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Memorial Day, 2017-  a day to remember all who have served and died to preserve our freedom.  Thank You!

Surprisingly cool and windy this morning (mid 50s) and showers likely later in the day. We came prepared with sweaters and rain jackets. We will not be deterred from our exploration today! Stan arranged for tickets for the Old Town Trolley Tour of Boston; their version of the hop-on, hop-off  bus tour, only on an old fashioned trolley.

We hopped a cab to the starting spot as the hotel did not know when they would likely be stopping near our hotel. They had the side plastic shades lowered because of the cold weather so I am not sure how good my pictures would be as I was shooting through plastic rather than glass. Surprisingly there were quite a few other brave souls on the trolley with us. We stayed on the bus for the entire narrated two hour tour as it wound its way through the various areas of Boston and Cambridge. It was simply too cold and windy  to walk around. Boston is a lovely city that has successfully merged the great historical aspects of the area with the new modern city it has become. It ranks right up there with the great coastal cities of the world. We were last here when the “big dig (elimination of an elevated highway through downtown)”  was still in progress and it was nice seeing the finished product. We can only hope that Seattle is smart enough to do the same as we eliminate our elevated road. I was also struck by the cleanliness of the city as we drove through it.

Our trolley ticket included a free harbor tour which we all agreed we wanted to take. We usually try to take harbor tours in cities where it is available but for some reason we had never done it here in Boston. Normally we are eager to get seats outside on the upper deck to enjoy the sun and the sea air- not today!  There was plenty of inside seating with big windows for viewing. We had a delightful Irishman acting as our narrator pointing out sights along the way, sprinkled with Irish humor. We could have disembarked where the USS Constitution (44 gun frigate) was docked but decided against it because it was in dry dock undergoing routine hull maintenance. For you history buffs:  It is the oldest commissioned ship in existence (built in 1797). Supposedly it is the only naval vessel that has never lost a battle. Also it got the nickname of “Old Ironsides” because the during the war of 1812 the enemy experienced cannonballs simply bouncing off its hull. In truth the hull is wood, but it is some 22 inches thick, giving it the ability to thwart enemy shelling.

We chose to have lunch at the famous Durgin Park restaurant located in Quincy Market. It is the second oldest restaurant in Boston and is famous for having “surly” waitresses; ours turned out to be the sweetest, nicest person. Maybe they are trying to change their image.

We walked through the area shops and Fanueil Hall (often called the cradle of independence), the site where Samuel Adams and others spoke for independence from Great Britain back in the late 1700s.

The 2.5 mile Freedom Trail( marked by a row of bricks) winds its way through this area. We did not walk it as we had done that on previous trips. However, I was again reminded of how nice this city is and all the history it offers for all to appreciate.

My travel companions chose to go back to the hotel but I wanted to tour the Boston Tea Party Museum near our hotel. It turned out to be a great experience. Actors in period costumes portray the events leading up to and including the dumping of 342 bales of tea into the bay that occurred on December 16, 1773 by members of the Sons of Liberty who dressed as native Americans and boarded the English ship in the harbor. It took over 3 hours for the 30-130 men to complete the task. Interestingly this event not only helped lead to the War of Independence, it also caused Americans to ultimately become coffee drinkers as tea became hard to get. There were also a couple of movies describing the aftermath of the event, including the Battle at Lexington/Concord. They even have on display one of the two known remaining crates that were used to ship the tea and some documentation from the era. The whole thing was very well done and  I felt it is certainly worth seeing if you are in the area.

Late in the afternoon the showers arrived as predicted and we decided to simply have cocktails and a light dinner in the hotel as we had had a fairly late lunch.

The weather tomorrow is expected to be better and we will continue our exploration of Boston before boarding our ship on Wednesday.

 

Normally Memorial Day weekend in the Pacific Northwest can be an iffy proposition weather wise. It is more likely to be cold and damp as summer often takes its sweet time to arrive. That is why we are not concerned about scheduling trips elsewhere then. Well, this year Mother Nature really surprised us. Maybe she was feeling guilty about the extremely rainy winter we just have experienced (50 percent more rain than usual). Yesterday it was over 80 degrees and this morning we left with clear blue skies and mountains in all directions showing off their simmering white snow covered peaks. It will be another spectacular day in Seattle. In fact the weather forecast for the weekend was that it would be the best Memorial Day weekend in decades. You win some and you lose some!

Another pre-departure observation. This is the first long trip we have taken in the United States in quite a few years. I suddenly realized I did not need to worry about passports; creating a currency conversion charts to figure out what things would cost; no money conversion at the airport; no concern about running up a big bill on my cellphone; no concern about crossing 5 or more time zones and no foreign language charts. This trip should be a piece of cake!

We had a 7 AM departure so we stayed at a hotel near the airport to avoid the hassles of trying to catch an early morning ferry. Even so we got up at 4:30. One nice thing about early morning departures is the airport was really quiet and there were no lines at security or baggage check-in counters. It made getting up that early worth it.

Our flight to Boston was non-stop on our favorite airline-Alaska. They still seem to value their customers and act accordingly. The captain even stepped outside the cockpit, introduced himself to us and relayed information about our upcoming flight-definitely a nice touch. There was now a face to associate with the voice you hear from the cockpit. Even the stewardess addressed us by our names (maybe because we were elite gold members) and thanked us for our business- again a very nice personal touch in this day and age of airline herd mentality.

It was almost a 5 hour flight and we both caught up on some of that lost sleep from last night and starting to read the new books we brought. I typed up this blog entry between my naps.

We arrived 1/2 hour ahead of schedule and were met with Seattle weather-cool and cloudy with a cool (60s), showery day predicted for tomorrow. I have to assume Mother Nature did not want us to miss our usual May weather! It was a quick cab ride to our hotel for the next three nights-Seaport Boston Hotel, located on the waterfront. It is relatively new and modern. An interesting aspect is they state that no tipping was needed as it was included in the stay. The bellboy turned down my offer of a tip, restating their policy-admirable.

Stan and Cindy arrived not long after and we met for cocktails and dinner in an old time favorite seafood restaurant of Stan called ” No Name Restaurant” located on the fishermen’s wharf near our hotel. Basically it is a “hole in the wall” kind of place that first opened in 1917. Having survived that long must mean they do something right. Because this is New England we all ordered lobster in one form or another and also tried their famous seafood chowder, which was very rich and filling. Beer, wine and Boston Cream Pie  (which actually looked like a cake) completed our menu. It was all good.

 

Retiring early as tomorrow we plan an all day sightseeing tour of the major sights here in Boston.

 

 

We have not seen much of New England on earlier trips other than visits to Boston. Wisconsin friends, Stan & Cindy Jaskolski, asked us to join them for a 11 day cruise up/down the New England coastline. We decided to join them. In addition to the cruise we will spend several days visiting other famous NE landmarks by car. Come join us on this latest journey.