Return to Boston

I've been in Boston the past few days with my sister, Jean, and our good friend from high school days, Janice.   We had such a great time catching up, enjoying each other's company, eating lots of great food, and marveling at all that Boston offers.   Back home it was 100+ degrees, but by the beautiful Boston harbor it was a good ten degrees cooler, way less humid, and we were constantly refreshed by the balmy ocean breeze.

We had been in Boston last year but didn't get to see all the sights, specifically the Bunker Hill Monument and the site of the Boston Tea Party.  So this year we made sure to put them at the top of our list. 

We were pretty impressed with ourselves for making the climb up the Monument, all 294 steps! 

Last year we had tried in vain to find the Boston Tea Party site or any kind of monument for it.  The old museum had closed and the new one didn't open until just five days before we arrived for this second visit.  The thirty dollar entrance fee seemed steep, but we were glad we hadn't let it stop us as we all enjoyed the creative ways that the Museum presented the story of the events leading up to the Tea Party and what happened thereafter.   Live actors, holograms, talking portraits, and a "hands-on" reenactment of the throwing of the tea into the harbor made history come alive in an interesting and educational way.    

I liked the way Janice's modern straw hat echoed the tour guide's colonial one.

We took a whole day to go out to Lexington and Concord where the Patriots first battled with the British troops.  I was quite struck by the stone marking the grave of three British soldiers who fell at Concord Bridge.  It reads:  They came three thousand miles and died to keep the past upon its throne.  Unheard beyond the ocean tide their English mother made her moan. 

Aside from all this history, we went on a whale watch and saw many whales as well as some very playful dauphins.   All in all, we had a great little vacation, marred only by the worry caused by learning that a fierce storm had hit Maryland Friday night, knocking out power to more than one million homes, including Jean's and mine.  

Jean's power is now back on, but in my area the power company is predicting it may take until Friday to get everyone restored.  This will certainly make getting ready for our trip to France interesting! 

This is an AP photo taken in Maryland showing lightening strikes during the morning after the storm. 

Today is Ben and my thirty-fourth anniversary!  As they said in colonial Boston, "Huzzah!" for us.  I'm so glad we didn't call it quits during some of our hard years.  Instead we hung in there with each other, learned a lot about ourselves, and now are reaping the rewards in these happy years together.