s weather was not good.. light snow which then turned to rain.  It was mostly just wet and slushy everywhere, so we focused on as many “inside” events as we could manage.

Getting suited up with sweaters, coats, boots, hats, gloves.  It’s cold here!

Hiding from the rainy drizzle while we wait for our Uber.

We started with a trip to Cambridge to see Harvard and visit the Harvard Museum of Natural Science.  The place was great and we nearly had the whole museum to ourselves.

This was very different from our experience last Christmas in New York when we tried to go to the natural history museum … it was so crowded we couldn’t get in.  Boston is a dream when it comes to neat locations with no crowds to battle through.

The very first exhibit you see after buying your tickets is about bird nests and their evolution.  I held up the entire group as I insisted on reading every word.

Big dinosaur fossil area.

Modern animals of the world, organized by continent/geographical range.

Whale skeletons suspended from the ceiling — one of the best exhibits of whales I’ve seen.  They even had the baleen intact, situated where you could get a really good close-up look.

More birds.  I am loving this museum!

The other wing of the museum is dedicated to minerals and cultural (human) exhibits.

(Photo below:) Walking through Harvard Square. Wikipedia: John Harvard is a sculpture in bronze by Daniel Chester French in Harvard Yard, Cambridge, Massachu­setts honoring John Harvard (1607–1638), whose deathbed bequest to the “schoale or Colledge” recently undertaken by the Massachu­setts Bay Colony was so gratefully received that it was consequently ordered “that the Colledge agreed upon formerly to bee built at Cambridg shalbee called Harvard Colledge.” There being nothing to indicate what John Harvard had looked like, French used a Harvard student collaterally descended from an early Harvard president as inspiration.

Legend has it that you rub his toe for good luck.  Consequently, the toes of the stature are rubbed completely gold-colored (the original non-weathered bronze showing through). However, this is a legend believed by tourists only.  Harvard students know better, and luckily for us so did Adam because he researches everything in advance … (from The Harvard Crimson)

“We pee on him with such great frequency that from dusk until dawn the urine rains down like a biblical plague.”  What a sentence!  We watched as tourist after tourist rubbed the pee-soaked foot of John Harvard, while our kids gagged.  We did not touch the foot. (Or anything else in the vicinity, for that matter.)

Adam: We ate lunch at Mr. Bartley’s Burger Cottage – a famous haunt on the main drag across the street from Harvard.  It has been the scene in several movies that take place at Harvard.

Mr. Bartley’s Burger Cottage has a very entertaining menu and fun decor. The prices were a bit high for hamburgers  (which honesty were only OK, although not deal breaker; I’ve eaten overpriced underwhelming food before) but the biggest mark against Mr. Bartley’s — and a sin I will never forgive — was that they had no bathroom.  Seriously, no bathroom.  That ruined the meal for me.  I had the same feeling I get on airplanes when they announce you’re not allowed to get out of your seat … even if I don’t need to go potty, just knowing I can’t makes it inevitable that I’ll have to go right nooooow!  (I also wanted to wash my hands after walking by the pee statue.)

Adam:  We then went to Faneuil Hall to do some shopping.  Josie wanted a new jacket.  Holden needed shoes.  Holden and I needed some warmer socks.

We found one of Boston’s UNIQLO locations and Josie was able to replace the jacket she bought last Christmas at UNIQLO in New York.  She’s nearly worn her old one completely out, so the chance to replace it with an identical one made her extremely happy.  (Although this time she bought the dark navy blue instead of the dusty rose pink.)

Next up was a shoe store for Holden.  His old shoes have a hole in the bottom, which in this weather means that his foot is soaking wet 30 seconds after we leave the house.  We found a Pay Less Shoe Store and got him set up with a new pair, so cheap they’re practically disposable.  Adam said, “Even if they only last long enough to get us through this trip we’ll have gotten our money’s worth.”  Then Josie found a pair of lavender Converse knockoffs for $12 and Isabella found a pair of  navy blue faux suede boots for $19.  As we left the store, Josie was positively giddy:  “This day sure is going my way!  Best day EVER!”  Holden was less enthusiastic.  He was happy to have dry feet, but felt that portion of his afternoon was wasted “doing chores.”

We wandered about a bit until we got tired of being cold and wet and then Brenda had the great idea to go see the new Star Wars movie in the afternoon. (The Last Jedi.)

