Boston For The Holiday

When we were in San Francisco and staying with Jack we were introduced and hung around with a friend of his from Boston named Garrett who offered to show us around Boston when we were in town so we had been in touch with him as the day got closer. We touched base with him when we were on the road and he was waiting for his train which was delayed but he gave us an address to park the RV and told us how to get downtown so that is what we did. The weather was very overcast when we parked the RV but we got on the train and took it to Government Center and had a look around. We strolled a part of The Freedom Trail which is a walking tour around downtown which brings you to some historic sites related to the fight for Independence. The beauty of it is that it is marked out on the road by a red line (very similar to the cobblestoned line that runs through Berlin to signify the Berlin Wall) so you don't need to worry about following maps or anything difficult like that. After a couple of hours of walking around Garrett rang us to say he was back so we met him and headed back to his apartment and chilled out for the evening. Some of his friends came around and we chatted and caught up on the last two months.

Since July 4th was on a Saturday we hoped that the Friday would be considered a public holiday much like what happens when St. Patrick's Day falls on a weekend so we parked in the metered area outside Garrett's apartment for the night. The meters come on at 8am and we got up at 10am to find a parking ticket on the windshield. We got up straight away to move it and it was good that we did as the parking enforcer was doing their rounds again just as we pulled out. We chilled out in the apartment for the morning and got some food before heading over to one of Garrett's friends apartments in Little Italy for a party. People were playing Beer Pong and Flip Cup and other such shenanigans when we arrived but after a while the party moved inside. It was a good day and evening as we got to know a load of new people and got chatting about our trip and other stuff. We got incredibly good sliced pizza from a restaurant across the road called Fernestos - they have 16 varities of pizza slices to choose from - Emer got me the Buffalo Chicken which was incredible. The Red Sox game was on in the evening but unfortunately they lost which people were a bit upset about. People decided to head to a bar around midnight but we had all had enough so we got a cab back to Garretts and hit the hay.

The following morning was Independence Day. We knew there would be free parking so we brought the RV back to Garrett's and met him down at one of the locals, the Sunset Bar and Grill for food. The hot dog eating competition was on TV when we got there which is a 4th of July tradition. An American ate 68 hot dogs in 10 minutes to win the crown for the 3rd year in a row - it was quite disgusting to watch but strangely addictive too so you couldn't take your eyes off it. We got food and then headed back to the apartment with a few beers to watch the Red Sox game and celebrate America's Independence. There were fireworks and a free concert by Neil Diamond scheduled for when it got dark so Garrett was making calls during the day to see what people were doing to watch them. Nobody was interested in going downtown and having to deal with the crowds but he got hold of his friend Mary who lives on Bunker Hill. She has a roof deck with great views of the river and downtown so in the evening we headed over to her house. There was plenty of banter as the sun went down, we watched Neil Diamond and the free concert with the Boston Symphony Orchestra on TV and then went out on the deck to watch the stunning 30 minute fireworks show. Everyone was in agreement that it was amazing and then we partied a bit longer. One of Mary's friends had been on the jury for a murder trial and was given the night off so after midnight they headed to a bar so again we called it a night.

The following day Garrett was having a lazy Sunday before having to go back to work after the long weekend so we joined him for a while, watching the start of the Red Sox game with him. In the afternoon we decided to be tourists again so we got the T downtown and completed The Freedom Trail all the way across the river and up to Bunker Hill. On the way back to the train we stopped by Fernesto's for more slices of incredible pizza. The sun was shining and it was a great day to be walking around the city so lots of people were out. None of the restaurants in Little Italy take reservations so there were queues outside all the best ones. We got the train back to Garrett's and took it easy for the evening.

Monday morning and the alarm went off early to get us up to move the RV to a place with free parking which was easy to find thanks to Garrett's inside knowledge. We had a bit more of a nap before getting a train all the way to the aquarium. Here we boarded the boat to bring us out into the ocean where we were going Whale watching. At noon the boat left the harbour and went due east for 26 miles to a known Whale feeding ground. We were there a few minutes and we got the first sight of a humpback whale coming up for air. The boat moved closer and we saw the whale come up a few more times before it dove underwater, displaying it's tail fin above the water on the way. We watched this whale a couple of more times before moving away to find others which we did relatively easily and it was a good choice too. The next one we saw had a calf by it's side which was quite playful. It breached the water and splashed down a couple of times and also slapped it's tail off the water a few times. We stayed out for about an hour and had plenty of up close sightings of humpback whales so it was a very worthwhile trip. Upon our return to land we noticed we were close to site of the Boston Tea Party so we walked down to the river where it happened and we believed a replica ship to be. A concierge at one of the posh apartment complexes along the way informed us that the boat was up in Maine undergoing repairs and the shop had burned down twice in successive years so they hadn't rebuilt it. It was a little disappointing but we headed back to Garrett's in the evening and went for BBQ for dinner. Monday's are all you can eat wings so myself and Garrett went for that while the girls went for ribs. We all left the restaurant completely satisfied, we got some sundaes in McDonalds for dessert and then headed up to Garrett's to chill out for the evening.

Garrett had to go to Connecticut for work the following moring so we chose to head south to New York too but first we wanted to go and see the Harvard campus. We planned to leave the RV at the free parking and get a bus but the weather turned sour Tuesday morning so we drove instead. A bit of driving around in circles and we found a metered parking spot with a 2 hour limit so we filled the meter with quarters and lwaked around the campus. We found a free map with a walking tour through the famous campus so we followed that route. The campus, like the rest of the city really, is steeped in history and is unlike alot of American cities. Redbrick buildings dominate the campus and the cathedral is a stunning centerpiece to the whole place. It was nice to see the campus but the weather cut our stroll short and we headed back to the RV, had some lunch and then hit the road south to New York where we had a few people to visit.