Part 2-Boston, Kennebunkport, Maine and Salem

Boston is such a great city! There is so much going on and we loved all of the old buildings. It seemed like there was a Red Sox game every night. On Monday when we drove past Fenway Park, a game was just getting ready to start. Rob asked if we wanted to go and try to get tickets. I said no because there was no way Hunter would be able to sit through the whole game. That was the game that the pitcher pitched a no-hitter. Too bad I was such a party-pooper! Bostonians are die-hard Red Sox fans!

Our first stop on the Freedom Trail was the Bunker Hill theater. We were the only ones there for the showing of the movie about the Revolutionary War. It is the same production that Rob saw over 20 years ago. It wasn't very hi-tech, but it was still informative. I swear boys are born to love war movies-Hunter kept oohing and awing! I think he loved it most! We then went to see the U.S.S. Constitution. That was neat to see. Apparently it is the oldest working U.S. commissioned boat in the world.

Next to the U.S.S. Constitution is an old World War II Destroyer. It isn't owed by the military anymore so we could touch and see more of the boat. FYI if anyone plans to swim in the ocean off the coast of Massachusetts, we saw about 50 jellyfish swimming in the ocean by this boat. Yikes!

Rob, fulfilling every man's dream!

Hunter, fulfilling every boy's dream!

Rob's quest on this vacation was to find the best clam chowder in New England. Rob's boss told us we had to go to O Ye Union Oyster House. This was one of Pres. Kennedy's favorite places to eat. Booth 18 is actually named after him because that was his favorite booth. Too bad we didn't get to sit there:( This is also the oldest restaurant in the country. The walls and floors aren't level, but it is very cute! Anyway, Rob's boss told us that this restaurant has the best and the thickest clam chowder. He said that it is so thick that it will hold your spoon up. This is a picture of Alyssa doing the "spoon test". This clam chowder came in 2nd place for Rob. The Weather Vane on the pier in Plymouth, MA came in 1st and The Ramp in Kennebunkport, Maine came in 3rd.

As we were leaving this restaurant, the man at the seafood counter grabbed us for a little magic show. He showed the girls how the lobster could hold a spoon, a napkin and a postcard, and then let each of them hold the lobster. Once they got over their fear of this underwater creature, they had fun.



This is Ben Franklin that we had to pay $3 to take a picture with. He gave some big speech on why we had to pay him and then prided himself in reciting just about every city in the country. I think he really believes he is Ben Franklin:)

I don't have any idea who this is a statue of, but the girls thought it was cool. Ash enjoyed hanging from his hand.

Our last stop on the Freedom Trail was at the Bunker Hill Monument. It is a smaller version of the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C. The girls begged us all day to walk to the top of this monument. By the time we got to it, Hunter had fallen asleep. We got him out of his car seat and Rob put him on his shoulders, but he still couldn't wake up. He was such a trooper!

This tower has almost 300 steps to the top. Of course the girls ran most of the way and weren't even winded when they got to the top. Rob had to carry Hunter the whole time and I was just a whimp. Rob and my calves still hurt from hiking those steps!

We were so relieved to finally make it to the top that we rested for probably 20 minutes. Isn't that shameful???

This is the view of Boston from the top of the tower.

See how big this thing is!

We had passed a lot of homeless people by this point of our trip. When we were going back to our car, we came upon this cute little girl who was saying, "I need money, I need money..." This trip was a bit of a culture shock for my girls!

The Old North Church where the lanterns were lit to let everyone know the British were coming.

This is a little memorial that someone set up with an i.d. tag representing all of our troops that have been killed in Afghanistan and Iraq:( The war has a different meaning to me because my little brother is going to be deployed to Iraq in Sept. or Feb. I guess having Obama elected as president may not be so bad after all! Just kidding!!!

This is Paul Revere's home that we had to look long and hard for. Apparently we aren't very good at following the red line that goes around the city for the Freedom Trail:)

Kennebunkport, Maine was one of the highlights of our trip. Thanks to my friend Sarah that suggested we go here. It is a small little port city that is so quaint!

This house is called the Wedding Cake House. Isn't it adorable?

This is the Ramp restaurant on the pier in Kennebunkport. It is frequented by the Bush family. We asked if Pres. Bush Jr. comes to Maine a lot and our server said no because everytime he comes there is such a big protest against him. Isn't that awful?

Hunter loves french fries!

If you look closely, you can see George Bush Sr. and Barbara's signature on the wall.

I guess in the summer the fisherman on this pier will let kids help catch lobsters. We are definitely coming back sometime!

This is the Bush compound. Those of you who know me know that this was one of my favorite things to see!

Downtown Kennebunkport

Rob and Hunter wearing their new Red Sox caps.


This beach is incredibly beautiful but not one with many seashells. All the girls found were a bunch of rocks. Rob is such a good dad that he actually let them bring some of them home with us.

No trip to Boston is complete without seeing Harvard. I wish we could have gotten out and walked the campus, but it looked so big I'm sure we would have gotten lost!

We ended our sightseeing in Salem, MA where the witch trials took place. Cool town, but this was the only city where the people were really weird. This was a re-enactment of the witch trial of Elizabeth Proctor. Afterwards we got to go downstairs into a dungeon that they made patterned after the original where they jailed the suspected witches. That was freaky!



This trip was awesome! Hopefully my kids all learned something to compensate for their excessive absences from school this year!