Day 3, Sunday May 13th Part 2

We took the train back into downtown and immediately headed over to the ferry to the Charlestown Naval Yard.  A quick walk and we were at the Constitution.  First stop was airport style security, minus the shoe removal.  We then stood under a tent while they got together enough people for a tour.  Once we were all assembled it was off to board the ship.   

From aft, so you can see her name.

 The ship is the oldest commissioned naval vessel afloat anywhere in the world.  As such it has an active duty naval crew.  One of their duties is to serve as tour guides aboard ship.  We got to see the main deck, gun deck and berthing deck.  You can peer through locked doors at officer country.  The galley is forward of a “do not cross” line (rope) so you can look at it from a distance. 

The gun deck, looking forward.  She carried 22 long 24 pounders and 22 38 pound carronades on the main deck.

The boys could not wait to get down below.  Then they couldn't wait to get back above.

The ship is simply amazing.  It is in very good shape.  The guns are all there, as are the huge number of carronades she carried.  Everything is ship shape and sparkling.  Interestingly, she weighs more than the WW II Fletcher class destroyer in the dry dock next to her.  She is moored, in real water, not gelatin, as someone asked.  Once a year, on the 4^th of July, they take her out and turn her around.

Rhys was loving the big guns.

 After the Constitution we walked up the hill to Breeds hill to visit the Battle of Bunker Hill memorial.  There is no sign of the battlefield left.  There is a giant obelisk at the top of the hill, in the center of a park.  It is all surrounded by 1860’s houses, which while nice, block out all sight of Boston.  Other than the giant stone column in the center, it just looks like a small neighborhood park.

This is the only way to see Boston from the hill now days.

Col "Whites of their eyes" Prescott

The ladies and the boys sat down in the grass while the boys had a snack.  Dad and I walked to the top of the hill and took a couple of pictures while we discussed walking to the top of the tower.  We decided that we didn’t have time, so rendezvoused with the family instead.

Emmmmm. Cheezits.  Gold Fish.  Yummmmm.

We made a brief pit stop in the National Park Service building so the boys could use the bathroom, then hiked back down the hill to the Navy Yard.  On the way I took a picture of the yellow house behind which a, few years ago, a mass grave of British soldiers from the assault was found.  Once at the Naval Yard Dad and I walked around the outside of the U.S.S. Cason-Young.  Again, we didn’t have time to go aboard, but we got a bunch of good shots of the outside. 

The Cassin Young in her current state of rest.

The Cason Young was named after a sailor awarded of the Medal of Honor at Pearl Harbor.  It fought in the Pacific campaign and was hit by two Kamikaze’s.  The Fletcher class were some of the most successful Destroyers, of any side, of WWII.

We caught the Ferry back over to Boston and walked around looking for a place for lunch.  It was Mother’s Day, so everything was busy, though the area itself was not as crowded as the day before.  We finally decided on McCormack’s,  a chain and one that we have in Denver.  We sat out on the patio and had a fantastic meal with some tasty drinks.  The boys were good, ate some and mostly just played without causing problems.

Some British re-enactors, paid to do the change of the guard routine.

Rhys playing with his Avengers cards and staying out of trouble.

Owyn sword fighting with his "samurai sword".

After brunch we walked up to the Boston Commons, seeing quite a few sights in between.  We caught a train from the commons back to the airport, with a change in the middle.  Once at the airport we called for the shuttle.  Dad and I took it back to the hotel to get our bags while the ladies and the boys played in a park then headed over to the terminal.  Happily, the shuttle arrived quickly and made a quick drive.  We got to the hotel before the next one left, grabbed out bags and got to the terminal at the same time as the boys and Tracy and Nana.

Check in was a breeze, with all of our bags making weight.  We got through the very long security lines, with much complaining by Owyn.  Once we got to the other side we stopped to grab something for the boys to eat, Tracy and I still being full from lunch.  We got them each a piece of pizza and some milk.  Owyn barely made it through his before he crashed, falling asleep in Mama’s arms.

The iPad needed charging so Rhys and I went and sat on the floor next to an outlet and let it charge.  I surfed the internet a little bit and he played with robots.  Before we knew it, it was time to board and we got on the plane.  We had a full row to the four of us, with Nana and Grandad a few rows back.  Tracy had Owyn next to her, then Rhys, then me.  Owyn was racked out and slept two hours into the, five hour, flight.  Rhys fell asleep about the same time.  Tracy got two hours and I got one. 

We had small TVs in the seat-back in front of us with movies, on demand.  Rhys watched his favorite Garfield movie until he fell asleep.  Owyn woke up and watched the same one twice, then played some video games on his TV.  I watched Sherlock Holmes.  I’m pretty sure Tracy watched Twilight.

The flight actually went by very quickly and we landed half an hour early.