Boston, part 2

I had a great time in Boston! Kids and Glenn survived without me and I had a few days of rest, relaxation and long walks with my aunt and sis. It was a lovely Fall weekend in the Northeast. I heard that they are expecting snow and 50 mph winds this weekend so we really lucked out. I didn't take as many pictures as I should have, and none of my pictures contain people (that I'm related to anyway), but I wanted to share a few memories from my trip.

Here's the inside of the hotel we stayed it. The Fairmont Copley Plaza was beautiful and fancy and I felt like a hillbilly in my jeans and Wyoming tshirt. Here's a view of the lobby:

On Sunday, we took the train out to Cambridge so that we can wander around Harvard. We ended up wandering around a little more than we had planned but we did walk by this famous structure - for all of you "Good Will Hunting" fans:

Trinity Church was right across the street from our hotel. It's not an incredibly old building but the inside is amazing. If you are ever in Boston, add this to your "must-see" list. There's a rockin' gift shop, too.

On Friday, we walked The Freedom Trail. The guidebooks say that the Trail is only 2.5 miles but that's total phooey. It has to be way longer than that. But it's pretty cool. We walked by many buildings and sites that were crucial to the start of the American revolution. Hey look - it's Paul Revere's house! I think this is one of the oldest remaining houses in Boston.

Speaking of Paul Revere, here's his grave. We wandered through a few cemeteries. A bit morbid, but pretty fascinating too. Here's the Old North Church where the Boston patriots hung the "two if be sea" lanterns to signal to Paul Revere about the movements of the British Army. This church hasn't changed much since 1775 and I felt like I was taking a step back in time when I walked in. One of the interpretative signs along the Freedom Trail pointed out that Paul Revere probably did not ride through the streets yelling "The British are coming, the British are coming!" First of all, he was trying to avoid being arrested so he probably would have kept pretty quiet. Secondly, at that point in history, they were all British! There wasn't an America yet. So if he had said anything, it would have been "the Redcoats are coming..." It was quite the educational trip! The monument at Bunker Hill. Pretty impressive, it's like a miniature version of the George Washington monument in D.C. At this point in the day, my legs were starting to get reallllly tired. Luckily, we fueled up with some pastries from a famous local Boston bakery landmark on the way back.

This picture is solely for one Mr. Will Pauley. Firetrucks!!

I arrived back home late Monday night, tired but refreshed and happy to be back. One Tuesday morning, both kids woke up and were pretty happy to see me. Will immediately asked for his presents and so I pulled them out of my suitcase. Reina got lots of books and a cute dog/cat tshirt. I brought Will a tricorn hat and a bag of plastic Revolutionary War soldiers, complete with cannons, horses and some Hessian troops thrown in for good measure. Upon unwrapping his "soldier hat", Will informs me "But I didn't ask for a soldier hat. I asked for a COWBOY BELT." Yes, the days of him being excited by the little plastic bag of pretzels from the airplane are looooooong gone.

Here are the soldiers. We have the quite battle going on, on top of our coffee table. Given the precision at which they've been placed, I think it's clear that I bought the soldiers for the wrong boy in our family. Maybe he can trade his tshirt for the toy soldiers. Or he can go out and buy a cowboy belt and negotiate a swap.....