Friday, October 1, 2010

New England Escape, Day 1

We are home from our ah-mazing trip to New England. I loved every minute of this trip! We had the best time and it ranks right up top with our honeymoon to Maui as one of our favorite vacations. We were so fortunate to have great weather; this week they are getting hammered with rain! Yuck! If you're a fan of looking at other people's boring vacation photos, then this is your lucky day. If not, feel free to move along with no hurt feelings.

After a 4:30 a.m. wakeup call, crack of dawn flight, layover in the Admiral's club in Dallas, and an almost 4 hour 2nd flight, we had the skyline of Boston in our sights.
It was early afternoon when we arrived, so it was definitely time for some New England tasty food! We walked from our hotel to Quincy Market and picked the closest restaurant with no wait. I can't even remember the name, but it definitely hit the spot! Lobster for Marty (the first of many) and fish and chips for me. The fish was so yummy and very different from fried seafood of New Orleans and definitely different from the fried catfish delicacy of my hometown.
After lunch, it was time for some serious sightseeing. Since we ate lunch outside, we took in some views of Quincy Market from our table. It was a busy place filled with awesome food and tons of touristy vendors and shops.
We did some walking and headed over to the North End, the Italian district of Boston. Eating at one of these Italian restaurants was the one thing I didn't get accomplished on this trip. I guess that's a good reason to go back, right? This was my favorite area of Boston. I loved the authentic Italian feel to it.
Close to this area, we were able to see the statue of Paul Revere, his house, and the North End Church. The most interesting of the 3 to me was the church. It was fascinating to see how churches were constructed and how differently people worshipped during those times. Every family had a box with their pews on the inside. Some were decorated with fabrics and cushions, but most were plain. The preacher would deliver his sermon from up high on a pedestal. The pew boxes up front were more expensive and for the more prominent families. And the pew boxes in the back? Those were the cheap seats baby!
Paul Revere's home was underwhelming to me. Turns out he only lived there for a few months and it's been redone several times, so it doesn't strike me as historic as what it should be for the price of admission. Maybe it had something to do with the attached gift shop? Anyway, the most interesting thing about it was how small everyone was in Revolutionary times. We are giants compared to these people. Now I know that God created the earth and everything in it, but you can't deny that we are an evolving species. We are a LOT bigger than we were 200 years ago.
I'm going to stop there for today because I don't want these posts to be off-the-chart long. But mostly because I'm tired and I have to be on the soccer fields at 8:30 in the morning. If October wasn't my favorite month and I wasn't in love with the beautiful weather we're having, I would almost wish it was November just to be finished with soccer. It will be fun and I can't wait to cheer Avery on to make some goals tomorrow!

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