I know this is a few days late but here is what Cris and I did our last two days in Boston. On Friday we took the subway out to Boston College. It was a pretty nice campus. I think it was my favorite of the schools we visited. It was mostly all together in the same area… more of a “campus” feeling to it. We got to take a peek into the football stadium there. We then got back on the subway and headed to Boston University. This is a massive campus that sprawls along many blocks down Common Wealth Blvd. We then decided to head back to the hotel and just kind of relax. Cris ended up getting a pretty bad head ache so we just chilled and watched some TV. We then headed down to the Uno’s down the street and had dinner. Cris was feeling a little better after eating but we just headed back to the hotel. We then decided to head down to the bar in the hotel. We kept seeing it in the evenings when we would get back in and wanted to do so we finally made it our last night. We each had a couple of drinks and met a few locals hanging out at the bar. The bartender was pretty cool. The one guy we met, I think he works for a liquor or wine company and had this huckleberry vodka in his car and gave some to the bartender. The bartender then made what he called a huckleberry pipe martini. It looked pretty good and the people that tried it said it was good. We then headed back up to our room and watched the end of the Sox’s game, then went to sleep.

We woke up on Saturday, got breakfast and then started to get ourselves ready. We had packed up most of our stuff the other night and just had to get the last minute items and other odds and ends in our bags. We then just kind of hung out at our room until 11:00 or so. We then checked out and got a cab. This cabbie was a little less scary however he was rather speedy. We made it to the airport in no time, checked our bags and made it through security very easily. There was only like two people ahead of us at security so it wasn’t too bad. We then had just over 4 hours to kill at the airport. We walked around and found that the area we were is was pretty small. However, we did find a Starbucks and had a cup of coffee. We then sat in the food court and watched a plane taxi in and unload. It was kind of interesting watching what goes on with a plane once it lands. We then got some lunch and headed back to our gate. While sitting there I noticed more and more people in fatigues gathering around us. It turned out that we had a lot of military on our flight.

Our flight back was pretty good. We were in clouds most of the time but it was a pretty smooth go. We landed right about on time. We then made our way to baggage claim, got our bags and headed out to find mom and dad. Just has we were about at the door I saw their car go by but there was no way I could call them fast enough to get them to stop. So we made our way outside and I called mom. They swung around and picked us up. We then headed home where I was greeted by a very happy puppy.

All in all it was a pretty good trip. There were a few things that were a little of a disappointment but Boston is a pretty cool city. If nothing else it was nice to just get away from things for a while. But I am glad to be home with my puppy and back in my routine.

This morning, after breakfast Cris and I got ready and headed to the train station. We were heading to a place called Downtown Crossing. It was suppose to be a lot of shopping, restaurants and bars. Well it was very disappointing. Besides the Prudential Center, there really aren’t any malls around here. They have squares that you have to run around the streets looking for stores. We went into a few stores but ended up walking back toward the hotel and stopped at a few places here.

We then headed back to our favorite spot, the Prudential Center, and had lunch. We then decided the head back up to the Skywalk Observatory since it was a nice clear sunny, not so humid day. It was much clearer up there and we got some even better shots than the last time we went up.

After that we came back to the hotel for a little bit then headed out to find the Harpoon Brewery. They had a tasting a 4 today. We left at 2 knowing that we had to go to a new station and then try to find their bus line. It’s a good thing we left early. We transferred trains just find and got to the new station without a problem. It was then trying to find the bus line that caused a bit of a head ache. The web site for Harpoon said to look for certain signs that were no where to be found. So after walking around a lot we stopped to ask someone for help. However, this guy was helping a couple that didn’t speak English and we think he told them how to get all around Boston. Then this lady just cut in front of us to ask a question. Then the guy pointed out our way. We headed down the stairs and waited for our bus. It finally showed up and we were on our way. The bus stop was right across the street from the brewery which was nice for a change. We usually ended up having to walk a good amount to where ever we are going and go out of our way. We couldn’t do that this time. We did show up a little early but that was ok because this way we got bar stools. The tasting lasted about 45 minutes. The guy who was leading the tasting hasn’t been there long but did a very good job. Cris and I both tasted their Summer Ale, Dark Ale, Raspberry Wheat and Hard Cider. They were all pretty good… we wanted to get some of the Raspberry Wheat to bring back with us but they only had cases of it cold.

