Green Monster

I haven't had a lot of time to blog, but I wanted to share my weekend with Dylan...

As previously discussed, I've decided to go away for weekends with each of the kids this summer - sort of a way to make up for all the travel that I've been doing. Why not use some of those hard earned miles and spend some alone time with each of the kids doing what they chose? Marissa and I were in NY last month, and Dylan and I were in Boston last weekend.

All I have to say is WOW!!! We had a blast. We arrived to cold and rainy Boston on Friday afternoon. After checking into the hotel, we discovered the subway and proceeded to get lost. Although we followed the instructions we were given, the stop was wrong and we ended up having to get back into the subway to get to Fenway. At one point, Dylan suggested just following those in Red Sox garb, and we did. And, he was right, we got to the stadium and saw the Green Monster in person. Although it was cold, we had a GREAT time. The Red Sox got slaughtered, but since neither of us are big fans, it was fine. Dylan has committed that he wants to go to ever major league park in his lifetime. After Houston this summer, he'll have four (Houston, New York Mets, Texas Rangers and Boston).

On Saturday, we decided to see the historical sites of Boston. We again to the subway into the city and purchased a trolley tour. The trolley served two purposes; 1) Show us what we might like to see and, 2) act as a taxi service as we were allowed to board and disembark all day. We took the tour around the city (about an hour) and then proceeded to Dylan's first "want to see", Paul Revere's House. After that we walked and walked and walked (Boston has the "Freedom Trail" marked on the sidewalks and streets, so it is easy to find your way to the monuments); Old North Church, Cobb's Hill Burial Ground, the USS Constitution, Bunker Hill Monument, Old South Meeting House, Granary Burial Ground, etc. etc. We had a blast. One of Dylan's interests is history and he loved every second. We had a tremendous time taking pictures, learning about history and talking about our day.

We decided to have dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe, which Dylan really enjoyed, particularly the wall of symbols along the entire back wall. We returned to our hotel and collapsed.

Sunday, we decided to take it a little more easy. We took a four hour whale watching cruise. After about an hour trip out, we saw them right away. We ended up seeing perhaps seven or eight humpbacks and a couple of glimpses of the more shy Minke Whale. Included in our sightings was a mother/calf pair of humpbacks, and like most children the calf wanted to play. He breached, did turns and slapped the water for about twenty minutes. It was perhaps one of the coolest experiences that either of us had ever had and it was awesome to be able to share it with Dylan. When he got excited and told me that it was one of the coolest things he's ever seen, I knew we had hit pay dirt.

We returned to the hotel, picked up our bags and departed for the airport. We had several hours to wait before our flight, but it was worth it. Another GREAT weekend was had.

Unfortunately, I had to leave for Orlando not 12 hours after returning home from Boston, so I haven't had a chance to tell anyone about the trip. I'll post some pictures as soon as possible.

SL