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BOSTON TRIP
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Here, I will try to keep a sort of journal to share with all of you about our fun adventures in Massachusetts. Just the highlights and fun pictures. The ordinary, everyday things will more than likely be excluded (such as daily park visits, grocery shopping, and laundry). Email us anytime at kimberlyandjason@yahoo.com PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND & DOWNTOWN BOSTON Next,
we drove into historic Providence. The
state capitol builing, built in 1891, boasts the 4th largest marble
dome in the world. Quite impressive. The whole building looked to be
made of marble. We drove past the First Baptist Church, founded in 1638
but built in 1775, which is the very first Baptist Church in all of the
United States. Every home was dated and named for the original
owner/builder and the streets were narrow and steep. There were
beautiful statues in graceful parks. We also looked upon the Old State
House, the Arcade (built in 1828 - is the oldest indoor shopping
center), the John Brown House, and of course, Brown University, and
many more.
CHILDREN'S MUSEUM + FORT INDEPENDENCE FRANKLIN PARK ZOO After getting lunch, we stopped by Fort Independence on Castle Island in Boston Harbor.
Both the lion and the silver-back seemed irritated by the flash of my camera. I felt bad for imposing, but at the same time, had to take the opportunity of getting great shots. Here are my favorites.
On Thursday, she drove us down to Cape Cod for a gorgeous day at the beach while Jason was at work. We did get a little lost on the way, but once we got there we had a wonderful day. We built sand castles, and Nathan played in the waves. He even sat down in the waves for a while and filled his diaper with sand. On Saturday, we all went back to Six Flags so Nathan and Grandma could ride in the Big Red Car together in Wiggles World. We watched the Wiggles show and did much of the same things as before, with one exception. With the built in baby-sitter, Sunday, we went to a bookstore here called Tatnuck's, then went back to downtown Boston for a quick visit before taking Susan to the airport. We were sad to see her go, but at least we know we only have three more weeks to go. The count down continues ...
Of course, we
didn't mind that it poured today. Nathan has been wanting to go to
the beach all week, so we mapped it out and got there. Kalmus Beach
is a warm water beach in Hyannis, Cape Cod. I'm not sure if it was
the rain or the usual occurence, but the beach was covered in sea
shells, and horse-shoe crabs, and sea weed stuff (not kelp). We even
saw a jellyfish that had washed ashore and a couple of conch shells that were covered in other sea life. I was surprised that there weren't We had planned on making it all the way to Provincetown at the furthest point of the Cape where the Pilgrim Monument and museum is located, but a sudden migraine hit Jason during lunch and cut our adventure a little short. Regardless, we returned with a collection of 30 or so shells, and Nathan enjoyed walking the beach so it wasn't a loss in any way. Besides, Provincetown was at least another hour drive away.
 SIX FLAGS NEW ENGLAND
+ Saturday, September 8, 2007 + Ever since the 2nd day we were here and Nathan saw the Wiggles World brochure in the lobby, we knew that one day, we would see this colorful land. We just didn’t know it would be 99 degrees plus humidity, but what a wonderful day it was. This was the first time Nathan had been to a big theme park. This Six Flags not only had Wiggles World, but also a Looney Tunes area, Superman stuff, and Thomas the Train Town. Our boy loves to dance and sing so he thoroughly enjoyed the music playing and the big Wiggles show they put on. He was thrilled to meet Dorothy the Dinosaur, Wags the Dog, Captain Feathersword, and Scooby Doo and got to drive the Big Red Car 5 times, the Big Red Airplanes, Wags’ Doggie-Copter, and Thomas the Train. We also went on Captain Feather Sword’s Pirate Ship which we thought would just swing back and forth (we hadn’t actually seen it move). It not only rocked but went into spinning too. It was exciting for me and Jason, so it almost goes without saying that Nathan wanted off  of that
ship. He is no dare devil, for sure. Still, he stuck it out and we just
felt horrible for not watching what we were getting into first. He played games and won prizes all by himself. We wrapped up the day by buying our souvenir photo and riding the carousel. Nathan was asleep before we even started the car to come back to the hotel. He is still talking about it all, so we might have to make another trip back to Wiggles World.
 NEW
ENGLAND AQUARIUM + Sunday, September 2, 2007 + Not as large as Monterey Bay Aquarium but it has a very cool layout. We were able to watch the Harbor Seals swimming/training in their tank before we even got our tickets. The aquarium had penguins in one area and then the main feature was a huge cylindrical tank that a ramp circled around and round. That held full grown sea turtles, large sharks, eels, all sorts of big fishies. But even with all the wild life, Nathan’s favorite thing to watch was the scuba man feeding the fish. Nathan also got to touch star fish & a horse-shoe crab.
