Once it was time to line up for the tour, we waited some more and once it was time to board, we waited aboard, again. Finally, an hour and a half after what we thought was the boarding time, "Jumpin Jim" introduced himself and the duck vehicle (originally was a WWII vehicle that was designed by civilians and laughed at by the military until they were in a bind and needed an amphibious vehicle) and began the tour. "Jim's" real name is Stephan.
(Jude playing with his cousins on the duck)
The tour was very fascinating and covered a good portion of Boston, pretty much showcasing it's history from settlement to now while showing points of interests to illustrate the timeline. Due to some reconstruction of a certain bridge, we only spent about 5% of the time actually in the water.
Once the tour was over and we were back at the museum, we thought we take the subway back to Government Square to find some food. We ended up at Quincy Market.
(A side entrance to Quincy Market)
Across the way from Quincy Market is Faneuil Hall, a marketplace and meeting hall used as a public forum. As the city grew, so did the need for a larger marketplace. So, Quincy Market was constructed. Now it is pretty much and indoor food court, more like a corridor, with a huge array of different types of food. On either side of the market and enclosed in glass (think sun room) are vendor kiosks selling everything from cookies to Boston gear to trinkets and nick-knacks. I had fish and chips from Fisherman's Net while Nicole had a slice of cheese pizza from Regina Pizzeria, and Jude had macaroni and cheese. Nichole and I both had coffee and 'cinnamon flat tires' from Carol Anne's Bakery (they also sold a variety of lates). We ate separately from the rest of the group and reconvened afterwards to try and set up a reservation for Union Oyster Bar, the oldest functioning restaurant in America. They didn't have any room for us, so we made reservations for Legal Fish House, another popular seafood eatery, for a few hours later.
With time to kill we decided walk around and see what there was. We ended up checking out a few shops, the old state house, Faneuil Hal, the Old Corner Bookstore (now defunct, the oldest brick building in America), and finally ended up at a Dunken Donuts for some coffee. From there we made our way to meet up with the rest of the group to head over to the restaurant. I was going to get fish and chips again because I didn't care for their fish selection and I do not like non-fish seafood. But I decided to get blackened tuna sashimi and Allagash white to drink. Delicious! Nichole got a garlic shrimp scampi. Once we were full and finished, we made our way back to the subway (Jude is so ecstatic every time we ride one), and the shuttle (in a very roundabout way) to head back to our hotel.
(One of the pedestrian streets near our hotel)
I just realized that I haven't mentioned the weather yet. When we landed Sunday afternoon, it was sunny and windy, in the 50's. As the afternoon turned to evening it became more overcast and chilly. Monday started out really nice, high 50's to low 60's with plenty of sunshine. That changed very quickly to very cloudy and very windy, low 50's possibly to high 40's. I woke up this morning to grey skies and raindrops on our skylight. The rest of the day was like that, grey and wet, in the 40's. It never rained hard, but lightly off and on throughout the day.
Tomorrow the other part of the group will be meeting early to head over to the children's museum (it is supposed to be really good) because Sue's cousin and her kids are leaving a day earlier than everyone else. Nichole, Jude and I will be meeting Pat and Wendy for breakfast and then we will take a trolley tour that will let us get on and off as we please.
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