The Wilsons Explore Beantown

With less than a week before our trip, we found out that we were headed to Boston! Ray had a work gig to handle and of course that meant I would get to visit a city I'd never been to and have always wanted to visit!

Benjamin is one hooked up kid. Too bad he won't remember a thing.

7th and 8th plane rides for the B-man

Cheers! We're in Boston!

Pho for dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant

Dad was working, so B and I went to see the swan boats at the Boston Common just a couple blocks from our hotel. You can tell, he's thrilled. Also spotted: a man petting a squirrel (not pictured). Gross, gross, gross.

I walked all over Boston to find a falafel joint I read about on Yelp. It was a HOLE. But decent. B and I sat in the park and had lunch. He preferred laying across my legs to get a view of the guy next to me. This kid will stare. you. down.

Hey look! A bacteria & pee infested hole free kiddie pool in the middle of the park!

State House

Paul Revere himself rests in the center of the city at the Granary Burial Ground.

My former self totally wouldn't have taken photos of gravestones. I would've thought it was disrespectful or eerie. Except now they have a whole new meaning to me. Someone loved these people. Some of the oldest gravestones in our Nation's history. Notice the Gothic, skeletal elements.

Paul Revere's house - North Side, Boston. Dad joined us for dinner and we walked to get some Italian food.

B-man tried his first Italian soda. Bad parents, happy baby.

Oh the hype. This joint has like 1,600 reviews on Yelp and a line stretching around the block. We waited in the cattle line. And what a disappointment it was. I already knew I didn't like cannolis... and whatdoyaknow. I still didn't like them after hitting up this joint. $7 down the tube and 10 grams of fat on our backsides (we had a bite of one each).

Back in the hotel room with our chocolate mousse & oreo cannolis. 

Faneuil Hall: famous speeches by some of our founding fathers were given here. Now it's a bar/restaurant mecca.

No trip is complete without a brewery tour. The B-man was awake for most. It was the least exciting of our beer tours thus far. Did you know the Sam Adams you drink isn't made in Massachusetts at all? Only in PA & OH, but this is the only joint that gives tours.

Mama SKILLS. B was hungry and I foolishly didn't feed him prior to the tour. Feeding in the Ergo while listening to the tour guide talk about beer.

Uh Oh.

We checked out Fenway and had lunch across the street. No home games...

John Hancock's former residence stood here. It baffles my mind that I was standing where they stood. Same reaction we had in Europe while staring into the Martin Luther Bible translation room.

Sans baby, we would've totally had a drink at the Cheers bar. Except dude. Baby isn't a patient little fellow.

So instead I just took a photo of these random people who are now on my blog.

Old South Meeting House - Boston Tea Party planning 

Park Street Chuch - Next door is the cemetary I posted above that Paul Revere & Sam Adams  are buried at.

Old State House

Old South Meeting House (another view)

Oldest Restaurant in the United States

Oldest Tavern in the United States, right across the street

Hard to see, but Paul Revere's famous ride statue and the Old North Church in the background. And the B-man. Sleeping right through our history lesson that would surely have scored him an A+ on his 5th grade Revolutionary War exam. Tisk, tisk.

Famous Boston Massacre portrait - taken at a period-themed printer's shop

Inside the Old North Church. These are enclosed pews. Members would buy pews-- enclosed because winters were harsh and these would keep them warm. Those on the inside rows would cost more and the exterior, less. 

The Old North Church made famous during Paul Revere's midnight ride.

The B-man chilling out before a tour of the U.S.S. Constitution.

I like big boats and I cannot lie.

The Navy guy giving the tour was very animated. B thought he was cray-cray and wasn't afraid to show it.

U.S.S. Constitution Warship

After the tour...

Is anyone else tired? omg. 

At the site of Bunker Hill. Monument behind us. And yes... it's really on a hill.

Oldest firehouse in Boston.

After dinner, we bought Italian cookies that were THE BEST EVER at Bova's Bakery in the North Side. Seriously, skip cannolis and run straight for the cookies. a-m-a-z-i-n-g. So good that we are now seeking out a place in Chicago that makes Italian cookies. Chocolate-dipped coconut macaroon and some amazing vanilla-almond cookie. And this cookie... bought because it was all colorful and kid-like. Had almost no flavor, but I figured that B would have picked it out himself if he were a bit older because kids love sprinkles. Also, I'm pretty sure a 10-year-old in the Mob served me.

B had his first college tours! Will he be math/science analytic... at MIT...

... or more of a humanities/law guy... at Harvard? This picture is actually a church near Harvard.

A delish pizza joint in Harvard Square that served up white bean and sundried tomato (and sausage for the carni) pizza.

In the middle of Harvard just chilling in the colorful chairs. B may or may not be naked under his opened up romper. Nakie nakie in the middle of Harvard. Tisk, tisk. This kid doesn't take anything seriously. But a hilarious photo for when he actually goes there, no?

Rubbing John Harvard's foot for good luck. Yes, we're aware no one should touch it because the  students pee on him. Yes I sanitized B's hand immediately after taking this photo. Yes I think the guys who choose to pee on him (can't be any classy girl, right?) have amazing aim, velocity, acceleration, and distance for successfully peeing on such a tall statue.

So there you have it, Beantown.