Boston in the rear view mirror (or should I say from my window seat).
The sky from my window seat including a ring around the sun.
Almost home to Tampa. I could see south Tampa and the Davis Islands yacht basin.
Right before landing we flew over south Tampa.
The penguins were so much fun to watch.
Up close with some pretty fish.
The best was the octopus. It was awake and moving around. I’ve only ever seen them balled up in a corner. This one was right on the glass, looking at us.
The seals were our favorite though. I think that one seal was making faces at us, telling us what he thinks about us. The seal exhibit is outside with a view of the harbor. They were probably saying “Break that glass lady and let us out.”
Since we were a 10 minute walk to the aquarium in Boston, we spent a few hours visiting before dinner.
Fall colors in the city.
More shots from Boston.
This big mural was near our hotel. It was beautiful to see it up close.
We finally stood in line at Boston’s famous Mike’s Pastry Shop for dessert one night. This was not a long line. We only waited about 15 minutes. Besides all of the cannoli flavors they had listed across the wall, there were cases of other desserts as well. Brett got several different cannolis and I got a slice of Nutella cheesecake. It was awesome!
Heading out for a long walk in Boston.
A statue of Samuel Adams.
Lots of things to see in Boston. We walked all over that city and that was just the first day. After our half day whale watching trip we walked over to Boston Common Park and walked around that area before heading to the hotel to rest up for dinner.
Our first night we had dinner at the North End. We didn’t make it into the famous Mike’s Pastry shop until the 2nd night. The first night the line was several blocks down the street. Instead we headed over to Quincy’s market before heading back to our hotel for the night.
This is exactly how I pictured New England. Sailboats and lighthouses. The big eggs are the Deer Island Sewage Treatment plan.
We took a half day whale watching trip one day and it was sunny and warm when we left the Boston harbor. The farther out we went, the worse the weather got. Dark and foggy and then freezing rain.
I saw my first wild northern gannet. They were pretty far out and would fly off when the boat started to get close. One of the bird rescue sanctuaries in the Tampa area has a few of them that were rescued at some point over years off the coast of Florida but I’ve never seen them flying out in the wild. We saw several during the trip.
An hour and 40 minutes later we found some whales. We had traveled over 40 miles since the whales were moving farther away for the winter. Everyone who had been huddling in the warm cabin came out in the freezing drizzle. There were a lot of whales that were close to the boat but none of them breached and came out head first. Most of the ones we saw were Minke and Fin whales. It was a lot of fun and everyone was really excited. My husband was not that impressed. He said they just look like really big dolphins. He’s not wrong but it was still a fun afternoon.
When we got back to the Boston harbor it was sunny and mild again. Since I have a tendency to get seasick, I had a patch on for the boat trip. I’m glad I did because even though it was sunny and calm in the harbor, it was rough out there away from the harbor and many people were getting sick. They passed out ginger candy as we left but I think many people thought they would be fine since it was calm in the harbor.
We found out towards the end of our visit that Chinatown was really close to our hotel. A 15 minute walk. So our last night there we headed over early to walk around and then have dinner.
Some of the murals. Everything was bright and colorful.
We also found the theater district on our walk back to the hotel.
Built in 1936, this historic lighthouse boat was renovated and was up for sale earlier this year for only $5M. We didn’t hear if it sold.
Views from the northern end of the harbor include the USS Constitution ship build in 1797. It’s docked at the former Charlestown Navy Yard and you can tour it but we never made it over there (gotta save something for the next trip). It’s exactly what I pictured would be sitting in the harbor here.
Bright yellow leaves in front of the North End.
Another view from the back of the boat.
A view heading into Charlestown from our trolley tour.
The Boston harbor looked just like I thought it would. Old sailboats and tugboats.
We passed lots of boats as we took our sightseeing tour around the bay.
The view of Long Island. The buildings were a chronic disease hospital during the 40’s and was the inspiration for the movie Shutter Island. The Island has been empty since 2014 due to the bridge being unsafe and closed. 214 acres and no access. Some day someone will buy it, build a new bridge and build expensive homes. They should turn it into a park.
The gravestones are so old that you can’t read most of them. The King’s Chapel Burying Ground cemetery in Boston is the oldest cemetery in the city and one of the oldest in the country. We stumbled on it while walking over to Boston Commons to see the park. Many famous people in Boston’s history are buried here and it’s said to be haunted (of course). When it first started people were buried in all different directions and at some point in the 1800’s the gravestones were lined up and the bodies now don’t line up with the headstones. It certainly had that spooky feeling.
Some graveyard birds (house sparrows).
The plaque in front of this cemetery says that Paul Revere started his midnight ride in this spot.
Samual Adams grave. He was a politician and a leader of what became the American Revolution. And yes, the beer is named after him (his family made malt back in the 1700’s)
The Central Burying Ground at Boston Common. We did not walk through here but passed by on a tour.
Pictures of the Boston harbor during our trip in early October.
You can see our tour boat in the reflection of the building.
The port side of Boston harbor where the big cargo ships and fishing boats come in.
Fort Independence that was built between 1833 and 1851.