The weather here in the NE in August is not what we expected. We had heard about the Dog Days of Summer with high oppressive humidity. We have had some of it, but all of the locals keep saying this is not usual weather. It has been warm, and there have been humid days, but for the most part, the weather has been pleasant and enjoyable. We've experienced some rain, more than the locals are used to, but again, from our perspective, nothing to complain about.
On our days off we still try to explore the area. Newport Rhode Island was a day trip for us, only about an hour away from Eastford.
Newport Rhode Island
Newport is the home of the rich and the famous, weddings and lobster. We took a harbor cruise that brought us past Fort Adams, which was preparing for a shoreline concert weekend. The tour guide said that the area would be lined with multi-million dollar yachts along with many smaller craft. The Fort was the largest most complex coastal fortification of its day. Built between 1824 and 1857, it was active through WWII. It was designed for 468 cannons which were later replaced with more modern guns. None of the arms were ever fired in anger. 
We proceeded along a shore that was covered with estate after estate, with an occasional estate converted to a wedding destination hotel. In the late 1800 and early 1900 the rich would build a home along the bluff. The next year, the next rich guy would build a bigger/better home, and so on, and so on.
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| Lobster Roll....yummy! |
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| House on a rock..can be rented |
Boston, Ma.
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| Tea Party Museum |
Tea Party
Ironic! The site of the Boston Tea Party is today located on a street in front of the Bank of England. Think about it. The “Tea Party” was held to protest taxation levied by England on the Colonist. Today the Bank of England sits on the site.
This occurred because seventy five percent of downtown Boston is built on filled land. In the late 1800s, Boston suffered a catastrophic fire. The burnt buildings were leveled and pushed into the bay and river. Modern Boston is built on the rubble.
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| Community meeting of supporters of the Tossing of the Tea |
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| Tossing the tea into the river |
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| The Beaver |
We became replica colonists and participated in a secret meeting to plan what was to be done in protest to the taxation by the
Crown. We then participated in the dumping of tea into the harbor from the ship "The Beaver". One of the original crates which had contained the tea was recovered by one family the day after the party. It was passed down though the years within their family and was finally donated to the Tea Party Museum in Boston.
Harbor Cruise
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| Our tour boat! |
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| Widest cable stayed bridge in US 10 lanes wide |
stories you get from the guide. In Boston we again took a cruise around the modern harbor. The Boston side of the harbor is lined with new structures and downtown Boston rises vertically just behind those. The east side of the harbor is lined with old decayed wharfs and pilings. The cruise captain explained that the Boston side was just as old and run down just 25 years ago. He gave an example of a low income high-rise apartment
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| Waterfront all built on FILL! |
building that had been converted to condominiums. The tenants
were given the option of buying their units for very low prices. Now those units are selling at near one million each and those who were once considered 'low income', are now millionaires.
Freedom Trail
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| Freedom Trail marker |
Boston has so much great history and The Freedom Trail is a historic walk that extends across Boston. It is marked with a red brick line that extends for 2 ½ miles, and we walked and rode over most of it. After a 30 minute subway ride, we first intersected the trail at the Boston Commons, the oldest park in the country.  |
| North Church |
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| Paul Revere's house |
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| Cobblestone street in front of Paul Revere's house |
We next followed the trail across the river to the Navy Yard and the home of the Constitution, also known as Old Ironsides. It is the oldest commissioned ship in the Navy. It has a crew of proud active Naval personnel, who love to tell the story of the ships history. It was never boarded or lost a battle to any enemy force. The Ironside moniker was earned when during a battle with the English fleet, cannon balls bounced off the sides of the vessel. The British thought it must be iron
clad, but the strength comes from having a 2 foot thick swamp oak hull. The shipyard sits near Bunker Hill “Don’t shoot till you see the whites of their eyes”. The British actually won that battle, but the Colonists inflicted great damages on the English troops. Today a great obelisk sit at the top of the hill, commemorating the event. There are ranger led tours to Bunker Hill, and you can climb the 500+ steps to the top.....we opted not to participate in that tour that day. (smile)
As we worked our way back from Old Ironsides, we walked through Faneuil Hall marketplace, the
Fenway Park
Maybe the highlight of our Boston visit was a trip to Boston's famous baseball stadium, Fenway Park. Fenway, built in 1912, sits in an old commercial part of town and a freeway runs behind the “green monster”. The “first place” Red Socks were playing the “also ran” Seattle Mariners. The Mariners scored first but never gained the lead again. In the seventh inning, with the Mariners flagging and a long subway ride back to our hotel, we left the game. Fenway and Boston fans were an experience to be long remembered.
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| Green Monster |
