brave enough to start

Reputedly one of the world’s greatest train journeys, I’ve wanted to travel across Canada by train for years.  It’s all about the journey rather than the destination, which is just as well given the frequent delays on account of sharing the line with the massive freight trains – when those break down, everyone has to wait. Lengthy stops are built in to the schedule and are sometimes used to catch up when there have been delays but no one really cares about actually arriving because, of course, arrival signifies the end of the experience.

I had romantic ideas of sipping champagne in the observation car, enjoying the magnificent scenery and fine dining in the restaurant car with fellow travellers although, strangely enough, our 3 young and energetic boys didn’t feature too prominently in these fantasies!

We arranged for 2 cabins to be joined together so that we shared a 4 berth space, and although not cheap, this included all meals and drinks on board, access to all the viewing cars and recreation areas and a bit more space to store our luggage.  It was also low season so we managed to get a pretty good deal and, in the end, I’d say it was worth every penny.

Our train departed late on a Tuesday evening and was scheduled to arrive on Saturday morning – 4 nights and 3 days.  It sounds like a lot. Before leaving I anticipated catching up with the blog (ha!), covering plenty of home education activities with the boys and enjoying the aforementioned champagne!  What I hadn’t realised is just how much eating there is to do.  Each morning we awoke to a huge breakfast – fruit, cereal, pastries and “would you like eggs with that?” “Why of course!” “More coffee? – please do!”

Not three hours later, we would be tucking in to a three course lunch before making our way to one of the lounges for more drinks (with fruit and pastries for anyone no longer concerned about their waistline.)  A bit of time to enjoy the scenery before back again for a 3 course evening meal. By the end it was beginning to feel like a Man v Food challenge although every bite was delicious and difficult to refuse.

We collapsed into our beds by 10pm every night, stuffed full and rocked to sleep by the train’s  gentle motion and generally woke up in a new time zone each morning!

On Thursday morning the train stopped at a very wet Winnipeg for a few hours, giving us the chance to get off and search for some wifi!  Having reconnected with the world briefly, we took the boys to the Winnipeg Children’s Museum to let them run around and burn off some energy. Given the heavy rain we weren’t inclined to explore any further than the immediate area of the station and museum but I’d like to return on a dry day.

Somewhere after Edmonton we were delayed whilst our engineers assisted a broken down freight train further up the track. This meant that our stop in Jasper was cut short to make up the time but even so, Friday turned out to be the highlight of the whole trip. There was barely time for the panorama car dome to be cleaned and then it was onward through the Rockies.  If you are only going to do one part of this journey – get on here. On departing Jasper the champagne flows and the canapes are delicious. There is a real party atmosphere for this leg of the journey and the crew seem to enjoy it as much as the passengers.

By this stage we had got to know many of the other passengers and it felt like one big family. Some had been on the trip many times before and ensured that the boys knew exactly when to look out for the most impressive views, the most famous of the mountains or the best places to spot the wildlife.

I’m certain that no matter how often you ride The Canadian, it never gets old.

After a minor plumbing incident which involved a dash to Canadian Tire for a spanner and some plumbing parts we joined our friends at Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada. Somewhat seasoned professionals in aquariums now, the boys didn’t hesitate to touch the stingrays and horseshoe crabs in the touch pools. No matter how often we go to an aquarium, there is always something new to learn – this time one of the most disturbing discoveries was the fact that baby sand tiger sharks eat their siblings in utero – ugh!

Fortunately we overcame our disgust in time for dinner and enjoyed a wonderful farewell meal with the Galea family at Turtle Jacks. The cheese dip here is to die for, certainly reason enough to consider a more permanent relocation to Canada.  I later tried the Swiss Chalet version which wasn’t quite as good but still, if you like melted cheese, this is where you’ll find your tribe.

Day 42 was a quiet day, notable only really as the day Alex finally learned to use a swing at the park without help. A big day for our littlest one.

