Boston Part 2

Here we go - Day 2 in Boston!

I would love to say that we woke up Monday morning bright and early to stop in at a cute local restaurant for breakfast, but alas, we mobile ordered chick-fil-a and picked it up down the street from our hotel.  And honestly - not mad about it ;)  We were coming off of a super busy day on Sunday and were meeting our tour guide at 9:30 a.m. so we were looking for quick convenience at this point.

This girl was up and at 'em and ready to go explore Boston.  The weather was chilly again (GLORIOUS!) and she was looking so cute in a Zara top and jeans and my bag ;) hahaha

So a big part of why we wanted to go to Boston was to let our kids (and us!) really experience the history there.  I remember being in Boston on a girls trip and almost immediately adding Boston to my list for when our kids were a bit older because I really wanted them to be able to stand in the spot that these historically significant things took place and understand the significance.  That said - Dave and I aren't history buffs by any stretch of the imagination and so to make the most of our time in the city and experiencing the Freedom Trail we decided to hire a guide to do a private tour.  

There are TONS of tour options available based on how much you want to walk, whether or not you want to go inside the buildings along the trail, whether you want to be in a large group or private, how long you want the tour to be, etc.   Ultimately we settled on a private tour that started at 9:30 and ended around 4:00 and covered pretty much the entire Freedom Trail (except for the couple of sites in Charlestown). 

I started looking on the site "Tours by Locals" and then filtered by availability and then by who I thought would be the most engaging for our kids.  I reached out to a few and decided to go with Ben Edwards after the most thorough email I may have ever received - hahaha AND he touted that he brought along historical documents that he's collected over the years and as a teacher I know the value of a visual aid ;) 

We met up and immediately headed out and he dove right in with maps, old newspapers, signed documents, old photographs, etc.  IT WAS SO COOL!!!

He had several photographs showing what areas/streets looked like in previous time periods and that was one of my very favorite parts. 

He had a game going with us the whole time asking questions and awarding points which my kids LOVED and he took family photos for us and texted them to me the next day which was great. 

I know the document thing may seem random but it was so cool to hear all about Paul Revere's life, see his grave marker and then get to hold a newspaper and see an ad that he had placed himself. Brought everything all together and was way more impactful than I thought it would be.

I stand by the statement that handing your kids a camera is one of the quickest ways to get them engaged in something.  G was not nearly as interested as Mason and Luke in everything we were seeing and learning about (she knew the basics, but Mason just wrapped up American history in school and Luke has always loved history) but putting her "in charge" of my big camera gave her a job and kept her "with us".  

Around 10:30 we stopped in at Parker's Restaurant (inside the Parker Omni House hotel) for fresh Parker House rolls and Boston Cream Pies.  While we waited for our cream pies Ben showed us all kinds of old menus, hotel receipts, etc. and told us all kinds of history about the hotel and who had stayed there. 

BURY ME IN THESE ROLLS!!!!

So I thought I'd had Boston Cream Pie before but apparently I was wrong because this was NEXT LEVEL and completely different than what I thought Boston cream pie was.

We got a few to share, checked out the "Dickens mirror" (the mirror from the room Charles Dickens used to stay in - G thought this was super cool since she read A Christmas Carol last year)....

... got to see the table where JFK and Jackie Kennedy got engaged (which is debatable because when Luke and I were in Georgetown last summer we were shown a spot at a restaurant there where they supposedly got engaged)...

... and then headed out to our next stop - King's Chapel. There were several stops along the tour where we opted to pay admission and go inside - Ben said he was fine with giving us the details from outside but we decided to go in and see everything for ourselves which was WELL WORTH it.  I had never even heard of a box pew before and we were all fascinated by this whole setup.

King's Chapel burying ground...

... the Benjamin Franklin statue...

... and Old City Hall.

Again with these old photos!

At the Old South Meeting House there were period clothes and a tea setup...

