Boston Public library

The Boston Public library was amazing!

We were actually looking for a restroom- NOT an easy task! So we stopped at the library, holy cow - it was so beautiful, the art inside was fabulous!

The bathrooms were stinky though :/ They looked very clean.

This is the courtyard in the center.The weather was beautiful, slightly overcast, with a gentle breeze now and then.

I picked the textiles out first thing, everything is appliqued, some machine and some hand-needle turned.

Freedom Trail-Charlestown, Bunker Hill Monument

The residential areas were Bobbys favorite. He liked seeing the "normal life flow" throughout the city and suburbs of Boston. Seriously adorable row houses- Now I completely understand the scenes from Sesame Street and Mr Rogers! The shows are geared to the east coast! Duh! While we were walking through Charlestown the kids were getting out of school, playing in the streets, groups of 3 or 4 were walking home, moms sitting in concrete basketball courts watching their kids play- strollers in tow. Flower boxes in almost every window, fall colored flowers and pumpkins in the stair wells and entry ways. The doors different colors, streets were so skinny! Everything was ssssooooo cute, cozy and charming!!!

Bunker Hill Monument

Bobby at the " Colonel Prescott" statue

View from top after climbing 293 steps!

Bobby on the way back down ...

Freedom Trail

I love the history associated with Boston, the architecture was amazing, although pictures just don't do them justice. Its one of those things you have to see for yourself.

Bobbys Uncle did the gold leafing on the dome at one time... in 69? I think.

Update- 10/12/09- Bobbys cousin said it was his Uncle Donald Amerault. He is one of the few remaining gold leaf artists in the state of MA. Very cool :)

The cemeteries are soo cool! Granary Burying Ground had lots of cool headstones, I'll not post all the pictures :).

Genealogists dream- generations of dates on the same headstone!

Stones and coins in memory of deceased.

Creepy and cool at the same time ... no machines to lazar cut the stone- hand done with chisel and mallet.

Site of the first public school- Boston Latin School- no tuition charged but they had to buy firewood. Benjamin Franklin dropped out, funny :)

I think this mosaic would make an awesome quilt or needlework sampler!

Grasshopper weathervane atop Faneuil hall. Next time we go, Im taking pictures of all the different weathervanes! Loved them!

Inside Faneuil Hall-Daniel Webster speaking before the US Senate in WA. 16 ft high x 30 ft wide! Painted by G.P.A Healy- took 7 yrs. Its HUGE!!

Quincy Market- best souvenir shops. Behind it is the North and South Markets. We had dinner at the Durgin-Park Market Dining Room- it was fabulous!

The New England Holocaust Memorial was amazing, not necessarily because of the way it looked, but because of the way it makes you feel...reverent, awed, bewildered, disbelief, outrage, hatred, confusion, love, heartbreak. People outside the area were talking in normal voices, but they seemed muffled next to the heaviness of the feelings in the immediate memorial area, there people whispered, touched the glass, read the numbers quietly-silently- whispering the quotes on the sidewalks. Heads shook slowly, eyes watered, couples held hands, reverent smiles to strangers-smiles on the lips...but not in the eyes. There were small stones and coins on the edges of the black granite sidewalks- I read later it is in memory of the deceased. 6 glass towers signify the 6 death camps, etched with 6 million numbers.

Beautiful artwork done by the Italian immigrants that built the church. It looks like a Christmas card!

These statues were tucked away, down an alley, on a building just in front and to the side of the church. I love them, but you'd not notice them unless you were looking outside the "main path".

Why did "we" go away from having placards on pews at church? Your visiting family would always know where to sit, and you'd never have to find a new seat if someone, unknowingly- of course, took "your" seat.

Old State House- built in 1713- Oldest public building still standing in the Eastern US- Declaration of Independence was read from the balcony on July 18, 1776

Dinner with the Amerault cousins

Bobbys family is originally from the Boston area, or rather the small towns outside Boston. They run one right into the other, like Goodyear, Avondale, Litchfield Park areas. Before he was born his parents left to come to AZ, leaving virtually the rest of both families back east. He was born shortly after coming "out west". As adults the cousins have become reacquainted. Gail, one of Bobbys cousins, invited us for a get together with her Dad (Uncle Bobby) and siblings. It was so fun! The only family he has ever really known are his siblings. Its been really fun getting to know his extended family :) So many similar characteristics, Alli resembles this part of his family, where the boys resemble his Dads part of the family. They are so nice, and were very warm and the visit was soo comfortable!
Anyway...here are some pictures from our dinner at Greg & Gails house in Wilmington.

Cindy, Patty, Gail and Bobby

Bobby, Uncle Bobby, Bobby (the son), Bobby (the son's son)

Its okay, Im confused too :) Technically I believe they are all "Roberts".

Gail, Greg, Tim

the young'ins

Boston Vacation- Day 1

We are here! Left the house at 4:35 am. That in itself is an amazing accomplishment (for me, anyway)! Arrived in Boston at 4ish, drove around the city a little, then headed to our motel in Tewksbury. Everything is sooo cute! The houses are adorable and charming, streets are skinny and windy, the trees are wonderful! All different shades of green and red.
After we checked in, we tracked down the cemetery where Bobby's paternal grandfather is, Albert F. Carbonneau. His grandmother, Stella, and Uncle Richard & Aunt Catherine Carbonneau are suppose to be there also, but we didn't find them. We will go by tomorrow and talk to the office.
On the paperwork we have it says he has a paternal 1st? cousin that lives here, Susan Sneed. We went to the house and knocked on the door but nobody answered. Will probably try again tomorrow- no phone number listed.