Now into November, the weather was unseasonably warm, sunny and the skies beautifully blue so we made the most of our last day in Ontario exploring the waterfalls of Hamilton, of which there are more than a hundred.  We played Pooh sticks, ate a picnic lunch and enjoyed our last few hours in Hamilton before dropping off in Toronto the hire car we had collected in Washington DC, with more than 3500 additional miles on it.

Before catching our train in Union Station we just had time to go up the CN Tower and admire the breathtaking night views of the city.

And as quickly as that our east coast adventure came to a close. We were filled with excitement about all that lay ahead on the west coast, but first, the fulfilment of another lifetime ambition: Via Rail’s transcontinental train – The Canadian from Toronto to Vancouver.

Day 38 began with a visit to the dentist for John.  The earache he had been complaining about since Boston turned out to be toothache and could no longer be ignored so, with the help of some friends, we found a local dentist who was great with kids. 2 hours later he was all fixed up with instructions not to eat for at least an hour, so perhaps it was a little cruel that we then went straight to lunch! Nick first came to Canada 25 years ago and remembered how, as a boy, he’d enjoyed dining at Swiss Chalet. He described it to me as a low cost chain of family restaurants famous for chicken and ribs, thus I’d imagined a sort of Canadian KFC with a mounty in place of the Colonel.  The experience though is totally different.  Here you select what type of chicken meat you’d like – do you want the white meat or perhaps you prefer the brown?  Here we got to sample the famous Canadian Poutine for the first time – chips in cheese curds and gravy, which I’m sure is very popular in large parts of (northern?) England after a heavy night out instead of a greasy kebab.  The menu also offers much healthier alternatives such as salads and soups which the kids, needless to say, gave a wide berth.

Just up the road we stumbled upon the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum.  I say “stumbled upon” but knowing my husband this was no accident.  There are only two airworthy Lancaster bombers left in the world. One in the UK that flies with the RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and the other, here. Astonishingly you can get close enough to this one to touch it.  There were very few visitors to the museum during our visit but it was lovely to see a Canadian veteran being helped back into the cockpit for what must have been a very emotional reunion.

The museum is staffed by volunteers, many of whom are retired aviation enthusiasts who are only to happy to share their love of the planes with visitors.  Our guide arranged for the boys to sit in the cockpit of an Avro Canada CF100 and a Canadair CT-114 Tutor , explaining the controls and what the planes were used for.  Later the boys flew simulators, although only Daddy avoided a crash landing!

Friday saw us exploring the Royal Ontario Museum, world renowned for its collection of art, world culture and natural history and the largest museum in Canada. John and I ventured in to the Bat Cave, a dark and life like immersive experience showcasing the natural habitat of various species.  Sadly though, there was no Ben Affleck – I checked.  Twice.

The boys enjoyed digging up fossils and dressing in real chain mail so heavy that it was difficult to move their heads.  Later they found an interactive community game where players try to balance competing interests to establish a successful mining operation. ROMining gets the kids to think about environmental impact, community groups, employment levels and profitability.  Hugely educational, it kept John and Teddy engaged for over an hour.

Day 40 was Halloween and this was where my theory that I must somehow be living in an alternative reality really began to take hold. Some days earlier a friend had enquired as to whether Nick would like to take part in a charity 5K run.  It’s fair to say that we are not a particularly healthy couple.  Sure, we belong to gym but I don’t go there to break a sweat – it’s mainly for a leisurely swim and a bit of lunch. Neither of us have ever been running for the sake of running.  Nonetheless Nick decided to give it a go.  He went for practice run after the warplanes visit and decided he would probably be able to finish, so signed up.  Next thing you know he not only finished but came 22nd in his category and 322nd out of almost 1000 entrants. What??  In what world does that happen with just one trial run and an otherwise sedentry and lethargic lifestyle? Git.

