Boston for Christmas

This year we decided to do something completely new for us.  We decided to take off for a week in an unknown (to us) city and explore!  In an effort to make the holiday meaningful (and to simplify our lives, a quest I feel like I’m just beginning and am hoping to take our family on), this year is more about experiencing something rich and new together than it is about opening a lot of gifts.  (Oh, we’ll still have plenty of gifts–never fear about that! In a world with grandparents, is there any dearth of gifts?) Boston is a city we’ve always wanted to visit, and the price was right for a family of six to fly there from Nashville, so we did it!  We flew out last Wednesday night and flew back home late last night.

Of course, we also happened to visit Boston during a window of time when it was VERY cold and windy, even snowy.  We saw a lot of historic sights, many of which we had to appreciate from the relative warmth of the tour trolley.  We spent our first three days traveling via subway into the city and taking in the sights.

We saw some famous historic sights:

A famous (and beautiful!) library, one of the oldest in the nation:

The Bard (on exhibit at the library–lucky for us!):

The First Folio:

The U.S.S. Constitution:

Edgar Allan Poe:

Mrs. Mallard and her ducklings:

Ice!:

Very fat and friendly squirrels:

Thrilling Christmas displays:

Beautiful buildings:
And even more history:

This is the biggest trip we’ve undertaken thus far as a family of six, and we’ve deemed it a success.  Of course, it wasn’t without its hiccups, but we have taken note of the things that caused the hiccups and hope to avoid them on the next trip.

Stay tuned for more from our trip!