After the movie, we walked back home and are now settling in for the night.  It will be colder tomorrow, but clear and dry.  Perfect for our “Freedom Tour” around the historical highlights of Boston.  It is supposed to snow 5-7” Xmas eve night.. so we hope to wake up to a truly White Christmas.

Street view near our apartment.

Sunday, 24 Dec 2017 (Christmas Eve)

The Freedom Trail is a path through downtown Boston that takes you past 16 historical locations. The official distance of the trail is supposedly 2.5 miles, but we put in a total of 9.3 miles walking all over the original, historical part of Boston. I don’t at all understand where they come up with 2.5 miles.  It seemed much, much longer than that and was closer to 8 miles according to the walking app on Adam’s phone, if you discount a generous one mile for our detours to find Starbucks and etc.

The Freedom Trail begins in the Boston Common; dating from 1634, it’s the oldest city park in the United States.  The park is filled with the fattest squirrels I’ve ever seen.  One was sitting on the rim of a garbage can and I decided to see how close I could get before he ran off.  Rather than scampering away, he actually came forward to meet me and was clearly expecting me to offer him a treat.  He reached out to check out my gloves.

Close-up of squirrel; he’s nibbling my glove, trying to determine if it’s edible or not.  (He concluded it was not, but he sure gave it a good try.)

Several others squirrels came toward us after this one.  We didn’t have any food, so they were disappointed.  While Adam was trying to tell us about the substantial historical significance of the park, a squirrel climbed up my leg … I think with the intention of perching on my shoulder.  It startled me and I did a little “eek” dance and he jumped to safety.  This was far more interesting than the history lesson and Adam gave up trying to enlighten us while squirrels were around.

The streets are still iced over from yesterday.  Some areas are practically ice rinks, lots of fun to slip and slide around on.

“Don’t crack your skull open!  We’ll spend the whole vacation in the hospital!”

The steps up were completely iced over — Isabella, Holden and I made it up by clinging to the hand rail, but even then it took some doing.  Adam and Josie decided not to risk it.

Across from the park is a Dunkin Donuts.  I insisted we make a detour to buy some squirrel treats.  The kids and Adam shared chocolate glazed donuts.  I bought an apple fritter, thinking it was probably the healthiest choice for squirrels because it at least has some fruit in it.  (Nothing at Dunkin Donuts is a particularly healthy choice.)

Aaaaaaand …. the squirrels are so spoiled they didn’t want my fritter.  I finally found one taker, a scraggly-looking little guy with a deformed tail.  A man out photographing the park told us that he has a friend who brings bags of almonds, which the squirrels LOVE.  He said it creates a “squirrelnado.”  Every squirrel in the park races over to get in on it.  I wanted some almonds but didn’t know where to buy any.

The fat little guy in the picture below rejected my offering. He’d sniff it and then turn his face away with his ears pinned back, like Max does when you offer him a pickle.

Adam finally tore me away from the squirrels and we continued on our Freedom Trail walk.  Granary Burying Ground (below).  About 5000 people buried here, starting in 1660.  Notable tombstones for Sam Adams, John Hancock, Paul Revere, Peter Faneuil and Crispus Attucks.

Feeding the rest of the apple fritter to birds in the cemetery.  Unlike the squirrels, the birds were thrilled with their treat. Birds are the best.

In front of the old City Hall.  Republicans can “stand in opposition” against the repressive asses. (Note: the donkey is a whole big statue, while the “republican opposition” is a paltry pair of tiny shoe prints.)

Text from above photo:

The Democratic Donkey and the Republican Elephant
When, in 1828, Andrew Jackson established the Democratic party and ran for president using the populist slogan “Let the people rule”, his opponents thought him silly and labeled him a “jackass”.  Jackson, however, picked up on their name calling and turned it to his advantage by using the donkey on his campaign posters. Over the years this donkey has become the accepted symbol of the Democratic party.

The symbol of the Republican party in 1874 was born in the imagination of cartoonist, Thomas Nash, in Harper’s Weekly. Soon other cartoonists used the elephant to symbolize Republicans, and eventually, Republicans adopted the elephant as their official symbol.