After all the beer we headed back to the hotel then went to dinner. We ate at this place called B. Good. It was kind of a healthy alternative to everything else we have been eating. We then headed back to the hotel to rest for the next day. Tomorrow is our last full day in Boston. We are going to be heading to Boston College and Boston University. Saturday we will be packing up the last of our stuff, checking out, going to the airport and spending time there and then flying back home.

This morning Cris and I got up and finished our pizza from last night. We had also gone down to get some coffee and plates. We also had the Boston Cream Puffs that we bought last night. We then got ready and headed out for the day. We went to the Aquarium first and realized that we could see an Imax movie in about 20 minutes so we decided to do that first. We saw a 3D movie about the Colorado River running through the Grand Canyon. It was more about how the river is drying up and how building more cities that use the river are hurting it further. It was a little more eco-friendly than I thought it was going to be but it was still kind of cool to see the Grand Canyon in 3D. It did feel like we were there with these people.

After the movie we moved into the Aquarium. I had been seeing signs saying that Sharks and Rays were now in Boston. Well today we finally got to see what they were talking about. We got to see a couple sharks and a few different kind of sting rays. We also saw lost of penguins, big and little turtles, all kinds of fish in many different sizes, some electric eels, multi-colored frogs and jelly fish. I took some pictures and Cris took some videos. It was a little crowded in the aquarium but we had a good time. It was neat seeing all the fish… especially the really large ones.

Once we left the aquarium we headed down to a dock to buy tickets to take a ferry across the harbor to the U.S.S. Constitution. I thought the ferry would have gone a little faster but it was a nice ride. The sun was shinning and there was a nice wind making the slow go not so bad. We finally reached the other dock and had a bit of a walk around to the Navy Yard. We had to go thru security and just missed a guided tour so we had to wait about 20 minutes for the next one. We again found ourselves sitting on a park bench but this time we had someone besides ourselves to talk to. We had our tour guide talking with us and a few others that were waiting. Luckily the breeze was pretty strong and helped keep us a little cooler in the sun. We finally were able to board the ship. For those that don’t know the Constitution is the oldest commissioned ship that still sails. This was one of the original six ships made for the US Navy… the only one still around. They are currently in the process of renovating the top deck of the ship and had it stripped down a bit. We didn’t get to see the full masts since they had to take them down. However, we did get to see the gun deck and some of the cannons. We then went to the birthing deck, which is where the sailors lived while on the ship. We learned a lot about the ship and the Navy. Our tour guide did a good job.

After the tour we went into the visitor center where they had a few things set up to look at. Then we headed back down to the dock to catch the ferry back to the aquarium area. From there we got back onto the train and headed to the hotel. I think we really do have this subway thing down pretty good. After resting at the hotel for a little bit we headed to the Prudential Center for dinner. The Prudential Center has become a favorite place of ours. I think we have been there four days of the six that we have been here. After dinner we walked to an ice cream place called J.P. Licks. This place is like a mix between an ice cream place and a bar… the music was so loud I couldn’t hear myself think. As we were sitting and eating it started to rain. It didn’t last very long though… by the time we were down it had stopped. I guess ten minutes of rain over six days isn’t too bad. It was raining when we landed but cleared up by late afternoon. Tomorrow we are going to be heading to Downtown Crossing which is shopping and the Harpoon Brewery.

This morning we had a rude awaking… the phone in our room started ringing around 4:30. Luckily whoever was calling didn’t try to call back after we didn’t answer the phone. We then went back to sleep. I didn’t sleep real well… my knee was kind of bugging me and I couldn’t seem to find a position that it wouldn’t hurt. We finally got out of bed a little after 8 and started our day.

