Percy Geoffrey & The Bostonians

As soon as the plane touched down and we cleared the airport, we took a quick tour through some Boston’s narrow, winding neighborhoods, saw the Bunker Hill Monument, the Tobin Bridge and the Leonard Zakum-Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge and dashed over to Papa Ginos to sample the new burgers and fries.  We rushed over to the USS Constitution hoping for a quick tour, only to find that the last group starts at 4:00.  We missed the tour.

On Saturday morning, the alarms and cell phones rang early for the dash down 93 to MIT!  We arrived at “The Infinite Corridor” and found it already teeming with happy, enthusiastic students getting in position for their first classes.  We ran over to the gym, building W32 as it is known at MIT,and joined the check-in line which was long, as this session of Splash was attended by a record number of middle and high school students, and then headed back under the dome track down the first class.

We were right back at it again on Sunday as we headed back to campus for the second full day of Splash excitement. The gray November weather didn’t dampen any spirits, and it was evident that all of the participants and staff were having a great time. After dinner at Grassfields, we celebrated November 21 with strawberry cake with strawberry flavored butter cream frosting and ice cream!  Yum!  Luckily we had lots of leftovers to make the rest of the week a mini-party!

On Monday we let the morning rush hour go by, and then headed back to Cambridge to visit
Harvard Yard and the Square. Geoffrey is sure to get top grades, since he touched the statue of John Harvard, and participated in a long-standing tradition that has left a shiny brass impression on the statue’s foot.  We ducked into Bartley’s for yummy milkshakes (frappes as the locals call them), and then dropped into Newbury Comics on Harvard Square for a minute.

Tuesday found us at the Sullivan Square T station, hopping on the Orange Line into Boston.  We got off downtown and walked through Quincy Market and Faneuil Hall, and stopped to watch an energetic street performer with a unicycle and bagpipes. That was some combo!   
We made our way past the newly erected Christmas tree and on to the aquarium.   

Our first stop was the seal tank outside, where several seals were putting on a show for
the kids with noses pressed up against the cold glass.  We visited the exhibits in the aquarium and saw penguins, turtles, sharks, and stunning tropical fish and jellyfish of all types. Next, we made our way over to the waterfront to wait for the water taxi over to Charlestown so that we could have another try at the USS Constitution.  We had a great boat ride through Boston Harbor and the waterfront area and saw lots of ships, Coast Guard cutters, battleships, fishing boats, sailboats and tugboats.  Boston has the best and least expensive waterfront cruises, all sponsored by our friendly MBTA service!  Where else can you get a scenic ride like that for $1.75!  Try it some summer –you’ll love it.

So, we arrived in Charlestown again and walked through the Navy Yard Yard to see USS
Constitution aka Old Ironsides, only to find that they had implemented the
winter hours and the venerable ship was not open that day! They call Boston a walking city, so we walked back over the bridge out of Charlestown, past the Garden and headed for our next destination, the North End. 

By this time we were ready for lunch, so we stopped in one of the many, many, many Italian
restaurants that boasted “Best Pizza in the North End” on a handwritten sign in
the window.  We had a hot pizza and then headed over to the Paul Revere Mall and the Old North Church.  We arrived just in time to hear a quick history of the church and Paul Revere’s ride given by one of the church historians, as we sat in the boxed-in white pew.  You could definitely picture the lamp swinging from the church steeple and the redcoats sweeping the city for rebels! 

After the church, we ran into Hanover Street’s famous Mike’s Pastry to pick up some
cannoli and an apple pastry stick, elbowing our way through the always crowded
shop to the glass counters beckoning with cookies and sweets of all kinds.  A new favorite is the espresso cannoli!  It’s “to die for” good!

We retraced our steps back to the subway, ducking into the train back to Sullivan Square
with commuters in time to head off the bulk of the rush hour crowd on I 93North!  

Wednesday morning we took it easy and got a fairly late start, and were in no rush as we
headed to New Hampshire and Maine to see the coast and lighthouse.  We got on 95 and passed from Massachusetts to New Hampshire and then into Maine in less that 15 minutes. 
New England makes for easy state-hopping, and we crossed three state lines in a jiffy!  It was a sparkling, sunny, clear day, but the wind was really blowing, which when along the coast quickly makes it feel much colder than it is.  We stood on the rocky outcropping across from Nubble Light and ducked back into the car quickly.  So different from the summer days where we jumped from rock to rock and watched seagulls cruise overhead at leisure.  The water was a brilliant blue and the Christmas wreaths were already up on the lighthouse. Several other brave souls were there to see the light. 
We wound our way back down the coast and cruised along Route 1A in Rye and Hampton and saw all of the houses that we will buy when we win the lottery!  Many were for sale too, so we hope that ticket comes in soon.   We had lunch in a seafood place that is standing room only in the summer, but very quiet on this November weekday afternoon.  You might want to try the
fried chicken dinner.  It was HUGE! 

The week went by very quickly and soon it was Turkey Day and time for watching football and eating lots of food.  We watched our New England Patriot’s win and then sat down before the Dallas Cowboys game started, to our Thanksgiving Day feast.  The menu had at least 19 items:  Turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, stuffing, carrots, baked beans, sambar, rice with peas, dinner rolls, crescent rolls, corn on the cob, baked butternut squash, applesauce, sweet
potatoes, apple pie, ice cream, and cranberry sauce.  The table setting was beautiful and everyone had enough to eat.
  

Friday it was time to pack and head to the airport, but we did take a quick trip to the
Rockingham Park Mall in New Hampshire for a few minutes and spent some time
with our friends the Beatles! at the Apple Store.  Geoffrey needs to come again in the summer so he can see the Constitution and the other 10 billion things that are left to see in New England.  Hope he can make it again.