Later we joined our good friends Shelley and Jeremy and their family to celebrate Halloween, our first in North America.  Naively I’d assumed that the couple of small buckets we’d been given in a Burger King somewhere on the drive from Montreal would do for trick or treating.  Turns out, what we needed were pillow cases – 3 of them!  Never before have the boys accumulated so many sweets and chocolates on one occasion, it was mind boggling but tremendous fun.  The whole neighbourhood was lit up and decorated for the evening and we met hundreds of kids in all sorts of brilliant costumes having a fabulous time.  I am certain that the boys will remember this halloween night forever.

The hardest part was telling them at the end of the evening that we couldn’t keep the equivalent of Alex’s body weight in candy and they would have to leave most of it behind.

If there was one good thing to come from John’s recent dental trouble, it was that this conversation was a bit easier.

Incorporating geography into a homeschooling schedule when you are travelling is easy enough, easier still  when you have the opportunity to visit one of the world’s most powerful waterfalls. We did the tourist thing and paid for a Hornblower cruise into the mist and, at less than $65 for all five of us, it was worth every cent. We took a 20 minute daytime cruise into the falls and got to feel the power of the water thundering down all around us. Standing on a swaying boat, drenched by the gossamer spray despite the plastic ponchos, our bodies reverberating with the roaring deluge, this was an exhilarating experience for us all.  Now when we talk about hydroelectric power, the kids have a very clear idea of what that means.

Perhaps it was the receding adrenaline, or the general high of the experience that allowed the kids to persuade us to have dinner at the Rainforest Cafe before we went home. They loved the fake thunderstorms and animatronic beasts almost as much as the Falls themselves and by the time we left the water was lit up for the evening. It was indeed a magical day.

Tuesday saw us heading over to Toronto Zoo to see some real animals. Nick and I first visited in 2003 but since then the zoo has become home to two Giant Pandas and, not to be outdone by Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington DC, their female Er Shun had given birth to twins just two weeks before our arrival. As before, the cubs wouldn’t be on public display for many months and we couldn’t help but laugh at the co-incidence. It was beginning to feel like our family could have a very positive influence on the breeding success of Giant Pandas in captivity, albeit we were destined never to see any actual cubs!

We did have more success with the hitherto elusive moose.  I’ll be honest, I was anticipating a fine pair of antlers, a la Rocky and Bullwinkle but alas, it was the wrong time of year and apparently the antlers had been shed. Still, a moose is a moose right? Certainly we’d have preferred to see one in the wild and that discussion raised all kinds of ethical questions about whether zoos are really an acceptable place for wild animals at all.  It’s a complex issue not least because many of the finest zoos play an enormous role in conservation and education. Should some animals be locked up, albeit with the best that modern zoos can offer in the way of enrichment, in order to improve the chances of other species?  Luckily that’s not a question on the primary school curriculum this year.

With a hurricane forecast, we made our way to the Ontario Science Centre the following day.  I don’t remember ever looking forward to museum visits as a child in the way that our boys have come to love a day in a science centre. These days the exhibits are so much more interactive and the kids feel like they are playing all day long.  They particularly enjoyed testing the effectiveness of an ice hockey helmet when hit at 6m/s with a sledge hammer!  If their only learning outcome is the desire to wear a helmet for certain sports then I’m more than happy with that!

We all played with the giant marble run and later got stuck in (literally) to creating a pin screen for our website.

No idea what the science behind this is but it was great fun nevertheless.

Luckily for us, our host’s husband was an easy going sort of fellow, not phased by the rather idiotic sounding “we don’t seem to know what day it is anymore” line. His wife, the lovely Beata, was equally understanding and after a few frantic emails the whole thing was cleared up, meaning we didn’t have to sleep in the car after all.

Taking it as a sign from the gods that we needed to slow down and take a breath, we took a couple of days doing very little. We got up late, we wandered around the neighbourhood and we ate pizza with some old friends living in the area. All four boys were in desperate need of a haircut so we called into Mario’s place and he kindly worked his magic to turn our street urchins back into semi presentable children again.