 SOUTHWICK ZOO+ Saturday, September 1, 2007 + Southwick Zoo is close to where we are staying in Westborough so we thought we would check it out when the hotel staff and some of Jason’s co-workers said it was a nice, “small” zoo. Well, I can’t wait to see their large zoo because this place had a lot to offer. They had a huge tortoise, tons of monkeys, chimps, rhinos, yaks, white tigers, lions, elephants, and a really cool walk-through deer forest. The deer came up to Nathan and ate right out of his hand. Nathan even got to enjoy his first pony ride.  
 BOSTON+ Saturday, August 18, 2007 + This is our first weekend here so we absolutely had to go see beautiful, historic Downtown Boston. It really was amazing. We parked the car and walked several blocks through the public gardens, watched the swan boats go under the bridge, and admired many statues along the way. When we got through the gardens, we partially followed signs for the Freedom Trail and saw so much along the way – where the Boston Massacre occurred, historic burial grounds, a clock tower, & church after glorious church. At the end of our trek was Fanueil Hall & Quincy Market. This is similar to Pier 39 in a way. There are lots of street performers, food, shops, street vendors, and penny smashing machines.
WE HAVE ARRIVED + Sunday, August 12, 2007 + We have arrived in this strange place. We were driven past Fenway and through the Big Dig tunnels on the way here. Our flight was great. Nathan slept for 2 of the 5 hour flight. The only interesting fact on the plane was changing a poopy diaper in a shoe-box sized restroom. Not pretty nor funny really. We were going to try to get by without a rental car, but after just 3 days it was apparent that I needed one to keep my sanity. There is nothing walking distance to or from our hotel. Not even a bus stop. |
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Sunday,
we again drove into downtown Boston for our last visit. We hadn't
realized that we were so close to the Holocaust monument.
Appropriately, it is located on the Freedom Trail. Walking through the
etched glass sculptures with steam rising from the floor and reading
the facts and quotes of survivors was more moving than I could
have ever imagined. It was painful. Across the street, there was a demonstration for awareness of the situation in Darfur. 
Leave
it to Nathan to brighten a day. He made very good friends with a statue
of an elderly business man sitting on a bench. He climbed right up and
sat on his lap, played with his nose, ears, eyes and hair. And right
before we were leaving for the day, he planted a big kiss on him. Jason
shuttered with fear that germs were just jumping all over Nathan's
face. The whole thing was hilarious. All in all, a nice way to spend
our last weekend in Massachusetts.
We saw this
structure from the airplane while descending and knew that we had
to go there. The island is the oldest continuously fortified site in
the U.S. None
of my photos came close to presenting the magnificance of this
structure. It is a 5 point, pentagonal fort, and it is huge. Such
names as Lt. Paul Revere and Edgar Allan Poe are included in it's
history. This is one of those places that allow us to imagine the past Americans that have walked on this same ground and feel a proud, patriotic connection. Simply amazing. 
Sunday,
we went to the Franklin Park Zoo in Dorchester. It was established in
1913 and is one of the oldest continuously operating zoos in the US. It
is a pretty zoo, but several animals were off exhibit due to the chilly
weather. We did, however, get to see and hear a male lion roaring just
ten feet or so in front of us. It gave me goose bumps but made Nathan
laugh because of how the lion's body moved to make the sound from his
gut. Wow. The rainforest habitat for the gorillas was pretty amazing
too. They have a two year old baby, his mother, another female, and a
silver back male. 
Jason and I were able to ride the award winning
Superman, Ride of Steel. Oh my goodness -- the ride only lasted 3
minutes, but the drops (there must have been at least 7 big ones) were
insane. My gold necklace almost slipped off over my ears. Jason said it
felt like the coaster was coming off of the tracks. I said it felt like
my intestines were trying to come up my throat. I didn't feel like
vomiting. I really felt like my internal organs were going to find
their way out either through my chest or mouth. I can't imagine the
people that would want to go on this thing over and over again. They
must be nuts or stupid. Anyway, we just had to buy the souvenir
photo. I took a snap shot of it to show all of you. 
but
we didn't make Nathan go in there. Instead, we enjoyed the beach, the
arcade, carousel, and ice cream shop where they make their own ice
cream. 
any waves -- almost like a lake.
