Vacay pt3: Boston

The next stop on our trip was the city of Boston, where we went on a walking tour of the historic sites.  When we asked the kids what they thought of Boston, they all said, "At least now I know I don't ever want to live in a city."  I guess that's a good thing to know.

Our walking tour began at historic Boston Common.

The City of Boston - founded 1630

The Massachusetts State House

Monument to the 54th Massachusetts, the black Civil War regiment portrayed in the movie "Glory"

Park Street Church

Burial place of the victims of the Boston Massacre

Burial place of Samuel Adams

Monument for the Franklin family, marking burial place of Benjamin Franklin's parents

Burial place of John Hancock, noted signatory of the Declaration of Independence

Burial place of James Otis

Burial place of Paul Revere

King's Chapel

Statue of Benjamin Franklin

Old South Meeting House

Old State House

Location of the Boston Massacre

Old State House

Boston also had a Holocaust Memorial

Each of these glass columns represented a concentration camp, and the glass was etched with the numbers that were tatooed on prisoners' arms.

Paul Revere's house

Statue of Paul Revere

Outside the Old North Church - "One if by land, two if by sea"

Old North Church

Boats in the harbor

Seafood stop #2

Amy tries a lobster roll (yum)

The USS Cassin Young - a Navy destroyer that served in World War II at Leyte Gulf and Okinawa, now housed at the Boston Navy Yard

Chloe takes a call.

View of Boston and the TD Garden where the Celtics and Bruins play

The USS Constitution: "Old Ironsides"

After crossing the harbor, we climbed Breed's Hill where the famous Battle of Bunker Hill was fought.

Bunker Hill Monument

Col. William Prescott, who is credited with saying, "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes!"

It's 294 stairs to the top of the monument.  Mom sat this one out, but Dad bravely accompanied the kids to the top.

Viewing Boston from the top of the Bunker Hill Monument

Boston from above

Essie

We caught up with some fellow Ethiopian adoptees who live in the Boston area.  The girl in yellow helped care for our girls at our agency's transition house in Addis Ababa while they were all waiting for court dates to be completed, and her adoptive mom sent us pictures of our girls before we traveled to bring them home.  (Longtime blog readers will remember the "overalls photos".)