After an hour or so chatting with him about our adventures he refused to take the proper payment, even knowing he would likely never see us again. Mario, as they say, is good people, just like Beata. I could feel some of my ingrained British cynicism melting away; all these fellow humans who had chosen Canada to be their home and who were extending such kindness to a British family on the road. What would the Daily Mail make of that?

With Halloween around the corner, we took the opportunity to visit a pumpkin patch with some friends. This was a first for us; if such things exist in England we’ve never been, so we had no idea what to expect.  Howell’s Farm in Fonthill opens annually in the run up to Halloween transforming into a family playground with a corn maze, a haunted spooky barn and a great variety of rides, shows and games to entertain all ages. The boys particularly loved messing around with the autumn leaves and rolling down the hills, whilst the pumpkin slingshot was a hit with both the adults and kids alike.

After such a fun and relaxed weekend we were ready to step up the pace again come Monday and top of our list – Niagara Falls.

By now the boys were becoming more accustomed to lengthy car journeys, which was just as well given that Day 29 involved a 530 km journey to Montreal that we hoped to manage with minimal breaks just for fuel.  We loaded up a series of films for the backseat passengers, plenty of snacks and drinks and spent a lot of time playing spot the moose.  It helped that we passed through some spectacular landscapes but despite our best efforts, the moose were staying out of sight. The border crossing was entirely uneventful, with no queue as we pulled up to the barrier, a five minute chat with the border staff and a quick wave through. Easy – that’s the way to do it.

Seven hours after setting out we reached our apartment on Avenue du Mont Royal and almost immediately we collapsed into some of the most comfortable beds we have ever slept in. If ever you are looking for self catering accommodation in Montreal I would wholeheartedly recommend Likeahotel.com.

We spent the following day exploring Montreal on foot, our route taking us past the base of Mont Royal, through McGill University campus and into the Downtown area before passing Square Dorchester with it’s comical dancing squirrels on the way to the Cathedrale Marie-Reine-du-Monde. The street murals reminded us of those we saw in Philadelphia and the baffling traffic lights made us glad we’d left the car behind.

Both Nick and I studied French at school but neither of us can really remember very much.  When we first moved to Japan 12 years ago I recall trying to learn Japanese and half of my words coming out in French as if the foreign language part of my brain couldn’t distinguish between more than one additional language.  So it was no surprise that in Quebec when trying to recall sufficient French to order lunch, half the words were now in Japanese.    The stroke of genius came as we made our way back in the evening and happened upon a sushi restaurant. If ever there was a chance of someone making sense of the incoherent soup of French, Japanese and English vocabulary swimming around unchecked in my brain, they were surely to be found in a sushi restaurant in Montreal.

We ate well that night!

Day 31 saw us back on the road, this time facing a 10 hour journey straight to Hamilton.  I’m embarrassed to say that, up until this point, Nick had done all of the driving. In my defence, he actually enjoys driving and is generally happy to do it but the time had come for me to take my turn, so somewhere on the 401 I took over for a few hours and Nick managed a nap.

It wasn’t an enjoyable experience in any sense; one of the real low points was the ignominy of being overtaken by an articulated horse box!  There are some very large vehicles on the roads in North America.  We do not have 100+ ft road trains using the British roads so it was a bit daunting trying to pass them but after the horse box incident I made the effort.

Typically we hit the rush hour traffic on our way past Toronto which added at least another hour to an already exhausting journey but eventually we arrived at our Airbnb in Hamilton ready to collapse.

It was such a relief to open the key safe and let ourselves in to a warm and comfortable home that we could relax in without having to pack up again for another week and a half.

Not long after our arrival there was a knock at the door; the owner’s husband was just passing and saw the lights on. He seemed surprised to see us.

“We were expecting you tomorrow?” he said.  How strange.

