Boston, huzzah!!

To celebrate our 15th anniversary, we took a weekend trip to Boston. I've always wanted to go, now I know what it's like! We had absolutely beautiful weather the whole time - the kind I can never get enough of. I wasn't expecting Boston to be so citified and we were surprised by how similar to New York it is. Traffic was terrible, parking expensive and hard to find, and hordes of people walked the streets. The general population seemed more average than high-class, unlike New York. We weren't really interested in experiencing city life, but wanted to see some historical sites. On Friday we took a walk into history tour, which covered sites along the Freedom Trail such as the Boston Massacre, Boston Common, and the graveyard where Paul Revere is buried. Tour guides are dressed as a character from history. Ours was Samuel Prescott, one of the Sons of Liberty who was part of Paul Revere's ride. He did a great job retelling historical events and relating little-known facts. He told us the British way of cheering was to shout "huzzah!" and several times gave us the cue to cheer. We really enjoyed it, but were ready to go somewhere by the water and relax the rest of the day. We decided to go to Castle Island, the site of Fort Independence.

It was a fantastic place to walk, watch airplanes and boats, and lie on the grass in the sunshine. Boston Harbor is full of sailboats, yachts, and all other kinds of vessels, creating a picturesque view. We got some fresh seafood at Sullivan's, a restaurant on the island.

After awhile we left and checked in at our hotel, got ice cream, then went back to Castle Island to walk along the water and watch the sunset. True vacation mode!

On Saturday we had reservations for a whale watching cruise. We arrived about an hour early and spent the time on Long Wharf, watching ships and people. Cliff looked through his binoculars at all the activity and spotted a lone man in a tiny dinghy anchored a little way out, just lying in his boat, reading and soaking up the sun. 😄 Finally we boarded our boat and made our way to the top deck.

Once we were out of harbor, the ship picked up speed until we were cruising along at approximately 35 miles per hour. Our destination was Stellwagen Bank, a protected marine sanctuary and whale feeding ground. It took about an hour to get there. We never lost sight of land and there were always boats nearby and in the distance. Whale watching tours departing from Provincetown and other locations come to the same spot. Our ship slowed and we began looking for spouting and other signs of whales. While watching, our tour guide gave us some interesting information on the behavior and kinds of whales common in this area. After a short time, we saw the first one make an appearance and motored closer. It was a humpback whale and very active, so we all were able to see it surface and dive.

These whales even have names, and can be identified by their tails. Another whale was spotted and we moved closer. This one had a calf and really put on a show! She repeatedly surfaced, swam belly-up with her fins above the water, and waved her tail back and forth. Our tour guide said she had never seen that particular whale being so active and commented that this was one of the best trips she had been on! The first whale we saw was still nearby and there were others farther off in the distance. It far surpassed our expectations of what we might see and was totally worth it. On the way back to Boston I went inside for awhile because it was so windy and cold. The cabin was really nice but I liked being outside best, so I went out again for the last thirty minutes. The wind really picked up as we got closer and at one time I felt my head covering starting to blow off. 😂 It got warmer the closer we got to the city but was still too cold for my liking. The whole cruise lasted a little over four hours. Afterward we walked around a little but decided we were done with the city and headed to a quieter part of town to get something to eat.

We love going on outings like this and I had a few revelations this time.

•  Don't worry about how much it costs, enjoy the time off and go back to work when it's over.
•  Go traveling now, while we're in the prime of life. Tomorrow is never promised.
•  Summer doesn't last long enough. Soak up every minute possible. 
•  Less city, more nature.

Huzzah!