Boston 2022 Part 1

 What a fantastic Spring Break we had together.

It started with General Conference together and then a flight to Boston on Monday April 4th.

We stayed in Boston that night and then started out early the next morning on "The Freedom Trail".

It was great to learn new things, and relearn things we've learned but forgotten. ;)

(This was Revere Beach in front of our hotel, it was a pretty chilly morning haha)

Paul Revere's Monument and the Old North Church in the background.

The signal "one if by land, two if by sea" was given in the Old North Church's Tower.

We were told by lots of people to try a cannoli @ Mike's Pastries.

Honestly, I didn't think I liked cannoli's.  Lisa and I tried one in NY years ago and we decided we never needed to "try" one again.

But... I was pleasantly surprised.  (Maybe we got a weird flavor in NY??)  

Now Jadyn... she wouldn't even TRY it.

The other two had a "nibble".

It really was quite good, but for our family it won't be something we're craving anytime soon.  We preferred the cookie and whoopie pie. ;)

The Boston Massacre Site & The Old State House

Bunker Hill Monument

Lunch @ Faneuil Hall Marketplace.

We all loved the Federal Style Architecture

We saw the State Capital Building & Boston Commons.

Boston Gardens @ the Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge

We toured Paul Revere's House

The Granary Burial Grounds

John Hancock's Headstone

We stopped at the Omni Parker House to get a "Boston Cream Pie" but then nobody really wanted it since we'd already eaten too much food. haha

Fun Fact... This hotel/restaurant was the home of the original Boston Cream Pie + Parker House Rolls

We walked and walked and walked this day.  It was so fun exploring Boston and brushing up on our American History.

We drove to Harvard next.

Kenna decided that she wouldn't mind going here to school... but she would mind the price tag.

Then we were off to Fitchburg Massachusetts for a stay @ the Great Wolf Lodge.

I made it on "most" of the waterslides... but this one  could only hold 4 so I "volunteered" to stay off. haha

Well apparently it was terrifying haha

Kenna couldn't stop laughing/crying for 15 minutes telling about it.

It's that red/yellow funnel one :)

Yep, that was all in ONE day.

A fun filled, jam packed day... we slept well that night!

The next day we left Great Wolf Lodge and headed to Salem.

This is the first trip we have ever taken where we were in a different hotel every night.

We just packed up in the morning, left all our luggage in the car while we explored each day and then checked in to our next hotel that night.

This was a rainy/wet day.

Most days were pretty chilly but the rain made it more cold.

I guess it was fitting for Salem... a little dreary.

We toured this house... the "Witch House" it was super interesting and we learned a lot here.

I was glad that we had watched some documentaries on Boston and Salem before coming.

I think the girls will retain a lot more of it by learning and then seeing it first hand. 

We found a wallet on the street and called the police.

It looks like Kenna is in some trouble here, but she was just the spokesperson who turned it in. haha

We watched "Hocus Pocus" that night since we'd seen all the sites from the movie that day.

Shane and I had never seen it.  And for a Disney movie it was a pretty scary movie... considering that I thought it was for kids and I'm sure Tayler and Saige saw that when they were pretty little. oops!

Salem was super interesting.

Amazing to think of the hysteria of the time.

It was pretty quite there in April, I wouldn't have wanted to be there in October with tons of crowds but we're so glad we came and saw!

That night we stayed in Peabody and headed out the next morning for the Boston Tea Party.

This was a pretty expensive tour but was totally worth it.

The guides were dressed in the period and acted their parts so well.

It was a great history lesson and the girls said they learned the most here.

We split up here... the girls went to Shake Shack.

And Shane and I went to the Barking Crab for clam chowder.

We were all happy with this choice!

We then drove to Cape Cod.

We were staying in Yarmouth Massachusetts for two nights.

But we actually ended up changing it to one night.

Cape Cod was beautiful... but not the time of year to visit.

It was SUPER cold and windy and not much was open.

And our hotel was fine.. but not the best.

This was our Cape Cod Beach experience.

So we found a mall and did some shopping.

And then we met up with an old neighbor of mine Brenda.

Brenda lived with her ex-husband Paul next door to us for only one year when I was little.  But our families became great friends.  They never had any children.  When I was 12 and they were living in Kansas City they invited me for a week to come visit.

I went and they were so great to me.

It was my first time away from home alone and I got so homesick and had to come home early. :(

They then moved to Rochester Minnesota and when we were on a family vacation to Nauvoo we stopped to see them.

That was the last time I'd seen her... sometime around 1986.

She's corresponded with my parents and me over the years and said we should come visit her and her new husband Bill in Cape Cod.

So I contacted her and we met up.

She was SOOO surprised to hear from me!

It was so good to see her and amazing that it's been 35 years.

We had a nice visit over dinner @ Sam Diego's.

The next morning we checked out... and the weather was a little warmer.

We stopped at the JFK Memorial in Hyannis

Kenna and I walked down a street that we shouldn't have... to see the "Kennedy Compound". 

John F Kennedy's Summer Home.

Kenna was much more excited about seeing a home that Tayler Swift owned and recently sold that was across the street.

We said goodbye to Cape and Cod and we were off to Newport Rhode Island 1.5 hours away.

To be Continued...