With the hectic pace of the last month, constantly moving around and the crazy mileage covered over the previous few days it took a while for us to realise that it was Thursday, not in fact Friday. Slowly the realisation dawned on us that we had arrived a day early.

Oh no…

Back in March when we were doing our initial route planning I happened to be chatting to a friend who had recently moved across the pond and had the opportunity to visit coastal Maine.  Stories of pretty towns and coastal walks were enough to tempt me to do some research and what I discovered was that Maine offers New England’s only national park, world class lobsters and, as one of the least populous states in the US, acres and acres of space. That’s got to be worth a visit.

We left Braintree midmorning in the hope of reaching Portland in time for lunch. Nick hooked the laptop up to the car’s media centre and the boys watched a Disney film on the way. With hindsight, Finding Nemo was an unfortunate choice as none of them were keen to try the local cuisine once we arrived, opting for a non-seafood based Starbucks lunch instead.  Undeterred, Nick and I joined the queue outside the Portland Lobster Co, a casual lobster shack situated on the water in the downtown area. A little tank of live lobsters sits on the counter, but thankfully there is no need to select your specimen.

There are very few tables inside, and most people choose to sit by the water and enjoy the live music, watching the boats going in and out of the harbour. Even at lunchtime there is a great vibe here and we would have stayed much longer if we hadn’t had a three hour drive still ahead of us.  The lobster rolls were everything we hoped for; sweet, fresh lobster meat served simply with butter and lemon, and sides of coleslaw and chips; absolutely divine.  If you do nothing else in Portland, do this.

We’d chosen to stay at a gorgeous old farmhouse in Brooksville on the south west of the Blue Hill Peninsula and arrived with enough time for the boys to explore the grounds, climb a few trees and burn off some energy before the sun went down.

The following day we took a drive over to Little Deer Isle (with a year round population of around 300) and its larger brother, aptly named Deer Isle (with almost 2000 residents).  It was a freezing cold day and we experienced our first snow so decided to stop for hot chocolate from a convenience store on Deer Isle. It was a charming experience as I queued to pay and listened to the locals chatting. One customer enquired about the cashier’s sister and was told that she had recently returned to the island, having married the cousin of another mutual acquaintance; another person in the line seemed thrilled to hear the news, and strangely I found myself feeling glad for them all! It was obviously a small community and the residents seemed genuinely fond of each other and happy to share their good news. No doubt some might find this level of familiarity uncomfortable but from where I was standing, having been through so many hectic US cities where even a smile from a stranger was rare, it was lovely.

Back at the farmhouse I took on the challenge of the old stove and baked brownies which turned out surprisingly well considering I had no idea how to control the stove temperature. Much to the horror of the kids, there was no broadcast television, just an old N64 linked to a CRT TV which the boys thought were antiques! We entertained ourselves with board games and enjoyed a low technology evening for a change.

Sun and clear skies were forecast for day 28 so we drove out to Bar Harbor in the morning and enjoyed fudge from Ben and Bill’s Chocolate Emporium. As you walk in the smell of vanilla hits you and even if you have just eaten lunch you can’t help but salivate. It smells like I imagine Willy Wonka’s place would and if I worked there, much like the Oompa Loompas, they’d be paying me in chocolate.  We browsed a few of the shops and watched a cruise ship arrive in Frenchman Bay before taking the car into Acadia National Park and up Cadillac Mountain, the highest peak on the US East Coast.

Both moose and bears are to be found in Acadia although we saw neither, managing instead to spot a bald eagle.  As usual, I was a bit slow with the camera and the best we could get was this fuzzy shot but, take it from me, that’s a bald eagle and, bearing in mind they were on the brink of extinction in the US as recently as the end of the twentieth century, it was pretty exciting!

We drove the 27 mile Park Loop Road, stopping frequently to enjoy the beaches, views of the valley and coastal scenery before heading up Cadillac Mountain.  From the summit you can see for miles out into the Atlantic Ocean and apparently on a clear day you can see as far as Nova Scotia in the east.

