Year 3 Day 144 – “Living the Dream”. Saturday, 9/23/2023. We are in Boston, Massachusetts this morning.
The Windjammer is packed at 7am. We are pulling in as we eat breakfast.
We have been here two times before on cruises. At breakfast we watched the planes landing at the airport and we hear our first Alpha, Alpha, Alpha for deck two. The runway is right on the water.
We are delayed getting off since we had to wait for passengers to be loaded into ambulances. So sad for them since their vacation ended a little early and not in a good way.
It is damp and cold outside. I am going to freeze after that hot Kentucky sun. It is going to be a rainy windy day. The Holland American Zuiderdam is loading and unloading passengers The Zuiderdam carries a maximum of 2,272 passengers. Our ship Liberty of the Seas carries a maximum of 4,960 passengers.
We decided to walk up to the beginning of the Freedom Trail. Other trips we have done the ghost tour and the duck tour.
We are amazed at the number of people jogging on the streets, the number of people walking their dogs, and the number of homeless. The dogs are lifting their legs on the light poles. Steve says “hey, I would get arrested if I did that. Why is that allowed. It is disgusting”. Then the conversation came about as to where do the homeless do their bathroom business. Think about that for a second.
As we walked over the bridge from South Boston into Fort Point, I look into the water, and I am amazed at the oil patches floating. The water does not look very clean.
Boston is the city of waiting to cross the roads. You can tell we are from the country. Not many cars to wait for and you cross the street anywhere. Today we waited on the orange hand ALOT to cross streets. We never walked up where the person was walking sign was there. No, we would press the button on the street sign, and it says – WAIT. I have to say Boston residents seem to ignore that hand. The buildings here are beautiful and the architecture very unique.
On the way to Boston Commons, I bought a thicker hoodie that says Boston 1630 on it.
Of course, we start discussing what happened in1630. In 1630 The first church in Boston was established by John Winthrop’s settlement and also the first cemetery, King’s Chapel Burying Ground, was founded. In 1634 The first tavern/inn was opened in Boston by Puritan settler, Samuel Cole. The Freedom Trail is a 2.5-mile-long path through Boston that passes by 17 locations significant to the history of the United States, marked largely with brick. It winds from Boston Common in downtown Boston, to the Old North Church in the North End and the Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown. We bought a map at the Visitor center for $3.00 and started walking. Just to let you know we had already walked over two miles from the ship. As we walked through Boston Commons Park to Massachusetts State House we were bombarded with acorns. Those squirrels did not want us there at all. There were so many of them. We did a small portion of the trail and decided for us it was really pretty boring. We are not into history that much.
We were more interested in looking at the unique stores, balconies, fire escapes, and crane work.
We wandered around and even checked out the Amtrak station. That was wonderful. We have gotten into doing some Amtrak trips and have more planned. What a beautiful station.
On the way back to the cruise ship there are rowers going under the bridge as we cross over into South Boston.
We left the ship at 8:30am and were back around 1:30pm. Yes, we walked for five hours starting in South Boston. I think we walked around 6 miles or more. We got back on the ship just as it started to drizzle. Walking the streets, we were amazed at the number of ship passengers that recognized us and came up to say hi! We also made a few new acquaintances. All in all, it was a great day. Oh yes, Steve is napping this afternoon as I am writing this. He says ladder work is less tiring than walking. Oh, later in the afternoon we get a call from the bank. Remember that sweatshirt for $30.00 we bought. Well one of our credit cards has been compromised. Someone is charging hundreds of dollars and numerous charges to Groupon, Inc today. In the afternoon it got really cold and rainy. The pools are empty, and the lifeguards have coats on. This ship has no inside covered pool. Why would they send this ship to Canada in the fall?
Today’s product recommendations are cruising essentials: 1) It is so nice not to have to worry about stapling your luggage tags to your luggage handles and to have them rip off. We have these plastic holders on our luggage and love them. We use them for Royal Caribbean cruises and also fold the MSC tags to fit in them when we travel with MSC cruise lines. Here’s a link: https://amzn.to/3RAGgED 2) A lanyard is great to have. It makes it so easy to carry your seapass card and some tip money around the ship. These are really nice. Here’s a link: https://amzn.to/3PTVLGB 3) I have found that a nice toiletry bag is essential, and this is the one I love. Here’s a link to it: https://amzn.to/3EO2Y4F 4) Packing cubes – I can’t say enough about them. I would never go on vacation without them again. Here’s a link: https://amzn.to/3Rxx8AA 5) You have to have a small purse for getting off at ports or for carrying a few things with you around the ship. Great for when you have no pockets to carry the cell phone. This one is beautiful. Here’s the link: https://amzn.to/3ETJNpS 6) Room Thermometer- I leave one of these packed in my bag. The temperature fluctuates so much, and I like to try and keep my room at a stable temperature. This keeps me honest with myself. Here’s a link: https://amzn.to/46tNoXH
To view the complete daily diary, click here – This starts at Year 1 Day 1: Living the Dream – Deestimes – Make every step of the journey count