Let’s fast forward through an eventful winter that stalled all blogging and pick up with the second trip after New Years.
I was sitting in my hairstylist’s chair the week before St. Patrick’s Day – a holiday which she takes very seriously. Her name is Allison and she’s been to Savannah, New Orleans, and I forget where else for wild green celebrations, but she confided her dream of one day making it to Boston with such a wistful wave of her scissors that I could only nod.
Then it hit me.
Saturday would be St. Patrick’s Day. Saturday I would be in Boston. My eyes widened at this realization and I sat under the dryer considering whether I might need to reschedule our trip to see our fellow non-bar-hopping, non-partying, non-public-schooling friends. I didn’t mention any of this irony to my stylist.
But, thanks to a hostess with great foresight, we were decked out in style to take on the town before the green brew started rolling. I think we made a respectable showing.
After presenting an assortment of nearly a dozen Army and Air Force issued ID cards, we left one very large van in the capable care of the U.S. Coast Guard and started walking….
…following the red line.
At the courtesy of the Navy, we toured the U.S.S. Constitution, which I must say they are keeping up quite nicely.
Those of you who are familiar with my boys will be relieved to know that we disembarked without anyone making an attempt to refit the cannons for battle.
This was a photo op after climbing to the top of the Bunker Hill Monument. I love all these smiles!
The the Air Force kids suddenly noticed that the sweatshirt in the middle needed some censorship, but the hand sent to do the job wasn’t quite big enough. Go Army!!!
Finally we visited Old North Church… (One if by land, two if by sea…)
…and stopped by Paul Revere’s house. He wasn’t home, so we didn’t go in.
The next day we went to Newport, Rhode Island and started by touring The Breakers – a Vanderbilt mansion. This one fit pretty well into the neighborhood compared to some of their other family homes. We were stunned by the sheer quantity of multi-million dollar properties lined up end-to-end down the streets and trailing out of town. Most of the original owners are now confined to different situations for however long eternity is… I wonder if they miss these palaces near the sand.
After the tour, we made our way around to the back yard…or most of us did…
What’s wrong with this picture? …7,8,9….uh… I’ll tell you what’s wrong. Interesting books in museum gift shops waylay homeschool kids in the same way yellow flowers attract bees. M.G. was so engrossed that he missed the rest of us moving on!
I took more pictures while his sisters backtracked and pulled his nose out of that book. Then we went to the beach for a picnic – the kind of beach picnic I remember from my youth in Oregon – sweatshirts, blankets and finding shelter from the wind huddled behind a bush but, the rugged beauty was worth the coats and hoods.
It was wonderful to see our friends again after so long for an easy comfortable reunion after five years. The whole trip was such a joy. We left feeling so blessed by the friends God has placed in our paths over the years.
On the way home, we started talking about going to Philadelphia. Then, it occurred to us that we could take some cadets with us on our trips and we wondered if any of them would be interested.
They were. Stay tuned…
Okay, before I wrap this up, sing it with me…. “From the halls of Mon—-te-zuuuuu-ma, to the shores of Tripoli….” There. Now our Marine friends will not feel left out of this field trip should they happen upon this blog post! Phew.
NomadLibs 