Went to the subway and headed out to Fenway Park. Our plan was to do Fenway, Boston College and Sam Adams. But since after getting off the train and following the one sign that said Fenway we walked probably a mile out of our way, in a circle before even seeing the park. Plus we did this in the sun and heat. Then we walked thru the tour, which wasn’t quite what we thought it wasn’t going to be. We were thinking that we would be seeing parts of the park that not an average person going to a game would see but that wasn’t the case. They just took us to a few different parts of the seats. We did get to see the park from a few different view points but still not what we thought it would be.

After the tour we headed to the team store to get shirts and then headed across the street to the McDonalds. We had a quick lunch and then realized that we could probably just walk back to our hotel. It took us about 30 minutes to walk back but saved us a lot of time trying to figure out where train station was. We didn’t make it to Boston College or Sam Adams. I don’t think we will be going to the Sam Adams Brewery Tour. It is a little out of the way and there is nothing else close to it.

After resting for a bit at the hotel we decided to hop on the train and head to the north end to go to a restaurant called Pizzeria Regina. The pizza was pretty good and we brought some back with us. The north end is mostly Italian and we had some loud Italian guys sitting not to far from us. Cris said at one point that she felt like she was in an episode of Sopranos. But they keep us entertained. We then went to an Italian bakery called Mike’s Pastries. We picked up dessert and a few things for the morning. We then got back on the train with all our goodies and headed back toward the hotel. We made a quick pit stop at the 7-11 to pick up some drinks and forks. We then made our way to the hotel and called it a day. Tomorrow we are planning on going to the U.S.S. Constitution and the Aquarium.

After breakfast today, Cris and I headed out for the Freedom Trail. This is a three mile walk thru downtown Boston and the North End. There is a red line on the ground that you can follow or you can take a guided tour. We decided to head out by ourselves. It starts at Boston Common, which we walked around a little bit before starting the trail. It wasn’t quite what we were expecting but some parts were kind of interesting. We did get to see the resting place of Paul Revere, Sam Adams and John Hancock. We also saw some pretty neat statues and went to Paul Revere’s house. The one bad thing was that it was hot, sunny and kind of humid outside. This made it a bit tougher to keep going.

We finally decided to just head to the Hard Rock for an early dinner. Our waitress was pretty cool and kept us entertained. She then told us a short cut to get back to the train. It did involve going up a lot of steps but it saved us from walking a long way to the other station. We then got back to our hotel and just rested. We are both a little sore but we are still going.

Tomorrow we are going to head to Fenway Park, Sam Adams Brewery and maybe Boston College. We are going to be taking the train out that way. I think we have the subway pretty much figured out so we shouldn’t get lost. I will post more tomorrow.

Today we started our day with breakfast and then headed out for our day. We headed to the subway. There is a station right by our hotel and one across the street. We headed down the stairs to the one by us but found out that we needed to head to the one across the street. We had to get what they call a Charlie Card to put money on for our fares. We were lucky because once we got things figured out a train was just pulling into the station. We only had to go three stops on the green line and then switch to the red line. We again went down the wrong set of stairs but figured things out again and got over to the right train. We finally made it to the Harvard stop and made our way back above ground.

We were right by the main part of the Harvard Campus. We walked around some of the area and saw the statute of the founder of Harvard. After walking around the campus we went in search of stores. We went into a few and got some things. We both picked up Harvard shirts and a few other odds and ends. We then grabbed lunch then went back to the subway. We made it back to our transfer station and again went up the wrong steps. However, there was a nice Bostonian that helped us figure out where we needed to go. The subway is pretty nice. It was kind of an interesting experience. We did make a fiend on the train that we kept running into until we lost him on campus.

Once we got back to our station we headed back to the hotel and just hung out for a little bit. It was pretty warm and muggy out today and we were a little worn out. We then decided to head to a German restaurant that we had read about. We took the train once again out there. The food was pretty good. Cris had a German beer and I had a white Belgian beer (I was thinking of you while drinking it Scott). The waitress talked us into trying this really awesome dessert and then we really just needed to head back to the hotel and rest up. So we decided to call it an early night and started our walk back to the hotel. We made a side trip by a cemetery. Then we were right by the public garden and Cris suggested that we try to see the brass ducks to see if we could get pictures. We got lucky and got our pictures with the big duck. We then finished out trek to the hotel and are now watching comedy on TV. Our favorite, Dane Cook, is coming up next so this will be a short post tonight.

