Granny'z Gone...: ...To Boston

The hubster and I had been discussing where to go on vacation this year. We had many ideas that we batted around but really hadn’t made a firm decision until just recently. One of our ideas was to go to Philadelphia, New York, and Boston. Due to some family things that came up, we really didn’t have the funds available to do all three cities, so we decided to just visit Boston for a few days. We had an amazing time, even though it was a short visit. We left home on Saturday and returned on Wednesday. Each day was jam packed with activity.

Day 1

Our flight to Boston departed at about 7:30 am. That got us into Boston before noon. Of course, our hotel room wasn’t ready yet, so we dropped our bags at the hotel and wandered around downtown for a couple of hours. Our hotel was across the street from the TD Garden (home of the Celtics and the Bruins), so we only had to walk a couple of blocks to the historic downtown area. After eating lunch at the Hard Rock Café and wandering around the marketplace area (think historic buildings and shopping), we went back and got checked into our hotel.

View from the hotel room. The gray building on the left is the Garden. The red brick building on the right had a pizza place, a gym, and a dance studio in it.

After unpacking and resting up just a bit, we went back out for the next adventure. Can you guess where we went?

It’s amazing to me that Fenway Park is 101 years old and is still in great shape. Of course, there have been repairs and renovations done over the years. The hubster was just beside himself that he was at Fenway Park. Of the original ballparks, Wrigley Field is the only one still in use that he can go visit.

Day 2

On Sunday we went to Lowell, which is a 45 minute train ride from Boston. According to Wikipedia, “Lowell is known as the cradle of the industrial revolution in the United States and many of the city’s historic sites have been preserved by the National Park Service.”[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lowell,_Massachusetts] The hubster is a history nut so he enoyed all the history. I’m a textile person, so I enjoyed seeing the working looms at the Boott Cotton Mill & Museum and the displays at the New England Quilt Museum.

We started the day at a quaint little coffee shop.

(I did not take this picture. I found it on Bing)

Then we wandered along one of the canals on our way to Boott Mill. Some of the mill buildings have been converted into condos, but they’ve kept the building facades as close to the original appearance as possible.

One of the Canals

Working looms

Condos are in the building on the left. The white door in the building on the right is the entrance to the museum.

Exterior front of Boott Mill

After that we went to the quilt museum. I took lots of pictures of the quilts on display, but there was a sign posted at the museum entrance that the photos cannot be shared on this blog. I’m sorry for that because there were some amazing quilts on display.

Days 3 & 4

I’m combining these days because we did the same things each day, lots of walking around and seeing the sites. The highlight was the visit to the Samuel Adams Brewery and the Bunker Hill Memorial. A word of warning about the Bunker Hill Memorial; there are 294 steps that must be climbed to reach the top of the memorial. My calves were sore for days afterward! I think today was the first day that all the tightness is gone. Enjoy the journey!

Paul Revere House

Old North Church

Bunker Hill Memorial - 294 steps to the top!

Holocaust Memorial

The Holocaust Memorial is made of glass inscribed with numbers instead of names. Steam rises from the subway grates below the glass columns, which causes the memorial to appear to glow at night.