Our waitress at the Barking Crab gave us a good tip! The Earthrace biodiesel ship was docked just around corner and giving free tours. My nephews were enthralled with the boat that looked like it came straight from the Batman movie. The crew was cajoling people aboard in their New Zealand accents, and giving them a "kick in the bum for ya" as they de-barked. I don't know what that was all about, maybe it's a way way down under custom! The crew of the Earthrace thinks they can break the round the world record by 10 days! The current record is 75 and they are shooting for 65. And, using earth friendly fuels to boot. Boston was just one stop in an 60 city 18 month tour leading up to their March sail date. The crew was young and happy, they're going to have to be tough too. They said that they'll only make 11 stops for 2 hours each for refueling during their 65 day journey round the world. www. earthrace.net for more on this incredible boat and her funny crew.
Our second day, after visiting the USS Constitution (did you know that all Navy boats leak and that President Bush has never visited the Constitution?} we followed the Freedom Trail. We stopped to check the map in a beautiful old neighborhood of brick townhouses and corner shops. A woman asked if we were lost, and gave us better directions. She chatted with the kids about what we'd been doing and said, "We love our history here in Boston." Turns out she is the owner of the Deacon Larkin House. When Paul Revere went on his famous ride, he was on a horse lent to him by Deacon Larkin!
We're waiting for the train to come home, and we're early, so we're outside letting the kids run around a bit before the two hour ride home. A man with a giant balloon headdress, ballon creations on his arms and carrying a milk crate is heading for North Station. My nephew Caleb called to him "Hey, what happened to you?". The man stopped and said he'd make us a great balloon deal. All the stuff for $3. My mom teased him to show us what else he could do and he jumped up on his milk crate and created a swinging bird and a poodle, teasing us back the whole time. Not a bad bunch of ballons for 3 bucks. He takes the train in from Newport to hawk balloons on the weekends at Fanueil Hall.
As much fun as the museums and historical sites are, its the people we met that made the journey memorable.