Tomorrow we are going to be heading downtown and starting the Freedom Trail. I am sure we will stray from the trail from time to time. I will post about it tomorrow night.

Today we slept in a little getting up a little after 8. We got dressed and went down to the lobby to get breakfast. They have a decent spread with doughnut sticks, bagels (with cream cheese), big muffins, fresh fruit, coffee, hot chocolate and orange juice. We got our stuff and headed back to our room. After eating breakfast we got ready for our day and headed out. We started by going over to the next street to do some shopping. This street is called Newbury Street and is shopping heaven. However, most of the stores are more of high end stores so we really didn’t do too much shopping. Though when we reached the first end of the street we found the public garden which is kind of a small version of Central Park in NY. We walked all around the garden (park) looking at the statues and taking pictures of flowers (a favorite medium of mine). We tried to get a picture of the brass ducks but there were too many kids around playing on them. We might try again if we are by the park. We worked our way around to where we started and headed the other way down Newbury. This seemed like a never ending street. We finally made the turn around and headed back to our beginning. We did make one stop at a candy store. It seems like a popular store to see around here… we are eating some of our goodies as I type this. We then decided to skip the last block and just head to the hotel to drop off our stuff and figure out where we wanted to go to lunch. We decided to go to the Cheers Bar. I had printed out a map to get there before we left on the trip so I pulled it out to see how we get there. As it turns out it was right by the public garden. We got ready and started our walk. We took a slightly different route than earlier today. We got there and it was pretty crowded. Cris was going to take my picture under the Cheers sign but there was an employee (good looking guy) who asked if we wanted him to take a picture of the two of us together. We said sure and Cris handed over the camera. We then went inside and found out it would have been like a 20 minute wait for a table but that we could eat at the bar. So we pulled up two bar stools and spent our time at the bar. We got a blueberry ale that was pretty good. However, we got it in the souvenir mug that seemed to be bottomless. We both got burgers which were pretty good. It was very crowded in there… it seemed to be a constant stream of people. We finally finished our beer and headed to the gift shop. One of the girls working there was originally from the Kalamazoo area. We then decided to head back to the hotel to rest a bit before heading out for dinner and other stuff. We power walked our way to the hotel and were thankful to see our bed. We just kind of hung out, I did the post on the first day and did some uploading of pictures. It was at that point that we realized just how much we had walked, which we figured had been close to four miles or more. Then we decided to head back to the Prudential Center to go to the food court so Cris could finally get her clam chowder and I got some orange chicken and rice. We then headed further into the Prudential Center and stumbled upon the Skywalk Observatory. We went up to the 50th floor and were able walk around and see a 360 degree view of Boston. It was a little hazy out today but we got some good shots. We even saw a cruise ship out in the ocean and watched a few planes land. We then made the rather quick elevator ride back down to the main floor and headed back to the shopping area. We saw a sign for the Cheesecake Factory so we went to find it. There was quite a line so we decided to try back another day. Then we headed across the street to the Apple store. This is a three floor store with just computers, MP3 players, phones and software. It was kind of neat getting to play with the new iTouch phones. When we left there we were walking back to the hotel and decided to stop at one of the many Starbucks around. We spent a little time there and watched the Boston Fire Department respond to a call at I think an apartment building. Though they didn’t get out their hoses but they did go into the building in their gear. We left before anything major happened. We are now at our room for the night. We decided to call it a day a little early to let our feet rest. I think we are going to be heading out to an area called Harvard Square tomorrow, which is more shopping. That is if we can figure out the subway and not spend all day going back and forth on the train… wish us luck!!!

