Duck tour Quack Quack
13. august 2018, Forente stater ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C
More leisurely start again, out just after 9. We had decided to jead to the Duck Tour this morning and grab some breakfast once we had got a time to do the tour. It was about 10 minute or so walk down to the Harbour front near the Aquarium which was the closest Duck tour to us (they leave from three places, Prudential Centre and the Sceince Museum, all doing the same tour just in different order). At the counter the girl was having problems with her computer and while she had resertved us 4 spots on the 1020 (it wasa bout 935 now so some time for a coffee and croissant) she couldn’t process my payment or issue the tickets. While she was trying another chap came along who had some tickets on his phone with the Boston pass so she sent him to the desk around the corner whete the Ducks left from. After a couple more minutes she said I’d best go round to that desk too, where they would be able to sort me out with the seats she had reserved for me – she had radioed them ahead to say I was coming.
When I got there they said the 1020 only had 3 seats left, could the chold sit on my lap. I laughed at the thought of Ed on my knee. I explained there should be some free as the lady the otherside had been holding them for me. The guy said no they were for the chap he had just served. I said no way he hadn’t even interacted with the lady other than to show here his phone. Turned out he ahd wanted 4 seats too and had obviously kist agreed when asked oif he had had them reserved on the other side. Don’t think it was deliberate just a misunderstanding I imagine and bad luck. So we ended up on the 1040, more time to wander around and have a look at the harbour etc.
We took some oics and saw the whake watch boatd going out (and one coming in very dat) and also saw the jet boat Codzilla – not like the Montreal one though! Went back to the departure spoot about 1025 and joined the line. Seats were allocated so no need to be at fron t of line. Had a pic taken before boarding.
Our guide was dressed as a witch and claimed to be from Salem. She had a toy cat with her called Hocus Pocus, if she waid his name we needed to go Quack Quack loudly! Tour was 80 minutes or so, with about 20 minutes or so on the water. We went round the historic sites and as traffic was light heaed into the back bay too. Saw various old churches and burial grounds. Heard the Paul Revere wasn’t really the hero of the ride as he didn’t do all of it, but his name rhymned better when a poem was written bout it yeats later. The back bay area is New Boston with reclaimed land and streets in drid formation. Old Boston on original land is a mass of narrower winding streets. The original puritan setlers bought the land of a local man who had settled it in the mid 1600’s. They were the folks from Boston in Lincolnshire who started the city. The Common was wheren they hung noin puritans and witches. We drove past the Cheers bar which isn’t anything like the TV one inside (and the witch had been and no one knew her name!). The Botanical Gardens we passd had the state tree from every state except Hawaii and Florida as they didn’t survive the frost. Had a sculptute of some ducklings from a fanous kids story and a pedallo lake with swans. Sam was going nowhere near that. We joined the atwr from the Cambridg side having past the science museum which we were told had an indoor lightning show. We drove through an old lock to onto the Charles river. Saw a sailing club that was open to all and pay whatever you wanted, run as a charity and supported by the Ducks. They had a fleet of 28 all but one replicas of the WWII ones. They were avtiallu called DUKW but known to everyone as Ducks. Kids on the boar were allowed to steer it for b I on the water, our two were a bit old!
Heard about the huge cost of the Biug Dig that sunk the highways underground. We ent by the old Beacon Hill area with very epensive houses and narrow streets, a parking spot had gone for 500k. We ended up back where we started at aboit 1210, so more like 100 minute tour. The guide had been good value with a dry humour. At the start when we sad we were from London, she said will need to be nice about the English then.
We had seen a place called Legal Seafood on the Hrbour Front and so went there for lunch. Sam and I had fish and chips which was good. We went to the Aquarium after this as we were nearby. We had already bought combo tickets from the duck place snd while I exchanged them for proper tickts with Tash the other looked at the seals swimming in the enclosure outside the aquarium.
Once inside first thinsg were African penguins. All very cute and posing while drying their feathers. Their enclosure was all inside on the ground floor level, The interior of the building was dominated by a huge circular tank that went 4 floors up to the top. You spiralled up arpun the tanl looking at the smaller tanks on the outsode walls and then spiralled down again looking at the big tank.
We bent off to look at the seals and sea lions outside – as Ed said we’ve seen them in the wild and youi cant beat that! Then when we cameback inwe realised that half of the penguin area was a different breed, the enclosure was split into two, These were little blue penguins we had seen in NZ, really tiny and very cute. We winded our way up to the top of the tank. The large octopus wanst doing much but was big. The coral reef tanks were as ever the most colourful. Various sea horse tanks and some odd updatnding pupe fish. No jelly fish that I saw in this one.
You could go right to the top of the tank and look down into the open top, this made Sam feel a bit of vertigo so she went back to the level below. There was adiver in there cleaning tha pants and roicks. Lots of very big fish in here and we also saw three trutles incluing a huge one called Myrtle waho was around 100 years old ane very big indeed!
Once back down we went to the shop and Tash got a big turtle! They ahd the Hairy Otter ts short I had got from Vancouver. We got a green screen photo then headed back to hotel. Not as big as Vancouver or Toronto aquarium but impressive with the big tank in the middle and the oenguins.
Ed and Sam were tired so stayed in the hotel, Tash and I went to the cinema to see Mammia Mia 2 which she ahd wanted to see since it came out. Cinema was 10 minuts walk away on Boston Common, 20 or so screens. Got a huge drink and popcorn and ent in. Only one person in when we went in, but probably about 20 by the time the film starter. The drink machine was like the one in 5 guys Putney, so we had raspberry fanta zero. Film was goof, very tongue in cheek and hammed it up. Tash was confuses as she thought the flashbacks to Donna the mum were flashforwards to the daughter in the duture!
Went back to room after and we ordered room servie. I had clam howder, Sam a huge turkey club. I also had Boston Cream pie which had been ionvented in the hotel. Was OK, cake with cream in the middle but not my favourite dessert.Les mer