Today the sun goes down on the first week and, in my mind at least, the first act of the vacation play. Act two will be our week with Erin, and Act III will be back to just the two of us for the thrilling conclusion. Act 4 will be our return to home and hopefully the recongealation of my brain which is turning quite mushy under the relentless assault of novelty.

Anyhoo we left New York behind and picked Erin up at Logan and then spent a hot afternoon in downtown Boston, mainly walking the Freedom Trail once we could find it. We wandered about Boston Commons looking for a sign, but not until we overheard a park ranger tell a fellow tourist to follow the red brick path did we use the proper sense and direct our gaze downward. All was revealed.

I have to reiterate how surprised I am by all of the empty countryside we have driven through in the Northeast. I thought it was just one big crowded mess. Now I know it’s a big crowded mess surrounded by plenty of empty countryside.

I managed to snag a half Irish breakfast (everything that comes with a full Irish breakfast, only 1/2 of the quantity) for lunch served by an actual Irishmen so I’m happy, although the lack of mushrooms kept me from being ecstatic. It’s the little things in life that make a big difference. Still, four kinds of meat! FOUR KINDS!!!

And on that happy note – plus no cancellations so every night a bed is present and accounted for – we conclude week 1.

No more selfies in Act 2.
I’d rather be in Philly.  

Ok, this isn’t Ben’s tomb, but his parents tomb, but that’s just where our minds go.
They left plenty of room for his signature.
Ultimately it turned out to be just one for Mr Revere himself.
The guy in orange was extremely helpful, perhaps excessively helpful, ok I didn’t think he was ever going to stop helping us, but he did and so I took this picture of him and the historic balcony where the Constitution was originally read – at least according to Mr Helpful. We’re not sure why he was stationed at the middle of the tour with a brochure including a map instead of the beginning, but I’m just an engineer so what do I know.
Was it warm today? Did we walk a long way in the sun? Just look at me compared to the beginning. There is a large sweat stain on my shirt, I can’t stand up straight, I’m all disheveled, and yet look at that big smile. That’s because the National Park Service has a small free museum with restrooms which I had just made use of so boy was I happy. But everything isn’t about me as we are standing on Bunker (Breeds?) Hill. Not sure why they put a small version of the Washington Monument on top but maybe they saved on architectural fees.