Boston, MA

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Day 10 - Saturday, May 14, 2016 - Boston MA - Weather forecast: partly cloudy in the morning - temperature: 14°C/57°F - actual: temperature 22°C/74°F - the entire day was blessed with bright sunshine - winds outside the harbour were 21 knots, 6 Beaufort



Approximately two hundred passengers, including ourselves, had opted to make this a Collectors Voyage and to continue on to Bermuda. Since the majority of the passengers were leaving the ship we were presented with several options, namely take an organized shore excursion, go ashore and do our own explorations or stay on the ship. If we wanted to get off we had to do that before any of the other guest disembarked but we could not return until they had started the new embarkation exercise. To help make this a bit easier we were provided with “in transit” passes so we could avoid some of the check-in lines.



Originally we had selected a shore excursion that would take us out to Salem where one of Brooke’s ancestors had a role in the witch trials that took place there. Unfortunately the tour operator canceled that trip; so HAL replaced it with a driving/walking tour of Boston and Cambridge. To make the logistics work we had to be up and off the ship before 8:00 am meaning that a very early 5:30 am wake-up call was requested allowing us sufficient time to get ready and have breakfast before the group assembled in the Showroom at Sea before going ashore.



Three standard 44-passenger tour busses, with their own washrooms, were waiting for us ashore and the tour guides divided us into groups of approximately 30 each. As it was early Saturday morning the city had not yet become congested so our transit into the Back Bay Area went smoothly. As we passed one old church and its adjoining cemetery the tour guide mentioned that John Winthrop was buried there. It’s the first time I’ve seen Brooke do a fist pump over the mention of one her ancestors. At our first stop she told the tour guide and he indicated that we would have a second drive by of the cemetery on the way back to the ship, but unfortunately no opportunity to stop.



Our first stop was in Copley Square, an area of Boston that was originally marshlands. Through a grand civil engineering program the area was drained and new fill was added greatly increasing the footprint of the city. From there we were driven over the river to Cambridge and did a walk about on the grounds of Harvard University. Our last stop was at the Old North Church made famous by Paul Revere when used its steeple to send out lantern signal to warn the Sons of Liberty that the British troops were moving against them at Concord.



As the morning progressed the traffic became more congested with the result our trip back to the pier was much slower. As predicted we did have an opportunity to glimpse at the cemetery where John Winthrop is buried but it will take a more dedicated investigation to actually find his gravestone, maybe when we return to port next week.



Back at the pier we had to pass through the security screening area and then we joined the line to board the ship. Once on board we contacted our son who has joined us for the trip out to Bermuda and we went to enjoy lunch in the main dinning room. Later we adjourned to the Crow’s Nest to enjoy a pre-dinner drink and to watch the ship leave its berth and sail out into the Atlantic.

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