Boston Weekend

After touring Lexington and Concord we moved our headquarters to the Ritz Carlton on the Boston Common for the weekend. The Boston Common is akin to Central park in Manhattan, but the city of Boston had nonstop activities and concerts setup throughout the weekend to entertain the people of Boston. Even though Boston is one of the oldest cities in the United States it feels very youthful and vibrant. Friday evening we set out to explore the city touring China town and the Italian sections of the city. We also enjoyed the Rose Kennedy greenway which was a result of "the big dig" where Boston officials dug a huge tunnel underneath the city to reroute the highways. The greenway is located where the old highway was in the city and creates an incredibly nice park area with water areas for children and beautiful plantings and sculpture. The elimination of the highway reinvigorated the neighborhoods which had previously been cut off from the rest of the city because of access issues. We saw the old North Church, various meeting halls, Paul Revere's houses and many places along the Liberty walk.
Saturday we took a trolley tour and checked out the U.S.S. Constitution in Boston Harbor. We took a break for lunch and met some dear friends who live in Boston and enjoyed a great seafood meal in Charlestown. After lunch we saw Bunker Hill and Greerson and Christa got a personal tour of a World War II ship. We then boarded the trolley and checked out various communities of Boston such as Beacon Hill. We then decided to have dinner at the Quincy Market place. The food offerings in one place are amazing.


The outstanding memory from our stay at the Ritz Carlton was the service that the ladies and gentlemen at the Ritz provided, but also the luxurious bathroom was a definitive positive memory of the hotel

 This was the soaking tub which came with a menu for specialty bubble and oil baths

 This is the shower which was extremely nice for a hotel

Each room had a lovely peacock feather in a vase outside to welcome the guests

 This is a gate in the China town section of Boston

 This theatre was near our hotel and may be the possible cover of my next textbook

 Faneuil Hall and marketplace

 Looking away from the old north church

 The new greenway that used to be an interstate

 Fanuel Hall paintings of George Washington

 and King George

 this is the seating area along the sides of the main meeting seats that faced the stage

 This was the nicest Walgreens I have ever seen!

The Cheers Bar is in the background located at Quincy Market. This is a recreation of the tv studio set.

 I thought this looked interesting

 A statue of Harriet Tubman

 Even the gas stations had style!

Lexington and Concord

We flew into Boston and stayed in the Waltham section of the city the first night. We ate at a great Italian restaurant the first night and then looked around the city. The next morning we headed down the road to Lexington to investigate the location of the "shot heard round the world". After arriving at the Lexington Green (the battlefield where the first shot was fired) we got our tickets for a narrated trolley tour that would take us from Lexington to Concord (similar to the ride of Paul Revere). As the day progressed it soon became apparent that this area had produced and encouraged several authors to write and publish stories. Henry David Thoreau was from Concord, Massachusetts and we saw several areas that inspired his ideas. The most interesting was Louisa May Alcott and the house where she wrote several of her books. She was a favorite author of Daryl's mother and it was neat to see where she had lived and written. In addition to the authors from the area we toured battle sites and the famous bridge in Concord where the revolutionary war was waged. It included a monument to British soldiers who had traveled so far to give their lives. At this bridge was a sculpture of a minuteman. After the trolley tour we drove from Lexington toward Concord and stopped at the National Park visitors center and watched a presentation that demonstrated the ride of Paul Revere. We went on to Concord and picked up lunch at a Cheese Shop and then explored the museum in Concord. We drove closer into Boston and checked out the MIT Museum. Greerson really enjoyed looking at the design and implementation of design through the various projects at MIT. We drove the the Harvard campus and then headed to our new hotel in downtown Boston. We stayed at the Ritz Carlton near the Boston Common which turned out to be the perfect home base for the next few days as we toured the city.

This was a memorial for the men who served of the battleship Lexington

This was a tavern near the Lexington Green

This statue was the focal point of the Lexington Green

Greerson and Christa waiting for our trolley tour

The Lexington Green

Louisa May Alcott's House

The old north bridge in Concord

Canadian geese at the bridge

The minuteman statue located at the old north bridge in Concord, Massachusetts

 Daryl and Christa at the old north bridge in Concord, Massachuesetts

 The monument to the British soldiers who were killed.

 The view from the bridge

 The tavern in Lexington

 The museum in Concord

The MIT Museum

Massachusetts Vacation

Last Fall we began thinking about a summer vacation for 2016. We began discussing it and Christa's parents decided they would join us on a trip to Cap Cod, Massachusetts. As time progressed and more family members discovered our plans the trip expanded. Christa's aunt and uncle from Missouri decided they would join the trip and meet Christa's parents several days early and they would take an excursion up to Bar Harbor, Maine. Meanwhile we had decided to take a few extra days and explore Boston before meeting at Cape Cod. Christa's brother and his family soon joined the fun and the plan was in motion for a fun filled week in two condos at a resort on Cape Cod.

Ready for 2016

The Fall of 2015 went so quickly it is hard to believe that Christmas has come and gone. We attended the Baylor Football home games, Midway High School Football games and supported the Midway Band program. Greerson is playing the trombone and we worked several marching contests and concession stands throughout the football season. Christa serves as the membership chair and Daryl is the parliamentarian for the Midway Band Backers. We also still actively support the Boy Scouts in Hewitt. Daryl is hard at work on his doctorate from Liberty University and will complete coursework in May 2016. During the fall semester he took 12 hours and taught 15 hours and managed to write a new textbook that is schedule to be published next week.
We spent Thanksgiving at the ranch with Christa's parents and Greerson got a deer while we were there so we will have venison to enjoy this winter. December was a flurry of activities. Daryl played the piano and Greerson the trombone for the Christmas musical at church and Christa ran the sound. That occupied a couple of months in the Fall as well as the first two weeks of December. The performance was great and the church seemed to really enjoy it.

Greerson completed his Eagle Board this fall and will have an Eagle ceremony sometime this spring.

Daryl is headed to Virginia the second week in January for his second week in residency at Liberty University.

 Enjoying Baylor Football!

 

Daryl's siblings: Steve, Sheryl and Daryl

Steve's daughter Rachel came for a visit last summer and Sheryl and Daryl gave her a tour of Waco.

Sheryl, Rachel and Daryl at Baylor

                                                      Daryl headed to a Band event!

 This photo was taken for the cover of Daryl's new textbook, but was not used since it looked like the boy was cleaning Daryl's ear!

 Greerson at the Eagle Board, He was approved!!!!

 

The Christmas Musical at church

 

Daryl and Christa's Christmas morning  picture.