Boston Weekend

If you asked me about my [1st] visit to Boston, my most prominent response would be "It was miserably cold!!" But besides perpetually scrunching my shoulders up to my ears and folding my arms tightly to try to keep warm, we did see some pretty cool stuff. I consider myself an American history nerd, but the Revolutionary period is not my forte (early-mid 20th century is probably my favorite). I wish I'd educated myself more before the trip to better appreciate the history more, but I knew enough to enjoy it...

We spent all of Friday evening driving to Rhode Island, where Nicole's mom generously let us stay for the weekend. Saturday was mostly dedicated to exploring the 2.5 mile Freedom Trail (which we probably twice) thru downtown Boston and across Boston Harbor. Here we are at the Massachusetts State House next to Boston Common (oldest city park in America, est. 1634), Old City Hall, and site of the Boston Massacre -

We walked by the Paul Revere memorial and Old North Church, where he raced to light the lantern to warn the colonists that "The British are coming! The British are coming!" (Longfellow's poem made him famous) I found the Episcopal church's set-up fascinating, so different from an LDS chapel. The box pews were designed to keep parishioners warm (great idea!) and families bought their own to decorate - the closer the pews are to the preacher, the more expensive they were. I was extremely disturbed by this seating arrangement based on social-economic class...

We passed by many cemeteries. This one was atop a hill and had pretty daffodils planted throughout. I'd never seen headstones layered together like that and made so crooked by time & the elements.

We ate at a cute place in Little Italy for lunch, and got delicious canolis for dessert at Mike's Pastry :)

Then we trudged across the bridge to see the U.S.S. Constitution, the oldest active US naval vessel (launched 1797). It was super cool, we had a great passionate female tour guide who's new in the Navy. I can't imagine living in those cramped quarters for 10 months at a time eating dry hard biscuits everyday, but I think it'd be fun to try sleeping in those hammocks!

Then we walked through some charming neighborhoods to the Battle of Bunker Hill Memorial...

...and back to Fanueil Hall (also used as a meeting hall by Samuel Adams and other revolutionaries) for dinner. I couldn't WAIT to warm myself up over some authentic Boston clam chowder (and some fried calamari because I was ravenous)! I could totally understand why chowder is such a big part of New England cuisine - it's a lovely warming antidote for the biting, frigid climate.

We had an early start on Sunday so we could see the beautiful Boston LDS temple before church at 11:00am. I loved the Boston LDS chapel - so beautiful inside and out.

We only stayed for sacrament meeting, then drove to take a tour of Harvard University (oldest institution of higher education in the US - 1636) with Nicole as our tour guide. It is SO AWESOME to me to think that only 6 years after John Winthrop established the first group of British settlers in Boston, they built a college. I love that education and religion are a fundamental part of our American Heritage (which class I was a TA for at BYU :))

Oh but wait, there's more! Ironically, my absolute favorite part of our Boston trip was actually visiting Yale University (est. 1701) in New Haven, Connecticut on the drive back. Nicole just got into a masters program there but it was her best friend Nick (2nd year PhD student) who gave us the fantastic insider tour :D

The campus just blew me away with its fascinating architecture (with lots of meaningful/historic words & symbols carved into the walls) and beautiful landscaping. Every space we entered - even the dining hall - seemed so conducive to studying, pondering, and stimulating intellectual dialogues. I loved that there are such prominent buildings for the arts.

Confession: when I was looking at graduate American Studies programs (they are few), Yale's program really attracted me. But for many reasons, I didn't apply. However, after this tour, it's my top choice school at which to [eventually] earn my PhD in American Studies (Harvard doesn't have such a program) after I finish my M.A. in American Studies at GW. I want to be a wife & mother more than anything, so I don't know when it would happen but it would take much preparation, prayers, and a genuine miracle to get in! So I rubbed the supposed lucky foot of this statue, just in case it helps ;)

We got back late Sunday night. The next day, bombs exploded at the Boston Marathon (we met many out-of-towners who were there for the event), killing 3 people. I feel very blessed to be back home in DC when that happened, and pray for all those directly affected by this tragedy.