Thursday August 12, 2010

Today we took the train through the countryside and such stops as Ipswich, Rowley, Beverly, and several others to the North Station in Boston. After an hour on the train, we hopped off and jumped on the subway and two stops later we found ourselves in downtown Boston. We walked around a bit to familiarize ourselves and quickly found a true Boston Irish Pub and had lunch.

After a great lunch of fish and chips and hamburgers, we walked to the New England Aquarium and spent time watching the penguin exhibit and all of the other well done exhibits of saltwater and freshwater fish as well as great exhibits of other sea life including sea dragons, sea anemones, starfish, jellyfish and sea urchins.

After the aquarium visit we boarded the City View Trolley for a hourlong tour of the historic area of downtown Boston. Although time did not allow us to stop and get off the trolley and walk around, we got a great flavor of the city from the tour guide and saw lots of historical spots in a very short time. From the Boston Gardens to other attractions such as the State House, Boston Commons, USS Constitution, Kings Chapel and Burying Grounds, Halocaust Memorial, the Boston skyline and many, many more beautiful sights. The tour was fun and the great weather of 75 degrees, partly sunny and nice breeze was a very nice touch.

After the trolley tour we reversed our earlier directions and used the subway to go back to the train station and caught the 5:10 PM back to Newburyport and a great dinner at the Aguave' Mexican restaurant just across the street from the Essex Inn where we are staying while in New England.