Road Trip round New England in the Spring, not the Fall! Day 18 - Boston exploring and going home

[anji]

Day 18 – Boston exploring and home

This was our last day. We didn’t want to go! Again it was hot, but a with clouds. We finished our packing and left the bags at the hotel, thanking them for a great stay. I would DEFINITELY stay here at The Boxer if we went to Boston again.

We walked towards Boston Common and I was keen to go on the Swan Boats! We had some coffee and pastries at Peets near Park Street Station and then headed into the Common

There were a lot of squirrels and they were very tame. There was one who was very, very pregnant and looked like a box with feet on each corner, she was so fat! I knelt down on one knee and she climbed up my leg and sat on my knee. So sweet. Will wasn’t quick enough to take a photo before she jumped off but I know other people took photos!

There was a small demonstration about bees dying out and they were asking people to hold signs for photos – so I helped them out.

Next stop was the gold-domed Massachusetts State Housel building. You were free to just explore at your own pace and it was quite busy. We were able to go into the chambers and see the Holy Mackerel and the Sacred Cod (sadly not allowed photos). It was a really interesting building and we spent a good hour here.

When we left and walked over the road and back to the Common there was a demonstration on women’t rights – all of them were dressed like The Handmaid’s Tale and looked very impressive! They were walking very slowly and serenely.

Then it was the Swan Boats! I just loved this. We only had to wait a short time and then were pedalled round on the boat by a girl who must have thighs of steel by now! Very peaceful and was lovely just to sit back, bask in the sun and watch the ducks. The boats are such a historic icon in Boston and I was so pleased we got to do them as they were shut for winter on our last visit.

We saw a few more statues decked out in Ice Hockey gear.

Being big Game of Thrones fans we’d spotted signs for an interactive exhibition and headed off down Boylston Street to find it, really without much hope as we thought we’d missed it. We had. We consoled ourselves with a Starbucks.

From here we headed off down Back Bay area to see the posh houses and then down to the Charles River. We walked along the Charles River Esplanade and watched the Alewife fish in the shallows – lots of them! We’d seen the Alewife subway stop and thought it was just names after a drunken wife but it’s actually after these fish as there are so many of them.

Now we’d been away best part of 3 weeks and I, the mosquito dish of the day, hadn’t been bitten once – despite the woods and rivers we’d been to. Until now. A ‘last chance’ signal must have gone out as they certainly made the most of my t-shirt arms along here. I was NOT happy.

Our long walk continued and we eventually finished up on Cambridge Street in the Kinsale Irish pub near the city hall. We had beers and burgers. It was nice but depression was setting in for going home.
Back to the hotel to pick up our luggage and they called us a taxi.

It was a good job we had plenty of time as bag-drop took an hour for some reason at the Norwegian desk. Onwards to security and my bag went down the chute of shame … as I suspected it would. My seal on a rock that I'd bought at Bar Harbor was inside. The box was opened and the two security guards were totally surprised by the contents! One said that he’d seen worse uses for a rock haha! I couldn’t help but laugh.

Will had a milkshake while we waited for our flight. I must say the gates are far too close to each other and there wasn’t enough room where we were for 3 flights all trying to board at once and it all got a bit chaotic. We still had our mystery priority boarding though so were soon on the plane and seated. It had actually started raining by this time, so that cheered us up a bit. The flight was good and uneventful. We both managed a couple of hours asleep.

We landed at Gatwick at 8.55am. The passport machines were having tantrums and I was dragged off to another desk. Will never saw me go so thought I’d hopped on the plane back again! Meet & Greet car worked perfectly and we drove straight to the cattery to pick up Pepper. She was very happy.

That night we went to see Rod Stewart in concert at Southampton FC stadium. It was excellent but I’m not sure I’d book up something on the day we came home again. I was glad we were seated and not standing but it did round off an amazing holiday!

So, the end of another fabulous road trip. We’d loved every minute of it and, apart from lack of bears, moose, beavers etc,. it had all worked out as it should. Hope you’ve enjoyed reading if you’ve got this far and apologies for the eternity it’s taken me to finish!

Now for Vancouver and the Pacific Northwest……………………….

Index here - https://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/sho...8#post13903548