Boston Skyline, at Last! Day 12

Sunday, August 17, 2014:  Today began with attendance at the 8 a.m. Church service at Our Lady of Lourdes church in Brockton, Massachusetts.  For details and photos, please see my relationship blog, www.stoptwistedlove.blogspot.com.

As Dave and Michael went to a Lego event, Mary, Theresa, and I were traveling to downtown Boston to board a ship for a 2 1/2 hour brunch/cruise of the Boston Harbor.  In a word, the cruise was wonderful!  As we ate, walked and sat on one of the three levels of the boat, "Majesty," we listened to our tour guide explain the various sites, give interesting stories and history, and a bit of his personal connection with Boston.  And I finally was able to snap many photos of the broad Boston skyline.

Our cruise ship today, August 17, 2014.

The ship was the most elegant I've ever boarded.  I told my daughters, "I feel like I'm on the Titanic!"  The service and food were also outstanding.

While it proved impossible to capture the Boston skyline when traveling around or through the city, I could capture views from the harbor at leisure.

This is the U.S.S. Constitution, the oldest working naval ship in the world.  It never lost in any of its 44 battles.  It was nicknamed "Old Ironsides" because its thick oak sides seemed to repel cannon shots.  Note the tall obelisk, visible behind the mast on the left side.  That is the Bunker Hill Battle Memorial, over 200 feet tall.

The Bunker Hill Battle monument.  The colonists were so overwhelmed by the British (who had to try Three times to capture Bunker Hill!) that they cried, "Don't fire till you see the whites of their eyes!"

Now note the two towers of the Zachim suspension bridge.  It was designed to duplicate the rigging of the U.S.S. Constitution and the Bunker Hill Battle Monument behind the ship.

The boat traffic, particularly the sailboats, was very absorbing.

There are 34 islands in Boston Harbor.  I snapped over 200 photos today of the Harbor and afterwards, when Mary, Theresa, and I had a leisurely stroll through the Greenway, took a carousel ride, and saw many interesting sights.  I'm just exhausted!  I promise that tomorrow I'll update this blog entry and include many more photos!  Nighty-nite!

The Air Traffic

Logan International Airport is on the edge of the harbor water.  It is very exciting both to take off or land at this airport!  During this boat cruise, one of the first things I saw was a plane taking off at the very edge of the water.  There were red lights at the end of this runway.  I tried many times to capture this, hoping the red lights would show up in a photo, and did it - once!

These red lights are at the very end of the runway - before the water! - very exciting to watch, time after time.  Planes leave the airport approximately 30 seconds apart!

The building on the left is a very large hotel at Logan Airport.  At the top is a revolving restaurant.  When it first opened, pilots would confuse it with either a lighthouse or air traffic control.  It had to have the windows at the top blacked out!  The restaurant still revolves.

There goes another one!

The Harbor Lighthouses

There are four lighthouses visible from the Boston Harbor plus one Lightship visible in the harbor.  I have seen many photos of the three Nantucket "Lightships," and was quite happy to see that one was actually in the Charlestown Navy Yard, Boston harbor.

This ship served as a lighthouse for many years off the Nantucket shoals because it was impossible to build a lighthouse.  Now it has been restored and used for education.  (Some day I hope to tour it - gotta save a few things for the next Boston trip!)

Called Nix's Mate, this is not a lighthouse but is a "daymarker," an important navigational aid.

Deer Island Lighthouse

Boston Light, America's first lighthouse, originally built in 1716, destroyed in 1776 by the British then rebuilt in 1783.  It is the ONLY MANNED LIGHTHOUSE in the United States today.  Boston Light is surrounded by scaffolding, currently undergoing renovation.

My other photos of lighthouses were blurry, taken from too far away by my simple camera.

More Boats!

Meet "CODzilla!"  It's the fastest ship in the harbor, turns around quickly and gets everyone WET!  It's very popular!

The Tugboat pushed the oil tanker up from New York; it was cheaper.

This research ship, the "Sea Hunter," from Portland, Maine, recently found a sunken British ship with cargo worth many millions of dollars.  The British, Americans, and Russians are presently legally contesting WHO deserves it!

The small speedboats were fun because their front ends went 'slap, slap' on the water as they passed by.

Wherever did this strange vessel originate?  It's the "Upper Deck Trolley" which we also saw on land!

This is the lone Navy ship in the Charleston Navy Yard, the "Cassin Young," a World War II ship now used only for tours.

Wanna go on a nice tour of a navy boat?

The "Adirondack III," a beautiful, stately sailboat.  The harbor contained dozens and dozens of one-sail boats.  Wouldn't you like to sail a long way on one?  (or not!)

What a memorable cruise on the "Majesty!"  I bought a small stuffed white whale to remember this day.

The "Big Dig" and the Boston "Greenway"

Years ago (1982), there was an inadequate highway, Interstate 93, raised above the downtown Boston area close to the harbor. For 25 years, new underground tunnels, under the Charles River, skyscrapers, and existing subways, were dug and a new Interstate 93 was completed at a cost of billions of dollars.  With the land formerly under the old highway, a public green space called the "Greenway" was formed.  It is in the central city, dedicated to Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, mother of President John F. Kennedy.  It is spacious and beautiful, a welcome respite to the tall buildings which tend to shadow the city.

Fountain in the Greenway

The Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Memorial Rose Garden: this photo in no way does justice to the beauty of the many different varieties of roses.  Surrounding the garden are closely-planted bushes of delicately scented,soft pink roses.

Did you ever ride a Merry-Go-Round or Carousel?  When you were a child?  What a thrill for me today!

The old-fashioned, traditional merry-go-round had carousel horses to ride.  This new one has rabbits, squirrels, birds, etc.  I rode a whale!

My view ahead of my whale.

When we reached the end of the Greenway, Theresa announced, "I want to see some old stuff."  So we walked down some narrow street which turned out to be the old Italian sections, Mary's husband, Dave's ancestry.

Paul Revere's House, our first really OLD place!  Our tour guide informed us that Revere probably didn't ride through the Boston street hollering, "The British are coming, the British are coming!"  because everyone was British!  Revere might have quietly told the protesting citizens, "The Lobster jackets are coming!" because that's how the British soldiers, with their red uniform coats, were called.

Paul Revere's house: note to self: tour this the next time in Boston - no time today!

Sacred Heart Italian Church

This golden dome intrigued us.  Turns out it's atop a "Traffic Tunnel" headquarters.

There was a parade close to this sign for St. someone else.  We were too tired to walk to watch it and see the band.  Instead, we dragged our tired feet to the parking garage then drove home.  A wonderful day we had!!