Boston: Part 2 (Freedom Trail)

We walked a lot in Boston, it was probably good to try and combat the mass amount of calories we ate. We started one of our days by climbing the Bunker Hill Monument.  I carried the stroller up the 300 stairs which was kind of awkward. My calves were a little shaky after we got down.

After we hydrated we followed the Freedom Trail around Boston. Seriously the freedom trail is the best idea ever. I don't know if other cities have a similar thing (Salem, MA does) but the idea is perfect. You just tell tourist to get on the red brick path and follow it around the city. The freedom trail is about 2.5 miles with nearly 20 historic sites along the way.

 

The freedom trail took us all sorts of places. The Old North Church where the lanterns were to be hung that go with the famous "One if by land, and two if by sea" which led to Paul Revere's midnight ride.  The freedom trail led us to the USS Constitution- the world's oldest floating commissioned naval vessel.

 We hopped off the trail just for a minute to get some delicious cannolis at Mike's Pastry in the North End district of Boston.

 

the place was busy, and the cannolis were delicious.

The freedom trail led us right to a park downtown that Drew figured was the highlight of the trip.

Boston: Part 1

Can you tell that I don't have a computer? My computer broke just before we moved here. Spencer on the other hand bought a brand new spanking computer to take to school for important law notes, while I have been stuck with an iPod touch. It's better than nothing, but by the end of a day of searching the web and online window shopping my thumbs are a little sore :) -- which brings me to the reason for the lack of blogging since we have moved here...

Anyway, back to Beantown...

So Spencer's sister Amy joined us for fall break. She flew into Syracuse and was able to spend a few days with us in Ithaca to see our stomping grounds before we made the drive to Boston. It was nice to have her join us for fall break so that we could have some structure to our vacation. When I travel there isn't really much of a plan except where I plan to eat, Amy however knew of a lot of neat places to see and things to do.

  Exhibt A.
Me driving while Spencer "studies" and Amy keeps Drew happy in the back seat.

Somehow I got between the house on wheels and the lady that drives behind it with the flashing lights. She was pretty mad about it but I thought it was one of the top 10 moments of the 5 hour drive.

Boston is full of so much history. We spent 5 days there and still didn't get to see everything we wanted to (or eat at every place I wanted to)... (I guess that's our excuse to go back) When we got in to Boston after our drive we first stopped at Lexington Battle Green. This is where the British first fired on the militiamen to begin the American Revolution. Drew had a lot of pent up energy and had fun running around the lawn.

The park is just a little piece of lawn surrounded by beautiful New England homes. It smelled like a delicious garlic dinner when we got there and I told Spencer I could picture myself living right there in the Lexington/Concord area. I found out later the price of some of those homes and maybe will have to live a few other places before we can afford something there...

We walked to a small cemetery where Drew was acting like he had died and gone to heaven.... get it?
He was running around the leaning tombstones and falling every 3 feet from the uneven ground. Some of the headstones dated back to the early 1700's.

This tree had completely grown around about 10 of the tombstones surrounding it.We explored some of the visitors centers around the area then found a little local farmers market that was going on. It had some great pastries, maple syrup and chocolate.

We tried to squeeze in one more thing to visit before we headed back to the hotel, however we were a few minutes too late. The State Park closed and the Park Ranger on duty was seriously starving for conversation. He was a nice guy. He told us about his days at Yellowstone, Lake Powell, and every other state park in between. When Drew started to get a little fussy from standing around for an hour he tried to perk him up with showing him the lights on his cruiser. Didn't really work, but whatever.

Fall Break

 Cornell law school offers a full week off for fall break, so we took advantage of the time before Spencer starts studying for finals already and made a trip out to Boston.

 We took a walk Sunday night through Sapsucker woods in Ithaca before we left for Beantown. The colors were so beautiful and the weather was so warm.

We took a lot of pictures while in Boston so we might have to split the trip up over a few posts.
You will probably be able to see our weight gain progession through out the week. get excited.

Drewby

I haven't posted much about what Drew has been up to lately so here is an update on the little muffin. Drewby has been exploring the world of more freedom. More freedom in eating and more freedom in getting around.

 He can't seem to bring enough food on his spoon to his mouth at a time so often he resorts to using his chubby little fists to shovel the food in... I wonder where he's seen that before.....

There's not a lot of food he doesn't like just foods he doesn't eat as fast or as passionately. 

Last week at a surprise birthday party for a friend Drew was being very quiet in the kitchen. I caught him a little too late after he had gotten into the chocolate cake. Lindsey quickly snapped some pictures...

He has adjusted pretty well with our move to Ithaca, although his sleeping is still a little off. Hopefully that sorts it self out in time. It's hard to let a baby cry through the night (I have no problem with it cause I can sleep right through it) But I am referring to the neighbors upstairs, I'm sure they are hoping Drew gets better at sleeping more than we are.

 Drew loves playing outside. Yesterday we went outside and Drew pushed random toys around the parking lot. He has gotten very stable in his running and walking because he tries to keep up with the bigger kids in the neighborhood. Which has resulted in even perfecting his dance moves.

 

The leaves are starting to change and we are beginning to 

 witness what everyone told us about Upstate New York in the Fall. The weather has been nice, the colors are beautiful and there are tons of apples EVERYWHERE.

We are happy. 

Life is good. 

It feels good to say that.

the deed is done...

 Well, I said I was going to cut my own bangs again... Prior to moving to Ithaca I thought my celebrity-look-alike was Demi Moore-- but after moving here I've heard Zooey Deschanel? So as I googled the name and images popped up one thing lead to another and I decided to give my bangs a  chop... It's just hair but I'm still kind of freaking out and getting use to what I see in the mirror.

So what's the verdict?

Ithacans Hike Gorges

 On Saturday we enjoyed the warm weather and explored some of the gorges and waterfalls around Ithaca. The leaves are just starting to change so the scenery was really beautiful. We hiked up Buttermilk falls with the MacLennans. The babies that were strapped in to contraptions did great. Graham did great too throwing rocks and sticks into the water. 

It was a lot steeper than I was expecting and my calves are still a little sore.

We had barely gotten back to our apartment when some more neighbors (Robbins/DeGroots) were heading out on another hike to Taughannock Falls. It was a little more flat than our earlier excursion and had a whole different type of scenery going on. It was nice to explore these parks before the weather turns too cold to leave the house.

 Drew's hair got a little damp as we got close to the waterfall which really showed off his luscious locks. 

There's not much there but it's a start...