Below: Statue of Benjamin Franklin near the site of the old Boston Latin School, established in 1635.  It’s the first and oldest public school in the United States. The original building is gone, but the Boston Latin School still exists.  (From wikipedia:) As of 2016, the School is listed under the “gold medal” list, ranking 51 out of the top 100 high schools in the United States (more than 20,000 public high schools from 50 states and the District of Columbia were analyzed) by U.S. News & World Report magazine.

Adam: In front of the old State House.  This building was the seat of British government in the colony until the revolution.  The Declaration of Independence was first read aloud in MA on that balcony.  The stone circle marks the location of the Boston Massacre.

Faneuil Hall – long history here but briefly the meeting place where the fathers of the Revolution got together, made speeches, and plotted.

The first floor of the building is a market selling mostly tourist junk; the second floor (shown below) is open to the public as long as nobody has rented it out for a private function.  Nearly all of the US Presidents throughout history have visited here, and many have given speeches … standing behind that very podium sitting center stage.

Adam:  (below) The kids are quietly and patiently listening to a Park Ranger giving us our own, customized tour of the Halls history and significance.  We were the only people visiting at that time.  In fact, we have felt like we have the city to ourselves.. very few tourists and we’ve had access to all sorts of wonderful things without crowds or delays.

The Park Ranger said to us, “Do you want the one minute lecture or the 30 minute lecture?”  Adam said, “Probably the one minute lecture, since we have the kids with us.”  The guy said, “OK!” and started on his one-minute lecture … 30 minutes later he was apologizing for being long-winded but was clearly nowhere near done talking.  He was fascinating to listen to, in no small part because he was so excited about the subject matter.  He could probably have talked Boston history for days without stopping to sleep.

It’s always fun to listen to people when they get jazzed up about subjects dear to their hearts.  He would have made a fantastic professor.  The kids look kind of bored in the photo below but they were actually listening and interested in what he had to say. He did a really good job of bringing the stories to life.

Paul Revere’s house (below).  They didn’t allow photos inside (huge bummer!) but this was by far my favorite historical location.  My attention span for political history (all the war stuff) is pretty limited, but I’m fascinated with glimpses into the day-to-day life of people from different periods.  The interior of the house is set up just like it was during the time the Revere family lived there, including several pieces of their original furniture.

The Reveres had an “updated” kitchen in their house, which meant it was on the main living floor instead of in the cellar, and it had two separate built-in ovens next to the main fireplace.  The old style ovens were in the back of the fireplace so you had to lean over the fire to get food in and out.  (By “oven” they mean built-in hole, like an Italian brick pizza oven.) With the new-fangled oven off to the side, you could reach the food without risking your skirts catching on fire.

Below:  photo I found on the internet here:  You can see the two ovens on the left side of the main fireplace.  Bread in the top one, firewood (and other food items) in the lower, and cauldrons hanging in the main fireplace.

An image of the old-style kitchen.  You can see the oven on the back wall.  One would have to step into the fireplace opening and reach over the open flames to get stuff in and out.  You can see how the above design is an improvement.

The Reveres were a middle class family and therefore didn’t have servants.  Paul went through two wives:  the first one died after having 8 children.  The second wife had 8 more children (total of 16 kids for Paul) and not only did she have to take care of her own 8 babies, she raised the first wife’s children, too — without domestic help.  Only 11 of the 16 kids lived to adulthood but the museum didn’t say which ones lived and which ones died.

The steeple (photo below) on the Old North Church is the one from the famous poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (excerpt):

Listen, my children, and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-Five:
Hardly a man is now alive 
Who remembers that famous day and year.

He said to his friend, “If the British march
By land or sea from the town to-night,
Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry-arch
Of the North-Church-tower, as a signal-light,--
One if by land, and two if by sea;
And I on the opposite shore will be,
Ready to ride and spread the alarm
Through every Middlesex village and farm,
For the country-folk to be up and to arm.”

Getting a live demonstration of an old printing press at Captain Jackson’s Historic Chocolate Shop And the Printing Office of Edes and Gill.

Demonstration (and servings) of colonial-era “drinkable chocolate” utilizing a recipe from the 1750s (I think … maybe she said 1770?  I can’t remember.) The spice recipe consists of cinnamon, vanilla, nutmeg, chili pepper, anise, orange zest, salt, and annatto, as well as a small amount of sugar. It was very good.

