Thursday, July 16, 2009

#120 Weymouth and Boston, MA 7-10 thru 12-09

We drove a huge 34 miles to the Weymouth Elks for a couple of days. We met a couple of nice ladies from California that also parked their RV on the parking lot. They were headed south and had been where we are going, so we swapped stories and places to see and stay.

We found out that the last day the tall ships were going to be in the Boston Harbor was Sunday, and Saturday the weather was supposed to be really nice. So, we got ourselves up and out to the ferry at Quincy and rode over to Boston Harbor. We disembarked at Long Wharf. There seemed to be a million other people there to see the ships. We walked a few blocks along the wharves and then decided we would see the ships better from a Harbor Tour Ride. We signed up for a 20 passenger boat leaving at 2:30 in the afternoon for a one hour ride. When we arrived for the ride, they were running about an hour behind schedule. But, by the time the 1:30 people got on board a couple of returning boats, we were only about 20 minutes later than our boarding time. So turned out good.

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This was our first tall ship. Just look at the crowd of people lining the dock. It was one of the nicest weather days the East has had in a couple of months. I think everyone was here!

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We were stuck behind the first big boat and in front of the second boat. Both are tour boats loaded with people. We were so fortunate to get on a small boat with only 20 people. All of us had our own window seat.

We had to wait in line to get into one of the docking areas to see the tall ships. So our tour ended up being almost two hours. But it was worth it to be on the water and away from all the crowds.

We saw about 19 tall ships. Pretty amazing sight. The one below I really liked because of the sail. A Happy Sunny Sail!

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What an unbelievable sight, a tall sailing ship, luxury cruise boats, a tour boat and the US flag flying in the fore front.

After our harbor cruise, we headed back to the ferry—but had to stop and have an early dinner at Natural’s restaurant. They have the famous clam chowder that has been served at the White House. So, of course, we had to sample it. We bellied up to the oyster bar and sat next to a nice couple who shared some good tips on what to order. We ended up ordering the steamed mussels. Oh my, were they good. They taste more like our West Coast butter clams. And the sauce they were cooked in was so delicious we wanted to bottle it and take it home. It was a really good choice for dinner. Soup and mussels! A perfect way to end a beautiful day.

The ferry ride home was smooth and relaxing. We were glad to get back to the RV and Gidget was glad to see us.

Sunday we found a nice Baptist Church right around the corner from where we were parked at the Elks. We attended the 9:30 service and then took a ride out to Wompatuck State Park. We had phoned the park to see if there were any open spots for us to park the RV and were told to come and see. We knew we needed to use the dump station there, and we might just as well stay where we would have some electric service. The cost of the space was $17.00 a night. Pretty reasonable. Only 15 amp service at the sight, and no water or sewer. We looked at the site, and paid for three nights.

Saturday night it rained buckets while we were asleep. The site we had at the park had a big mud hole right beside it, but not on the pad. We went back to the Elks and got the RV and moved into the park that evening. Our site was in the trees, but we had a clear shot at the Southern sky which meant we were able to watch TV. Pretty sweet.

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