... and then the kids made paper mache hats, destroyed them (like dumping the tea) and got to go up in the pulpit.  Our guide said this was the first time he'd seen people go up in the pulpit so I'm not sure why/how they just told them to go up there but it was cool!

Next stop was the Old State House which will never not blow me away.  The Declaration of Independence was read for the first time on that balcony - HOW COOL IS THAT?!?!?!

We checked out the museum inside which was also great.

I CAN NOT.

This is super random - but at the end of the exhibit they had this "tell us how you really feel" wall...

... and this made me laugh for way too long.  I want to know the backstory to whoever wrote this because it seemed super pointed. hahahaha

Next up we stopped in to the Heritage Room at Union Oyster House.  In the pics Mason is holding an original copy of the Massachusetts Spy Or, Thomas’s Boston Journal dated November 11, 1773, printed by patriot printer Isaiah Thomas in this very room over 250 years ago.

My kids are getting too tall for our "typical family photo" pose at this point.  I feel like we always just file in and apparently I now need to be in the front row.  WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN?!?!?!

On the tour Ben's typical lunch spot is the Union Oyster House but since the majority of our group isn't the biggest seafood fans (I know! I wish I liked it! hahaha) we opted for his recommended stop in the North End.

I forgot to snap a pic before we started but this caprese was UNREAL!!!

G and I shared gnocchi and arancini....

... the boys got calzones and Dave got lobster ravioli and everything was amazing.  This meal was a highlight of the trip for me. 

LOVE the North End!

 

Next we stopped by the coolest bakery...

... market...

... and despite being stuffed we managed to put down a chocolate croissant (from the little bakery).  I know that everyone RAVES about cannoli's in the North End but none of us are really cannoli fans (GASP!) but I'll be dreaming about this croissant for a long time. 

 

The next stop was the Paul Revere house (no photos allowed inside)...

... the Paul Revere statue...

... Copp's Hill Burying Ground (where we got to feel a marker that had musket ball marks in it)...

... and then we wrapped up at The Old North Church.

If that seems like a lot it's because it absolutely was. hahaha. 

By the end we were EXHAUSTED physically and mentally.  It was SO MUCH information to take in and so much to see but I am so glad we did the Freedom Trail this way.  I will add... Griffin was over it.  She's 12 and not super into history (which I think is probably not atypical for kids her age)  but she still learned a lot and said she liked it.  I think all three kids will be able to look back on the sites they saw and places we visited as they learn more about American history and that was really the goal we had in coming to Boston. 

We ubered back to the hotel...

... and pretty much immediately passed out ;)

We got up and decided to head across the street to the Boston Public Library and check it out since we'd been looking at the GORGEOUS courtyard from our hotel the previous couple of days.

We couldn't get over how huge and absolutely beautiful the building was. 

The reading room was a dream!

Like - how awesome would it be to be able to come here to read and study.  It was absolutely stunning. 

This is the courtyard we'd been eyeing.  The tall building in the background is the Westin and our room was one of those corner rooms about 3 floors from the top (I think) so we had a perfect view of it.

They were closing so we didn't have long to walk around but just getting to see the building was a highlight. 

After that we decided to walk down to the Charles River Esplanade.  Luke had been running every day from the hotel down to the esplanade and so he showed us the way and it was a fun little walk.

 

At this point it was getting late and when I threw out the idea of finding somewhere to sit down and eat I was met with heavy sighs and so we ended up at Raising Cane's for the boys...

... Chick-Fil-A for Griffin....

... and a room service turkey club for me.  While it wasn't my original plan it ended up being great.  Everyone was fed and happy and that's really all that matters ;) 

This wrapped up our time in Boston before heading out to Cape Cod (with a special stop along the way!).  We absolutely LOVED the city - there was so much to see, it felt historic buy also modern, we never once felt uneasy/unsafe and it was easy to navigate.

If you have any questions - feel free to email me or drop them in the comments and I'll make sure to answer them on an upcoming post.