En route to Boston, we made a stop in Erie, Pennsylvania the first night because no trip is complete unless we do some birding.
Unfortunately, our camera batteries died while in Erie so we couldn't take any photos of the thousands of red-breasted mergansers that littered the waters at Presque Isle. So, our first photos of the trip are from Parker River National Wildlife Refuge in Massachusetts. As you can see from the sign below, much of the beach was closed for the nesting seasons of Piping Plovers.
Before we got to MA, we stopped in Ithaca for lunch at the famous Moosewood Restaurant. The food there was as wonderful as it is reputed to be, I was happy to note. I am now tempted to get one of their cookbooks.
In Boston, we did The Freedom Trail to hit some of the historic sites that ds#2 and I have recently studied together in the What Your 3rd Grader Needs to Know and What Your 4th Grader Needs to Know books. The first picture is the State House, with dh and the boys in front, taken from Boston Common.
This next one is of me and the boys at the statue of Ben Franklin in front of what was the first public school in the U.S. (kind of funny for us since we're homeschoolers).
And finally, Paul Revere's house (with a large group of school kids on a fieldtrip):
We stayed at the Westin in a very convenient downtown location. And if you think vacation is all fun and games, here's a photo of ds#1 doing homework for his botany co-op class:
A visit to Boston wouldn't be complete, for those of us with kids who have read Make Way for Ducklings a few million times, without a trek to the Public Garden, which, luckily for us, was just a few blocks (a few twisted Boston blocks akin to navigating through different dimensions) from the hotel.
Here are the famous swan boats:
We had dinner on our last night in Boston at the Top of the Hub Restaurant which is on the 52nd floor of the Prudential Tower. What a view!
After Boston, we headed south to DE to clear out more of the stuff in dh's dad's house. It was quite an experience going south on I95 (right through NYC) and the New Jersey Turnpike. Then it got worse arriving at the house to mildewed sheets left damp in the dryer by dh's brother's family who were there the previous weekend taking away all the furniture. I was up until 12:30a.m. re-laundering the sheets and towels as well as cleaning the bathroom. Luckily, we had a pretty nice lunch in Mystic, CT. One can weather boorish behavior better on a full stomach.
I am just thrilled to be home, as much as I enjoyed Boston and all the fabulous seafood there. Often, I find, one needs a vacation to recuperate after a vacation.
And I hope to be back visiting everybody's blogs within the next day or two! :)
"To accomplish great things, we must dream as well as act." ~ Anatole France (1844 - 1924)
