Massachusetts Road Trip: Boston

It was finally time to visit Boston and, of course, I was feeling really sick.  But, I did my best to make sure I didn't miss out on the sites.  As I mentioned in my introduction, a trip to Boston was something I never really considered.  I now know why it wasn't on my bucket list.  It's full of history!!  It's very interesting history - but I never really paid that much attention to history in school... So I was a little lost ;-)

This is the main section of Boston that we visited.  The city really isn't that big so you can see a lot by walking.  But, it is busy and the roads go in every direction (I was told that the roads were made over old horse trails - makes sense why they are not exactly straight) so it is hard to get around.

We parked near the New England Aquarium and paid a huge parking fee of $35 for the day (no matter how short/long your stay was)!!  It is very hard to find a cheap parking rate unless you are willing to walk a long way!

I really didn't come to Boston with a plan of what I wanted to see.   So my question was:  When I go home, what one thing will people ask me if I saw/did it?  The big thing is the "Duck Boats"!  These things are driving all over the city giving tours.

This is the map for the tour we participated in.  As you can see, it gives a great tour of the land and then they drive into the water and give a tour in boat mode!!!

We decided to start with a duck boat tour.  That would give us a good idea of what and where we wanted to go back to visit on foot.  So we purchased our tickets (a booth was located just outside of our parking ramp) and then headed to Legal Seafoods for lunch.

My brother ordered oysters.  He likes them but we really wanted my kiddos to see the whole process.  The wait staff asked if he wanted them sweet or salty.  Kind of a strange question we thought but it was actually referring to the sauce they gave with it.

And then it was time for our tour!  We had to ride a bus to another location to get on the duck boat.  My kiddos were surprised to see that we were actually going on a different "bus" for the tour.

With this company we got 45 minutes on land and 45 minutes in water.

Our duck boat.

Our tour guide.

Old State House (picture taken from duck boat) - where the Declaration of Independence was first read and
the reenactment takes place every year on the 4th of July.

Going into the water.
We kept this part of the tour a secret from my kids so they were REALLY excited!

At the end of the tour we were all given duck call whistles.
Cute but these kiddos were driving me crazy!!!

After the tour it was time to see the city by foot.

It's not a city without entertainers looking for "tips".

One of the oldest places still in business.

Fun to see some "live" history.

Statue at the birth place of Paul Revere

This reminded me of my dad who LOVED biking!

We heard about this place and had to stop.
The line was crazy (and we were told it was slow for them) but it was worth the wait!

They have sooooo many cannoli flavors!!!!

Some of the cannoli's we tasted later - YUMMY!

Of course I had to test their cupcakes too!
Chocolate Peanut Butter and Carrot Cake.
So good!!

Look at all that yummy creamy peanut butter!!!

Of course, we couldn't leave the Italian side of town without getting some real Italian food!!
This is a delicious eggplant parmesan layered like a lasagna!

There was so much more to see but we were tired and ready to go home.  It's a great city and if you love American history you have to visit some day!!!