Walking across the Charlestown Bridge.  Most of the path is a metal grate you can see through to the water below.  This “acrophobia friendly zone” was a little oasis right in the middle.

Josie loving her new UNIQLO jacket, Holden enjoying dry feet in his new shoes.

The Battle of Bunker Hill 17 June 1775.  This tablet marks the point where the British reinforcements landed.

Bunker Hill memorial (below).  We climbed up all 294 steps to the top and were breathless and sore as a result. The steps are very narrow and steep, and there are no stopping spots to rest and catch your breath (without blocking traffic going both directions.) Therefore you must soldier on, hoping you don’t drop dead from exertion. We did longer and steeper climbs in cathedrals in Paris and London, but those weren’t as strenuous because they have rest spots built in between levels.  This one is a relentless slog with no mercy.

(Below:) View back towards Boston from the top of Breed’s Hill – site of the Battle of Bunker Hill. They have a small bench at the top of the tower which everyone collapses on for several minutes before they even bother to look out the windows.  It takes awhile before you can care about the view. But once you get your heartbeat and breathing back under control (and feel pretty confident that you’re not going to have a heart attack after all), the view is quite spectacular.

Kids resting their wobbly legs once we were back down.  They’re waiting for me, across the street in the museum shop using the bathroom.

Standing back up again, testing the “noodles.”

We took an Uber over to Whole Foods to get last-minute supplies for Christmas day — a package of 4 logs for the fireplace, a Boston Cream Pie, some extra fruit and bread.  We spent the rest of the evening playing Cosmic Encounter — Holden and Isabella tied for the win.

Monday, 25 Dec 2017 (Christmas Day)

We woke up this morning to snow.  It’s the first white Christmas Adam and I have had since we got married (I think my last one was Christmas 1992, the last time I went back to Anchorage for the holidays during college.)  It’s definitely a first for our kids.  When we chose to go north for our vacation this year, the kids were all hoping we’d have a quintessential snowy white Christmas and it actually happened.

We got a nice fire going in our 1850s fireplace.  It was so nice and cozy, a perfect snowy New England Christmas atmosphere … but after awhile the smoke started making me feel a bit sick and I had to open a couple of windows. Then the room got too cold and snow started blowing in and getting the floor all wet.  I am really grateful I live in a time when open fires aren’t the sole source of heating and cooking.  I love the campfire smell, but the smoke always ends up bothering me, which is a shame.

Heading out for lunch in Chinatown.  This is the entrance to our apartment. First ones to put footprints in the snow!

The alley our front door opens onto.  It’s called Knox Street, but it’s too narrow for a car. (How is this a street and not an alley?!)  You have to park elsewhere and walk to your front door.

Heading out to the real street from our “street.”

Unlike Atlanta, when it snows in Boston people just get on with their daily routines.  Out come the snow blowers, the street sweepers and plows, and the salt trucks.  Even on Christmas day, it’s business as usual.

Like in New York, Boston’s Chinatown is open on Christmas Day and hopping with activity, even though it doesn’t look like it from the photo below. There were lots of people out and about.

We ate lunch at Q Restaurant, specializing in Mongolian Hot Pot.  Those huge vats of broth in the middle of the table are on heaters that keep it boiling.  You dunk your meat, vegetables, and noodles in the broth to cook it at the table, then scoop it out onto your plate and season it with soy sauce and other condiments.  It was fantastic.  The kids really loved it.

The kids had “basic beef broth” with no spices in it.  Adam and I ordered a broth with a 3-chili rating (you can see it in the foreground, full of red chili peppers.)  The kids all have plates of very thinly sliced raw pork, udon noodles, and assorted vegetables.  Adam and I had beef and lamb; otherwise our meals were all the same.  It only takes about 20 seconds to cook the meat, but the noodles and veggies take around 2 minutes.

Our evening’s entertainment was a third game of Cosmic Encounter:  Isabella and Adam for the tie.

Holden having the best time of his life.  He loves this game.

Our special Christmas Boston Creme Pie (even though it looks like a cake.) According to wikipedia:  A Boston cream pie is a yellow butter cake that is filled with custard or cream and topped with chocolate glaze. The dessert acquired its name when cakes and pies were cooked in the same pans, and the words were used interchangeably.

It was delicious.

Tomorrow morning we head out for Montreal, Canada — roughly 300 miles NE of Boston.