Boston harbor

We spent one day in Boston exploring more of the harbor. Our first stop was the aquarium, where we saw many animals and learned a lot about penguins. 

Amelia was excited to see this harbor seal at the entrance to the aquarium. A seal named Amelia - how funny!

The first floor was devoted to an enormous penguin exhibit. The penguin keepers were feeding the animals when we arrived and later they gave a talk about the penguins. We thought it was interesting that the keepers fed the penguin by hand and recorded the number of fish each penguin ate on a clipboard. The penguins were tagged for identification so this must have been how how they could distinguish between them.

Just above the penguin exhibit was a wide, winding staircase that you could walk on all the way up to the fourth floor. Inside the staircase was a gigantic fish tank that was filled with coral and many different kinds of animals - sharks, fish, and even giant sea turtles. It was fascinating to watch the sea life swimming around from so many different angles.

John touching stingrays above plus one of the strangest animals I saw at the aquarium. This is a seahorse that appears to be covered by leaves. The leaves are a part of the animal's camouflage.

After we enjoyed the aquarium we took a walk out along the harbor to find a restaurant for lunch.

We had lunch at the No Name! I remember my mom and dad taking us to No Name when we were kids (in high school, maybe?) so I wanted to revisit this spot for lunch. 

No Name is an old, reputable Boston restaurant that serves seafood in a warehouse on Boston's harbor. The restaurant is no-frills and laid back, but the food is delicious and so fresh. In fact, most of the other locations in the same warehouse were equipped by seafood distributors that were processing seafood caught off of the coast for shipping around the U.S.

After lunch we rode the T back to town and got off near Boston Common, the large public park in central Boston. We enjoyed a lazy ride around the pond in the middle of the park on the historic Boston Swan Boats.