It was a bit breezy up top so we didn’t hang around too long but nevertheless it was well worth the trip and somewhere that I’d love to revisit in the Summer months.

All too quickly our time in Maine was coming to an end and that evening we packed up yet again, beginning to feel a bit like we are on the run, ready for our longest journey yet to Montreal in the morning.

In an attempt to catch up on the two month backlog of blog posts, it is time to cover more than a day at a time with each post, before I forget the details altogether.

One of the main reasons for including New England in our route was to experience some of the Autumnal colours that the area is famous for at this time of year.  We started with Borderland State Park, about 30 miles south of Boston.  At almost 1800 acres, the park offers hiking trails, a variety of water sports and even cross country skiing in the Winter, but the draw for us was disc golf.

Outside of Wii Sports, disc golf is a game I’d never heard of but the boys were enthusiastic so we picked up a couple of frisbees at a nearby sports mega mall and headed to the first tee.  What we discovered is that disc golf is not as easy as it ought to be! We laughed at each other’s poor attempts to launch a frisbee with finesse and enough speed and lift to travel further than a couple of feet, before watching some of the more experienced locals.  It turns out that just like traditional golf, having the right equipment really helps.  There are, in fact, different types of disc for different jobs – some are more rigid than others and some are flatter or heavier – all of these factors can influence distance and accuracy.  So just as you wouldn’t use a putter to tee off, you can’t expect a floppy beach frisbee to navigate accurately through a forest with any reliability.  We still had tremendous fun and have some hilarious videos of our bumbling attempts.

We took the scenic route back to Braintree via Mann’s Pond, Sharon and enjoyed more fall foliage, parks and playgrounds before calling it a day.

The following morning we were up early to explore Cape Cod. We started at Woods Hole where the Science Aquarium of the Oceanographic Institute is home to local sea creatures including two seals (who cannot be released on account of blindness and an inability to hunt for food) and numerous fish and crustaceans. This is a small, free of charge aquarium that dates back to the late nineteenth century and claims to be the oldest in the nation.  We passed an informative hour looking at the exhibits and chatting to the staff, who could not have been more helpful and invited us back for the seal feeding later in the day.

Walking from the aquarium to Taft’s Playground for a picnic lunch, we passed Eel Pond, picturesque with its moored fishing boats and million dollar waterside residences. Life here feels slow and relaxing and we passed more time than we meant to just playing and eating and generally taking it easy. It’s on my list of places to spend the elusive lottery winnings, once they come our way.

Back in the car, we decided that Chatham Lighthouse might be worth a look. The drive took us along Falmouth’s Main Street, filled with quaint, locally owned shops and restaurants where I’m certain I could have had a good time but I guess it’s good to save something for next time.

Once in Chatham we strolled to the lighthouse and then down to the beach and the sand spits with their spectacular views of the sunset over the Atlantic. During the Summer months these beaches are said to be packed but on a mild October day there were very few people – possibly because it was restaurant week in Chatham and everyone was eating! Not to miss out, we found a family friendly restaurant to indulge and had a cracking fish supper.

I’d share details of the restaurant if it wasn’t for the fact that later that evening Nick was reacquainted with his calamari in a most unfortunate turn of events.  Unfortunate, because the following day we were due in Vermont for a soaring experience I’d booked for Nick’s 40th.

Ever the pragmatist, Nick decided to make the journey and see how he felt once there.  We were looking at a three to four hour drive to get to Sugarbush so we started early and hoped for the best. This was another one of those occasions when the hire car’s sat nav was adamant the journey would take 4 hours whilst Google maps promised a route almost 30 minutes shorter.  As the journey progressed we encountered the odd traffic jam and the lure of Google became too much, so we hit the alternative route button.

Big mistake.

