11/28/09

Vacation - Plymouth/Salem - Friday, September 25, 2009

We started out today where everything started for the America we know today.....Plymouth, Massachusetts. How cool to be right here where the pilgrims came to shore.

Well, here it is. Not what I expected but I'm not sure what I expected. Hummm.

Here's the famous rock. You can see 1620 engraved on it if you look really closely. Ditto to the previous statement, not what I expected.

Here's the shrine built around the famous Plymouth rock. If you look through the iron gate you can see the rock again.

Behind me and Daddy is a replica of the Mayflower. I would have never gotten on that small ship to sail across the ocean!

Plymouth is not short on churches, imagine that.

Churches here, churches there, chuches everywhere.


After seeing the rock, we drove from Plymouth to Salem through huge tunnels....


over cool bridges.......


....and under double decker bridges, too.


We drove along the shoreline.


And saw the skyline.


We saw fall.


And finally made it to the Salem Witch Museum for a step back in time to 1692, a time where 19 people were killed after being accused of being witches.


This place is a little scarey. I hope they are over the accusations....


......because I think I make a handsome little witch.


Oh no, Momma, Daddy!!!!! I'm sorry. I thought it was all over, this whole witch hunt thing!!


They got me, too. HELP!!!!! Somebody, call my grandparents!!!!!!


Thank goodness they let us go. But they made us come to the dungeon to see what happened to those accused of being witches. I don't think I want to pretend to be a witch again.

This poor man was crushed with stones because he wouldn't admit or deny being a witch.

This lady starved to death in the dungeon.

And these people, well, you can see what happened to them. Being accused of being a witch was horrible!! How sad, it was all made up by some bored school kids, can you believe that?!?

11/22/09

Vacation - Boston, Thursday, September 24, 2009

This was a really big day on our vacation. We saw tons of stuff. I hope you'll enjoy the day as much as we did. First we started off riding the subway into Boston. I read the newspaper just like the grown ups around me.

Our first stop was by the Cranary Burial Ground established in 1660, to see all the famous people buried there. This graveyard is right in the middle of downtown Boston, can you believe that?

We first saw the burial site of.....Samuel Adams.

And then we saw the grave of Paul Revere....."The British are coming."
We also found Paul Revere's daddy's grave. Guess what his name is......Paul Revere!!! Not very original, huh?

And did you wonder where under the earth went Mother Goose? She's here!!!

And here's the site of John Hancock's grave. We also saw the graves of the victims of the Boston Massacre (March 1770), and the parents of Benjamin Franklin.

Next we started walking the Freedom Trail.

Across from the burial ground is King's Chapel.

King's Chapel is not that impressive from the street but it is very old. It wasn't open so this is all we got to see. This building was finished in 1754. Wow, that's very old.

This is Old City Hall. It was finished in 1865 and was used as City Hall until 1969.

Outside of City Hall Momma said she was going to take a ride on Daddy's back and she jumped up on this Donkey??

Concrete, Cars, and Buildings....where's the grass??

The sign tells it all. What a historical place this is.

Here's a clock tower.

Quincy Market/Faneuil Hall Marketplace AKA the "Cradle of Libety" is a public market and meeting hall built in 1742 that remains open today. Years ago, people like Sam Adams used to stand in the hall and thrill people with their anti-England rhetoric, fueling the fires of freedom. Aren't we grateful?

This was Daddy's favorite place.....Cheer's....."Where everybody knows your name."

We thought the Original Oyster House was on the Causeway in Spanish Fort. Do you think we should tell them that it's really in Boston?

The "Oldest Tavern in America" 1796.

Momma....I think he's bored stiff, come on, let's go.

The oldest house remaining in Downtown Boston built in 1680 and purchased by silversmith, Paul Revere in 1770. From this small wooden house, Paul Revere started the midnight ride to warn Samuel Adams and John Hancock of the British troops march on Concord.

Here's our clan waiting to take a peek at what lies inside the Paul Revere House.

Thank's Mr. Revere for watching out for all of us.

This is where we stopped to have lunch in the park. I played in the fountain.

I wanted to go play ball with the school kids but the gate was locked.

"One if by land, Two if by sea" The night of April 18, 1775 the Old North Church sexton climbed to the steeple of this church and held high 2 lanterns to signal Paul Revere the British were approaching by sea, not by land.

As we walked the Freedom Trail, we passed the docks of part of the Boston Harbor. One boat, two boats, three boats, four hundred.

Next we came to the Charleston Navy Yard, one of the nations first ship yards. There we saw the U.S.S. Constitution built in 1797. It's the oldest warship of the U.S. Navy, built for the battle against the British. The U.S.S Constitution won no less than 42 battles, lost none, and was never captured by the enemy! It's nickname is "Old Ironsides."

Here the cannons peep out the side of the ship.

What a gun!!!

I thought we were going to take a nap when I saw the sleeping quarters.

This is a painting of "Old Ironsides."

This is the nation's first dry dock. They manuver the ship into the dock, shut the door behind it, and then drain the water creating a dry dock to work on the bottom of the ship. How cleaver!

Last on the Freedom Trail is the Bunker Hill Monument commemorating the battle of June 17, 1775 between the British and the colonial forces. "Don't fire till you see the whites of their eyes."

Crossing the Boston Harbor by boat we got pictures of the skyline.

Blue skies, blue water, and boats are everywhere you look.

Back on land we stopped by the New England Aquarium and visited the Sea Lions.

And the Penguins, too.

Continuing our journey we passed the Massachusett's State House. Wow, what a house!

And finally, we came to the Original Cheer's to eat supper.

Daddy, are you really going to eat all that? That's the famous NORM BURGER. Oh wow, Daddy ate the whole thing and was entered into the Norm Burger Hall of Fame! If you want to see his name go to: www.cheersboston.com/pub/main_normburger.html and look at the week of October 4th. Daddy, you're going to have a belly ache.
Well, this is it for today. We're on our way home.....once we find our car... and that's another story. Is this the right station, Daddy?