There’s a blue mood in Beantown again. The curse that had been lifted for a couple seasons, has descended and enveloped Boston Red Sox fans (which includes this whole city) as the Sox blew a huge division lead and have been eliminated from the Major League Baseball playoffs and a shot at another world title. The weather was pretty gloomy too as our group of fall foliage seekers took a day long tour of the city. Low clouds, fog and a little rain..but it was a day filled with history and education.
Our group getting an earful about "Old Ironsides" the U.S.S. Constitution.
A walking tour of old Boston includes a visit to Paul Revere's House. The locals surprisingly don't have a real high regard for Paul. They point out that he really didn't get veryfar on his famous ride before being captured and in bragging to his captors a bout his bravado he accidentally gave away the patriot's positions.
Inside the Old North Church where they hung the lanters to warn of the British coming by land or sea (actually by river)
A lot of Patriots and Puritans rest here in the second oldest burial ground in the city. They weren't originally lined up in neat rows like this. Some time in the 19th century the tombstones were moved to make for easier maintanence. So now you don't know who you might be stepping on.
Linda tries the clam chowda at Quincy Market and found that it was good. I had the traditional New England dinner; chili dog, potato chips and a beer.
We toured the JFK Library and museum on the University of Massachusetts campus right next to Boston Harbor. It was very interesting. Lots of memorabilia from his presidency and several of Jackie's fancy dresses. This is a shot of JFK's sailboat with the city of Boston in the background.
Today our driver points the coach North to New Hampshire..one of the few remaining states I’ve yet to visit. The sun is shining which should provide some spectacular vistas of what we’ve come to see; nature in all her autumn splendor. I’ll have my camera at the ready but I sure wish I’d have consulted with my photographer friend, Greg Latza, for a few pointers on how to best capture our colorful surroundings. I’ll bet the first thing he would suggest would be to shoot with something a little better than my 15 year old 4.0 pixel Kodak. Oh well, as Linda says about me; It’s much bigger than newer models but comfortably familiar and mostly reliable.
Ta Ta for now.
PS On our lunch break in New Hampsire I discovered that my cell phone was missing. Used Linda’s phone to call our Boston hotel. They found it and are sending it home so I won’t have to worry about getting any calls for the next week or so.