When we heard that Austen's class was scheduled to walk the
Freedom Trail in Boston, we volunteered to chaperone the trip... all of us. Although it must be a little horrifying to be a 12 year old with your whole family schlepping around on your 6th grade field trip, he was a real sport about it. Austen has a super nice class and it was great to share the experience with all of them.
The day was "raw" as we say here in New England. It was gray, rainy, windy and 40 degrees. The trip started and ended at the
Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown. We crossed the Charles River Bridge into Boston and visited the
Old North Church ("one if by sea, two if by land") ,
Paul Revere's house,
Old South Meeting House (home of the Tea Debate which led to the Boston Tea Party) & had lunch in
Faneuil Hall. The kids re-enacted the Tea Debate which was amazing! We ended up back at the Bunker Hill Monument about 6 hours after we started. We were freezing and some of us had super curly hair (me and the girls!) but we had a blast. I couldn't believe how great the kids all were in less that perfect weather conditions! If you are coming to New England for any reason, go spend a day in Boston. It's got great history, shopping, food and culture.
Bunker Hill is important to us for a few reasons. Gerry's mother's mother was a Breed of Marblehead, MA. Breed's Hill abuts Bunker Hill and was part of the famous Battle of Bunker Hill during the Revolutionary War. Austen's middle name is Breed to carry the family name, and his Auntie Kristin is Kristin Breed.
About 25 years ago *gasp* I was on a bus with several high school classmates and several more French exchange students on a field trip to Boston which included a visit to Bunker Hill. That's where I met my best girlfriend Laurel. She and I have shared more than I'll ever reveal during our friendship.
So, that's where we ended up on Friday night after the field trip... Laurel's house in Andover.
She and her most adorable son Beckett were nice enough to let us crash and warm up after our field trip adventure with Austen and his class!
Here's a cutie picture of Beckett. Laurel adopted him from Ethiopia almost a year ago. He'll be 2 in July and will be welcoming a baby brother when Laurel gets the call, hopefully around Christmas time!
