Our Fall New England Adventure part 1

 A few weeks ago, we took off work and school (well, school was done virtually in bits and pieces on the trip) and travelled up to Boston and Vermont for a fall adventure. The trip overall was really wonderful. It was my first time traveling that far northeast, and it was lovely. (Although I have to say, we live in a gorgeous place here in the Shenandoah Valley, too.)

On our way up to Boston, we stopped in Weehawken, New Jersey, to show the kids the NYC skyline. 

Michael also wanted to see the dueling grounds where Alexander Hamilton was fatally wounded by Aaron Burr. He has really enjoyed the music of the Hamilton musical and knows many of them by heart.

Clara in front of Alexander Hamilton.

We continued driving up to Boston, arriving late at night at the Omni Parker House. The Parker House Hotel is the oldest continuously running hotel in America.

The hotel was sadly very empty, but it was neat to feel the history and enjoy its decor.

Presumably because it was so empty, the hotel upgraded us to this super fun Freedom Trial Suite which had a bunkbed for kids, a map and chalkboard on the wall, bean bags, and a little table and chairs for the kids. So so fun.

We started walking on the Freedom Trail the next morning after eating some food we'd brought in the Yeti. The kids (nor us) were not big fans of having to wear masks outside in public places--I wish I had thought to get lanyards for the boys because they kept taking off their masks and flinging them around, dropping them, etc. Kind of defeated the purpose of germ protection.

Boston is a lovely city, and even though I'm not a big city gal, I enjoyed its history and layout. It didn't feel as dirty as NYC or Atlanta, and it was fun to see the historical buildings sprinkled throughout the large skyscrapers.

We made our way to the harbor where we boarded our boat for a whale watching trip. 

We were excited. Good thing we didn't know what we were in for . . . 

The naturalist on the ship who was speaking through the loud speaker mentioned that there were 2 foot swells that day, which didn't mean much to me. As we left the harbor and picked up speed, Clara began feeling sick, and I made my way with her to the back of the boat as my own tummy started heaving along with the boat. We both threw up and stayed huddled together on the back of the boat, trying to survive. Michael became seasick while trying to keep track of Benjy who unexpectedly threw up on Michael and then promptly fell asleep. Meanwhile, Robbie and Henry were walking and running around the three-story catamaran as happy as clams while I worried about their safety and behavior but helplessly had to remain seated to try to calm my stomach.

Mercifully, as we approached the whales, the boat slowed down and stopped, which allowed us to get up and see the whales. We saw dolphins and at least three different humpback whales.

They were so huge and so close to the boat. The naturalist was amazed at how close they were and said that in her eleven years of doing tours, they had never had that experience. She said it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity (maybe she says that to everyone, haha, but she sounded quite sincere).

I wished I could have enjoyed the experience more, but it was really cool. Next time we'll take Dramamine beforehand.

Lots of wind!

I'm really glad that these two enjoyed it and weren't puking.

Mercifully our stomachs felt well enough to enjoy some delicious Regina Pizzeria pizza in the North End after the boat ride.

We also enjoyed treats from two different bakeries--Mike's Pastries and Modern.

We liked Mike's cannoli on the left better, although I have to say, I'm more of an ice cream girl myself.

Benjy had no objections to either.

In other news, we gave in to Robbie's year-long request to have a rat tail, which Michael cut right before our trip. I had to see it everywhere we walked around the city. 😭