Google doesn’t care about mountain roads. It doesn’t care if your route will take you up roads that are impassable if it has rained a bit too heavily or if you don’t happen to have an off roader.  Nick and the boys thought it was side-splittingly funny that I had a minor coronary every time we turned a corner and refused to turn back so I closed my eyes and looked at it as penance for my lack of sympathy with the food poisoning.

We got there in one piece and that’s all I have to say about that.

Sugarbush is beautiful in the Fall, as is Vermont generally with some of the most startling reds, oranges and yellows I’ve ever seen.  Nick filmed the landscape from the cockpit of the glider and, if I ever figure out how to do it, I’ll add the GoPro footage to the website.

I’d booked him a thirty minute flight, during which time the boys and I enjoyed watching the tow planes take off and land and chatted to the staff and volunteers who drove the boys around on the golf buggies and explained all the procedures.

Nick lasted about 22 minutes before he felt the risk of seeing last night’s dinner for a third time was too great and he landed looking just a little off colour. I tried to be sympathetic but was still smarting from the mountain road, not least because, whilst the boys had been busy mocking me, they felt their father was a hero!

To make us all feel better we decided that what we needed was a tour of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Factory up the road. There was a short film to watch before our guide took us to a viewing window to watch the process of ice cream making and finally a stop in the tasting kitchen for the free samples that had lured us in the first place. Delicious.  I am officially a Ben & Jerry’s convert and look forward to sampling some of the unique flavours created especially for Japan once we get there. Purple Sweet Potato with Sweet Potato chunks anyone?

After some very busy days, day 25 needed a slow start. Our final day in Massachusetts was spent washing and packing before we squeezed in one last game of disc golf over in Franklin.  This allowed Nick to drive through Foxborough and past Gillette Stadium, home to his beloved Patriots that so far, have never played at home during any of his 4 visits to Boston.

One day though…

Another beautiful day in New England and the perfect chance to take a walking tour of Boston.  The Freedom Trail is a 2.5 mile winding path that links significant landmarks in the history of the American Revolution. We had lunch in Boston Common where the trail starts and then made our way to the State House following the red brick line through the streets, in a manner reminiscent of Dorothy (that would be me) and her trusty companions.  We stopped at the Granary Burial Ground where a friendly chap called Jimmy Cole stands all year round, loaning out copies of his free guide to the graveyard. The guide is several pages long and, although a little dog eared, it is clear that Cole is a keen historian, and a humble one at that.  He has created the guide through his own research and now makes his living through the donations he receives from those grateful for his shared knowledge. It’s an interesting read and I particularly enjoyed his story of how he worked out that the current stone over Paul Revere’s tomb is not the original – all using his “noggin,” as he puts it, as well as his explanations for the coins left on many of the stones.  With more time I would love to have stayed and absorbed more but the kids were impatient to follow that red line and we had another 13 stops to make.

As we approached North End we encountered an Anti Columbus Day protest, calling for the holiday to be changed to honour the indigenous people, as it is in South Dakota and parts of California. Having seen protests outside the White House, the boys were unfazed by this one and we took the opportunity to tell them about why Columbus Day is becoming less popular.

Just around the corner, in the Italian District, a drum beat heralded the start of the Columbus Weekend parade celebrating local Italian links with the area. Clowns mingled with boy scouts and locals dressed in renaissance costumes.

Teddy exchanged air punches with Tony DeMarco and, much to the boys’ delight, the Ghostbusters made an inexplicable appearance.  We enjoyed the holiday atmosphere and stayed to the very end before heading onwards to Charlestown where the USS Constitution currently sits in a dry dock, part way through her 3 year refurbishment. The USS Constitution is the oldest commissioned warship in the world although her duties these days are ceremonial and educational.

Members of her crew were on board to talk to us about what life would have been like for serving officers and crew in the 19th Century and what their role was today.  We had a good look around the lower deck and the boys posed for pictures at the helm, the wheel being considerably bigger than the three of them!

After a long but thoroughly enjoyable day, we headed back to the car to make our way back – not quite three clicks of the heels but not so bad!