Boston!

So one of my bestest friends came to visit me over Labor Day weekend - which was AMAZING to have a true true friend with me in the flesh. She suggested that we go to Boston for a day trip over the Saturday she would be here. So we got up kind of early and set off on our drive to Boston. It was a 2 1/2 hour drive to the outskirts of the city and then we parked at a subway station, Alewife. We parked there and then took the subway into the city, to the downtown crossing.

We then took another subway up towards where Bunker Hill is. We looked up at Bunker Hill (it looks like a miniature version of the Washington Monument in D.C. but is not that miniature) and thought what is so special about this? We learned that Bunker Hill is not just a monument but was actually used in the Revolutionary War as a lookout and a place to shoot cannons from. So we had the grand idea to climb up the steps to the top.......all 298 steps........however many minutes that took later (not to mention we were coated with sweat) we had reached the top. The view was nice and luckily it was pretty breezy up there to cool us off and dry off our sweat! You would think the way up would be harder but I swear the way down was crazy. Our legs were shaking and feeling weak so both of us were holding on to the railing and going slower than old ladies! We heard a guy saying that it is hard on the lungs on the way up but harder on the legs on the way down ... so right!

After our 'adventure' we headed along to follow the Freedom Trail. We saw some old cemeteries, Paul Revere's house, some old churches, the old state house and just a bunch of areas of significant Revolutionary War history.

After our truly authentic Boston lunch (NOT - we ate at McDonalds) we saw some really cool street performers. It was a bunch of guys moving and break dancing who seemed to gather up a huge crowd. Then they were involving the audience by having six people get in the middle so that one of the performers could jump over them. SO they worked the crowd, played some music, danced and of course collected money (how could we not give some, they were so cool and super attractive as well) and then came the big finale. The crowd was pumped up and we waited and waited and then finally one of the guys ran up and jumped over the six people (they were bent over). It happened so fast but it truly was amazing. I will have to get the video clip of it to put up!!

Next stop was the Boston Commons - it was super pretty and a HUGE park. It was like two big parks right next to each other, but separated by a street. It was busy, lots of people sitting, enjoying music, walking, hanging out with their dogs AND then the best part ... the wedding party photos. Saturdays are a common wedding day but even more common I guess is getting your wedding pictures done at the Boston Commons. We creeped on the 3 different wedding parties we saw - some dresses were better than others...but all the flower girls were cute! They even had some swan boats in the pond, I wanted to go for a ride but the line was really long.

After a long but fun day in Boston we ended up in Chinatown and then a little touristy area near the subway station. My friend bought a Boston sweatshirt and I bought -of course- a keychain to add to my pointless keychain collection. We headed back on the subway to where the car was - our feet and legs tired and truly worn out but with good cause!