Day 2 - Friday - September 23, 2011

Geriatric Trolley Tour of Boston

Since neither Pam or I have ever been to Boston we desperately wanted to take in the sites and absorb some historical culture. The front desk clerk highly recommended the "Beantown Trolley Tour" and after taking it could only conclude she was getting some form of incentive. Besides the fact that the average patron on this tour probably graduated high school when my mom was learning to walk, the trolley itself looked to have first started operating during the great depression. While there was a clear eagerness by the staff to take our hard earned money, staff directional clarity was oddly vacant. We were instructed to stand in one line for 30 minutes only to later be told we should be at the corner. These trolleys only run every 30 minutes and are usually quite full, but finally after 90 minutes we enjoyed the start of our trolley trip on small benches where Ryan and Lindsay would barely have fit.

Now there were highlights to our day... mostly those few times Pam and I chose to leave our cramped seating area. Our first departure put us at Boston Public Library where we both thoroughly enjoyed the architecture and majestic lion statues. Then willing to tempt fate Pam made us wear our Dodger windbreakers as we walked Fenway Park noting the tribute statues and immense green monster where very few home runs have cleared. The last stop (not counting the trip back to our hotel) was our longest. We enjoyed a 45 minute boat ride, a walk through the open air market, lunch at Panera Bread and a shop that sells few items except New England Patriot gear. It's a wonder how they can stay in business. For our final trolley ride, we had a driver who did not have a degree in customer service. While he was correct that new patrons could not be added regardless of the pouring rain or lack of operating trolleys, rudely vocalizing these facts to potentially drenched patrons and then speeding by stops does little to boost popularity. A couple of athletic geriatrics even gave chase waving their canes. Our final ride back to the hotel was with a bus driver who liked to droll on and on, a fitting end to a long day. The highlight besides more FaceTime with our kids were the historical places. Next time we plan to bring Ryan back to walk the Freedom Trail!