Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Marcy's Travel Blog-Boston- Day #2 Sea Breezes, Quincy Market, Food!

    Diana met a woman from England this morning, while standing outside the hotel lobby. The woman had come to the U.S. for her son's wedding, and was now touring the country. The one surprise for her? How friendly everyone in this country is! She had been told Americans (especially in big cities) were not very friendly. She was happy to report she was pleasantly surprised. That was a good start to our day! Originally rain was expected, but we ended up with a glorious day of sunshine!
    We caught the Old Town Trolley to the harbor, then boarded the ship for a Boston harbor cruise. As luck would have it, my camera died shortly after boarding. The good news is Diana got some pictures on her camera, so may be able to post some tomorrow. Captain Tim Nash gave some interesting history about the harbor. We pasted East Boston Pier Park, developed from one of the many old abandoned piers in the harbor. There's a 2 1/2 mile bridge, known as the world's largest parking lot- due to the traffic jams during rush hour! Charlestown naval yard is the oldest in the U.S. There's a beautiful black ship called the U.S. Constitution - a sailing vessel- also known as "Old Iron Sides". This nickname was originally given to it by the British sailors, because their cannonballs bounced right off the ship. There were enough historic sites during the harbor cruise to fill a history book! But then, that could be said about the whole of Boston! Thank you, Captain Nash and crew for a very pleasant and informative cruise!
   After a quick trip back to our hotel (for camera batteries!), we headed for Quincy Market place. Oh, my! The market square actually consists of three markets. There is the North Market, the South Market, and a building in-between called the Quincy Market. Both the North and South markets seem to be filled with shop after shop, with a restaurant here and there. Quincy Market is about the largest food court I have ever seen! Whatever you're hungry for, it can be found here! The only issue is, how does one choose?!
   To get a good overview of the Freedom trail, we took a Old Town Trolley tour. Our guide and driver was Jesse James. Yep. That was his name! We started at the harbor and wound around the city, with Jesse giving us bits of history of the many sites. From the North End with it's famous North Church (one if by land, two if by sea) to Paul Revere's 16 children and many contributions to the fight for independence from the British. I'm amazed at Jesse's knowledge of that much history! Fascinating as the American Revolution is, all those facts and dates can be mind boggling! Thank you, Jesse James for a job well done, with enough humor thrown in to keep things lively!
   Our Concierge for today was Joseph, who suggested the Oceanaire Restaurant for excellent sea food. He made reservations for us, noting that this was a birthday celebration trip, and sent us on our way. Our waiter's name was David, who was helped by a waiter in training named Paul. David informed us that we had a free appetizer coming, complements of our Concierge, Joseph! They wished Diana a Happy Birthday, and mentioned that the menus were especially printed with a Happy Birthday greeting on the top!My goodness! Thank you, Joseph! (Diana asked me to not let this happen again. All this attention was beginning to make her uncomfortable! I said I understood, so from now on, we're celebrating MY belated Birthday! Ha!)
David (on left) and Paul
   Once again, I'm happy to report that not only was the food fantastic, but the service was superb! After a wonderful meal, David and Paul brought a Birthday Baked Alaska, flaming liqueur and all. It was delicious!! Thank you so much David! You, along with Paul and the whole staff made this a wonderful end to a wonderful day!
    And good night to you, dear readers! Tomorrow's another day. Rain is in the forecast, but nothing is going to dampen our spirits! Catch up with us tomorrow, and see what sort of mischief we are up to!

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