On Friday, July 4, 2008, Cris and I headed to Boston. Our flight left a little after 10 a.m. Mom and Dad dropped us off at the airport and mom only cried a little. Since we were flying Northwest I wanted to make sure we made it to the airport early to give us plenty of time to check our bags. We were able to do that outside and in little time. We then moved on to security. The line was a little long but was moving pretty quickly. It was a lot easier to get thru security with two people. We took our shoes off and got all of our things in the bins. We both got thru the metal detectors without any problems and were not frisked. Then we grabbed our stuff, put our shoes back on and made our way to the terminals. We discovered that our gate was all the way at one end of the terminal… thank goodness for moving sidewalks! Though we did make a pit stop at the Caribou Coffee and got some really good coffee. Then we finished our trek across the airport. We finally got to our gate and had quite a bit of time to kill. We got a few pictures at the airport. I will be posting all pictures on snapfish when I get home and will be sending the link to those that want to see them (I will be posting a few select pics here though). Finally it was time to board the plane. We first had to wait for the first class passengers to board, then it was our turn. We handed over our boarding passes and headed down the ramp toward the plane. We had to stop just outside the plane and I thought Cris was going to run back up the ramp into the airport. But we made it on the plane and found our seats. We weren’t suppose to be sitting by each other but as it worked out the seat next to Cris was empty so I moved next to her. The flight was pretty smooth. We did have some freefall at the start but nothing too major. Then as we got closer to Boston the cloud cover increased and it got a little bumpy. Though we did end up landing about 20 minutes early. The landing was super smooth… we even thank the pilot for such a nice flight. We got lucky at Logan Airport… our gate was real close to the baggage claim area. We got our bags and headed for the taxi area. We had been scared about our flight out here but it was nothing compared to the fear we had on our cab ride to the hotel. We went the wrong way down one way streets, almost hit a girl on her bike and made maneuvers that fighter jet pilots can’t even make. Once we finally found the hotel (The Charlesmark Hotel) Cris and I were thankful to be alive and got our bags from the cabbie. We thought that we would have to just pre-check in and get to our room later since we were about three hours early. However, we were pleasantly surprised that we were able to check in and go to our room since it was ready for us. We checked things out and got settled in and decided to go have our first meal of the day. We went to the California Pizza Kitchen which is at the Prudential Center. On our way thru the Prudential Center we saw some pretty cool stores including a candy store. We stopped there after eating and could have bought pretty much one of everything but controlled ourselves and just got a few items. We then stopped at a Walgreens to get drinks and a snack for later. After lounging in our room for a little bit we decided to head down to the river to see what was happening with the fireworks. There were a lot of people there so we decided to find a spot. Now we didn’t have anything to sit on and it had rained the day before and early yesterday so the ground was still pretty wet. Luckily Cris spotted an empty bench and we took it. At the time it was facing the wrong way but we knew that we could just stand up when the fireworks started. It also worked out good because we were right front and center for the fireworks. We did have to sit on that bench for about 6 hours but it was well worth it. We weren’t able to see the Boston Pops and Rascle Flatts that were performing but they did have it over loud speakers. The fireworks show was spectacular. It put all other firework shows to shame as far as Cris and I are concerned. I was able to video record the show so we will always remember it. Right after the show ended Cris and I started our way back to the hotel. But with half a million people there it was a slow process at times. We had to cross a main road (which was closed) on a bridge and that was the tough part. Once we got to the other side it was pretty clear sailing. We got back to the room a little after 11 and were pretty tired but wired. We watched a little TV, downloaded pictures and videos and then got ready for bed. I will post about today’s adventure later tonight.

Here are a few pictures of our first day…

Today my puppy, Abigail Merlot, turns three. I can’t believe how quickly time has passed. It seems like only yesterday that I was picking up this 12 week old puppy from my brothers house. At that time she was so small and skinny that I would carry her on my shoulder. I kind of miss those days but I am glad she learned how to get up and down the stairs… there is no way I could carry her now that she is over 50 pounds! Abby is such a good dog. I wish I could keep some of her DNA and have clone after clone of her. But then again, I wouldn’t want a dog obsessed with pizza (like in the movie Multiplicity). I also believe that Abby has the spirits of dogs pasted with her. Go ahead and laugh if you want but I do believe that white “orbs” in photographs are spirits caught on film (or memory card). In a lot of pictures of Abby she has two to four “orbs” with her. I like to believe that they are Nicky, Cookie, Murray and Jo-Jo. So Happy Birthday my puppy.