Friday, June 9: Boston Day #1

I'm starting today's blog wearing slightly damp pajamas. Slightly damp clothes bedeck the railings and doorknobs, and hang in the closets. Tonight, for a few moments, I finally opened the book I brought along... in the laundromat. Six days of traveling times 7 people = quite a pile of laundry. It was done in a zip in the laundromat, for a grand total of $26.50. Wow! That isn't cheap. Thus I refused the last $2 dryer load, and we hung the remaining damp items around the house. 

My blog start time tonight is 9:15pm. That's typical for this trip. We spend the day in travel activities, make our way to our AirBNB for the night, grab some groceries to make our dinner, and settle in for the evening. Tonight Tobias had a bath and said his first 4-word phrase to Greg: "Papaw read books please." His words are not distinct, but we are catching most of them because we hear them frequently. He loves to attribute sneezes to people, whether they sneezed or not. Etta Grace gets the most blame:

    "Etta achoo."

    "Etta didn't sneeze."

    "Papa achoo."

    "Papa didn't sneeze." 

And we go through everyone in the family. His language is exploding. It is such a miracle to listen to a child learn language. I marvel at the experience each time I am privy to its process.

Kaylyn and I spent several hours last night figuring out how to visit Boston. Transportation is a major challenge. She took on figuring out Boston's "T." She had to find the station closest to our AirBNB, find where to buy a ticket, what kind of ticket to buy, and how to use the "T" to get from here to where we were going. We decided that since it looked like a rainy day (and it was) we would take advantage of a duo trolley/cruise deal, but of course the website wouldn't let her book the cruise using the trolley discount.... In the end she worked it all out. She is amazing! 

At the station we studied this map and discovered part of the problem. There are two Chestnut Hill stations, one "Chestnut Hill" and the other, "Chestnut Hill Avenue." This was one source of our troubles. Must they confuse us so much? 

We departed the house at 10:00. By 10:30 we had found the 7-11 where we needed to buy the "T" pass, then found the parking lot for the "T" and parked. By 11:30 we were off the "T" at our station stop, and by noon we were at the harbor. Another half hour and we had straightened out the ticket kerfuffle and were waiting to board our cruise. I'll let Lydia take over for a while:

Lydia's Journal:

The first thing on the to-do list was a harbor cruise. It was beautiful and educational. There were so many different buildings, all of which were surprisingly new for such an old city. The guide explained why: she said that Boston used to have a filthy harbor and the shores were covered in trash and sewage. 

Most of the trash came from the Spectacle Island which was what Boston used for a dump. Eventually to stop the trash from floating into the harbor anymore they set it all on fire. But, unexpectedly, the fire decided to light on and off for another ten years until it eventually went out! After that the city covered the island with dirt and now it's the tallest island in Boston harbor. 

They also recycle sewage! Liquids go into the filters and are turned into drinkable water! And solids are made into fertilizer. 

So, now that the shore and water is clean they are building many new buildings. Now, what do you think of that? 

The guide pointed out a rusty old bridge that had been stuck in the open position for years.

Also we admired many planes that passed almost right above us, all of which were heading to the airport right next to us. There was a port where boats could come and get all of their [shipping containers] unloaded. There were colorful boxes everywhere on the shore. We also saw the longest running battle ship in the world. It was [Old Ironsides] built in 1797 and is still water-worthy. 

Another interesting fact: Three-quarters of all of Boston [harbor area] is on what is called "manmade land" which means that it's dirt that was dug up from [a tunneling project] and slowly, over many years, placed along the shore to "make" more land. 

The guide told us the story of the "Boston Molasses-a-cur." A catastrophe involving tons of molasses, used to make rum. One time there was so much that the container exploded and 12,000 tons of molasses hurled through the streets at about 35 miles per hour. This horrible accident killed 22 people. It was in the news the next day, "Molasses-a-cur."

Tomi Fay again:

It was time to find Chris a meal of fish by the sea. Kaylyn found an excellent restaurant that serves fish-and-chips. It wasn't by the sea, but it was raining outside. Does that count? Chris finally got his desired fish-and-chips, so he can leave New England a happy man. Kaylyn and Lydia shared a lobster roll. Greg and I ordered more conventional food to share a bit with Tobias. When Kaylyn heard the waiter tell someone at the next table they served bread pudding, she had to have that for dessert. The waiter kindly brought out several spoons. 

In the drizzle we headed over to the Children's Museum for a bit of play on their playground. Tobias found a plastic truck that someone had abandoned, so he went home happy. 

The walk to the "T", changing from one line to another to ride back to our stop, and finally the drive back to the house took nearly two hours. While I did laundry, Kaylyn and Chris did errands, and Greg cooked dinner. We dined, surrounded by damp clothes. 

11:30 pm - ready to post the blog.... With interruptions while Kaylyn and I figured out tomorrow. 

Children's Activity:

We talked about molasses today. Molasses was a commonly-used sweetener in the early days, and has good nutritional qualities. Can you make a recipe using molasses? Perhaps baked beans, or a BBQ, or Boston brown bread, or even.... yes... cookies!