Boston 4th of July

We left Maine on Wednesday and drove two hours south to Boston. We arrived early in the afternoon and immediately checked into our hotel. The first thing we needed to do was to return our rental car to the airport, which I volunteered to take do while Scott and the kids swam at the hotel pool. Well, due to street closings and significant traffic for the next-day 4th of July celebration (we were staying in the same neighborhood as the Esplanade, the band shell where the famous Boston Pops concert takes place), it took me almost THREE hours to drive to Logan and take the T back to the hotel. This trip should have taken about an hour, so I was really frustrated! But once we were all back together we decided that we deserved to enjoy one fun activity to get to know Boston. So, off we went on the Boston Duck Tours!

The Boston Duck Tours are a very cheesy, yet super kid-friendly, way to tour Boston. The World War II amphibious landing vehicles that are used as the tour buses roll through the city streets and then transition as boats directly into the Charles River, so visitors can explore Boston both on land and the river. The guides that drive the ducks each have a unique personality and they tell jokes and provide historical commentary throughout the journey. Below is our view of the Back Bay area of Boston from our duck.

Our driver, Disco Danny, allowed all of the kids to take a turn behind the wheel once we were floating out in the Charles River. Amelia and John thought it was really fun to drive the duck! 

It was particularly interesting to be on the river on July 3rd as we could watch the police (on jet skis and  in boats) getting ready for the concert the next day. We heard news reports about the intense security procedures in place for the concert, primarily because this was the first large-scale public event put on by the city of Boston since the marathon bombings last April. It looked as if the police were clearing all boats from parking on the river on July 3rd in anticipation of the concert.

The next day was the 4th of July, and Boston is quite the patriotic city to be in for this holiday! We started the day with a visit to the U.S.S. Constitution, a U.S. war ship that was built in Boston in 1797. You may know the Constitution as "Old Ironsides", the nickname earned because navy men once remarked that cannonballs fired at the ship bounced off the hull as if the ship were made of iron.

In fact, the ship's hull is made of wood, not iron, and the cannonballs bounced off due to the sturdiness of the wood used in the ship's construction. We were not able to tour the ship because it was due to sail out into the harbor for a special July 4th ceremony, though we observed it parked in the shipyard before it set sail. However, we spent several hours enjoying the interesting U.S.S. Constitution museum that was in the shipyard. The museum had tons of hands-on exhibits for children so Amelia and John were really engaged.

View of the city from the shipyard.

Some of the most interesting things I learned while touring the museum related to the impact the shipyard had on Boston's economy throughout the years, as well as what life as a sailor would have been like on the Constitution. Amelia is practicing loading a goat onto the ship using ropes and pulleys below. Live animals were taken aboard and later killed for meat for the sailors.

John is demonstrating how the sailors slept in hammocks tied from the ceilings in the bunk area of the ship. I don't know how these hammocks could have provided a comfortable place to sleep! In fact, I failed the questionnaire "Could you serve as a sailor on the U.S.S. Constitution?", which was one of the interactive activities that visitors could complete while at the museum. I did not score high enough on the questions about wanting to scrub the deck, sleep in four hour stretches, or having a stomach for rough seas.

 

After visiting the U.S.S. Constitution we walked to the Quincy Market area for lunch. It was way too hot and crowded to stay long and enjoy the street performers though, so we quickly moved on after eating. The photo below shows a "Boston Strong" banner hanging just outside the market hall. Boston Strong signs were posted all over the city. It was powerful to see the city's visible support of the tragic events that took place last April. As a runner who has participated in similar races and who has learned a lot about Boston's race history over the last few years, I found the support and tributes to be touching and tasteful.

During the afternoon we visited the Old State House, which was built in 1713 and was the original site of Boston's government. The Old State House played a prominent role during the Revolutionary War  and the Boston Massacre took place just outside the front steps underneath the flag hanging on the left side of the photo below.

The museum inside had many interactive exhibits, which again served as good entertainment/learning for Amelia and John. Amelia is using foam bricks below to construct the building.

Below John is completing a puzzle that depicts the building's facade.

In addition to the exhibits, we also attended a 20-minute talk on the Boston Massacre. The historian that led the talk did a great job in explaining the tension and environment in Boston that led up to the massacre and the kids were even listening intently. Towards the end of the talk I thought that John was getting bored so I whispered to him that we only had about five minutes left. To my pleasant surprise, he looked back at me and said, "No, mom, I don't care. I am liking this actually." Overall all of the museums and places were visited in Boston were very kid-friendly with tons of interactive exhibits to keep them entertained.

We never intended to attend the 4th of July concert on the Esplanade, as the intense crowds and high security would be too time-consuming and frustrating for our patience levels. However, we decided to try and sneak a quick peek at the fireworks if we could. Out hotel was located about ten blocks from the river, so after dinner we timed or walk back towards the hotel to coincide with a detour to try and view fireworks. We guessed that we had found a decent viewing spot by the level of police security and the crowds parked along the sidewalks.

And after waiting only about 20 minutes on the curb, we were rewarded with pretty good views of the fireworks show! We were so surprised that we could see the show decently with such minimal effort on our part, and Amelia and John thought it was great (I did too!). You could hear the music faintly at times, but the booming fireworks took center stage.

Spending the 4th of July in Boston is a wonderful experience, and the fireworks show was a great way to end such a good day!