Day 9 - Thursday July 5

Goooooooood Morning Friends!

What a difference a full night of sleep makes! Everyone caught up on the missed sleep from our previous tenting night and were ready to hit the road.

Becky is on a mission to run a marathon in different states each year she runs a marathon and when she researched a possible race in Maine it is located in Bar Harbor. We drove back into Bar Harbor to look at a few of the locations that she would run through if she chose this particular race. Again, simply beautiful scenery and rugged coastlines.

Our plan was to get back to Boston today to finish the Freedom Trail and get some Tea Party action in. On the ride to Boston, Becky commented that her lips were chapped but she couldn't figure out why. It was not windy during all of our hiking in Acadia the day before so she ruled that out. She kept a current application on Carmex during our hiking so they were not sun burnt. Then she remembered reading someplace that at C-Ray's the lobsters and the corn are boiled and steamed in seawater.... seawater is salty... she gave that lobster HELL... was this ailment self-inflicted? Sure enough, she deduced that her current condition was due to her lobster dinner the previous night. From that moment on, Lobster Lips Landry was born! (I am obligated to mention here that she's also suffering from lobster hands/thumbs but that just isn't nearly as fun as Lobster Lips- suck it up Buttercup!) LOL- please know that we will continue to update her condition(s) as the trip progresses. If we start a GoFundMe for her condition, you'll read about it here first!

We stopped in Portland, Maine for lunch- we grabbed a Five Guys burger and thoroughly enjoyed it. While we sat and enjoyed our burgers we reflected on the trip thus far. Dean and I have pretty much stayed at Hampton Inns during our travels as much as possible. We enjoy the breakfast provided and the mattresses are so very comfortable. I have been known to grab a couple of bananas, yogurts or bagels and cream cheese with me after breakfast for road-snacks. A few nights ago I knew there was a chance that I would be showering in a bathhouse and would need a towel to dry off with so I 'borrowed' one from that particular hotel. These things are amusing to Steven. He likened Dean and I to that infamous couple of criminals in history, Danny & Clyde. I raised my eyebrow- Steven, you were soooo close. You are likening Dean and I to the over stuffed shrimp poboy convenience store in Thibodaux? I'm not offended- was a huge fan of their poboys just not sure what it means. I think he was really shooting for Bonny & Clyde. Of course the laughter was so loud that it took some time before he could correct himself.

Welcome to Boston!

We got into Boston around 3:15. We found a parking garage and headed out on foot. Dean and I headed to the Boston Tea Party Ship and Museum; Becky and Steven had experienced this on a previous trip to the area. We purchased tickets for the 4 o'clock tour. We had 30-ish minutes to burn so I asked where was the nearest place to purchase a beer- in the Tea Room on the ship of course!

I kinda drank half of mine while setting up the shot...lol

So this museum is a must see/do if ever you are in Boston. We so enjoyed it. It would be great with children also. Everyone on the tour is a patriot and assigned the identity of a real patriot at that time. We are all given a feather to aid in our disguise for what comes later.

I had a speaking part as Thomas Porter! SO much fun!

The disguise is spectacular! (this is Nicky BTW in case the disguise throws you off)

During the tour we board an English ship (after being all riled up with talk about unfair taxes, etc) and we throw the tea overboard! Since I had already taken a speaking part over the children in attendance, I held back and let them throw the tea overboard. Really cool experience.

During the course of the tour and tea tossing you enter the museum. There are numerous rooms that you walk through that all have various video clips, artifacts etc of the Boston Tea Party. There is one wooden case that washed up on the shores of Boston a few days after the party that one family took and hid for years and then passed down. That case is on display in the museum. There is also a small vile of some of the tea that was made with that particular tea. It was very well done and something worth spending time on.

We then huffed it to meet the Landry's at the next stop of our Freedom Trail experience- Paul Revere's House. It was a healthy walk for us and its hot and humid in Boston. The house is a museum today available for tours but we arrived just a little late to take part in one.

After a short walk from Paul's house we came upon a statue of Paul in the front of the church that made him famous, Old North Church. The church is the oldest church building in Boston. 

Paul Revere

Old North Church

Old North Church

Our next stop on the Freedom Trail was Copp's Hill Burial Ground. There are several patriots buried here. It was after 5:30 and the gates were closed so we just looked through the fence. The number of bunnies in this burial ground was amazing! Of course we were totally amused by the bunnies hopping around.

Bunnies everywhere!

You know who this is... Little Bunny Foo Foo!

Our next and last stop was the USS Constitution. We walked quite a bit to reach this destination. Our total walking for these few hours in Boston was 4.72 miles. The Constitution is the oldest ship built by the US Navy.

On the walk to USS Constitution

USS Constitution

We Ubered back to our parking garage and headed to our hotel in Waltham. We ordered pizza and ate in our rooms after we showered. Our plan for tomorrow is to head to Lancaster, Pennsylvania and visit Amish Country.

It's poll time!
Results form yesterday:

So we have lots of walkers out there! We have really enjoyed hiking in our national parks but we have both recently developed more interest in jogging. Of course Becky is a runner.

Our question today revolves around our Tea Party experiences.
If you had to choose between the given, which would be your favorite?